Georgette
I m sure most of us have seen Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by now. While I won t expound much on the book, I still recommend it over the movie. Why? The movie is wonderful for eye candy and candy in general, but the wonderful wit of the characters, especially Willy Wonka, is too easily missed in the glare of colours. [return][return]In a nutshell, boy (Charlie Bucket) from very poor family finds one of the five golden tickets that entitle the holder entry and a tour of Willy Wonka s Chocolate Factory. Wonka had a secret agenda for this sudden generosity. Charlie and four other children unwittingly went through trials and temptation. Only good-hearted Charlie passes his test and becomes Wonka s heir.[return][return]Wonka s personal history is never revealed in the book, and their next adventure begins immediately after they collect the Bucket family from their little wooden house at the end of Chocolate Factory.[return][return]Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator takes place after the Elevator leaves the Bucket residence and rockets back into the sky. As Wonka s eccentricities go, the Elevator must achieve a certain height so that it will punch a new entry hole in the roof of the Factory when they descend. Everyone else in the Elevator couldn t see the logic in that either.[return][return]Things go wrong and they end up in space. [return][return]At around the same time, Space Hotel “USA” is floating in space ready to take on its first batch of hotel crew. The Transport Capsule carrying them spots the Glass Elevator, also heading for the hotel. Mistakening them for terrorists, they notify Ground Control. Chaos ensues. The US President, a hapless chap by the name of Lanceleot R Gilligrass, gets involved. [return][return]Unknown to both Transport Capsule and Glass Elevator, the Hotel has already been taken over by a host of aliens called Knids. I won't tell you everything that happened but the Elevator crew does make it back to the Factory intact, and immediately falls into another adventure... all because of the Wonka-Vite.[return][return]The full adventures of Charlie and Willy Wonka continues in another book... which I do not have at this time.[return]return
The first and last time I read Kathy Reichs was a very long time ago, and I don't even remember which Tempe title it was. I normally won't pick a book in the middle of a series but it sounded the most interesting in the very limited selection of audiobooks at the National Library of Malaysia via Overdrive, which I was keen to test drive.
Fortunately it didn't matter that I was starting in the middle. Dr Brennan's professional and private life were meticulously outlined and described so that a newcomer is all caught up. I imagine that if I were to read this in print, I would have skimmed over chunks of text describing scientific methods that only vaguely made sense to me. That was the most slow-moving parts.
I usually don't do audiobooks because I prefer print, but I've been looking for something to fill my time when I'm not engaging my brain in a passive task like walking to dog or doing chores.
Having said that, I've come to appreciate Lorelei King's voice acting through the 8-10 hours we spent together. Her range of voices and accents was impressive.
I know what some of you are thinking: didn't I just review this book a few months ago? Am I trying to sneak this back in because it's the most convenient “wall” theme?[return][return]Yes and no. The book I wrote about a few months back is a novel... as in a book full of words and no pictures once you get past the Map of Redwall Abbey and the surrounding countryside. This one is the graphic novel version, aimed at younger readers, people who are scared by profusion of words on a page, or anyone who enjoyed Redwall.[return][return]To recap, Redwall Abbey is home to an order of mice who is committed to healing any creature who needs it. One of the founders is the great mouse hero Martin the Warrior, whom Matthias, the protagonist of this book looks up to. [return][return]When villainous sea rat Cluny the Scourge sets his eye on the Abbey, Matthias sets off on a quest to find Martin's legendary sword, said to be able to aid them in a time of need. In his journey, Martin meets a cast of animal characters like the sparrow princess Warbeak Sparra and the easy-going Basil Stag Hare.[return][return]The graphic novel is not a complete retelling of the novel. Like the end product of most book-to-movie efforts, some parts are lost in translation. There's an assassination attempt that I had hoped to see but it didn't make it into this version. You also don't really sense the passage of time here. Warbeak's time in the Abbey and Martin's time with the sparrows seemed a lot shorter than it is. [return][return]However, you don't really get the sense of how huge Constance the badger is next to all those mice until you see the picture. Or how high Jess the Squirrel has to climb to reach the Abbey's weather vane. Or how scary Cluny the Scourge really is. Which is good because if I get the neurotically insecure “Cluny the Scourge!” proclamation that comes out every other chapter in the book, I'd go bonkers.[return][return]This version would have been greater if it was in colour, but Bret Blevins's monochromic pencils and grey markers are still wonderful. [return][return]I picked up Redwall The Graphic Novel from a local book store's comic/manga section, but didn't notice any other copies. Sorry. MINE.
