SouthernKiwi reads categorically in 2013

I wasn't planning on setting this thread up until much later in the year, since I wanted to focus on this years reading for awhile longer ... but, oh well.

I think my reading would be stretched too thin if it were over 13 categories, so I'm only going for 10 categories with a minimum of 4 books in each, but I'd like to think I could manage 50 books in 2013.

The wisdom of Calvin & Hobbes is my theme so categories are based on tags I could derive from the strips I've chosen.

*****
Currently Reading:

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

*****


1. The Happy Municipality ... 2/4
2. History As Fiction 6/4 - Category complete!
3. Tracer Bullet 5/4 - Category complete!
4. The Magic Carpet 9/4 - Category complete!
5. Mmmmm Pop! 6/4 - Category complete!
6. Governing With Dictatorial Impunity 3/4
7. The Threat Of The Librarian 4/4 - Category complete!
8. The Horrendous Space Kablooie 4/4 - Category complete!
9. From Now On I'm Playing Bus 2/4
10. Are You Cheating? 5/4 - category complete!

TOTAL 46/50

Books Brought: 35
Books Borrowed: 5
Books Off The Shelf: 40

The Happy Municipality
Architecture / Town Planning / Economics / Disasters

1. Cities Of The Classical World by Colin McEvedy (review)
2. Why We Build by Rowan Moore
3.
4.

Possibilities:
Cities Of The Classical World by Colin McEvedy
Krakatoa by Simon Winchester
Alive by Piers Paul Read
Batavia by Peter FitzSimons
Island Of The Lost by Joan Druett



History As Fiction - Category Complete!
History / Historical Fiction / Autobiography / Biography / Memoir

1. How To Be A Woman by Caitlin Moran (review)
2. Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende (review)
3. The Betrayal Of The Blood Lily by Lauren Willig (review)
4. Paramedico by Benjamin Gilmour (review)
5. Sea Of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh
6. Midwife Of The Blue Ridge by Christine Blevins

Possibilities:
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Daughter Of Fortune by Isabel Allende
Goodnight Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian

Tracer Bullet - Category Complete!
Crime / Mystery / Noir

1. The Interpretation Of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld (review)
2. Faithful Place by Tana French (review)
3. The Lost Boy by Camilla Lackberg (review)
4. A Place Of Hiding by Elizabeth George (DNF) (review)
5. Why Shoot A Butler? by Georgette Heyer

Possibilities:
Place Of Hiding by Elizabeth George
The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld
Tana French

The Magic Carpet - Category Complete!
Fantasy

1. A Memory Of Light by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson (review)
2. A Great And Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray (review)
3. Babylon Steel by Gaie Sebold (review)
4. Moxyland by Lauren Beukes (review)
5. A Wizard Of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin (review)
6. The Age Of Miracles by Karen Thomspon Walker (review)
7. Fire by Kristen Cashore
8. Bitterblue by Kristen Cashore
9. Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

Possibilities:
The Name Of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
The Gone Away World by Nick Harkaway
Tamora Pierce
Peter V. Brett
Devices And Desires by K. J. Parker
The Red Wolf Conspiracy by Robert V. S. Redick
Daniel Abraham
Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Mmmmm Pop! - Category Complete!
Romance / Love Story / Relationships

1. The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer (review)
2. Mr Rosenblum Dreams In English by Natasha Solomons (review)
3. Lady Be Good by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (review)
4. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (review)
5. Nobody's Baby But Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (review)
6. Call Me Irresistible by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (review)

Possibilities:
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, May group read
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
The Disappeared by Kim Echlin
Michelle Holman

Governing With Dictatorial Impunity
Politics / Government / Conflict / War

1. Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian (review)
2. Goodbye Sarajevo by Atka Reid & Hana Schofield (review)
3. The Disappeared by Kim Echlin
4.

Possibilities:
Imperial Ambitions by Noam Chomsky
Goodbye Sarajevo by Atka Reid & Hana Schofield
Paramedico Benjamin Gilmour
The Diary Of A Young Girl by Anne Frank
Fathers And Forefathers by Slobodan Selenic

The Threat Of The Librarian - Category Complete!
Borrowed Books

1. Graceling by Kristen Cashore (review)
2. Maybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie (review)
3. Into The Darklands And Beyond by Nigel Latta (review)
4. Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood (review)

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Society Without God by Phil Zuckerman

The Horrendous Space Kablooie - Category Complete!
Science

1. The Emperor Of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee (review)
2. Survivors: The Animals And Plants That Time Has Left Behind by Richard Fortey (review)
3. An Extraordinary Land by Peter Hayden (review)
4. The Best American Science Writing 2012 Edited by Michio Kaku

Possibilities:
The Origin Of Our Species by Chris Stringer
Dreams And Due Diligence by Joe Sornberger
The Emperor Of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee

From Now On I'm Playing Bus
Travel

1. Down Under by Bill Bryson (review)
2. Princes Amongst Men by Garth Cartwright
3.
4.

Possibilities:
In A Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
Princes Amongst Men by Garth Cartwright

Are You Cheating? - Category Complete!
Cheating on my categories - anything goes

1. Ansel Adams: In The National Parks Edited by Andrea Stillman (review)
2. Soulless by Gail Carriger (review)
3. Changeless by Gail Carriger (review)
4. Blameless by Gail Carriger (review)
5. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (review)

Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu

great theme, looking forward to following along next year

Fantastic theme, I so love Calvin and Hobbes. I be looking forward to seeing all your choices.

oh great idea! good luck with your current reading and for next year!

Love the theme - Calvin and Hobbes are just so great! Looking forward to seeing what you think of the Rothfuss books - they're TBR for me too, but I want the trilogy to be finished before I start. :)

Haha when I saw the title "The Happy Municipality", I immediately thought of Stupidopolis, "stupidly built near an undersea fault line... that just shifted!" Calvin and Hobbes are the best. Love this theme :D

Love the comics -- thanks for sharing! :)

Now I want to go and spend all my time reading and re-reading Calvin and Hobbes! ;-) Great theme and categories.

Hi Alana, super idea for your challenge. Lots of interesting reading being planned, 2013 is going be fun!

Calvin and Hobbes are my all time favorite comic strip characters!

I love Calvin and Hobbes! Great theme!

Hi everyone, one of my flatmates took note of what I was doing while I was setting this thread up and she a) couldn't understand the idea doing a reading challenge, b) couldn't understand doing a reading challenge to a theme and c) didn't understand why I would spend the time coming up with this idea and then figuring out how to make it work when I could just actually read! She doesn't read a whole lot, so it's nice to be amongst like minded people here on LT!

2012 has in some ways felt like an extended reading funk - the majority of what I've read has been good but not great and it's all starting to feel a little forgettable so I'm quite looking forward to next year, Calvin & Hobbes seemed like a start to help get some of the fun back.

Eva, I've actually already read The Name of the Wind* a few years ago and really liked it but I can only remember bits and pieces of the plot so need a reread before I start The Wise Man's Fear. Hopefully the wait for the third book isn't too long.

* just realised I had Ruiz Zafon's Shadow of the Wind listed in my Fantasy category. It is on the TBR pile but wasn't what I meant - that's what happens when I'm posting, trying to listen to my flatmates and the TV at the same time. Apparently that's taking multi-tasking one task too far!

Rabbitprincess, off the top of my head I can't think of the 'Stupidopolis' strip, but I can definitely picture how that would go ...!

Lori, why don't you? :-) I often open a Calvin & Hobbes book at random and start reading. They never get old, Waterson packs so much into each strip.

I probably will!!! ;-)

The last book in the trilogy at least seems to have a title (The Doors of Stone) so there's a chance it's not too far off. It's one of those series I've understood people get sucked into, so I really should wait or I'll start to resent it for not being done... :)

I have a stack of Calvin and Hobbes (along with other comics) in a bedside drawer for those times when I want to read but am too tired to read a "proper" book. Agree - they don't ever get old.

After the fault line shifts, "a curious shadow falls over downtown"... then a big wave of water comes down. In the next panel we see Calvin at the beach pointing and laughing. His dad says, "Why does he keep building things so close to the water? It's stupid." Then his mom says, "He doesn't seem to mind doing it over and over."

My Calvin books are at my parents' place so I tend to binge on them every time I go back for a visit. One of these days I'll bring them back to my own place, although they may not go without a fight :P

I bought myself The Complete Calvin and Hobbes as a Christmas present from myself last year.

I can tell everyone a nice story that features Calvin and Hobbes.

I used to babysit a boy called Christopher. He was a real handful and I was the only person his parents could find who was willing to babysit him. The fact that he had 4 younger siblings who needed babysitting at the same time didn't help matters. However I really liked Chris as I thought he was an interesting and likeable boy.

One day after a couple of trying hours of him, I told Chris he was "such a Calvin". He didn't know who Calvin was so I started cutting out Calvin and Hobbes strips from my newspaper and next time I babysat I showed them to Chris and he loved them.

Chris got into a lot of trouble at school, in fact one year he managed to get 8 different suspensions. However the principal did like Chris and Chris like him. Once a week the principal would take Chris out of class and give him a bit of one-to-one tutoring. Though he was 10 years old Chris could barely read and the principal found it difficult to get Chris to want to read.

Once Chris said to the principal that his babysitter had said he was just like Calvin. His principal replied 'your babysitter is a wise woman'. After that the principal started using Calvin and Hobbes books when teaching Chris to read. As a result Chris became determine to read and there was a great improvement in his reading ability.

That is a great story Zozette!

Eva I had a quick look at Rothfuss' website the other night and didn't see the third book mentioned, so thanks! It always feels like less of a wait if the book at least has a title.

Thanks for the memory jog Rabbitprincess - I'm pretty sure I have seen the Stupidopolis strip at some point.

What a wonderful story Zozette! I worked in a book store when The Complete C & H came out and I really wanted it but I was a student at the time and just couldn't justify it (if my memory is correct, it was just over NZ$300). But it's a beautiful set and I still want a copy ... and after a quick peek at The Book Depository they're $116 pb or $200 hb, I think they'll make me a fantastic Christmas present :-)

I was very lucky. I got it on special at Amazon UK during a time that they were offering free postage to Australians. I got it for $AUS78.73 hb (about $NZ98). Amazon is selling it for £50 hb, £45.50 pb at the moment

That was a lovely story about Chris. It's so good to hear that his individuality was recognized by the Principal and time was spent on him, instead of allowing this child to slip through the cracks.

Love your theme and the comic strips! Wonderful story about Chris!

Love your theme too!

I agree with everyone else - love the theme! Haven't read Calvin & Hobbes in ages and feel like burrowing down somewhere with a great big pile. Looking forward to seeing what books you'll eventually pick.

I was never a Calvin & Hobbes fan, but maybe I should take a second look.

Thanks Ivy, Kerry and PawsforThought (love the name!) great to have you all along.

Beth I'd definitely recommend a second look! As I mentioned somewhere above, Waterson manages to get so much into his strips. I didn't manage to fit it in to my challenge but one of my favourites is the strip about a baby racoon - I was a bit teary eyed after I read that one the first time.

Where are Calvin's snowmen? My absolute favorite series of the whole strip.
Glad to see you back for another year!

Hi Victoria, I love the snowmen too! Strangely they weren't really showing up on the sites I was looking at for the images

This one is great (and has Shakespeare!): http://cdn.twentytwowords.com/wp-content/uploads/Calvin-and-Hobbes-Snowmen-13-63...

I'm only just starting to look around in these parts, slowly planning my challenges. Make that VERY slowly. Love your theme and the strips are lots of fun. So creative! I'm sure you'll have lots of fun with it. I had to smile about your story with the roommate who couldn't understand why all this work to create a challenge. I guess lots of people might feel that way! :-)

Love Calvin and Hobbes! The Name of the Wind was one of my top reads, and I have the second book on my list for this year.

Calvin and Hobbes are my favourite comic strip. They've become my eldest's favourite as well. My collections seem to have moved from my shelves to his. OTOH, my youngest's connection to Calvin is that he's just as cheeky and imaginative as Calvin. Keeps me on my toes *sigh*

Good luck with your challenge this year!

Ilana, good to see you around and I guess you either get it or you don't :-)

Tanglewood, I'm really looking forward to The Name of the Wind and Wise Man's Fear for next year.

Sandragon, your very own, real life Calvin?! Wow, he must be a handful

Sandragon, as long as you keep plush tigers away from him, I think you'll manage alright. ;)

Well, he's not completely like Calvin. So far he hasn't built a transmogrifier.

No macabre snowmen either, I hope.

No, but sometimes I suspect him of sowing sedition among his stuffies.

What a wonderful theme. Congratulations on putting it together so well. Lots of options for me to follow here.

Just stopping by to update my lists of possibilities for next year based on the many books I'm definitely not going to get to this year.

Hi, and thanks Wolfy!

Good to see you again! I look forward to seeing what you'll read this year, especially your disaster books. I loves me a good disaster.

Hi Mstrust good to have you along! Feel free to drop some suggestions for disaster books - I'm a bit light on ideas at the moment.

I tend to collect books on shipwrecks, so I can recommend Desperate Journeys, Abandoned Souls, The Perfect Storm, Batavia's Graveyard (really unbelievable story) and A Night To Remember, which is a remarkable book because it was written about forty years after the Titanic sunk and the author interviewed so many of the survivors, so it's as close to being onboard as you can get.
Other disasters/ horrors: A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe, Alive and Miracle in the Andes (second book is written by one of the survivors) and Desperate Passage by Ethan Rarick about the Donner Party.

Oh, Alive! I remember when the movie came out and there was quite a lot of talk about it. My mum took one look at the back of the video and forbade me from watching it as it was much to horrible a subject and I'd probably have nightmares for weeks (I was about 9 and in her defense I did get nightmares easily). It took over 10 years before I actually watched the movie, which in my mind was the most terrifying movie of all times, and was quite underwhelmed by the horror content... ;)

Alana, I'm keen to read Batavia by Peter FitzSimons.

