Children of the Green Knowe

by L. M. Boston

Grade: Unfinished
Read: To page 24.

It was due at the library. And it was a bit slow. I might try again, but I might not for a while. I'd like to some day, because it seems like quite a children's classic.

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma

by Trenton Lee Stewart

Grade: All right

I enjoyed it better than the second one, but less than the first. Constance's abilities are getting pretty neat.

City of Bones

by Cassandra Clare

Grade: Unfinished
Read: To page 163.

I really should have been able to finish it. It was mostly quite engaging. But Jace, and the fact that I knew he and Clary would get together annoyed me enough that I stopped.

I even liked Jace at first! I was happy that he wasn't tall and dark, and that he looked a bit like a lion. And he was funny. But then he got too...

Ok, here's an example. He always calls Clary "little girl", and then Clary gets mad and says, "My name is Clary!" or something like that. How obvious is that?
Grrrrrrr.

Out of the Wild

by Sarah Beth Durst

Grade: All right

It was fine. I seem to remember that the first one was better, but that might only be because it was so original the first time.
But it wasn't bad. I liked the Beauty and the Beast twist. Julie's dad reminded me a lot of the prince from Enchanted.

Gullstruck Island

by Frances Hardinge

Grade: Good (To Own)

Wow. I should never doubt Frances Hardinge again. I almost gave this book back. Bad me, horrible me.
Every book is so utterly different. And the characters...gracious, but they were vivid and original and totally themselves. I liked Jimboly for being one of the creepiest people ever (NOTE: And female. Hardinge has good female characters that don't need to be all "feminist" in order to be interesting.), Hathin for being the most amazing and different lead character ever, Dance for being huge, Camber for being so like Hathin in so many ways except for the important one, Prox for being confused and faceless and having nice eyes, Arilou for being Lost and strange and not the heroine, Larsh for being utterly surprising, and the Superior for being sweet and funny and marrying his housekeeper.

The Soldiers of Halla

by D. J. MacHale

Grade: All right

Two things:
One. There was a lot of philosophical and metaphysical stuff. A bit too much all stuffed into one book. It didn't quite fit with the rest of the books, plus I'm not sure how good it was.
And I didn't get the ending.

Two. I kind of wanted Mark and Courtney to get together, and of course, they didn't. Bobby and Courtney kind of did. Which was strange.

Unafraid of Virginia Wolf

by Joseph Pearce

Grade: Unfinished
Read: A bit of the preface.

I'm still going to read this. The Campbells seem like two incredible people. Strange, yes. (They both had affairs with other people, Mary Campbell with Vita Sackville-West.) Fascinating, yes. (They both converted to Catholicism, Roy Campbell was an Inkling.) I'm just a bit busy at the moment.

Pistols for Two

by Georgette Heyer

Grade: All right

No really good ones. I was hoping one of those stories would be as splendid as Grand Sophy, Masqueraders, or Cotillion. But none were. Mostly just the lazy-eyed, 30-year-old type as hero. Which isn't bad in small doses, but almost all of them?

Kiki Strike: The Empress's Tomb

by Kirsten Miller

Grade: All right

Kiki was great and Kay-Kay-Bay-ish, as last time, (although she's a bit nicer and more into "getting along" than KKB).

I liked Kasper. I liked that the first and only romantic relationship went to Betty, of all people.
I disliked that it seemed somewhat obvious at times. Perhaps that's because it's written for younger people. Although young people's books don't always have to be like that.
Anyway, I'll read the next one.

The Second Siege

by Henry H. Neff

Grade: Good

The similarities to Harry Potter were WAY lessened this time. Firstly, the relationship between David and Max almost has Max in the position of side-kick. Secondly he's the son of the fairy king!!! (Or something like that.) Thirdly...well, there's too many other things. I don't want to mention them all. Just know that it's different now.

It's also a bit confusing. It tends to jump around a bit. For a long time, they were just running and hiding, and hiding and running, and then BANG, stuff happened, they were in Faerie, "Max, I am your father", ages of physical training (perhaps years!), and it all goes by in a flash. Oh, and then a quick meeting with the evil-wicked-demon bad guy, but it's not significant, because now we have to go to a couple weeks of sitting around and recouperating.
And the part where he defeats Level 9...it seemed like he was having a fight with someone, and then he got so mad, that he stormed off and worked at this test thingy. Not exactly a typical reaction...It really confused me.

Actually, I really liked it, though it might not seem like it. It was a bit jumpy, but I liked it that way. It had a nasty cliff hanger, and the library doesn't have the next one!

Wizards at War

by Diane Duane

Grade: Good

Quite...apocolyptic, this one. As with many of the earlier ones, there were some fascinating ideas about the nature of time and angels, but also some bad theology.

It got a bit confusing, especially near the end. I'm afraid I didn't really get the Ponch stuff. What exactly was he? And had he always been that? I also didn't get exactly who the "someone standing at the end of his driveway" on the last page was. I assume it was Nita, but it seems a bit strange.

On the pro side, I liked Roshaun in this one, and Dairine too. The end was quite devistating, but it was also ambiguous, so there's hope.

Wizard's Holiday

by Diane Duane

Grade: Good

Not my favourite. The visiting aliens were interesting and amusing, but Kit and Nita's part was a bit boring.
I liked Spot's "Uh-oh"s, though. They were cute!

The King of Attolia

by Magan Whalen Turner

Grade: To Own

....................

Post-reading euphoria.
Tears.
Shaky returning to the normal world.

"He is an Annux, a king of kings."

Lords and Ladies

By Terry Pratchett

Grade: Unfinished
Read: I can't remember...And it's already back at the library, so it's too late to check. But it was to somewhere near the beginning, I think.

It's just really hard to get into Pratchett's that don't have Vetinari or the Watch in them. Or Death. Really, I read him for those three characters. (The Watch can count as its own character.) Nothing else. I don't even really notice how funny he is.

BUT. I still have hopes for this one. I do like Granny Weatherwax and Archanchellor Ridcully. So we'll see. I try again some day.

