(book reviews) numbers 1 - 19
Mar. 16th, 2011 11:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oh_deannaOkay, so I'm finally getting around to doing this blasted thing. Yay me! Bear with me, I'm not exactly sure how I want to format these posts yet, so consider this a trial run. Will be cross-posted to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
50bookchallenge (yes, even though my challenge is to read 100 books. Whatever).
BOOK/SERIES: The Yellow Wallpaper
AUTHOR: Charlotte Perkins Gilman
BLURB: (from Amazon) “The story of a nameless woman driven mad by enforced confinement after the birth of her child. Isolated in a colonial mansion in the middle of nowhere, forced to sleep in an attic nursery with barred windows and sickly yellow wallpaper, secretly she does what she has to do - she writes. She craves intellectual stimulation, activity, loving understanding, instead she is ordered to her bedroom to rest and 'pull herself together'. Here, slowly but surely, the tortuous pattern of the wallpaper winds its way into the recesses of her mind...”
DATE FINISHED: 25/1/2011
RATING: ★★★ ½
THOUGHTS: I was kind of horrified by the end of this - that image of her crawling around the room, over the passed-out body of her husband, just completely and totally lost in her madness made me shiver as I finished. I thought this was really interesting to look at from a feminist perspective, especially regarding the way her husband treated her. This reviewer on Amazon.com said it the best - “Believing that intellectual activity would overwhelm the fragile female mind, "rest cure" refers to the prevention of women from thinking, relying on the assumption that the natural state of the female mind was one of emptiness.” In trying to fix her, he forced her into what was apparently known as “rest-cure”, which ultimately lead her into madness.
BOOK/SERIES: The Lily Bard Mysteries: Shakespeare’s Landlord, Shakespeare’s Champion, Shakespeare’s Christmas, Shakespeare’s Trollop, Shakespeare’s Counselor.
AUTHOR: Charlaine Harris
BLURB: (from Amazon) “Lily Bard, resident of Shakespeare, Arkansas, a woman fiercely protective of her privacy, determined to succeed as a one-woman cleaning agency, and just as fiercely determined to excel in karate. When the unpopular and very nosy owner of the apartment building next door is murdered and the body dumped in the local park, Lily reports the body to the police--anonymously. The local police chief, however, is nobody's fool and quickly discovers Lily's involvement and her own past, which makes her a possible suspect. Given the situation and, since she cleans for many of the other possible suspects, some opportunities, Lily decides that the only way to clear her name is to find the real killer. Harris has created an intriguing new character in this solidly plotted story. Expect more from crime fiction's first cleaning-lady series.”
DATE FINISHED: 2/2/2011
RATING: ★★★★
THOUGHTS: I read this series during a particularly bad heat-wave in Sydney at the beginning of February, and I swear - it was the only thing that kept me sane. I admit to finding the character of Lily quite abrasive and difficult to like at first, but the more I learnt about her and her past, the more I came to respect her more and more. She’s become one of my favourite main characters - she doesn’t take crape from anyone, she kicks ass, and she’s exceptionally intelligent. There were a couple of moments when I thought “oh god, this is going to end up being really bad chick-lit, isn’t it?” but I was always pleasantly surprised. The ‘mysteries’ she was solving were intriguing and kept me guessing, the characters of the small town were believable and at times hilarious, and Lily really grew as a character and as a person, I felt. I would definitely recommend this series.
BOOKS/SERIES: Southern Vampire Mysteries Series: Dead Until Dark, Living Dead in Dallas, Club Dead, Dead to the World, Dead as a Doornail, Definitely Dead, All Together Dead, From Dead to Worse, Dead and Gone, Dead in the Family.
AUTHOR: Charlaine Harris
BLURB: (from Wikipedia) “In The Southern Vampire Mysteries series, Harris develops a detailed mythology and alternate history that approaches supernatural beings as real; at the beginning of the series, vampires have only been public knowledge for a couple of years. Other supernatural beings, such as werewolves, shapeshifters, etc., exist but do not go public until later in the series. Its history has otherwise unfolded so closely to that of the real world that the series contains occasional references to popular culture. The series is narrated in first person perspective by Sookie Stackhouse. She is a waitress and a telepath in the fictional town of Bon Temps, Louisiana.”
DATE FINISHED: 25/2/2011
RATING: ★★★★ ½
THOUGHTS: I'm hooked on this series. I read these so quickly, one after the other, that I’m surprised that I actually managed to take anything in. There’s not one thing that I can really pinpoint as being my favourite part of this series. The books I most enjoyed by far would have to be the 4th, when Eric loses his memory, and the book (I can’t recall which one right now) when Lily Bard makes an appearance. That just made me so happy, the idea of these two different fictitious worlds colliding and coexisting. I found Sookie at times incredibly brave and incredibly annoying, and I admired her strength when it came to things like pushing Bill and Quinn away. I love Pam and Sookie’s friendship in this series; it makes me sad that it’s not really present in that way in the television series. An awesome set of books - I definitely recommend them to any fans of paranormal romance. I’d definitely read these again.
