Cid
An excellent book – entertaining and heartbreaking at the same time. I enjoyed getting a peek inside the daily lives of Afghani citizens during Taliban rule, even if much of it was hard to stomach. But I love seeing the sides of Afghani live that are ignored by Islamophobic North American culture, like the importance of family.
I'm just glad this was fiction, because I fear a true story wouldn't have had such a satisfying ending.
I liked it, it was Pratchett. It just wasn't Pratchett at his finest – both Going Postal and Making Money were far superior Moist von Lipwig books, and the dwarven politics were much better dealt with in The Fifth Elephant and Thud. Also some spoilery bits at the end annoyed me greatly. Probably not a reread book, which is strange for a Discworld book.
I originally read the Protector of the Small series years ago and it wasn't my favourite of the Tortall sub-series, but this time around I appreciated it a whole lot more. For one, Kel is an awesome character.
She isn't special in any way – no magic, no special link with the gods – and earns everything she gets through hard work and common sense. Sure, she started learning her weapons at the ripe old age of 6, but she gets really good at them because she never gives up, even when everything hurts and she could be sleeping in. Plus, she cares. She's compassionate without being a mother-figure (or at least that's how I see it, despite some of the boys calling her “Mother” in jest.)
The other thing I love about this series is that there isn't a love story. Sure, Kel has her crushes and relationships, but she realizes that other things are higher on her priority list that love and/or sex and just gets on with them. How often do you see that in a teen book?
Not really a spoiler, but... this book has one of the most honest discussions about why a person would not want to become a parent I have ever read. In fact, it uses a couple of different characters to show MORE THAN ONE REASON. And no one is treated as broken or unfeeling, and for that reason alone I love Meg Cabot more than I ever thought I would.
Oh, and there's lots more to the book than that. But that's what I came away from it caring about, so that's what I'm writing about.
I decided to re-read some L'Engle because someone whose opinion I admire was recently talking about how disappointed she was when she re-read them as an adult...
As a kid/teen I adored this book and would have given it 6 stars if that was possible. As an adult, I am more aware of its faults but still loved it. I still adore Meg (in this book... I'll leave the debate about adult!Meg for if I ever review The Arm of the Starfish) and this time around I found myself really really enjoying Mrs Murry. I'm intrigued by her story and wish there was more. I still think Meg&Calvin are one of my favourite literary couples (up there with Anne&Gilbert) and I'm still ambivalent about Charles Wallace.
I love the way Rubin writes about her experiences with happiness and encourages others to find their own happys. I came away from reading this book with a lot to think about, despite having a completely different life than hers. Or possibly BECAUSE I have a completely different life... I was never tempted to take her happiness resolutions and shoehorn them into my life, but rather to think about what worked in MY life.
[Some days my reviews are more influenced by other Goodreads reviews than the actual book I read...]
Just the right mix of fluff and seriousness to catch my current incredibly short attention span. I've started about 12 books in the last 2 weeks, and this was the only one I actually got more than a couple of chapters into.
Things I love about this book:
1. Partially written in an epistolary format. Possibly my favourite format ever, when well written.
2. Lincoln. You know, a main male character who is awkward and nerdy and kind and NOT A FUCKING ALPHA MALE. Sorry for the caps abuse, just really sick of the same male character over and over again.
3. A really excellent look at a realistic female friendship.
Highly recommended, two thumbs up. Though, possibly not to anyone who doesn't remember 1999...
I've been meaning to read this series for years now and I'm so glad I finally did! They're excellent! Good plot, delightful (and realistic) characters, and a good dose of humour. I appreciate the fact that they can teach a “lesson” without heavy handed moralizing.
I would definitely recommend Mystery at Lake Placid to young boys (and girls interested in sports) despite it being almost twenty years old. I think it's stood the test of time better that a lot of kids books!
Read the first two books in this series on the recommendation of a lot of my regulars at the store. About what I was expecting – cute, small-town, Christian fic. I liked the main character (though I do have a soft spot for fictional priests) and I really enjoyed the quirkiness of all the minor characters. I don't think I'll read any more in the series, but I would recommend them to some of my customers. On the downside, they are very overtly Christian, which didn't bother me (I just had a lot of flashbacks to when I used to go to church and people actually DID talk like that) but would turn off some people who would otherwise like the small-town feel.