Alive is one of my favourite books of all time and to me it isn't a horrible subject at all. By eating the bodies of the dead the survivors were able to stay civilised i.e the strong didn't have to take from the weak to survive. Nando Parrado (one of the two who walked at of the Andes) is one of the great heroes of modern times and his book "Miracle in the Andes" is an excellent read especially if you have read "Alive" beforehand.

A good shipwreck story is Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World by Joan Cruet. Two separate crews were shipwreck on Auckland Island off New Zealand. There were separated by a mountain and were unaware of each others existence. One crew had good leadership and adequate supplies, the other group was far less fortunate. I am not sure how easy it is to find this book.

Well, the idea of cannibalism is pretty scary for a 10-ish-year-old.

Mstrust and Zozette - A great list of survival stories to try. You've both added to my wishlist! I'd forgotten about the movie Alive, but now remember watching the movie when it came out. I knew it was based on true events, but not that there were books too. I'll have to keep my eyes open for them (as well as Island of the Lost and Batavia's Graveyard.)

The movie handles it very well and tastefully. My son was 11 when he saw the movie and the actual scene of the plane crash scared him much more than the cannibalism did.

Oh, I've seen the movie and know what it's like - and that it's not scary. But I didn't know that back in the early 90's and neither did my mum - that's sort of my point (that and my mum being very over-protective and a complete worrywart).

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone!

Mstrust I read A Night To Remember earlier this year, and thought it was fantastic. I have a long-standing fascination with the story of the Titanic.

I remember seeing the movie Alive on TV when I was probably about 11 or 12, and found it an amazing survival story, I'll definitely look out for the books.

Zozette Island of the Lost looks good, and it has added intrigue because it happened in NZ. I have to admit I've never even heard of that shipwreck though.

Kerry, I'd be keen to give Batavia a try. The aspect of human nature in that story should be fascinating, and I've read some of FitzSimons' newspaper columns but didn't realise he'd written books. I'm curious to see what his style is like in this one.

I made a bit of my mistake when I said the book "Island of the Lost" might not be easy to get. It is available on Kindle and was in that format that I read it.

The one that was harder to get was Wake of the Invercauld: Shipwrecked in the sub-Antarctic: A great-granddaughter's pilgrimage by Madelene Allen. It deals with only one of the crews shipwrecked on the island (the least fortunate crew). When I last look for a second-hand copy of the book was around $60 but it seems that prices have now drop and I just ordered the cheapest one I found. I am not sure when I will get around to reading it.

A disaster book I would recommend is Dark Tide: the Great Molasses Flood of 1919 by Stephen Puleo.

A 50 foot steel tank filled with 2.3 million gallons of molasses collapse on the Boston waterfront. Many people might think that death by molasses is amusing but this book, which is very well research and written, shows just how horrible the event was. I wouldn't recommend the book to anyone who is easily upset.

Other disaster books I have read

The Circus Fire by Stewart O'Nan
The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough
The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin
Children of the Storm by Ariana Harner and Clark Secrest
Two Minutes to Noon by Noel F Busch (Great Tokyo Earthquake of 1923)
33 Men by Jonathan Franklin (about the Chilean Miners)
Bad Ground: Inside the Beaconsfield Mine Rescue by Tony Wright (Tasmanian mine collapse

The last two are probably better classified as survival stories rather than disaster - no deaths in the Chilean mine, one death in the Tasmanian collapse.

I have batavia's graveyard on the shelf, think I'll get to it in 2013 too...

I did read a book on the wreck of the Batavia many years ago. Not sure which book it was but could not have been "Batavia's Graveyard" as I read my book in the late 1980s or early 1990s before Graveyard was written. I think I will add Batavia's Graveyard to my wishlist though I doubt I will get to it next year.

I just received my copy of "Wake of the Invercauld" which I mentioned in #59.

It is a lovely book with colour photos of Auckland Island and its wildlife taken by the author. It also has 6 maps. while it only deals with castaways of the Invercauld in detail, there is some mention of the ordeal that the crew of the Grafton (the ship wrecked on the other side of the island) went through.

Happy new year everyone and best wishes for a wonderful 2013! I hope you all had an enjoyable new years eve. For me, I hit the town with my flatmate and bumped into one of her colleagues with his wife and brother, turns out they're bad influences and we walked back up the stairs to our house just in time to watch the sunrise :-) I'd also foolishly agreed to be at the SPCA shelter all day on the 1st, but in the end it wasn't such a bad day.

I'm currently working on finishing The Mists Of Avalon which is my last book for 2012, but I'm itching to make the move over here and get my 2013 reading underway. Might have to make a plan for tomorrow that involves nothing except my book :-) So far that hasn't really happened this holidays.

Happy New Year!

I have a hankering to add The Mists Of Avalon to my rereads category this year - I remember loving it, so it'll be interesting to see if I still do. I too thought that I would spend most of the holidays reading, but, alas, other things came in the way, as they do.

Alana - looking forward to keeping track of your progress this year. Love the graphics prefacing all your categories.

Hi Eva, I've got about 250 pages to go, and whether I love it or not I think will come down to the conclusion, so far I've found myself wanting either a little more action or a more ruthless editor ...

Hi Paul, good to have you along!

I read it in one of my King Arthur-periods so I may have been slightly less critical than I should have been... :)

I realised awhile back just how much historical fiction I could find myself reading this year but didn't want to add a 10th category, which I've just done anyway - History As Fiction. No more tinkering, it's time to be filling the categories.

My first book for the year was done a couple of days ago, Ansel Adams: In The National Parks which was gorgeous. This was a birthday present to myself - I decided I was going to buy a pretty book because I wouldn't normally. Review coming probably tomorrow.

Ansel Adams: In The National Parks Edited by Andrea Stillman
Non-Fiction / Photography

Category: Are You Cheating?
334 pages

In his lifetime Ansel Adams photographed 40 national parks and ‘made’ thousands of images, many of which have apparently become very well known and easily recognisable in the United States.

Ansel Adams: In The National Parks is a gorgeous book featuring some 225 of Adams’ shots, 50 of which are published for the first time. All images in the book are in Adams’ preferred black and white, and together create a portfolio of dramatic, majestic and captivating photography. Adams’ gift for capturing some element of his life-long passion and reverence for America’s wilderness areas is evident in each image presented in this book.

Along with the photographs there are quotes and excerpts from Adam’s letters, essays from those who know Adams’ work and a couple of commentaries on a group of related images all of which help illuminate Adams’ philosophy on both photography and the wilderness.

Personally I find I usually prefer black and white photography, I love the drama and contrast, the emphasis on texture and subtlety. These images deliver all of those elements and more.

The only two very minor grumbles I can come up with are the sequencing of images, it would have been interesting to see all the photos from Yellowstone together, same with the Yosemite images and those from the Sierra Nevada etc. And I would have liked to have seen 2 or 3 carefully selected images in colour for comparison, especially if the title indicated they were Autumn images, I’m sure the colours in those would have been beautiful.

Overall, wonderful book full of stunning images, and one that I can return to time and again.

^^^I love Ansel Adams' work. I really need to buy that book.

I too am a huge fan of Adams' work and I too prefer his B&W imagery, but there are a few of his color ones that are just breathtaking! I am surprised that they didn't sequence the images by park - do they have themes that they sort them after or is it by date taken? Or just arbitrary?

I third the love for Ansel Adam's work!

Definitely feeling the love for Adams' work!

Zozette I highly recommend you do indeed go and buy this book :-)

Eva the images aren't sorted by date or an obvious theme (definitely not a mountains / forest / sea kind of layout). I'm a newbie to Adams' work so if there is a logic to the sequence it's not obvious to me - nor was it explained in the intro. I was tossing up whether to buy In The National Parks or Ansel Adams: In Color, and there were a couple of stunning colour images I saw as I was flicking through In Color, but I just couldn't not get the black and whites.

Hi Lori!

How To Be A Woman by Caitlin Moran
Non-Fiction / Memoir / Feminism

Category: History As Fiction
309 pages

How To Be A Woman is part memoir and part discussion on the state of modern feminism. Moran uses milestones in her own life as jumping off points for her feminist discussion, ranging from topics such as clothes and shoes to porn, hair removal, weddings, abortion and motherhood.

Moran writes with wit and honesty, and plenty of humour. I have no knowledge of feminist theory, but I found I did agree with a lot of Moran’s arguments, and in a couple of places she had a way of putting into words things that I had unconsciously noticed but had never really considered.

I really enjoyed this book. The memoir aspect of the book may not have been anything out of the ordinary in regards to the events described, but Moran has a fun voice, and the feminist aspects I found interesting and relevant. The capitalisation of whole exclamations throughout the book, while in keeping with Moran’s exuberant personality, did wear a bit thin by the end. I had to admire a writer who can have me feeling a bit queasy after a description of a really horrible labour and birth, and then by the end of the next page I’m sniggering with laughter again.

How To Be A Woman is not an academic treatise on feminism, but it doesn’t need to be when it has insight, good common sense and humour to make an argument that is very accessible.

Great review of Ansel Adams: In the National Parks. I'll have to see if the library has it.

76. Glad to see you enjoyed How to Be a Woman - I absolutely lvoed it when I read it and have been recommending it to everyone.

I noticed that Moran reads the audioversion herself - I'll add that one to the wishlist.

Paws, one of my RL friends works in a great bookshop. She handed me How To Be A Woman, told me I MUST read it, I would love it and then waxed lyrical. She's recommended a bunch of books to me now that I've loved :-)

Eva, I'd love to hear part of that audio version! If her reading is half as enthusiastic as her writing that would be a pretty entertaining audio book to listen to!

Great review of How to be a Woman, I enjoyed it bet felt it was a bit to episodic for my taste. I do love following her on twitter though.

Claire I'm not on Twitter myself, but I can imagine that Moran would be fantastic to follow!

Hi Alana! Still in the process of reading up on threads and dropping stars. Really like your theme! I read a lot of Calvin and Hobbes as a kid, but in Swedish, so it was fun reconnecting with some old strips in their original language. I was actually somewhat amazed at how well I remember :)

Hi Anders, good to have you along again :-) Calvin and Hobbes are full of good memories, aren't they?

Last year felt like one big loooong reading funk, so I'm thankful I seem to snapped out of that for the new year. I finished The Interpretation Of Murder last night, and I'm very happy that it's my third straight 4+ star read. Review coming tomorrow probably, I need a little time to have a think, it was unlike any other mystery book that've read. Rubenfeld seems to be a bit a Renaissance Man and that definitely plays a big role in this book.

I'm very happy that it's my third straight 4+ star read.
Great way to start your year of reading!

The Interpretation Of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld
Mystery / Historical Fiction

Category: Tracer Bullet
431 pages

In 1909 Sigmund Freud makes his one and only visit to the United States. While in New York, he becomes involved in a police investigation after Elizabeth Riverford is found murdered, and Nora Acton survives a similar attack. After the attack in her own home, Nora suffers amnesia and becomes mute. Freud is asked to psychoanalyse her, but gives the job to his young follower Stratham Younger.

Rubenfeld is a man of many talents, a top US lawyer and Professor at Yale, he wrote on Freud during his undergraduate studies and has studied Shakespeare at Juilliard. All of these elements he weaves into one complex and highly readable novel, and he sounds convincing on each topic.

From the first pages, Rubenfeld sets the scene of 1909 New York and its upper society. He has the skill of imparting a lot of information, from the details of well known buildings to the mechanics of the caissons used in the construction of the Manhattan bridge (and the resulting danger to the workmen of The Bends), to high society and academic politics without it detracting from the story.

Freud’s theories play a central role in the investigation of the mystery, including his Oedipal theory. Of course I knew the general idea behind the Oedipal theory, but somehow seeing it used in something of a case study gave it greater impact and heightened the disgust.

The characters are well developed and the main character Younger is not all black and white. The setting is vivid and atmospheric, and the mix of the academic psychology with more traditional detection is unique in my reading experience and made this a page turner for me. The psychological aspect in particular seems to raise the question of how much of what we do is rooted in our unconscious, and how much is free will. Certainly there is one character who knows what they're doing is wrong, but I'm not sure it's so clear cut for some of the others.

My one criticism is that in one respect the ending is too predictable, but in another it's out of left field, with no real hints or foreshadowing throughout the story.

But overall, I loved the The Interpretation Of Muder. It’s one of the most original crime novels I’ve read with its combination of the central mystery, historical fiction and psychology with even a little analysis of Hamlet thrown in. I'll definitely track down a copy of the second in this series The Death Instinct.

Hi Lori, yes it definitely is! I'm only 50 pages into The Emperor Of All Maladies and it already feels to me like it's going to be a 5 star read. I wonder how long I can keep this streak up? :-)

I have heard great things about The Emperor of All Maladies so your reading streak will most likely continue.... at least until you finish that one! Adding The Interpretation of Murder to my reading list. I thought it was there already - that is just my kind of book! - but it is now.

Nice streak!! Fingers Xed it continues. I wonder what the record is in the group?

The interpretation of murder sounds like a good read so I'm adding it to my list. I've got The Emperor of all maladies on my tbr pile, will have to move it up a bit higher by the sounds of it.

Perhaps we should set up at "winning streak" thread? See who among us manages most 4+ stars reads in a row by the end of the year? :)

I have emperor of all maladies on my list for this year so glad to see its looking good for you

>86 SouthernKiwi: Wow, looks like I need to get that one. I'd heard of the book but didn't know the plot, so thanks for the great review!

The Interpretation of Murder sounds good.

Hi everyone, today is a regional holiday in Wellington and the weather hasn't been amazing so I slept in and am now ensconced on the couch with The Emperor and the Aussie Open on TV in the background. I'm a third of the way through Emperor Of All Maladies and already writing a rave review in my head, also getting through it faster than I would normally read non-fiction, so that's a good sign.

