Monday, February 23, 2009

Equal Rites

by Terry Pratchett

Grade: All right

Not as good as the last Pratchett. Partly because there was no Death, partly because I didn't like the other characters as much, partly because of more subjectivity, and partly because of slight feminist themes. Mostly because there was no Death. I liked Death.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Mort

by Terry Pratchett

Grade: Good

I found Terry Pratchett better than I expected, considering that someone I trusted (I forget who) didn't like him. His Discworld was interesting, he is very funny, his characters are marvellous. Reminds me of Diana Wynne Jones. However, subjective truth seemed to play into it a bit, however, and I always find that disturbing.

Death was awesome. I liked his almost transformation into an ordinary person. I need to read more about Death.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

The Areas of My Expertise

by John Hodgman

Grade: Unfinished
Read: To page 100, plus bits of the rest.

This guy is an absolute riot--in small doses. He's a bit like P. G. Wodehouse in some ways. Soemtimes it's hard to read a whole Wodehouse omnibus without stopping. So with him.
And I think I spotted a Doctor Who picture! Yay! He must be good.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

The Laughter of Dead Kings

by Elizabeth Peters

Grade: All right

It was hard to get through, until somewhere near the end of the middle, and confusing all the way through. Schmidt was cool, as bookshelvesofdoom said. But he didn't quite make the rest of the book cool enough. I actually liked Feisal too, but I forget him from the other book he was in, which is annoying.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Beauty Sleep

by Cameron Dokey

Grade: To Own

I think it's because it's so short...I have this fondness for small but good books. If it wasn't so short, I'd probably just grade it "To Re-read".
As it is, I loved the irony of "Prince Charming's" name, and Jane's nature, and even the short appearence of Chantal was pretty cool. I think I loved it most, however, because she didn't marry the prince who kissed her, and the one she did marry had a most un-prince-like name and nature.

Why Catholics Can't Sing: The Culture of Catholicism and the Triumph of Bad Taste

by Thomas Day

Grade: Good

Very intruiging, especially the first half. It got harder to read near the end--I'm not sure why. But especially the part about the Irish: I'd never heard anything like that before, and it sounded fairly credible. I want Daddy to read it, so I can know if he thinks it is at all credible.
The only thing I didn't really like was that his attitude on male only priests seemed a bit ambiguous. But it was probably just my imagination.

Monday, February 2, 2009

The Grand Sophy

by Georgette Heyer

Grade: To Own

Well, I do own it, and I'm so glad! I think it's my fourth favourite Heyer, after Cotillion, The Masqueraders, and Friday's Child. Charles was different (he actually got very mad at her, and it wasn't flirtatious banter, at least not on his part), and Sophy was grand indeed! She is by far my favourite heroine, with Hero Wantage coming in second, I think.

Fairest

by Gail Carson Levine

Grade: Unfinished
Read: To somewhere near the beginning of the middle, almost.

Read below! It's almost exactly the same. As soon as the handsome prince came in, I stopped. Maybe he wasn't handsome, but he was just so obviously the hero guy! Ach...

A Curse as Dark as Gold

by Elizabeth C. Bunce

Grade: Unfinished
Read: To page 64.

I'm just NOT into romance right now. I know there's a lot of other stuff in this book too, but...when Randall came in...I just couldn't stand it. It's annoying, but I can't help it.

The Crown of Dalemark

by Diana Wynne Jones

Grade: Unfinished
Read: To page 22.

It had too many strange names right off the bat. A bit of a problem with D. W. J. Once you get into a book, it's wonderful--but sometimes it's pretty darn hard to get into it.

Start Living, Start Losing

by Weight Watchers

Grade: All right

Yeah...got me motivated a bit I guess. And there were a few helpful hints. It was very nice of Nana to give it to me.
Two of the very few men were gay, though. Gave a bit of a weird impression for the men's part in Weight Watchers--like it's only for women and gay men, or something.