Books Read in 2012

For the past couple of years, I've kept a running total of books I've read and have had a general goal to try and read 50 books over the course of the year. I generally exclude short picture books or young reader chapter books, but if I feel they're notable enough I'll put them on the list. I fell a little short of 50 books this year but still had a great year of reading and I'm looking forward to another great year.

What did you read in 2012? What are you looking forward to reading in 2013?

Here's the list of what I read in 2012:

1. Shadow Spinner
   
2. The Mark of Zorro
   
3. The Book of Three
   
4. Walk Two Moons
   
5. Arcadia Falls
6. A Princess of Mars
7. Dad Rules: A Simple Manual for a Complex Job
8. The Cabinet of Earths
9. Steve Jobs
10. The Butterfly Clues
11. The Phantom of the Opera
12. The Future Door
13. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
14. Darth Vader and Son
15. Locke & Key Volume 1: Welcome to Lovecraft
16. Wards of Faerie (Dark Legacy of Shannara Book 1)
17. Slaughterhouse Five
18. Secrets of Shakespeare's Grave
19. Gathering Blue
20. Life of Pi
21. The Host
22. Messenger
23. The Map of Lost Memories
24. The Magician's Nephew
25. The Go-Getter
26. The Horse and His Boy
27. Kingdom Keepers II: Disney at Dawn
28. The Martian Chronicles
29. The Silver Chair
30. Kingdom Keepers III: Disney in Shadow
31. Lost in a Good Book (A Thursday Next Novel)
32. Son
33. The Lost World
34. The Last Battle
35. Shadow Show
36. The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls
37. Bearers of the Black Staff
38. The Black Tower: A Novel
39. The Voyage of Lucy P. Simmons
40. The Thin Man
41. Return of the Thin Man
42. The Chimes
43. The Wisdom and Teachings of Stephen R. Covey
44. The Complete Live and Learn and Pass It On
45. Christmas Jars
    

I also have a "to read" list on Goodreads but it certainly isn't in any particular order nor does it represent all of the books overflowing on the bookshelves around my house (in many ways the Goodreads list is a wish list for future books and I assume I will always eventually read the books I already have)


What about you?

What are YOU reading?

Book Review - Christmas Jars

Christmas Jars is an interesting mix between fiction, non-fiction, and inspirational story. The framework of the book centers around the life of a girl named Hope. We learn her story and follow her actions as we turn the pages. But the real story of the book is about the Christmas Jars and their impact on people and families.

We're introduced to Hope when she is found abandoned in a diner on New Years Eve. Her adoptive mother raises Hope without telling her the truth of her discovery for many years. Hope shows an extreme passion for writing and journalism. She works on family papers then school papers and eventually starts working for the city/regional paper at the bottom of the totem pole but with high hopes of a career as a world famous journalist. Then on Christmas Eve (and shortly after the death of her mother), Hope returns home to find herself the victim of an apartment robbery. That night, she also finds a large jar filled with money wishing her an anonymous Merry Christmas. As much as Hope appreciates the gift, the journalist in her takes over and she decides to solve the mystery of "who is the person anonymously delivering jars to people in need?".

The way the fictional story unravels is somewhat interesting but not overly gripping or compelling. Hope investigates stories similar to herself and finds other people who received jars. She interviews a variety of people and eventually stumbles on a family she thinks might be the mysterious do-gooders. Her entire investigative process takes many months and she entwines herself into the lives of the family members and finds a new sense of belonging. The fictional story may not be award winning writing but it does present a heartfelt story with sympathetic (if sometimes predictable or flat) characters.

Mini Book Reviews - Wisdom and Teachings of Stephen R. Covey -AND- The Complete Live and Learn and Pass It On

As a Christmas gift this year I received two books jam packed with quotes, insights and life lessons. Quote books like these are hard to review on a whole but each of these were a lot of fun so I wanted to be sure I showcased them.

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The Wisdom & Teachings of Stephen R. Covey is a cool collection of quotes and stories taken not only from his various books but also from speaking engagements, articles, interviews or other materials. The books is divided into chapters focusing on a key principle or segment of life such as Integrity, Leadership, Proactivity, etc.

For those who have previously read any of Dr. Covey's work you will find yourself immediately reminded of the core principles and insights that his works teach. I found myself recognizing a number of the quotes from my readings of "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" and others. There are a lot of his works that I haven't read and I found quotes and stories from those books ringing just as true and poignant as those I already knew.

For those who haven't read any of Dr. Covey's books or aren't familiar with his work you will likely find familiar advice resonating with you. In some cases this may be due to the fact that many of his principles and teachings have engrained themselves into society. In other cases the seeming familiarity will come because of the simple truthfulness and straightforward nature of the teachings. Sometimes the best advice is the advice that you already knew but didn't realize you knew or didn't know how to articulate.

This book is a wonderful wealth of great teachings and inspiring motivation and thoughts. It would be impossible to boil down all of the great lessons, stories and thoughts from Dr. Covey into a single book but this book comes pretty close and is a great resource for wonderful advice and inspiring thoughts to help make your life better in many ways. This would certainly be a great introduction to Stephen R. Covey for those who don't know his material already and for those who do, this book is a quick batch of well organized notes and snippets of some of his most poignant teachings.


4 out of 5 stars

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The "Live and Learn and Pass It On" set of books include multiple volumes of "life teachings" as collected and compiled over a number of years. These anonymous nuggets of wisdom range from the profound and thoughtful to the humorous and entertaining. The latest publication contains the "Complete" compilation of 3 volumes of knowledge. The author/editor gathered hundreds and thousands of comments from children, teens, young adults, middle aged adults and elderly adults.

