mathgirl40's 12 in 12

I finished 100 books for my 10-10 challenge and 121 books for my 11-11 challenge, but I don't think I'll be able to manage 144 books for 2012! However, I will attempt to read at least 10 books in each of 12 categories.

I'm indulging myself with three mystery categories this year, as it's my favourite genre. I'm also going to make a real effort to read some of those books that have been sitting on my bookshelves for years.

1. Mystery I: Classic British mysteries
2. Mystery II: mysteries from Nordic countries
3. Mystery III: all other mysteries
4. Classics, 1001 list and Booker nominees/winners
5. Dust collectors: books that have sat on my shelves for many years
6. Sci-fi and fantasy
7. Non-fiction
8. Children and young-adult books
9. Scary books: horror/supernatural/paranormal
10. Canadian authors or settings
11. Asian authors or settings
12. Spontaneous

Category 1: Classic British mysteries

1. The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy Sayers (Jan. 14)
2. Murder is Easy by Agatha Christie (Feb. 5)
3. A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh (Mar. 6)

Category 2: Mysteries from Nordic countries

1. Voices by Arnaldur Indridason (Jan. 6)
2. The Man on the Balcony by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo (Jan. 29)
3. The Draining Lake by Arnaldur Indridason (Feb. 14)
4. Arctic Chill by Arnaldur Indridason (Feb. 28)
5. The Dogs of Riga by Henning Mankell (Apr. 4)

Category 3: All other mysteries

1. Sins and Needles by Monica Ferris (Feb. 9)
2. Twelve Sharp by Janet Evanovich (Feb. 18)
3. A Noble Radiance by Donna Leon (Apr. 21)

Category 4: Classics, 1001 list and Booker nominees/winners

1. Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan (Jan. 24)
2. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (Feb. 23)
3. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (Apr. 29)

Category 5: Dust collectors: books that have sat on my shelves for many years

1. A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking (Feb. 10)
2. Logan's Run by William F. Nolan (Mar. 10)

Category 6: Sci-fi and fantasy

1. Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve (Jan. 3)
2. Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi (Feb. 3)
3. Web of Air by Philip Reeve (Mar. 19)
4. Spin by Robert Charles Wilson (Mar. 31)
5. Skybreaker by Kenneth Oppel (Apr. 24)
6. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell (May 20)
7. Perdido Street Station by China Mieville (May 29)

Category 7: Non-fiction

1. The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester (January 16)
2. Something Fierce by Carmen Aguirre (March 3)
3. They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children by Romeo Dallaire (April 7)
4. Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner (Apr. 13)

Category 8: Children and young-adult books

1. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (Jan. 29)
2. The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan (Feb. 8)
3. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer (Feb. 27)
4. Runaway by Wendelin Van Draanan (Mar. 23)
5. The Last Song by Eva Wiseman (May 3)

Category 9: Scary/weird books: includes horror, supernatural and paranormal

1. Forever by Maggie Stiefvater (Jan. 11)
2. Boneshaker by Cherie Priest (Mar. 15)
3. Hunger by Michael Grant (Mar. 28)
4. The Reincarnation of Peter Proud by Max Ehrlich (Apr. 6)
5. The Calling by Kelley Armstrong (Apr. 21)
6. The Moon Pool by A. Merritt (Apr. 30)

Category 10: Canadian authors or settings

1. Alexandria of Africa by Eric Walters (Jan. 9)
2. The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis (Jan. 31)
3. Airborn by Kenneth Oppel (Mar. 7)
4. Bedtime Story by Robert Wiersema (Mar. 26)
5. Shelter by Frances Greenslade (Apr. 17)
6. Mennonites Don't Dance by Darcie Friesen Hossack (May 12)

Category 11: Asian authors or settings

1. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (Jan. 20)
2. The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh (Jan. 26)
3. A Backward Place by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (Apr. 23)
4. A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif (May 10)

Category 12: Books that don't fall into any of the other categories

1. Small Island by Andrea Levy (Mar. 8)
2. I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak (Apr. 18)
3. Embassytown by China Mieville (May 7)
4. I Claudius by Robert Graves

We share many common interests in our reading, and I like your "Spontaneous" category. I may borrow that one for one of my undecided categories. The most I have ever read in one year is 104 books, so I am impressed by your numbers! This year I'll probably end with 82; however, my goal was 75.

Hi Paulina! ***Waves*** Thread starred!

Lots of categories for me to follow here. Will be interesting to see how they get filled up. Good luck with your challenge.

It's nice to meet another mystery lover. I look forward to see what you choose for the year.

Looking forward to following your 2012 reading.

I love mysteries too (my challenge this year is mainly histories and mysteries).

**make a real effort to read some of those books that have been sitting on my bookshelves for years**
Some of us are also trying to clear those old books off our shelves and have banded together at the BOMBS group to encourage each other to finally read those TBRs. Feel free to join us.

Three (or more) mystery categories sounds wonderful - I'll definitely be following along! :)

Thanks to all of you for visiting my thread! I'm looking forward to seeing your 2012 reading too. I've just finished my first read for the year.



1. Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve (January 3) -- This young-adult novel was chosen for a steampunk book club run by our local independent bookstore. It was a welcome relief after the first book-club choice, The Difference Engine, which I found rather tedious and aimless. Reeve's novel, set in post-apocalyptic England, is fast-paced and features a terrific main character, teenager Fever Crumb, who was raised by the Order of Engineers to revere logic and reason above all. I'm hoping my 12-year-old daughter will also read this novel. We've been watching old Star Trek TNG reruns together and her favourite character is Data, so she will probably love the engineers in this story, who struggle to suppress emotion but don't quite succeed at all times. Reeve is very imaginative; the place names and expressions in this futuristic England are hilarious.

Fever Crumb sounds great. I took the bullet on this one and added it to my wishlist!

Ooohhh... a new steampunk read to add to my ever growing list of 'must reads' for the genre! Nice!

I didn't know there was a sequel series for the Hungry Cities books so thanks for letting me know about that. I've only read Mortal Engines so far and still have to pick up the 2nd book but it's one I want to get back to at some point.

I have come across this book many times in my library and then forget about it. Thanks for reminding me of it again. I am also a big fan of Data.

I just looked at my catalog and it's checked out. I hope the student remembers to bring it back!

22: I hope you like Fever Crumb as much as I did!

23: Nice to see other steampunk fans here!

24: I think Fever Crumb is a prequel to Mortal Engines, which I've not read yet, but plan to do later in the year.

25: Ah, another Data fan. :) Though my daughter likes Data best, I'm not sure I have a favourite. There were so many good characters in the TNG series.

2. Voices by Arnaldur Indridason
This is the third of the Inspector Erlandur series. Like the first two novels, this one was dark and bleak and featured a mystery complicated by long-buried secrets. Again, the complexities of family relationships, including Erlandur's own, are explored. The timing of this read was good for me, as I started it just as holiday celebrations were winding up. While Voices is not your typical heartwarming Christmas story, it is set in the days leading up to Christmas, and the festivities are contrasted with the grimness of the murder investigation as well as Erlandur's own lonely situation. I've been enjoying this series and definitely recommend it to others who also like Scandinavian crime novels.

Voices was one of the books I received at Christmas. I really enjoyed the second book in the series, Silence of the Grave and I am looking forward to this next installment.

I skipped this one and The Draining Lake because I got Arctic Chill as an ER-book, but I really need to go back and catch up - it's such a great series, isn't it!

@28 and 29: Great to see other fans of Arnaldur Indridason here! I picked up Arctic Chill at a book sale a while ago, after reading Jar City, but then I decided I'd read the books in order, so it's still sitting on my shelf. I'd be interested in hearing both your opinions as you read through the series.

3. Alexandria of Africa by Eric Walters
Eric Walters is a very popular award-winning children's and young-adult author in Canada, though he is not so well known outside our country. Alexandria of Africa is a YA novel about a spoiled rich teenage girl forced to spend several weeks with a charitable group in Africa helping the local Maasai people build a school, and it is based on Walters's own experiences with Free the Children, an organization that does similar work. My daughter is a big fan of Eric Walters and it was her friend who chose this book as our next parent-child book-club selection. While I found the novel very predictable and a little bit preachy at times, it was a fun, feel-good story and educational to boot. For those new to Eric Walters, I would recommend We All Fall Down, a father-son story based on the 9/11 tragedy.

Interesting review of Alexandria of Africa. *** Then hangs head down in shame as a Canadian that did not recognize the name Eric Walters ***

Sadly, I am another Canadian that doesn't recognize this author's name. I hope to fix this eventually, as I am adding We All Fall Down to my wishlist.

@32 and 33: You're not alone. I had never heard of Eric Walters either until a year ago, when my daughter's friend recommended We All Fall Down to us. I was surprised when I found out later how many books he had written and how many awards he had received.