The Queen of Attolia

by Megan Whalen Turner

Grade: Unfinished
Read: The first page.

I wanted to read this! I really did! I loved the first book! But it was the beginning of school, as mentioned in the last post, and I mostly forgot the first book, and Christina took it before I could read it. But I will read it.

EDIT:
Ok, I've read it now. FINALLY. And it wasn't quite as good as I was hoping. It was pretty good, and I love Eugenides. And I really like Attolia. But there was a lot of politics. So maybe I'll change it to "Good" instead of "All right"... But no, I think because now I've also read King of Attolia, I'm more partial to the whole series. So I'll change it to "Good".

Unseen Academicals

by Terry Pratchett

Grade: Good

Some fabulous Vetinari scenes. I might have to change it to "To Own" because of that. The new characters were also lovely. So I'm happy. (I won't be completely happy until Raising Taxes comes out, IF it comes out...but I guess that's beside the point.)

The Hound of Rowan

by Henry H. Neff

Grade: Good

The similarities to Harry Potter weren't too glaring for me. And I liked the characters enough to be especially looking forward to the sequel. My favourites were David and Nigel. And Mr. McDaniels was annoying, but a bit intruiging as well. You don't often get characters who are like him, but loved immensely by their child, and portrayed even slightly sympathetically.

A Wizard Alone

by Diane Duane

Grade: Good

One of the best ones yet, by far. Even the cover is one of the best. However, it was all in the world that this one took place, not the characters. I didn't love any of the characters, in a certain sense. I did like the greater emphasis on Kit than on some of the other books, and Darryl... Darryle was awsome--just not in a favourite-character type of way, I guess.
Plus, she's getting more and more Christian. Look at this description of sainthood:

Pg. 221: "But the trouble with sainthood these days is the robe-and-halo imagery that gets stuck onto it. [...] People forget that robes were street clothes once...and still are, in a lot of places. and halos are to that fierce air of innocence what speech balloons in comics are to the sound of the voice itself. Shorthand. But most people just see an old symbol and don't bother looking behind it for the meaning. Sainthood starts to look old-fashioned, unattainable ... even repellent. Actually, you can see it all around, once you learn to spot it."

Flora's Dare

by Ysabeau S. Wilce

Grade: Good

Good sequel. I think I like both books better now that I've read the second one. The world is still original. I like Udo, and Flora more than before, I think. Lord Axacaya annoyed me. First when he was so attractive to Flora, and then when he turned out to be bad, which I saw coming from miles away.

A Wizard's Dilemma

by Diane Duane

Grade: All right

Just didn't catch me. Again, no secondary character that I really liked, although Ponch, the dog, was fun, and I wouldn't mind hearing more of him. Otherwise, besides the cool place Kit and Ponch went to, nothing else interested me much. But I'll definitely read the next ones in this series.

A Wizard Abroad

by Diane Duane

Grade: All right

Not my favourite in this series. No lovely secondary characters. In fact, Ronan kind of bugged me. And it was rather unintelligable, what with all the Irish folklore. I realised part way through that there was a glossary at the back, but I didn't feel like using it. And there wasn't much Kit, and I like Kit well enough to miss him when he isn't there.

High Wizardry

by Diane Duane

Grade: Good

No secondary characters I loved as much as Fred and Ed this time. But I loved the idea of the sentient computers. And I did love her personal computer very much too. All in all, it was a pretty cool book, perhaps my favourite for plot and setting. The end was Lewis-ian, like Peralandra.

Deep Wizardry

by Diane Duane

Grade: Good

I'm going to read more because I loved Ed. And Fred from the last one. And her world can be pretty cool... But I wouldn't read the others so soon if it wasn't for Ed and Fred. At the present, I have three that I'm planning to read right away. So, come all ye Eds! Freds, ahoy!

Faerie Wars

by Herbie Brennan

Grade: Good

Yeah, good I guess. The stuff with his mother was a bit weird. I actually kind of enjoyed his family stuff more than some of the parts with Blue or Brimstone. Mr. Fogarty was cool, though. And everything was nicely original. I'll read the sequal someday. But not immediately, I don't think.

Neverwhere

by Neil Gaiman

Grade: Good

Good, however it wasn't as original as I'd expect from Gaiman. It reads almost like a movie script to me. It seemed to me that I'd seen many of the phrases and gestures before in movies. Maybe I'm imagining things, but it did detract from my enjoyment of the book.

Angel Isle

by Peter Dickinson

Grade: Good

Fairly similar to The Ropemaker, which is good, because Ropemaker was as good book. I think I might even like this one better. I think I liked the characters better, maybe, and the settings were more diverse. The love story was quite peculiar. I think I liked it--in fact, I did, but it was strange.
So, on to more Peter Dickinson! They're slow-ish books, but good. A bit like Jonathan Strange in the respect, for me.

The Bromeliad Trilogy

by Terry Pratchett

Grade: Unfinished
Read: To page 82.

There was no Death or Vetinari or Vimes or Moist... I really have to be invested in the characters to read T.P., and I wasn't in this case. Plus they were fat.
But really, it was mostly because I just didn't get around to it. First year university, you know.

Witch's Business

by Diana Wynne Jones

Grade: All right

Children's book. Kids defeat evil witch. Some good Wynne Jones' unique-ness. But not enough depth.

So You Want to Be a Wizard?

by Diane Duane

Grade: Good

I think it's not "Good" because I'm tired and my back is sore and I have too many books to read. Because the magic was cool, the allegorical references to angels were awsome, and I loved Fred. And the living machines...that was so weird. I think really that was my favourite part. The living stars and objects and plants seemed so Chestertonian and Lewisian and Tolkienesque and good.

EDIT: Ok. It's "Good" now. If it didn't have the flaws, it would be "To Own".
EDIT 2: Ok, now I own it. I'm not really sure what flaws I was talking about above.

