So, I did finish Lord of the World. I enjoyed it, but I'm not quite sure about the end; it was left a little open and I'm not fully sure what happened. I have the general idea and a few ideas as to the specifics, but nothing exact.
I then decided that I wanted to read The Midnight Tunnel: A Susanna Snow Mystery by Angie Frazier next - it sounded as if it would be somewhat like the "Mandie" books by Lois Gladys Leppard which I'd enjoyed immensely and it would be a quick read so that I'd still have time to read the next book club book before we meet on Thursday. Both of my assumptions were right with this book and I'm thoroughly hoping for more to come; based on the subtitle for this one, I highly suspect there will be more. I was not very impressed with Zanna's uncle, the famous Bruce Snow (Boston's Sherlock Holmes)- he seemed more interested in a big show of effort and success than in finding the truth.
I have now started Gail Godwin's book, Evensong; I hadn't known much about it when I started it - just that it was about two Presbyterian ministers (a husband and wife). I'm quite enjoying gettting to know the two of them and am eager to see where they go from here (I'm about 1/3 of the way through, so far). I'm often somewhat reminded of Jan Karon's "Mitford" series with this book, and keep thinking that Margaret and Adrian Bonner should be Episcopalian, like Fr. Tim from Jan Karon's books - I just have to remember that they're not. As a side note, when looking up Margaret's name (she's the narrator, so her name isn't mentioned as often as some of the other characters' names), I just learned that she's the title character from another one of Gail Godwin's books - Fr. Melancholy's Daughter, so now I'm going to need to read that as well; and this might lead to me reading much of Gail Godwin's work in general. These people feel very real and that is, I think, what makes it so easy for me to know them and to want to learn more about them - sometimes I think I'd like to have a chat with them myself.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
Sort of slow reading period
I'm still working on Lord of the World, but haven't gotten too much farther into it - I'm still only about 1/3 of the way through it. It's been a busy several days and I found that another book I had checked out is due soon and someone else had reserved it so I couldn't renew it. It was book 4 in a series and I needed to read book 3 first (this was checked out already when I found book 4). I decided to quick add these first so I didn't have to bring them home again.
First I read, Theodosia and the Eyes of Horus by R. L. La Fevers. Theodosia is a young girl who can see/feel the ancient Egyptian curses attached to the artifacts that come into her parents' museum, and she removes them. In the process she has met with a few groups of people who know about the artifacts and the reality of their power. One group hides these away, a second wants to use them to bring chaos to the world, and a third is harder to describe - something of a religion and she turns out the be the goddess for it - they're a bit weird. In this one she (along with her brother) find a green tablet that although the group that hides artifacts away for safekeeping says it's worthless and harmless, lots of people - some from the other two groups and another for whom she doesn't know quite the motives - seem willing to do anything to get their hands on it. This was quite entertaining - as were the first two in the series. Sadly for a good part of the first third to half of the book I wasn't quite sure if I'd read it already or not. Parts of it were quite familiar, but the farther in I got the less sure I got that I had already read it - by the end I knew I hadn't.
Book four in the series is Theodosia and the Last Pharoah. In this book Theodosia travels to Egypt with her Mother to learn more about her past, help on-site with an excavation she's already researched a bit, and to (secretly) return the green tablet from the previous book. She learns much - and seems to stumble into new dig sites. This book left me a bit uncertain as to whether there will be more in the series or not. I would like there to be; there is definitely more that could happen and more about her life we could learn (she is only 11 - almost 12 at the moment), but it almost felt as if this were the end. I guess I'll have to wait and see.
