Kiwiria's February Reads
Mar. 12th, 2012 09:26 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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christianreaderI ony discovered today that I'd accidentally double-posted this in my own journal rather than getting it on here! Oops...
How the Heather Looks - Joan Bodger, 3/5, 249 pages
Somehow I had managed to misunderstand what the book was about, so in case others are under the same misconception, I'll state it clearly. This is not a book about books. It's a book about the scenery of books. As such, it is a very charming travel account, but as I only knew very few of the books listed (probably one of the problems with only having grown up with those English books that have been translated to Danish), and don't care much about book settings in the first place, I probably didn't get as much out of it as a reader who grew up loving "Wind in the Willows", Beatrix Potter and "Winnie the Pooh".
A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson, 4/5, 544 pages
Bill Bryson really does manage to cover 'nearly everything' in this 544 tome. From the big bang, through earthquakes to fossils and extinct animals, convering just about everything inbetween. Not everything was equally interest as some chapters caught my attention more than others, but I definitely learned a lot. (How much I will retain is a different matter altogether).
This isn't "light reading" in any sense of the phrase. Bryson endeavours to make the science as approachable as possible, but you can only take it so far. I was glad I had at least a vague background in science or I think parts of it would have been (even more) difficult to follow.
He does manage to make it current though, and adds lots of amusing anecdotes to make it easier to relate to. I kept reading interesting passages out loud to my husband (also a science geek), and even laughing out loud at times... especially when he started sounding like he was channelling Douglas Adams.
It took me awhile, but I'm glad I finally finished it. Very rewarding read. Of course I have no clue how accurate his science is - I'm not that much of a science buff ;)
The Last Gospel - David Gibbins, 2/5, 542 pages
It would seem as if David Gibbins tries to imitate both Dan Browns's writing style and his choice of controversial topics, only where I actually rather enjoyed "The Da Vinci Code" and wasn't at all offended by it, neither of those things can be said about "The Last Gospel".
The main premise of "The Last Gospel" is that Jesus wasn't really the son of God, but that was just a twist his disciples (Paul especially) put on his teachings. Okay, obviously not something I can get behind, but I'm willing to withhold my judgment and see if David Gibbins can put a spin on this to make it good reading anyway - after all, Dan Brown managed that quite nicely in TDVC.
Thankfully very little time was actually spent on that part of it, so it could have been okay, but... ooooh boy!
The writing was atrocious! If ever there was an author who told rather than showed, David Gibbins is it! Pretty much every or every second chapter had page upon page of the main character explaining this or that aspect of archaeology to his trusty side-kick, who seemed to have no other purpose than to stand there and gaze adoringly at Jack while he spouted off his latest theory.
The story was unbelievable. I don't mean in a "this could never happen" kind of way, because I'm perfectly happy to suspend my disbelief for the sake of a good story, but a book has to be believable in the universe it creates for itself, and this just.... wasn't. In about a week Jack and his companions had found no less than four ancient archeaologic sites that either they were the first to discover, or they were the first to explore because of... what? Nobody ever thought to do so before? "Oh, here's an ancient site that might go back to 70 AD. Yeah... let's not explore it - nobody's interested anyway." Suuuure...
Finally, for somebody "finding a secret people would go to great lengths to see remain secret" Jack & co. had surprisingly few run-ins with thugs.
Most of all, it seemed as if David Gibbins wanted to write an elaborate treasure hunt and had to think up a plot that would allow him to do so. I had expected that more focus would have been on what happened after they solved the puzzle, but apparently that was of less importance than solving it in the first place.
So why did I end up giving this two stars after all? Well, first of all, cryptography and treasure hunts have always fascinated me, so despite the writing, David Gibbins did manage to keep me intrigued there. Secondly, even if I didn't agree with some of his artistic liberties with historical figures, I rather enjoyed others and was amused by the flights of fancy about how it could have been. Finally, he did actually end up making me care enough about the story that I wanted to see how it all turned out. I wasn't exactly satisfied by the conclusion, but at least it kept me reading through all 542 pages.
... But it's still time that could have been better spent reading other books, so do yourself a favour and give this one a miss.
Kirstens breve - Susan Moody, 3/5, 270 pages
(Letters From Kirsten)
Sometimes heartbreakingly depressing, sometimes equally heartbreakingly hopeful. At times I had to put down the book, because it simply made me too sad to see how two people who obviously loved each other could hurt each other so much, simply because they forgot how to communicate. I kept picking it up again though, because I wanted to know what happened.
There's not much of a plot, because it's not that kind of a book. Instead it's a journey through Daniel's psyche, as he comes to terms with his past, learns to accept his shortcomings and acknowledge his successes.
Probably not a book I'll reread, but I'm glad to have read it.