Each statement begins with the phrase "I have learned that..." and includes some life lesson that each individual has learned. I loved the wide variety of bits of learning ranging from how to get along with family members, how to keep an eye on finances and when not to ask your parents to give you something.

I found myself nodding knowingly to some bits of advice and remembering when I learned that lesson myself (for example, learning the difference between a "bulb" and a "clove" of garlic). I laughed at some of the simple observations of children. And I made mental notes of some of the observations of those older and more knowledgable than myself.

The book has a lot of fun simple anectdotes and thoughts. It can certainly be read cover-to-cover and provide some good smiles and learneing but it can also make for a nice "coffee table" book to sit on the counter and just pick up and turn to a random page.

The only real complaint I can voice would be that I would have liked to have seen some sort of organization. While it was fun to just read all these random bits of learning, I think it might be valuable to have the quotes chunked up by subject so that perhaps I could turn to the book as a reference for quick quotes or advice on some particular point I'm working on. One possible help for this would be an Index listing topics and then just doing a general page number reference.

The teachings may not be as timeless or wholly relevant as those of Stephen R. Covey, but it's a fun book and brought a lot of smiles and grins.


3.5 out of 5 stars



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Book Review - The Chimes

Following Dickens's success with A Christmas Carol he started a tradition of releasing a new story each year at Christmas time. His second Christmas story was The Chimes. The book follows an old porter/messenger in London named Trotty Veck. As with Christmas Carol and many of his other works, Dickens has plenty of focus on the social structure of the country. Trotty is a very poor old widower with a single daughter, Meg. At the onset of the book, Meg brings Trotty lunch and announces that she plans to get married within the week on New Year's Day. At first Trotty is a little nervous but generally happy for his daughter. As the day goes on, Trotty becomes less sure of whether or not they should marry or even if any of them deserve to be happy.

In Christmas Carol and other books, Dickens takes opportunities to have his characters give social commentary. In The Chimes this comes initially from some of the rich society members of the town as they give messages for Trotty to carry. The first commentary is in direct reaction to the announcement of Meg's wedding plans. Alderman Cute speaks with biting reproach against the lower class in general and Trotty, Meg and her fiance in particular. He talks of the "good old days" and eventually concludes that the poor have no real rights or privileges. In essence, they should be done away with entirely and certainly have no right to marry and carry on their wretched existence by propagating more poor creature.

Trotty carries a message from the Alderman to a member of Parliament. In that house Trotty is berated by a commentary on economic stability and responsibility. He is chastised for being poor and owing a few shillings to a local shop where he buys food. Trotty leaves feeling even more disgraced. On his way home he meets another vagrant, William Fern, and his niece Lillian. Trotty knows William is slated to be arrested by the Alderman. Rather than let him be arrested, Trotty warns Fern and takes him to his own poor home with Meg.

The title of the story is based on the Chimes that ring over the city from the church tower near where Trotty stands to await messages to deliver. After taking the Ferns to his home, Trotty gets pensive again and worries about the burden he's putting on society and wonders about the truth of whether it is better that he and his kind were removed from existence. During the night, the Chimes ring and Trotty can hear them speaking to him, calling to him. He follows them up into the church bell tower and encounters a company of goblins and spirits.

Book Review - Return of the Thin Man

This newly released book includes some never before published Thin Man stories by Dashiel Hammet. The book also includes introductions to the book and the stories that provides some rather intriguing insight into the production of the Thin Man series of movies. It should be noted that the stories in Return of the Thin Man are actually the "Screen Stories" that were used to write the screenplays for the second and third Thin Man movies produced by MGM. As Screen Stories, the writing contains the witty dialog and the complex plot setup that Dashiel Hammet is known for but the overall writing is less structured and interesting. Rather that being written with the expectation that these stories would be read as novels, the writing is structured to provide details that will be helpful in translating the story to the screen. We still get elements of internal monologue as well as some good sensory description but a lot of the writing felt rather lightweight as compared with Hammett's other works.

The first story, "After the Thin Man", takes place immediately following the first book/film. Nick and Nora are returning to California following their vacation in New York and the mystery they solved involving the Wynants. They return home to a surprise party during which a mystery man is murdered on their doorstep. At the same time, Nick is asked to "very discretely" help find a missing husband for one of Nora's relations. Naturally as time goes on, these two mysteries intertwine. The police try to get Nick to help them while at the same time they seem to feel like he's a nusaince. There is a lot of the same wit and humorous banter between Nick and Nora. The humor is taken to another level by the introduction of Nora's family, most of whom don't like Nick because he's not a socialite and has no discretion. Like the first Thin Man story, this mystery is full of multiple layers of complexity but in the end comes to a satisfying and natural resolution.

The second story in the book, "Another Thin Man" takes place a year or two after the previous story. In this story, Nick and Nora are back in New York City. This time they have another member of the family with them, their new son Nick Jr. Early on, some of Nick's old thug/criminal associates run across them and decide they want to throw a birthday party for Nick Jr. This plot element sits in the background for a while but shows up again as the setting for the climax. In this mystery, Nick and Nora have been invited to visit Colonel MacFay, a man who had previously worked with Nora's father and still has business dealings with the businesses that Nick helps oversee. It's quickly evident that MacFay had alternate motives for inviting the Charleses at this time. It turns out that MacFay has been receiving death threats from an old business partner. Nick casually investigates but seems to decide there's no real threat until MacFay turns up murdered. The District Attorney helps head up the investigation along with his local police force who Nick doesn't know. There are many times that Nick seems to be one of the primary suspects or, if not a suspect there seems to be at least some intent to discredit him. Once again, the bodies, suspects and plot complexities continue to pile up until we have a dramatic conclusion during Nick Jr's birthday party.

