The Life And Times Of The Thunderbolt Kid
Author: Bill Bryson
Genre: Memoirs/Humor
Rating:***
A series of funny memoirs about the author growing up in the typical 1950s middle America setting. Don't get me wrong, Bill Bryson is one of my favorite authors ever, but this book just didn't do it for me. Maybe it's the fact that the period of time it focuses on doesn't really interest me. It certainly does have its funny moments, and Bryson writes about his childhood with the typical wit and humor we've come to love in him. Perhaps it would go over better with those who can identify with his nostalgia for these bygone decades (i.e. I was born in the eighties, I don't get it).
The Decline And Fall Of Practically Everybody
Author: Will Cuppy
Genre: Historical Humor
Rating:****
Hilarious. Insolent. Completely irreverent. From Alexander the Great and Ghengis Khan to Lady Godiva and Lucrezia Borgia, no historical figure of any monument is safe! Will Cuppy picks apart everybody who was anybody. One can only be disappointed (or happy?) that he isn't around today to see certain of our current world leaders.
Getting Stoned With Savages
Author: J. Maarten Troost
Genre: Travel
Rating:***
This book of the classic "person goes to foreign land expecting paradise, instead encounters numerous misadventures" genre focuses on the South Pacific islands of Fiji and Vanuatu (spelling?). Prior to reading this, I had pictured Fiji as a sort of Pacific version of the Bahamas. This book completely dispelled those notions. As a result, it might not do much for the tourism industry there. After reading the various accounts of landslides, sharks, cannibals, and gigantic poisonous stinging centipedes, I was left with no desire whatsoever to go there. On the bright side, I am grateful I was enlightened on these matters before making any serious errors planning our second honeymoon.
Neverwhere
Author: Neil Gaiman
Genre: General Fiction
Rating: *****
This book reminded me of a very dark, very adult version of Downsiders by Neal Shusterman. It does a good job of captivating the reader, drawing you into a web of ethereal scenes that ensnares you until the last page. You really wish it wouldn't ever end. At least, I did. The author's take on life in a secret society beneath London is original and captivating, and if it really existed, I believe this is exactly what it would be like. You finish it feeling as though you've woken from one of those odd, vivid dreams that haunts you for the rest of the following day.
The Thirteenth Tale
Author: Diane Setterfield
Genre: General Fiction
Rating:*****
Whether by coincidence or by design, this book reminded me a lot of Jane Eyre. It certainly has a lot of the same themes, containing the usual requisite elements of the gothic genre: family secrets, chilling revelations, a deteriorating estate, a catastrophic fire, unexplained incidents attributed to ghostly activity... Excellent to read on a dark, rainy day (preferably complete with thunder and lightning). It struck me as being especially good for a debut novel, and I'm looking forward to seeing what gems may follow.
The Reluctant Tuscan
Author: Phil Doran
Genre: Travel
Rating:***
As long as there are human beings on earth, I think, there will be books of this genre. Yes, yet another "outsider goes to foreign country and has amusing experiences with the quirky locals" (See two reviews up). These books practically write themselves, because it is a simple fact that wherever you go on earth, there will be crazy people doing crazy things. And, as any blogger knows, these experiences beg to be written down. But sometimes the most frequently used formulas are the best, and that is why these books will continue to be entertaining, no matter how many you read. At least, that's the way I feel about it. That being said, all you really need to know is that it takes place in Tuscany.
Chasing Rumi: A Fable About Finding The Heart's True Desire
Author: Roger Housden
Genre: General Fiction
Rating:***
A tale about a man who reads a poem that touches his soul, and embarks on a journey to visit the poet's grave. Along the way he meets many interesting people, does many interesting things, as well as managing to find himself and his true love.
Auntie Mame
Author: Patrick Dennis
Genre: General Fiction
Rating:*****
Can over fifty years' worth of devoted readers really be wrong? Auntie Mame is the original model of the crazy guardian aunt, and rightfully so. Written in a series of short episodes, this book will have you rolling.
