Kiwiria's March Reads
Apr. 2nd, 2010 08:18 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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christianreaderOnly 11 books in March? I'm losing my touch!
The Awakening - L.J. Smith*, 3/5, 245 pages
16 years before Twilight, there were the Vampire Diaries! Seriously, they are SO much alike. I still prefer Twilight though, and it wasn't really my own choice to reread this so shortly after my first read of it (or reread it ever actually), but it's being translated to Danish, so I was asked to review it for my publisher. Thankfully it's a quick read! It's not bad - it's just nothing special either.
The Lost Diary of Don Juan - Douglas Carlton Abrams, 3/5, 290 pages
Very, very slow start. I almost gave up on it, but got stubborn, and it did improve enough for me to feel it wasn't a waste of time to finish. I know nothing about the original story of Don Juan, so I don't know how accurate it was.
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon - Grace Lin, 4/5, 288 pages
Very sweet book for children. It has many similarities to "The Wizard of Oz" and will probably attract much the same audience. I did think that all the included Chinese folktales made it more interesting though, as I'm not terribly familiar with that culture, but terribly fascinated by it.
A charming story. No great page-turner, but it'll probably be good for reading aloud.
The Queen of Attolia - Megan Whalen Turner, 3.5/5, 278 pages
Very, very different from the first book in the series. A lot darker, and a lot more "grown up". I was very taken by it, yet it took me 7 days to read the first 150 pages. Granted, I then sat down and gobbled up the rest yesterday ;) It wasn't that it was slow to start, it was just too easy for me to put down.
Unlike the first book, The Queen of Attolia was written in third person, which I preferred. It was necessary for the plot, and I appreciated hearing parts of the story from other people's POV as well. I'm not entirely sure I bought the final twist from Eurigenes... it seemed a bit too convenient and too much tell, not show. I think I liked it though - it all depends on how it's explored in later books.
Number the Stars - Lois Lowry, 4/5, 131 pages
Very sweet book showing a snapshot of life in Denmark during World War 2. It was rather odd to read such an accurate account in a "foreign" book, but at the same time, I was almost proud that the Danish resistance was deemed interesting enough to be recorded by somebody outside Denmark.
It's a very quick read - took me no more than an hour - and obviously targeted towards children. For all that though, it was a very poignant book, and captured the atmosphere (as portrayed in other books... obviously I wouldn't know myself) very well. Actually, in style and atmosphere both it reminded me a lot of my favourite WW2 novel - "Karen Kurer" by Estrid Ott. "Karen Kurer" is aimed at a slightly older audience though and has unfortunately not been translated into English.
Professional Shrink - Mac, 5/5, 229 pages
It's not often that I give a children's book 5 stars. Especially not a children's book I read for the first time at the ripe old age of 30 ;) But just once in a blue moon it's justified, and I do believe this to be one of those instances.
The book's well written - or at least well translated, since I read it in Danish. It's aimed at children, but the language isn't 'dumbed down' in any way. The characters are well described, and although not exactly likely, they make the best out of being entertaining stereotypes - especially the hit-man, who turns out to have more heart than brain.
However, the best thing about the book is the extremely original plot - the idea of an 11-year-old shrink, who in 24 hours becomes so popular that the entire of NYC's population line up to make an appointment with her is so ridiculous and far out that I couldn't not love it.
Children's books are usually best when read in the rosy light of nostalgia, but that is definitely not necessary here.
The Gorgon's Gaze - Julia Golding, 4.5/5, 303 pages
Just as good as the first book in the series. It fully lived up to my expectations and perhaps even exceeded them. I would have liked to see Connie spend more time learning about her new-found abilities, but the plot quickly made it very obvious that that wasn't going to happen. As a single book in a series, that didn't bother me too much, but I hope Julia Golding will return to Connie's training in the next book.
I'll be very interested to see where Connie's fight with Kullervo will take her, and thought Julia Golding did a good job in introducing the dillemma she may eventually face in having to beat him.
Entertaining fantasy, and a quick read. At 303 pages I read it in just under 3 hours.
The End of Mr. Y - Scarlett Thomas, 4.5/5, 502 pages
You know how you sometimes have one idea of what a book's going to be like, and then you start reading it, and it turns out to be totally different? Yeah, that was me and this book. Not that that was a bad thing at all, it just took me completely by surprise. I had expected a fun fantasy - not an almost scientific account of thought experiments.
