Kiwiria's December Reads

[kiwiria.livejournal.com]

Wow - seeing "2011" at the bottom of my screen looks really, really weird! Somehow the difference seems larger than I recall changing from 2009-2010 being, but that's probably just me misremembering.

Yes, I know it's really, really late - if I've ever before posted at this hour it's more likely to have been because I'd gotten up this early than because I hadn't gone to bed yet, but we've only just returned from a (lovely) NYE at Henni's place, and I'm too awake from the cold ride home to go to bed just yet. So I figured I'd just get this posted and then see if that wouldn't help me settle down a bit.


City of Bones - Cassandra Clare, 2.5/5, 351 pages
Why has this book been hyped so? The fact that it took me nearly a month to read it should be a pretty good indicator of what I thought of it. It was okay, but definitely no more than that, and while I may at some point read the sequels, I'm in no rush to do so right now.

For once the main character was enough of a Mary Sue that even I noticed. But of course, when "Cassandra (Clarissa) Clare" writes about a main character called "Clarissa Clark", it's kinda hard to miss. It was also very obvious that the author had been heavily influenced by Harry Potter and her fanfiction writings there - only her 'muggles' where called 'mundanes' instead. Also there was a glaring plothole where Clary hands Jace his steele back, only to have it in her pocket just a few pages later - something which really ought to have been caught by editors.

Don't get me wrong. It wasn't bad. I just found it all-around average - plot, people gallery and writing - which when considering the hype around it, made for a rather disappointing read.

Untamed - PC & Kristin Cast, 3.5/5, 306 pages
After a very disappointing book 3 I was happy to see P.C. and Kristin Cast back on track in this one. Just sad that it had to happen by Zoey losing all three of her boyfriends in one bad move, but if she can't get her act together and make up her mind herself, I guess circumstances have to do it for her. And I was thrilled to see her no longer trying to tackle everything herself, but actually listening to her friends and to Nyx once in awhile. She is a lot less Mary Sue'ish in this book and accordingly a lot more likeable.

Aphrodite is still my favourite character, but I have to say that the friendly nuns run a very close second. And I'm incredibly relieved to see that the Casts no longer lump all religious people together with the narrow-minded, but actually cut some of them some slack.

Hunted - PC & Kristin Cast, 3/5, 332 pages
Alas, after a brief respite, P.C. and Kristin Cast return to their habit of sending multiple love interests Zoey's way. Come on, guys. It's getting old, and it wasn't even attractive in the first place! Why all paranormal books these days have to have a love triangle (or a love square in this case) I'll never understand.

But thankfully, it is a lot better handled in this book than in book 3, so I still have hope that they will redeem themselves in later books. Zoey's internal dilemma here is actually believable and for the one person where it isn't, the authors are already dropping hints that Zoey may call it off. Yes! Please do! Bah!

Apart from that one annoyance, I was very intrigued in the story and easily got caught up in the fast pace of the plot. I really hope we get to read a lot more about Stark and the few remaining 'sane' teachers in the next book, and am very interested to see how the fall-out from this book's ending will be handled.

Knit the Season - Kate Jacobs, 3.5/5, 260 pages
Definitely the weakest of the lot, but it's a sweet Christmas story (starting just before Thanksgiving and ending just after New Years Eve) and a quick read, so perfect for a lazy Christmas Day morning.

It's linked quite closely to "Knit Two" and ties up a lot of the loose ends from that book. Some elements were a tad too good to be true, but "it's Christmas", and I can completely understand wanting an extra doze of 'feel good' for that.

"Knit the Season" is mostly about Anita, Peri, Catherine and Dakota, with the rest of the Knitting Club being pretty much just periphery characters. I've always liked those four best anyway, but I did feel the lack of the other characters was a bit too glaringly obvious, but it's also bar far the shortest of the lot, so I guess there just wasn't any room for more plot.

And it did leave me feeling very Christmasy, which is always the main point of a Christmas read :)

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - John Boyne, 4/5, 224 pages
I'm not entirely sure what I think about this novella. I had no expectations at all, as the only thing I knew about it, was that it took place during WW2 and that "the boy in the striped pyjamas" was a prisoner of a concentration camp.

Generally speaking, I liked the book - although I'm not sure that 'liked' is the right term for the effect it had on me. I liked the way it was written through a young naive boy's POV, even if that boy did at times act FAR beneath his age. I'd have found it a lot more believable if Bruno had been 6 rather than 9. Forgetting the names of some of his best friends after less than a year? Really?

Still, it was Bruno's naivete and innocence that made the story work. The ending wouldn't have been at all believable if Bruno had been more mature or world-wise. As it was, it was a tragic story that (apart from Bruno's age) really worked for me.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis*, 5/5, 172 pages
I was "in between books" and in the mood for a quick and cozy read, so it just felt natural to turn to one of my favourite comfort series. I've always loved the story of Narnia, and TLTWTW is one of my favourites in the series.

One thing that takes me by surprise every time I read it is how short it is. Probably thanks to the various movie adaptions, I keep adding details and stretching out scenes, only to discover that the book really is quite fast moving, and Lewis doesn't dwell much on neither characterisations, descriptions or action.

But I can't even begin to imagine how it must have been to return to 'our world' after having not just been all grown up, but kings and queens too!

The Book of Tomorrow - Cecelia Ahern, 2.5/5, 320 pages
The premise sounded really interesting, but the book was extremely slow-moving - it wasn't until page 100 that Tamara even found the mysterious book! Also, I didn't think the writing style really meshed with the genre. I think Cecelia Ahern tried for 'suspense' rather than 'chick-lit', which made for a really weird mix, that didn't really work for me. It did improve after the first 100 pages, but there were still too many things left unexplained or plot-devices that were just a tad too convenient. It had its moment, but in general I didn't care much for it at all.