Caution to Indridason fans! I'm a big fan too, but have discovered to my horror that the same book may be published with different titles and covers, depending upon where it was published. A real problem if you are buying them used.

I hate when publisher do that. I got caught buying a duplicate Stephen King (published under different title and alias, Richard Bachman) and a Piers Anthony published under a different title. I boycotted both those authors after that happened. Thanks for the warning about Indridason.

I've mooched the same Indridason more than once! Check LT before mooching!

I have been burned like that all too often. Here in Canada we often get the book with the British tltle and then later the American title comes along (or vice versa). I have enough trouble when they change covers on books, it's not fair when they change titles as well!

Thanks for the warning, SassyLassy. I've run into that problem with Louise Penny's books too.

36 - I'm sure its not the authors fault! more likely something the publisher does...

4. Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
This book was the conclusion of the YA trilogy that started with Shiver, about teens that shift back and forth into wolves. I have mixed feelings about the series. I really enjoyed the plot, which featured a number of storylines involving four main characters. I also liked the development of the two "unpleasant" characters, Cole and Isabel, and the novel was to me the most interesting when told through Isabel's voice. The primary characters, Sam and Grace, I found overly earnest and dull in comparison. There is a lot that I appreciated about this series. Yet, at the same time, I found some parts so terribly tedious, especially the romantic scenes and the lengthy descriptions of the characters suffering from teenage angst. It confirms my opinion that you really have to be a young adult to get the most out of this YA series.

I think you're suffering from "twilightitis". The cure for that is abstinence from paranormal romances for at least two years with healthy doses of romantic comedy and a dollop of classic romance. I recognize your symptoms since I myself am suffering from "hungergamesitis".

42: You're so right, mamzel. I think I need to reread some Jane Austen. Now, she knew how to write romance!

I've been noticing a pattern of tedious paranomal romance scenes (combined with teenage angst) recently too! My most recent one was The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Each book in this trilogy was about a different teenaged girl, and none of these girls had any idea what they wanted romantically, but they spent a lot of time thinking about it! On the flip side, I was very pleasently surprised by the romance in A Certain Slant of Light.

5. The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy Sayers
I've been rereading the Lord Peter Wimsey series in order, and this is the fourth full-length novel. I've been enjoying the series more with each subsequent book. In this novel, a suspicious death occurs in a London club, and throughout, Sayers pokes fun at the wealthy, idle occupants of such establishments. The story is cleverly plotted and the characters have more depth to them than those in Agatha Christie's stories, for example, though I also love the latter's novels. Actually, I find Sayers' secondary characters more interesting than Wimsey. I would definitely recommend this novel for other fans of classic British mysteries.

I am doing the same thing with the Lord Peter Wimsey series, although you are ahead of me. I plan on reading the third, Unnatural Death, next month.

@46: Great to see someone else reading through the Wimsey series! I also have some Agatha Christies in my TBR pile for my "Classic British Mysteries" category, so I won't be getting to Sayers again until later this year. Maybe we'll be in sync by then. :)

6. The Professor and the Madman by Simon Wincester
I thoroughly enjoyed Krakatoa, my final read of 2011, and decided to try another of Simon Wincester's books. Wincester has an incredibly rich vocabulary, so it is quite fitting that he would be the author of a book about the two most famous contributors to the Oxford English Dictionary. The professor is James Murray, the first editor of the OED project, and the madman is William Minor, an extremely prolific contributor of quotations who did all his work while an inmate of Broadmoor, an asylum for the criminally insane. Wincester brings the main characters to life and successfully evokes the passion for words that they shared. Who would have thought that a book about the production of a dictionary would be so riveting? Equally interesting are the Victorian views on mental illness and the way in which those afflicted were treated.

I'm hoping to finally get hat off the TBR this year, your review bumps it up a bit

I listened to The Professor and the Madman and really enjoyed it. Especially, as you said, the views on mental illness and how the "Madman" was treated - his own private rooms! I've had a couple people mention that Krakatoa was also very good.

@49: If you get to it this year, I'd be very interested in hearing what you think of it.

@50: I listened to The Professor and the Madman on audiobook also, at least for part of the time. Actually, my husband and I were sharing a library copy, and when he took the CDs with him on a business trip, I borrowed the book to finish off. Sometimes, authors are not the best choices as narrators of their own books, but I really enjoyed Winchester's narration. However, I also appreciated seeing the illustrations in the print version of the book.

7. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
This bestselling novel follows the lives of two Afghan women over four decades (from the 1960s to the early 2000s), a period that includes the rise and fall of the Taliban regime. It's easy for us in the Western world to say that the plight of the women were caused by the extreme cultural conditions in which they lived. However, domestic abuse happens in all parts of the world, and perhaps that is why the women's situation seemed so real and disturbing to me. Hosseini explores, like he did in his earlier book The Kite Runner, the idea of "family": what it means to be a brother, sister, mother or father, and how these relationships can exist independently of blood ties. I find that Hosseini likes to tug at the heartstrings overly much at times, but he is a superb storyteller.

The Kite Runner was such a haunting book that I held off on reading A Thousand Splendid Suns in case it would be a let-down and then I somehow forgot it in a bookcase. Sounds like it should be very near the top of Mt. TBR.

Hosseini is a good writer but his books are so brutal, I have a hard time enjoying them.

>54 Morphidae: I feel exactly the same way. I had picked up A Thousand Splendid Suns before a colleague gave me The Kite Runner and I haven't been able to pick it up yet. Maybe I can this year...!

The Professor and the Madman sounds like a great read.

53, 54, 55: I know what you mean. After reading The Kite Runner, I had planned to read A Thousand Splendid Suns right away, but then I kept putting it off. I had to take a break and get through several light (or at least non-heart-wrenching) reads before tackling A Thousand Splendid Suns.

8. Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan
This novel, about black jazz musicians living in Nazi Germany, has gotten a lot of press in Canada, especially after it had made it onto the 2011 Booker shortlist. Recently, it was chosen as the first selection for the Globe and Mail's (Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper) new online book club. Told from the point-of-view of the main character, Sidney Griffiths, the book is mostly set in 1939 and 1940. Sid, an American bass-player living in Berlin, and his fellow musicians find themselves in danger in the Nazi regime and manage to escape to Paris where more perils await. The book switches between that period and 1992, when Sid, who eventually settles back in America, finally returns to Berlin to face the demons from his past.

I've seen some reviewers complain about the use of the black jazz-influenced vernacular throughout, but I found this to be very effective in creating the mood of the novel, and the constant, often risque, banter among the men reveal much about their characters. When I first opened the novel, I'd hoped it would give insight into the development of jazz in Germany or the plight of the black population in the Nazi regime, but it didn't quite live up to my expectations in that respect. Instead, the book was more the story of Sid: his friendships, struggles and betrayals. Despite this, the book was not a disappointment for me, as I found it to be a well-written and gripping story.

I also held off on reading A Thousand Splendid Suns after reading The Kite Runner. I have difficulty reading books about women and children being abused, but Hosseini handled it quite well in The Kite Runner. I don't know much about A Thousand Splendid Suns, but I hope it doesn't reinforce our culture's unfortunate stereotype of wife-beating Muslims. As you say in your review, domestic abuse happens all around the world, and we shouldn't shake our disapproving fingers at others until we handle our own problems! I will have to pick up A Thousand Splendid Suns--it's been sitting on my TBR pile for years.

I also really enjoyed The Professor and the Madman. As you were all saying, the description of how "madmen" were dealt with in that time was fascinating. Also fascinating that a man who was so troubled was also able to work so resourcefully on the dictionary!

>stereotype of wife-beating Muslims

It does, unfortunately.

@58 and @59: Yes, I've also heard that criticism of Hosseini's books, that they reinforce stereotypes about Muslims. It's too bad if that's the case. I prefer to think that Hosseini's works show that religious extremists (of all types) can easily distort the teachings of their religion to support their own agendas. When I read A Thousand Splendid Suns, I didn't think that Hosseini was suggesting that Mariam's situation is typical of Muslim households, but instead, he was showing how completely helpless victims of domestic abuse were in the oppressive Taliban regime. It's certainly true that domestic abuse happens here in Canada too, but I like to think that there are more resources in the community to help the victims. (I suspect that the resources are still woefully lacking, though.)

9. The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh
The Glass Palace is the type of historical fiction I love. It's set in an exotic land, spans generations, and features well-developed characters and complex storylines. I'd read Sea of Poppies a couple of years ago and thought it was wonderful. I wasn't quite as enthralled by The Glass Palace, an earlier work, but I was not disappointed either. The Glass Palace is large in scope, covering the defeat of Burma by the British, the exile of the last Burmese Royal Family, the teak trade, the Indian independence movement, and more.

