christianreader | Kiwirias Books for June (Reply)

Voyager - Diana Gabaldon*, 5/5, 1059 pages
It's all

aurillia's fault! ;) She mentioned that it was about time to read Voyager, and just talking to her about it made me want to reread it as well.

And she's still got it. It's a tribute to Diana Gabaldon's writing that no matter how many times I read this book (I think this is my 6th reread? At LEAST), I still get completely drawn in. The only problem is that now I want to reread other books in the series as well and they're all looooong.

Next to Outlander, Voyager is without a doubt my favourite in the series. I love reading about Claire's return to Scotland and her reunion with old friends. The parallel stories of Claire and Jamie frustrated me on my first read-through, because I just wanted to see them together already!! but now I appreciate that insight into their lives.

Sometimes I wish Gabaldon would give them a bit of a break though... although that's even more apparent in later books.

The Man Who Ate Everything - Jeffrey Steingarten, 1.5/5, 384 pages
As the rating indicates, this is definitely a book to miss... the mere fact that I've been reading it for more than 6 months should be proof of that!

The book blurb - as well as the title itself - led me to believe that it would be a collection of essays about Jeffrey Steingarten eating weird things. I thought that sounded interesting, so when the library didn't have the book, I went out and bought it, even though I'd thought his other essay collection only so-so. And it did start out exploring just that, and was really interesting! Mostly to see which of Jeffrey's "will never eat!" I agreed with, and which I loved.

Unfortunately this part of the book was over much too quickly - in fact, it was only the preface to the book. The rest was much the same as "It Must Have Been Something I Ate" - essays about assorted odds and ends about cooking and culinary oddities - but unfortunately not nearly as interesting.

So give this one a miss, and pick up "IMHBSIA" instead if you really want to read Jeffrey Steingarten.

About the Author - John Colapinto, 2.5/5, 254 pages
This book is really the poster child of "What a tangled web we weave, when at first we practise to deceive."

Honestly, I mostly wasn't too impressed. About half way through I could sense that the author was just a couple of pages away from making a really, really bad mistake. I wanted to shake him and make him stop, and the only way I could do that was by putting the book down, so it took me quite a bit longer to read than the size of the book warranted.

I really liked aspects of it, but mostly I felt the main character was too stupid for words, and didn't like him much... it's hard to enjoy a book when you can't feel sympathetic for the main character.

Jessica Z - Shawn Klomparens, 3.5/5, 340 pages
A surprisingly 'real' book. No neat solutions, no tidy conclusions, but very true to life. At the same time, this also made me feel like the author couldn't really decide where he wanted to go with the book - he mixed a lot of different genres which I'd typically be less than improved by, but as 'real life' is also a mix of different genres, I think it worked.

I wasn't blown away by it and was rather frustrated by the lack of resolution concerning Josh (but again - that's often real life!), but I did appreciate the writing style and thought the writing exceptionally neat and tight.

Sisterhood Everlasting - Ann Brashares, 3.5/5, 382 pages
It feels wrong to give this an average rating, because it is anything but an average book. However, the rating indicates mostly how well I liked it, and to be honest, at times I didn't like it much (although at other times I loved it, so there you go...) I read the book in a single day - not because I particularly wanted to, but because I HAD to. I'd gotten so attached to the characters that it was the only way to get it out of my system and remember they were fictional - not real.

Explaining exactly why I had such an emotional reaction to this book would bring on spoilers, so I shall have to stick to generalities. It was at times desperately sad and I sobbed my way through much of it (to my husband's bemusement), but though occasionally depressing, it had just enough hope to keep me turning pages. Even more importantly, it satisfactorily answered my most pressing questions - anything less, and it would have ended up being thrown across the room in disgust.

Thankfully Ann Brashares didn't go there, and now I have left to figure out what I actually think of it, once the immediate emotional response has worn off.

Full Circle - Michael Palin, 4/5, Audiobook ~6hrs
I remember watching the TV-program "Full Circle" back when it aired in Denmark. Michael Palin was my favourite Monty Python, and I loved his quirky humour as it expressed itself in his travel vlog as well.

This book is his written journal of some of his experiences during his travels. It covers about 300 days in just over 6 hours, so he doesn't have time for more than a very superficial description of his journey, but it's still enough to appreciate the vastness of his undertaking, and the amazing difference in the cultures he travels through as he navigates his way around the Pacific Ocean.

Not a book that will blow you off your feet, but quietly very enjoyable. Especially as it's read by Michael Palin himself.

Make Me a Match - Diana Holquist, 3.5/5, 330 pages
I've wanted to read this ever since I reviewed the sequel, "Sexiest Man Alive" for Armchair Interviews. Unfortunately it couldn't quite live up to my expectations, but to be honest I don't know if that's because I remember SMA as being better than it really was ;)

That said, it was an enjoyable and quick read. Diana Holquist is a talented writer who knows how to grasp the attention of a reader, even if the plot itself is perhaps more than shallow. But if all you're looking for is a good romance, then this definitely fits the bill.

Cherry Ames, Student Nurse - Helen Wells*, 3/5, 211 pages
How this book managed not to get sued for plagiarism of "Sue Barton - Student Nurse" I will never understand. It is a complete rip-off, right down to even many of the smaller details.

That said, "Sue Barton" is one of my favourite books, so I didn't mind terribly much finding a new 'version' of it, and I still enjoy reading about the life of a student nurse and was sad to have 'run out' of Sue Barton books, so I'll probably find myself reading more of Cherry Ames as it's not bad reading - even if it does seem like cheating ;)

Sweet Valley Confidential - Franscine Pascal, 3.5/5, 293 pages
Disclaimer: I stopped reading Sweet Valley while they were still at high school, so haven't read any of the SVU books. Also, I don't know of Francine Pascal actually wrote this herself, or had a ghost writer do it, like with most of the older books.

