Archive for the 'reading' Category

Books! Every book is a trilogy #cbr5

Published June 17, 2013 Cannonball Read V , reading 1 Comment
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I seem to start every Cannonball Read review with an apology or a lament. I have yet to hit 52 books and 2013 is looking no different. But the year isn’t over yet!

A while back I finished Fuse by Julianna Baggott, #2 in the excellent Pure series. The story is set in a post-

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apocalyptic world in which a series of large explosions destroy much of the earth and leave it a wasteland. A select few escaped to a sterile world in a dome (think Logan’s Run). Those who survived the explosions became disfigured (many of them fusing with their surroundings or nearby objects/creatures) and had to learn to live in the harsh new world.

My favorite part of Baggott’s writing is her world and creature creation. The fusings of man and surroundings are quite surreal and fun to imagine. The main character’s hand, for instance, is fused with the doll she was holding at the time of the explosions. Her love interest was outside near a flock of birds and has several birds fused to his back. While it sounds grotesque, Baggott describes these beautifully but leaves room for the reader to imagine the exact look of the world. I expect that the series will be made into a movie(s) and I can’t wait to see how this world is realized.

If I have any criticism, it is only that I wish this wasn’t a trilogy. I hate waiting for each installment. When I started Fuse I had some difficulty getting into it because I couldn’t remember what had happened in the first book, Pure. I know this is the new trend of publishing and sometimes it can be a good thing–the story is much more developed and intricate in this case– but sometimes it is just an excuse for bad editing (or not editing as in The Discovery of Witches). While Baggott does not fall into that last category, as a reader you sometimes just want a good story that ends.

To close, this is a beautiful series. If you like post-apocalyptic sci-fi, this is a great addition, but it is also a solid story with engaging characters. If you are impatient like me, wait until next year and read them all at once. You won’t regret it.

Books! Everyone is named Thomas

Published May 10, 2013 Cannonball Read V , reading 3 Comments
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Oh Cannonball, how I have missed you! Usually spring semester is not so busy but usually I am not taking a class while teaching and working full-time. Oh well. Here’s to summer…

The one fun book I read this semester was Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. I bought the book when it first came out and just now got to it as part of my Mount TBR Challenge. It was definitely a highlight of my semester though.

Thomas Cromwell is our guy in this chronicle of the early years of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn’s love affair. From humble beginnings, he starts his professional life as an assistant to Cardinal Wolsey but after Wolsey’s death he becomes a minister to the King. Along the way he meets Cranmer, Anne and Mary Boleyn, the rest of the Boleyn gang, Thomas More, and a very young Jane Seymour. As it is a planned trilogy, with Bring up the Bodies out now of course, it ends on the cusp of the shift in Henry’s feelings towards Anne and the disgrace of Thomas More.

The book reads beautifully and Cromwell is an extremely sympathetic character. Mantel’s writing has a nice cheekiness to it that often feels self-referential. The quote “Some of these things are true and some of them lies. But they are all good stories” is  a nice commentary both in relation to action in the story but also to the process of telling this particular story.  While she absolutely must take liberty with the characters’ comments and actions to tell this story, she tries to stay true to life as much as possible (very much unlike the tv show The Tudors that took many liberties). In contrasting the two approaches, I prefer this Thomas Cromwell to his small screen counterpart, but I was surprised at how petty and irritable she made Thomas More as he is typically portrayed with more nobility. Honestly, it was quite fun.

The book slows a bit toward the end, but most of it has a nice pace. If you know nothing about the Tudor period at all, it could be potentially difficult to read, especially keeping track of the characters. Nevertheless, it is one of my favorite of the year. Historical fiction at its finest!

Books! When Germany waited and a man fell from a mountain #cbr5

Published March 23, 2013 Cannonball Read V , reading 1 Comment
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I tend to read books in pairs. I get restless with one so I need something different to switch my focus. I thought it might be fun to write about the two I just finished even though I can’t find much in common between them. The two from this week are dissimilar on so many levels.

I just finished In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin by Erik Larson. I enjoyed Larson’s Devil in the White City quite a bit, so I was excited to see a new book from him. I read a few negative and lukewarm reviews but considering it was Larson I thought it had to be good. He’s a great writer! Well, I was wrong.