Another light and fun read, though I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as The Fairy Godmother. The final third of the book was too rushed and left at least one massive question unanswered. I did like the resolution to the romance subplot, but... well... I saw a completely different way that the fairy tale could have been subverted...
I would have loved it if Andie had ended up falling for her Champion after all. Lackey certainly isn't averse to same-sex romances and it would have gone against the tradition of girl falls for boy, boy reveals himself to be girl-in-disguise, both girls happily marry other boys. I was pretty sure that it wasn't going to happen, given that it was a Luna book and trying to appeal to the romance market, but it didn't stop me from hoping.
I do enjoy the fact that The Tradition isn't completely hetero-centric – Andie and Gina both still feel the pressure of The Tradition building until they take the blood oath, not just until Gina is outed by the unicorns.
In the end, though, I really did like that Andie ended up with Periapt. A nerdy dragon, how much better can you get? Since I'm one of the readers who did like the sex scenes in The Fairy Godmother, I wish there had been at least a little something about the physical side of their relationship in this one. I mean, Periapt has a whole new body to explore now...
I knew I had read this book when it first came out, but I saw it at the library today and couldn't for the life of me remember what happened in it. It was another light and fluffy read, just what I was in the mood for.
I really enjoyed watching Lizzie grow up over the course of these three books. I remember being completely and utterly annoyed with her at the beginning of book one, though Cabot's charm can always suck me into the story despite that. Not the best book I've ever read, but lots of fun.
Light and fluffy - just what I needed!
Lackey tends to excel at world-building and I really enjoyed this new universe. Take a couple of interesting characters, throw in subverted fairy tales and some romance, and stir!
I do see why a lot of bookstores have trouble deciding where to shelve it. It is definitely fantasy, but it has the feel and structure of a romance novel. Luckily, I enjoy both!
The best way to describe this book would probably be as a historical mystery romp. I found myself comparing it to early Anne Perry novels (before they got all same-y), but maybe a better comparison would be one of Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody novels. Well researched in the historical details, but the characters have pretty modern sensibilities — I know that annoys a lot of people, but I love it.
The novel opens with the death of Lady Julia Grey's husband, presumably of natural causes, but quickly jumps to a year later when evidence comes to light that maybe it wasn't quite as natural as all that. With the help of Nicholas Brisbane, a “private inquiry agent”, she investigates the murder.
It's the first in a series and I'll definitely read more. There's a hint of paranormal-ish goings-on (not vampires or werewolves, more like Gypsy highjinks) in this one, so I'll be interested to see if she digs deeper into that aspect.
Quote that I read to everyone in close proximity: [First line] To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor.
This book has been on my reading list for a couple of years now am I'm so glad I finally read it, because it was excellent! It's a memoir, not about a celebrity or politician, but about an ordinary woman. In the same week that her husband of 15 years leaves her for a man he met on Gay.com, she's injured in a car accident and ends up returning to her Mennonite family in order to put her life back together.
It's not a straight forward memoir — it tends to flow from one story to the next, jumping around in time and place as one thing reminds her of another thing. It's partly about returning to her Mennonite roots and the strangeness of that after living with a militant athiest. It's partly about coming to terms with her ex-husband and his charm and bipolar disorder. It's mainly just a very entertaining story about an average woman.
I would highly recommend it to anyone who liked Eat Pray Love. I would also recommend it to anyone who loathed Eat Pray Love. I''s the story of a woman finding herself after her life falls apart, but she does it with warmth and humour and a lot less whining than Elizabeth Gilbert...
Quote that I read to everyone in close proximity:North American Mennonites all used to grow up speaking Low German, using an outhouse, and shelling peas, sometimes all at the same time. This makes us ace multitaskers. My mother, one of seventeen kids, grew up with a two-seater biffy so that people wouldn't have to wait to use the toilet; they could enter in pairs, do their business, and get right back to work. The family that shits together knits together.