BOOKS/SERIES: Soulless (Parasol Protectorate series)
AUTHOR: Gail Carriger
BLURB: (From Wikipedia) “Soulless is set in an alternate history version of Victorian England where werewolves and vampires are accepted as functioning members of society. Alexia Tarabotti is a woman with several critical problems: she is still searching for a husband, her late Italian father complicates her social standing in a rigid class system, and she has no soul. The fact that she is "soulless" leaves her unaffected by the powers of supernatural beings which only further complicates her life when she accidentally kills a vampire that had attacked her. Queen Victoria sends an investigator, Lord Maccon, who is himself a werewolf. As disappearances in the vampire population of London's high society increase, Alexia becomes the prime suspect. She must solve the mystery, all while maintaining proper decorum and a delicate social balance.”
DATE FINISHED: 3/3/11
RATING: ★★★★
THOUGHTS: I studied Speculative Fiction for a year in high school, and my English teacher was always a big fan of steampunk novels. I’d dabbled in reading some short stories in the genre, but never found anything that truly grasped my attention, until I read Soulless. I immediately was drawn into the world of Victorian London - a London where supernatural creatures are commonplace and great big steamships patrol the skies. I fell in love with Alexia; despite attempting to stay true to the morals of the time, she is brazen and forward and just generally kind of awesome. The idea of not having a soul was fascinating to me, and I love what her abilities mean in the greater scheme of things. On a lesser note, her romance with Lord Maccon definitely got me all hot and bothered. It sort of reminded me of the tawdry romance novels I used to read when I was younger. By the time the climax came around, I knew that I was a fan, and that I would eagerly begin reading the next book in the series.
BOOKS/SERIES: Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers
AUTHOR: Mary Roach
BLURB: (From bookbrowse.com) “For two thousand years, cadavers - some willingly, some unwittingly - have been involved in science's boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. They've tested France's first guillotines, ridden the NASA Space Shuttle, been crucified in a Parisian laboratory to test the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, and helped solve the mystery of TWA Flight 800. For every new surgical procedure, from heart transplants to gender reassignment surgery, cadavers have been there alongside surgeons, making history in their quiet way. In this fascinating, ennobling account, Mary Roach visits the good deeds of cadavers over the centuries—from the anatomy labs and human-sourced pharmacies of medieval and nineteenth-century Europe to a human decay research facility in Tennessee, to a plastic surgery practice lab, to a Scandinavian funeral directors' conference on human composting. In her droll, inimitable voice, Roach tells the engrossing story of our bodies when we are no longer with them.”
DATE FINISHED: 6/3/11
RATING: ★★★★ ½
THOUGHTS: Does it make me morbid to say that I really couldn’t wait to get into this book? From the first sentence, I knew I would enjoy reading it. Mary Roach is funny and likeable and so upfront regarding this somewhat taboo topic. I found her really endearing, and her awkwardness when trying to ask the nitty gritty important (or rather, what she thought was important!) questions was hilarious. My favourite aspect of the whole book would have to be the footnotes. They were plentiful, and ranged from the intriguing to the ridiculous. It was almost as though she wanted to pack in every interesting thing she had learnt during her research, whether it actually pertained to the topic of cadavers or not. Overall, I found reading this book further solidified my views on death and the human body. I for one will definitely be donating at least my organs after I die.
BOOKS/SERIES: Lucky: A Memoir
AUTHOR: Alice Sebold
BLURB: (From Amazon) “When Sebold, the author of the current bestseller The Lovely Bones, was a college freshman at Syracuse University, she was attacked and raped on the last night of school, forced onto the ground in a tunnel "among the dead leaves and broken beer bottles." In a ham-handed attempt to mollify her, a policeman later told her that a young woman had been murdered there and, by comparison, Sebold should consider herself lucky. That dubious "luck" is the focus of this fiercely observed memoir about how an incident of such profound violence can change the course of one's life.”
DATE FINISHED: 16/3/11
RATING: ★★★★
THOUGHTS: I knew when I started this book that it was going to be confronting for me, and that while I would find it interesting, I probably wouldn’t end up particularly enjoying it. I was right. Alice Sebold is honest and direct and to the point so much that it hurts. I felt physically ill at times reading her very frank description of her rape, the attitude of her peers and family towards her afterwards, and especially the court room scenes. There was almost at times a clinical feel to the book which both helped and hindered me in reading this. I felt really shaken after reading this. It was triggering for me (which I expected, especially after having read The Lovely Bones), but I also felt like it was an important book for me to have read.