Hexwood

by Diana Wynne Jones

Grade: All right

It was rather confusing. Basically, it was book all about a bunch of people who get thrown around into multiptle situations and times and places over and over and sometimes know it and sometimes don't. And some of them turn out to be King Arthur and Merlin, rather randomly.
Usually I like D.W.J.'s randomness, but this just went a bit too far in that direction.
It was dedicated to Neil Gaiman, though, which was cool. I love these British authors' dedications.

Flora Segunda

by Ysabeau S. Wilce

Grade: All right

It wasn't quite as good as I was hoping it would be. But it was terribly original. The whole setup of the society, the language, the magic was quite amazing. And there's a sequel, and more planned, so this should give me some of the stuff I thought was lacking in the first one.

The Westing Game

by Ellen Raskin

Grade: All right

It looked good from the inside cover. But it didn't live up to it. The style was quite strange--I found it distracting and uninteresting--and the end was confusing.

However, I did finish it quickly. That says something, I think.

More Information Than You Require

by John Hodgman

Grade: Unfinished
Read: To page 352, plus random other stuff throughout

There's just too much in here to properly read through. One needs to own this sort of book.
However any faults of un-readability it may have had were totally and utterly redeemed by a mention of The Doctor!!!!! on page 288. It was the Sixth Doctor, which isn't my favourite, but it's The Doctor all the same. To quote:

"But Van Buren's shrunken-head necklace was imported from France, and in all respects he was known as something of a free-spending dandy, favoring brightly colored vests and ascots and strange, luminous wiastcoats. Only later did we find out that this was because he was a Time Lord."

The Foundling

by Georgette Heyer

Grade: All right.

I liked the hero fairly well, and some of the secondary characters well enough, but it didn't have enough sparkle, especially as it neared the end. The first half was quite amusing. The heroine was hardly in it at all, which I thought I might not mind, but I did.

The Ropemaker

by Peter Dickinson

Grade: Good

I think I like Robin McKinley better. But I definitely want to read more Peter Dickinson. For this one, I was hoping to have a bit more at the end about what happened to the Ropemaker and Tilja. There's a sequal, but it happens a long time after this one.

Pyramids

by Terry Pratchett

Grade: Unfinished
Read: To page 64

I kind of remember now why I didn't really like T.P. at first. I loved the first part of this book, where it describes the Guild of Assassins in much greater detail than usual. I think I loved it because I was familiar with it. T.P. needs familiarity.
So then the rest of the book was mostly about Egyptian stuff--no Ankh-Morpork...sniff...--so I couldn't really read it.

The Black Tattoo

by Sam Enthoven

Grade: All right

It had some quite cool, creepy strange parts. I especially liked the tattoo itself. But then...it got a bit action-y and movie-ish.
Plus there was the rotten theology.

100 Cupboards

by N. D. Wilson

Grade: Good/To Own

If it turns out to be a series, I might need to own this one.
It was creepy, cool, and Faerie. There's pretty much endless potential--I mean, 100 cupboards? With just one cupboard, Lewis created seven books.
The only problem was that most of the characters bugged me a lot. Especially Henrietta and Anastasia. Man, they bugged me. But they didn't ruin the book. I loved the book.

Dogsbody

by Diana Wynne Jones

Grade: All right

Not as good as I expected from a review. I thought it would be something like Fire and Hemlock, but it wasn't really. I mean, it was still excellent really, just a bit disappointing.
I loved the stars, though. Especially Sol. And the very end was kind of nice.
I didn't quite get the dark guy, the underworld guy. I guess because I don't know whatever legend or myth she was basing him on.

The Shadow Thieves

by Anne Ursu

Grade: Good

I got interupted in the middle by Ben, so I don't think I liked it as much as I could have. And I was always comparing it to The Lightning Thief, which I like better. Mostly because of the gods, I think. Hades was so cool in Lightning Thief. He was just a bit silly in this one.
But I guess I'll keep it Good instead of All right. It was quite unique and amusing, after all. I think in a different mood, I might like it exceedingly. But as it is, it doesn't really resonate at all.

The Glitch in Sleep

by John Hulme and Michael Wexler

Grade: All right

It started out weird and cool, and ended weird and cool, except I didn't like the Glitch itself. But you wouldn't think the Glitch could, all by itself, put the book from Good to All right, would you? But I think it did, somehow. I'm not really interested in the sequels.

Feed

by M. T. Anderson

Grade: Unfinished
Read: The first chapter.

I hated the language he used. I don't care if it was realistic teenager language, it still sounded dumb. So there.

The Time of the Ghost

by Diana Wynne Jones

Grade: Good

I did read it very quickly indeed, and it was quite interesting really. Maybe I'll change it from "All right" to "Good"...
Ok, there we go.
After all, Monigan is hugely creepy, the ghost is sadly pathetic, and the sisters had personality, uniqueness, and great sadness as well.

The Fifth Elephant

by Terry Pratchett

Grade: Good

Not my favourite, but good. Lady Margolotta was interesting. And Angua's family was rather brutal. I found her father rather creepy when he forgets how to be human.

And Only to Deceive

by Tasha Alexander

Grade: Unfinished
Read: To page 76

Quite disappointing. The Greek stuff was marvellous, but the main character was that specific kind of feminist who would say such things as, "The butler reached toward me, assuming I would faint. I never faint. Fainting is a result of affectation or too-tight stays; I will succumb to neither". It makes most females look like affected idiots. It annoys me.
And the hero's main quality was that he was handsome. I could have stood the main female character if the hero wasn't totally boring.

Pish Posh

by Ellen Potter

Grade: Good

A very odd little book. Like many modern novels, there's a bit of genre-bending going on, with a mix of adventure and almost spy-thriller stuff, with a tiny bit of fantasy thrown in.
If I bought this, I'd probably put it with Kay-Kay-Bay books. Clara reminds me of KKB, and there's a bunch of thieving going on.

The Homeward Bounder

by Diana Wynne Jones

Grade: Good

Again, terribly original.
And rather sad.
That's all I can really think of to say.
I liked Joris.
There. I wrote something.