First I read, Theodosia and the Eyes of Horus by R. L. La Fevers. Theodosia is a young girl who can see/feel the ancient Egyptian curses attached to the artifacts that come into her parents' museum, and she removes them. In the process she has met with a few groups of people who know about the artifacts and the reality of their power. One group hides these away, a second wants to use them to bring chaos to the world, and a third is harder to describe - something of a religion and she turns out the be the goddess for it - they're a bit weird. In this one she (along with her brother) find a green tablet that although the group that hides artifacts away for safekeeping says it's worthless and harmless, lots of people - some from the other two groups and another for whom she doesn't know quite the motives - seem willing to do anything to get their hands on it. This was quite entertaining - as were the first two in the series. Sadly for a good part of the first third to half of the book I wasn't quite sure if I'd read it already or not. Parts of it were quite familiar, but the farther in I got the less sure I got that I had already read it - by the end I knew I hadn't.
Book four in the series is Theodosia and the Last Pharoah. In this book Theodosia travels to Egypt with her Mother to learn more about her past, help on-site with an excavation she's already researched a bit, and to (secretly) return the green tablet from the previous book. She learns much - and seems to stumble into new dig sites. This book left me a bit uncertain as to whether there will be more in the series or not. I would like there to be; there is definitely more that could happen and more about her life we could learn (she is only 11 - almost 12 at the moment), but it almost felt as if this were the end. I guess I'll have to wait and see.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Another Posting Delay
So, I was going to post something last Tuesday, but ended up not having time, and since then it's been a bit crazy around here.
In the middle of reading Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?, I quickly read through Wizardology: the book of the secrets of Merlin by Dugald Steer. This is part of the -ology series (i.e. Dragonology, Monsterology, etc.) and is as fun as the rest of them that I've read. I had a hard time finding one of the objects hidden throughout the book, though. I was just about to give up on finding the Cloak of Invisibility when I happened to glance at it. The copy I read was clearly well-used/loved; some of the moveable bits didn't work so well anymore, but I could tell still what was supposed to happen with them.
I did finish Steven Tyler's book on Thursday - I had a good bit of time between my shifts at work. I mostly enjoyed it, and learned a lot. As with the rest of the autobiographies I've read, now I'd like to have a conversation with Steven Tyler about some of what he wrote, but, also as usual, I rather suspect that won't happen (but at least he's still alive, so it's slightly possible). I was a bit sheepish to find that when he spoke of his daughter Liv, he meant Liv Tyler from Armageddon and The Lord of the Rings movies. Also I hadn't known that "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" from Armageddon was an Aerosmith song/recording.
I decided to quick read the next two books in a fun series that I started a month ago or so. The first one I read was I So Don't Do Make-up and the second was I So Don't Do Famous (the first two books in the series are I So Don't Do Mysteries and I So Don't Do Spooky). These books, by Barrie Summy, are about Sherry (Sherlock Holmes Baldwin) and her Mother, an ex-cop ghost, who work together to solve mysteries as a part of the Academy of Spirits. In the third installment of the series, Sherry's make over birthday party runs into trouble with some sabotaged make-up. Sherry is determined to get to the bottom of this mystery before more people get hurt. In the newest book, Sherry wins a contest and gets to go to L.A. for the award ceremony - at which yet another celebrity is robbed; it's part of a crime spree. In this I rather guessed who the culprits were early in the book (although not the why or how and such). Also, while there, her Mom is determined to solve the mystery of Marilyn Monroe's death. These were some fun quick books and I'm slightly disappointed that there won't be any more in the series - I'd read more if they were written.
After I finished those, I decided I'd better read the book for the Lemmings book club next Sunday, and since I wasn't quite ready to go to bed yet, I started it late Friday night. We're reading Persepolis (in two volumes, or one big volume) by Marjane Satrapi. This is an autobiographical graphic novel. Marjane grew up in Iran and then when fairly young was sent to Austria for school because it would be safer. The books are about her experiences there, and then also a few years later after she goes back home. I still haven't decided what grade I'd like to give the book, but I suppose I ought to give it a pretty good grade because I stayed up till 2 or 3 in the morning to finish it.