Lori, what to read next is the big question, but I'm getting a little ahead of myself thinking about that!

Thanks Eva!

Kerry, I'd definitely recommend pushing it higher up the TBR pile!

Anders I'd be curious! I wouldn't normally notice a good streak of reading, but the difference in my own reading from this year to last has made it pretty obvious so far.

Pete, your biological knowledge is better than mine, so you might see Emperor slightly differently to me, but so far I'm loving it - if I can say that about a book on such a topic.

Thanks Jennifer! I hope you like it.

Hailelib, I think what I enjoyed most was seeing a genre I'm reasonably familiar through quite a different lens.

Hi everyone, I haven't been spending much time online lately and now have a looong list of LT threads to catch up on. Between netball and touch rugby, my hours at the SPCA and work being hectic, RL has been busy. My flatmate and I also decided at the last minute to go to the Wellington 7s this weekend - for those who don't know this is an annual costume party for 30,000 - 35,000 people with some great 7s rugby thrown in. Had a great time but I'm looking forward to things slowing down a little in a couple of weeks!

In reading news, I've finished The Emperor Of All Maladies which was poignant, emotional, and fascinating. Definitely a 5 star read. I'm now moving on to A Memory Of Light, fantasy seems like an appropriate next read after Emperor. I'm going to be sad to get to the end of this one though, it's the 14th and final in an apic series. I have high expectations.

I hope everyone's had/having a lovely weekend :-)

Having lost both my parents to cancer I am not sure if I could bring myself to read The Emperor of All Maladies.

However I have added The Interpretation Of Murder to my extremely long wishlist.

Zozette, our family has had a few run ins with cancer too. Mum is currently being treated for her 3rd lot and my great aunt is terminally ill with bowel cancer. With the historical information I found I could keep an emotional distance - except the description of a radical mastectomy, which was just plain horrendous. The two chapters which focused on breast cancer and the development of Herceptin were the ones I could really relate to and that put a lump in my throat. For those with first hand experience of cancer it's not an easy book, but I am glad I read it. If nothing else, I'm grateful to know just how far the science and treatments have come.

I'm keen to read emperor of all maladies but will be in a few months. I lost my father to cancer a few years ago and was at the funeral of a friend last month (younger than me which is shocking) who was taken by cancer but I'm hoping to keep a bit of emotional distance when I read it...

I love that Wellington Sevens kicks off with a costume party!! It's Superbowl Sunday today (The final of the American Football season - a game of which I understand nothing!) here in the US and I might even get a little bit interested if there were costumes involved. :)

I don't know about costumes but did you catch that ad for Calvin Klein???? *blushing*

LOL! I'm going to have to go find it online. I ended up not turning on the telly at all yesterday.

ETA: That commercial was just creepy. :)

Pete, Mukherjee writes in a very factual way and is focused on the science. He's included only a handful of short patient examples, so it's maybe easier than it could have been to mostly keep that emotional distance.

Eva, the Seven's doesn't just kick off with a costume party, the whole event is a costume party ... two days of watching rugby at the stadium in costumes of all descriptions. Great fun.

Off to find the Calvin Klein ad - I'm assuming this was a superbowl ad?

Ha, and how many million did CK fork out for that?!

"the whole event is a costume party"

That's even better!! Well, whenever I get around to book a trip to NZ, I'll know which time of year to go - wouldn't want to miss that!!

The Emperor Of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Non Fiction / Science / Cancer

Category: The Horrendous Space Kablooie
470 pages

The Emperor Of All Maladies is a tour de force of science writing, but Mukherjee goes well beyond just writing the science of cancer. From 2625 BCE and what is thought to be the first description of a cancer case, to more than three millennia later and a mummified woman in the Atacama desert with a tumour, from radical mastectomy, radiation and chemotherapies to Herceptin he traces our growing understanding of cancer biology and the resulting treatments. But far more than that, cancer is placed in a wider societal context.

Several of my family members have battled different cancers with varying degrees of success, so there were three or four sections that were harder to read, but even so I found this a compulsively readable book and utterly fascinating. The writing is clear, in some places even poetic, and the biology explained very well - a skill Mukherjee has probably honed explaining this illness to his own patients.

Mukherjee mostly focuses dispassionately on the science but this is not dry non fiction. Emperor is enlivened with the personalities of the scientists and occasional activist, anecdotes from Mukherjee’s own patients provide the human side of this story and a strong emphasis on progress allows a feeling of hope and urgency to pervade throughout. But always, when writing of the people affected by cancer, Mukherjee writes with sensitivity and empathy.

The middle half of Emperor is very American-centric, and I’m not sure whether this was necessary to limit the scope of the book or whether this is just how cancer research played out in the 20th century – I suspect the later. At both the beginning and end of the book contributions from European scientists are readily included and acknowledged.

In the prologue, Mukherjee briefly outlines his motivation for writing this book, and in doing so he has demystified an illness that has taken up deep roots in our collective psyches. His conclusions are not hugely ambitious or dramatic, but I think reassuringly they are realistic and achievable. Cancer will not go away, some forms are curable and others are, or will be, manageable and a relatively normal life and life expectancy is feasible.

Within these pages is the elation that goes with discovery and the dejection of a false lead, passion for a cause, the luck and the flash of brilliance often needed in science to connect the dots, courage, arrogance, determination and the fight for survival. Other reviewers have written that The Emperor Of All Maladies is akin to a thriller or detective fiction, it is both. It is also a sweeping saga, compelling and completely engrossing.

Great review of Maladies, Alana! One of these days, I will get around to reading it, really I will!

Great review! I too will get around to it some day - intriguing topic, but I'll need some strength before starting.

Thumbed - great review, I will get to it this year for sure

Hi Lori, Eva and Pete - thanks for the comments and thumbs! I tip-toed around writing this review for most of my Sunday afternoon, then got frustrated with myself so just wrote it. I didn't think I'd done the book much justice, but I'm glad you guys seem to have gotten something from it :-)

I'm currently at page 521/909 with A Memory Of Light, and those first 500 pages have whizzed by. I'm hoping to get a good chunk of the rest of the book read over the weekend. Must get through a busy Friday first though.

A Memory Of Light by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson
Fantasy

Category: The Magic Carpet
909 pages

For over 20 years fans of Robert Jordan have immersed themselves in the world of his epic The Wheel Of Time series. Now we’ve reached The End.

The previous 13 books all prepare for and lead up to this finale - the Light’s armies versus the Dark One and his forces, and Rand's showdown with the Dark One himself. And make no mistakes, A Memory Of Light is all about these last battles, the strategies and of course, the outcome. The chapter dedicated to the final battle proper is 200 pages of this 900 page instalment.

And while heavy on the warfare, there are quiet moments between father and son, between friends and between lovers. As always, but particularly since his accidental marriage to Tuon, Matt adds a comic element. And there are moments of introspection and philosophising, particularly with Rand and Elayne and the roles leaders play during war, an element I think Sanderson has added to the characterisation. Those 900 pages fly by.

The only thing that was missing was more tension. There is plenty of danger and a lot at stake for the characters, yet this was one aspect that felt like it was told but not shown so well. The authors could perhaps have afforded to be a little more ruthless in the outcomes for some characters – just to keep readers guessing a little more.

All of the many complex threads of the plot are tied up, and we know what befalls many of the more important minor characters as well. The overall outcome was predictable, but Jordan and Sanderson still had a surprise or two up their sleeves for us. This is a completely satisfying final book for what is a tour de force of fantasy writing. Having read page 909, it feels like I'm saying goodbye to an old friend.

Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian
Historical Fiction / Children’s Fiction

Category: Governing With Dictatorial Impunity
429 pages

When the Luftwaffe bombs start to become a threat in London, children are evacuated to the English countryside. Among those children sent away from home for their safety is William Beech, who ends up billeted with solitary widower, Tom Oakley.

William has come from an abusive home, and has learnt to be a quiet, unobtrusive boy in order to avoid his mother’s belt. Tom’s solid common sense, gruff kindness and quiet understanding are exactly what Will needs to help build his confidence and realise what a normal childhood should be. The local children and villagers become friends, and for the first time Will becomes part of a community. Meanwhile Tom relearns what it is to have energy and life return to his cottage, something he’d lost after the death of his wife and newborn son years earlier.

This is ultimately a heart warming read, but it has an underlying darkness. Will’s unstable mother and the abuse he suffers at her hands are briefly highlighted in sparse detail, but the psychological effects in particular are at the core of this story.

While this is historical fiction, the historic details are not the focus for Magorian, but they have been skillfully inserted into the story and help to create an understated sense of place and atmosphere.

Goodnight Mister Tom is insightful and moving, where the bond forged between boy and man allows both to start living life again.

Hi Alana, stopping by for a visit. I see that your great reading trend continues!

Goodnight Mister Tom seems to be a book that I might be interested in. I might try to fit it later this year.

Glad you enjoyed the final Wheel of Time book. I've not read your comments on it as I haven't read the preceding volume in the series yet and didn't want to pick up any hints of what might happen there.

Hi Lori, yes it has! I've got a feeling it might come back normal after the next couple of books I've got lined up, but we can't expect 4+ star reads for the whole year can we?!

Zozette, I had Goodnight Mister Tom read to me either late in primary school or at intermediate school and it made a lasting impression - when I saw it in the bookshop more than a decade later I snatched it up. I'd somehow forgotten the abuse aspect, but I'd rememebered the main details otherwise. It really is a sweet book, and both older kids and adults would get something out of it.

Wolfy I hope you enjoy the last couple of Wheel Of Time installments. They're so complex, I'd love to go back and read them all again over 12-18 months, but I'm not sure if I will. They're such a commitment and there are so many other books out there ...

>112 SouthernKiwi: Our teacher read Goodnight Mister Tom to us in the fourth grade. He would start to cry on more or less every occasion, in a way that felt way too private. I still feel sort of awkward just thinking about this book.

Anders that does sound like a very awkward experience. Goodnight Mister Tom is moving, but not that moving unless perhap you can relate strongly to the story.

Can't believe it's been 3 weeks since I posted here! Life has been a bit busy lately, with work, birthdays, sports events and random outings so I haven't been able to read quite as much as I'd like, although I'm now 3 reviews behind. Doesn't help that I've had no review-writing mojo the last 2 or 3 times I've sat down to try and write one. Time to remedy that.

Down Under by Bill Bryson
Non Fiction / Travel

Category: From Now On I'm Playing Bus
422 pages

In Down Under Bill Bryson takes on Australia as well as all those many and varied creatures that might just have it in for him and cause either a fast or slow, but either way painful death. Over the course of two separate trips to Australia Bryson falls in love with this vast and harsh country and the people which inhabit it.

I enjoyed Down Under more than Neither Here, Nor There, perhaps because Down Under only deals with one country. The more homogenous culture allowed Bryson to write in more depth and offer more insight. Bryson’s fantastic ability to discover through his research the most curious and oddball facts is always on show, and adds a lot of interest while educating his readers with obscure facts. He also has a great perspective that emphasises inane habits or the complete wrongness of a particular situation or event.

Travelling by train, plane, car, and 4WD, and down highways, back roads and outback tracks, Bryson manages to convey a sense of just how vast a continent this is.

Bryson also touches on the both the historical and modern plight of the Aboriginal people, and their seeming invisibility in their own land. The chapter which dealt with The Stolen Generation was quite emotional, and although not detailed, we do get a good insight into what is a seriously complex issue.

Before reading the first page I had a look at the maps at the front of the book. Almost immediately I was fascinated by a place called The Bungle Bungles. What an awesome name for a place, and what on earth is the story behind it?! This was my one disappointment with Down Under - The Bungle Bungles wasn’t mentioned until page 419 of 422, and only then in passing, with no explanation of the name or history given.

This is a fun, fast read with lots of Bryson’s trademark wit.

I tried Neither Here nor There but just got annoyed at his dismissive tone about European things he just didn't understand, so I gave up on it. Maybe I'll be less grouchy if I try reading him about a place I've only holidayed in?

Soulless by Gail Carriger
Urban Fantasy / Steampunk / Paranormal Romance

Category: Are You Cheating?
357 pages

Miss Alexia Tarabotti is enduring yet another tedious ball when she takes refuge in the library to order a cup of tea. But her peace is broken when she encounters a rather rude vampire whom she then accidently kills. Lord Conall Maccon, the alpha of the local werewolf pack, is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate. As the investigation gets under way two things become clear: that loner werewolves and rove vampires are disappearing and immature, unregistered vampires are mysteriously appearing, and that sparks will fly between Alexia and Conall.

Given this book revolves around werewolves and vampires, typically two of my reading no-go areas, I was reluctant to take this book off my shelf. A conversation over on Christina_reads’ thread convinced me to give it a go, and I’m very glad I did.

I found Soulless a really fun romp through Victorian England. The book is written in a convincingly ‘Victorian’ tone, with strong period aspects. The fantasy world building was cleverly done, incorporating pack and hive dynamics and a world where werewolves, vampires and ordinary people live harmoniously. The characterisation was great – a strong willed, intelligent and unconventional leading lady paired with a testy but sexy Scottsman/werewolf and a cast of minor characters all equally well written with their own distinct personalities. And there are some fantastic, very English type names – Hisselpenny, Loontwill and Blingchester come to mind …

This was my first steampunk book, and given some of the comments I’ve seen it seems to be reasonably common for authors to use info dumps to describe the workings of various technologies. Not so here, any particular steampunk technology is just simply part of the story, which was nice as this is the kind of story where detailed explanations would have detracted from the overall tone and fast-paced plot.

While I enjoyed the romance aspect of the story, the change from opposites annoying each other to opposites attracting was a bit abrupt, and while we are told that Alexia and Conall have meet several times before the beginning of the story, not being shown this feels like the reader may be missing out on some details.

Soulless doesn’t take itself too seriously with Carriger seeming to poke gentle fun at some of the genre tropes she uses. As an author she has added great humour to the story that in places borders on mischievous.