Book Review - The Thin Man

The Thin Man was Dashiel Hammet's final novel. It sticks with the familiar hard boiled themes and motifs common in his previous works like the Continental Op series or The Maltese Falcon. There are scenes showcasing the gritty underbella of prohibition era America and the thugs and speakeasies of the time. Where the Thin Man takes a different tack is that our main hero is a "retired" detective Nick Charles. Nick got married 4 years ago to Nora, a rich socialite from the West Coast. When Nora's father died, Nick left detective work behind and has taken on some responsibility for overseeing the businesses. Granted, his level of "oversight" seems to involve hobnobbing, spending money and doing a lot of drinking.

The novel is set during Christmastime in New York City. Nick and Nora are enjoying a luxurious vacation when Nick runs into Dorothy, the daughter of a family he did detective work for years ago. Her father, Wynant is missing and she wants Nick to help find him. Nick says he's retired and gives her some ideas of who she might call. A bit later it is revealed that Wynant's secretary has been found murdered.

Wynant's family members and associates keep turning up asking Nick to help find Wynant. The police also try to rope him into helping them solve the murder. More and more details are revealed and more suspects keep turning up. One of the suspects ends up shooting Nick and Nick decides he can't stay out of the investigation any more and starts gumshoeing. He still tries to defer to the police where he can and keep the press at bay as they try to get him to admit to working the case.

Nora is enthralled with seeing her husband work and she keeps trying to push herself into the action alongside him. I love the banter between Nick and Nora. They are both so witty and sarcastic. It's a lot of fun to see them tease each other and especially fun when they're teasing in front of other characters or teasing other people. A lot of the other characters don't seem to know what to make of the Charleses. It's pretty funny.

While this is still a gritty murder mystery full of all sorts of suspects both from high and low society, it is definitely less grizzly than the Continental Op. There were action sequences but they weren't as intense or drawn out as in Hammet's other works. The tone and action was closer to Maltese Falcon than the Op books.

Book Review - The Voyage of Lucy P. Simmons

Barbara Mariconda's author website indicates that The Voyage of Lucy P. Simmons is the first in a trilogy of middle grade fantasy novels. The book takes place in the early 1900s in northeastern U.S., right along the Atlantic coast. The cover artwork is lovely and the synopsis really piqued my interest. It promises an enchanted flute, a magical mist in a mystical family home and a tragic disaster that orphans Lucy and sets her at odds against her greedy uncle and others who would steal away her heritage.

The language of the book is beautifully formed and very poetic at times while still being simple and easily accessible to the middle grade audience. The descriptions of settings, actions and motivations were all wrapped inside wonderfully articulated language that touched the senses and made for a vivid and engaging read.

The story jumps right into the action with the tragic death of Lucy's parents and continues to keep a steady pace throughout the entire book. I really loved the way the tragedy was handled and especially the disorientation, denial and grief that followed as Lucy found herself trying to recover and make sense of her life. The horrible situation into which Lucy is tossed felt a little trite and overused at first but quickly took on a fresh, imaginative turn that allowed it to be compelling even if it was a story I felt like I'd heard before (that story being: child becomes orphan, forced to bow to whims of overbearing greedy adult who just wants the family estate/money/etc).

I really enjoyed the introduction of the various magical and mystical elements in the story. I loved the concept of the possibility of a true Siren from mythology. I was intrigued and curious as to how and why the Siren was involved and kept turning page after page to try and understand the magical mist that seemed to bring the house to life in ways meant to help Lucy stay safe and progress towards some goal she did not even understand. I loved the suggestion of a family Curse potentially having something to do with the water.

In addition to the magical elements, I really enjoyed the mundane natural elements of the story. I love that the quirky little dog is named Mr. Puggsley. Just such a fun and funny name. I liked the interactions between Lucy and the housekeeper Addie. I really enjoyed the descriptive elements of the setting along the Atlantic coast and turn of the century America. I also liked the subplot that occurs later in the story when Lucy meets another group of children who aren't orphans but are separated from their family for another tragic reason different from Lucy's.

Book Review - The Black Tower: A Novel

I freely admit that History was always one of my worst subjects in school. I find the stories and encounters of history very fun and fascinating but for some reason I've always had trouble trying to keep straight all the names, dates and events that go along with them. So it was little surprise that I hadn't heard of Vidocq. Apparently Vidocq was a criminal in France in the late 1700s and early 1800s. He turned over a new leaf and founded a crime detection unit and is apparently considered the first private detective. In The Black Tower by Louis Bayard we find ourselves in Paris shortly after the French Revolution. The narrative has us focused alongside the central character of Dr. Carpentier but we are very quickly paired up with Vidocq in an attempt to solve a murder that could have the potential to topple the state of the current French government if it is proven to be based on the conspiracy that the Dauphin didn't actually die but is in hiding somewhere nearby.