Labyrinth
Author: Kate Mosse
Genre: General Fiction
Rating:**
This book combines all of the elements that seem to have become the rage for adventure/thriller fiction within the last few years. A Templar-esque secret society, mysterious archaeological discoveries, and drawn out cookie-cutter action scenes make up one half of this novel. the other half takes us back to medieval France where events that are the precursors of the modern story take place. The historical part is far more interesting, seeing as how the modern part consists of hardly anything but the main character getting chased from point A to point B by thugs. Just once, I wish someone would write a book based on this premise, but left the thugs out of it, and took time to actually develop the plot. Despite all this, I'm sure there were a few redeeming qualities in there somewhere. I just can't think of any right now.
Snow
Author: Maxence Fermine
Genre: General Fiction
Rating:*
Okay, this book is just plain weird. It's the story of a poet who likes to write haikus about snow. Because of his talent, he's invited to be a part of the emperor's royal court. But first, he needs to learn about color (because all his poems are about snow, and snow is white...you following me?) so he goes south to be tutored by a blind artist. It just gets weirder from there. I suppose it really wasn't all that bad, but the haiku about women peeing kind of put me off.
Made In America: An Informal History Of The English Language In The United States
Author: Bill Bryson
Genre: Linguistics
Rating:****
Bill Bryson is one of my favorite authors, as his books on any subject invariably contain distractingly amusing anecdotes, some of which are only barely related to the subject material, but all make excellent reading. Chapter by chapter he covers the evolution of English in the United States, grouping the information into chapters like travel, food, wars and even sex. He takes a potentially dry subject and makes it fascinating to read about. I always have to read his books when my husband is around, so I have someone to read the funny or astonishing bits to.
Tell Me Everything
Author: Sarah Salway
Genre: General Fiction
Rating:*
This book was terrible. It is about a girl who gets kicked out of her parent's house. An old man finds her homeless and tells her she can live in the apartment above his shop, but in return she has to tell him naughty stories about things she's supposedly done. This was hardly anything like what was advertised on the jacket. The plotline was confusing, and jumped around between different time periods without any clue what was going on. It sounded like the author just made things up as she went along. I wish I hadn't wasted my time on it.
Please, Mr Einstein
Author: Jean-Claude Carriere
Genre: General Fiction
Rating:*****
The entire book takes place in the context of a conversation between a young woman and the ghost of albert einstein. We don't know who this mysterious woman is, why she wishes to speak with him (though the idea that she is writing something about him is insinuated), or how she has discovered that Albert Einstein's ghost is living in a nondescript apartment building in the middle of an unnamed city. Through their conversation, the reader is taken on a tour through the cosmos as Einstein explains the equations that made him so famous. We also learn about his life, and his views on the notoriety he achieved. This is really a biography and crash course in quantum physics, disguised as clever fiction. I enjoyed it much, though a flexible mind and suspension of disbelief is required to get the most out of it.
The Sunday Philosophy Club
Author: Alexander McCall-Smith
Genre: Mystery Fiction
Rating:****
This book is the start of a great series by the same author as the popular No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. It takes place in Edinburgh and stars Isabel Dalhousie, editor of a philosophy periodical focusing on ethical issues. In this first installment, Isabel is drawn into a bizarre affair when she sees a young man fall to his death one night at the opera. She feels that, as she was the last person he saw on earth before he died, she owes it to him to look into the cause of his death. Was it simply an accident, or was something more sinister involved? At the same time, she must divert her niece, Cat, from a potentially disastrous relationship, and try to reunite her with old boyfriend Jamie (who Isabel just may have warm feelings for herself). This is not your typical cloak-and-dagger whodunit. It is a very human story, that focuses on more than just cheap blood-and-guts action to get its point across. Isabel is a charming heroine who I personally hope to read much more about in the future!
