Anki

While the story is well written and the premise is an interesting one, I had real difficulty relating with the protagonists, as I found a number of their decisions and actions to be rather abhorrent. I can appreciate the literary skill of the author, but I don't know that I will read anything else by him.

I know I read this in elementary school, most likely before I was ten years old. And I'm sure I enjoyed reading it at the time. However, I remembered nothing of the book beyond the cover illustration and the cover copy text, so reading it now was basically like reading a new book.

I enjoyed reading this as an adult, but there were definitely parts that came across as...dated and a bit simplistic. Also, while I realize that the views expressed by various individuals in the book are very much representative of the time period in which the book is set, I found myself shaking my head more than once.

As other reviewers have commented, I would definitely want to have discussions with any children I gave this book to. There are a lot of good lessons to be learned, but there needs to be a good sense of context as well.

Positive things first: this is a reasonably fast read with a number of amusing parts to it, and plenty of snappy dialog. That said, I don't think I would have enjoyed it nearly as much if I had purchased it instead of borrowing it from the library.

Ultimately, it was too much like a sitcom in a number of ways: overly zany and/or stereotypical characters getting up to improbable hijinks and into awkward situations, but everything turns out fine at the end, wrapped up nice and neatly with an accompanying laugh track to send us off into a happily ever after. All the relationships felt rushed, shallow, or both, and there were several instances of awkward head hopping between viewpoint characters that made things hard to follow.

I think that as long as a reader goes into the story expecting a sitcom (and all the attendant improbabilities that go with that territory), then enjoyment can be had here. But if one wants something with depth and substance one should probably look elsewhere.

I found this book to be diverting when I read it, and at the time I was definitely in the mood for the type of story it told. Diverting is about it, though. I really don't understand all the hype surrounding the book (or the series).

This is an excellent reference work for those who want or need to design something, but who do not have the luxury of going to design school. The information is presented clearly and concisely, and there are many examples of the principles being discussed found throughout the book.

I first got this book for one of my college editing courses, and I still reference it regularly. It's helped to give me more tools to use in explaining why something does or doesn't work from a design standpoint.

From a technology perspective this novel holds up remarkably well for something written in 1973 (Most likely due to the relatively minimal descriptions of technology), and the writing is still pretty solid.

The combination of utopia/dystopia and post-apocalyptic elements puts Children of Morrow solidly within an existing body of literature that's pretty popular and likely to remain so for quite some time. There are aspects of the writing that give a definite timestamp to the novel (for example, everybody seems to be wearing a jumpsuit in the advanced-tech society), but they aren't so glaring as to throw readers out of the story.

My reactions to this book are...mixed (hence the average rating). First, the short stories. All three of them were excellent, expanding the story universe and giving more insight into the characters and their motivations. They laid the groundwork for some things that come up later in the series (and in the follow-up series) without bogging down the main narrative. The short stories were the reason I picked up this book in the first place.

Second, the interviews with the various campers and the other Camp Half Blood related stuff. I found these mildly entertaining, but not much beyond that. They do give some insight/information into the characters and how the camp works, but in general they feel pretty light.

Third, the puzzles and games. Again, mildly interesting, but also rather simplistic. This is completely understandable, given the target audience for the book, but I wouldn't have been fussed had they been left out entirely. I'm not a huge fan of puzzles in books anyway, since they can create issues if you lend/borrow the book.

Finally, the character depictions...no. Just no. They don't match up with my mental pictures at all. Too cartoony for my tastes, with exaggerated proportions and garish colours. And there's just something off about the eyes in nearly every picture.

Mort doesn't have many prospects in his home village, and he really isn't cut out for the family business–he's not nearly serious enough. So at Hogswatch, Mort's father takes him to a hiring fair in the nearby town, where Mort proceeds to wait the whole day while every other person at the fair gets taken in by somebody. It's looking like Mort just won't be hired at all, but right before midnight Death rides up and offers Mort an apprenticeship. Death assures Mort that no, the bones are not required, and Mort accepts the offer.

This is the first of the Discworld novels starring Death, and the fourth book of the series (as far as publication order goes). Lots of fun characters and adventures.

I really enjoyed this collection of essays about the reading life. So many of them resonated with me, particularly the one entitled ‘Bookworm Problems' (where I started looking around for the cameras a few times because how else would she know how to describe my bookish situation?), and others got me thinking more about my own reading life and history. Definitely a collection I will come back to read again.

The Season is a fun, light, and entertaining read. It is in the same general literary vein as the works of [a:Jane Austen 1265 Jane Austen http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1282032472p2/1265.jpg] and [a:Georgette Heyer 18067 Georgette Heyer http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1202767292p2/18067.jpg], but the overall tone of the writing falls squarely in the realm of today's young adult fiction. There were a couple of places where the word choice didn't really ring true to me, but it wasn't enough to through me out of the story.

