book comments 26

Preamble

This is my To-Read shelf.



The plan is to get through all of these books before the year is out--as well as whatever books I add to it as I go along. So far, I don't think I'm progressing very well. Just fyi.


Amble

"The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd
--story of 14-year-old Lily, who helps her surrogate-mother housekeeper escape from racist authorities while embarking on a quest to discover the truth behind her real mother's death
--Lily finds refuge at an apiary, which totally made me fall in love with bees.
--fascinating characters, fascinating world-building (did I mention the apiary?), and fascinating (not to mention infuriating) look at racism in the South of 1964
--I will never, ever understand how any human can possibly consider him/herself superior to another just because of a difference in skin color. If it weren't so tragic, and if it didn't lead to so many horrors in this world, it would be laughable.

I'll say it plainly: If you think you're better than someone else just because your skin is a different color, you're an idiot.

*ahem* But back to the book.
--love, hate, redemption, family, tragedy, grief, recovery, humor, compassion....it's all in there
--I was in love with this novel from start to finish. I wrote an article on it here: What I Learned About Writing This Week from Sue Monk Kidd. Read. I promise you won't regret it. ;o)
--back to the book again: HIGHLY recommend!

"The Walking Dead, Vols. 1 & 2" by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore
--story of Rick, his family, and a band of fellow survivors when the zombie apocalypse hits
--more about the survivors' struggles and psychological complexities of the survivors than about zombie goriness
--my latest foray into graphic novels, and I am enjoying muchly
--great tension throughout, exciting plot, excellent character development
--a scary look into how quickly humans (not the zombies!) degenerate and turn on each other when we're stripped of our luxuries
--recommend to anyone who enjoys horror, zombies, and/or psychology

"Treachery" and "The Fall of Gilead" by Stephen King, Richard Furth, Peter David, Jae Lee, Richard Isanove
--Volumes 3&4 of King's "Dark Tower" graphic novel series
--love the story, love the characters, love the art
--Jae Lee actually didn't work on Vol. 4, and I really hope they get him back for the rest of the series. The artwork just isn't quite as good without him.
--Dark Tower fans, you really oughta get in on this action, if it do ya.
--highly recommend to King fans, DT fans, graphic novel fans

"Taming Fire" by Aaron Pogue
--story of Daven, a kid with a shady? past who thinks he has finally found peace but instead is thrust into an adventure of self-discovery, magic, dragons, fair maidens, and power that changes the world (not to mention reality)
--my third Pogue novel, and I was not disappointed
--vivid epic-fantasy world, fresh take on magic (a fresh take which some of the characters despise!), and a main character who makes you love and cry and laugh with him
--Daven's magic is going to look oh so very awesome in the movie.
--highly recommend when you see it in bookstores!


Postamble

2010 Book Count To-Date: 18.


Addendum, 04/26/10:
Discovered the link under Aaron's name actually led to one of my posts instead of his About page at Unstressed Syllables. Oops! Fixed it.

book comments 23

"Under The Dome" by Stephen King
--novel answers the question "What would happen if a transparent, oxygen- and light-permeable, but otherwise impenetrable dome suddenly dropped down over a small town?"
--a lot of dead birds, for one thing
I love how King tells his tale. He uses omniscient narration to describe the grand scale of the event, then pares it down to individual viewpoints--almost like a reporter doing a few human interest stories against the backdrop of a larger disaster.
--excellent characterization
--BUT: A few times, I thought some of the characters were almost *too* vivid, as though they came close to being caricatures. I loathed the main antagonist, Jim Rennie--but he was almost too easy to hate, if you know what I mean.
--recommend to any King/horror/psychodrama fan

"The Gunslinger Born" and "The Long Road Home" by Stephen King, Peter David, Robin Furth, Jae Lee, and Richard Isanove
--first two in the graphic novel series based on King's Dark Tower
Just to clarify: The term "graphic novel" does not refer to "graphic sex" or "graphic violence." It means a story told basically in comic book form, but longer than a comic book and printed on more durable materials. A novel told through graphics, holla.
--totally fascinating to read/view these after having read King's novels
--GORGEOUS artwork...just paging through these makes my fingers itch to paint
--for King fans: These include tidbits of story we don't see in the original novels!!!
--my one complaint: They didn't draw Rhea ugly or creepy enough. ;o)
--highly recommend to King fans and graphic novel fans

"The Naming--The First Book of Pellinor" by Alison Croggon
--first novel in a fantasy series
--story of Maerad, a girl rescued out of slavery and starting to find that she has magical powers--and the enemy wants to make sure she never gets to use them
--excellent world-building; history, culture, language, arts, it's all there in the background before the story even starts
I keep thinking this is what Lord of the Rings might have been if a woman had written it--which, coming from me, is a compliment. ;o)
--highly recommend to any fantasy fan, especially young adult
In fact, this would be a great novel with which to get a young teen started on the fantasy genre.

"Odd Hours" by Dean Koontz
--fourth novel about Koontz's endearing character Odd Thomas, who sees ghosts and does what he can to help them move on into the afterlife; in this one, the dead (and the living) are helping him avert an impending, wide-spread disaster
I think my favorite part of this novel is the dialogue, especially Odd's dead-pan one-liners.
--a novel without clutter; Koontz keeps it simple without letting it slide into simplistic
--an open end! I see another Odd novel coming. :o)
--highly recommend to fans of paranormal and/or Koontz

"Elantris" by Brandon Sanderson
--Sanderson's first published novel
--fantasy epic, does *not* read like a first novel (I'm jealous.) ;o)
--story of Prince Raoden and his wife-to-be, Sarene, who fight to save their country and their religion from being overrun by a neighboring empire
This novel is proof that solid backstory is essential and can be offered to readers through tantalizing hints that add up to a coherent, fascinating whole.
--comes complete with a tortured, sympathetic antagonist (though I didn't like him at all until he started doubting himself)
--comes complete with incredible visual imagery that would be stunning in film (as in, LOTR stunning)
--convinces me that Sanderson is, indeed, quite capable of finishing out Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series
--recommend to any fantasy fan

"Heart-Shaped Box" by Joe Hill
--another one to make me jealous with a well-crafted first novel ;o)
--story of aging rocker Jude Coyne, who "buys" a ghost online...and then finds himself haunted and struggling for his life
Hill has created a main character I would love to meet--even though I have no doubt that Jude's appearance alone would scare me witless. ;o)
I appreciate and admire Hill for his female characters, who are strong despite (or because of?) their terrible weaknesses.
--contains a tribute to Hill's father, SK, at the end? (a door in the floor...)
--one complaint: I wish Hill had done more with the music. Yes, music plays a vital role in the story--keeping the vengeful ghost at bay--but I feel like Hill took it *almost* as far as it needed to go, but didn't quite get there. I guess I wanted music to be more directly involved with the story's climax.
--recommend to any horror/paranormal fan


2010 Book Count To-Date: 7.