Kiwiria's October Reads

[kiwiria.livejournal.com]

Slightly more books than usual (or what's become usual post knitting anyway) this month, due to Dewey's Read-a-thon! :)
I'm posting this early, as I'm heading off to London later today (yay!), so if I finish any more books by the end of today, I'll just add it to November's tally instead :)


Sideways Stories from Wayside School - Louis Sachar, 4/5, 115 pages
Weirdest book ever! But not bad-weird, just weird-weird. I wish I had known of it when I was young enough to fully appreciate it. Also I wish it had been translated to Danish so I could introduce my nieblings to it! Reading it now I can't figure out whether I love it or whether it's OTT, but as a kid I would have gobbled it up!


The Age of Miracles - Karen Thompson Walker, 3/5, 294 pages
I can't quite figure out what I thought of this book. It was captivating and boring at the same time... how does that even work?

In short, it is the story of an apocalypse. The rotation of the earth is steadily slowing with all the consequences that has to humans, animals and plants. It is very much character- or perhaps even atmosphere-driven rather than plot-driven, which seems odd for an apocalyptic book.

I liked that it was the story of an apocalypse... that seems very rare. Usually books take up years or even centuries after the apocalypse. I wish some attempt at an explanation had been given though.

I liked Julia and Seth, but really disliked both of Julia's parents... especially her mother. I'm not sure we were supposed to like her though. In general I think Julia and her classmates acted older than their age though. They seemed more like 14-15-year-olds than like 11-12-year-olds.

The ending confused me. It was very much a non-ending, but on the other hand I'm not sure I can see how else it could have ended.

So all in all a very weird book. Very slow-moving, but even so I was eager to see what happened next... even though I knew the answer was "more nothing".

Weird!


Shadow of Night - Deborah Harkness, 4.5/5, 672 pages
The fact that it took me over a month to read this is in NO WAY an indication of what I thought of it. In fact, I loved it - I've just been too busy knitting to read much. I need to learn how to read and knit at the same time!

But I digress. This was an amazing sequel to A Discovery of Witches and I think I might even like it a tiny bit more than that one. This was Twilight means Dragonfly in Amber (Diana Gabaldon)... I wouldn't have thought it would work, but it totally did!

I loved this chance to see Matthew and his Dad together, and have some questions answered about Diana's family, but am very interested in seeing what awaits the two of them next.

The last book in the trilogy is expected in 2014 - I'll definitely be getting hold of that one as well.


Black Powder Wars - Naomi Novik, 3.5/5, Audiobook ~13hrs
Better than book 2, still not as good as book 1. I may read more of the series eventually, but it's not at the top of my list just now.

... The fact that those two sentences is all I can think of to say about it probably also indicates how little impression it made on me.

I did love Iskierka though :)


Prepper - Lise Bidstrup, 3.5/5, 186 pages
Danish dystopian novel. I liked it well enough, but would have enjoyed it even more if the ending hadn't been so abrupt. Fun, quick read though.


Crown Duel - Sherwood Smith, 2.5/5, 224 pages
Unfortunately rather disappointing. I had had this book recommended very highly to me, but while it was certainly okay, I never felt it went beyond that. The plot was predictable, and I never really got to care for the characters. Besides, how often do we need to be told that Mel is tiny and no matter whose clothes she borrows, she'll go swimming in them? I don't usually notice such repetitions, but here it got tedious even for me.

I didn't dislike it, and it kept me okay entertained, but I'm not particularly fussed about reading the sequel.


Guilt By Association - Gilbert Morris*, 5/5, 296 pages
One of my favourite books which I've read too many times to count. The evangelization does get a bit heavy handed at times perhaps, but it's kept within the concept of the story-line, so I don't think it would be too much - even to a non-Christian.

I know the story well enough by now that I remember most details, so it's fun to see how many clues I can pick up on before the characters themselves do. Unlike many other crime novels the clues are made present to the reader as well, which makes for a much more satisfying read :)

Still, my favourite parts of the story is reading about life in the silo and the backgrounds of the different people there.


Glow - Amy Kathleen Ryan, 4/5, 385 pages
I really liked this. It fit the bill perfectly as the final read of a read-a-thon. It was engaging, quick-paced and - most importantly - a really quick read!