As I'd just finished reading A Thousand Splendid Suns recently and both books belong in my "Asian authors or settings" category, I couldn't help comparing the writing styles of Hosseini and Ghosh. There's no doubt Hosseini writes a good story, but I prefer Ghosh's writing so much more. Ghosh doesn't go for melodramatic tear-jerking scenes. There is a restraint in his characters' behaviour and dialogue, but the tension and passion build over time. My one criticism is that the story is told from the points-of-view of many different characters, and because of that, it is hard to build an emotional attachment to any one of them for the duration of the entire lengthy novel. Still, this richly detailed story is well worth reading if you enjoy historical fiction.

Nice review. I have The Glass Palace on my TBR bookcase..... will get to it someday!

I will definitely be reading The Glass Palace at some point. I think Amitav Ghosh is an amazing writer.

>60 mathgirl40: I agree that Hosseini is trying to show us how oppressive the Taliban regime is. It's a very personal topic to him since he's Afghani. I highly doubt he would ever TRY to reinforce stereotypes about Muslims in general. I applaud his motives (as I perceive them) and think that the book I read, The Kite Runner, was amazing. However, I have met perfectly intelligent and well-read people from America, England, and Canada (at least) who will start trash-talking Muslims in general, referencing books like these. If they miss the point of the book, that's really their fault and not Hosseini's--I doubt he ever implies a generality. Most people simply see what they expect to see, I guess. :(

That's a good review of The Glass Palace, I've never read anything by this author but I'm getting intrigued. Perhaps I should start with Sea of Poppies though...

62 and @63: I'll look forward to hearing both your thoughts on The Glass Palace when you get around to reading it!

@64: How true. These stereotypes do exist here too and it's too bad that people will refer to Hosseini's books as dubious "confirmation". As a grad student, I shared an office for 3 years with a devout Muslim, and the post 9/11 backlash was very painful for him and the other Muslim students. They abhorred the violence as much as anyone else.
BTW, I see we have a lot of common books in our library, so hopefully, you will enjoy Ghosh as much as I do. I think either book would be a good place to start. I've heard The Hungry Tide is also very good, but I've not read it yet. I'll probably read River of Smoke, the sequel to Sea of Poppies, first.

10. The Man on the Balcony by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo

This is the third novel in the Martin Beck series and has the Swedish detective hunting for a serial killer of young girls. As one would expect with a story having this sort of subject matter, the novel was dark and had its disturbing moments. Other readers have commented on the development of Martin Beck's character throughout the series of ten books. However, after reading the first three novels, I still find it difficult to feel any attachment to the character. On the other hand, I found the detailed descriptions of Stockholm in the 1960's to be fascinating.

I was in Stockholm briefly about 10 years ago, attending an academic conference, and I found the city (at least the parts that I got to see) to be clean, beautiful and safe, quite unlike the images presented in the Martin Beck books. :)

1960s Stockholm sounds interesting. I'll have to give the Martin Beck series a try. My public library has several of them.

I read the first of the Martin Beck series only recently and enjoyed it. I've since picked up the second so glad that you at least found enough to continue to the third. Will that be your last or will you continue with the next one at some point?

67: I hope you enjoy the series. One reason I'd wanted to read this series is that it had supposedly inspired many of the current Nordic mysteries that are so popular these days. I guess I couldn't have a "Nordic Mysteries" category without reading Sjowall and Wahloo!

@68: Yes, I do intend to read the entire series eventually. I suppose I will warm up to Martin Beck as the series continues, and I do like many other aspects of the novels. I saw your review of Roseanna and I look forward to seeing what you think of the next one.

11. The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

My daughter had read this book, about a young girl living with a foster family in Nazi Germany, and insisted that I read it too. She raved about it and wanted to propose it as a future selection for our parent-child book club. She said that it really moved her, and after I finished it, I have to agree with her assessment. This book is wonderful, one of the best YA novels I've read in the past couple of years. It is a lengthy book, particularly for the YA genre, and it was hard to read at times as the subject matter is so disturbing. However, the quirky and humorous narrative (told by "Death") made me want to keep reading. There are so many incredibly sad moments in this novel, but at the same time, it is funny, heartwarming and has truly memorable characters.

I'm still debating whether to use this for our parent-child book club. Most of these 12-year-old kids are very advanced readers and certainly, they've learned about the Nazi regime in school. They would probably enjoy this book and the discussion very much, but I worry that it may be too long and heavy for some.

Good job for all your January reads! There are a lot of books in there that I've been eyeing (or am eyeing now). I'm especially fond of international fiction at the time since I'm woefully aware that I've been reading less of it than I'd like. But if I read more of that, then I'll be reading less of something else and I'll become especially fond of that, instead. Sigh. Well, that's life, isn't it?

71: Thanks. I'm very fond of international fiction too. I love travelling, but reading about other countries is much easier on the budget!

12. The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis
This book is the next selection for our parent-child book club. Both my daughters have read almost all of Deborah Ellis's books, but this is my first time reading this popular, award-winning Canadian author. It was interesting reading this novel after finishing A Thousand Splendid Suns earlier in the month, as both are about the struggle of Afghan women under the Taliban regime. The Breadwinner is about a young girl, Parvana, whose father is taken away to prison. She must disguise herself as a boy so that she can earn money to support her mother and siblings. The novel is quite short and the writing is straightforward and simplistic, as the book is meant for children in the 10-12 age range. Still, Ellis doesn't hold back from showing the brutality of the regime. The story is fast-paced and shows the capacity of the women and girls to keep their spirits alive in horrifying circumstances.

January was a good reading month! Here's a quick recap:

Books read: 12 from 9 different categories.
Favourite book this month: The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
Least favourite book this month: Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

A few highlights this month:
- I was happy to discover Philip Reeve. I had never heard of him until Fever Crumb was chosen for our local bookstore's Steampunk book club. I heard that his earlier books are not easy to find in Canada.
- I was thrilled to have finished reading four of my BookCrossing books this month. My BookCrossing shelf is growing at an alarming rate, and as these books are meant to be read and passed along, I don't like hanging on to them for too long.
- I "travelled" a lot this month and visited through my books: England, Sweden, Iceland, Kenya, United States, Afghanistan, Germany, France, Burma (Myanmar), India, Malaysia and Singapore!

Looks like January was a good reading month Paulina..... and I love the traveling you did during the month through the books you read!

I love that you keep track of your book "travels" as well. It's amazing how well travelled we readers are!

@75 and 76: Thanks, Lori and Judy. I have a bunch of sci-fi and fantasy books lined up for February, so I won't be travelling as much as I did for January, at least not to places that we'd all easily recognize!

13. Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
This young-adult novel is the latest selection for a women's science-fiction book club I participate in. The novel is set in a dystopian version of America's Gulf Coast, where poverty-stricken gangs scavenge for goods on wrecked oil tankers in order to survive. Nailer, a teenage boy, discovers and rescues a very wealthy girl, the lone survivor of a shipwreck, on one of his scavenging missions and this changes his life forever. The novel is gritty and fast-paced, with a fair amount of violence, but it's also a very readable story of friendship and loyalty. I found the futuristic world that Bacigalupi had built to be fascinating and was left at the end with questions about how it had evolved and how it will continue to evolve, so I will certainly look for the upcoming sequel, The Drowned Cities.

When students check out Ship Breaker I urge them to Google images of "ship breakers" to see pictures of actual gangs working on ships run up on the beaches in Bangladesh. After reading this book I went right on to Windup Girl which seemed to be taking place in the same world but with much more detail and adult themes.

Same world, eh? That's good to know. I'm going to read The Windup Girl for the group read next month. If I like the world, maybe I'll try out Ship Breaker. I'm a sucker for YA because it doesn't have quite as much violence--rape I'm especially unfond of. I hear The Windup Girl might is a bit much for some people.

Some others had recommended The Windup Girl to me, but I hadn't realized it was in the same world. I will definitely have to pick that up sometime. I thought Ship Breaker was rather more violent than most YA novels I'd read, so I was surprised when my 12-year-old told me that a couple of her classmates had read it. I guess the younger generations are more immune to violence, given the video games some of them play!

14. Murder is Easy by Agatha Christie
Although this is not one of Agatha Christie's better known mystery novels, I liked it better than many others I'd read. The main character is former police officer Luke Fitzwilliam, who befriends an elderly woman on a train. She tells him her suspicions that a serial killer is at work in her village, and when she herself is suddenly killed, he goes undercover to investigate. Here, Christie uses a theme that appears in many of her novels, the intuition of the "little old lady" who has a much better understanding of the darker side of village life than anyone else. I love how Luke expresses this sentiment in the novel when he says, "Every man should have aunts. They illustrate the triumph of guesswork over logic.... The old ladies are right every time."

There is even some romance in this story, though I find Christie's romantic dialogue awkward and unbelievable. Otherwise, this novel has a wonderfully creepy feel and a satisfying and surprising ending.