Don’t misunderstand me, Larson’s writing is a pleasure to read. The problem is the subject matter. Larson is focusing all of his excellent writing ability on an American family that moves to Germany after the father becomes the first American ambassador in Hitler’s world. They arrive in the mid-1930s, right when things start going downhill. This is a great set up, right?! But what happens? Not a darn thing. They go to parties. They drive around. The daughter has sex with everyone and supposedly (maybe, not really) becomes a potential Russian spy (we think). The father pines for his farm and his unwritten masterpiece on the Old South. To his credit, he tries to warn the US that something is going to happen, but is ignored. The mother perseveres in the face of the stupidity around her and then dies. A cast of German (to be) killers passes in front of us looking like a bunch of clowns and buffoons for the most part. Basically it is the chronicle of when Germany waited…and waited…for something to happen.

There are moments when it becomes more exciting. The Night of the Long Knives is the most interesting part of the book. The problem is that this episode came after I had read through 2/3rds of the book. As my husband said, no one should have to wait that long before getting to something interesting. I kept with it because I like Larson. If I hadn’t read him before I might have given up like so many others. If you are really interested in Hitler’s Germany and REALLY want to know what the American ambassador was doing then (and who his daughter was doing), this is a book for you.

Sad to say, but I got so bored with this book that I kept picking up Sanctus by Simon Toyne. While I’m not a fan of religious conspiracy thrillers, I have read my share of them (cast offs from my mother and yes I will read most anything). I have to say this one is pretty good. In the story, a man throws himself off of a mountain monastery in an ancient city in Turkey and it goes live on television. Through some convoluted detective work they find his long lost sister in America who journeys to Turkey to find out what happened to her brother. She then becomes the central character in an attempt by the monastery to cover up everything (and basically kill off anyone involved). Ultimately the monks are covering up the true nature of the Sacrament inside the walls of the monastery, which if uncovered would change the world. Basically it is the set up for his next book in which the sister gains some bad-ass powers and stuff happens (haven’t read it yet).

In comparison to In the Garden, this one kept my attention. He has the Dan Brownesque style where each chapter is a ‘scene’ and drives the momentum of the reader. In contrast Toyne tends to make things up whereas Dan Brown “reinterprets” already existing reality. So, for example, the town in which all the action takes place is fictional and there are other elements created to suit his purpose. With the exception of a few groan-worthy moments (I won’t give them away), he does a pretty good job of inventing a mythology and keeping the reader invested in the action. If you like religious conspiracy action novels and are looking for a fun beach read, this is definitely one to find at your local public library.

I will leave you with this. As un-PC as this is, apparently there is a Hitler is bored video meme. I leave you with “Hitler and the bunker are really bored”. He must have read In the Garden.

Books! France’s Dirty War #cbr5

Published March 2, 2013 Cannonball Read V , reading 1 Comment
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I am taking a history class on the Vietnam wars and we just recently finished two  books on the history of France in Indochina. While both are excellent, the first Indochina: An Ambiguous Colonization, 1858-1954 is less accessible. The second, Embers Of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America’s Vietnam, is a readable account of the end of the French period and sets the stage for the next war to come.

Indochina: An Ambiguous Colonization, 1858-1954 by Pierre Brocheux and Daniel Hémery is remarkable for its scope. It covers the entire range of the colonial experience from the political, economic, and cultural effects and from the beginnings of colonization to the end after France’s defeat at the battle of Dien Bein Phu.

The French authors aim to create a storyline that doesn’t take sides but shows the interaction of colonizers and colonized, and for most of the book they do this. At the same time, most of their sources are French and they end the book on a strangely sympathetic note. They write

“French colonial imperialism, in the midst of acquiring a new historical shape and a neocolonial project, finally found the political will to take on the issues concerning the development of colonized peoples. It was just then that imperial France was overtaken by Indochina by the unforeseeable: a national, communist revolution that was radically decolonizing and pregnant with another historical project (379).”

This closing commentary seems to indicate that France was going to modernize (doubtful) and that the Viet Minh emerged out of nowhere (?!?). Overall it is a wonderful piece of scholarship and worth a read if you have a strong interest in France’s relationship with Vietnam.

Embers Of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America’s Vietnam by Frederick Logevall picks up at the beginning of the World War II and the start of France’s downfall and takes us through 1959 when two Americans are killed at an outpost near Saigon. Along the way he discusses not only France’s actions and mistakes, but also the place of Vietnam in the emerging Cold War and American anti-communist hysteria.

