Ok, because I am lazy and haven't reviewed any books for months, I flogged this meme from book_memes  instead.



1. Name a book that you liked that was at least twenty years old.
   Sweet Thursday, John Steinbeck. I love love loved it, but am too scared to re-read it in case it is not as brilliant the second time round.                                                                                                                                                    
2. Name a book that you liked that was at least ten years old.
   The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho. I adored the ending to this story.
3. Name a book that gave you hope for the future.
   A Little Love Song, by Michelle Magorian. An odd one, perhaps, but there you go.
4. Name a book about the past that you believe has important lessons in it.
   King Matt the First has lessons for both children and adults, on many levels.
5. Name a book that taught you something.
   Three Men in a Boat taught me an awful lot about how not to do certain things!
6. Name a book with a character who really stood out.
   Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. Oscar is a beautiful character.  
7. Name a book that was a re-read that you really enjoyed.
   Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones. A brilliant book, with one of my favourite couples. I read a bit of her other stuff this year, too. HMC stands out, though.
8. Name a book that made you cry.
   Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safran Foer. Also Goodnight Mister Tom. That always gets me.
9. Name a book that you disliked.
   White Tiger, Kylie Chan. Awful, awful writing, and a rubbish story line, and I am masochistic enough to make myself read the rest of the trilogy.
10. Name a book that you would buy for everyone you know.
    The Lives of Men and Women. There is something everyone can relate to in this, I think.
11. What were your favourite books of January-June 2009?
    Sweet Thursday, Cannery Row, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, The Alchemist.

Yep. That makes 41. Which makes it 66 new books this year.

Favourites include...actually, I've really enjoyed all the ones I've read so far.

Here's hoping 2009 is a brilliant year for books. And, you know, the other stuff too, I guess.

I just noticed that The Tales of Beedle the Bard has over taken Twilight on Angus & Robertson's best seller list.

Am ridiculously pleased.

Huh. This was really interesting, actually, especially considering I only bought it because of the shark on the cover.

This series is always fun. They're easy to read and don't take much thinking about. I've missed the last few in the series, but that doesn't matter, although Salvation in Death does talk about past cases a little.

The religious theme didn't do a lot for me, I have to say, and it seemed to have fewer minor characters than previous books have. While I like Roarke and Eve, I think Robb has gone a bit over the top with the Macho Eve thing. She scooped up soup. The vegetables weren't such a bad deal when they were disguised in noodles and a thick, zingy broth. pg 302. What is she, five?  The other thing I really noticed about this book was the American spelling, which I guess is just a culture thing. But I can't spell travelling with one l, and I can't spell jewellery without all those e's and l's. I don't know why, but those things really stood out for me.

So all in all, I enjoyed Salvation in Death, but it was not my favourite Death book.
 

I really enjoyed this. The thing for me about A Fraction of the Whole was that while it was completely ridiculous and insane (and it really was insane) there was an awful of it that was recognisable. I could picture places, and I remember events, even if Toltz put a spin on them. I liked the blend of fact and fiction.

The characters were all likeable and annoying, they were varying degrees of insane, and I felt like I could have lived next to any one of them (except, perhaps, Martin). I think Toltz did a really good job looking at the "Australian battler" mentality. I liked the scope of the plot, and I thought it was mostly funny, but quite sad, too, like most character studies, which is what A Fraction of the Whole basically is. I did feel that the latter parts of the book got a bit silly, but not so much that it let the rest of the book down.

This book, in the end, turned out to be a pretty big let down for me. I was really looking forward to reading something that took the mickey out of Pride and Prejudice - not because I do not like Pride and Prejudice, but because I think there is a lot to work with.

The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet promised to do that, but didn't deliver. There is no charm in this, McCollough has basically made all the characters as unhappy as they could be, but they are not even caricatures of Austen's characters. McCollough obviously figured that we know less about Mary than any of the others, so she really could grow into being whatever. McCullough has made her eccentric and independent, very well read but with no experience. And that's fine, but the thing is, Mary is still the dullest character in the book. I found myself skipping over the bits about her to read abit more about Mr Darcy (reduced to Fitz, by the way) and Elizabeth.

I had a hard time recognising the character's from Pride and Prejudice, and the feel of this book is completely different. The plot was fairly ridiculous, and the new characters were dull. I also have to say that I was not particularly impressed with the writing. According to the inside cover, McCollough has written at least 18 other books (I have not read any of them), and from someone obviously so successful, I expected more from this.

Having said that, I sort of liked it. There were some bits that really amused me, particularly Fitz's thoughts on his family. I think I could see what McCollough was trying to do with this book - challenge everyone's perceptions of Pride and Prejudice - and I like that idea. But I don't think McCollough pulled it off.
 

I haven't read a lot of books about vampires and werewolves - I think the only books I've read about them have been Stephenie Meyer's books. Which were...odd, and perhaps not the best books to compare others too.

I liked Kitty and The Midnight Hour much more than I liked those. It was a fun, easy read. I thought Kitty was well written; Vaughn was not scared to make her main character less than perfect. The characters all did what they were supposed to do. I liked the ones I was supposed to like, and felt for the ones I was supposed to feel for. The plot was entertaining, there was a little bit of sex and a little bit of gore.

What I really liked, though, was that Vaughn just dove straight into the story and filled in the details as she went along. There was no chapter dedicated to explaining the how's and why's of werewolves and vampires, or just how her universe related to mine.

So, yeah, I liked Kitty and The Midnight Hour. And while I realise that I do not have a lot to compare it too, I thought it was good. The sequel is on my 'to buy' list.
 

I really loved this novel. It is so much more than just a love story. It doesn't hurt that I can very clearly see Richard Armitage as Thornton.

My favourite bit?

When Margaret compares Thornton to an olive.

Sindbad and Other Tales from the Arabian Nights is a compilation of four stories that didn't actually make it to Haddawy's version of The Arabian Nights. He says that this is because they were not yet part of The Arabian Nights when the version he translated was written. Frankly, I think he excluded them so that people would have to buy two books. This would annoy me, because these were the stories that I bought The Arabian Nights for in the first place, except that they are very nice books. So, all's well.

The stories in this version are The Story of Sindbad the Sailor, The Story of 'Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, The Story of 'Ala al-Din (Aladdin) and the Magic Lamp and The Story of Qamar al-Zaman and His Two Sons, Amjad and As'ad.

I love this book. The stories are very easy to read, if completely mad. They are completely mad. But they're vibrant and flamboyant and playful. They're utterly hilarious, but, it has to be said, they do not often show women in good light. Mind you, most of the men are bloody stupid, so. The characters in these stories are champion sulkers, and they'll behead you as soon as look at you. Sometimes you have to suspend logic a bit, but that's okay. It's a fun ride.

 

Finnikin of the Rock is very different to Marchetta's other books (well, I have not read Jellicoe Road, so I don't know about that one). It's not a book with out faults, sure, and I wouldn't say that it is as well executed as her others. But I liked it, and I'll read it again.