An interesting note about this book is that, not only did it have an alternate title, Easy to Kill, but some editions also had a different name (Fullerton instead of Pinkerton) for the lady on the train. I'd also found out that a movie adaptation featuring Miss Marple was made, even though Miss Marple does not appear at all in the novel! Inspector Battle, who appears in a few of Christie's novels, makes a brief appearance at the end.

15. The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
After much prompting from my daughter who is crazy about this series, I've finally finished the fifth and last book. There were way too many tedious battle scenes for my tastes, but otherwise, this was a very exciting and satisfying conclusion to the series. The novel dragged somewhat in the first half, but the second half went by very quickly for me and I had a hard time putting it down.

Looking back on the series as a whole, I still don't understand completely why this series is so popular among children. I loved the premise of a modern-day retelling of the Greek myths but found the series didn't have the depth and character development of other YA series I've enjoyed. To be fair, though, the Percy Jackson series seems intended for a younger audience. Maybe I'm just too old to enjoy it the same way my daughter does. I may read the follow-up Heroes of Olympus series one day, but I need to take a long break from Camp Half-Blood first.

It's great that you read with your daughter. Mine was crazy about the series as well. I think that Riordan did a great job in showing the strengths that kids with ADHD can have--I really appreciated that.
Does your daughter like Cornelia Funke? Mine was crazy about The Thief Lord at that age.

You've done some great reading so far!

I really need to get back to that Arnaldur Indridason series. I like those dark Nordic mysteries.

I didn't understand why people loved the Percy Jackson series either. The story was cute, but unexceptional compared to other books that kids could be reading. I was also VERY irked that Riordan mixed up Chronos (the personification of time) with Cronus (the titan). If he's going to write a book that "educates" kids on Greek mythology, he'd better study Greek mythology. It's unacceptable to confuse kids' mythology just because he's too lazy to do his research. Ha! But there's my Riordan tirade.

That said, I was very impressed with the first two books of the Heores of Olympus series. Maybe it's because I was so unimpressed with Percy Jackson, but I don't think that's it. I think he just did a much better job on the follow-up series.

I've heard the Egyption series is about the same quality as the first Percy Jackson series.

Catching up on your thread, and starred it so that I will not loose it again... our book interests seem to dovetail nicely. Than you for the honest review of Half Blood Blues, I have been hearing a lot about that book lately. Ship Breaker has been on my wishlist for a while, but somehow I missed Fever Crumb!

Also great to see someone else reading Christie books as part of this challenge :p

Count me as another Canadian who sadly did not know of Eric Walters yet.. you are doing good things raising awareness Paulina!

84: Strangely enough, my younger daughter (the really avid reader) never got into Cornelia Funke. We do have the books here at our house, because my older daughter loved all her books when she was younger. Another series I need to read one day ....

85: Thanks, Terri! Yes, there are so many good Nordic mysteries, and people keep recommending new authors to me all the time.

86: I hadn't picked up on the Chronos/Cronus confusion! Glad you pointed it out for me. I did think, though, that Riordan had taken some liberties with Greek mythology, as some of the stories didn't completely mesh with what I'd remembered from other readings. I'm glad to hear that The Heroes of Olympus is better. Maybe Riordan is developing as a writer. My daughter also said that the first book of the Egyptian series wasn't all that great but she liked the second one much better. I thought myself that the 4th and 5th books of the Percy Jackson series were much better than the first three.

@87: We definitely have a lot of books in common, Janice! As for Agatha Christie, I've been trying to reread all her novels, from first to last. I'm about a third of the way through. It's going slowly, as I'm not in a rush, and though I'm trying to go roughly in chronological order, I haven't been overly strict about it.

For all of us here who are finally discovering Eric Walters, there is a fun video of him in Africa reading an excerpt from Alexandria of Africa.

I kind of view Rick Riordan as the James Patterson of middle schoolers. Fluff, lots of action, lots of white space, instant gratification.

There are a lot of books for middle-schoolers that are more action than plot. The Maze Runner was especially bad about that. I never HAVE figured out what those books were about. :)

@89 and @90: I agree that Rick Riordan tends to write that sort of story (the 39 Clues series is in the same vein, though there are other co-authors). I don't know about the comparison with Patterson, as I've not finished any of his books. I started one once and then abandoned it before getting too far. Still, if these books get middle-schoolers reading more, I guess that's a good thing, and there are much worse things for kids to read out there. I cringed when my older daughter got into her Gossip Girls phase. Fortunately, her literary tastes have expanded (for the better) since then.

16. Sins and Needles by Monica Ferris
I've been knitting and doing needlework all my life, and I'm a sucker for novels about stitchers. This is not always a good thing, as I occasionally pick up books that have little merit otherwise. I wouldn't necessarily put Sins and Needles into that category, but it did have some flaws. The sleuth of the series is Betsy Devonshire, but she doesn't play much of a role in this book. There are a number of interesting and quirky characters but no development of them whatsoever. There are some nice twists to the plot, but I figured out the culprit well before the conclusion (and I don't often do so with mystery novels). Still, it's an entertaining enough read, especially if you like cutesy, cozy mysteries. For those who relish a lot of stitching jargon, there is certainly plenty to spare, so much so that even I got tired of it. One character, talking about her growing son, said, ""He was going through shoes like I go through embroidery floss." Do we stitchers really talk like that??

92> Paulina, I liked the earlier books in the series better.

93: Thanks for letting me know. I had the feeling that Betsy Devonshire, the supposed main character, would be an interesting character, but this particular novel featured her in such a small way. Perhaps the other novels are different in this respect.

So ... I must confess that I'm feeling completely overwhelmed with this forum. I have some threads starred, ones that belong to other members whose reviews I've enjoyed or whose reading tastes overlap with mine. At the same time, I really want to read and comment on all the other threads, as I find so many good recommendations and interesting insights in various places. But, with limited time, there's just no way I can read all the threads! I try to catch up on my starred threads every few days or so, and then I randomly pick some other threads to look at. How do other people keep up??

You think this is overwhelming, you should check out the 75ers! I admit to being a bit lazy. I regularly check only the threads that I've starred or have already commented on. Then, I sift through the rest of them and read any threads that have more than 10 unread messages. Then I can get more bang for the click. More caboom for the click? Whatever. I spend less time overall that way. :)

I wouldn't worry about the threads - we're all busy and nobody'll give you a hard time for not commenting all the time. It's fun when people stop by, but there is no requirement to read and leave comments on everything.

I'm planning a reread of Riordan's series - I think I liked them when I read them the first time, but I mowed through them so fast I don't remember the details. Oops. :)

>92 mathgirl40:, 93 I agree with Lori. Most of the other books in the Crewel World series are better than the one you read. I'm partial to the Christmas book (Crewel Yule) because it takes place at a convention in Nashville, which is almost home territory for me.

I've been overwhelmed by threads ever since I joined the 75ers last year. I try to star threads I come across that share a lot of my reading interests, and visit new ones a few at a time. I also do more lurking than posting.

Don't worry about staying on top of all the threads Paulina, everyone will understand. I am only bouncing through on weekends right now, which is making things more manageable for me.

95, @96, and 98: Thanks for the encouragement. I'm sure you're right that no one expects me to keep on top of the threads. It's more that I really, really wish I can read all of them! :)

@97: Good to know this. I'll try another one out sometime. Maybe I'll save Crewel Yule for December. I always like to have a holiday-themed book for the Christmas and New Year break. In 2010, it was Hercule Poirot's Christmas and this time around it was Voices.

17. A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
This is the first entry in my Dust Collectors category. I had bought this book over 20 years ago, soon after it had been published in 1988, and had made at least two earlier attempts to get through it. I finally finished it on this third try, though I'd be lying if I said I understood it completely (and this is coming from someone who had taken a good number of university-level math and physics courses, albeit many years ago). The book is supposedly written for the layperson, but it covers a lot of material and is packed with scientific terms. However, given the nature of the subject material, I'm not sure if one could really explain it any more easily in a volume of this length. As the title suggests, it really is a "brief" history.

If you already have some understanding of the subject or you're willing to be challenged, this book is worth reading. It covers a number of ideas: the nature of the universe, black holes, the properties of space and time, and scientists' attempts to find a consistent theory that will unify the ideas of general relativity and quantum mechanics, which explain respectively phenomenon on a very large and very small scale.

Whenever I read about such ideas, I can't help but be impressed by the scientists who work in these areas. It's hard for me to comprehend how they can grapple with these deep questions and still reconcile themselves with the mundane events of our everyday lives. Our time here on Earth seems to me both trivial and wondrous in the context of these large ideas.