Logevall is a historian at Cornell University and is an excellent writer. He approaches the story from the level of the individuals involved and the choices they make along the way. In this sense it reads almost like a work of fiction because you have a strong sense of the main characters and how they interact with others. While it is a long book, it is so well-written and engaging that it is difficult to put down. I was actually late getting to work one day because I wanted to finish a chapter. If you are interested in the Vietnam War from the American perspective, you absolutely must read this book. It demonstrates nicely the beginnings of our involvement and why it later became America’s Vietnam.

Both books are worth reading, but I would recommend Logevall for casual history buffs. It is definitely a fave of 2013.

Books! Dragons eat tigers #cbr5

Published February 1, 2013 Cannonball Read V , reading 1 Comment
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I’m doing pretty well with the Cannonball this year, but this week may push me behind. It might be time to break out the Dresden novels and YA. Recommendations?

This week I am moving away from the historical fiction and into the histories of Vietnam. I’m taking a class on the Vietnam wars (yes, plural) and will be reading  a few books this semester. The first Vietnam: Rising Dragon by Bill Hayton was a nice introduction to the current situation in Vietnam. Keep in mind we are simultaneously reading scholarly articles on the ancient history of Vietnam, so I think the professor wanted to give us a vision of what is to come so that we didn’t all drop the class.

Bill Hayton is a journalist who works for the BBC and was working as a reporter in Vietnam, and his book provides a clear and comprehensive picture of the issues facing the country. Each chapter covers a particular area of life from a focus on the environment, to the development of democratic institutions, to corruption, ethnic relations, and more.

After this book was published in 2010 the Vietnamese government banned Hayton from traveling to the country. You can understand why the book would cause alarm as it covers so many of the problematic areas in Vietnamese life, especially the tendency for personal interests of elites to be predominant in decision-making. He doesn’t make any broad proclamations about Vietnam’s trajectory but sees it on the cusp of either a bright future with many changes or stagnation and mismanagement (and environmental destruction). It is a shame that he was banned because it is pretty obvious throughout the book that he loves the place and wants it to be a “rising dragon.”

This is not just for the Vietnam bound or Southeast Asian fans. Read this if you are interested in international politics and the rising areas of influence in the world. Considering Vietnam is the 13th most populous country. Considering President Obama has proclaimed a Pacific Pivot. And considering the rising dragon is nestled in the armpit of China, this is a country to watch.

Books! Philippa Phones It In #cbr5

Published January 13, 2013 Cannonball Read V , reading 3 Comments
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In last year’s Cannonball Read I didn’t review books that I didn’t particularly like. I tend not to give up on books (except Twilight) because I obsessively like to finish things, but I couldn’t bring myself to write a few of those reviews.  This year I am going to do a full Cannonball if it kills me, so here is my first negative review for CBR5.

Generally I don’t mind Philipa Gregory’s books. She doesn’t write particularly good historical fiction compared to some other authors, but her books make for nice escapes if you like history. They aren’t horrible bodice rippers and they do have some truth. They also don’t make you weep too much for the state of fiction (unlike Twilight). So, yes, I’ve read a few of her novels. 

The Kingmaker’s Daughter (The Cousins’ War #4) continues a series on the women of the Wars of the Roses. They do not need to be read in order as each book tells the story from one woman’s perspective. Honestly I think it is a really cool idea, but the books are a mixed bag. The White Queen is the best so far. The Lady of the Rivers and The Red Queen were fine, but had issues. This one might frankly be the worst.

Part of the problem might be the lack of source information for the main character, Anne Neville, who marries King Richard III. Gregory’s attempt to fill in the blanks mostly falls flat. She tries to make it exciting by having Anne victim to overbearing parents, including a mother who inexplicably forces Anne to deliver her sister’s baby in a storm on a boat, but I was really bored with most of it. The character isn’t interesting enough to make the slow times around her more engaging.

In addition, Gregory just blasted this novel out without any concern for, well, the reader. There are continuity issues that even I noticed (Anne steps down from a mounting block twice in one paragraph). The narrative is repetitive and grammatically problematic. Every sentence ends in a comma, what do you think of that, this writing style gets annoying, seriously. And did I mention repetitive?

Finally, the series phenomenon is killing me. Between Pure, The Century Trilogy, All Souls Trilogy, and the ongoing Cousins’ War (a fifth is in the works), I have my reading lists locked up for the next few years. The obsessive side of my personality is having a hard time disengaging (except Twilight, nixed that one early on).