50bookchallenge (yes, even though my challenge is to read 100 books. Whatever).BOOK/SERIES: The Yellow Wallpaper
AUTHOR: Charlotte Perkins Gilman
BLURB: (from Amazon) “The story of a nameless woman driven mad by enforced confinement after the birth of her child. Isolated in a colonial mansion in the middle of nowhere, forced to sleep in an attic nursery with barred windows and sickly yellow wallpaper, secretly she does what she has to do - she writes. She craves intellectual stimulation, activity, loving understanding, instead she is ordered to her bedroom to rest and 'pull herself together'. Here, slowly but surely, the tortuous pattern of the wallpaper winds its way into the recesses of her mind...”
DATE FINISHED: 25/1/2011
RATING: ★★★ ½
THOUGHTS: I was kind of horrified by the end of this - that image of her crawling around the room, over the passed-out body of her husband, just completely and totally lost in her madness made me shiver as I finished. I thought this was really interesting to look at from a feminist perspective, especially regarding the way her husband treated her. This reviewer on Amazon.com said it the best - “Believing that intellectual activity would overwhelm the fragile female mind, "rest cure" refers to the prevention of women from thinking, relying on the assumption that the natural state of the female mind was one of emptiness.” In trying to fix her, he forced her into what was apparently known as “rest-cure”, which ultimately lead her into madness.
BOOK/SERIES: The Lily Bard Mysteries: Shakespeare’s Landlord, Shakespeare’s Champion, Shakespeare’s Christmas, Shakespeare’s Trollop, Shakespeare’s Counselor.
AUTHOR: Charlaine Harris
BLURB: (from Amazon) “Lily Bard, resident of Shakespeare, Arkansas, a woman fiercely protective of her privacy, determined to succeed as a one-woman cleaning agency, and just as fiercely determined to excel in karate. When the unpopular and very nosy owner of the apartment building next door is murdered and the body dumped in the local park, Lily reports the body to the police--anonymously. The local police chief, however, is nobody's fool and quickly discovers Lily's involvement and her own past, which makes her a possible suspect. Given the situation and, since she cleans for many of the other possible suspects, some opportunities, Lily decides that the only way to clear her name is to find the real killer. Harris has created an intriguing new character in this solidly plotted story. Expect more from crime fiction's first cleaning-lady series.”
DATE FINISHED: 2/2/2011
RATING: ★★★★
THOUGHTS: I read this series during a particularly bad heat-wave in Sydney at the beginning of February, and I swear - it was the only thing that kept me sane. I admit to finding the character of Lily quite abrasive and difficult to like at first, but the more I learnt about her and her past, the more I came to respect her more and more. She’s become one of my favourite main characters - she doesn’t take crape from anyone, she kicks ass, and she’s exceptionally intelligent. There were a couple of moments when I thought “oh god, this is going to end up being really bad chick-lit, isn’t it?” but I was always pleasantly surprised. The ‘mysteries’ she was solving were intriguing and kept me guessing, the characters of the small town were believable and at times hilarious, and Lily really grew as a character and as a person, I felt. I would definitely recommend this series.
BOOKS/SERIES: Southern Vampire Mysteries Series: Dead Until Dark, Living Dead in Dallas, Club Dead, Dead to the World, Dead as a Doornail, Definitely Dead, All Together Dead, From Dead to Worse, Dead and Gone, Dead in the Family.
AUTHOR: Charlaine Harris
BLURB: (from Wikipedia) “In The Southern Vampire Mysteries series, Harris develops a detailed mythology and alternate history that approaches supernatural beings as real; at the beginning of the series, vampires have only been public knowledge for a couple of years. Other supernatural beings, such as werewolves, shapeshifters, etc., exist but do not go public until later in the series. Its history has otherwise unfolded so closely to that of the real world that the series contains occasional references to popular culture. The series is narrated in first person perspective by Sookie Stackhouse. She is a waitress and a telepath in the fictional town of Bon Temps, Louisiana.”
DATE FINISHED: 25/2/2011
RATING: ★★★★ ½
THOUGHTS: I'm hooked on this series. I read these so quickly, one after the other, that I’m surprised that I actually managed to take anything in. There’s not one thing that I can really pinpoint as being my favourite part of this series. The books I most enjoyed by far would have to be the 4th, when Eric loses his memory, and the book (I can’t recall which one right now) when Lily Bard makes an appearance. That just made me so happy, the idea of these two different fictitious worlds colliding and coexisting. I found Sookie at times incredibly brave and incredibly annoying, and I admired her strength when it came to things like pushing Bill and Quinn away. I love Pam and Sookie’s friendship in this series; it makes me sad that it’s not really present in that way in the television series. An awesome set of books - I definitely recommend them to any fans of paranormal romance. I’d definitely read these again.