That said, I found the atmosphere of SVC very different from that of SVH. Some of this is explained by everybody having gotten older, and the changes in technology - naturally people will have facebook and twitter, and it makes sense that couples do more than just hold hands and kiss now - but that doesn't cover all of it, and I feel that some of it is simply a change of writing style, meaning that SVC more than anything reads like a work of elaborate and well thought out fanfiction. The book didn't come across as canon to me at all, and I think that's partly because of all the stereotypes, clichés and fan wish-fulfilments (just take a look at

1bruce1 to see what I mean) that got their time in the sun here.

For examples, check my review at

bogormen, since it could be considered spoilerific ;) )

At some point, I may write a snarky review of this, like I've done with several of the SVH books, because it definitely deserves it (suddenly everybody can tell Liz and Jess apart on the phone! Though they haven't seen each other in 8 months, they've managed to get the same haircut! Everything happens within the space of a week as per usual. Nobody can ever resist Jessica!), but for now I'll just say that I rather liked it, but it will never be part of the 'real' Sweet Valley universe to me.

If Tomorrow Comes - Sidney Sheldon*, 4.5/5, 501 pages
This used to be one of my favourite books. While I can still see what I saw in it when I first discovered it, I think I have gotten somewhat more picky since then, because I wasn't quite as enamoured by it on this rereading.

My biggest beef with it is the incredibly unfair treatment of Tracey. Injustice always gets to me, and though Tracey mostly gets revenge, it's not in the way I would prefer... I'm all for crooks realizing the error of their ways, as unrealistic as I know that might be ;)

I do enjoy reading about the different schemes Tracey thinks up though and like how some of her scams aren't even illegal - they're just taking advantage of people's greed.

Also, Sidney Sheldon still writes extremely captivating stories, and I read all 501 pages in just 2 days, so it still deserves a 4.5 rating.

Our Tragic Universe - Scarlett Thomas, 3/5, ~16hrs
I hardly know what I think about this book. I liked it well enough, I'd be hard pressed to tell you what it was actually about. Perhaps it, in itself, is one of those storyless stories that Vi goes on about?

The End of Mr Y (also by Scarlett Thomas) is certainly better, but I'm not sure I'd call this bad - just... different. I became really fond of Meg, which was fortunate, as the book was more a simple account of her life over 4'ish months than an actual story with a plot.

I liked her job though :)

The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club - Gil McNeil, 3.5/5, 404 pages
(Aka "Diva's Don't Knit" which I actually prefer...)
A nice, cozy read. I was a bit dubious at first, as it could have ended up being rather depressing, but fortunately it was handled well, and ended up being an enjoyable, feel-good read. I especially loved the friendship that developed between Jo and Grace, and laughed out loud at Grace's manipulation of Jo's star-struck ex-in-laws.

The Reading Group - Elizabeth Noble, 3/5, 440 pages
Not as good as I'd hoped, but better than I'd feared - especially after I saw the average rating here.

I'd only read 3 of the 12 books the ladies covered in their reading group, but that turned out not to be a problem at all, as the reading group was really more an excuse to meet than the purpose of the book, so I didn't feel left out. On the surface it's got a lot in common with all the knitting club books that have surfaced lately, in that it's about a group of people who meet for some common purpose, end up as friends and you end up following all of their lives.

It was more believable than some of the others in that the women didn't suddenly become best friends - they still spent most of their time with the people they were already friends with in advance. On the downside was the fact that it was really rather depressing. Out of the five ladies in the reading group only one had a happy and healthy relationship at the beginning of the book, and though that had fortunately changed by the end, it still seemed over the top to include so many unhappy/troubled/adulterous relationships in one circle of friends.

I mostly liked the way it all panned out though, and ended up being quite fond of most of the characters, but purely as a piece of fluff I'd recommend picking up books like "The Friday Night Knitting Club" and "The Knitting Circle" - or even "The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society" instead.

Dødsenglen - Sara Blædel, 4/5, 306 pages
(The Angel of Death)
A terrific continuation to the Louise Rick series. Sara Blædel clearly improves by each book - her writing is ever tighter and the plot more detailed. This one included a twist I had not seen coming, but which turned out to be completely believable in the scope of the novel.

My only complaint with this novel is that there was too little about Louise's private life and especially one huge (and important!) thread concerning her foster son was left hanging. I hope this is merely in order to pick it up in a later sequel - otherwise I think she made a huge mistake in not tying it off properly here.

But excellent entertainment regardless. Definitely one of the best in the series.

The Last Concubine - Lesley Downer, 2.5/5, 475 pages
I feel a bit bad giving this a rating of only 2.5, because it's in no way a bad book... it's just a book that was so easy for me to put down that it took me 4 months to finish it! It wasn't boring, it just... wasn't engaging either. The author was too far removed from the characters, so the reader never really got to know them or care too much about them either.

It did have some really interesting insights into Japan at the time though, but as a period book was far too long for what I got out of it.

1 BSC Book

Five Run Away Together - Enid Blyton*, Audiobook ~1hr
This has always been my favourite Famous Five book, but I have to admit that it doesn't win by being read as an abridged dramatization. I think I'll stick to my physical books from now on.

Book of the Month: Dødsenglen
Biggest Disappointment: About the Author. I know I rated TMWAE lower, but this was a bigger disappointment.