This is a thoroughly engaging first book, I lasted a whole two days before placing an order for Changeless and Blameless, the next two in the series.

Hah. Glad you enjoyed Soulless. I think the next two are even better.

> 106

That sounds like a very fascinating book. I have "science" as one of my 13 in 13 categories - maybe that would be a good book to start with.

In what forms - or by what images and symbols - does Mukhergee suggest cancer has taken root in our psyches?

"I lasted a whole two days before placeing an order"
Such will-power! :)

@ 122 -- Glad you liked Soulless (and that my thread didn't lead you astray)!

Hi All, real life has once again kept me away from LT. I was meant to be heading south to my parents for a week at Easter, but had to go down a week earlier. My Mum was battling cancer but took a sudden turn for the worse, so I got home (but not before a diverted flight) in time to spend a couple of days with her before she passed away. I'm really only getting back into my routine this week.
I've only been back at work for a week, but days like today makes things easier. It was announced today that the University I work for is the best research university in New Zealand, which was a bit of a coup and rather unexpected. Our office is home to the 2 admins who collated everything over an intense year for the process so our offices were a great place to be after midday. The edible bouquet below was also delivered to my desk this morning from a grateful student. Chocolate in flowers - can't possibly go wrong!
Reading lately has been mostly easy reads and stuff I don't need to put a lot of energy into. I'm 6, almost 7, reviews behind now so between review writing and threads I've got plenty to catch up on.



Majkia, I've already read Changeless and the cliffhanger was too hard to ignore so I dived straight into Blameless, which I'm currently halfway through.

Lilbrattyteen Emperor is fascinating. Already I know it will definitely be one of my best reads this year. The statement about cancer taking root in our psyches was mine, but Mukhergee does reference a book called Illness as Metaphor by Susan Sontag in more than one place. It may be of interest to you?

Hi Eva, since when does any LTer have will power when it comes to books?! ;-)

Christina, I wasn't led astray at all. You've managed to add another series to TBR pile instead.

1ST QUARTER ROUND-UP

Books read: 12/50
Pages Read: 5,299

Best Read(s):
The Emperor Of All Maladies
Ansel Adams: In The National Parks
The Interpretation Of Murder

Most Disappointing:
The Black Moth

1. The Happy Municipality ... .../4
2. History As Fiction 1/4
How To Be A Woman
3. Tracer Bullet 3/4
The Interpretation Of Murder
Faithful Place
The Lost Boy
4. The Magic Carpet 2/4
A Memory Of Light
A Great And Terrible Beauty
5. Mmmmm Pop! 1/4
The Black Moth
6. Governing With Dictatorial Impunity 1/4
Goodnight Mister Tom
7. The Threat Of The Librarian .../4
8. The Horrendous Space Kablooie 1/4
The Emperor Of All Maladies
9. From Now On I'm Playing Bus 1/4
Down Under
10. Are You Cheating? 2/4
Ansel Adams: In The National Parks
Soulless

I'm sorry to hear of your loss. I'm glad you were able to be with your mother before she passed.

sorry to hear about your mum, at leat you could spend some time with her at the end

Sorry to hear about your Mum.

Sorry for your loss.

My sympathies on your loss.

I'm so sorry for you and your family.

Alana, I'm very sorry to hear about your loss.

Oh no, so sorry to hear about your mum - I am glad you got to be there with her, though. Sending as many hugs as I can. :(

I am sorry for your loss.

Alana, I'm very sorry to hear about your mom.

So sorry, and so glad you got to see her before she went. That's important.

Alana, sorry to learn about your loss.

My condolences about your mother and congratulations about the announcement.

Thanks everyone for the messages. And yes, I was very relieved and grateful I got to have those last few days with her.

I'm having a lazy Sunday, so will be attempting to churn out a few reviews. First up, Faithful Place.

Faithful Place by Tana French
Crime Fiction / Psychological Mystery

Category: Tracer Bullet
434 pages

When a battered suitcase is discovered in the derelict Number 16, Faithful Place, the investigation into the disappearance of Rosie Daly 20 years before suddenly has a new lead. Dublin detective Frank Mackey was Rosie’s boyfriend back then, and as the case is reopened demons from his family’s past arise once more.

Gritty and bleak, the crime story in Faithful Place serves as the back story to drive the character development. Dysfunctional families, domestic abuse, poverty, and alcohol abuse are all themes, but so is the power of the family unit and forgiveness. Frank has kept his distance from most of his family for years, but as more light is shed on the events around Rosie’s disappearance can the Mackey family finally begin to understand each other, or will they shatter once more?

French takes her readers straight into the minds of her complex characters. They have their flaws and redeeming qualities, nothing is black and white but they are all understandable and very human. French also does a great job of transporting us to Dublin using distinctly Irish dialogue to help create a wonderful sense of atmosphere.

I really enjoyed the scenes with Holly, these added another layer to the family dynamics in the story and added some sweetness and light to what is overall, a fairly dark story. Although I did find her involvement in the implication of a person of interest a bit hard to believe – even for a smart kid she is still only meant to be about 8. A bit more clarity on Kevin and Shay's meeting in Number 16 would also have been good. I was slightly surprised by the final direction taken in Frank and Olivia's relationship, but in a good way.

Faithful Place is a captivating exploration of the psychological impact your upbringing and family can have and how, with no hindsight needed, you just know at the time of occurrence some events will reverberate throughout your life.

My mum is 6,000 miles away from me, so it's a constant nightmare that something should happen to her and I won't be able to get there in time - so happy you made it! Lazy Sundays are very nice - I'm planning on having one tomorrow (Sunday is about 4 hours away here). :) Faithful Place is my favorite Tana French so far - Frank is just such a fantastic character.

Eva, that's a new concern I have with Dad now he's by himself and it's an issue for my brother who lives in Australia. But for me, one of the blessings of living in such a small country is that it's pretty doable to get to most places in just a few hours. And I'll definitely be reading more Tana French in the future :-)

The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer
Historical Fiction / Regency Romance

Category: Mmmmm Pop!
308 pages

Jack Carstares, the disgraced Earl of Wyncham, left England seven long years ago, sacrificing his honour for that of his brother when he was accused of cheating at cards. Now Jack is back, roaming his beloved South Country in the disguise of a highwayman. Not long after his return, he encounters his old adversary, the libertine Duke of Andover, just in time to dispute at the point of his sword the attempted abduction of a society beauty. But foiled once, the ‘Black Moth’ has no intention of failing again … Elsewhere, Jack’s younger brother Richard has reluctantly taken up the role as head of the house in Jack’s absence, and must endure daily snits and whinging from the love of his life, Lady Lavinia.

Written when she was just 15, The Black Moth is no doubt a great achievement, but it is Heyer’s first book and it shows.

The italics above is the blurb given on the book, and I felt mislead. Two-thirds of the plot actually revolved around Richard and Lavinia, both of whom are incredibly annoying and not characters I enjoyed spending time with. Richard is a spineless sap while Lavinia is incredibly self-centred and silly. We meet Jack in the prologue, and then he completely disappears for almost 100 pages. If he was a much larger part of the story and his character developed further I probably would’ve enjoyed him at least.

The Black Moth has issues with pacing. The focus on Richard and Lavinia involved no action and was not only boring but worse, often irritating. There was a lot of Telling and almost no Showing regarding their relationship and I have no real idea of why Richard was so besotted with her. We’re also left to decide for ourselves what Jack and Diana (the society beauty) see in each other – although that doesn’t require a lot of analysis. Diana does show moments of the spark Heyer’s leading ladies are known for, but it’s not enough. Heyer’s trademark wit was clearly still in development and there is little of it here.

The whole premise of the story seems weak. Too much is made of the accusation against Jack, and therefore Jack’s position in society is resolved with ease when he does reappear. While this is clearly the point of that plot line, it all comes across as a bit too tidy for my liking. And after the final confrontation between Jack, Diana and the Duke, I found the Duke’s reaction rather odd and was left a bit bemused.

Overall, The Black Moth just didn’t work for me on almost every level.

A Great And Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
Historical Fantasy / Young Adult

Category: The Magic Carpet
403 pages

16 year old Gemma Doyle has grown up in Bombay and is desperate to experience English society. One day, while visiting the markets, Gemma’s mother is killed in mysterious circumstances. Gemma gets her wish and is sent to Spence, a girl’s boarding school in England. Having grown up in India, Gemma initially struggles to fit in with the other young ladies, a situation not helped by the visions she has started to experience. Despite the warnings of Kartik, a young man sent to shadow her, Gemma starts to learn what she can of the visions and the other world they open up.

While I found A Great And Terrible Beauty an easy and mildly interesting read, unfortunately that’s about as effusive as I can be. Set in 1895, the historical scene is well set but I don’t think the characters are in keeping with this time period. If someone needed to be put in their place, well bred ladies would do it with a cold shoulder or chilly and exacting politeness. Felicity and Pippa however, are downright nasty and cruel and reflect a more modern high school clique attitude. Gemma initially is disgusted by them but as the story goes on she becomes part of their group which seems like tacit acceptance of their behaviour. I initially liked that Gemma stood up for what she believed as a character, but was disappointed by her new friendships as the story developed.

I not sure how much influence the romance aspect will have in this series, but what occurs in this book between Gemma and Kartik is superficial and one dimensional, it seems like a bit of an after thought.

While A Great And Terrible Beauty is the first of a trilogy, the world building around the fantasy elements was weak and after finishing the book I know very little about how the magic system works. I can only assume that as the plot develops Gemma, and therefore the readers, will learn more in the upcoming books. There were also issues with the pacing of the book, it takes too long for any real information to be given about the other world and the conflicts going on there, then all of sudden Gemma is thrown into a fight of apparent significance then it’s all over. I was left feeling like I didn't really know what had just happened, and certainly not what it all meant.

This is young adult fiction, and as such I imagine A Great And Terrible Beauty would be a good read for its target age group but ultimately there wasn’t enough depth in either the characters or the plot, and far too many questions not addressed to really engage me. I doubt if I will continue with this series.

I have only read a couple of Georgette Heyer books and I am pretty sure The Black Moth isn't one of them. I am still impressed she wrote her first novel at 15 years of age but can see why it might not be as great as her later works.

Some great reviews here, Alana. I loved Faithful Place for all the reasons you listed in your review. I can't wait to get my hands on her next book.

I know I have read the Black Moth and remember being impressed that she wrote it at 15, but I have no actual memory of the story, which tells me that it was not up to her usual standard. Luckily she developed a lot from her less than stellar start.

I had the same feelings about A Great and Terrible Beauty when I read it and did not continue on with the series.

I hope your next book will make up for the last two. I read Bray's book several years ago and fortunately it didn't stop me from reading two of her more recent ones (Beauty Queens and The Diviners), both of which I loved. I will definitely stay away from the Heyer book.

A Great And Terrible Beauty keeps being recommended to me, but it sounds like I've been right about passing on it - there are many other YAs out there that appeal to adults too without any excuses.

Alana, sorry to hear about your loss.

I managed to get through the first two Gemma Doyle books when I was on holiday a few years back. Quite different but too many words, I ended up starting and not finishing the third book though still feel I should read it just to tie up loose ends. Her latest book is getting good reviews.

Hi Lori and Judy, so far with Heyer's books I've taken what I could get my hands on, which have mostly been her lesser known books, but I think I need to make more of an effort to get copies of her more famous books.

Mamzel, the next book was much better, review below :-) Given your comments, and Kerry's, I may look at another of Bray's books in future before writing her off completely.

Eva, so many other better books out there and so little time! I don't think you'll be missing much by skipping over this series.

Kerry, thank you and I hope you had an amazing holiday - I'll make my way over to your thread eventually to check out how it all went. Maybe I'll give one of Bray's more recent books a go sometime, the Gemma Doyle series was her first so I guess she'll have developed as a writer since.

Mr Rosenblum Dreams In English by Natasha Solomons
Historical Fiction

Category: Mmmmm Pop!
355 pages

Jewish couple Sadie and Jack Rosenblum, along with their daughter Elizabeth, manage to obtain 3 permits to travel to England and escape Hitler’s Germany. Sadie’s parents and brother are not so fortunate and become victims of the Nazi regime. On arrival in England they are given a pamphlet While You Are In England: Helpful Information And Friendly Guidance For Every Refugee which Jack takes to heart and his greatest desire becomes gaining acceptance as an English Gentleman. The pamphlet includes a list of things that an English gentleman aspires to, but based on his own observations, Jack is soon adding to it and ticking them off one by one. But gaining membership to a golf club proves elusive, so he decides to build his own golf course.

The great thing about Mr Rosenblum Dreams In English is that through Sadie and Jack’s relationship some fairly sad and difficult themes are subtly and gently explored, but with a dash of humour, eccentricity and whimsy to keep the balance. As immigrants, Sadie holds tight to her memories and traditions from home, where Jack dives straight into his adopted society in a bid to integrate and find acceptance but at the expense of his Jewish heritage. For Sadie there's comfort in her memories, but for Jack there's safety in belonging and being inconspicuous. It is Elizabeth in the end, who knows more of England than her homeland, who appears best able to walk the line between her past and present.

I have mixed feelings about Jack and Sadie as characters, both are understandable in their wish to either conform or preserve, but for much of the book (while they are in the country with few networks or support systems) this causes a disconnect in their relationship where they share a house but are living very separate lives. This absolutely works for exposing the themes, but somehow for me it made it harder to really engage with the characters. I also found myself becoming slightly annoyed on a few occasions with Jack, to me he came across as a bit self centred in a way that Sadie did not.

There was a period in the book where I found the going a bit tough – there are only so many molehills a man can dig while still maintaining a reader’s interest! But the plot picks up again and the ending is heart warming with Jack finally seeming to find his place while learning the value of retaining some traditions.