From there I moved to one of the books Andrea Mariani gave me, The Lord of the World by R. H. Benson. So far I'm enjoying it pretty well, although there are parts that make me wonder if it is translated to English from another language or not (apparently not). Also, early on I had to check and see when it was published because there were some major historical events not mentioned (WWI and WWII) and the Roman Catholic Mass (and at least many prayers) were still in Latin. It was published in 1908, though so both of those are understandable. I'm not yet very far into it - too much else has been going on (as I already mentioned). Driving to and from Chicago to help move my brother back to college for school ate lots of time - especially when I was navigator for much of it. Oh well, I look forward to seeing what's going to happen. Oh and as I'm reading it, there's talk of this mysterious "Felsenberg (I don't remember the exact name off hand) working for the Masons. With all of the mystery surrounding him, I've been reminded of The Stealers of Dreams by Steve Lyons. In this Doctor Who book, there's a mysterious rebel leader that no one knows about and few have even met him - the character in this book almost sounds like the character in this other book I've already read. I'll have to see how right (or wrong) my initial impression is.
In the middle of reading Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?, I quickly read through Wizardology: the book of the secrets of Merlin by Dugald Steer. This is part of the -ology series (i.e. Dragonology, Monsterology, etc.) and is as fun as the rest of them that I've read. I had a hard time finding one of the objects hidden throughout the book, though. I was just about to give up on finding the Cloak of Invisibility when I happened to glance at it. The copy I read was clearly well-used/loved; some of the moveable bits didn't work so well anymore, but I could tell still what was supposed to happen with them.
I did finish Steven Tyler's book on Thursday - I had a good bit of time between my shifts at work. I mostly enjoyed it, and learned a lot. As with the rest of the autobiographies I've read, now I'd like to have a conversation with Steven Tyler about some of what he wrote, but, also as usual, I rather suspect that won't happen (but at least he's still alive, so it's slightly possible). I was a bit sheepish to find that when he spoke of his daughter Liv, he meant Liv Tyler from Armageddon and The Lord of the Rings movies. Also I hadn't known that "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" from Armageddon was an Aerosmith song/recording.
I decided to quick read the next two books in a fun series that I started a month ago or so. The first one I read was I So Don't Do Make-up and the second was I So Don't Do Famous (the first two books in the series are I So Don't Do Mysteries and I So Don't Do Spooky). These books, by Barrie Summy, are about Sherry (Sherlock Holmes Baldwin) and her Mother, an ex-cop ghost, who work together to solve mysteries as a part of the Academy of Spirits. In the third installment of the series, Sherry's make over birthday party runs into trouble with some sabotaged make-up. Sherry is determined to get to the bottom of this mystery before more people get hurt. In the newest book, Sherry wins a contest and gets to go to L.A. for the award ceremony - at which yet another celebrity is robbed; it's part of a crime spree. In this I rather guessed who the culprits were early in the book (although not the why or how and such). Also, while there, her Mom is determined to solve the mystery of Marilyn Monroe's death. These were some fun quick books and I'm slightly disappointed that there won't be any more in the series - I'd read more if they were written.
After I finished those, I decided I'd better read the book for the Lemmings book club next Sunday, and since I wasn't quite ready to go to bed yet, I started it late Friday night. We're reading Persepolis (in two volumes, or one big volume) by Marjane Satrapi. This is an autobiographical graphic novel. Marjane grew up in Iran and then when fairly young was sent to Austria for school because it would be safer. The books are about her experiences there, and then also a few years later after she goes back home. I still haven't decided what grade I'd like to give the book, but I suppose I ought to give it a pretty good grade because I stayed up till 2 or 3 in the morning to finish it.