The Reformed Vampire Support Group

by Catherine Jinks

Grade: All right

Not quite up to the usual Jinks snuff. But I finished it, and it was amusing, and I liked the Catholic priest (who was portrayed very well).

A Tale of Time City

by Diana Wynne Jones

Grade: All right

It was almost Good. I mean, it was Diana Wynne Jones. As usual with her, this world was utterly unique, not even too similar to any of her other books.
But it did end a bit strangely. I often don't quite get her endings, and this was no different.
And I kind of wish Jonathan didn't have really long hair.

The Last Olympian

by Rick Riordan

Grade: Good

Didn't quite expect the Last Olympian to be who he/she was. Otherwise not too many surprises.
I loved Nico, as always, and it was great seeing even more of the gods than usual. Hades and Hermes especially.
I'm greatly looking forward to the next Olympian series. There are some cool changes in the way Olympus works now. Should be interesting.
And of course, it was hilarious.

I liked the opening line, always important:
"The end of the world started when a pegasus landed on the hood of my car."

Pg. 188: "I turned toward his army. It was now roughly one hundred and ninety-nine to one. I did the natural thing. I charged them."

Pg. 267, Dionysius is playing a video game:
"He glared at me and momentarily forgot his game. Pac-Man got eaten by the red ghost dude.
'Erre es korakas, Blinky!' Dionysus cursed. 'I will have your soul!'
'Um, he's a video game character,' I said.
'That's no excuse!'"

Pg. 353: "'And the minor gods,' I said. [...] 'Their children shouldn't be ignored. Calypso and the other peaceful Titan-kind should be pardoned too. And Hades--'
'Are you calling me a minor god?' Hades bellowed."

Aunt Maria

by Diana Wynne Jones

Grade: Good

Another good one. This time, the villain was one of the most original villains ever. She was a little, old, teddy-bear-like lady, and was she ever a villain.

Chesterton Alert: Mig recites "Lepanto" for her aunt and friends. She especially loves the lines "The cold queen of England is looking in the glass" and "The last knight of Europe takes weapons from the wall".

The Ogre Downstairs

by Diana Wynne Jones

Grade: Good

Another good Diana Wynne Jones. I think I can almost put her up with Terry Pratchett. Like T.P., I would feel free to buy any of her books without reading it first. They are (almost) always a good, fast, and enjoyable read.

Fire and Hemlock

by Diana Wynne Jones

Grade: To Own

I loved it so much. The romance was sweet, and I suppose that's what made me like it best. I like romances so rarely that when I do like one, I love it very, very much.
But, even besides that, the other characters were unique and interesting, the magic was unique and interesting, and the plot was unique and interesting--for the most part. The end was confusing and I didn't really get it at all.

Chesterton Alert:
Two of the books which Tom sends to Polly are The Man Who Was Thursday and The Napoleon of Notting Hill.

Skellig

by David Almond

Grade: Good

Very interesting little book. The author is Catholic, or was, and it shows up (although not obviously). However, it seems to be a bit of cultural Catholicism, as opposed to orthodox, as Almond mentions at the end, "Catholic children are often told that they once were angels, and that they might become angels again." I mean, what?
Skellig himself was an awsome character, and so was Mina.

The Carpet People

by Terry Pratchett

Grade: All right

It was pretty good, actually. Maybe I should have put "Good" down instead... The fantasy land itself was very original and inventive, and the story had Pratchett's typical wit and interesting characters.
The part with the women fighting bugged me a bit. Not because women fought, but because of the way it was treated. I like it much better when women simply do fight, and there isn't such a big fuss made over it, like "Look! Look! The Women are fighting! The Women are fighting!"
And it was a bit short.

Rose Daughter

by Robin McKinley

Grade: All right

I loved the sisters, Lionheart and Jeweltongue. The roses were cool. But Beauty and the Beast didn't actually do much or say much, and their romance seemed a bit quick. Technically it was seven months, I guess. But it was also seven days.
Bit slow moving. Good for savouring.

Oh, and there was this one part near the beginning where it was explaining how, at five years old, Beauty didn't understand the fact that her mother had died. Eleanor's four, and I think she'd understand. People just don't get how smart little kids are.

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey

by Trenton Lee Stewart

Grade: All right

I liked the first one better. The puzzles were excellent in the first half, and the second half was very tense and cool.
This one, not so much. Although I loved Constance even more, I think. And I will read the next one.

Feet of Clay

by Terry Pratchett

Grade: Good

Not my all time favourite Watch book. In fact, perhaps my least favourite. But it was still excellent. I loved the introduction of Cheery Littlebottom. And I loved when I realized that Vetinari was in control the whole time. I was a little worried for a minute there, until I got to page 261: "If the poor man took any longer he'd have to start giving him hints."

Some parts I liked:
"Who had a motive for poisoning Lord Vetinari?
No, that wasn't the way to crack it. Probably, if you went to some outlying area of the city and confined your investigations to little old ladies who didn't get out much, what with all the wallpaper over the door and everything, you might be able to find someone without a motive."
(pg.105-6)

"This always happens in any police chase anywhere. A heavily laden lorry will always pull out of a side alley in front of the pursuit.
If vehicles aren't involved, then it'll be a man with a rack of garments. Or two men with a large sheet of glass.
There's probably some kind of secret society behind all this." (pg.158)

"Bingely bingely beep bong! [...] It's nine of the clock,' said the organizer, poking its head out of Vimes's pocket. '"I was unhappy because I had no shoes until I met a man with no feet."'
The Watchmen exchanged glances.
'What?' said Vimes, very carefully.
'People like it if I occasionally come up with a little aphorism or inspiring Thought For the Day,' said the imp.
'So how did you meet this man with no feet?' said Vimes.
'I didn't actually meet him,' said the imp. 'It was a general metaphorical statement.'
'Well, that's it, then,' said Vimes. 'If you'd met him you could have asked him if he had any boots he didn't have any use for.'
There was a squeak as he pushed the imp back into its box." (pg.189)

"Vetinari had tamed Ankh-Morpork. He'd tamed it like a dog. He'd taken a minor scavenger among scavengers and lengthened its teeth and strengthened its jaws and built up its muscles and studded its collar and fed it lean steak and then he'd aimed it at the throat of the world." (pg.223)

The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents

by Terry Pratchett

Grade: Good

Even better than I thought it would be. Terry Pratchett always tends to do that. I loved the rats, especially Dangerous Beans. He was a Fiver sort of character. In fact, the whole thing reminded me somewhat of Watership Down. It made me more interested in what the relationship between Vetinari and his rats was.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

by Susanna Clarke

Grade: To Own

WOW, what a book. Massive, slow, and grand to start with, and then how eerie and wild and tense it becomes!
VERY 19th century. Spelling, style, plot, characters, everything. I had to check to make sure that it really was written in 2004.
It was so melancholy and tragic, so hopeful and romantic, dry and boring, creepy and alluring, ivigorating and inspiring all at the same time.