For me, the enjoyment of Mr Rosenblum Dreams In English was in the themes and the mild eccentricities. It’s a slow burning book which I was going to give 3.5 stars, but after having time to reflect I think I enjoyed it more, or at least can appreciate it more, than I first thought.

I liked Mr Rosenblum's List much more than her other book, The Novel in the Viola.
I've just managed to download the audio of The Diviners from the library this afternoon.

> 151 - Great review, Alana!

Kerry, Mr Rosenblum is the only book of Solomons I've read. I may look at The Novel in the Viola but I think I need to be in the right mood first. I'll be interested to see your review of The Diviners when you've finished it.

Thanks Lori :-)

I was hoping to at least get a review for The Lost Boy written today, and maybe Changeless too, but for various reason but mostly because I've been lazy it hasn't happened. My day at the SPCA yesterday was one of the busiest I've had for awhile training newbies amongst the adoptions, so apart from a few unavoidable chores today has been a kick back, and put my feet up kind of day.

The Lost Boy by Camilla Lackberg
Crime Fiction

Category: Tracer Bullet
493 pages

Mats Sverin is a mystery. When he turns up murdered, Detective Patrik Hedstrom struggles to find the leads he needs - Mats was liked by his colleagues, and yet outside of work no one knows a thing about him. Mats’ high school sweetheart Nathalie has just returned to her family’s remote island Graskar, in the fjords off Fjallbacka, with her young son. She might be just the person to help break the case open for Patrik but Nathalie is hiding secrets of her own.

This is the first book by Camilla Lackberg that I’ve read, but it's number 7 in the Erica Falck/Patrik Hedstrom series.

Patrik and Erica are strong leading characters, and family man Patrik makes a nice change from the stereotypical dysfunctional detective found in much of the crime fiction genre. Set in the small coastal town of Fjallbacka, Lackberg has created a strong cast of secondary characters each with their own back stories to flesh out this community.

I thought the pacing of the investigation was perhaps a little unbalanced. Nobody knows anything about Mats, so for much of the book we learn about all the dead ends Patrik runs into, with the mystery being solved relatively quickly in the end. As a reader I well aware for most of the book that something was wrong that there would be a twist at the end. I was slowly starting to understand what it would be although I didn’t have it all worked out before it was revealed, so instead of a suspensful ending it was more a quiet moment of comprehension.

There is a secondary, historic plot that runs parallel to the main story. I’m not to sure what the point of this was, but it provides an interesting look at the hard and isolated life lighthouse keepers would have had, and provides another dimension to the story.

The Lost Boy was an entertaining read, and I’ll be following it up by going back and starting at the start of this series.

I plan to a Female Mystery Writer catagory next year and Camilla Lackberg will probably be included (though I will probably start at the beginning of the series).

Zozette, I didn't realise this was part of a series until after I bought the book. The plot stands reasonably well by itself, but it's clear that there's been plenty of character development in the earlier books so this would be a series best read in order.

Changeless by Gail Carriger
Urban Fantasy / Steampunk / Paranormal Romance

Category: Are You Cheating?
374 pages

Changeless is the second outing for Alexia Maccon in the Parasol Protectorate series. Alexia is woken by her husband’s yelling, and then he promptly disappears. A ‘plague’ of humanisation is sweeping the country – ghosts are exorcised and the werewolves and vampires are no longer immortal. Conall’s investigation takes him to Scotland, but when Alexia realises the plague is also moving in the same direction she sets off in pursuit - after dealing with the regiment camped on her front lawn.

This was a good, fun follow up to Carriger's debut and sees the return of her particular brand of wit and snappy dialogue. All of the characters from Soulless are back, with a few new additions as well. Although Alexia has grown into her role as pack mistress and her and Conall remain a fun couple, the character development in this instalment is limited. Ivy in particular, is still utterly foolish, and after two books this is starting to grate slightly.

The mystery aspect of the story is used well to continue to develop the history and mythology of the supernatural inhabitants of Carriger’s London, although the overall explanation of what caused the soulless plague is perhaps a bit weak. Carriger has also continued with her world building in this installment. The major elements of Alexia and Conall's world were laid out in Soulless, but here we get more details of the different technologies in existence.

Luckily I’m a late comer to this series and I had Blameless waiting on my shelf – the cliff hanger ending had me diving straight into Book the Third.

I've only read the first of the Läckberg-series, but a large part dealt with the characters' personal lives, so I'm thinking the series is one that should be read in order. I did like Patrik and Erica quite a bit, so I'm looking forward to continuing.

Blameless by Gail Carriger
Urban Fantasy / Steampunk / Paranormal Romance

Category: Are You Cheating?
355 pages

Having been forced to leave Woolsey Castle and move back in with her tiresome family, Lady Alexia Maccon is this season’s great scandal. Lord Akeldama, the only person who might’ve been able to explain the situation Alexia finds herself in, has suddenly disappeared and it soon becomes clear that without Lord Conall Maccon‘s protection the vampires are very keen to take advantage and see Alexia dead. With limited options, Alexia decides to visit Italy to search out the Templars. With their history and resources perhaps they have the answers she needs.

Blameless, the 3rd in the Parasol Protectorate series, continues to expand on the world building of its predecessors. This time we learn more of the wider world outside of England and the role and treatment of preternaturals in other societies. And through Alexia's ‘situation’ we also begin to learn more of the different preternatural beings.

There seemed to be little character development in this instalment, although we do see the return of some recently introduced minor characters like Madame Lefoux. There is a tantalising hint that there may be more to Ivy than what we’ve previously been shown, but if this is the case it raises a question of how credible a character she is after her ridiculous reaction to a near miss incident on a dirigible in Changeless.

One of the great successes of Soulless was the banter between Alexia and Conall, and books 2 and 3 haven’t quite lived up to the first simply because the plot lines have meant there hasn’t been anywhere near as much interaction between these two.

Despite these things, Blameless is still a fun and witty read, and Carriger has a very definite writing style which is enjoyable to read.

Fun and witty works for me! The Parasol Protectorate series continues to languish on my future reading list. Some day I will settle in and start reading this series.

Hi Eva :-)

Hi Lori, it's a good series to have on hand for when you need something a bit lighter to read

Survivors: The Animals And Plants Time Has Left Behind by Richard Fortey
Non Fiction / Science / Natural History / Evolution

Category: The Horrendous Space Kablooie
306 pages

In Survivors Fortey takes us on a tour on some of the oldest inhabitants of the biological world. Across each of the biological kingdoms, Fortey profiles various species whose direct evolutionary lines are some the earliest branches on the Tree of Life.

Survivors is an interesting take on the story of evolution – normally evolution is associated with change and adaption, but here Fortey focuses on species that appear to have changed little in millions, if not billions, of years.

While the premise of this book is definitely interesting, my attention started to wander somewhere just short of half way (there’s only so much I want to know about single cell organisms), and wasn’t captured again until the last few chapters which dealt with animals.

There was some interesting discussion about which biological or physiological adaptations have been so successful as to allow these species to remain relatively unchanged in their niches, but I think I was hoping for a little more of this kind of analysis.

Fortey’s writing is engaging, and his enthusiasm for his topic pops off the page. However, the use of the Latin genus/species names sometimes made it hard in to understand the continuity of information – switching between the scientific and common names made it harder to recognise which species was being discussed, particularly if a species was reintroduced into the narrative after its initial mention.

The only other quibble I had was with some of the images used. When describing specific anatomical features I would have found a simple diagram more useful and clearer than some of the photo’s that were included.

But overall this is a fascinating look at just what it takes to survive from the deepest reaches of time through to the modern day. In conclusion Fortey details the numourous catastrophic extinction events these organisms, plants and animals have survived over the millennia, and it’s sad to think that simply sharing a planet with Homo sapiens has already meant the death of any number of species, and will be the undoing of many of more.

Hurrah, finally caught up on reviews :-)

Lady Be Good by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Fiction / Romance

Category: Mmmmm Pop!
372 pages

Lady Emma Wells-Finch, headmistress of St. Gertrude’s School for Girls, is being blackmailed into marrying the insufferable Duke of Beddington, the school’s benefactor. At stake are Emma’s job and the school’s future. Arriving in Texas on a working holiday, headstrong Emma is determined to cause just enough of a scandal to force the Duke to end their ‘engagement’.

Misunderstood playboy pro golfer Kenny Traveller has caused a scandal of his own, and been suspended from the PGA as a result. His only hope of being reinstated to the tour in time to play at the Masters is to chauffeur Emma around while she's in Texas, avoiding any more trouble …

This is the kind of story Susan Elizabeth Phillips is known for - fun, contemporary romance with sparkling dialogue and a character driven narrative.

Emma and Kenny are complete opposites, but as they say, opposites attract and watching the conflicts and antics of these two is great entertainment and there is some laugh out loud moments throughout. There’s also a cute secondary romance and some family issues that need to be resolved to add some depth.

If you’re looking for a light romance that’s all about the characters and their relationships, Susan Elizabeth Phillips is sure to entertain.

Real life has left me with no review writing time lately but I'm still reading, of course, and have finished Daughter of Fortune (average), Rebecca (fantastic) and An Extraordinary Land (disappointing but pretty), reviews to come eventually.

Earlier this year I saw the trailer for the Great Gatsby movie and decided I wanted to see it. Then I decided I should read it as well, so I got the book and it's next up. Now I know that Baz Lurhman is producing the movie and I can't wait to see Gatsby - his movies are always so gorgeous to watch.

Looks like you enjoyed Rebecca more than I did, Alana. ;-) I have Daughter of Fortune, but with my current stack of reading, I think it can sit on the bookcase for a while before I get around to reading it.

I am also looking forward to watching the Great Gatsby movie, I am such a huge fan of the clothes for that time period!

Hmm I have The Hidden Landscape: A Journey into the Geological Past by Fortey to read.. I will set my expectations accordingly.

The Great Gatsby is one of my least favorite novels of all time, but you're definitely right about Lurhman, so I'll probably watch the movie anyways, just for the pretty. :)

>168 -Eva-: What!!! I'm becoming light-headed...

->169 mstrust:
LOL! Yep, that one and Madame Bovary. I won't even say I'll give it another try, because I know I won't. :)

Hi Lori, Claire, Eva and Jennifer - thanks for stopping by even when I haven't been so active on here lately.

Claire, I think I'll give Fortey another go Survivors is not a bad book, just a little too much detail on the things I wasn't so interested in.

Sorry Jennifer, I think I side more with Eva on Gatsby ....

The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
Fiction / American Classic

Category: Are You Cheating?
115 pages

Jay Gatsby is famous around New York for his extravagant house parties, but no one knows anything about him. Living next door, Nick is drawn into Gatsby's circle and eventually learns that for the last 5 years Gatsby has dedicated himself to winning back his old flame Daisy Buchanan. But is it possible to relive the past?

I finally decided to read Gatsby because of the movie trailor, and I didn't actually know anything about the book. I was expecting a decadent, perhaps slightly over-the-top story to match the trailor, when in fact Gatsby is simply written with a straighforward plot. For a book that's only 115 pages it took too long for the plot to be revealed although, once I realised what the plot was, I liked the simplicity of it and how the big themes were revealed in a quiet, subtle way.

For most of the book the characters are enigmas - especially Gatsby, and while I was intrigued enough to want to know who they really were there wasn't quite enough depth in their characterisations in the end and I didn't really engage with any of them. Daisy in particular, actively annoyed me. I can understand a girl being torn between two men, but she was too easily led by both men and never actually made any decision on her future. Rather than seeming confused or torn, she struck me as weak willed and a bit cowardly.

I was also expecting a decadent 1920's atmosphere throughout the book, and while this is definitely there it's not as evocative as I'd hoped it would be, somehow the lavish lifestyle seemed understated.

Overall an enjoyable read, but not one that's destined for my favourites list.

I have been thinking about reading The Great Gatsby before going to see the movie but I think I will be lazy and just see the movie. ;-)

& I'm thinking about rereading The Great Gatsby before seeing the movie. I read it, and can't even remember that Gatsby was after Daisy. I think when I read it, I decided that Gatsby and Daisy was just an aside. Could I have? I think I agree with you that Daisy didn't really make a decision.

Lori, if you enjoy the movie you could always go back to the book. Or not :-)

An Extraordinary Land: Discoveries And Mysteries From Wild New Zealand by Peter Hayden, photography by Rod Morris
Non-Fiction / Natural History / Evolution

Category: The Horrendous Space Kablooie
197 pages

I had high expectations for this book after seeing the publishers description which in part reads “… isolation has been a huge advantage. It has turned New Zealand into a wild laboratory where evolution could conduct experiments that led to weird and wonderful outcomes. Our uniqueness has also made us a magnet for scientists from around the world; yet many locals have no idea what’s so special about our environment.” I had thought this would be a book that presents the hard science in an accessible way.

An Extraordinary Land is certainly accessible. But disappointingly very little of the actual science is offered in this book, instead it’s more of a small coffee table book with facts and background information woven into a fairly conversational writing style.

While endemic NZ species are the focus, and all the best known species are covered as well as a few of the lesser known ones, some of the most influential conservationists like Don Merton are also featured as are major conservation projects such as the feat of ridding Campbell Island of pests. For a book that places its emphasis on the uniqueness of our animals, there is no comparison of our species with their closest cousins found elsewhere around the world, and while there is some discussion regarding the circumstances that resulted in some of the more unexpected adaptations the analysis is an introduction only.

There is plenty of interesting information is this book, some of it I would have thought was reasonably common knowledge, but newer developments are also reported. There is a fascinating section on an archaeological dig at St Bathans, Central Otago, offering a unique view on New Zealand’s natural history. I grew up a 30 minute drive from St Bathans and never knew this dig existed, let alone that it had been ongoing for a decade.

The highlight of this book was Morris’ photography. There’s the almost obligatory close up of giant weta (yuck!) plus plenty of other stunning images that compliment the writing - although on a number of occasions there is repetition between the main text and the photo captions.