The Gift - Cecelia Ahern, 2/5, 309 pages
I think I've just about given up on Cecelia Ahern by now. I loved "PS. I Love You", but though I keep being fascinated by the premises of her books, every book since then has been not bad, but a bit of a disappointment. Unfortunately, this was no exception.

A bit of an alternative "It's A Wonderful Life", the book was interesting enough to keep me reading - and it's a quick read, so I pretty much finished it in one sitting - but the ending fell flat, and left me thinking I had wasted my time. I'm glad I just got it out of the library, and didn't actually spend any money on it.

Cathedral of the Sea - Ildefonso Falcones, 4/5, 607 pages
A difficult read, as books set in that time tend to be. It always infuriates me to read how nobels treated peasants, how rich treated poor, how Christians treeated Jews, and how the inquisition acted in general.

But leaving aside my natural distaste for those elements, "Cathedral of the Sea" is a brilliant book that gives a fascinating insight into the life and the times of a man in Barcelona in the 14th century. I loved reading about Joan and Armau's childhood and their fascination with the church of Santa Maria. I did feel Joan's developement wasn't sufficiently explained though.

Life handed Armau a tough hand, and it got a bit frustrating to read how one bad thing after another happened to him, but I enjoyed seeing how he made the most of thing, and kept bouncing back up with the help of kind onlookers.

It is by no means a cozy book, but has its comforting moments - I loved seeing Armau's family and friends rallying around him!

All By My Selves - Jeff Dunham, 5/5, Audiobook ~9hrs
From the very first time I even heard about this book, I was keen, but I wasn't too sure whether the book would actually be any good, or if it was just a gimmick. Especially when I saw that Jeff Dunham's characters took part in it as well. How would that even work in writing? Wouldn't it end up being too 'cute' for words? The only way that would work would be if the book came out on audiobook, narrated by Jeff Dunham himself...

... Famous last words, because of course it did. And when I discovered that, I saw no reason to hesitate further, and immediately turned to audible.com to buy it (I usually stick to audible.co.uk, but unfortunately they didn't have it). It was worth every penny! I usually listen to audiobooks while biking to and from work, and I can't help but wonder what the other cyclists must have thought, when I biked past them laughing my head off - yes, Jeff Dunham is every bit as funny in book as on stage - and literally found myself biking detours to get to listen to "just another five minutes".

It's a well-written book, coated with Jeff's humour and charm. I got to know a lot about him that I had no clue about, and am even more impressed by his current success than before. I was thrilled to hear his performance in Denmark being mentioned and laughed out loud at his surprise at how popular he was here as well.

I highly recommend it to any fan of Jeff Dunham - but get the audiobook version. I don't think it would be nearly as good without Jeff himself telling the story and doing the voices.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - J.K. Rowling*, 5/5, 223 pages
I'm shocked! My records tell me I haven't read this since before I started keeping records, which puts it at before 2003!!! Definitely about time for a reread then.

I have to admit, it's pretty weird to read this and know that the series is now over. It was like revisiting part of my past, and knowing I could never return to that time again. (And yes, I know exactly how weird that sounds - I've never felt that way about a book before.) Because of that, I can't say whether it was as good as I remembered or not, because it had this atmosphere of nostalgia hanging all over it - making it almost impossible to review properly.

There were some things I had forgotten - e.g. how obnoxious Ron and Harry found Hermione in the beginning - and I can't help but think that Dumbledore's way of handling the last-minute point-giving was a bit cruel to the Slytherins. Why make them think that they had won, and then take that away from them at the very last moment? Harry had been in the hospital for 3 days, the points could have been given earlier.

But as always, the magic drew me in completely, and I pretty much read this in one sitting yesterday evening.

The Girls - Lori Lansens, 3/5, 345 pages
I'll admit straight out that I mostly picked up this book because I'm fascinated by cojoined twins. I can't imagine what it must be like to be that closely linked to another person ALL THE TIME. Reading it made me wonder how close to reality Lori Lansens got, because she's obviously not cojoined herself, but her descriptions seemed very realistic.

Some chapters of the book were written by Rose and others by Ruby. Though Rose's were the most detailed, and the ones where we learned most about the sisters' "public" lives, I actually preferred the chapters written by Ruby, as she was less fussed about being a 'proper writer', and wrote things straight out rather than trying to get to them chronologically, which meant that we ended up getting to know the girls a lot better through her chapters. Also, in fictional books I'm generally more interested in people's "nows" than in their pasts. But that's just me ;)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson*, 5/5, Audiobook ~23hrs
Upon rereading it I still think it's an amazing book, but this time I was really surprised to see how slow it actually is. I didn't remember that at all from my first read, but the first 8 chapters are pretty much just background. The story quickly picks up after that, but I understand how some people might give up before they got to that point.

But still a terrific book!

3 BSC books - Ann M. Martin 450 pages total

16 books read - 3 rereads, 1 non-fiction. A total of 3899 pages, so not as much as I would have expected from a month with a week-long vacation - but honestly I read most of the 16 books after I went on vacation, so it was the rest of the month that was slow!


Best Book: "All By My Selves" - interesting and funny!
Worst Book: "The Gift" - not worth it, unfortunately.

My yearly stats and awards will be up once I've slept - in case anybody other than me's interested! ;)