It reminded me a lot of "Across the Universe" by Beth Revis, and there were definitely a lot of similarities in the basic premise of the two books, even if the actual plot took it two different directions. I think I like Waverly's story line slightly more than Kieran's, but in both situations I was surprised and appalled by the actions of the people surrounding them.

I'm not entirely sure what I thought of the epilogue though - it did change the mood of the book somewhat, in a direction I'm not sure I like. It's too early to tell though, so while I won't go rushing out to purchase the next book in the series, I might just pick it up if I find it at as low a price as I did this one :)


Yarn Harlot - Stephanie Pearl-McPhee*, 4/5, 219 pages
PERFECT Read-a-Thon reading - especially for the late night / early morning hours.


The Secret Lives of Dresses - Erin McKean, 3.5/5, Audiobook ~14hrs
Fun chick-lit. It wasn't quite as good as I had hoped for (too few secret lives), but it did have enough substance to keep me entertained, and the very last sentence had me laughing out loud - that's always a good sign :)

I found Dora a very relatable main character, and loved both Maux and Gabby. Con was great as well, even if I started out being really confused, because I'd somehow turned him out to be Mimi's age rather than Dora's! The ending was predictable, but comforting - after all, you usually know what you get when reading chick-lit.

Would have preferred more secret lives though!


Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats - T.S. Eliot*, 4/5, 64 pages
I needed a quick and light book for the read-a-thon. This fit the bill perfectly.


Lioness Arising - Lisa Bevere, 3/5, Audiobook
Lisa Bevere is a wonderfully, God-inspired speaker, whom I'm very happy to have heard "live" on several occasions.

Unfortunately her inspiration doesn't translate all that well to pen and paper, so while I liked "Lioness Arising" well enough, I wasn't as touched by it as I had hoped to be. Originally I thought her message just didn't work as well in the written word, so I got hold of an audio version of her book, read by Lisa Bevere herself, but it still didn't have the passion or the energy as her speaking has when you experience her on stage.

Even so, Lisa made a lot of good points in her book, so at the end of the day, I still liked it well enough to give it 3 stars.


Library of the Dead - Glenn Cooper*, 5/5, 350 pages
Fantastic book tying together events in Las Vegas and New York of 2009, Area 51 of 1947 and Isle of Wright of 777. Just as good as a reread... even if I did find that the Danish translation was less than awesome.


Book of Souls - Glenn Cooper*, 4/5, 376 pages
Rereading these as I've finally gotten my hands on the third book in the series. As is typical for trilogies (or whatever this may turn out to be), I think this is the weakest of the three. Still loved it though!


The Keepers of the Library - Glenn Cooper, 4.5/5, 384 pages
I finished this in just two days - would have been less if I hadn't had my niece over for the day :) The third book about Will Piper, and just as I had hoped, this one focused on "The Horizon" in 2027. I'm not entirely sure what I thought of the resolution... it didn't come entirely out of the blue, but unlike most things in book two, there were no hints of it in the previous books either.

However, it did leave the door open for Glenn Cooper to continue his series, so I'm not entirely unhappy about it either :) I've loved the three books so far, and would be very eager to read more, should he decide to continue it. Sure, the first one was the best, because of the mystery of Area 51, but suspense-wise I thought the other two just as good.


Holidays on Ice - David Sedaris, 3/5, Audiobook ~4hrs
Loved "Santaland Diaries" and "Dinah, the Christmas Whore", but can't quite decide what I thought of the rest. Very, very dark and very, very disturbing. Also, I couldn't figure out which were fact and which were fiction. Some were obvious, but not all of them.

But definitely not a book to read to get into "the holiday spirit"! ;)


Book of the Month: A tie between The Keepers of the Library and Shadow of the Night

Biggest Disappointment: Probably Crown Duel... I liked it well enough, but had expected more.

Comments

[hestergray.livejournal.com]

Sideways Stories from Wayside School was one of my favorite books when I was a kid! My fourth grade teacher read it to us, and I think his plan was to read a chapter or two after we came in from recess, but I remember we would always beg him to keep reading. He would give in and read at least one more chapter. The entire class was riveted, and I think he loved it too. It helped that he did all the voices!

I still have a copy of it on my bookshelf, but if I hadn't loved it when I was young, I wonder what I would think about it now... :)