Overall this is a great introduction to the unique animals of New Zealand, but I was hoping for much more scientific content.

Hi Katie, I think there's maybe something in saying Jay and Daisy's relationship is an aside. So much of the book is taken up with the mystery of Gatsby and the lifestyle he's managed to make for himself out of nothing that its not until quite late you realise the purpose of it all was to win Daisy back, and it's not like he really attempts to woo her back because her husband is often around or because Nick is narrating and he's not privy to the times when Daisy and Jay are alone. I think it's the driving force of the plot, but it's not really a central aspect of the story - if that makes sense?

Yeah, that's what I need - a close-up of a Weta.... :)

No one needs a close up of a Weta!

Let me step up to my lectern. ahem
The Gatsby/Daisy relationship was based on Fitzgerald's own life, as the theme of wealth was too. Zelda Fitzgerald had an affair with a French pilot and it went so far that she asked F. Scott for a divorce so she could marry the other man. Fitzgerald refused and waited it out, but incorporated the episode into the Gatsby plot.
Sorry. I wrote a college paper on the themes of Gatsby.

>178 mstrust: That's an interesting fact that I'll keep in mind for when I get around to a re-read of Gatsby. I think I had the same feelings as SouthernKiwi when I first read it, so your info might help in fleshing out the characters in my head.

Eva and Claire, you're so right. I've never yet met a real weta and, knock on wood, I never will. I swear some photographers include these images just to get their kicks - readers innocently going about the business of turning the pages, then *boo!* there's a weta close up, just to make you jump. It'll never be pleasant but I think I'm getting used to it now.

Jennifer don't apologise, that is interesting and I know there's more depth in the themes in particular, but I'm just not quite interested enough to sit there and think it through properly myself - too many more shiny's to dive into. Having said that, I also get the feeling that like Shakespeare, my appreciation would grow with a better understanding of the characters and themes, I do like to sink my teeth into some proper analysis occasionally :-)

Hi aliciamay!

Whilst in Wellington a few years ago our Kiwi friends took us to a cave nearby that was known to contain Weta. We walked in and whilst my eyes adjusted I was "where are the Weta?" and then realised that the wall was moving and was literally covered in Weta, can't say I stayed in that cave very long....

->180 SouthernKiwi:
I have no urge whatsoever to see one in real life! Luckily, the closest I've ever gotten to one is via telly - here it is from the excellent Last Chance to See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVG44qEaMGY

->181 psutto:
That's unbelievably horrid!

You weren't on Somes Island were you Pete? Either way I doubt I'll be going caving any time soon.

Eva, that's not even the ugliest of weta! I didn't see many of the Last Chance to See (must YouTube them or something), but my favourite was of a kakapo called Sirocco who tried mating on Mark Carwardine's head ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T1vfsHYiKY. That's one very happy looking bird at about 1.05min! Love the kakapo, and that video cracks me up everytime.

Finished Babylon Steel last night, my first book for Female Sci-Fi/Fantasy month (http://www.librarything.com/topic/154893), and really enjoyed it. This will be a new series for me to follow. Next up is Moxyland which I started in the airport this morning - I'm spending a few days with my Dad in Central Otago and looking forward to having a real fire for a change :-) Flew over the skifields on the way into Queestown and they're looking pretty good for the beginning of the season.

Not looking at any weta pic.... nope, not doing it!

I look at the cover for Babylon Streel and I go, "Nope", but it seems to be getting positive responses from you and others. I thnk I will avoid just so I don't add another series to my burgeoning reading list. ;-)

Have a great trip and wonderful visit with your Dad!

->183 SouthernKiwi:
That's my favorite part too!! Especially hearing Fry guffawing in the background is hilarious!!

I love that Carwardine describes the one they find in the box as "the Labrador of Wetas!"

And, have a fantastic trip!!

Hahaha! That kakapo video was hilarious. Poor Mark! But you're right, the bird did look so happy! ;)

I think it was on an island, been a few years..,

Mark Carwardine was mauled a bit during the Kakapo incident apparently, I recommend both the Douglas Adams book and the Stephen Fry book of the same name.

Glad you enjoyed Babylon Steel, am looking forward the the third one

Good choice Lori, you don't need to see the ugly! And I would have judged the book badly based on the cover too, but luckily a review from Cflisha landed it on my wishlist before I saw it :-)

I think he also used 'sweet' Eva, those are two words I certainly wouldn't use in connection to weta.

Hi Pete, not surprised Mark was mauled. Kakapo claws are pretty adept.

Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
Historical Fiction

Category: History As Fiction
399 pages

As a baby Eliza was abandoned and subsequently adopted by Rose Sommers, a rather unconventional Englishwoman who immigrated to Chile to keep her brother’s house. Eliza grows up caught between Mama Fresia in the kitchens, and Rose’s world of polite society. Eliza is only just 16 when she first sees Joaquin Andieta, an impoverished would-be revolutionary, and falls in love. With Joaquin, Eliza will set a course that will completely change her life.

I enjoyed the Chilean setting of Daughter of Fortune, as I know nothing about the British in Chile, but it lacked a little something for me. The focus of the story is the Sommers family living by their English customs and values, so the Chilean setting isn’t exactly a feature of the story, there was little that lent this story a distinctive Latin feel. The Californian gold rush setting however, with the hard work, hope and intrepid settlers, and the glimpses we get of China were alive on the page.

The plot starts moving when Eliza meets Joaquin, but for much of the middle section of the book Eliza’s character frustrated me. While she is smart and capable, Eliza is also very naïve and has led a sheltered life, and she seems to wilfully disregard societal values and customs without any thought of the consequences. She’s also blind to the problems in her relationship with Joaquin and the risks she takes in following him. Her behaviour struck me as not quite fitting for the time and place. Despite this, all of the main characters are fully formed and wonderfully written. Tao is a great foil for Eliza, and he has his own story to tell.

For me, the story improved and became really enjoyable with the introduction of Tao and his friendship with Eliza. It’s this relationship, and Eliza’s experiences in California that result in her character developing into a strong woman who has an interesting story to tell. Allende also briefly touches on the treatment of the American Indians, Mexicans, and other immigrant groups, which adds a sense of authenticity.

Daughter of Fortune is a book of two halves for me, the half set in Chile and the half in California. The first half is good historical fiction, but the second half is great historical fiction with an equally good adventure story.

Allende has a real gift with historical fiction. I can highly recommend Island Beneath the Sea which follows a woman from a life as a slave in Haiti, through the slave revolts there to living as a free woman in New Orleans. I also enjoyed her book, Zorro which gave us an idea of how and why the character Zorro came to be.

I've had The House of the Spirits on Mt. TBR for 20+ years.... I should make a note to get around to reading it. :)

20 years Eva?! Wow :-)

Last night was a fairly restless one so when review writing mojo (finally!) struck at somewhere around 1.30am so I went with it and made a whole bunch of notes, and now I'm finally all caught up again.

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
General Fiction / Suspense

Category: Mmmmm Pop!
428 pages

I was drawn into Rebecca from the very first page, the atmosphere that du Maurier creates is one of the things I love about her books, but here there’s also a yearning from our narrator that made me want to know what had happened at Manderley.

The mystery aspect is a good one, but Rebecca offers so much more. There is intrigue surrounding Rebecca’s death and while it’s obvious not all is as it seems, there’s a slow unravelling of her and Max’s characters and the slow development of Mrs de Winter, that slowly builds the suspense. I initially found Mrs de Winter a bit insipid but she grew on me and I found aspects of both her and Max that I could relate to. The secondary characters are all nicely rounded as well.

Rebecca is the most powerful force in this story and I found a couple of du Maurier's choices really fascinating. It is the dead Rebecca that the book is titled for while our “heroine” is never even given the courtesy of a name, and I also found it interesting that the story came full circle in the end - our narrator as a paid companion to Mrs Van Hopper is replaced by Mrs de Winter the companion to her husband. I wonder if this is some comment on the role of upper class women at the time.

Babylon Steel by Gaie Sebold
Fantasy

Category: The Magic Carpet
543 pages

Babylon Steel was hugely enjoyable. With a great leading lady who is an intriguing combination of demi god / warrior / madam, and a fantastic cast of supporting characters, this action packed story reads like a much shorter book. All of the characters are well developed with their own personalities and the quirks of their various alien races, but there’s still room for them to grow in the rest of the series.

The plot felt slightly disjointed, the first half rescue mission then became a mission to take down a pantheon of power hungry demi gods. While this was slightly jarring, each plot served a purpose, one fills in Babylon’s background the other became the driver for setting up the action in book two.

Travelling through various portals to different plans, this is a fun romp across an inventive universe. This will definitely be a series for me to follow.

Nobody’s Baby But Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Contemporary Romance

Category: Mmmmm Pop!
374 pages

I found the premise of Nobody’s Baby But Mine dubious. A genius wants a child, so decides on a one night stand to get pregnant. In this decision there’s a lack of morals, which is at odds with Jane’s character and I found it jarring – I was supposed to like her and sympathise, and for the most part I did, except in regards to the decision that is the foundation of the plot. The morality of this situation is raised by the characters but is never resolved as a standard S.E.P romance story line takes over.

Once the issue of morals disappeared from the story I was able to enjoy this as light entertainment, but this won’t be one of my favourite Susan Elizabeth Phillips books.

Moxyland Lauren Beukes
Science Fiction

Category: The Magic Carpet
367 pages

Beukes builds a fascinating world in Moxyland which is all the more powerful because I can imagine the technology and big brother aspects of this techno society are not all that far off being a reality.

Moxyland wasn’t a complete hit with me simply because of my initial reaction to the characters - Tendeka’s non stop activism and Toby’s sense of entitlement irritated me. Kendra started as the character I most liked, but she lost some of her spark. However, it doesn’t take too long to realise these character (well, except perhaps Toby) are all very much the product of their tough environment and their behaviours reflect this.

It may have taken me a little while to warm to it, but in the end this is a gripping story that raises some pertinent questions about where all our technology is taking us.

Call Me Irresistible by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Contemporary Romance

Category: Mmmmm Pop!
357 pages

Fun and fluffy as expected from S.E.P, although another that won't be amongst my favourites from her. Ted seems too perfect, and even the attempt to rough up some of his edges fell a bit flat. Meg develops into a strong character and she the element of fun in the story. It was nice to see a number of characters from other books make appearances in this one too.

Good rainy day brain candy.

A Wizard Of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin
Fantasy / Young Adult

Category: The Magic Carpet
168 pages

I was seriously underwhelmed by the first Earthsea instalment. Ged’s character started with some promise, but then falls flat through a lack of any further growth. The plot was very linear and one dimensional – no diversions or sub plots here. I also found the magic system a bit simplistic.

For a future Great Mage on an Important Quest I found Ged relying repeatedly on his last-minute instincts to overcome his foes very unconvincing, and didn’t inspire any confidence in me that he had much of an idea about what he was doing or if he deserved his reputation for greatness. I was also unimpressed with Ged’s final meeting and "battle" with the devilish Shadow, which was dealt with in one pithy paragraph.

For me A Wizard Of Earthsea was just far too easy to put down, and I ended up feeling very frustrated by the end. The story simply never grabbed me and there was no suspense. The introduction of Kest at the end and her interaction with Ged offered me some hope that she could inject some life into The Tombs Of Atuan, which I have read in several places is a better book, but I won’t be continuing with this series any time soon.

Lots of reviews here. I've only read one of Allende's YA books, City of the Beasts I think, though I've had a few of her adult ones in my tbr pile for a fair few years. I'm not sure if I'll ever read one as the YA was lukewarm at best.

So long since I read Rebecca but I remember loving it when I reread it a while back. I should read more of her work.
Moxyland looks good, I've seen a few raves about Lauren Beukes here on LT. Pity that you didn't enjoy the Earthsea book.

Great reviews, especially of Rebecca, Babylon Steel & Moxyland I need some inspiration to finish off the long list I have to do :)

Have your read any other Le Guin. I read her recent short story collection and it was fab, Wizard of Earthsea I vaguely remember being a bit too simple for my tastes.

LOL! And you hit me with one that's been on the shelf for even longer than the Allende... Rebecca needs to be read soon too. :)

What a shame you didn't enjoy A Wizard of Earthsea. Yes, The Tombs Of Atuan is a better read, but if you didn't like the A Wizard of Earthsea, I don't think you'll need to rush to that one either, unfortunately.

Great string of reviews, Alana. I see that you enjoyed Rebecca more than I did, but I probably would have enjoyed it more if I had read it in one sitting over a dark and stormy night... an atmospheric story to read under conditions! ;-)

It must feel good to get these reviews up and posted. I read Rebecca at an impressionable age and so my love for it will never fade. Babylon Steel sounds like a great read and I am adding it to the wishlist.

Great review of Moxyland. I remember thinking Tendeka was a bit over-the-top, but after awhile his characterization worked for me. Poor stubborn guy.

Good to see another positive review for Babylon Steel and I really should get around to reading Rebecca at some point too.

@ 194 -- I wasn't wowed by A Wizard of Earthsea either, but I really loved The Tombs of Atuan, so I hope you do decide to read it eventually!

great reviews, glad you enjoyed babylon steel Gaie Sebold is coming to the Bristol Festival of Literature this year :-)

It's been a long long time since I read the first 3 Earthsea books, I remember enjoying them at the time, maybe wouldn't so much now?

Oh, silly me has apparently managed to unstar your thread (I accidently did the same with Andrea's this spring too), probably while trying to operate this site on the tiny iphone screen. LT needs an app! So I've just made some hefty catching up. My belated condolences on your loss. I'm glad to hear you got to say a proper goodbye, and that you seem to be on your feet.

I really must get around to reading Rebecca. And Babylon steel sounds like great fun too. I have A wizard of Earthsea on my TBR, but I guess i'll let it linger there for a bit longer.

Thread securely restarred!