In writing style (not genre or plot, just style) it reminded me a lot of Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder - a fictional story interspersed with a lot of non-fictional details. I was very grateful for my scientific education while reading it, as I fear a lot of the explanations would have gone over my head otherwise. As it was, it was absolutely fascinating, and the paradoxes in the book (which always seem to come about when time-travel is involved) were enough to make my head hurt.
Excellent book. I highly recommend it.
Fallen - Lauren Kate, 3.5/5, 464 pages
Fallen is the type of paranormal romance that seems to be a dime a dozen these days. However, it does stand out by being somewhat better written than many I've read recently, and for actually having a love interest that I find believable for once!
One thing that did bother me though was Luce's... I don't even know whether to call it naivety, cluelessness, recklessness or just plain stupidity. Very frustrating, and I occasionally wanted to shake her and get her to understand that That Is A Bad Idea(TM). Gah! Thankfully there were only 2-3 really bad moments, so it didn't become toe-curlingly obvious that her cluelessness was being used as a plot device.
I'm fascinated by the theory behind what makes Luce special (trying to stay away from too many spoilers here), but feel that a lot of questions were left unanswered. I'm assuming they have been left for later books in the series. For once the loose threads didn't bother me too much though, because Fallen felt complete since the plot itself was nicely concluded.
So yeah, run-of-the-mill YA, but surprisingly readable.
Gossamer - Lois Lowry, 4/5, 153 pages
I hadn't realized that this is much more a children's book than the other books I've read by Lois Lowry so far, so the first few chapters were spent readjusting my expectations. I'm glad I didn't know though, because I probably wouldn't have bought it if I had, and it's a very, very sweet story. I read it in one sitting and loved how hopeful it was.
One of those books that I'm already looking forward to reading aloud to my own kids.
Anne of the Island - Lucy Maud Montgomery*, 5/5, 243 pages
I needed a comfort read and picked this up :) It's probably my favourite Anne book, although it's difficult to say as they're all good :) I love reading about her life at Patty's Place, and I'm a hopeless romantic so the end is all good :) Also, I think the Roy-problematics are very well written and a very atypical inclusion in this type of book.
Most Recommendable: For geeks: The End of Mr. Y. I loved it to the bottom of my geeky heart! :) For parents with younger kids: Professional Shrink. Excellent entertainment.
The Awakening - L.J. Smith*, 3/5, 245 pages
16 years before Twilight, there were the Vampire Diaries! Seriously, they are SO much alike. I still prefer Twilight though, and it wasn't really my own choice to reread this so shortly after my first read of it (or reread it ever actually), but it's being translated to Danish, so I was asked to review it for my publisher. Thankfully it's a quick read! It's not bad - it's just nothing special either.
The Lost Diary of Don Juan - Douglas Carlton Abrams, 3/5, 290 pages
Very, very slow start. I almost gave up on it, but got stubborn, and it did improve enough for me to feel it wasn't a waste of time to finish. I know nothing about the original story of Don Juan, so I don't know how accurate it was.
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon - Grace Lin, 4/5, 288 pages
Very sweet book for children. It has many similarities to "The Wizard of Oz" and will probably attract much the same audience. I did think that all the included Chinese folktales made it more interesting though, as I'm not terribly familiar with that culture, but terribly fascinated by it.
A charming story. No great page-turner, but it'll probably be good for reading aloud.
The Queen of Attolia - Megan Whalen Turner, 3.5/5, 278 pages
Very, very different from the first book in the series. A lot darker, and a lot more "grown up". I was very taken by it, yet it took me 7 days to read the first 150 pages. Granted, I then sat down and gobbled up the rest yesterday ;) It wasn't that it was slow to start, it was just too easy for me to put down.
Unlike the first book, The Queen of Attolia was written in third person, which I preferred. It was necessary for the plot, and I appreciated hearing parts of the story from other people's POV as well. I'm not entirely sure I bought the final twist from Eurigenes... it seemed a bit too convenient and too much tell, not show. I think I liked it though - it all depends on how it's explored in later books.
Number the Stars - Lois Lowry, 4/5, 131 pages
Very sweet book showing a snapshot of life in Denmark during World War 2. It was rather odd to read such an accurate account in a "foreign" book, but at the same time, I was almost proud that the Danish resistance was deemed interesting enough to be recorded by somebody outside Denmark.