While you don’t have to read these books in order, I had to rack my brain to remember what the heck happened with the other women. Part of this is my fault. You know you read too much fiction about a historical time period when they all start to run together. But much of this is the publishing industry’s laziness. They capitalize on a good thing and keep it going whether it should die a quick death or not (die! Twilight!). That’s not Gregory’s fault really, but it is yet another reason I disliked this one.

Anne was dull dull dull and Philippa seemed to phone this one in. Meh, back at ya.

Books! The Neverending Saga of Nicholas Flamel #cbr5

Published January 11, 2013 Cannonball Read V , reading 1 Comment
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I’m ahead of the game for Cannonball Read this year! Go me. The Sorceress

First off, a warning. Even if you find The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel’s storyline frustrating or don’t like the writing, it is very easy to get sucked in to the series and keep reading. And there are six books. Approach with caution.

I came across Michael Scott’s series while trolling our public library eBook website for something new to read. Granted the series had very mixed reviews but the story sounded, well, bearable and light. Good my-brain-is-fried end-of-the-semester reading.

I just finished book #3, The Sorceress, and the truth is I have to find out what happens! And I’m starting to hate myself for that. Luckily the series has ended (at #6), so at least I don’t have to play the waiting game as with almost every other book known to modern publishing (I’m looking at you Julianna Baggott). But, anyway.

This is the story of twins who fall unwittingly into an evil plot to end the world by bringing back the “Dark Elders” who once ruled what we call Atlantis. The twins are protected by an alchemist named Nicholas Flamel and his wife Perenelle, a famous sorceress. They are pursued by, well, every baddie on earth, but mostly a magician named Dee, Machiavelli (who strangely still goes by Machiavelli), the crow goddess, the cat goddess, and a guy with antlers on his head. In each book they run into a new group of good guys and gals including (but not limited to) Joan of Arc, a ninja chick named The Shadow, and Shakespeare. As you can imagine madness ensues including the destruction of Notre Dame’s gargoyles.

bunny!

bunny!

I can’t really pinpoint anything I liked or hated about The Sorceress because everything is starting to run together. Literally the story just keeps on going like everyone’s favorite pink bunny. I also don’t want to give too much away in case you decide to go down this rabbit hole. Overall the writing isn’t great, the story is hella convoluted, and Edith Hamilton is probably rolling in her grave when it comes to the abuse of mythology. But, honestly, I can’t put it down.

Before you run out and read #1, it is my duty to warn you that the series has absolutely no connection to Harry Potter (Nicholas Flamel is mentioned at some point as Dumbledore’s friend). Nicholas Flamel was a real person who just happened to be used by both authors. Scott never meant to capitalize on the success of Harry Potter, I’m sure. ;) And all of those disappointed HP fans on Goodreads should probably read a book summary before going all rabid in their reviews. I’m just saying.

Overall reading this series is like buying white fudge covered Oreos. I can’t stop eating them, but I will hate myself in the morning for it.

Books! Winter of the World #cbr5

Published January 4, 2013 Cannonball Read V , reading 1 Comment
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A new year and a new Cannonball Read. Here’s my second go at 52!

Winter of the World by Ken Follett is the second book of the Century Trilogy. I wish I had a review of the first book, but in brief it chronicles the life of four families starting around the turn of the century up to the 1920s. These American, British, Russian, and German families are witnesses to and at times active participants in the world’s major events.

Book two takes us through the World War II and the 1940s with the same families and their offspring. Whereas I felt the first book was rushed in trying to cover so many years (without being over 1,000 pages), Follett seems to slow down a bit through this chronicle. Rather than skipping over several years as in the last book, the war years take several chapters each. The book and the reader benefits from this slower pace.

The difficulty of these books is that you have to suspend disbelief a bit when it comes to the intertwining lives of these characters. It just happens that members of these four families are direct witnesses to Pearl Harbor, the making of the atom bombs in both the US and the USSR, the rise of Hitler, the Battle of Midway, and more.

The biggest criticism of Follett’s writing is that his characters are one-dimensional. Some men are evil, do bad things, and get their comeuppance; some men are good,  beaten up, suffer, but have a good life in the end, scarred but much wiser. The women especially tend to be either saints or tarts. However, his characters are a bit more complex in this book, especially the females, but they still serve mostly to encourage the action on or to serve as witness to events.

Having said that Follett can set a scene well and make it believable. He also knows how to give background information without it seeming stilted. While he will never be my favorite writer, his descriptions of Pearl Harbor and other battles were quite riveting page-turners and despite the length (almost 1,000 pages) I will return for the third book.

