The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card
The Gate Thief by Orson Scott Card
Books
1 and 2 in a trilogy (it had better be just a trilogy) by Orson Scott
Card. (Amazingly, I haven't read all of his books yet.) The idea behind
this one is that all the polytheistic gods (Zeus, Thor, all those
Egyptian ones, other cultures I never learned about in school, etc.)
were wizards of sorts that had magical powers. Historically, these
powers were supercharged when they could travel through magical portals
to another planet. But when Loki shut all the gates, their powers
started to fade over time and the 'gods' were gradually forgotten. But
now, of course, a kid has been born with the ability to create a new
gate. (A teenage boy, of course, because Card.) So, adventures ensue,
magic happens and all that. Book three is on hold at the library.
Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson
The
true story of a team of group of deep sea divers find a previously
unknown wreck 200 something feet deep and 30 miles off the New Jersey
shore. Diving to those depths is on the extreme edge of what is
physically possible, which makes it very dangerous, but they are
determined to identify the wreck. Minor spoiler here: it's a WWII
submarine, and no one has any idea which one it is, or how it got there -
there's no record of a submarine ever being sunk anywhere near there.
The identification takes years as they make repeated dives on the wreck
and pour through historical archives searching for the lost boat.
The Rent Collector by Camron Wright
Every
once in a while a book mysteriously shows up at my house - amazon
packaging, no note. By now we know that it's probably from my dad. They
show up out of the blue, and we don't really know why (or even for whom)
the book was sent. The book is a fictional word (though based on very
real people) about a family that lives at the largest dump in Cambodia.
The scavenge garbage to eke out a meager existence. Sang Ly, her husband
and baby try to survive month by month and save enough money to pay the
rent to, yes, the grump rent collector. One day, Sang discovers that
the rent collector has an amazing skills: she can read! This book is an
excellent story about the wonderful power that stories can have in our
lives. My dad made a good call in sending this book along.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Girl who played with Fire
The Girl who Kicked the Hornets' Nest by Stieg Larsson
These
books sold a lot of copies a handful of years ago and the first has
been made into a movie (twice). Set in Sweden (and translated from
Swedish) they are mystery/action novels that center on an investigative
reporter and an anti-social young woman named Lisbeth (who is the girl).
I stayed up until 12:30 last night trying to finish the third book,
didn't quite succeed, but ended up coming into work 20 minutes late
today because I finished it in the morning. They're very good, but
perhaps not for the faint of heart. The original title in Swedish
translates as "Men Who Hate Women" and the book ends up describing
murder and rape, as well as a fair bit of consensual sex. The good news
is that in the end the good guys win, and the bad guys all get what they
deserve. (And don't complain about spoilers, because that's pretty much
how all books like this end.) (Oh, also, be warned that book 2 and 3
are more like book 2a and 2b; don't think that you'll get to the end of
book 2 and feel like you've had any resolution at all.)
Saturday, February 6
Thursday, February 4
Yet More Books - Part 1
It's been a while since I told you what I've been reading, and I've been reading a lot. Here's the first half of the book dump. I'll post the second half in another day or two.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by that one lady
We read/listened to HP#3 over the summer as a family, and finishing that one made me want to read the next one, so I did. Also, we've been grappling with the issue of what to do next, when it comes to Harry Potter. The girls (particularly Julia) love the books, and who can blame them. But starting with #4, the books start to get darker. Cedric dies (um . . . spoiler alert) and Voldemort returns. Julia is a sensitive soul and we aren't sure if she'll handle the scarier books well. I re-read this book partly as research on whether or not girls could handle it, and partly because it's nice to re-read. After going back and forth on how it would go with the girls, I've started reading it aloud to both girls at bed time . . . . and now I'm realizing that I just signed up to read a 700+ page book out loud. Yikes. Things are going well so far, but this is going to be a continuing issue as the books continue to get darker (and include more snogging) and it's going to be a bummer to make her wait a year after each book she gets to read.