Hi Mamzel, sorry I missed your post back at 190, Islands Beneath The Sea sounds like something I'd enjoy.

Hi Kerry, I'd recommend Beukes. I don't think I've seen a bad review for one of her books yet.

Hi Claire, that's encouraging, maybe after a while I'll have a look at something else by Le Guin. Happy review writing!

Yes Eva, do read Rebecca - she's waited long enough!

Hi Lori, I had to read Rebecca in several sittings but yes, a stormy night would be a perfect time to read it :-)

Judy, it's definitely good to get those reviews up. I leave finished books in a pile beside my bed until I write their reviews, and it was starting to feel a little overwhelming looking at it :-) Babylon Steel is a really great mix of fantasy with a good dose of crime fiction and intrigue - I hope you enjoy it if you get to it.

Katie, yes he was too much for me, and while I never really ended up sympathising with Tendeka, he at least was understandable.

Hi Wolfy, yip - I'd definitely recommend both of those.

Christina, what was it that was so different about Tombs Of Atuan? Maybe eventually I'll give it a go.

Pete, I'm sure Sebold would be interesting to listen to. I think A Wizard Of Earthsea is for a younger reader, for me there's only so much rowing about in a boat that I want to read about.

Thanks Anders, and it's good to have you along again. I hope you enjoy Rebecca and Babylon Steel when you get to them.

I've finished The Age Of Miracles, which I really enjoyed. A nice coming of age story with an intriguing premise. Most of the scientific consequences of the earth's rotation slowing were obvious, but there were also a couple that weren't, the snowballing effects were interesting. I also finished Graceling this morning, which was great. A simple magic system, but one that can have a myriad of consequences, and two strong leading characters with plenty of action and adventure. I already had Fire on my shelf, but I brought Bitterblue this afternoon when I ventured near the bookshop.

I've only read the first two Earthsea books, but they're very different, at least in my opinion. Ged is a peripheral character in Tombs of Atuan, but the protagonist is someone completely different. There's also a new and really cool setting. I think it's a bit of a misnomer to call the Earthsea books a "series," because they seem to be only tangentially related to each other.

Christina, that is possibly the best thing you could have said to make me consider The Tombs Of Atuan as a possible future read :-)

2ND QUARTER ROUND-UP

Books read: 16/50 (total: 28/50)
Pages Read: 5,590

Best Read(s):
Rebecca
Graceling

Most Disappointing:
An Extraordinary Land

1. The Happy Municipality ... .../4
2. History As Fiction 1/4
Daughter Of Fortune
3. Tracer Bullet 3/4
4. The Magic Carpet 7/4
Babylon Steel
Moxyland
A Wizard Of Earthsea
The Age Of Miracles
5. Mmmmm Pop! 6/4
Mr Rosenblum Dreams In English
Lady Be Good
Rebecca
Nobody’s Baby But Mine
Call Me Irresistible
6. Governing With Dictatorial Impunity 1/4
7. The Threat Of The Librarian 1/4
Graceling
8. The Horrendous Space Kablooie 3/4
Survivors: The Animals And Plants Time Has Left Behind
An Extraordinary Land
9. From Now On I'm Playing Bus 1/4
10. Are You Cheating? 5/4
Changeless
Blameless
The Great Gatsby

(Category totals are rolling totals).

So far, I've been relatively consistant in the number of books/pages I'm reading per quarter, although the last three months have been heavy on the easy reads, and SciFi/Fantasy for the themed June reading. I haven't been so good at keeping my categories even, although at least I'm track to hit my target of 50 books this year.

Whoa! Just logged in and LibraryThing is all new! Don't have time tonight, but will have to do some serious exploring tomorrow.

>209 SouthernKiwi: - exactly my reaction too!

Hi everyone, just popping back in here very briefly. I've been so busy lately with work, new friends and old ones, sports and my volunteering that I haven't made it on to LT at all. My stack of reviews to write isn't getting any smaller but finding the time and motivation is proving difficult. I'm a long way behind on threads, but will hopefully catch up in the next few days.

>211 SouthernKiwi: Somewhat glad to see I'm not the only one with loads of catching up to do :)

It's really hard reviewing old books! If there are loads I would just start at the end or do one sentence reviews :-)

I have a collection here on LT of books that need reviews and, as Claire points out, the longer it was since I read them, the harder it is. I may just go ahead with some one-liners, for my own sanity. :)

Sometimes it just makes sense to post flash reviews - think flash fiction and just run with it! Brevity can be amazing at conveying an overall opinion of the book. Just sayin' ..... ;-)

I agree with all of the above, short reviews are the way to go! Catching up with all the threads is practically a full time job after being absent for some time - I know, as that's exactly what I am doing right now!

Yip, short reviews are definitely the way to go! I was playing in a badminton tournament last night and for most of today, so I had planned to hopefully take care of the reviews tomorrow but now my laptop has 9 various keys that have randomly stopped working. Will have to try and get that seen to tomorrow instead - currently typing by pointing and clicking using the on-sreen keyboard and its driving me up the wall! Definitely won't be posting any reviews until it's fixed!

Weird! I hope the keyboard starts behaving itself again! Hope you had a good tournament :)

"clicking using the on-sreen keyboard"
Ouch, what a pain - hope it gets solved soon!

Alana, as promised I just caught up on your whole thread. I know I'm 4 months late but I am so sorry to learn about your mother passing away.

On a happier note I have enjoyed reading all your reviews. I have Mr Rosenblum's List (or whatever it is called) downstairs and will find it after your review.

Keyboard/computer problems, not good. Hopefully things/it gets sorted out soon!

Hi Rabbitprincess, thanks the tournament did go well, we got runner up in the mixed doubles and because of a lack of entries in our grade my partner and I played a grade up in the ladies doubles and didn't disgrace ourselves at all - we even came very close to winning one game :-)

Hi Eva and Lori, I haven't found the time to have the laptop looked at yet, so now I'm just typing as normal then backtracking with the on screen keyboard to edit in the letters/punctuation that's missing. A bit less painful than point and click!

Hi Cushla - good effort! I've still got a number of threads to catch up on and get a bit intimidated when there's more than about 40 posts to read. Are you going along to the DCM book fair this year?

The biggest bookfair in Wellington was held over the weekend, so I went along for a very quick look before I was due at the SPCA. I came home with a fairly modest haul this year, which, considering I'm completely out of shelf space at the moment is probably not a bad thing ... New to my catalogue are:

Jane And The Ghosts Of Netley by Stephanie Baron
Why Shoot A Butler? by Georgette Heyer
A Thin Dark Line by Tami Hoag
Dead Sky by Tami Hoag
The Secret River by Kate Grenville
The Dogs And The Wolves by Irene Nemirovsky

>223 SouthernKiwi: Six new books are optimal - enough to feel that giddy richness, little enough to feel at least a little restrained.

That's a very decent haul! I went to my favorite second hand bookstore last weekend, armed with a 25-book list, but managed to exit with only 5. Like Anders says, enough to feel rich, but not so many you feel shame. :)

>226 GingerbreadMan: Well now, I guess that depends if you set up a pompous "Reduce TBR by 35" goal at the beginning of the year or not.

->226 GingerbreadMan:
Surely nobody sane would set up such a mad goal... :)

That's a nice haul. I've deliberately stayed away from Auckland's Variety Book Fair for two years running now, I'm such a magpie when it comes to acquiring books.

It's a nice haul- good authors and you showed enough restraint to leave some for others.

Hi everyone, given I only had about 45min at the bookfair I'm pretty happy with what I brought home. Because I was so short on time I was only really looking for authors I recognised and had enjoyed previously - the exception was Grenville but I've heard good things. It also seemed to me that many of the books were very similar to last years offerings.

And despite the lack of shelf space I've just added two more books to the stacks - Unity Books has the best loyalty system I've come across (the time frame doesn't matter neither does how much you spend, you still earn store credit) and I had credit so of course I had to use it. Now I have to find a home for Wolf Hall and Freddie Mercury: The Definitive Biography. If I could create floor stacks all would be well, but between earthquakes and my cat's occasional habit of biting my books (grrr!) it's not the best plan.

ETA: It's taken awhile but I'm finally caught up on all my starred threads - I may not have left a comment, but I was there! Even found next years group .... yikes!

Sounds like your quick 'fly through' bookfair trip was a success if books came home with you. I never understood the attraction some cats have with books and other paper products. I did have a cat that was hugely attracted to angel food cake. Don't know why, there must be some ingredient in the cake that made him almost impossible to keep away from the cake. We stopped having angel food cake in the house when we discover this. ;-)

Congrats on being caught up with the threads. I already took a sneak peek at next years group but I am not ready to set up a thread over there yet.

Nice book haul

>226 GingerbreadMan:&227 no-one would do that, or commit to reducing it by 80....

Reducing Mt TBR by 80?! That's some impressive optimism ;-)

In other news my laptop has a new keyboard and is fully functional again. Bless.

And I have my confirmation of study so I'm officially, finally, enrolled in what will be the final paper I need to finish my BA - almost 4 years after I ran out of time to do it while I was actually a full time student. My summer just got busier.

it started so well - I've read about 35 books from the TBR so far this year, and of course there are some months to go, sadly though there has been an attack of the shinies recently....

Your right, Pete, your plan did start well :-) And 35 books off the TBR pile is a very respectable dent - at least in my world!

I counted my TBR yesterday whilst thinking about my 2014 category and it seems to have grown again, are those books breeding?!

Mine definitely do.

Like bunnies.

Bunnies?! Where? :P

Somehow, despite acquiring a third bookcase earlier this year, I am rapidly approaching the need for a fourth.

Hi all, I have this week off work, which is a break that's well over due. I spent a long weekend in Christchurch with my aunt and uncle, catching up with family and hanging out in the city. I got to meet my new 2nd cousin (well newish, he's 4 months now) and spend some time with my terminally ill great aunt. Saturday was the first time I'd been in the city centre since well before the earthquakes. It was completely surreal to have lunch while looking across the street at a building that looked like it had been shelled. We visited the old Tannery buildings, which is being rennovated as a Victorian style mall (above left) and looks beautiful, and the new Cardboard Cathedral (above middle) which is something a bit different for NZ and looks great.

The rest of this week is for odd jobs, lots of relaxing at home and today there was a trip to Te Papa (our national museum) to check out their World of Wearable Art exhibition. My favourite costume was one called Rorschach's Dreamscape (above right), inspired by Rorschach's ink blots and made of reflective, metalic plastic. The photo is not very good, the whole thing is a delicate kind of filigree.

All this time at home also means I've finally made a dent in my stack of well overdue reviews ...

Maybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie
Contemporary Romance

Category: Mmmmm Pop!
342 pages

Andie Miller agrees to spend a a few weeks in a run down, isolated country house babysitting two troubled children her ex husband has just become the guardian of. Will helping these children bring Andie and North closer together, and provide them with a second chance?

This isn't one of the better books by Crusie - it lacks some of the quirkiness I enjoy from her, and struck me as a bit ho hum. I had made a couple of very brief notes way back when I read this, but even so I still struggled to remember the plot, so my initial 3.5 stars got downgraded.

The Age Of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
Young Adult / Dystopia / Science Fiction / Coming Of Age

Category: The Magic Carpet
369 pages

When the earth starts to turn progressively more slowly, the consequences are far reaching.

This is an intriguing premise and is well developed throughout with a slow revelation of the myriad of complications the world faces, along with the various responses people adopt. Against this setting is a great coming of age story. Any number of scientific principles are touched on within the plot but they are covered in a manner appropriate for a young adult audience, but there's enough complexity to entertain adult readers too. And for those with a some scientific knowledge The Age Of Miracles is thought provoking. Recommended.

A Place Of Hiding by Elizabeth George
Crime Fiction

Category: Tracer Bullet
125/630 pages

I didn't finish A Place Of Hiding. The combination of my mood and the slow pace of the plot had me losing interest rather quickly. Aside from the initial death, in the first 125 pages there was no development in the mystery/criminal element of the plot. This book seemed more like an exercise in character development than anything else - unfortuantely I wasn't drawn in by any of the characters.

Paramedico by Benjamin Gilmour
Non Fiction / Memoir

Category: History As Fiction
281 pages

Paramedico is a description of the ambulance services in various countries, and Gilmour's experiences as a paramedic within these systems. This reads like a series of yarns told down at the local pub which is not a bad thing, but does lack some depth in places. Gilmour's experiences in Pakistan, for example are discussed for 77 out of 281 pages, whereas Thailand as the Boxing Day Tsumani struck gets just 6.5 pages - and only covers the Tsunami hitting land and Gilmour struggling to reach a hospital, nothing is said of the response or the aftermath which I found disappointing.

There are some very interesting and eye opening details throughout, and across some very diverse locations - from Mexico and Pakistan, Thailand, Iceland and Macedonia to South Africa and Venice among a few more. Paramedico was recommended to me as I really liked Emergency Sex, unfortunately this didn't quite live up to my expectations.

I'm glad you liked The Age of Miracles. I also liked the combination of sciencey fiction with the cultural angles.

THose are some beautiful photos! I am curious how Cardboard Cathedral got its name. When I think of cardboard, I think drab and bland colors, and that cathedral is anything but.

I found a pic on Pinterest of "Rorschach's Dreamscape" and it's fantastic!

And, huge kudos to Shigeru Ban for modifying his design of the Cardboard Cathedral so that locally sourced materials could be used - it was actually part of a sustainability seminar we had at work recently. :)

>240 SouthernKiwi: Those are beautiful pictures! And that is the most colorful church I've ever seen- it looks like gold and gemstones.

I should maybe point out that the photos above were pinched from Google and are not my own ... :-)

Mamzel, I found part of the intrigue with The Age Of Miracles was trying to work out which science domino would fall next.