Here are a few little parts I liked. Not my favourite parts, or the best parts, but how could I choose those?

"Often the French would look up from whatever they were doing and see Major Grant on horseback, observing them from atop a far-off hill. He would peer at them through his telescope and then make notes about them in his little notebook. It made them most uncomfortable." (pg. 318)

Pg. 323: Neopolitans are from Naples, apparently. This was new to me, and I thought it rather amusing.

Pg. 492: "On the third day she died." So abrupt, I just sat staring at it for a minute. And then it went right into Volume III--and what a volume that was!

"He began to have the strangest feeling...the feeling that something was coming to an end and that all his choices had now been made. He had taken a road in his youth, but the road did not lead where he had supposed; he was going homne, but home had become something monstrous. In the half-dark, standing by the black bed, he remembered why he had always feared the darkenss as a child." (pg. 707-8)


Strange's madness: so eerie!
"After a few minutes he looked out of the window and into the Campo Santa Maria Zobenigo. People were walking up and down. The backs of their heads were hollowed out; their faces were nothing but thin masks at the front. Within each hollow a candle was burning. This was so plain to him now, that he wondered he had never noticed it before. He imagined what would happen if he went down into the street and blew some of the candles out. It made him laugh to think of it. He laughed so much that he could no longer stand. His laguhter echoed round and round the house. Some small remaining shred of reason warned him that he ought not to let the landlord and his family know what he was doing so he went to bed and muffled the sound of his laughter in the pillows, kicking his legs from time to time with the sheer hilarity of the idea."
And then...
"All seemed well until the waiter approached his table and put the cup of coffee down upon it. Strange looked up and saw a glint in the man's eye like a tiny candle-flame. He found he could no longer recall whether people had candles in their heads or not."

"[Strange] took hold of the doctor's arm and whispered, 'May I ask you something?'
Dr. Greysteel nodded.
'Are you not afraid that it will go out?'
'What will go out?' asked Dr Greysteel.
'The candle.' Strange gestured to Dr Greysteel's forehead. 'The candle inside your head.'" (pg. 636)

And I loved the very last page. And all the parts about Arabella and Mr. Strange, especially after she died. And the prophecy was wonderful, rather Tolkien-esque, but stranger.
Oh, enough ranting now. I loved it. That's enough.

Skin Deep

by E. M. Crane

Grade: All right

A slow, quiet sort of book. Not quite my sort of slow, quiet book. However, it was interesting, and I loved the descriptions of colour. And I did like how some gross characters were shown to be a bit sympathetic at least, like Andrea's mother.

Jingo

by Terry Pratchett

Grade: Good/To Own



Hah! Veni, vici . . . Vetinari.





Enough said.

Frannie in Pieces

by Delia Ephron

Grade: Good

Bit strange. Turns into fantasy in the middle--sort of. And then the sort-of fantasy is never explained properly at the end.
I liked Frannie, I hated Simon, I wished Mel was nicer. He actually sounded interesting! It drove me a bit crazy that everyone thought he was boring.

Men at Arms

by Terry Pratchett

Grade: Good

SPOILERS

There wasn't as much Vetinari as I was hoping, but good all the same. It was too bad Cuddy died. I think I like him better than Cheery, although I don't know Cheery very well. Poor Detrius. I loved the mathematics in the pork cooler place! It was an awsome description of higher mathematics.

Moonfleet

by Meade J. Falkner

Grade: Unfinished
Read: To page 4

There was no description or author description, so it look weird, and it was not interesting enough in the beginning. Wrong time period and method of speech, I think. And it was about smuggling, which doesn't interest me terribly.

Guards! Guards!

by Terry Pratchett

Grade: Good

Some wonderful Vetinari scenes and the first appearance of Samuel Vimes. And Sybl (however you spell that)! It was very weird to see them before they were married.

The Maze

by Monica Hughes

Grade: Good

Interesting little book. A bit obvious in places, perhaps. But I think I'm only saying that to be critique-y. The only thing I didn't like was the change in perspective. It didn't seem right somehow when it first happened.

Troy

by Adele Geras

Grade: Unfinished
Read: The first couple pages.

This one was weird... It's one of those best seller types. Skimming through it, I saw mentions of "marriage beds" and such. Only a best seller type would have that.
Plus there's no Odysseus.

Thud

by Terry Pratchett

Grade: Good/To Own

He gets better and better. I have never read anything quite like him. The world--it's so real. I love the passing reference that Vimes made about Moist. And the constant cameos from the people in The Truth.
I want to own most of Terry Pratchett some day.

Chasing Vermeer

by Blue Balliett

Grade: Good

I love the scholarly-ness. This is the kind of book that will make me always fascinated in the painter Vermeer. I also love Brett Helquist illustrations.
Otherwise it was simply All right.