In spite of the very serious subject matter, there was a surprising amount of subtle humor in this book. When we first meet Carpentier he passes on this piece of advice: "never let your name be found in a dead man's trousers." These sort of nonchalant tongue-in-cheek comments are found throughout the book and serve as a nice break from some of the weightier discussions of murder and politics. There were also segments where the main story narrative was broken up with pages from the journal of a doctor who cared for the Dauphin while he was imprisoned in "the Black Tower." These brief segments were interesting juxtapositions in the main story presenting a unique voice (written in quick abbreviated shorthand) and perspective (the story of the treatment of the Dauphin).

I found the writing style to be vividly evocative and rather enjoyable. The scenes and settings are depicted with wonderful clarity and sensual precision. There is a great balance between the formal, taut writing you might expect from the early 19th century as coupled with the personable humor of characters scratching their way through the underbelly of society in any century. I was a bit turned off by the degree to which Vidocq cursed. It did certainly add to his tone as a harsh, brash character but it was a turnoff to have him dropping the F-bomb as frequently as he did. I felt like he could have been just as abrasive without the swearing.

Book Review - Bearers of the Black Staff

With Bearers of the Black Staff, Terry Brooks continues bridging "our" modern age of science and technology with the magical world of Shannara. This book takes place after the global apocalypse at the end of the Genesis of Shannara series. The heroes from that series have spent the last 500 years protected and trapped inside a valley deep in the mountains. An ancient faerie magic has kept them safely isolated from the dangers of the world outside. And now, the magic barrier is coming down and the people of the valley must somehow transform into the people of the Four Lands we've come to know from other Shannara books.

As of right now, this book is the first book in a duology. I've heard rumors that there will be a third book, but as of right now there doesn't seem to be any evidence confirming those rumors, so I suspect that the second book will finish up this storyline and thus also finalize the trajectory that moves us wholly into the mystical world of druids, elves, trolls, men and magic.

The people of the valley are obviously unprepared to deal with whatever dangers lurk outside. Furthermore, many of them are entrenched in their ways and are very reluctant to even entertain the possibility that the magical barrier is coming down. There is a religious sect with beliefs based on "the Hawk"…the Gypsy Morph boy who led the people into the valley in the first place. In exploring this sect, Brooks (through Sider) makes small commentary on the concept of religion especially in the face of changes in the world. The commentary wasn't especially critical in one way or another, but it was an interesting aside.

Like Brooks's other books, in Bearers we are introduced to a variety of characters, most of which are young or otherwise inexperienced in wielding magic or even mundane weapons of any kind. Our central characters include the current Knight of the Word, Sider Ament, a pair of human trackers he encounters, Panterra and Prue. As the story progresses, we meet other characters who become important in this book and will have obvious importance in the subsequent novel. Aside from Sider, the 3 primary characters (Panterra, Prue and the elven princess Phryne) are very young and impetuous. This is sort of standard operating procedure for Brooks but what felt odd to me was that even though these three characters were obviously going to be of extreme importance (especially knowing Brooks's formula), I was surprised at the level of involvement we got from these three. They were certainly involved in the adventure, but they seemed hesitant and nervous and weren't ever really pushed into the position of action that I kept hoping for.

Book Review - The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls

The quick synopsis for this book states "At the Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls, you will definitely learn your lesson." The cover art is young and simple yet filled with that creepy vibe of a mystery to be solved. Based on the simple description and artwork, I was expecting a Scooby Doo or Nancy Drew style kids mystery story. While that would have been entertaining, I was very pleased to find that The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls delivers so much more.

The narrative starts out focused on Victoria, a girl with a perfect life: perfect clothes, perfect school, perfect looks, perfect parents, perfect home, perfect everything. In an act of kindness, she has made a project of Lawrence, one of the least-perfect boys in her school. Victoria plans to force him to give up his slovenly, childish imperfect ways and become a natural part of her perfect life.

Early on the narrative hints that Lawrence is going to go missing. This foreshadowing also hints at some of the other strange problems that are happening around town. At first, Victoria isn't even aware of the oddities or if she is, she thinks nothing of them. She's too busy worrying about how she can repair the smudge on her Academic Report from the B she received in Music.

Once Lawrence vanishes though, Victoria searches for answers. At first, she doesn't feel particularly attached to imperfect Lawrence but his absence is a blemish on her otherwise perfectly normal life. Looking for answers she only finds more questions and more strangeness. Eventually she is led to the Cavendish Home, a large orphanage set at the end of the street. She meets the proprietress Mrs. Cavendish and the gardener/caretaker Mr. Alice. Both are pleasant enough but neither sets her questions at ease.

Book Review - Shadow Show

I'm not sure how best to review this collection of short stories. I thought about commenting on each story in turn but with more than 2 dozen stories, that surely would have gotten a little unwieldy. Instead I'll just make a few comments about the book, the intent and the content.

This wonderful compilation of stories was envisioned and put into work by a pair of huge Bradbury enthusiasts as a tribute to his amazing work. The editors petitioned a number of modern day writers and asked them to each submit a story that is evocative of the way Ray Bradbury has influenced their own lives and works. In an interesting turn of events, Ray Bradbury passed away just shortly before the release of the book. I truly hope that Mr. Bradbury had the opportunity to read these pieces before his death and to be reminded anew just how much he has influenced literature and even the world as a whole.

The stories in this anthology range from the eerie and strange to the frightening and creepy to the magic of the mundane. Each of the stories was uniquely different and yet all shared the common theme and tone that tied them back to Bradbury. Each author also included a short commentary after their submitted story in which they commented on the motivations of the story or Bradbury's influence in their life.

