Kiwiria's Books for September

[kiwiria.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... considering September was designated Roald Dahl month, I really didn't do all that well - only 3 of his books read! But I discovered I didn't have The BFG after all (was convinced I had it around somewhere) and then didn't feel like reading any of his other books. Ah well, another time.


Sandry's Book - Tamora Pierce*, 4/5, 223 pages
The Circle books are obviously aimed at a younger audience than most of Tamora Pierce's other books. Nothing wrong with that, it's just a good thing to be aware of before reading the series.

I did enjoy the book though, even though it was pretty much an introduction to the universe more than actual plot. I wonder why Tamora Pierce managed to do that so well in Alanna but not so much here? Probably because she tried to tell the story from too many viewpoints at once, instead of just sticking to one of them as she does in the later books.

But despite any misgivings, Tamora Pierce's writing is still magical enough that she draws me in completely. There are few books by her that I can comfortably put down before having finished.

Tris's Book - Tamora Pierce*, 3.5/5, 208 pages
I think this is my least favourite in the Circle of Magic series. Not that it's not still good, but Tris has always been the one of the four I was the least interested in. The book also seemed rather rushed, but I think that may be a general thing for the entire series, and not just this book in particular.

Daja's Book - Tamora Pierce*, 4.5/5, 194 pages
From the worst in the series, to the best in the series, this one is definitely my favourite. I think this is better written than the others, probably because Tamora Pierce doesn't try to do as much and keep tract of as many different plot lines in this one. I enjoy reading about Daja's interaction with the traders and her work with metals and fire fascinates me.

Michael Laudrups tænder - Majse Njor & Camilla Stockmann, 4/5, 256 pages
(Michael Laudrup's Teeth)
Author: Majse Njor & Camilla Stockmann
There's absolutely no plot here. It's simply the e-mail correspondance of two women during one year of their lives. They start out as strangers, but slowly open up to each other, and start sharing funny, embarrassing and poignant stories about their lives.

I had the book recommended by a friend, and it really struck a chord with me, as over the years I've made a LOT of friends whom I only know through their words and have never met - yet I'd consider them among my closest friends. It's a very 'authentic' book, and I really enjoyed getting to know Camilla and Majse through their emails. It's a different sort of feel-good book, and I greatly enjoyed it.

The Twits - Roald Dahl*, 2.5/5, 96 pages
I vaguely recall rather enjoying this book as a child, but have to admit that it does not pass the test of time. Or rather, I still see what appealled to me as a kid, but it's actually the exact same things that I no longer like about it. It's really gross and full of 'come-uppance', which was totally deserved, but got a bit old to read about.

Briar's Book - Tamora Pierce*, 3.5/5, 221 pages
Tamora Pierce has learned her lesson and stopped trying to write from too many points of view at the same time, which is definitely a good thing. Otherwise I'm not too impressed by this one as the plot is more or less non-existant... or perhaps it's just the one I remembered the best.

The Saturdays - Elizabeth Enright, 3/5, 158 pages
I had this recommended to me because I loved the Gone-Away Lake books so much. I'm glad, because The Saturdays is an adorable tale, that I'd be glad to read to my kids some day. I didn't find it quite as charming as Gone Away Lake, as I felt it lacked some of the magic of that series, although I wouldn't doubt that nostalgia has something to do with it as well.

The book is somewhat dated, which especially is apparent in the childrens' outings. I'm not sure I'd let a 10-year-old walk through NYC by herself (I didn't get how far it was, but more than just around the block, which would be different), and the reaction to a 13-year-old coming home with a manicure and red fingernails would have been very over the top today.

I think I'll want to read the rest eventually, but I'm in no rush to get them out of the library right away.

Nightfall - L.J. Smith, 2.5/5, 512 pages
I'm not sure what it says about a book when my first thought was, "Well, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be", but The Struggle is still definitely the worst book in this series/spin-off series.

I actually rather liked the concept of a possessed vampire, and thought Damon was exceptionally intriguing. Elena still annoys me though. She is so two-dimensional. Bonnie and Meredith are both much more interesting characters who get far too little page-time. And Mrs. Flowers! I knew there was more to her than met the eye! Now I need to read the next book - if for no other reason, then to see what happens to her!

Blind Faith - Ben Elton, 3/5, 367 pages
A modernized version of 1984, although not quite up to the same literary standards. However, being the plebeian that I am ( ;-) ) I may just prefer this novel.