The Truth

by Terry Pratchett

Grade: All right

This was ruined slightly by listening to most of an abridged audio version first. I didn't get the proper Terry-Pratchett-reading-experience.
However, I thinked I would have adored it if it weren't for that. There are some excellent scenes, including
--Tulip's and Pin's death scenes. Seems rather C. S. Lewisian or something. Though Pratchett probably doesn't think so.
--Death on page 289:
He sighed deeply. WHO KNOWS WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE HEART OF MEN?
The Death of Rats looked up from the feast of potato.
SQUEAK, he said.
Death waved a hand dismissively. WELL, YES, OBVIOUSLY ME, he said. I JUST WONDERED IF THERE WAS ANYONE ELSE.
--And Lord Vetinari, of course.

Golden

by Cameron Dokey

Grade: All right

My last Cameron Dokey! After reading all of hers (that are in the library), and re-reading Beauty Sleep, I still adore Beauty Sleep and don't really like any of the rest. (Although Sunlight and Shadow was really useful for understanding the story of The Magic Flute.) I think it all comes down to the princes. I liked Oswald--he was quite unlike most other princes I've read about, being rather like Eustace Scrubb--and I didn't really care for any of the others. They were too ordinary, perhaps? I don't know.

Thief of Time

by Terry Pratchett

Grade: Good

I didn't like it as much as the other Death books, partly because there wasn't much Death in it. A lot more Susan (whom I do like as well) and lot of the History Monks. But there were some smashingly good parts, especially concerning the Auditors. I loved Lady LeJean.
There also seemed to be a paraphrase of Chesterton, when the Auditors think how strange it is to stuff things down holes in one's face. Recently I also came across an interview of Pratchett where is quote Chesterton's, "The opposite of funny is not serious, the opposite of funny is not funny." Seems to definitly establish him as a Chestertonian.

Carpe Jugulum

by Terry Pratchett

Grade: All right

It was T. Pratchett: it was wonderful. But, compared to some of his others, it was All right. I didn't like Rev. Oats. Being Omnian, and therefore Catholic (or maybe Anglican?), made me a bit uncomfortable, especially when his other side comes out.
The witches are cool, but I like the City Watch and the Wizards and Death better.

Maskerade

by Terry Pratchett

Grade: Good

I don't like the witch books as much as the Death or City Watch books, but it was still hugely amusing. I'm looking forward to reading the next book about Agnes (Perdita) Nitt.

Magic's Child

by Justine Larbalestier

Grade: All right

Too much "stuff". It wasn't quite as good as the other two. I wasn't quite sure of her point at the end, either. Is magic supposed to be good or evil? I suppose we're just supposed to imagine what happens to the child at the end.
The only neat stuff practically was about numbers. They are amazing things, and I adore them.

Monstrous Regiment

by Terry Pratchett

Grade: All right

"All right" compared to some other Terry Pratchett, that is. It was still quite marvellously entertaining. Too many women for my taste, but they were all interesting characters in their own right. And Lieutenant Blouse wasn't a women, at least. I wonder how they got so many women to actually look like men? I mean, they'd all have to have such strange voices and everything...and so many of them...

Night Watch

by Terry Pratchett

Grade: Good

Wohoo! Terry Pratchett!!! I'm beginning to LOVE him. He understands people SO well. His part on guns (pg. 125) was a perfect description on how silly some of these gun rules are nowadays.
The young Vetinari was totally cool. Vetinari might even be my favourite character now, over Death. Maybe. Death is pretty darn awsome as well. I think I might need to own a whole whack of Terry Pratchett someday...

Belle

by Cameron Dokey

Grade: All right

Just waiting for Golden. It would be too bad if the only one I liked was Beauty Sleep. The problem with this one is the usual ones: too follow-your-heart-y; the man doesn't appear till two-thirds of the way through the book; the whole first half of the book is used to set up the story, so the second half is always way, way too short. Beauty Sleep, for some reason, seems to be the only one that doesn't do this. Well...it is pretty follow-your-heart-y. But one doesn't mind that in one book: it's a problem in five.

The Wall and the Wing

by Laura Ruby

Grade: Good

It would have been much better if I'd read this one first, before the sequal. Much better. As it is, I didn't like it all that much. But the inventiveness of the world is still awsome. If she writes any more, I will definitely get them.

Good Omens

by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

Grade: Good

Wow, what a book. These two authors are definitely the only equivalent to the literary revival of the last century. Too bad they're athiests.
Partly it's their characterisation. Crowley and Aziraphale are marvellous. And the Four Motorcyclists of the Apocalypse! It was nice to see Death again. I liked this quote:

"WHAT ARE THOSE GLITTERY THINGS? he said, in the tones of one who knows he won't be able to understand the answer but wants to be seen to be taking an interest."

The thing about these two, especially Pratchett, is that they know how people think, and can figure out what they're thinking by how they're saying it, and realize that most people are a bit like sheep: they all think and say pretty much the same thing. Kind of. It's what is seems like, at least, working with the public, as in Country Grocer.

Magic Lessons

by Justine Larbalestier

Grade: Good

Yeah...it wasn't that Good, actually. I didn't like most of the characters, especially Danny, although I think the part with him might actually turn out to be a rather essential plot twist. But I'll read the sequal, and I still don't know whether Esmeralda is good or not, and the new form of magic was rather fascinating.

Making Money

by Terry Pratchett

Grade: To Own

Wow! More Moist von Lipwig! A fake and utterly mad Lord Vetinari! The Gloop! Mushroom hands! Bank restoration! The invention of paper money! Female golemns! Lots of other cool stuff!
In other words, a good sequel. I can't wait till Raising Taxes. I bet Moist will just be absolutely fabulous at raising taxes. He is so awsome.

Here's a Gladys quote:

"'Don't you listen to him, it wasn't that bad,' said Peggy, with sisterly fellow feeling. 'Men always make a big fuss over a little pain.'
'They Are Just Big Cuddly Babies, Really,' said Gladys. That caused a thoughtful pause.
'Where did that come from?' asked Moist."

The Chaos King

by Laura Ruby

Grade: Good

Similar to the last book, it was really confusing in a good way. A really good way. I though, "Awesome! I've never seen a book like this before!" But then, some things weren't explained, and it got strange. THEN I realized it was a sequal. Which is really disappointing. I hate reading the sequel first. So I'll see what I think of the first. Maybe I'll be able to read it.