In reading this collection, I was reminded just how little I've actually read of all of Bradbury's works. He truly was prolific and I look forward to reading some of the works alluded to in these stories. I also plan to seek out works written by some of the authors showcased here. This is a great collection of talent and imagination and was a good fun read.




4 out of 5 stars


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Book Review - The Last Battle

As suggested by the title, The Last Battle is the dramatic conclusion and final book of the Narnia series. Looking at the religious corollaries often found in the Narnia books, you can look at this as the Narnian equivalent of a Christian Armageddon and has numerous parallels to the prophecies of Armageddon as found in the Bible.

I'll give a quick plot synopsis of the first portion of the book. It will hold some minor spoilers so feel free to skip ~3-4 paragraphs down to get my reactions.

The story starts out focused on an Ape and a Donkey in Narnia. They find the skin of a lion (its origins are alluded to but quickly dismissed…and that part of the story still has me a little confused and troubled, especially given the direction the skin came from and the direction the characters go in the end of the book). The Ape (Shift) suddenly has a plan for grandeur. He drapes the skin over the Donkey (Puzzle) and presumes to disguise him and present him to the inhabitants of Narnia as Aslan returned. His intentions are not altogether malevolent but based more out of greed. Comparing with the Christian allegory, Shift (through Puzzle) takes a position as a sort of "False Christ" figure who leads the people through deception and subterfuge.

Shift's main intent is to have the animals gather food, clothing, supplies and riches for him but as time goes on, he finds himself making uneasy alliance with the Calormenes (people from a neighboring country to Narnia, introduced in The Horse and His Boy). It's quickly obvious that the Calormenes have their own agenda and they begin subtly using Shift and Puzzle in ways that Shift doesn't necessarily want but is powerless to stop without admitting his own mistakes.

The current Narnian king (Tirian) discovers the unrest and deception and seeks to put an end to it. Unfortunately for him, the Narnian people and creatures are too fearful of disobeying Aslan. Even though they acknowledge that Aslan has "changed" from the kind, merciful being in the Histories, they are unwilling to risk his wrath by helping Tirian overthrow him. Instead, Tirian finds himself captured. While he awaits certain destruction, he calls out to Aslan for help of some kind and has a strange vision that he's standing before the Pevensies and other Earth-dwellers who have helped Narnia in the past. The vision ends before he is able to fully petition their help, but on Earth, the Earthlings also saw Tirian and knew there was trouble. Jill and Eustace are the youngest and so they are the ones who arrive in Narnia to help King Tirian. They untie him and quickly scour the land for supplies and allies for the "Last Battle".

I won't give away the climax or the conclusion of the book. But I will say that the book felt to me to be a little segmented into "before" and "after" the battle. The majority of the plot and intrigue happens before the battle (or during the battle itself)). I felt like Lewis did a good job of creating tense situations and bringing his protagonists to the brink of despair with an extremely grim outlook. As has been the case in some of his other books, there was a sort of Deus ex Machina situation which isn't terribly satisfying but given the religious nature of the book it was fitting and natural.

Book Review - The Lost World

As a teenager, I had a lot of fun when Jurassic Park came to the theaters in the '90s. After enjoying the movie, I sought out and read the book which I also found very enjoyable. Spurred by its success, a sequel was created, The Lost World: A Novel. Like many sequels, it wasn't as good as the original. It still had its fun elements but for me at least, it lost a good deal of the charm and fun from the first book.

I think in part it was the Jurassic Park sequel that kept me from seeking out and reading the far earlier book The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle. Not only was I not terribly impressed by the 1990s book/movie of the same name, but I was a little unsure of the transition Conan Doyle would make going from Sherlock Holmes to a world of dinosaurs. Fortunately, I finally gave it a try.

Not surprisingly, the Conan Doyle book is considerably slower paced than the Michael Chrichton adventures. The book was serialized in 1912 is set in the late 19th or early 20th century. The story is told through a series of newspaper articles and letters written by Malone, a newspaper reporter eager to impress his girlfriend and make a name for himself in the news world. Malone's editor McArdle gives Malone the assignment of interviewing Professor Challenger. Challenger is a scientist making outrageous claims and evoking his violent temper against anybody who questions them. Before long, Malone finds himself on a journey deep into the jungles of South America in search of a world which Challengers claims is inhabited by prehistoric creatures.

As you might expect from the author of the Sherlock Holmes stories, this book is filled with lengthy and very detailed descriptions of settings, characterizations, behaviors and motivations. Malone has a reporter's eye for detail taken to the extreme. He painstakingly describes the minute details of Professor Challenger as well as the various traveling companions with whom Malone sets off in search of the Lost World. The early parts of the book are set in London and involve weighty scenes of research and discussion to decide what's what and what's to be done about it all. When we finally do start winding through the jungles, we are still given intense descriptions of the surroundings and the actions.

For those looking for adventure, you'll finally find it about midway through the book once the characters have finally found passage into the elusive Lost World. Though even once they finally reach their destination, there are still many pages of suspenseful investigation before any major confrontation with prehistoric adventure. Their investigation and exploration is careful and methodical. As they are confronted with challenges, they quietly and calmly attempt deduce solutions as efficiently as possible even amidst deadly time constraints.

Looking back over my thoughts, it may sound that this is a dry travel narrative rather than a rousing adventure. While it does have elements of a 19th century travelogue, the book also does a good job of amazing the reader with new ideas and concepts as well as taking us on an exciting adventure with unexpected twists and turns. I admit that it was sometimes hard to imagine that these adventurers would be so calm and level headed among all the troubles and adventures they encounter, but part of that is just the style of the era. The other part comes from the distinct characterization of these individuals. Each of the travelers possesses a personality prone more to smart, strategic level-headedness than rash and frantic running around.