The Stepsister Scheme is the first in a series of fairytale retelling/mashup novels by Jim C. Hines. It follows what happened after the “happily ever after” found at the end of essentially every fairytale. It also pulls from more sources than just the Disney versions of the stories that many people are familiar with.

A book on plagues through the ages seems like it would, by its very nature, be incredibly depressing (and/or dry), but Jennifer Wright made every chapter absolutely fascinating, and her tone is such that I found myself laughing on multiple occasions. She never mocks the victims of the plagues, but she does poke at human foibles and failings, as well as highlighting the amazing things that people did when confronted with these various diseases. I really enjoyed the audio, and I am very glad to have modern medicine, clean water, and a knowledge that neither onions nor crushed emeralds are effective cures for what ails you.

This book is an excellent conclusion to the series, providing closure for the major plot elements without freezing the characters into a static position just because the story is “over.”[return][return]I am particularly fond of the setting in this series since it is something you don't often see in the current crop of fantasy novels. The frontier settlement aspect provides a different set of basic conflicts than you'd find in a city or within the sweeping vistas of epic fantasy.[return][return]I do have to say that my decision to start reading this late in the evening was a mistake, but only because I got sucked into the story and before I quite knew what happened I was halfway through the book and it was three in the morning...and I had work the next day.

I have so many feelings about this book it is hard to sort them all out in my head. It was an amazing read with so many layers and moving pieces to it. And I know I will definitely need to reread it because there are going to be things I missed in my first read through. I need to let everything settle first, though. And I am okay with that.

As with any other short story anthology, there were some stories in this that I enjoyed more than others, both in style and content. The title story was...something of a forehead slapper once I figured out where things were going (and it did take me a bit, since I'm not that familiar with Scooby Doo). A good portion of the stories were set outside of Valdemar proper, and some seemed only tangentially related to Velgarth at all.

This was a pretty quick read, and I enjoyed it. There was enough description that someone not familiar with Forgotten Realms gets a grounding in the world, but not so much that people who are familiar with the world are wanting things to hurry up already.



My one real beef is that it ends on a cliffhanger, and we aren't going to see the next book for several months minimum (probably closer to a year).

I picked up this book because I knew Lora Innes did the art, and I really enjoy her other work. The art did not disappoint, but I found the story being told to be disjointed and somewhat frustrating. This is a tie-in to the television series of the same name, and as I read I felt there was an expectation that I should already have a vested interest in and knowledge of the characters showing up. As I have not seen the television series, said existing interest and knowledge were not present for me. All told, I would say this does not serve as as particularly good introduction point to the franchise, which is a shame.

I first read this my junior year of high school, and I fell in love with the story. I was borrowing the book from a friend, and when I got to the last page I immediately started over again (something my friend was none too pleased about; she took the book back from me). While I can't say that the writing is without fault, it's a fun and enjoyable read in a magical world.

Eon: Dragoneye Reborn is a refreshingly non-western culture fantasy with plenty of action and intrigue. The main character and narrator, Eon, provides an accessible voice for readers while still being fully a part of the Empire of the Celestial Dragons.[return]
[return]I did find myself wanting to shake Eon for stupidity on a couple of occasions, mostly when I had managed to piece something together before Eon did.

Turnabout is an interesting novel that explores a couple of ethical questions. It's a quick read, with several fun characters, and I enjoyed it. Had a few issues with some technical aspects of the basic premise, particularly dealing with memory loss and regression, but as I am neither a doctor nor a scientist I cannot say whether or not the problems I had have any grounding in reality. And it is a work of fiction.

This latest installment of the Redwall series strikes a wonderful balance between classic Redwall adventures and something new, which is essential for part of a long-running series. Like most of the recent books, Doomwyte is set an unspecified number of seasons after the events in Redwall, but as near as I can tell before the books and records were moved from the Gatehouse into the library in High Rhulain.

The story itself stays pretty tightly focused on the Abbey and its surroundings, which is a change from many of the other books in the series which range from the northlands to far-flung islands and the great mountain Salamandastron on the shores of the sea. I enjoy both types of stories, and I am very happy to see that Brian Jacques can tell both equally well.

Doomwyte also draws more heavily on spooky and supernatural elements than most of the other Redwall novels, and I quite enjoyed that difference.

The Hob's Bargain combines elements of mythology, fairytales, and coming-of-age stories that was exactly the sort of thing I needed to read right now.

I had the great pleasure of being one of the proofreaders for this novel. The characters are entertaining, and the world is fascinating. Raneh's world feels believable and real, and I did not want to leave at the end of the book. I hope to read many more stories in this world moving forward.

This is an excellent debut novel, and a wonderful start to a story. Kvothe is a compelling character and an excellent narrator, and I loved watching his story unfold.

The Hound of Rowan is an enjoyable first novel, following in the literary footsteps of many boarding-school stories (magical or otherwise). There are a few rough spots in the writing/storytelling, but overall this is a solid book.