Magic or Madness

by Justine Larbalestier

Grade: Good

The twists and mysteries were good. By the end, I still didn't know who was bad and who wasn't. It reminds me of LOST in some ways. And at the beginning, you have no clue. I like that, actually. It seems much more realistic.
Looking forward to the next one.

The Hunger Games

by Suzanne Collins

Grade: Good

Wow. Wow, wow, wow. I stayed up till 5:30 (!!!) reading this book! My dad was similar, but over a couple days. Not quite as extreme. You simply cannot put this book down once you get a certain ways through it. I have never read a book quite like this one in that sense. Yet, strangely enough, I didn't love anything about it: not characters, plot line, style. The world it took place in was quite fascinating, though. I did love that.

EDIT: I don't like to correct reviews of books when my opinion has changed, even if it's drastically changed. But for this one I felt compelled to, I don't know why. Anyway, I do love the plot line and characters and style. All of it. So I don't know why I wrote that I didn't. I suppose I meant that I didn't love any of those aspects, and the gripping-ness was by far the best part?

Keturah and Lord Death

by Martine Leavitt

Grade: Good

I love the style, I love anthropomorphic personifications (as in Lord Death), the secondary characters are great, even Keturah manages not to be annoying. So it's Good.

However! I think it's partly just a stage, but I found the "love story" part a bit hard to manage, as well as some of the descriptions of Lord Death. So it's almost All right.

Hogfather

by Terry Pratchett

Grade: To Own

So, I think I'm getting over my dislike of Terry Pratchett! Well, maybe not totally. I'm still not as into them as Ben, but this one, Reaper Man, and Going Postal are marvellous.

Examples of marvellousness:
Bananas = fish. Read it and find out why.

Ridcully. Ridcully!!! He's sooo funny. I'm not sure what he reminds me of, but he reminds me of whatever it is very strongly.

Death is awesome:
"This shack had an iron stove, with a pipe that went up through the thick cabbage-leaf thatch.
Voices echoed faintly within the pipe.
THIS IS REALLY, REALLY STUPID."

"I HAVE ALWAYS CHOSEN THE PATH OF DUTY.
'Right, master.'
The sleigh sped on.
I AM THOROUGHLY IN CONTROL AND FIRM OF PURPOSE.
'No problem there, then, master.'
NO NEED TO WORRY AT ALL.
'Pleased to hear it, master.'
IF I HAD A FIRST NAME, 'DUTY' WOULD BE MY MIDDLE NAME.
'Good.'
NEVERTHELESS...
Albert strained his ears and thought he heard, just on the edge of hearing, a voice whisper sadly.
HO. HO. HO."

Awww!!

Oh, and Susan. Love how she can do THE VOICE.

Before Midnight

by Cameron Dokey

Grade: All right

Yeah...she has a bit too much "follow your heart" kind of thinking, once you've read a bunch of hers. And her main characters are all pretty similar. And the books are too short!
But I still love Beauty Sleep, and I'll still read the rest of hers.

The Ballad of Mulan

by Cameron Dokey

Grade: All right

Really the only one in this series I've loved so far is Beauty Sleep. Although Sunlight and Shadow really helped with The Magic Flute. I'll read the rest of Cameron Dokey's, because they are interesting and they don't have the kind of romance I can't stand, only the kind of romance I find boring.

INSERT: Special Topics in Calamity Physics

by Marisha Pessl

Grade: Unfinished
Read: To page 130, plus a bunch of the end.
Inserted: After Shadowplay

The beginning of the next chapter looked...ominous. That was mostly why I stopped. And then, I read some negative reviews. So...
However, it was quite interesting. And the love of books and learning is always terribly inspiring for me.

Going Postal

by Terry Pratchett

Grade: To Own

Wow! Moist von Lipwig! Lord Vetinari! Adora Bell Dearheart! Pins! Postal restoration! Heroic rescue of cats! Conmen! Benelovent tyrants! The Princess in the tower! Whispering letters! Golden suits!

Mostly Moist and Vetinari, though. I loved them. They made everything else awsome. I would have disliked everything else, just as I usually dislike Terry Pratchett stuff, but they made it awsome.

I still like Death better. But his books are usually too filled with boring people.

Here's some Lord Vetinari:

"'Oh, please sue the University!' Ridcully bellowed. 'We've got a pond full of people who tried to sue the University--'
'Silence,' said Vetinari.
It wasn't a very loud word, but it had an effect rather like that of a drop of black ink in a glass of clear water. The word spread out in coils and tendrils, getting everywhere. It strangled the noise."

"'The Grand Trunk will remain closed in the interim,' said Lord Vetinari.
'It's private property!' Greenyham burst out.
'Tyrant, remember,' said Vetinari, almost cheerfully."

Shadowplay

by Claire Asquith

Grade: Good

Hard to read, though. It took me forever.
And I'm not totally sure about the validity of her claim. It seems to me about as reasonable as most Shakespearian theories, but most of those seem a little bit far fetched. But then, I'm no scholar. I don't properly know what makes theories reasonable. And I think she did have some good points. That era was so full of contraversy, that even if Shakespeare was a universal genius above contraversy, he would have realized that everyone watching his plays would have taken them as contraversial.
I need to read Joseph Pearce's book. I think that will cement my opinions in my mind more.

Reaper Man

by Terry Pratchett

Grade: Good/To Own

Wow, the Death parts were cool. I LOVE Death! In fact, if I find a lovely cover, like the one I read this time, I might even place this in "To Own".

Not Even Wrong

by Peter Woit

Grade: Unfinished
Read: To page 22

I have to admit it. I cannot read super dense physics books and understand them at this time. So I am willing to give up reading this book, and feel very un-genius-like.

Uglies

by Scott Westerfeld

Grade: All right

I could like the characters more, but Scott Westerfeld is always good at creating an interesting and unique world. I almost got stuck in the middle, but once I finished, I did want to read the sequels.