The first portion of the book was an interesting read and well crafted. I enjoyed the style and pacing overall but often found myself wanting to skip ahead to "where the real action was." Once we got into the adventure portion of this adventure novel, the style of writing remained precise and well defined while still providing us with surprising new elements and mysteries. I think that if you were to start reading the book at the midpoint, without first becoming accustomed to Conan Doyle's narrative style, the adventure would have felt more strained. You gain a greater sense of the style after plodding along with Malone and the others as they dealt with the minutia of getting the journey underway and slowly reaching their destination.

I suspect that Conan Doyle's "Lost World" was for its time what Jurassic Park was for ours…a fun and exciting tale of fantastic adventure set along the edge of speculative science and imagination. I really enjoyed this story. After finishing this book, I learned that Conan Doyle wrote a number of other stories featuring Professor Challenger. I'm looking forward to reading those and some of his other non-Sherlockian works.



4 out of 5 stars

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Book Review - Son

When I first read The Giver, I had no idea it was part of a series. I finally read Gathering Blue which was called a "companion book" rather than a sequel and I thought perhaps this "series" was only going to be loosely tied together. In the third book (Messenger), the series comes together more strongly by overlapping some characters and traits between the three books. The connect was still pretty loose but they were growing more related. With the fourth book, Lowry brings everything together to remove any doubt that all of these stories are happening at the same time in the same world.

Son begins in the same city as The Giver and follows the story of a young girl named Claire. She lived in the town at the same time as Jonas (the boy from Giver) but never really meets him. The book starts with a rather traumatic experience as we learn that Claire is a "birth mother" for the community. In this 'utopian' world, they have perfectly balanced science, interactions and behaviors to ensure optimal peace and tranquility for the inhabitants. As part of this, family units are prescribed through a very specific method. A young man and a young woman at some point in their life can apply for a spouse. Through arduous research, a Committee matches a pair of people together and they are now married. They can then later apply for a child. Each couple is allowed two children, one boy and one girl. Rather than having each couple deal with the uncertainty and potential trials of pregnancy, there are young girls selected to be birth mothers. These girls are artificially inseminated and then kept secluded and monitored until the baby is born at which point the baby is nurtured by another group until it is old enough to be given to one of the couples who applied for a child that year.

For Claire, childbirth is a difficult experience both because of the methods used to keep her from knowing her baby and from the actual labor she goes through. She ends up having an emergency C-section and is deemed unfit to be a birth mother any longer. She is sent back out into society and given a new job. But she is not content. She does not forget her experience and her son. She overheard a conversation during the delivery and knows his ID number. From there, she decides to seek him out. She doesn't have a plan for what to do once she finds him, but she is determined to find him, certain that knowing him will help fill the empty spot in her life.

Book Review - Lost in a Good Book (A Thursday Next Novel)

About four and a half years ago I read the first book in the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde. I really enjoyed it a lot. So much so that I've sought out and followed information on the series and the new books that have been released. Sadly, it has taken me this long to finally revisit the world of Thursday Next. As I dove into Lost in a Good Book I quickly remembered what I had loved about The Eyre Affair and found myself laughing and really enjoying this world all over again.

In case you're unfamiliar with the concept, these books take place in an alternate version of the mid-80s. History is completely different. War is raging but a different war than happened normally in the 20th century. Science and technology are booming such that there exist all sorts of cool science-fiction elements such as time travel, tubes through the Earth, full scale animal (and neanderthal) cloning and of course, the ability to interact directly with literature. Supernatural elements exist as well…werewolves, vampires and other beasties. The world is obsessed with literature much in the way our world is now obsessed with sports, movie or music celebrities. Instead of clamoring over the latest movie star or football hero, the public fights dirty over signed copies of books or names themselves after famous authors and characters.

Thursday works for "Special Ops -- SpecOps" in their Literary division. Mostly she deals with the trafficking of fraudulent works of literature though sometimes something more meaty comes along. In the first book, Thursday's uncle had built a "Prose Portal" which allowed Thursday to actually enter into the world of a book and interact with it directly. As you may have guessed from the title The Eyre Affair, book one had her entrenched in the world of Jane Eyre.

With book two, Lost in a Good Book, her uncle's Prose Portal is gone thus leaving no way for Thursday or anybody else to enter a book world. This is overly troubling for leaders of the megacorporate organization Goliath since in book one (WARNING: Minor Spoiler) Thursday managed to trap one of their high level officers inside Poe's poem The Raven and they'd really like to get him out.

Book Review - Disney in Shadow (Kingdom Keepers III)

Disney in Shadow is Book 3 in the Kingdom Keepers Series. While this book does provide segments of back story as needed there are many elements that seem to rely at least somewhat on familiarity with the previous books. So if you haven't read those, you should probably do so before jumping in here. That said, the storyline does stand on its own without relying heavily on the history from the previous two books.

The DHIs know that trouble is brewing. At the end of book 2, the DHIs have saved Jez but were unable to prevent the escape of Maleficent and Chernabog. Worse still (or maybe just as bad), Wayne has vanished. During the second book, Wayne was in hiding and only communicating with the kids through secure and cryptic messages. At the end of the book it is apparent that the Overtakers have captured Wayne.

