christianreader | December Book List (Reply)

I feel like I didn't read very much this month, but I did manage 3 Harry Potter books, so that took up quite a bit of time.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling

Harry's stuck at the Dursleys and no one will tell him what's going on in the wizarding world, until a dementor attack and a hearing at the Ministry of Magic force the Order of the Phoenix to move him to their headquarters for safety. At Hogwarts, a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher makes life miserable, and even Harry's mind isn't safe since his connection with Voldemort gives him dreams and visions that Voldemort might be using to his advantage.

I'm in the minority, I think, but this is one of my favorite Harry Potter books. It is frustrating at times, but I think that's what I like about it. Harry has to learn to think before he acts, and that jumping headfirst into trouble can have serious - even tragic - consequences. I really, really wish a certain favorite character of mine didn't have to die for Harry to learn that lesson, though. *sniffle*

The Magician's Book: A Skeptic's Adventures in Narnia by Laura Miller

As a child Laura Miller loved the Chronicles of Narnia, until someone pointed out the Christian symbolism in the books. As an adult she picks them up again to see whether a nonbeliever can still find something to love about them.

I found this alternately interesting and frustrating. Miller is so set on not believing that she goes to great lengths to avoid things that are staring her in the face, and at times seems to protest almost too much. But it's a very interesting look at the Chronicles from a sort of "outsider's" perspective.

The DUFF by Kody Keplinger

Bianca is watching her friends dance at a teen nightclub when she's approached by a guy from school who she thinks is a complete sleazeball because he'll sleep with any girl willing to fall into bed with him. When he tells her that he's only talking to her because talking to the "DUFF" (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) will make her more attractive friends like him, she dumps her drink on him and walks away. But then her life at home starts to fall apart, and when Wesley approaches her again she kisses him, and soon they're doing a lot more than kissing, on a fairly regular basis.

This book is getting a lot of praise from a lot of people, mostly because it presents Bianca, and other teenagers, as having completely meaningless sex without a lot of emotional or romantic hopes involved. I just found it sad. Bianca is a foul-mouthed, cynical grump who uses sex with Wesley to forget her problems - hardly a character whose behavior I'd want to emulate, or want to see teenage girls admiring.

Hearts at Stake by Alyxandra Harvey

Solange Drake is the first female vampire born - not made - in centuries. Thanks to a prophecy made long ago that a Drake woman would overthrow the vampire queen, as her sixteenth birthday approaches she's facing enemies who don't seem to understand that she has absolutely no interest in becoming royalty. Her best friend Lucy, one of the few non-slayer humans who knows about the world of vampires, tries to help keep her safe, and as she spends more time with Solange's brother Nicholas is surprised to find that their usual bickering might be turning into something more flirtatious.

This is a cute book, but I don't seem to like it as much as other people do. There's a lot of exposition to wade through, and the different types of vampires take a while to wrap your head around. It was also really hard to figure out where the story was taking place, and how close the Drake's farm was to the town where Lucy lived and to the royal court. Lucy is the character everyone else seems to like the most, but I felt like the author was trying too hard to make her the Buffy-type everyone would love. By the time she started Bedazzling her stakes it was the last straw for me. Give me Bella Swan any day.

Matched by Allie Condie

In the Society, seventeen year olds have the option to submit their names to be Matched - the Society's matchmakers search their entire database to find the couples best suited for each other. Cassia is thrilled when her Match turns out to be a friend she's known her entire life, since most couples come from different cities and have to get to know each other through more formal channels. But when she tries to view the information about her Match, the picture on the screen is of someone else. The Society assures her it was just a computer glitch, but now that she knows about Ky she can't stop thinking about him, and wondering if she's supposed to be with him instead of Xander.

I am not much of a science fiction or dystopian fiction fan, but adding romance usually makes it more palatable for me. Not in this case, unfortunately. I found it slow-moving, the characters too flat to bring the story to life, and the romance not compelling enough to justify Cassia's defiance of the Society. I'll probably read book 2, though, just to see what happens - Allie Condie is a good writer, just not a very good story teller.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling

Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts is the calm before the storm in the fight against Voldemort. Mysterious deaths and disappearances have the magical world on edge, but for Harry and his friends there's still time to think about things like Quidditch and learning to Apparate and even romance. Professor Dumbledore gives Harry private lessons to explain to him why Voldemort can't just be killed, and what it means to be "The Chosen One".