From there I moved to one of the books Andrea Mariani gave me, The Lord of the World by R. H. Benson. So far I'm enjoying it pretty well, although there are parts that make me wonder if it is translated to English from another language or not (apparently not). Also, early on I had to check and see when it was published because there were some major historical events not mentioned (WWI and WWII) and the Roman Catholic Mass (and at least many prayers) were still in Latin. It was published in 1908, though so both of those are understandable. I'm not yet very far into it - too much else has been going on (as I already mentioned). Driving to and from Chicago to help move my brother back to college for school ate lots of time - especially when I was navigator for much of it. Oh well, I look forward to seeing what's going to happen. Oh and as I'm reading it, there's talk of this mysterious "Felsenberg (I don't remember the exact name off hand) working for the Masons. With all of the mystery surrounding him, I've been reminded of The Stealers of Dreams by Steve Lyons. In this Doctor Who book, there's a mysterious rebel leader that no one knows about and few have even met him - the character in this book almost sounds like the character in this other book I've already read. I'll have to see how right (or wrong) my initial impression is.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
A flurry of Wednesday reading
After posting Wednesday (and getting back home to the then current book) I proceeded to finish it. Ruby Red was a lot of fun, even if I was able to predict some of the details (slightly) earlier than they were actually revealed. Also, in looking at the book more, I discovered why Amazon.com listed two authors and the book cover only listed one - it was translated from German by the second author listed. One disappointing thing about the book is that it's part (book 1) of a series (trilogy?) that somewhat leaves you hanging and the next book doesn't come out until next year - darn wait. Oh well, I do that for enough other books, I'll just have to do it again. If I'd read just a few pages more before the last post, I'd have known how they knew that the time-traveling "gene" skipped her; although the explanation of how they got it wrong didn't come until much later.
After I finished Ruby Red, I skipped momentarily what had been the next book in my stack so that I could read the shorter (probably (and actually) faster) Fr. Andrew Greeley book I had checked out. It's called Star Bright! and is a wonderful little book - everyone should read it! I felt a bit odd reading a Christmas story in August, but the book was so much fun that I didn't care. It's about this South-side Chicago Irish young man, a student at BC (Boston College) who also takes one class at Harvard, who meets a young woman (Russian mystic), a Harvard art student and their encounters together - the way they change each other and those they encounter. It reminded me a bit of his book Irish Gold - the story of how Nuala met Dermot. Reading this book reminded me just how much I enjoy Fr. Greeley's books, and that I need to read more of them - there are at least a dozen or two novels of his that I haven't read yet. This is a travesty that must be remedied shortly.
Having finished that, I started what had been the next book in my list Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?; it's Steven Tyler's autobiography. I first decided to add my name to the wait list at the library for this because 1) I liked the title and 2) after watching him as one of the American Idol judges I was intrigued to learn more about him - all I knew at that point was what I saw on the show. I've been finding a lot in the almost 100 pages I've read so far that cause me to laugh - he's a vary humorous guy - and even more that makes me smile because I can so hear him say that! At this point in the book he's only just barely formed Aerosmith - and just wrote their first song.
The order in which I'll be reading the next few books in my stack might (probably will) end up changing. Last night at the end of School of Community, Andrea Mariani gave me two books he thought I would enjoy (one of which I've already read, and did enjoy, but will read again because it's come up so often since I last read it) - thanks again, Andrea - and we have tentative plans to meet and discuss the books when he gets back from Italy.
After I finished Ruby Red, I skipped momentarily what had been the next book in my stack so that I could read the shorter (probably (and actually) faster) Fr. Andrew Greeley book I had checked out. It's called Star Bright! and is a wonderful little book - everyone should read it! I felt a bit odd reading a Christmas story in August, but the book was so much fun that I didn't care. It's about this South-side Chicago Irish young man, a student at BC (Boston College) who also takes one class at Harvard, who meets a young woman (Russian mystic), a Harvard art student and their encounters together - the way they change each other and those they encounter. It reminded me a bit of his book Irish Gold - the story of how Nuala met Dermot. Reading this book reminded me just how much I enjoy Fr. Greeley's books, and that I need to read more of them - there are at least a dozen or two novels of his that I haven't read yet. This is a travesty that must be remedied shortly.
Having finished that, I started what had been the next book in my list Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?; it's Steven Tyler's autobiography. I first decided to add my name to the wait list at the library for this because 1) I liked the title and 2) after watching him as one of the American Idol judges I was intrigued to learn more about him - all I knew at that point was what I saw on the show. I've been finding a lot in the almost 100 pages I've read so far that cause me to laugh - he's a vary humorous guy - and even more that makes me smile because I can so hear him say that! At this point in the book he's only just barely formed Aerosmith - and just wrote their first song.