Knowing that Wayne is the only person who has the knowledge to adequately guide the kids, Finn desperately leads the DHIs in an effort to find him. From his experience inside the Disney computer system in book 2, Philby is able to hack into the DHI system and help control when and where the kids materialize after dark. This is helpful but there is still too much ground to cover. Amanda and Jess get more fleshed out as characters and we learn more about their special powers. Unfortunately they are also being threatened with a return to a "foster care" facility that would take them out of the state and thus unable to help. Crunched for time, the kids come up with a plan to make Amanda and Jess into DHIs as well. They area also introduced to a woman claiming to be Wayne's daughter. There is a lot of distrust at first but she proves very helpful later on.

Even though the kids search for Wayne in all of the different parks, most of the action in this book takes place in Disney Studios and in Epcot. Jess has dreams and premonitions that she records in a diary. Wayne seems to have some idea of what Jess might see and so he's able to send clues to her through her diary messages. Wayne's sister also provides a cryptic clue for the kids to follow. One of Wayne's messages also seems to suggest a potential traitor in the group which puts everybody on edge.

Book Review - The Silver Chair

In The Silver Chair we return to Narnia with Eustace Scrubb (the tag-along cousin of the Pevensie's in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader). Some time has passed since Dawn Treader and Eustace is at a boarding school. As the book begins, he's just run across a classmate Jill Pole who's crying after being bullied. They are commiserating together about how awful school is and how nice it would be to get away. Eustace starts romanticizing his times in Narnia and before long the two children want to go there. At the same time, the group of bullies is rapidly approaching to continuing their bullying efforts. They find themselves cornered by a door that is always locked. In desperation they try the handle, and it is surprisingly unlocked…and whisks them away to Narnia.

Like the previous books, Eustace and Jill are a bit disoriented and unsure of their location upon arriving. In this instance, they aren't in the kingdom of Narnia but rather high high high up in the kingdom of Aslan Himself. This introduction to the world seemed more unique than some of the other entrances to this mystical land. Eustace and Jill find themselves perched on a cliff so high that they aren't entirely sure what they're looking at below them. They encounter Aslan and are given a quest before being blown off (quite literally) to the kingdom of Narnia.

Aslan gives the children a quest to find and return the long lost prince. We learn that the prince is the son of Prince Caspian from the previous two adventures. Eustace is a little dismayed that he didn't get to talk to Caspian and he's also surprised to find that Caspian is now an old man on the verge of death. We learn that the prince went missing after seeking revenge for his mother's death. Many quests were undertaken to find him, but years later there has been no success.

The children seek allies to help in their quest and are guided into the company of a Marsh Wiggle named Puddleglum. I loved the character of Puddleglum. First of all, the Marsh Wiggle creature characteristics are fun in themselves just physically. As a character Puddleglum is a lot of fun because of his personality and the way he interacts with everything. To some degree, he seems to be the eternal pessimist, always imagining the worst possible outcomes to any situation. At the same time, he often finds the most realistic perspective (once you shave away some of the more unlikely scenarios). He also has a bravery and insight that really helps the kids out along the way.

Book Review - The Martian Chronicles

Aside from hearing that The Martian Chronicles is a fabulous book, I had no expectations before diving in. I knew it was a book about life on Mars, but didn't know much else. I wasn't sure whether to expect Heinlen's Stranger in a Strange Land or Burroughs's A Princess of Mars. What I found was very distinct from either of those.

The book is structured in a series of short chapters, each of which felt like it could stand on its own as a distinct short story. Each chapter (perhaps with the exception of some of the shortest ones) had their own fun and interesting sets of character & environment developments, plot twists and story arcs. At the same time, they are all bound together by the passing of time from the first story to the last story and the consequences and effects of each story on the life and world of Mars.

Unlike the other 'life on Mars' books I mentioned above, this book envisions a race of Martians living very much like Earthlings. In fact, for the first little bit I thought I was reading about Earth inhabitants living on Mars. Instead they were Martians but with some of the Earth habits and quirks you might stereotypically find in TV shows from the 50s and 60s. As the story progressed, the Martians definitely became their own distinct race with their own huge differences in behavior, community, rules and expectations. I really enjoyed the way Bradbury did this. He made the Martians immediately relatable by giving them Earth-like behaviors and traits but then quickly made them unique and intriguing by expounding on the differences of their world and their race.

Within a few pages, we find that Earth is about to make contact with Mars. Again and again and again.

The results are consistently humorous and intriguingly provocative. The interactions between Earthlings and Martians is a fun and interesting commentary on the way we all interact and deal with the unknown. I absolutely loved laughing at the ridiculous and over the top reactions and interactions while at the same time thinking about the truth of the behaviors and wondering why it is we do the things we do.

It was slightly off-putting the way Bradbury seemed to ignore some of the scientific realities of Mars. I acknowledge that this is a work of science fiction and that it was written in the first half of the 20th century, but some of the elements struck me as a little odd for the first few chapters (such as the Earthlings being able to breath on Mars, the abundance of life both in terms of humanoid creatures and in other animals). The way some of the behaviors mixed with mid-20th century America, I sometimes felt disoriented by the lack of "true" Martian planetary realities. Fortunately this was very easy to ignore once I really dug into the story. And thanks to the fast pace of the storytelling combined with short chapters and a short overall book, I found myself completely immersed very quickly and thoroughly enjoying the tale without worrying about "reality."