And speaking of that third book I’m really curious what he will cover. He calls it the century trilogy so I assumed he would go up to 9/11, but it seems his concern is more with the Cold War. Even so, 1950-1989?! That’s the same period of time covered in the first two books. So, you know where to find me next fall.

Historical fiction at its most magisterial. Don’t be afraid of its length as it has its gripping, page-turning moments. If you have wrist issues, I would get the eBook version. The hardback is quite a brick.

Books! Thanks #cbr4 for more books in 2012

Published December 27, 2012 reading Leave a Comment
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I have to thank Cannonball Read for a great 2012. Every year I have a goal to read more and I never really accomplish that in any tangible way. I didn’t hit my Cannonball goal of 52 books and book reviews in one year, but this year I can say I surpassed my expectations. I’ve read more books this year than I’ve read in a long time, probably since college, and I think I wrote some solid reviews. I’ve also found with the help of wonderful friends some new authors and titles I wouldn’t have tried on my own. So, despite not meeting my goal, thanks Cannonball Read and here’s to 52 in 2013.

I’ve been skeptical of challenges, but I have to say that they are pretty useful and not just for racking up the numbers. Reading a large number of books meant that I had to get out of my comfort zone when it came to genres and authors. I was really bored with my usual historical fiction by March and had to branch out a bit. Writing the reviews was also an excellent way to fix those books in my mind. Obviously, the books I didn’t review (around 20) don’t stick out as much as the ones I took the time to write about. I’m sad that I didn’t review some especially Gods of Gotham and NW because they were definite highlights of the year.

As for 2013 I am going to do CBR5 and try for 52 books and 52 reviews. Fifty-two books isn’t that difficult to manage, especially if I cut out the 1,000 page books, but 52 reviews is a bit different. My biggest mistake this year was not writing the review immediately after each book. This coming year I will try to keep up with each review rather than putting them off to later. We will see how that goes.

I’ve also joined two other challenges: the Mount TBR 2013 and Historical Tapestry’s Historical Fiction Challenge. Mount TBR challenges you to read from your To Be Read pile through the year and the levels are based on mountain names. I will be doing Mount Blanc which is 24 books (aiming low). The historical fiction challenge also has levels and I will be getting Medieval with 15 books. Goodness knows there will be overlap between the two! Looking forward to 2013!

2013!!!

2013!!!

Books! The true story of the Congress of Vienna

Published December 20, 2012 reading 1 Comment
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Rites of Peace: The Fall of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna by Adam Zamoyski is not a book to approach lightly. It demands commitment and a willingness to wade through the numerous individuals involved in the Congress of Vienna. Ultimately though it is a great book and at times brings to life an exciting period in European history.

The book opens with the beginning of Napoleon’s downfall and his race back to France after the failed invasion of Russia. The Treaty of Paris helped to end the Napoleonic Empire and the wars, but Europe was left with many unsettled issues such as the status of Poland, who gets what territory and more. The Great Powers of Europe convened several committee meetings in Vienna that lasted for almost a year and discussed a variety of issues facing the continent. My favorite was the Statistical Committee. As Zamoyski explains, “In all the negotiations at the congress the political value of land was calculated not in acres or hectares, but in numbers of inhabitants, commonly referred to ‘souls’” (pg 386). The committee’s job was to verify the figures that the Great Powers were calculating thereby determining the value and the fair distribution of land.

The value of the book is in its retelling of the congress, especially its attention to detail. While this can become monotonous at times with dozens of unfamiliar names, Zamoyski brings out the flavor of the period by not only discussing the official proceedings but also describing the unofficial and at times debauched activities of the participants. Between balls, dalliances, hunts, and eating, it is a wonder they had any time to negotiate the future of Europe. It makes the politicians dealing with the fiscal cliff seem like a bunch of stodgy old monks.

The book also has a different take on the effects of the Congress of Vienna. In political science we tend to teach the Congress as resulting in the establishment of legitimacy of states in Europe and the beginning of stability on the continent. This is in part due to the writings of Henry Kissinger and Paul W. Schroeder. Zamoyski argues that the congress actually had negative effects because it left so many question unanswered, dreams unfulfilled, and completely ignored the rising tide of liberal thought in most of Europe. Although he doesn’t say this directly, in many ways the congress set the stage for the disasters of the next century.

While it is long and only for the determined, if you are interested in the Congress of Vienna and the late Napoleonic era, this is  a fantastic work. Very well-written and researched.

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