A Good Year
Author: Peter Mayle
Genre: General Fiction
Rating: ***
In A Good Year, Peter Mayle takes the reader back to Provence, this time in a fictional sense. Max Skinner has just lost his high-powered job in London, and doesn't quite know what to do with his life, when he receives an unexpected letter from France. His uncle has just passed away, and Max is to inherit his house and vineyard in Provence, where Max used to spend his summers as a boy. Deciding that a trip someplace warm and sunny is just what he needs, Max goes to the south of France, and is promptly sucked into the intoxicating atmosphere of village life. Nothing is simple, though, for the wine that his vineyard produces is terrible (or so he thinks), and suddenly a young woman from California arrives, claiming to be his uncle's long-lost daughter. This novel flows with the ease of an afternoon spent in the sun. The outcomes of events are a bit predictable, but all in all I enjoyed it.
The Plot To Save Socrates
Author: Paul Levinson
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: ****
It all starts when Sierra Waters, a classics grad student, is shown an enigmatic Socratic dialouge by her professor, Thomas O'Leary. In the dialouge, a mysterious man named Andros tries to convince Socrates to escape with him into the future, via time travel, in order to escape the horrible fate prescribed to him by the Athenian government. Shortly thereafter, Thomas disappears, launching Sierra on a quest that spans milleniums in search of the truth. On her quest she meets friends, lovers, and those who would threaten her life, all leading up to the one fateful night when "Andros" would make his fated appearance in Socrates' prison. Let me just say that the only reason this book didn't get five stars is because I didn't like the ending. Otherwise, this book was riveting. The charactors bounce back and forth between the time periods in their quest to save one of the greatest thinkers of all time, in the process encountering paradoxes that would make any philosopher's hair stand on end. It is suspenseful , but not dragged out, and there are several plot twists that leave everything you thought you had figured out in the garbage. The ending, though I personally didn't care for it, neatly tied up all the loose ends involved in this writhing snake of a tale, making the circle of events complete.
The Genesis Code
Author: John Case
Genre: General Fiction
Rating: ***
It all starts in a small town in the Umbrian countryside of Italy. A devout doctor, nearing the end of his life, confesses to the local priest a sin, the magnitude of which will stretch around the world, affecting the lives of innocent families everywhere. Shortly after this, a man named Joe Lassiter recieves a phone call in the middle of the night, informing him that his sister and her young son have perished in a tragic fire. The cause: arson. To make matters even more shocking, it is discovered that they were both murdered in their beds before the fire was set, seemingly in cold blood. Joe, the owner of a highly successful investigative agency, sets out on a quest for answers that will take him to Italy, Prague, and finally to the most remote reaches of Maine, in the process uncovering a secret that could change the world as we know it. This book was, at best, a diversion. In the typical suspense thriller style, absolutely nothing was revealed until the last chapter or so, leaving us readers hanging on the edges of our seats. In the midst of reading it I remember thinking: "I wish he would just get on with it already!". Indeed, it seemed at times as though the author was deliberatly dragging things out, and that was annoying. I have to admit though, the ending was pretty shocking. It's one of those where you think you've got it all figured out, but then the author just throws something at you you totally weren't expecting. Also, true to form of most books of this type, the writing itself wasn't all that spectacular. It got the job done, but don't expect any great prose. All in all, I would say it was okay, but I don't think I'd read it again, purely because the only thing that kept me reading it in the first place was wanting to know what the heck was going on!
Hippolyte's Island
Author: Barbara Hodgson
Genre: General Fictions
Rating: *****
Hippolyte's Island tells the story of the eccentric Hippolyte Webb. Having been a traveler all his life, Hippolyte becomes restless for someplace new, someplace he hasn't seen before. Being a collector of old maps and atlases, he discovers three barely noticeable dots in the middle of the southern Atlantic. The Aurora Islands. They appear on no modern maps, and all geological authorities deny their existence. It is as if they have disappeared off the face of the earth. Hippolyte makes it his quest to find the Auroras and prove to the world that they still exist. He proposes to write about about his adventures to finance the expedition. Here enters Marie Simplon, his editor. Down-to-earth, sensible, and conventional, she is constantly at odds with Hippolyte's scattered energy and unorthodox way of life. Can he convince her that these ephemeral islands are real after all? I really loved this book, as you can see by the five-star rating. It is a breath of fresh air with its lovably idiosyncratic hero and unique plot. The writing is highly descriptive without being boggy and tedious; all around this is a very well-written novel.