Letters From the Inside - John Marsden*, 3/5, 165 pages
I read this many, many years ago and seem to remember that I loved it. I recently got the urge to reread it, and thankfully was still able to find it at the library. Can't exactly say I still love it though. The ending is infuriating and sad all at the same time. I want to know what happened!
I liked the book up until then though - even if I did know what was coming. The friendship that grew between Tracey and Mandy seemed very realistic and it made me miss the days before email when I had several penpals myself. Email just isn't as cozy!
It is rather dated though. A lot of the circumstances and secrets necessary for the plot could never happen today, with the Internet, Google etc.
The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom, 4/5, 197 pages
Very different from what I had expected (much shorter for one thing), but I really enjoyed it. An interesting thought-experiment on what might happen when you get to "heaven" (religion-neutral) and how people who have gone before you can help you make sense of certain events in your life.
Somewhat sentimental, but not overly so, and very poignant in places.
Leap of Faith - Queen Noor Al-Hussein, 4/5, ~17hrs
A fascinating book about an amazing love story. American-born Lisa ends up being married to King Hussein of Jordan and changing her name to Noor Al-Hussein - the light of Hussein.
The book spans from the early 1960s to the late 1990s and as such deals heavily with the various conflicts in the Middle East of those years. It gives a very different view on certain events than one usually hears, and made me question some things I had otherwise taken for granted. I know "history is written by the winners", but neither the USA nor Israel come out of this smelling like roses.
But though very political, the main attraction to me was the personal aspect - hearing life of royalty described by one of their own. Queen Noor Al-Hussein comes across as a charming and charismatic woman who ended up being a definite asset to Jordan.
Blackout & All Clear - Connie Willis, 4.5/5, 512p, 643p
An absolutely amazing series, but I am very glad I knew from the set out that "All Clear" was one book split out in two volumes, rather than two individual books. I would have been furious with the cliffhanger at the end of "Blackout" if I hadn't known this in advance. For the same reason I am going to review the two books as one.
In a word - I loved it, and it brought back everything I had loved about Connie Willis' writing in "The Doomsday Book". I liked the way the different plotlines intertwined and was chuffed to spot some of the links before they were made obvious. But as usual, trying to figure out the theory behind time travel gave me a headache ;)
I had serious problems putting the books down, and finished the last one over the weekend. But can somebody explain the ending to me? I have a couple of theories, but wish it had been spelled out for non-mystery solvers like myself...
Book of the month: "Blackout" and "All Clear" (no, that's not cheating - they count as one book :)
Biggest disappointment: "The Last Gospel"
How the Heather Looks - Joan Bodger, 3/5, 249 pages
Somehow I had managed to misunderstand what the book was about, so in case others are under the same misconception, I'll state it clearly. This is not a book about books. It's a book about the scenery of books. As such, it is a very charming travel account, but as I only knew very few of the books listed (probably one of the problems with only having grown up with those English books that have been translated to Danish), and don't care much about book settings in the first place, I probably didn't get as much out of it as a reader who grew up loving "Wind in the Willows", Beatrix Potter and "Winnie the Pooh".
A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson, 4/5, 544 pages
Bill Bryson really does manage to cover 'nearly everything' in this 544 tome. From the big bang, through earthquakes to fossils and extinct animals, convering just about everything inbetween. Not everything was equally interest as some chapters caught my attention more than others, but I definitely learned a lot. (How much I will retain is a different matter altogether).
This isn't "light reading" in any sense of the phrase. Bryson endeavours to make the science as approachable as possible, but you can only take it so far. I was glad I had at least a vague background in science or I think parts of it would have been (even more) difficult to follow.
He does manage to make it current though, and adds lots of amusing anecdotes to make it easier to relate to. I kept reading interesting passages out loud to my husband (also a science geek), and even laughing out loud at times... especially when he started sounding like he was channelling Douglas Adams.
It took me awhile, but I'm glad I finally finished it. Very rewarding read. Of course I have no clue how accurate his science is - I'm not that much of a science buff ;)
The Last Gospel - David Gibbins, 2/5, 542 pages
It would seem as if David Gibbins tries to imitate both Dan Browns's writing style and his choice of controversial topics, only where I actually rather enjoyed "The Da Vinci Code" and wasn't at all offended by it, neither of those things can be said about "The Last Gospel".
The main premise of "The Last Gospel" is that Jesus wasn't really the son of God, but that was just a twist his disciples (Paul especially) put on his teachings. Okay, obviously not something I can get behind, but I'm willing to withhold my judgment and see if David Gibbins can put a spin on this to make it good reading anyway - after all, Dan Brown managed that quite nicely in TDVC.
Thankfully very little time was actually spent on that part of it, so it could have been okay, but... ooooh boy!