Soul Music

by Terry Pratchett

Grade: Good/Unfinished

I had to put in the Unfinished part, because I skipped so much of it because it was boring. But the parts I read were really good! Death is awsome. Susan was pretty cool too. The Death plot seemed somehow a bit too similar to Mort, however. But it was still cool.

Sunlight and Shadow

by Cameron Dokey

Grade: All right

I quite liked it, actually. And although I didn't like it as much as Beauty Sleep, I still want to read all the other Cameron Dokey's that the library has.
It got a little bit confusing and strange with five different view points. Maybe in a longer book it would have worked better.

The Uncommon Reader

by Alan Bennett

Grade: Good

Almost "To Own", because it's such a cute little book. In fact, I think really it is "To Own", just down the road a fair ways. For the purposes of this blog, I will rate it "Good".
I liked the first three quarters better than the last bit, I think. I didn't quite like it that the Queen abdicated at the end.
I wonder how many of the characters were real?

Verdigris Deep

by Frances Hardinge

Grade: Good

Excellent. Wonderfully creepy, with at least two interesting characters! The creepiness is what I liked the best. A couple things, like the coins for eyes, reminded me of Neil Gaiman's book Coraline.

The Year of the Secret Assignments

by Jaclyn Moriarty

Grade: All right

I liked Bindy Mackenzie much better. Partly because I like Bindy way better than these people, partly because there was a cool mystery sub-plot in Bindy, and partly because there was way less about boys and stuff.
But the opener of this book was awesome! Jaclyn Moriarty has the best beginnings ever. She always makes me read the whole book in one afternoon, even if I don't like it much, as in this one.

The Time Traveler's Wife

by Audrey Niffenegger

Grade: Unfinished
Read: To page 7, plus tiny random bits

It seemed too Romantic. Maybe if someone I trust says it's really good, I'll read it. But otherwise, no.

Wintersmith

by Terry Pratchett

Grade: Unfinished
Read: Most of it.

I loved the Wintersmith and the girl...Tiffany was her name, I think. But the little blue guys were a bit annoying and there was a lot of boring stuff. I think I've just about had enough of Terry Pratchett. He always has certain parts that I adore, but too much of it I don't. So I'll read the Death books, and nothing else, I think.

EDIT: Um, yeah. Turned out that was totally untrue. I discovered Going Postal, and Terry Pratchett is now one of my favourite authors.

Snow

by Tracy Lynn

Grade: Unfinished
Read: To page 18, plus big chunks in the middle.

I'm not going to read the rest of the "Once Upon a Time" series. The only well-written one so far was the one by Cameron Dokey, so I'll read hers, but nothing else.
I liked the animal people, but Snow herself was extremely boring, and there was a bunch of irritating pun-like phrases, like these ones:

"'No worries,' the boy answered quickly, but looked like--Oh goodness, it looks like he got his feathers ruffled."

"...running his fingers quickly thourhg his short brown hair like a --like a rat."

An Eye on the Hebrides

by Mairi Hedderwick

Grade: All right

Good. I liked the illustrations, although they weren't quite strong enough for me. It could have been a bit more interesting, although it didn't make me not want to go to the Hebrides anymore.

The Convenient Marriage

by Georgette Heyer

Grade: All right

At least I finished it. And I did like Horry as a heroine. Lord Rule was a bit too much like most of her other heros, and she didn't pay enough attention to many of her side characters. She set them up nicely, but then didn't do a single thing with them. It was rather annoying.

All right, she did do stuff with Pel and Pom and Captain Heron. That was all rather amusing. But what about Rule's secretary? Or Miss Charlotte? Or even Miss Elizabeth? She married Heron and then went completely out of the picture.

I did really quite like Lord Lethbridge, however. An excellent villain. I especially loved the duel, and right after the duel. He was almost sympathetic, which is what I like best in villains.

The Crimson Thread

by Suzanne Wyn

Grade: Unfinished
Read: To somewhere in the middle that I'm not even going to bother figuring out where it was.

In other words, I didn't like it much. I don't think it was very well written. However, there was a snippet for another in the series, but this time by Cameron Dokey, and it looked like it might be just as good as the other Dokey, Beauty Sleep.

The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie

by Jaclyn Moriarty

Grade: Good

It was fabulous; it sucked me in totally for a whole day. But somehow it wasn't "To Own". I'm not sure why. Maybe I'll find out why as I write this.

So...Bindy herself. One of my favourite heroines ever, especially at first. At first, she reminded me of a female Psmith, and then a little bit of Cadel from Evil Genius.

The mystery. It actually surprised me, even though it was rather obvious. I was kind of hoping it would be Finnegan. Which brings me to...

...the other characters. All smashing, except for Finnnegan. And he was the "love interest"! If you could call it that; he wasn't really, but he was enough that he made me not want to own this book. But I really liked Toby, Briony, Ernst, and Astrid. Elizabeth and Emily shouldn't have had such similar names. I got mixed up between them quite a lot.

If I ever do buy this, it will go with Evil Genius. The parts I liked really reminded me of Cadel and his problems.

EDIT: I want to own the book now. I changed my mind. What do you know. Bindy is just so bloomin' awesome that I don't care if I don't like Finnegan at all.

The Rose Bride

by Nancy Holder

Grade: All right

It was almost Good, just because I read it very quickly and was never tempted to stop. However, I didn't like it nearly as much as Beauty Sleep. I kept on wishing Desiree would turn out good. It probably wasn't like the fairy tale, but then Beauty Sleep didn't follow the fairy tale very much. And I didn't like Jean-Marc as much as Oswald or What's-his-face: the other prince.

They were French too! Why are they all French? Is it just a coincidence? I like it, but it seems a bit strange.

Blue Noon

by Scott Westerfeld

Grade: Good

This will have to be the last one in the series. There just isn't nearly enough tension without the Darklings. Thank goodness they weren't all gone until near the end. Also, Jessica's plight doesn't quite make sense to me.
But very readable, good sequal to the other two. I will read more Scott Westerfeld. These books have caught my fancy more than the other one by him--I can't remember what it was called.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.