Jonathan, 'Cardboard Cathedral' is a literal name. Cardboard laminated into tubes have been used throughout. The original idea was that the tubes would provide the structure of the church, but after testing the engineers found they would bow in the high winds Christchurch sometimes gets, so a light timber and steel structure was added but the cardboard remained as the main cladding and an aesthetic feature so the name stuck.

Eva, Rorschach's Dreamscape is fantastic up close - very intricate. I'm glad there's a better picture somewhere :-) And yes, in Christchurch at the moment there's quite a focus on keeping things local to help business get back to normal. I've seen somewhere that Ban is known as a 'disaster architect', I guess dreaming up architectural responses to disasters would give plenty of scope to stretch the imagination.

Jennifer, gold and gemstones is a great description! We were there in the early evening so the light wasn't streaming in like in the photo, but even so, the stained glass still had a beautiful glow and the whole building is very light and airy. The stained glass panels are based on sections of the stained glass window that was destroyed (right after it had been restored) in the old cathedral.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Young Adult / Fantasy

Category: The Magic Carpet
370 pages

Fear or reverence, and exploitation are to be expected for those born with an exceptional skill, a 'Grace'. Katsa, born with the Grace of killing, has become her uncle's tool - dispensing punishments and strong-arming peasants and the elite alike throughout the kingdom. But Katsa is a strong young woman and attempts to maintain her own set of convictions. Where possible she uses her Grace and connections for worthy causes. In investigating the kidnapping of a distant royal, Katsa stumbles on a greater, more insidious mystery - as well as a Graceling able to match her.

In Graceling Cashore has created a world to get absolutely lost in.

Katsa and Po are both strong, complex personalities, and are supported by a cast of great secondary characters. The system of Graces is deceptively simple and provides Cashore with a framework to develop her themes of morality and self determination. But besides wonderful characters and depth in the themes Graceling is simply fun - action-packed and full of adventure, with a sweet romance that drives the character development.

I have one minor, not complaint but hesitation maybe - both Katsa and Po are very good people and very good at what they do, with no real flaws. I didn't have a problem with this (for me Cashore certainly never became saccharine) and this is young adult fiction after all, but other readers may not be so forgiving.

With her debut novel, Cashore has set high expectations for her follow up books - I have both Fire and Bitterblue waiting on my shelf and I can't wait to get to them.

Goodbye Sarajevo by Atka Reid & Hana Schofield
Non Fiction / Memoir

Category: Governing With Dictatorial Impunity
335 pages

In 1991 the former Yugoslavia began to crumble as Slovenia and Croatia declared their independence. Croatian Serbs resisted, and the Serb dominated Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) became involved. When, in 1992 Bosnia & Herzgovina followed and declared their independence, Bosnian Serbs also resisted the move, with the the JNA laying siege to Sarajevo.

Goodbye Sarajevo is the experiences of two sisters Atka and Hana, and their family. During the siege the family became separated. Their mother and a sister get stuck in Vienna as part of a delegation solicitating aid, and the eldest brother is a (muslim) soldier with the JNA trying to defect and make his way home. Atka is the eldest of 10 siblings, and when an opportunity arises for Hana and another sister to escape to the Croatian coast on one of the last UN buses out of Sarajevo, Atka sees them off. She, along with the remainder of the family are left in a city shelled almost daily and with the constant threat of sniper fire.

Through alternating chapters Atka and Hana tell of their family's experiences, along with the more universal story of civilians in a warzone and of the refugees who made it out. Through Atka readers learn of the fear and depravation, and the struggle to continue as normal a routine as possible for the younger children. Hana meanwhile struggles with her refugee status, totally reliant on the goodwill of strangers and her concern for family members left behind, all while attempting to make the most of educational opportunities she dearly wants. There is an emphasis from both Hana and Atka on the anxiety caused by an inability to reliably communicate with family and friends, although foreign journalists acting as an informal postal service helped.

The alternating chapters and the refugee/warzone civilian prespectives allow Atka and Hana to convey a fuller idea of the effects of the Sarajevo siege. Although written in a straightforward manner, and with the distance of time, their story loses none of its impact.

Atka eventually meets, and marries a New Zealand photo journalist. Their expectations of remaining in Bosnia are frustrated by medical necessity and they settle in New Zealand. I have to admit to a few tears reading the story of Atka's father in law Bill, and realising his determination paid off, with Atka's family eventually being reunited.

I see your recent reads have made up for the dud that A Place of Hiding was for you!

Glad to see your positive review of Graceling! That one's been on my shelves for YEARS, yet somehow I've never managed to get around to it. Maybe I can fit it into my challenge for this year!

Its a bit overdue, but my quarterly round up is done. I think I'm missing reviews for most of these books :-/ I have 4 reviews scribbled on bits of paper that I need to type up and a bunch of others to think about. I'm definitely not reviewing in reading order, it's whatever is easiest at the time.

3RD QUARTER ROUND-UP

Books read: 10/50 (total: 38/50)
Pages Read: 3,450 pages

Best Read(s):
Midwife Of Blue Ridge
Into The Darklands And Beyond

Most Disappointing:
Cities Of The Classical World

1. The Happy Municipality ... 1/4
Cities Of The Classical World
2. History As Fiction 6/4
Betrayal Of The Blood Lily
Paramedico
Sea Of Poppies
Midwife Of Blue Ridge
3. Tracer Bullet 4/4
A Place Of Hiding
4. The Magic Carpet 6/4
5. Mmmmm Pop! 6/4
6. Governing With Dictatorial Impunity 2/4
Goodbye Sarajevo
7. The Threat Of The Librarian 4/4
Maybe This Time
Into The Darklands And Beyond
8. The Horrendous Space Kablooie 4/4
The Best American Science Writing 2013
9. From Now On I'm Playing Bus 1/4
10. Are You Cheating? 5/4

Betrayal Of The Blood Lily by Lauren Willig
Historical Romance

Category: History As Fiction
396 pages

This was the first Lauren Willig I'd tried after seeing her name pop up all over LT. Unfortunately Blood Lily just didn't work for me.

I found the characters of the modern setting irritating, and since their chapters didn't seem particularly relevant I ended up skipping them. I don't think I missed much. I felt the historical characters lacked some depth and I was never properly engaged with them.

Just as Willig had reached the crux of the conflict, she immediately solved the problem in a way that I felt was obvious and lazy, and which removed any tension from the plot.

This was decent mind candy to with which to pass a lazy Sunday afternoon, and maybe by not starting at the beginning of the series I missed something, but I'm not sure whether I'll return to this series.

Into The Darklands And Beyond by Nigel Latta
Non Fiction / Psychology / True Crime

Category: The Threat Of The Librarian
351 pages

NZ clinical psychologist and, more recently, media personality Nigel Latta works within the justice system with some of our worst criminals - sex offenders and killers. In Darklands, Latta gives us an insight into his professional life and those he works with day in, day out. It's a difficult subject matter, but Latta's off beat perspective and humour shine through and makes this a highly readable and compelling book.

Latta's methods are unconventional, he has little patience with many established psychological practices. He always works with the end goal to stop reoffending, and as such finds ways to build relationships with his clients.

Latta is passionate about what he does, and he certainly makes readers stop and consider whether the harsher penalties many of us instinctively call for would really be effective - although he freely admits that some criminals should be locked up and the key thrown away. But generally, this is an overly simplistic solution. In his characteristic way Latta is forthright, unapologetically un-PC and, in the words of another reviewer, unflinching.

This is a hard book to review, and I was left feeling conflicted. The offenders have done unconscionable things yet Latta is able to humanise them. I certainly did not want to pity any of Latta's clients, the past is no excuse for your actions, but it's a fact many of them have backgrounds that were deeply troubled. If you could separate out their crime(s), they themselves had childhoods that no child should have to experience.

I really enjoyed Latta's writing style, there's so much personality on the page, and I think that despite the subject, this is what made this such fascinating read.

Nice third quarter round-up, Alana! I am in the mood for fluff right now but haven't attempted any of Willig's books yet. Since I have a Heyer handy, I think I will dive into that instead.

Great review of the Latta book. I have always wondered if some harsh penalties just harden the criminal into the very behaviour pattern society is hoping to change. I don't have any answers or alternative suggestions to how society deals with its criminal element, but I would be curious to read Latta's viewpoints so thanks for bringing that book to my attention!

Cities Of The Classical World by Colin McEvedy
Non Fiction / History / City Planning

Category: The Happy Municipality
400 pages

I had high hopes for Cities, the edition I have has a gorgeous hard cover, an interesting premise, and maps of every town and city McEvedy covers – at the same scale for direct comparison. The introduction states the initial criteria for a town’s inclusion was a population of 10,000 in the classical period, but smaller towns may be included if there was a point of historical interest.

I probably made a mistake in reading Cities from cover to cover (although it took me a few weeks and I had a couple of breaks), as it ended up being tedious. The writing is concise and there are moments of wit and humour, but overall, the main themes quickly become repetitive and the towns begin to blur together.

In a couple of case studies on the most famous cities the formatting was not particularly well thought out. Alexandria, for example, has additional commentaries on its famous library and lighthouse. But these run across the tops of multiple pages, so you read the page once for the main commentary, then go back and read the additional information. I found this flipping back and forth of pages frustrating.

For almost every town the same aspects are commented on resulting in a lack of any real individuality for each location. If using Cities as a reference text, you would have to want very specific types of information.

I think McEvedy should have reduced the number of towns included. There are several cases where the text on a particular town is only a page, including large headings and the map, and he ignores his own inclusion criteria in a number of places. Paris “owes its place in the book to its later greatness”, Doclea has an “undistinguished history”, the minimum population criteria seemed to be bypassed in a large number of cases.

Having said all of that, the level of research involved combined with McEvedy’s cartography makes Cities an impressive culmination to a life long interest.

Hi Lori, I think you would find Darklands interesting. There's also a documentary series of the same name that Latta did a few years ago, it covers some of our more high profile crimes and criminals. I didn't manage to catch any of it on TV, but I do want to have a look at it at some point - in large part because I think Latta's fantastic.

@256 Thats a shame, premise sounds great.

>256 SouthernKiwi: The concept is interesting, but I hate having to flip back and forth in a book, so that would annoy me too. Somebody out there must have a better organized version.

"4 reviews scribbled on bits of paper"
Oh, you too? :) I have 11 on my list right now. They'll get done eventually...

Into the Darklands and Beyond is definitely going on my wishlist - bookbullet happily taken! :)

>256 SouthernKiwi: - sounds like someone should take that idea and do it better!

Hi Claire, Jennifer and Pete! Yip, if I was reviewing Cities in a nutshell it would've been 'good idea, poor execution'.

Eva, when I'm in certain moods scribbling reviews on pieces of paper is easier and much more satisfying than writing bullet points or noting ideas on the computer. And yay for a book bullet :-)

It's a stunning spring day here today so I wandered into the city to replace a hoodie my cat decided to chew a hole in on Friday night (he still hasn't grown out of his kitten naughtiness, sigh), and made the fatal mistake of poking my nose into Unity Books where I picked up copies of The Luminaries and Why We Build. So much for saving money!

Hi Alana - hooray for an accidental trip to Unity! I bought my husband Why We Build a few weeks ago (he is an architect in his dreams and we are about to rebuild our house...) and he says it is excellent. And I hope you love The Luminaries.

Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood
Cosy Mystery

Category: The Threat Of The Librarian
175 pages

Bored of English high society and the accompanying expectations, Phryne Fisher agrees to travel to Melbourne, Australia, to determine why the daughter of an acquaintance is acting so strangely. While there Phryne stumbles onto a bigger mystery – who exactly is the Snow King, mysterious boss of Melbourne’s under belly?

Phryne is an unconventional heroine, perhaps a little too perfect but saved from being irritating by her willingness to get her hands dirty, and a tendency for calling a spade a spade.

I discovered this series through the TV adaptation, and while the Art Deco setting comes across well in the book, it’s much better on the screen given Phryne’s flair for clothing in particular. The Melbourne setting could have been stronger though, as it is this story could have been taking place almost anywhere.

Cocaine Blues is the first in the series so with the exception of Phryne, some depth still needs to be created in the secondary characters.

This is very much a cosy mystery with a rather straight forward plot, and at just 175 pages it's a very quick read. This isn’t the best cosy mystery ever written, but it is fun.

Hi Cushla, very happy to hear Why We Build is excellent - I'd not heard anything about it, it was a complete impulse buy. But having a quick flick through at Unity, Moore seems to have quite an engaging writing voice so I'm looking forward to it.

Rebuilding the house sounds exciting - will it be a major project?

Alana it doesn't get much more major. We're demolishing and starting again. Long story (involving leaks and reclads and quotes for tenders that are so high that we might as well start from scratch.) We are at planning stages still and probably 9 months or so away from starting... luckily Tim is in his element working with the architect and working out what we want! I told him you'd bought it and he says he has just finished it and confirmed that it was good.

Haven't read any Kerry Greenwood yet but it sounds like I'd quite like her - I've seen the series at Karori Library.

That sounds like a story that doesn't bear repeating Cushla! At least Tim is having fun with the planning, and it guess it will be nice to stamp your mark on the house and get things the way you want them.

Today is one of those work days where I feel like I really wanted a glass (or two) of wine before 10.30am. One of my colleagues is never again allowed to go on leave at this time of year! But the Man Booker announcement brightened my morning a little :-) The Luminaries is pushing it's way higher up my TBR pile.

Just dropping by briefly to wish everyone merry christmas, happy holidays and a wonderful new year!

I've finished work for the year today, which seemed a long time coming, but I'm also studying part time over summer and still have bits of assesment due before christmas :-( Not a lot of time for reading in the last couple of months and even less for LT but hopefully I'll see you all back here again next year.

Happy Holidays, Alana!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Hope to see you back soon!

Merry Christmas, Alana, good luck with your studying.

Happy Christmas & have a great New Years Eve!

Have a lovely Christmas Alana and I hope th last bits of assessment are all handed in!

Merry Christmas and see you in the 2014 group! :)