Once upon a time, in the earliest of time as a matter of fact, a meteor fell to the earth. It contained a beautiful blue stone which was picked up on the African plains by a primitive human girl called Tall One (named for obvious reasons). [return][return]The stone granted her certain power over her tribe, and gave her the push she needed into following her instincts, thus setting into motion the evolution of the human race.[return][return]Tall One passed on, as did the stone. It played a significant role in the lives of various individuals, dividing this novel into eight stories linked by the one blue stone.[return][return]In the first three stories, women are still revered for their powers of being able to give birth. This changed rapidly as civilisation evolved. In the fourth story, a Roman officer presents it to his wife as his version of a scarlet letter. He forces her to wear it out and would tell everyone the story behind it - it was worn by an Egyptian queen who was put to death for adultery. [return][return]Amelia suffers this in silence. When her Jew friend Rachel invites her to join her home church, Amelia learns about Jesus the Jew who was crucified 30 years ago. She came to forgive her husband and make the best of her situation. But Cornelius is not a man to be denied the pleasure of tormenting his wife. [return][return]Amelia dies and is canonised as a saint. Her remains came into the possession of a church in England several centuries later, resting under the roof of the chapel of St. Amelia.[return][return]The focus moves on to Mother Winifred, the prioress of St. Amelia. The chapel is home to the scriptorium where illuminations are added to text. Winifred wants nothing more than to paint the altarpiece to honour St. Amelia but Father Abbot will not hear of it. He is on a quest to close the old chapel and move the sisters to the new one where they can teach younger nuns the art before they die.[return][return]The point of conflict is established, but Winifred is on the losing end. By accident, she discovers the stone and is presented with a new problem - sell the stone for pigments that the sisters so desperately need and the church refuses to fund, or hold on to it for the time being and rely on her resourcefulness for worldly matters. It is in this manner that the blue stone saved the lives of herself and her sisters.[return][return]The stone passed through many hands and many years, and the story continues in Germany where a young peasant woman named Katherina sets off to find her father, who was on a quest to find St. Amelia s Stone.[return][return]This is probably the longest and most elaborate story, charting her journey from Germany to Jerusalem and the many obstacles that cropped up in-between. Katherina found love and lost it, was captured and sold into slavery twice, gave birth and found a place for herself in the process. [return][return]Her father did find the stone but he died before he could return to Katherina. The stone ended up in the French colony of Martinque, years after it was named the Star of Cathay. The tale here is short but surprising, and is my favourite of the lot because it shows the depth of deviousness women are capable of.[return][return]Eight epics in two sittings is the right way to a headache, which was exactly what happened to me. The Blessing Stone is a good choice for those wanting to try the author without committing to a full length single story. [return][return]Barbara Wood is my other guilty pleasure author, with a gift for engaging characters and attention to detail. It wasn t easy finding her novels here though, so good luck.[return]return
When it comes to children's classics, nobody does it better than the incomparable Roald Dahl. ‘The Witches' is a story about real witches, none of that broomstick-riding rubbish. Nor are there any black cloaks and pointy hats in the picture.
In fact, witches look like perfectly nice, ordinary ladies... except that they are out to get rid of children.
The book tells us within the first few pages: “A real witch gets the same pleasure from squelching a child as you get from eating a plateful of strawberries and thick cream.”
It also lists down how to identify a witch: they are always women. They wear gloves to hide their clawed fingers. They have no toes. They wear wigs. The rims of their nostrils are pink and curvy. Their spit is blue. In fact, they use it as ink. The next time you see someone lick the nib of their pen, you better steer clear.
When an orphan boy finds himself trapped in a room full of witches during the Witches Annual Meeting, he becomes one of the first to fall under the Grand High Witch's latest scheme to rid the world of children. The grandly-named Formula 86 Delayed Action Mouse-Maker will turn the little brats into mice, which will then be killed by their own horrified and unknowing parents.
The boy survives the encounter, and takes his transformation into a mouse in stride. His grandmother does too, since she's Norwegian and they take things like this better then the English.