BOOKS/SERIES: Soulless (Parasol Protectorate series)
AUTHOR: Gail Carriger
BLURB: (From Wikipedia) “Soulless is set in an alternate history version of Victorian England where werewolves and vampires are accepted as functioning members of society. Alexia Tarabotti is a woman with several critical problems: she is still searching for a husband, her late Italian father complicates her social standing in a rigid class system, and she has no soul. The fact that she is "soulless" leaves her unaffected by the powers of supernatural beings which only further complicates her life when she accidentally kills a vampire that had attacked her. Queen Victoria sends an investigator, Lord Maccon, who is himself a werewolf. As disappearances in the vampire population of London's high society increase, Alexia becomes the prime suspect. She must solve the mystery, all while maintaining proper decorum and a delicate social balance.”
DATE FINISHED: 3/3/11
RATING: ★★★★
THOUGHTS: I studied Speculative Fiction for a year in high school, and my English teacher was always a big fan of steampunk novels. I’d dabbled in reading some short stories in the genre, but never found anything that truly grasped my attention, until I read Soulless. I immediately was drawn into the world of Victorian London - a London where supernatural creatures are commonplace and great big steamships patrol the skies. I fell in love with Alexia; despite attempting to stay true to the morals of the time, she is brazen and forward and just generally kind of awesome. The idea of not having a soul was fascinating to me, and I love what her abilities mean in the greater scheme of things. On a lesser note, her romance with Lord Maccon definitely got me all hot and bothered. It sort of reminded me of the tawdry romance novels I used to read when I was younger. By the time the climax came around, I knew that I was a fan, and that I would eagerly begin reading the next book in the series.
BOOKS/SERIES: Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers
AUTHOR: Mary Roach
BLURB: (From bookbrowse.com) “For two thousand years, cadavers - some willingly, some unwittingly - have been involved in science's boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. They've tested France's first guillotines, ridden the NASA Space Shuttle, been crucified in a Parisian laboratory to test the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, and helped solve the mystery of TWA Flight 800. For every new surgical procedure, from heart transplants to gender reassignment surgery, cadavers have been there alongside surgeons, making history in their quiet way. In this fascinating, ennobling account, Mary Roach visits the good deeds of cadavers over the centuries—from the anatomy labs and human-sourced pharmacies of medieval and nineteenth-century Europe to a human decay research facility in Tennessee, to a plastic surgery practice lab, to a Scandinavian funeral directors' conference on human composting. In her droll, inimitable voice, Roach tells the engrossing story of our bodies when we are no longer with them.”
DATE FINISHED: 6/3/11
RATING: ★★★★ ½
THOUGHTS: Does it make me morbid to say that I really couldn’t wait to get into this book? From the first sentence, I knew I would enjoy reading it. Mary Roach is funny and likeable and so upfront regarding this somewhat taboo topic. I found her really endearing, and her awkwardness when trying to ask the nitty gritty important (or rather, what she thought was important!) questions was hilarious. My favourite aspect of the whole book would have to be the footnotes. They were plentiful, and ranged from the intriguing to the ridiculous. It was almost as though she wanted to pack in every interesting thing she had learnt during her research, whether it actually pertained to the topic of cadavers or not. Overall, I found reading this book further solidified my views on death and the human body. I for one will definitely be donating at least my organs after I die.
BOOKS/SERIES: Lucky: A Memoir
AUTHOR: Alice Sebold
BLURB: (From Amazon) “When Sebold, the author of the current bestseller The Lovely Bones, was a college freshman at Syracuse University, she was attacked and raped on the last night of school, forced onto the ground in a tunnel "among the dead leaves and broken beer bottles." In a ham-handed attempt to mollify her, a policeman later told her that a young woman had been murdered there and, by comparison, Sebold should consider herself lucky. That dubious "luck" is the focus of this fiercely observed memoir about how an incident of such profound violence can change the course of one's life.”
DATE FINISHED: 16/3/11
RATING: ★★★★
THOUGHTS: I knew when I started this book that it was going to be confronting for me, and that while I would find it interesting, I probably wouldn’t end up particularly enjoying it. I was right. Alice Sebold is honest and direct and to the point so much that it hurts. I felt physically ill at times reading her very frank description of her rape, the attitude of her peers and family towards her afterwards, and especially the court room scenes. There was almost at times a clinical feel to the book which both helped and hindered me in reading this. I felt really shaken after reading this. It was triggering for me (which I expected, especially after having read The Lovely Bones), but I also felt like it was an important book for me to have read.