Hawking wrote a follow-up book, A Briefer History of Time, in 2005, and this is supposedly an easier read and contains updates on the scientific discoveries since his earlier book. I plan to read this eventually, and hope that I won't put it off as long as I had the first book!

having just read Simon Singh's rather good book big bang I was contemplating attempting Hawking who I've heard is little difficult so thanks for the review! I'd have to buy the book first though and have to work my way through more TBR before I can do that....

The threads can be overwhelming. I try to read starred threads first. Then I play catch-up when I have time, sometimes gradually!

101: A couple of my friends at work had recommended The Code Book but I hadn't realized Simon Singh also wrote about the Big Bang. I'll definitely have to move him up in my TBR list.

102: Same here, and I'm glad you were able to find time to stop by this thread. :)

18. The Draining Lake by Arnaldur Indridason
In this fourth book of the Inspector Erlendur series, a decades-old skeleton is uncovered and no one knows how it got there. Erlendur, who can't let go of missing-person cases, works doggedly to unravel this mystery from the distant past. For me, this novel lacked the suspense of his earlier ones. However, it did provide much insight into Icelandic culture and politics during the cold-war era. One thing I particularly liked about this installment in the series is that the supporting characters are starting to take shape and showing their distinct personalities. Erlendur is an interesting enough main character, but it's nice to get some relief from his gloomy, curmudgeonly personality.

I haven't read any in that series yet, but I plan to read one for Iceland when I get to that one for my Europe challenge.

I love the Erlendur series as well - Indriðason just captures Iceland in such an evoicative way.

It's interesting that the Library of Congress name authorities uses this as a compound name:

100 00 |a Arnaldur Indriðason, |d 1961-

I noticed that the books were F ARN at my public library instead of F IND so I decided to visit the authorities file. Does anyone know if this means Arnaldur is his surname? (Perhaps they use surname first as do some of the Asian countries?) Does anyone know if this is common to Icelandic authors?

ETA: I just consulted wikipedia. They have a nice article on Icelandic names. It appears they don't use surnames at all in Iceland, but the Indriðason part would indicate he is the son of Indriði.

Correct, Indriðason is indeed his last name.

We used to do that as well (I'm from Sweden), and surnames like Johansson, Karlsson, Jonsson, etc. all stem from someone having a father called Johan, Karl, and Jon, respectively.

In addition, the Icelanders differentiate between sons and daughters, so Arlandur's sister (if he has one) would be called Indriðadóttir.

Thanks, Lori and Eva, for the information about the Icelandic names. I was really curious about them myself. I was also confused about names like Eva Lind or Sigurdur Oli. At first, I thought that one of the names might be a surname, but I guess they are just double first names.

19. Twelve Sharp by Janet Evanovich
I was curious about this popular author, so I picked her book out of a BookCrossing bookbox that recently came my way. To be honest, this isn't really my kind of book. I found the steady stream of coarse jokes tiresome after a while. Despite that, I did end up enjoying the book more than I had expected. I liked the plot, which involved a hunt for a kidnapper impersonating main character Stephanie Plum's friend and sometime love interest, Ranger. Many of the characters and situations were hilariously funny (I loved the funeral-parlour scenes). I may pick up another book in this series one day, but it'll probably won't be until I'm on a beach with a big umbrella drink in my hand.

I'm not sure where Oli comes from, but Lind is a very common Swedish last name. We have a lot of "nature" surnames - Lind (meaning Lime or Linden tree - not sure which one), Björk (meaning beech tree), and Berg (meaning mountain or hill). I think people just picked those names randomly to distinguish themselves from the huge amount of people who ended up being called Johansson for example.

Thanks for the explanation, Eva! I find the whole subject of naming conventions in different parts of the world fascinating.

20. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
When I had read this book in high school thirty years ago, I thought it was a pretty good story but somewhat wordy. I have more tolerance for the verbosity now, and I have a much greater appreciation of Dickens’s skill in developing unique and truly memorable characters. My favourite of them were Wemmick, with his dual roles and matching personalities, and the seriously creepy Miss Havisham. I enjoyed all the subplots, and my only criticism is that it was a stretch to believe all those coincidences could have happened. This time around, I listened to the audiobook version of the novel, narrated by Michael Page, who did a fantastic job with all the voices. I’m not sure I would have enjoyed the book as much if I’d read it in print, as this story is really well suited to reading aloud.

Coincidence is a Dickensian plot device. They are featured pretty heavily in all the Dickens books I've ever read!

114: I would agree. There were plenty of coincidences in Bleak House, which I'd read last year, but I enjoyed the novel very much all the same!

21. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
This children’s novel had a fun premise and terrific characters but I found the plot rather tedious, consisting basically of one action scene following another. My daughter is on the third book in the series right now. Though she’s not particularly enthusiastic about the series, she says she feels compelled to keep reading. I’m leaning the same way. I liked the world that Colfer had created and I’m hoping the next book will have a more interesting plot. I listened to this on audiobook, and the best part of the experience was the narration of Nathaniel Parker, who played Inspector Lynley in the BBC series, which my husband and I both loved.

I liked the Butler/Bodyguard character, but I thought the plot was a bit thin. The reader was great, though - I didn't know (or notice, rather) that it was Nathaniel Parker.

117: Nathaniel Parker was much better as a narrator than I'd expected. Having seen him only as Inspector Lynley, I didn't think he could do all those voices!

22. Arctic Chill by Arnaldur Indridason
“Arctic Chill” is a good title for this very atmospheric novel. The plot was not all that suspenseful, but I liked the examination of how Asian immigrants fit into Icelandic society. My parents had immigrated to Canada from China in the 60’s, and so I find the subject matter of particular interest. As with his previous books, Indridason continues to explore family relationships, those of the victim and suspects as well as Inspector Erlendur’s own. Perhaps this is why I like the series so much. The Icelandic setting, which Indridason describes so well, gives an exotic, foreign feel to the books, but the family dynamics are universal.

Here’s my February recap:

Books read: 10 from 7 different categories.
Favourite book this month: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Least favourite book this month: Sins and Needles by Monica Ferris (but I’m still willing to give her another try)

I did less “travelling” this month (visited only England, Ireland, Iceland and the United States) but I did get to the far reaches of the universe, with A Brief History of Time!

I too enjoy Erlendur's meanderings in that bleak landscape - I've jumped around in the series a little (due to an ER-win), but I'm looking forward to catching up.

>116 mathgirl40: I felt compelled to continue the series as well. I liked it (especially the first three books which would have made a nice trilogy), but I'm happy that it will come to an end with the newest book (coming out soon?). I was worried that I would feel compelled to read these books eternally. :) But they're easy and fun reads, anyway.

122: I hadn't realized the next one will end the Artemis Fowl series. It's good to know the end is in sight. I like it better when an author finishes up a series and ties up all the loose ends rather than drag it on indefinitely. I haven't gotten around to the next one yet, but my daughter is almost done the fourth.

23. Something Fierce by Carmen Aguirre
This novel was the winner of Canada Reads 2012, and the subtitle, “Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter”, sums up the book well. This is the incredible and extremely readable tale of the author’s growth from childhood to adulthood within the Chilean underground resistance movement against dictator Augusto Pinochet. Most of the book is set in the 1980’s, and covers the author’s movements in Canada, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile.

What makes this book stand out is the perspective. We see everything through the eyes of a girl who is immersed in danger, intrigue, lies and violence but who is also struggling with the everyday concerns of a typical teenager. The contrast of life-threatening situations with ludicrously trivial concerns makes for some very funny reading at times.

If you’re looking to learn more about the political history of South America during those turbulent years, you will be disappointed. I had difficulty at times with the lack of context, but I don’t think it was the author’s intention to give an overview of those times. This memoir is primarily the story of a personal journey and the author’s own interpretation of the chaotic events unfolding around her. It’s a fascinating story and well worth reading.

24. A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh
This novel is the first of the Inspector Alleyn mysteries. I’ve included it in my “Classic British Mystery” category, though Ngaio Marsh is actually from New Zealand, not Great Britain. The mystery itself is, in every way, the classic country-house English mystery. The murder occurs during a weekend party at an English country manor, and the small group of suspects stay confined while the detective investigates.

I had watched most of the episodes in the Inspector Alleyn television series and enjoyed them very much. However, the supporting characters Agatha Troy and Inspector Fox don’t show up in this first novel at all, though they appear in most of the films. Indeed, Inspector Alleyn doesn’t even play a large role in this book, and it’s journalist Nigel Bathgate who is the real main character.

This mystery was nicely constructed but did not stand out in any way. Still, it was a quick and fun read, and I expect the series will become more enjoyable as Alleyn’s character is filled out.

25. Airborn by Kenneth Oppel
This novel is the perfect young-adult adventure story. It has everything, including shipwrecks, pirates and romance, all in a steampunk setting. Unlike other YA adventure stories I’ve read recently, this novel stands out in the fullness of the characters. The two main characters, Matt Cruse and Kate de Vries, are likable and show all the positive and negative characteristics common to teenagers. Even many of the secondary characters are well-developed. Matt shows a charming and self-deprecating humour in his narration. The concluding chapters were very exciting, and I stayed up well past my bedtime to finish the novel.