Although his grandmother is a witchophile (a person who studies witches), she could not reverse the spell set upon him. However, the both of them are quick to take advantage of the situation and hatch a plan to rid the world of children-hating witches.
Dahl is wonderfully descriptive and delightfully wicked with his prose. Children smell like dog's droppings to witches after the have a bath? I can see kids using this as an excuse not to take a bath. (Don't worry, kids. Witches aren't real... hehehe.)
(2006)
Guy Gavriel Kay s fantasy trilogy about a land called Fionavar is a little over 20 years old. I ve never heard of this Canadian author before, but an online friend was so adamant that I should read it that he ordered the books from Amazon and had them delivered to me as a gift.[return][return]The trilogy is made up of Book One: The Summer Tree, Book Two: The Wandering Fire and Book Three: The Darkest Road. Since it s essentially one huge story, I ll be talking about all three books in one review.[return][return]In The Summer Tree, five Canadian university students Kevin Laine, Kimberly Ford, Jennifer Lowell, Dave Martyniuk and Paul Schafer - were spirited to Fionavar by a mage named Loren Silvercloak of Brennin. They were invited at attend the anniversary of the king s ascension to the throne, but not long after their arrival, it became clear that there was more to it than what they were originally told.[return][return]We learn that Fionavar is the first of all worlds. All that happen there will reflect in other worlds, including our own. [return][return]A thousand years ago, Fionavar survived a war against the evil god Rakoth Maugrim the Unraveller. Rakoth breaks free from his prison and is bent on finishing what he started - destroying the land. [return][return]Loren and Brennin Seer Ysanne would readily confess that Loren came into our world for Kim Ford, whom Ysanne dreamt will succeed her as Seer. What they didn t foresee is that the other four also had specific roles to play in the Tapestry.[return][return]The Wandering Fire, which is the middle book that will make little sense without the other two, is where Kay moves all his characters into attack position for the next book. It sees the Arthurian mythos joining the tale, along with deities and symbols from various Northern and Celtic myths. [return][return]The Darkest Road is where it all comes together and makes sense. This is where we get to appreciate how intricately woven the tale is as a whole. Light triumphs over Dark, of course, but the journey there is ultimately fulfilling to follow. [return][return]I m not a big fan of High Fantasy. Most fantasy literature is either Tolkienesque in depth and length, or just sorry imitations of it. I must confess that by the time I got to The Two Towers, I ve forgotten what Fellowship if the Rings is about and summarily gave up trying to read it.[return][return]Another friend commented that The Fionavar Tapestry is too much like Lord of the Rings and it s true. You have the big bad guy, a group of people unwittingly caught in a fight against the villain, a good wizard who help the good guys, another wizard who ends up batting for the other team, the return of exiled royalty, a nation of horse riders, dwarves, a race that will no doubt bring Tolkien s elves to mind, and a lonely journey made by a short guy to the very heart of evil.[return][return]Kay, who helped Christopher Tolkien edit The Silmarillion, deliberately set his novels in Tolkien s tradition of High Fantasy to show that there is still room to come up with something that follows a formula, yet throw many surprises of its own at the same time.[return][return]The prose is beautiful without being overbearing, and despite the many characters running all over the place, Kay still manages to make you care deeply for them. Often times, you don t realize it until the characters go off and sacrifice themselves for the greater good.[return][return]There aren t that many books out there that make me cry so much reading. The last one that comes close is Anita Diamant s The Red Tent, but that is just one book and this is three.[return][return]Every time I re-read The Fionavar Tapestry, I am reminded that there is hope for High Fantasy yet.[return][return]For more on Guy Gavriel Kay, visit his website at www.brightweavings.com.[return]return
Guy Gavriel Kay s fantasy trilogy about a land called Fionavar is a little over 20 years old. I ve never heard of this Canadian author before, but an online friend was so adamant that I should read it that he ordered the books from Amazon and had them delivered to me as a gift.
The trilogy is made up of Book One: The Summer Tree, Book Two: The Wandering Fire and Book Three: The Darkest Road. Since it s essentially one huge story, I ll be talking about all three books in one review.
In The Summer Tree, five Canadian university students Kevin Laine, Kimberly Ford, Jennifer Lowell, Dave Martyniuk and Paul Schafer - were spirited to Fionavar by a mage named Loren Silvercloak of Brennin. They were invited at attend the anniversary of the king s ascension to the throne, but not long after their arrival, it became clear that there was more to it than what they were originally told.