As a whole, I absolutely loved this book. The full stretch of the story was very engaging from the initial Earth-Mars contact to the final pages of the book. I also love the way the book is structured into a series of shorter almost stand-alone stories. I had quite a few favorites but I love that I can quickly and easily return to and reread or share these favorites without worrying too much about them being "out of context." I really loved the combination of silly humor, amazing sci-fi creativity and thoughtful social commentary. Definitely and A+ recommended read.



5 out of 5 stars


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Book Review - Kingdom Keepers II: Disney at Dawn

I read the first Kingdom Keepers book a while ago. When I first learned of the series I was very excited about the premise and really looked forward to diving in. While I enjoyed the first book, I wasn't as excited as I thought I might have been and so I delayed moving on to book two.

In the first book, we get to know a group of kids-turned-celebrities thanks to Disney technology. The kids are "DHIs." They have been motion- and audio-captured into specialized software to produce Holographic images of them throughout the parks of Walt Disney World where they act as virtual tour guides. We learn that an old Imagineer named Wayne used the DHI project to create the "Kingdom Keepers." When the kids sleep, they "awake" as their DHI selves inside the Disney parks. Once there, they are tasked with taking on the Disney villains and other Overtakers. The villains have some unknown overarching plot. At the very least, the kids know they are up to no good and so they follow Wayne's lead in working to stop them. All of that background is what really got me interested in the series and the first book. And it's a very fun premise and is actually executed pretty well.

Looking back, I decided that part of my disappointment was that I was reading the book more from an adult perspective than I should have done. This is a book for children, starring children and taking place in a Disney Theme Park (or a world of parks, as it were). My gripes about the book were largely areas where my adult-self had a hard time suspending disbelief and just enjoying the tale.

So, with that in mind, I jumped into Kingdom Keepers II: Disney at Dawn. This book picks up shortly after the first one. The DHI kids are on a parade when they catch sight of some friends/accomplices from book one. They learn that Maleficent is trying to escape and cause trouble again. In a rush to try and stop her, one of the group is captured and Maleficent escapes. We also find out that Wayne is in hiding and only able to interact minimally with the kids. In many ways, they are on their own and in even more danger than before.

I definitely don't want to spoil the plot points for you, but I will say that I really enjoyed some of the twisty elements added to this book. Most of the adventure this time happens in Animal Kingdom which is the Disney World park I haven't yet visited (it wasn't yet built last time I went). So I didn't have a first-hand point of reference for a lot of the events that happened. I had wondered while reading the first book if part of the enjoyment might be lost without knowing first hand the layout of the Magic Kingdom. In reading book two and running around with the kids in Animal Kingdom, I did find myself a little disoriented at times, but mostly I felt like the author did a good job describing the environment and helping me understand the layout and the structure of things.

Book Review - The Horse and His Boy

The Horse and His Boy is an interesting book in the Narnia series. While it was written later than the others, it falls chronologically during the last portion of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I guess you could say it's "in between" Lion and Prince Caspian but that's not entirely true as it is set after the climactic conclusion of Lion but before the Pevensie children return to England. The Pevensie's are ruling as kings and queens in Narnia and we have not yet transitioned to their next adventure.

In The Horse and His Boy, we find ourselves in a strange land that exists far to the South of Narnia. This is a land without magic and without many of the freedoms and happiness that exists in Narnia. The story initially finds us alongside a young boy named Shasta who is living essentially as a slave to his "father" (a man who found Shasta under mysterious circumstances). Shasta learns that his father is going to sell him as a slave to another man who is even more cruel than Shasta's father. Shasta at this team meets a talking horse. He didn't knew such things existed and is fascinated. The horse, named Bree, tells Shasta about Narnia and together they run away to find freedom and happiness in Narnia.

Along the way they meet a girl, Aravis, who is also riding a talking horse, Hwin, and is also running away to Narnia (in her case, she's a noble girl trying to escape a hateful arranged marriage). Naturally as the four progress northward in search of Narnia they encounter many troubles and adventures. They bicker and quarrel. They make foolish mistakes. They uncover dastardly plots. They grow to love and appreciate each others' company.

Nearly all of the book takes place outside of Narnia and as such it doesn't have hardly any of the magical and fanciful adventures that come from the other stories. As such, I had a harder time comparing it directly to the Narnia books I've read so far. If I was to compare it directly to an adventure tale set in Narnia, I'd have it a little lower on the scale than some of the other Narnia books.

However, in terms of a fun adventure story with a compelling world, it receives high marks. The various towns and kingdoms have stark political and social elements that act as commentaries on human behavior and interaction. The landscapes and cityscapes are described in vivid and lovely ways that make them really enjoyable. The characters are interesting and fun though sometimes they get a little repetitive and flat as they complain or discuss the same things over and over again.

When we were given the magical Narnian elements, the story took on a slightly different tone. As you would expect, we interact a few times with Aslan the great Lion of Narnia. I loved the way he progresses the plot and moves things along while still trying to stay on the outskirts. The religious overtones were certainly still present as is expected from Lewis. I especially loved the comments from Aslan when he was talking with the characters and they asked about another character, to which his reaction was: I'm telling you your story, not [that other person's] story. It was kind of a gentle way of saying "mind your own business" but in a different way…more than saying "mind your own business", he was telling them they should be more concerned with things pertaining to their tasks and quests than what somebody else might have to do. I always love the subtle nuggets that Aslan provides.

Overall I found this an enjoyable read and a fun addition to the Narnia series even though it felt somewhat un-Narnian to me. It doesn't necessarily progress the overall Narnia plot per se but it does provide a different outside perspective on Narnia and Aslan and the universe that Narnia is a part of.



3.5 out of 5 stars


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