I am embarrassed to say that again, I have only just discovered this very popular Canadian author, though his name is quite familiar to most middle-school children. Indeed, Airborn had won the prestigious Governor General’s Award for children’s fiction in 2004. Though I have a huge TBR pile to get through first, I’m tempted to pick up immediately the sequel Skybreaker. I’ve heard that this second novel, and the third one, Starclimber, are as good as the first.

>125 mathgirl40:

I'm a big fan of Ngaio Marsh's Inspector Alleyn books and think you're right to read them in order; it's fascinating to see the changes in her writing and the development of the characters. If I recall correctly, though, you've got a bit of a wait before Troy shows up. I'll be looking forward to your reviews -- enjoy!

I have a couple of Ngaio Marsh's Omnibus on my shelves and am looking forward to discovering her writing. As usual - too many books, not enough time!

I put the Alleyn on my look-into list, until I saw the series page here and realized that there are 32(!) books so far. Not good for someone like me who gets obsessed and must binge on a whole series at once! Perhaps I'll Netflix the TV-series instead... :)

127: Sounds like I have something to look forward to! It was gratifying to see that there are so many Alleyn books. I always feel a little sad when I finish the final book in a series, thinking there will be no more to come, so I'm glad it will take a good long time to get to the end of this series!

@128: I hope you get to some of them in this challenge, as I'd love to hear what you think of them.

@129: I really love the TV series, particularly the acting and the atmosphere. Unfortunately, only a small number of episodes were made.

I am finally back after a couple of weeks away from LibraryThing. I was away for March Break vacation at a cottage with no Internet access for an entire week, and then there was the usual post-vacation craziness, catching up with work and chores. Now, I've got to get moving on the book reviews!

26. Small Island by Andrea Levy
This Orange-prize-winning novel is about two Jamaican immigrants and the English couple who take them in as boarders, and the story is told through these four voices. I particularly liked the exploration of racism in war-time England and the contrast with the situations in Jamaica and the United States. The only criticism I have is that the shifting among the four points-of-view made the novel seem very disjointed, at least until the final chapters where the author gives us a satisfying and moving conclusion.

27. Logan’s Run by William F. Nolan
This is the second book in my "dust collectors" category. When I was a teenager, I picked this out of my cousin’s discarded books because the movie photos in the centre insert looked so intriguing and I at least recognized Farrah Fawcett from Charlie’s Angels. This novel has been sitting on my bookshelves for so long now that I can’t even remember if I had read it at some point. I do know that I’ve seen the movie at least twice.

As for the book, it was rather disappointing. The characters had no personality whatsoever. Dialogue consisted of three-word sentences for the most part, so it was hard to feel any connection between Logan and Jessica. The story seemed to be one action scene after another, embellished with plenty of drugs and sex. Still, I have to give credit to the author for coming up with the ideas that led to the movie, which has certainly left a legacy.

You know I tried to watch the film recently, I used to love it when I was a kid, couldn't finish now though.. Slow, iffy dialogue oh dear.

It's a shame when time treats something so badly but I can imagine that being the case for the movie. Also sad that the book didn't live up to expectations. Would have been tempted to pick it up myself if I'd have seen it but don't have that feeling any more.

it's comforting to realize that if and when I finish Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe stories, I'll have Ngaio Marsh to pick up. Marsh and Stout were two of my mother's favorites...

** any hints on the pronunciation of her first name? I've been going with N-gay-o but have no idea if that's right.

I believe it's pronounced Ne-guy-oh.

This site suggests:

Her first name, pronounced "ny-o", is a Maori word, meaning "Reflections on the water", and was chosen by her uncle.

@133 and @134: It's been many years since I'd seen the film. I recall enjoying it then, but given your comments, I wonder if I'd enjoy it as much now. I don't remember much of the dialogue, but if it's like the dialogue in the book, it'll probably make me cringe now. (I have less patience for such things as I get older. Sigh ....) Still, I'm glad I'd seen the film if only to be aware of the cultural references. I work in a very geeky environment, and every now and then, one hears the odd joke about blinking hands and such.

135, 136, 137: I'd wondered about the pronunciation too. Thanks, clif_hiker, for the clarification. I often encounter Asian names starting with "Ng", but in the Chinese dialect my family speaks, there is no real English equivalent for the sound.

28. Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
When I heard that this book was a sci-fi steampunk Western with zombies, I figured it would be a light and fun book. What surprised me was that the writing and character development were much better than I’d expected given the premise. I really appreciated the character of Briar, perhaps because I haven’t read too many sci-fi/fantasy books where the main character is a plain, worn-out middle-aged Mom (not too unlike myself)!

This book was chosen for the steampunk book-club run by our local independent bookstore. The meeting is in a couple of days and I’m looking forward to hearing what the others have to say about it. I definitely plan to read more by Cherie Priest.

Hi Paulina - Boneshaker is quite the ride, I will give it that! One of these days I will venture into Priest's further works in the series..... maybe as a marathon read. ;-)

Boneshaker is definitely a book I want to get to at some point. Just need to pick it up first and find time to add it to the reading list. Glad you enjoyed it.

I've been looking forward to Boneshaker. I love zombies. :)

Boneshaker is on my list of books I would like to get to sooner rather than later, and now I hear there are zombies! That moves it up even further for me cause I love zombies, too.

I had issues with the rather silly ending in Boneshaker, but I liked Priest's style and world-building. Will surely check out the later parts sooner or later. They are really nicely designed too!

I went to the book-club discussion for Boneshaker a few days ago and was surprised by the mixed reactions to it. Some people liked the characters and the world; some didn't. It seemed that reactions depended greatly on the readers' prior expectations. I didn't expect much and was pleasantly surprised. Others had read stellar reviews and had been hoping for more. In any case, it made for a lively discussion!

29. Web of Air by Philip Reeve
This novel is the sequel to Fever Crumb, the first in a YA steampunk series (the prequel to Reeve’s Mortal Engines series). There were a few small disappointments. This novel
did not contain as much of the humour that I enjoyed so much in the first book, and I’m getting a bit bored with the quest-to-fly theme (maybe I’ve been reading too much steampunk lately). I was also disappointed that some of the more interesting characters from the first book (e.g. Wavey Godshawk, Kit Solent) had relatively small roles here. Reeve got me quite intrigued in the first book and I was hoping he’d continue some of the threads, but Web of Air is mostly a standalone novel. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I do hope to read more about the other characters and the back story in future books.

On the plus side, there was much more character development in this novel. Despite my complaints, I would recommend this novel as Philip Reeve’s writing is superior to that of many other YA fantasy writers.

30. Runaway by Wendelin Van Draanan
This was chosen by one of the members of our parent-child book club. We haven’t had the book-club meeting yet, but a few of the kids who had finished it said they loved it, and I liked it very much myself.

The novel, written in the form of a journal, is about a 12-year-old orphan who runs away from her abusive foster parents and travels across the US on her own. There is a lot of humour in the novel and nothing extremely disturbing, but some of the harsh situations might make it more appropriate for older kids. This would actually be a terrific book for a reluctant reader. It’s relatively short, well-paced and easy-to-read but it’s still meaty enough for good discussion.

My only criticism is that a few of the situations seemed unrealistic. It sounds, from the afterword, that the author was diligent about her research, but at times, it was hard to believe that the journal entries were from a 12-year-old.

As a side note, I’ll add that perhaps I should not judge too quickly whether certain novels are realistic or not. I met Natale Ghent a couple of years ago, when our parent-child book-club read No Small Thing (an excellent YA read). That book was about a 12-year-old boy who did some unexpected things for a child that age. I thought that parts of that novel were unrealistic, as did some publishers according to Ghent, but she assured us that most of the events were based on her own childhood experiences!

31. Bedtime Story by Robert Wiersema
Wiersema is a Canadian author who is new to me. I picked up this book because it is on this year’s list of nominees for the Ontario Library Association’s Evergreen award, and I am very glad I did.

The novel is about a writer, Christopher Knox, whose son David falls into a catatonic state while reading an old fantasy book written by one of Chris’s favourite authors. David is trapped within the story, where he must embark on an arduous quest to retrieve a magical object. At the same time, Chris struggles in the real world to rescue his son’s soul and come to terms with his failing marriage.

There is a lot that I liked about this unexpected mix of urban fantasy, high fantasy, supernatural and literary novel: the complexity of the plot lines, the well-rounded characters and most of all, the suspense. I really had a hard time putting the book down.

Nice to see it was a lively book group discussion about Boneshaker! I see you have been busy reading. You have caught my eye with Bedtime Story..... will need to look into that one further so thanks for bringing a new to me Canadian author to my attention!