We learn that Fionavar is the first of all worlds. All that happen there will reflect in other worlds, including our own.
A thousand years ago, Fionavar survived a war against the evil god Rakoth Maugrim the Unraveller. Rakoth breaks free from his prison and is bent on finishing what he started - destroying the land.
Loren and Brennin Seer Ysanne would readily confess that Loren came into our world for Kim Ford, whom Ysanne dreamt will succeed her as Seer. What they didn t foresee is that the other four also had specific roles to play in the Tapestry.
The Wandering Fire, which is the middle book that will make little sense without the other two, is where Kay moves all his characters into attack position for the next book. It sees the Arthurian mythos joining the tale, along with deities and symbols from various Northern and Celtic myths.
The Darkest Road is where it all comes together and makes sense. This is where we get to appreciate how intricately woven the tale is as a whole. Light triumphs over Dark, of course, but the journey there is ultimately fulfilling to follow.
I m not a big fan of High Fantasy. Most fantasy literature is either Tolkienesque in depth and length, or just sorry imitations of it. I must confess that by the time I got to The Two Towers, I ve forgotten what Fellowship if the Rings is about and summarily gave up trying to read it.
Another friend commented that The Fionavar Tapestry is too much like Lord of the Rings and it's true. You have the big bad guy, a group of people unwittingly caught in a fight against the villain, a good wizard who help the good guys, another wizard who ends up batting for the other team, the return of exiled royalty, a nation of horse riders, dwarves, a race that will no doubt bring Tolkien s elves to mind, and a lonely journey made by a short guy to the very heart of evil.
Kay, who helped Christopher Tolkien edit The Silmarillion, deliberately set his novels in Tolkien s tradition of High Fantasy to show that there is still room to come up with something that follows a formula, yet throw many surprises of its own at the same time.
The prose is beautiful without being overbearing, and despite the many characters running all over the place, Kay still manages to make you care deeply for them. Often times, you don t realize it until the characters go off and sacrifice themselves for the greater good.
There aren t that many books out there that make me cry so much reading. The last one that comes close is Anita Diamant s The Red Tent, but that is just one book and this is three.
Every time I re-read The Fionavar Tapestry, I am reminded that there is hope for High Fantasy yet.
For more on Guy Gavriel Kay, visit his website at www.brightweavings.com.
(2006)
I can't review a Peretti novel without dragging out my dusty copy of his last book and giving you a quick rundown.
The Visitation happens in a little eastern Washington town called Antioch, where nothing ever happens. Overnight, it became the centre of the supernatural - with sighting of angels, messianic images in the sky and a weeping crucifix that heals.
But that's only the beginning. A self-proclaimed prophet appears at a local ranch and the people of Antioch accepted him as the Messiah of the second coming of Christ.
This turned out to be very good for Antioch when the visitation gives the town a booming industry in religious tourism. Everyone is happy but for one Travis Jordan, a burnt-out former pastor who came to Antioch to run away from his past. What happened to Antioch made Travis confront his past and work on uncovering the truth behind what is going happening.
Now the trap behind Christian thrillers, supernatural or not, is that someone out there will decry the entire thing as misleading and dangerously speculative. That's why it's called ‘fiction', duh. If books like Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code or Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins's Left Behind series poses a threat to your faith, then my warning label for this week is to stick to the non-fiction works that inspired novels of this genre.