The order in which I'll be reading the next few books in my stack might (probably will) end up changing. Last night at the end of School of Community, Andrea Mariani gave me two books he thought I would enjoy (one of which I've already read, and did enjoy, but will read again because it's come up so often since I last read it) - thanks again, Andrea - and we have tentative plans to meet and discuss the books when he gets back from Italy.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
I've returned
Well, technically I never physically left, but I am going to start keeping this blog again.
It's been so long since my last post that I highly doubt I could ever remember the title of each book I've read since the last post (to be honest for a long while, that was part of why I didn't start up again somewhat early in the break - and then the longer the break was, the easier it was to continue with that pattern). I don't plan to even try commenting much on most of them - although some may get mentioned every so often.
Walking to church this morning, I finished The Clockwise Man by Justin Richards. It is a BBC book/Doctor Who series book (starring Billie Piper as Rose Tyler and Christopher Eccleston as The Doctor) and a fun, quick read. The title and theme somewhat reminded me of The Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare, but for the most part, the plots of the two don't match. Now that I've started watching the new Doctor Who shows, I'm quite enjoying reading the related books. If I like a character, whether from a book, movie, tv show, or whatever, I'm always happy to meet them in other formats as well - although sometimes I will complain about differences (i.e. ways the new format got it wrong - even if the new format was officially first (Temperance Brennan)).
Immediately after finishing that, I started to read Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier and Anthea Bell. I don't remember what exactly compelled me to read the cover flap in the first place, but I was hooked almost immediately. This book sounds as if it will be a combination of The Time Traveler's Wife (Audrey Niffinegger) and A Discover of Witches (Deborah E. Harkness) with a bit of Sabrina the Teenage Witch or Twilight thrown in (the last two for age references more than anything). Gwyneth's family has visited the past often, but she has been told that the trait skipped her so she hasn't been trained for it at all. Then, it turns out she's the one who time travels as she suddenly finds herself appearing in the past (I haven't actually gotten this far yet - she still believes her cousin Charlotte is the one who will be travelling). I'm only ten or so pages in so far, but already I can't wait to read more - and wish I'd brought the book with me for now! Oh well, I'll be back home soon.
It's been so long since my last post that I highly doubt I could ever remember the title of each book I've read since the last post (to be honest for a long while, that was part of why I didn't start up again somewhat early in the break - and then the longer the break was, the easier it was to continue with that pattern). I don't plan to even try commenting much on most of them - although some may get mentioned every so often.
Walking to church this morning, I finished The Clockwise Man by Justin Richards. It is a BBC book/Doctor Who series book (starring Billie Piper as Rose Tyler and Christopher Eccleston as The Doctor) and a fun, quick read. The title and theme somewhat reminded me of The Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare, but for the most part, the plots of the two don't match. Now that I've started watching the new Doctor Who shows, I'm quite enjoying reading the related books. If I like a character, whether from a book, movie, tv show, or whatever, I'm always happy to meet them in other formats as well - although sometimes I will complain about differences (i.e. ways the new format got it wrong - even if the new format was officially first (Temperance Brennan)).
Immediately after finishing that, I started to read Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier and Anthea Bell. I don't remember what exactly compelled me to read the cover flap in the first place, but I was hooked almost immediately. This book sounds as if it will be a combination of The Time Traveler's Wife (Audrey Niffinegger) and A Discover of Witches (Deborah E. Harkness) with a bit of Sabrina the Teenage Witch or Twilight thrown in (the last two for age references more than anything). Gwyneth's family has visited the past often, but she has been told that the trait skipped her so she hasn't been trained for it at all. Then, it turns out she's the one who time travels as she suddenly finds herself appearing in the past (I haven't actually gotten this far yet - she still believes her cousin Charlotte is the one who will be travelling). I'm only ten or so pages in so far, but already I can't wait to read more - and wish I'd brought the book with me for now! Oh well, I'll be back home soon.
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