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Golden Son by Pierce Brown
The first two books in a new trilogy. (The 3rd is due out any time now.) The cover of the book has a quote from someone who has reviewed the book: "Ender, Katniss, and now Darrow." That really gives you a relatively good idea of what's to come, though people should always take care when evoking the name of Ender. Basically, Darrow is part of a repressed underclass living on Mars roughly 1000 years in the future. He gets involved in a plan to impersonate a member of the ruling class, so he can rise to the top and tear the system apart from the inside in order to allow the repressed people to rise up. Oh, and as part of the training process for the ruling class, he has to compete in the Hunger Games. (Well, it's a contest where you try to win, not just by killing the other competitors. But killing the other competitors is an allowed method to win.) So, adventures, mayhem, deceit, treachery, love interests, secrets, plotting, training montage . . . you know how it goes. The books are engaging, and reasonably intelligent. They are at times a bit graphic, as there is a lot of hand to hand fighting. Not much language though, so that's a plus. I'll be reading the last one when it comes out, because that's what you have to do when you get sucked into these things.
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
You should read this book. I find myself struggling to explain to you why you should, because it's a unique book. But I liked it, and Shannon liked it. It describes a world where the population has been more than decimated by a deadly virus (remember, historically, 'decimate' means to kill one in 10). The writing is excellent.
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
You're possibly familiar with the movie, and even if you're not, you're familiar with Sam Spade and the whole private investigator genre inspired by Humphrey Bogart's portrayal. The movie is very faithful to the book, which is only 194 pages.
One Summer by Bill Bryson
Bryson is an excellent writer who generally picks interesting topics for his books. This time, he's writing about the summer of 1927. Not having been around back then, that didn't sound particularly interesting, but I was very quickly drawn in as he covered flights across the Atlantic (successful and not), massive floods on the Mississippi, Babe Ruth, talking pictures, the Model A, and murder trials that gripped the nation.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by that one lady
We read/listened to HP#3 over the summer as a family, and finishing that one made me want to read the next one, so I did. Also, we've been grappling with the issue of what to do next, when it comes to Harry Potter. The girls (particularly Julia) love the books, and who can blame them. But starting with #4, the books start to get darker. Cedric dies (um . . . spoiler alert) and Voldemort returns. Julia is a sensitive soul and we aren't sure if she'll handle the scarier books well. I re-read this book partly as research on whether or not girls could handle it, and partly because it's nice to re-read. After going back and forth on how it would go with the girls, I've started reading it aloud to both girls at bed time . . . . and now I'm realizing that I just signed up to read a 700+ page book out loud. Yikes. Things are going well so far, but this is going to be a continuing issue as the books continue to get darker (and include more snogging) and it's going to be a bummer to make her wait a year after each book she gets to read.
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Golden Son by Pierce Brown
The first two books in a new trilogy. (The 3rd is due out any time now.) The cover of the book has a quote from someone who has reviewed the book: "Ender, Katniss, and now Darrow." That really gives you a relatively good idea of what's to come, though people should always take care when evoking the name of Ender. Basically, Darrow is part of a repressed underclass living on Mars roughly 1000 years in the future. He gets involved in a plan to impersonate a member of the ruling class, so he can rise to the top and tear the system apart from the inside in order to allow the repressed people to rise up. Oh, and as part of the training process for the ruling class, he has to compete in the Hunger Games. (Well, it's a contest where you try to win, not just by killing the other competitors. But killing the other competitors is an allowed method to win.) So, adventures, mayhem, deceit, treachery, love interests, secrets, plotting, training montage . . . you know how it goes. The books are engaging, and reasonably intelligent. They are at times a bit graphic, as there is a lot of hand to hand fighting. Not much language though, so that's a plus. I'll be reading the last one when it comes out, because that's what you have to do when you get sucked into these things.
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
You should read this book. I find myself struggling to explain to you why you should, because it's a unique book. But I liked it, and Shannon liked it. It describes a world where the population has been more than decimated by a deadly virus (remember, historically, 'decimate' means to kill one in 10). The writing is excellent.
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
You're possibly familiar with the movie, and even if you're not, you're familiar with Sam Spade and the whole private investigator genre inspired by Humphrey Bogart's portrayal. The movie is very faithful to the book, which is only 194 pages.
One Summer by Bill Bryson
Bryson is an excellent writer who generally picks interesting topics for his books. This time, he's writing about the summer of 1927. Not having been around back then, that didn't sound particularly interesting, but I was very quickly drawn in as he covered flights across the Atlantic (successful and not), massive floods on the Mississippi, Babe Ruth, talking pictures, the Model A, and murder trials that gripped the nation.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)