(2005)
Kate Klein never thought she would end up like this - perpetually falling short of the cookie-cutter mom image in picture-perfect Upchurch, Connecticut; spending her days schlepping her three kids under 5 to and from school and play dates; living with a kind but frequently absent husband Ben; and quietly going crazy from the tedium.[return:][return:]Everything changes when she discovered Kitty Cavanaugh, the most perfect mom of them all, face down in her kitchen with a butcher knife between her shoulder blades. The suburban police are moving too slowly for her liking, so Kate takes it on herself to investigate the murder.[return:][return:]She is assisted by Janie, her wacky best friend and heiress of a carpet mogul, and her first love Evan McKenna, whom she haven t seen since that disastrous one-night stand that virtually send her running into the arms of the man who became her husband.[return:][return:]Kate s status with the other Stepford mommies improved, since she was the one who discovered the body. They grudgingly accepted Kate into their little clique, allowing her to question them about the woman she barely knew.[return:][return:]Jennifer Weiner attempts a murder mystery for the first time after a series of more chick lit samplings. Her books do mark a certain period in her real life to some extent - she was single when she wrote Good in Bed (a story about a single plus-size woman trying to love herself and find love), but she has since progressed on to write about married-with-kids characters, which I no longer identify with.[return:][return:]Perhaps this is why I wasn t very taken with this book. The flashback scenes of how she met Janie and Evan were what we ve come to expect from Weiner, but the book soon became all about Kate tracing the footsteps of Kitty Cavanaugh and her investigation.[return:][return:]Kitty s double life. Kitty s search for her real father. Kitty s lecherous husband Phillip. In the end, the whole thing feels like a huge red herring. Thank goodness for Janie, I say.[return:]return:
Frank Peretti is one of my favourite Christian fiction authors and I had no idea it s been so long since his last book. When I spied Monster on the shelf of one of our local bookstores, I dropped the two other books I was planning to buy and snatched this up immediately. This book marks Peretti s return after a 6 year hiatus and it s good to see that he did something with his time away from us. [return][return]Reed Shelton, together with his timid and reluctant wife Beck embarks on a survival weekend trekking in the forest. They plan was to meet their friends the following day so they could hike together. On the first night, they are startled by unearthly wails before something emerges from the forest and starts pursuing them. Reed believes they were bears, but after the creature carries his wife off, he doesn t know what to believe.[return][return]With the help of his friends Cap and Sing, and a much divided team from the small town, Reed returns to the forest to find Beck, or what s left of her. It became clear that this was no bear. Half of the rescuers believe she s been snatched by a Sasquatch, but when Cap goes back to his former place of employment to get some samples analysed, he discovers it may be something worse - something man-made.[return][return]Peretti touches on the issue of evolution and creationism here, but not to a degree where it ll answer any questions or satisfy anyone with a serious interest in the subject. It s also light on the religious overtones compared to his past work, but it s still very much a novel that fans will enjoy.[return]return
This is a one sitting read and kinda adorable where teenage drama is concerned. I love the theatre aspect of it.
Maximum Ride is no ordinary 14 year old girl. She and her adopted family - Fang and Iggy, both 13, Nudge, 11, Gazzy, 8, and Angel, 6 - were created in a lab called the School. The experiment made them 2% bird. Apart from the fact that they have wings and can fly, they also have special powers that are revealed as the story unfolds.[return:][return:]At some point before the story begins a sympathetic scientist named Jeb helped the flock escape. He spent a couple of years raising and caring for them before disappearing one day. Max and gang assumed that he had been killed by the School s mercenaries, another experiment which resulted in wolf-like mutants called Erasers.[return:][return:]When their hideout is discovered by the Erasers in the beginning of this book, Angel is captured and taken away. The flock realises that one of their old friends back at the School, Jeb s son Ari, now lead the Erasers and is out for their blood.[return:][return:]Max makes a decision that she never wanted to make: They had to go back to the School and save Angel. [return:][return:] Maximum Ride was inspired by James Patterson s previous novels When the Wind Blows and The Lake House , which also featured a Max who escaped from a School. But all similarities end here. This is a different Max with a different set of supporting characters. [return:][return:]While the other kids found new powers, Max finds a Voice in her head. She s not gone off her rocker; something s been implanted in her that could be opening this unsettling two-way communication. Her mission, the Voice tells her, is that she has to save the world.[return:][return:]I found Maximum Ride a bit of a disappointment; the main reason I got it was because I loved the original two novels. [return:][return:]However, it was intended for a new audience altogether, and I don t mean people who haven t read Patterson before. The series is aimed at kids, which is a little hard to believe at first if you judge books by their cover. Narrated by Max, the book may appeal to younger readers who have entertained fantasies of flying and other cool things.[return:][return:]Having done various genres and written convincingly from the POV of women, Patterson now tries his hand at writing for young adults. It s sci-fi meets fantasy, and certainly is a different spin from Cornelia Funke or JK Rowling. However, I probably won t endorse it as being better. His trademark short chapters may keep some of you reading, but it s a tired device for a long time fan. I need a break from Patterson anyway.[return:]return:
This was a one-sitting read for me. While the premise deals with the unfunny topic of parental kidnapping and the fallout, the characters are adorable and easy to root for.