The society described was absolutely ludicrous, although at the same time scarily plausible with the fast growth of blogging sites, twitter, facebook etc. That said, the universe-building was absolutely the strength of this book. The plot was rather thin, and mostly there to support the universe rather than the other way around. I would often gasp incredulously at the oddities described, but figure that the plot itself will quickly be forgotten. Ben Elton does know how to write fascinating books though, so I consider myself well entertained by it.

Chart Throb - Ben Elton, 3.5/5, 464 pages
Chart Throb is very much like Dead Famous (also by Ben Elton) in that it takes a reality TV phenomenon to its logical extreme. In Dead Famous "Big Brother" came under scrutiny - here it is "X-Factor" and that ilk. Just like while reading Dead Famous I was kept fascinated throughout the book, could hardly put it down (read it in less than 24 hours in fact), yet felt uncomfortably like a voyeur while reading it... which I suspect was the purpose.

Chart Throb had very few likeable characters, and I was occasionally annoyed to be more or less manipulated into feeling sorry for the most unsympathetic characters... yet I could actually easily believe that such characters exist. I got a good laugh out of reading about HRH, The Prince of Wales though, and although I greatly had to suspend my disbelief for it to work, I thought it was a nice touch.

The main problem with reading Chart Throb and Blind Faith back to back was that I noticed a lot of phrases and ideas being reused. (What is this fascination with Wuthering Heights? From Babysitter's Club to Twilight, it's held in great esteem by everybody, and I feel tricked, because personally I think it's one of the worst books I've ever read!) While "Love you big time" and "I'll big you up" sounds completely plausible in a future society, here it just sounded fake.

Esio Trot - Roald Dahl*, 3/5, 62 pages
Another childhood discovery. Not too bad, but not amazing either. I can definitely see what attracted me to it when I first read it at age 10, but unlike many of Roald Dahl's other books, it really doesn't offer much to the adult reader. I AM glad he thought to tell us what happened to Alfie though, as that was one thing I was actually wondering about.

Magic Steps - Tamora Pierce*, 3.5/5, ~6hrs
Tamora Pierce's Circle books definitely aren't as good as those set in Tortall, but she's still an amazing story-teller, so even her weaker books are still well worth reading. My main problem with the Circle Opens quartet, is that they all only focus on one of the four kids, and I inevitably miss the other three and especially the way they interact with each other.

With this half-fantasy, half-murder mystery (although not very mysterious, as the reader knows who the antagonist is from a very early stage), Tamora Pierce tries to take her series in a new direction, which mostly works although I do think there's a bit too much gore and violence for the target age.

Shadow Souls - L.J. Smith, 3/5, 480 pages
I was gratified to see that most of my complaints about The Return, #1 didn't repeat themselves in this book. There was a lot more "meat" to the plot, and the characters slowly gained in complexity... actually, I think Matt got the shorter end of the stick here, since he was absent for so much of the book.

I rather liked the Dark Dimension, and seeing another part of Damon and Stephan's world. And I'm intrigued by the secrets everybody seems to be keeping.

It's become very obvious by now that these books are NOT meant to be read alone. There are strong links between the different books in the series, and while the cliff-hangers aren't quite as bad as in the original series (not this cliff-hanger anyway), they're still there, and there are a lot of issues still left open. I'm not curious enough that I'm rushing out to get hold of the next one, but I'd probably be happy enough to read it, should my publisher choose to send it my way.

The Witches - Roald Dahl*, 4/5, 200 pages
I remembered this book as being an amusing read, and was surprised to find that it's actually part horror! Well, horror for kids anyway, and phrased in such a way that it never struck me as particularly horrific as a child. The main character is turned into a mouse? Well, he doesn't mind, so why should I?

Roald Dahl definitely understands how to address children, and his books are probably the type that work best either when read as a kid or read to a kid.

I saw the movie version of this when it first came out, but remember absolutely nothing of it, so couldn't say how true to the book it is.

How to Respond When You Feel Mistreated - John Bevere, 3/5, 76 pages
MUCH easier said than done, and I also felt the book lacked some concrete examples. When are we taking vengeance out of God's hands and when are we just refusing to be door-mats? Where does the line go? In some cases it's obvious, but in others not so much.

A thought-provoking book, but though short, it still didn't escape from being rather repetative at times. The first two chapters were definitely the best, and more or less everything in the rest of the book were expansions and elaborations of the topics raised there. I did appricate his chapter on authority though - even when we sorely dislike, or even disapprove of our head of state, God is still in charge. Who are we to say He didn't put that person in that position for a reason? He also made an excellent argument for why a wife submitting to her husband doesn't necessarily mean that she has to obey him, but merely that she has to respect him. Interesting thoughts.