It's a very quick read - took me no more than an hour - and obviously targeted towards children. For all that though, it was a very poignant book, and captured the atmosphere (as portrayed in other books... obviously I wouldn't know myself) very well. Actually, in style and atmosphere both it reminded me a lot of my favourite WW2 novel - "Karen Kurer" by Estrid Ott. "Karen Kurer" is aimed at a slightly older audience though and has unfortunately not been translated into English.
Professional Shrink - Mac, 5/5, 229 pages
It's not often that I give a children's book 5 stars. Especially not a children's book I read for the first time at the ripe old age of 30 ;) But just once in a blue moon it's justified, and I do believe this to be one of those instances.
The book's well written - or at least well translated, since I read it in Danish. It's aimed at children, but the language isn't 'dumbed down' in any way. The characters are well described, and although not exactly likely, they make the best out of being entertaining stereotypes - especially the hit-man, who turns out to have more heart than brain.
However, the best thing about the book is the extremely original plot - the idea of an 11-year-old shrink, who in 24 hours becomes so popular that the entire of NYC's population line up to make an appointment with her is so ridiculous and far out that I couldn't not love it.
Children's books are usually best when read in the rosy light of nostalgia, but that is definitely not necessary here.
The Gorgon's Gaze - Julia Golding, 4.5/5, 303 pages
Just as good as the first book in the series. It fully lived up to my expectations and perhaps even exceeded them. I would have liked to see Connie spend more time learning about her new-found abilities, but the plot quickly made it very obvious that that wasn't going to happen. As a single book in a series, that didn't bother me too much, but I hope Julia Golding will return to Connie's training in the next book.
I'll be very interested to see where Connie's fight with Kullervo will take her, and thought Julia Golding did a good job in introducing the dillemma she may eventually face in having to beat him.
Entertaining fantasy, and a quick read. At 303 pages I read it in just under 3 hours.
The End of Mr. Y - Scarlett Thomas, 4.5/5, 502 pages
You know how you sometimes have one idea of what a book's going to be like, and then you start reading it, and it turns out to be totally different? Yeah, that was me and this book. Not that that was a bad thing at all, it just took me completely by surprise. I had expected a fun fantasy - not an almost scientific account of thought experiments.
In writing style (not genre or plot, just style) it reminded me a lot of Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder - a fictional story interspersed with a lot of non-fictional details. I was very grateful for my scientific education while reading it, as I fear a lot of the explanations would have gone over my head otherwise. As it was, it was absolutely fascinating, and the paradoxes in the book (which always seem to come about when time-travel is involved) were enough to make my head hurt.
Excellent book. I highly recommend it.
Fallen - Lauren Kate, 3.5/5, 464 pages
Fallen is the type of paranormal romance that seems to be a dime a dozen these days. However, it does stand out by being somewhat better written than many I've read recently, and for actually having a love interest that I find believable for once!
One thing that did bother me though was Luce's... I don't even know whether to call it naivety, cluelessness, recklessness or just plain stupidity. Very frustrating, and I occasionally wanted to shake her and get her to understand that That Is A Bad Idea(TM). Gah! Thankfully there were only 2-3 really bad moments, so it didn't become toe-curlingly obvious that her cluelessness was being used as a plot device.
I'm fascinated by the theory behind what makes Luce special (trying to stay away from too many spoilers here), but feel that a lot of questions were left unanswered. I'm assuming they have been left for later books in the series. For once the loose threads didn't bother me too much though, because Fallen felt complete since the plot itself was nicely concluded.
So yeah, run-of-the-mill YA, but surprisingly readable.
Gossamer - Lois Lowry, 4/5, 153 pages
I hadn't realized that this is much more a children's book than the other books I've read by Lois Lowry so far, so the first few chapters were spent readjusting my expectations. I'm glad I didn't know though, because I probably wouldn't have bought it if I had, and it's a very, very sweet story. I read it in one sitting and loved how hopeful it was.
One of those books that I'm already looking forward to reading aloud to my own kids.
Anne of the Island - Lucy Maud Montgomery*, 5/5, 243 pages
I needed a comfort read and picked this up :) It's probably my favourite Anne book, although it's difficult to say as they're all good :) I love reading about her life at Patty's Place, and I'm a hopeless romantic so the end is all good :) Also, I think the Roy-problematics are very well written and a very atypical inclusion in this type of book.
Most Recommendable: For geeks: The End of Mr. Y. I loved it to the bottom of my geeky heart! :) For parents with younger kids: Professional Shrink. Excellent entertainment.
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