The writing was atrocious! If ever there was an author who told rather than showed, David Gibbins is it! Pretty much every or every second chapter had page upon page of the main character explaining this or that aspect of archaeology to his trusty side-kick, who seemed to have no other purpose than to stand there and gaze adoringly at Jack while he spouted off his latest theory.
The story was unbelievable. I don't mean in a "this could never happen" kind of way, because I'm perfectly happy to suspend my disbelief for the sake of a good story, but a book has to be believable in the universe it creates for itself, and this just.... wasn't. In about a week Jack and his companions had found no less than four ancient archeaologic sites that either they were the first to discover, or they were the first to explore because of... what? Nobody ever thought to do so before? "Oh, here's an ancient site that might go back to 70 AD. Yeah... let's not explore it - nobody's interested anyway." Suuuure...
Finally, for somebody "finding a secret people would go to great lengths to see remain secret" Jack & co. had surprisingly few run-ins with thugs.
Most of all, it seemed as if David Gibbins wanted to write an elaborate treasure hunt and had to think up a plot that would allow him to do so. I had expected that more focus would have been on what happened after they solved the puzzle, but apparently that was of less importance than solving it in the first place.
So why did I end up giving this two stars after all? Well, first of all, cryptography and treasure hunts have always fascinated me, so despite the writing, David Gibbins did manage to keep me intrigued there. Secondly, even if I didn't agree with some of his artistic liberties with historical figures, I rather enjoyed others and was amused by the flights of fancy about how it could have been. Finally, he did actually end up making me care enough about the story that I wanted to see how it all turned out. I wasn't exactly satisfied by the conclusion, but at least it kept me reading through all 542 pages.
... But it's still time that could have been better spent reading other books, so do yourself a favour and give this one a miss.
Kirstens breve - Susan Moody, 3/5, 270 pages
(Letters From Kirsten)
Sometimes heartbreakingly depressing, sometimes equally heartbreakingly hopeful. At times I had to put down the book, because it simply made me too sad to see how two people who obviously loved each other could hurt each other so much, simply because they forgot how to communicate. I kept picking it up again though, because I wanted to know what happened.
There's not much of a plot, because it's not that kind of a book. Instead it's a journey through Daniel's psyche, as he comes to terms with his past, learns to accept his shortcomings and acknowledge his successes.
Probably not a book I'll reread, but I'm glad to have read it.
Letters From the Inside - John Marsden*, 3/5, 165 pages
I read this many, many years ago and seem to remember that I loved it. I recently got the urge to reread it, and thankfully was still able to find it at the library. Can't exactly say I still love it though. The ending is infuriating and sad all at the same time. I want to know what happened!
I liked the book up until then though - even if I did know what was coming. The friendship that grew between Tracey and Mandy seemed very realistic and it made me miss the days before email when I had several penpals myself. Email just isn't as cozy!
It is rather dated though. A lot of the circumstances and secrets necessary for the plot could never happen today, with the Internet, Google etc.
The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom, 4/5, 197 pages
Very different from what I had expected (much shorter for one thing), but I really enjoyed it. An interesting thought-experiment on what might happen when you get to "heaven" (religion-neutral) and how people who have gone before you can help you make sense of certain events in your life.
Somewhat sentimental, but not overly so, and very poignant in places.
Leap of Faith - Queen Noor Al-Hussein, 4/5, ~17hrs
A fascinating book about an amazing love story. American-born Lisa ends up being married to King Hussein of Jordan and changing her name to Noor Al-Hussein - the light of Hussein.
The book spans from the early 1960s to the late 1990s and as such deals heavily with the various conflicts in the Middle East of those years. It gives a very different view on certain events than one usually hears, and made me question some things I had otherwise taken for granted. I know "history is written by the winners", but neither the USA nor Israel come out of this smelling like roses.
But though very political, the main attraction to me was the personal aspect - hearing life of royalty described by one of their own. Queen Noor Al-Hussein comes across as a charming and charismatic woman who ended up being a definite asset to Jordan.
Blackout & All Clear - Connie Willis, 4.5/5, 512p, 643p
An absolutely amazing series, but I am very glad I knew from the set out that "All Clear" was one book split out in two volumes, rather than two individual books. I would have been furious with the cliffhanger at the end of "Blackout" if I hadn't known this in advance. For the same reason I am going to review the two books as one.
In a word - I loved it, and it brought back everything I had loved about Connie Willis' writing in "The Doomsday Book". I liked the way the different plotlines intertwined and was chuffed to spot some of the links before they were made obvious. But as usual, trying to figure out the theory behind time travel gave me a headache ;)
I had serious problems putting the books down, and finished the last one over the weekend. But can somebody explain the ending to me? I have a couple of theories, but wish it had been spelled out for non-mystery solvers like myself...
Book of the month: "Blackout" and "All Clear" (no, that's not cheating - they count as one book :)
Biggest disappointment: "The Last Gospel"
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