Flodhesten i hverdagsrummet - Tommy Hellsten, 3/5, 155 pages
(The Hippopotamus in the Living Room)
I feel odd rating this book, because I don't think it's possible to get the full effect of it, if it's not personally relevant, and therefore it doesn't feel fair to rate it down, just because I couldn't relate. Therefore this semi-average rating.

I had it recommended to me because I have a couple of very close friends who grew up suffering from some sort of co-dependency, and I could definitely recognize them in the personality traits Tommy describes a co-dependent person as having. However, no matter how much I'd like to, I can't force them to relive their lost childhood, until and unless they feel ready to do so themselves.

Cold Fire - Tamora Pierce*, 3.5/5, ~10hrs
Where the Circle of Magic quartet was mostly written for a younger audience, the same definitely cannot be said about the Circle Opens quartet. Here Tamora Pierce dives into the darker aspects of life and humanity.

Daja has always been my favourite of the four, but she does seem an awful lot older than 14. I guess some of that could be contributed to her past, but still. Nia and Jory were much more believable 10-year-olds than Daja ever was. Although I have to say they drove me crazy with their obstinancy to learning meditation. I would not have been able to be as patient with them as Daja was, and think their disobedience was passed by much too easily. That bugged me.

I was fascinated by the insights into the arsonists mind - especially his absolute bafflement, that Daja could ever suspect him of being cruel or a monster - he obviously thought his actions perfectly reasonable and a natural consequence of how he was treated... probably not too far off from how real psychopaths think

For foden af trappen - Pernille Eybye, 4.5/5, 284 pages
(At the Bottom of the Stairs)
This is the third book I've read by Pernille Eybye, and she slowly but surely improves her style for every book. The first I read was superficial, immature and boring, and I only finished it out of a sense of obligation. The second had improved by leaps and bounds, so when I got my hands on this third one, I knew it could go both ways, but was willing to give it a shot. Thankfully Pernille has continued to improve and managed to write a proper page-turner, that I had difficulties putting down, and which stayed with me for quite awhile after I finished reading it.

Seems to me that Pernille Eyebye should leave YA romance well alone, and stick to YA suspense - she does that SO much better.

Hearts of Fire - The Voice of the Martyrs, 5/5, 333 pages
A difficult book to review, because how on earth do I put into words the feelings this book woke in me? From Russia in 1945 to Indonesia in 2000 Christians have been persecuted for their faith, imprisoned, fired, tortured, abused, even martyred. I read about these people and marvel at their strength and dedication... and then I look at myself, and almost feel embarrassed for being so comfortable and safe in little old Denmark.

I'll try to make this a review rather than a testimony though, even though it's turning out to be more difficult than I thought. I've never felt called to be a missionary, but I've always been fascinated by their works, and by the fates of Christians in other countries.

These 8 accounts were especially incredible in their intensity and I very much appreciated the afterword following each chapter, as it brought us up to present day, and explained what had happened to the main character since the events of the chapter, and where she was now.

World Without End - Ken Follett, 4.5/5, 1237 pages
Pillars of the Earth was great, but a difficult read, so though I've had this for almost a year, I've been reluctant to pick it up.

With good reason, it turned out. Though just as excellent a book as PotE, World Without End was almost as unpleasant a read. I was fascinated by Ken Follett's descriptions of the time and environment, but became more and more uncomfortable by the obvious unfairness and biasedness (yes, it's a word ;) ) that existed at the time. I don't doubt that it's historically accurate, but that doesn't make it any more pleasant to read about, and it did become a tad annoying to see the main characters meet one draw-back after the other. Thankfully their lives did slowly improve over the duration of the book, so it wasn't completely horrible to read about, but it did occasionally make me put down the book and reach for some lighter reading.

That said, putting down the book didn't happen too often though, because it was definitely a page-turner, and I stayed up far too late on more than one occasion to read just a few more chapters. I also appreciated that there weren't as many completely hideous characters with NO redeeming qualities whatsoever in this one as in PotE. It made certain scenes slightly easier to stomach.

Definitely a worthy follow up to an epic novel (in every sense of the word), and I think I might even like this one a tiny bit better, though it in NO way is an easy read.

8 Babysitter's Club books - Ann M. Martin
For once 4 of these were books I'd actually never read before! It's quite funny to see how differently I view the first-reads from the nostalgia-reads :)

Book of the month: Hearts of Fire - fascinating reading!
Biggest disappointment: The Twits which was a reread and therefore made it doubly disappointing. I'd remembered it as being better.

I may actually make it to 250 books this year! But is it considered cheating that so many of them are BSC books?

Comments

[sonneta.livejournal.com]

I don't like Wuthering Heights, either. Definitely goes on my "classics" I don't like list.