I always have trouble remembering what happens in this book. For some reason it just doesn't stick out to me as strongly as the others - plus the movie makes a complete mess of things, so watching it doesn't refresh my memory very much. I always suspected Harry would fall for...um...the girl he falls for, so I didn't go crazy the first time I read it like some Harry/Hermione fans I know. And that scene with the lake and the Inferi is CREEPY.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling

With Voldemort in power and his wisest mentor dead, Harry sets out to defeat Voldemort armed only with the clues Dumbledore gave him in their lessons the previous year, and the help of Ron and Hermione.

This is my favorite of all the Harry Potter books. It makes me cry, it makes me laugh (I always forget how many good lines Ron has, and without turning him into the clownish comic relief like they do in the movies), and it took me three times to finally wrap my head around how, exactly, the whole Elder Wand thing worked at the end. I do wish Rowling hadn't felt the need to kill quite so many people.

Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead

Breaking out of prison is just the beginning of Rose's adventures in the final book of the Vampire Academy series. On the run with her former boyfriend Dimitri, who spent several months as an undead "Strigoi" vampire before Rose's friend Lissa was able to restore him to humanity, Rose hunts for a way to clear her name and protect Lissa from the side effects of using magic.

I'm not sure why, but the Vampire Academy books seemed to get worse as they got longer. The first three were very good, and then book four started dragging, and so did book 5, and now book 6 is long and meandering and strangely preachy. Rose and several other characters spout a lot of psychobabble about being strong and not depending on other people that just seems out of place. As for the ultimate romantic conclusion...well, I wasn't a huge fan of either guy, but it seemed pretty obvious to me who Rose was going to pick. It's just basic romance-novel-love-triangle logic.

Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey

Brat Farrar, newly returned to England from America, is stopped on the street by a man who mistakes him for a friend. When the misunderstanding is cleared up, the man makes him an offer that's hard to refuse: impersonate a boy who is believed to have killed himself several years before, and split the inheritance with his co-conspirator.

Mary Stewart was apparently influenced by this when she wrote The Ivy Tree, and there are definite similarities, mostly the lookalike offered a share in an inheritance to impersonate a missing person, and the big old English country estate known for it's horses. Brat Farrar was an enjoyable read, but the mystery was a little too easy to solve. The villain was the mustache-twirling type that only an idiot wouldn't suspect.

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman

A widow in her 60s, Mrs. Pollifax is bored and slightly depressed, and decides to pursue an interest she'd long since given up on: espionage. She walks into CIA headquarteres and offers her services as a spy, and thanks to a case of mistaken identity is offered a job as a courier. Once in Mexico, however, things go badly wrong, and Mrs. Pollifax wakes up on a plane to Albania in the company of a fellow CIA agent and a dangerous Communist general.

This is, I believe, what people call a "cracking good read". Mrs. Pollifax is adorable and outrageous, very prim and proper even while she's digging bullets out of poor Farrell. Everyone underestimates the plump little gray-haired lady, and as a result she saves the day on more than one occasion. The sequels aren't quite as entertaining, but this first one is hilarious.

Some Brief Folly by Patricia Veryan

Garret Hawkhurst is said to have murdered his wife and son and disfigured his former best friend's face with acid. A detour on the way to a relative's house for Christmas strands Euphemia Buchanan and her brother at Hawkhurst's estate, and despite his reputation Euphemia is drawn to him.

I thought this would be a good wintery-Christmasy book to end the year on, even if we didn't have very wintery weather while I was reading it. It's not as good as some of Veryan's other regency novels, but characters from those books make cameos in this one, and Garret and Mia's rocky road to true love is fun to witness. I especially love the scene where she comes down to dinner wearing every piece of jewelry she possesses, after Garret accuses her of being a fortune hunter.

2010 Best (and Worst)

Book of the Year: The Marriage Bureau for Rich People by Farahad Zama - for being the book I didn't know I was looking for, having the most Jane Austen-esque love story I've read in a long time, and combining my love for Indian movies with my love for a good book.

Author of the Year: C.A. Belmond, author of A Rather Lovely Inheritance and 2 sequels - for creating the fictional world I'd most like to be part of.

Least Favorite Book of the Year: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins - mostly because I was hardcore Team Gale, but also because it just wasn't the book I wanted it to be.

Least Favorite Author of the Year: Kody Keplinger - The DUFF is one of the most morally depressing books I've ever read.