The synopsis of Bedtime Story caught my eye as well -- looks like one for the TBR list!

I too am adding Bedtime Story to the wishlist!

I'm glad to see there is some interest in Bedtime Story. Wiersema's name is not widely known, but I hope we'll be hearing more about him and from him in the future. I really do like the Ontario Library Association's yearly lists. They don't restrict the award nominees to "literary" fiction, but try to cover a wide mix of genres, and I've discovered some really good Canadian authors through them. They always have great choices for their children's and YA lists too. BTW, even though it's the Ontario Library Association's lists, the authors chosen are not just from Ontario.

32. Hunger by Michael Grant
Hunger is the second book in the Gone series. The first book had a good premise and a gripping plot, but I feel Michael Grant is a mediocre writer. I continued with this second book only because my 13-year-old daughter pressured me to do so. (She agrees to read my recommendations if I read hers.) For some reason, she is crazy about this series and is at this moment deep into the 5th book.

My feelings toward this second book are similar to those toward the first. The plot was good, but the dull writing style and weak dialogue made it a struggle to read at first. Later, I found the book harder to put down, as I was eager to find out what happens in the end. The book is fast-paced and action-packed, but there was just too much going on for my tastes: too many characters, too many plotlines, and way too many different paranormal powers. My daughter assures me that it all comes together in the later books, but I’ll have to see if I have the patience to keep going.

33. Spin by Robert Charles Wilson

I’d read this Hugo-winning sci-fi novel last year and loved it so much that I proposed it for a sci-fi book-club meeting. It was even better reading it the second time around, and the book-club members unanimously gave it a thumbs up.

In the novel, Earth is suddenly enclosed in a protective membrane by an alien race, shutting out the rest of the universe where time passes at a rate of millions of years for each one on Earth. The story explores how people deal with this sudden change in the world and the possibility that the human race will come to an end with the eventual demise of the aging sun. The story is told from the point-of-view of Tyler Dupree, a doctor whose life is entwined with those of his childhood friends, twins Jason (a brilliant scientist trying to understand the “Spin” phenomenon) and Diane, whom he has always adored from afar and who seeks comfort within a religious sect.

For me, Spin combines the best of science-fiction and literary fiction. There is no lack of interesting speculative science, but it’s all woven into a compelling story with complex characters. Best of all is Wilson’s quality writing.

Wilson is almost local, as he lives north of Toronto, not too far from where I am, and I had the pleasure of hearing him speak at a literary festival last year. He was promoting Vortex, the third and final book in this series. I’m eager to read Axis, the second book, but at the same time, Spin is such a great stand-alone novel that I’m a little reluctant to go forward. I’ve heard Axis is somewhat disappointing, but Vortex has gotten very good reviews.

Finally, I'm caught up with my reviews and can do my March recap.

Books read: 11 from 8 different categories.
Favourite book this month: Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
Least favourite book this month: Logan's Run by William F. Nolan

I seem to have over-indulged in sci-fi and fantasy this past month! That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I hope to have more variety in my April reading. I plan to join the group read for Things Fall Apart and I have a pile of mysteries and Asian books (and even Asian mysteries) waiting for me.

I was going to pick up Gone for autism awareness month (there is apparently an autistic child in it?), but then I decided that as I'm currently trying to bully my way through The Hunger Games series I'll wait on Gone. To much kid-on-kid violence at once might make me flip. ;) I'll keep in mind what you said about the writing, though. I read that in a few other places, too. It's good to know.

Spin sounds good - I'll have to give it a try.

I know what you mean about not wanting to continue with series. I'm one of the crowd who never read the follow ups to Ender's Game - to me, it was just about perfect as it was. I've also never read beyond the first three of Elizabeth Haydon's Symphony of Ages books. The Rhapsody Trilogy (which begins with, you guessed it, Rhapsody) is so wonderful I've been afraid to mess with it by reading more. I'm glad to know someone else understands the impulse to resist!

156: Yes, one of the main characters in the series is an autistic child. The subject of autism does come up but is not a significant aspect of the book. There are probably better reads for Autism Awareness Month, and I see from your thread that you had found one of them. :)

@157: I've not read Ender's Game but friends have told me that the follow-ups are not as good as the first. I'm not familiar with Elizabeth Haydon -- will have to make a note of that name!

34. Dogs of Riga by Henning Mankell
This novel is the second in the Inspector Wallander series set in Sweden. In this particular novel, Wallander spends much of his time in Latvia, where he collaborates with Latvian police in solving the mystery surrounding two bodies in a life raft washed up on Swedish shores.

I found the plot to be somewhat plodding for most of the novel, though the last quarter was fast-paced and exciting. This novel seemed more like a thriller than a whodunnit type of mystery. Wallander is a thoughtful, introspective character and reflects at length on the differences between the difficult life for most Latvian citizens and his more comfortable life in Sweden.

Those who have been following my thread will know that I’ve been working through Arnaldur Indridason’s novels. There are many similarities between Wallander and Indridason’s Inspector Erlendur, both in their characters and circumstances. So far, I have a preference for Indridason’s novels but am more than willing to read more in the Wallander series.

35. The Reincarnation of Peter Proud by Max Erhlich
When I was a kid, I watched this movie on TV. It was entirely inappropriate for a preteen, but my parents, who worked long hours at the family business, didn’t monitor my TV-viewing much. I recall being terrified and having trouble sleeping for days. Recently, I decided to pick up the book to see if it was as scary as I’d remembered.

Well, the book didn’t seem quite so frightening, but it was still suspenseful and somewhat disturbing. The novel is about a college professor, Peter Proud, who experiences extremely vivid dreams about episodes from a previous life, including an episode in which he is murdered by a woman named Marcia. He goes on a quest to find out about his past, in the hopes that re-experiencing some of the episodes in an altered way may eventually purge them from his dreams.

One aspect of the book that I found interesting was how it seems to be a reflection of its time. It was written in the early 1970’s, when interest in the occult had a resurgence. It seems to me that there are fewer popular movies, books and TV shows about reincarnation as there had been in my youth.

>157 Dejah_Thoris: - 158
I highly recommend Elizabeth Haydon's Rhapsody and the follow ups Prophecy and Destiny. I've read them several times and still enjoy them.

Dogs of Riga is interesting to me mainly because of the Latvian setting, but I'm just not that into Scandicrime. I'll have to think about that one. On the other hand, The Reincarnation of Peter Proud sounds kind of fun! You gotta love the 70s....

I've read one of the later Wallander books, Firewall, and wasn't too impressed so haven't thought about picking up another. Might have to consider Dogs of Riga purely because of the setting for my European mysteries challenge.

@161: I've added Rhapsody to my wishlist. It sounds like something I'll enjoy. Yes, Peter Proud was fun, and a good albeit creepy revisit of the 70s.

@162: I'd also read Faceless Killers which was not bad and Kennedy's Brain which was a disappointment. I think Mankell is great at exploring social issues but there are better Scandinavian crime writers. Still, it was worthwhile to "explore" Latvia, if only a small part of it from the point of view of a Swedish writer!

36. They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children by Romeo Dallaire
Romeo Dallaire is very well-known in Canada. This retired Lieutenant-General was part of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Rwanda in the 90’s and is now an author, senator and humanitarian. In this book, he writes about his experiences with child soldiers and his continuing mission to eradicate this abhorrent practice.

There were a few aspects of the book that I did not like. Dallaire included a couple of fictional excerpts based on the experiences of a child soldier and a peacekeeper. These seemed out of place and I am surmising that Dallaire inserted them to help us better visualize the situation and share the feelings of the people involved. However, I have no doubts that any of the real-life stories he could tell us would be even more poignant and disturbing.

The chapters seem to oscillate between presentations of the cold hard facts and emotional appeals. The final chapter is a lengthy and impassioned plea to young people. Dallaire asks them not to give up hope but to consider what each of them can do to change the world for the better. Reading it made me realize that the entire book sounds much like a mix of conference presentations and inspirational speeches. I could imagine Dallaire making a huge impact speaking live, but something seems lost when his thoughts are put into writing. Also, there seemed to be an excessive amount of time spent on telling us what most of us already know or suspect, such as: humanitarian NGOs and the military have different points-of-view and have difficulty working together.

Despite these criticisms, I would still recommend this book, if only so that people spend some time contemplating this difficult and important issue that doesn’t get as much attention as it deserves in the media. It is particularly interesting to read about this problem from the point-of-view of a high-ranking military official. Usually, books about such issues are written by members of humanitarian organizations. It is not uncommon for civilians to think of military people as cold, aloof, and desensitized to the atrocities of war, but Dallaire does not fit this stereotype and shows, on the contrary, how devastating encounters with child soldiers are for adult peacekeepers. Indeed, it would be a very good thing if military leaders around the world looked at these issues as thoughtfully and comprehensively as he does.

37. Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
My 17-year-old daughter picked up this book and was quite enthusiastic about it, so I decided to read it too. The book is essentially a collection of essays where the authors (one of them an economist) uses statistical analysis to dispel common myths. Some of their claims (e.g. declines in crime rates are highly correlated with changes in abortion laws) are certainly controversial, but they show how it's the data that matters, not emotional appeals or so-called conventional wisdom.

I felt the authors explained well the difference between correlation and causality. Two things can be correlated, without one causing the other. However, I was disappointed about the brevity of the book and the lack of depth. Perhaps I'm not the right audience, as I have some familiarity with statistical analysis, but I wonder if other readers might not feel the same, even if they have no experience with mathematics or economics.

Despite this complaint, I appreciated the take-home message of the book, which is not to believe everything people (especially politicians) tell you, but to dig a little deeper and examine the evidence. I was also happy about the fact that my daughter, after reading this book, considered briefly the possibility of taking a data analysis course next year, even though she had earlier sworn to never take another math course again. I'm not holding out much hope but it's great to see that, for a moment at least, she recognized some value in learning math!

I think even people who are trained to know that correlation does not prove causation have trouble with this concept sometimes. After all, our brains are wired to find and interpret patterns...it's how we learn. My PhD thesis ended up to be almost entirely correlative data (just by the nature of what I was doing) and I've been struggling ever since to get the data published because my old thesis advisor is really excited about it and I just look at it and shake my head and say "but it doesn't prove anything!" :)

I wasn't very fond of math when I was at school, but I must admit that one of my most difficult and hated classes, Statistics, is one of the few I've had actual/direct use for in real life.

@166: I guess the correlative data doesn't definitively prove anything, but interesting relationships could still exist. Good luck with your work -- maybe you'll get a great Freakonomics-type story from your thesis. :)

167: I actually found a probability course that I took decades ago to be extremely useful. We analyzed the odds of winning various popular casino games, and as a result of that exercise, I've never been tempted to go into a casino. I figure it's better to just put the money in the bank ... or buy more books!

38. Shelter by Frances Greenslade
I’ve been reading through the Ontario Library Association’s 2012 Evergreen list, and that’s how Shelter came to my attention. The novel is narrated by teenager Maggie, who lives in a remote part of British Columbia with her mother and older sister Jenny. Soon after the death of Maggie’s father, her mother leaves the sisters in the care of a foster family to pursue work. When communication from her mother ceases and her sister is faced with a personal crisis, Maggie embarks on a search for her mother and in the process, learns much about her family and herself.

Initially, I had some doubts about this book, which seemed to me the stereotypical Canadian novel, with its treatment of the wilderness, survival and isolation. However, I soon became immersed in this very readable story told simply and beautifully. Shelter is a very strong first novel from Canadian writer Frances Greenslade, and I look forward to reading more from her.

There was a series of articles on the BBC website about stats and the correlation causation issue was memorably highlighted by saying "does an increase in ice cream sales cause shark attacks"

170: That's hilarious! It is possible, though, that the answer is "yes". :)

39. I am the Messenger by Marcus Zusak
Nineteen-year-old Ed Kennedy, an underachieving taxi driver, suddenly becomes a hero after unwittingly foiling a bank robbery. He is then sent a cryptic set of instructions from an unknown source indicating that he must embark on a series of missions to help various individuals. In figuring out what each person needs from him and performing his acts of kindness, Ed comes to a greater understanding of himself and his own potential.

This novel wasn't quite as memorable as Zusak’s very well-known work, The Book Thief, but it was an excellent read all the same. I loved Markus Zusak's quirky humour and found Ed to be a wonderful character, terribly ordinary yet so very special at the same time. I was surprised that this novel is considered a young-adult work. Apart from the fact that it is a coming-of-age novel, it didn’t seem to belong in the YA genre. I am slightly embarrassed to admit that I had let my 13-year-old read it first without realizing that some of the material might not be suitable for younger teens. She also liked the book very much and does not seem to be worse off for having read it.

40. The Calling by Kelley Armstrong
This is the second of Kelley Armstrong’s Darkness Rising Trilogy, which is set in the same world as her Darkest Powers series. This is a young-adult fantasy novel about a teenager Maya who discovers that she and several of her friends have special powers that others are trying to exploit. This book felt very much like a second book of a trilogy. There were a few surprising revelations and some character development but still a lot of threads hanging. One thing it didn’t lack was plenty of fast-paced action.

A couple of posts back, I mentioned that Shelter was the stereotypical Canadian novel, with its themes of survival, isolation and the wilderness. Well, I was struck by the fact that The Calling is also about a teenage girl who roams around the BC forest and then emerges with a better understanding of herself, her family and native lore (except here, she has paranormal powers and is being chased by Bad Guys). I guess there really are common themes in Can-Lit. :)

41. A Noble Radiance by Donna Leon
This is the first of Donna Leon’s novels that I’ve read, and it’s part of her Commissario Guido Brunetti series. Brunetti investigates a kidnapping that occurred two years earlier, after the body of the victim, a young man belonging to a wealthy and powerful family, is unearthed. I found the plot weak and not all that suspenseful. However, I really loved the setting. The descriptions of Venice (especially those of Brunetti’s mid-day meals) made me recall the wonderful time my family and I had there on vacation a few years ago. I think the characters could also grow on me with time, so I wouldn’t be adverse to reading another from this series.

42. A Backward Place by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
I really loved Jhabvala’s Heat and Dust and wanted to read more of her works, but I couldn’t get very enthusiastic about A Backward Place. The story is centred around a number of Westerners living in Delhi and shows the cultural divide between them and the local people. I had a hard time warming up to any of the characters, as they all seemed pathetic to me, with Judy, the main character, only slightly less so than the others. Still, there were some perceptive observations and wonderfully comic moments. The novel is a good snapshot of life in post-independence India.

43. Skybreaker by Kenneth Oppel
This young-adult steampunk novel is a worthy sequel to Airborn. In this installment, Matt and Kate join forces with new characters Hal and Nadira on a mission to rescue The Hyperion, an airship that went astray forty years ago and now hovers high in the sky almost completely out of reach.

This novel has all the elements of its award-winning predecessor: great characters, flawless pacing, adventure, romance, suspense and more. It fits well into the series as it further develops Matt’s growth into adulthood and his continuing romance with Kate, but at the same time, it works perfectly well as a stand-alone story. There are a few predictable moments, but Oppel sure knows how to write an adventure story!

Ooooh...... another steampunk series to investigate..... thanks!

Missed your earlier review of Airborn so thanks for going back to the series. As Lori says it looks like one to be added to the never-ending wishlist.

Lori and Dave, I don't think you can go wrong with Airborn, if you're looking for a fun steampunk adventure. I've heard that Oppel's latest books, Half Brother and This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein, are also very good.

44. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
This book had been sitting on my shelves for some time, and I’m grateful for the April group read, as it brought this novel to the top of the stack. The novel follows the life of Okonkwo, an African from the Igbo region, and describes how both his own choices and European colonization bring about his downfall. The novel is reminiscent of a Greek or Shakespearean tragedy and I loved Achebe’s powerful and simple storytelling. I wish I had been able to listen to this on audiobook because this seemed like a story that ought to be read out loud.

I have the Classics in Context edition (bought for 25 Canadian cents at a library book sale!) that includes a lengthy essay by Don Ohadike on Igbo culture and history. That itself was quite interesting and helpful to me in understanding the work.

45. The Moon Pool by A. Merritt
This was a selection for a friend's book club; otherwise, I would probably have abandoned the book after the first few chapters. It started off with a great premise: explorers vanish in a frightening and mysterious way on an island in the South Pacific, and a scientist, along with his companions, go to the island on a rescue mission.

Soon, though, the novel started to drag, and I found my mind wandering as I tried to get through the awful dialogue and the flowery, effusive descriptions. For example, this is a description of the evil priestess:

"Yolara seemed to gather within herself pulsing waves of power; she was terrifying; gloriously, maddeningly evil; and as gloriously, maddeningly heavenly! Aphrodite and the Virgin! Tanith of the Carthaginians and St. Bride of the Isles! A queen of hell and a princess of heaven -- in one!"

Despite these complaints, I'm rather glad that I did finish the book after all. The footnotes, supposedly written by the scientist Goodwin, were entertaining, and it was interesting to read a representative example of early 20th century science fiction.

My April recap:

Books read: 12 from 9 categories
Favourite book: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Least favourite book: The Moon Pool by A. Merritt

Looking over my April books, I see an awful lot of death and destruction. I hadn't realized my last month's reading was so grim. Maybe I should include some comedy or romance in my May list!

#160 Last year I read two horror books, The Manitou and The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane, that I remembered seeing as a kid. The Reincarnation of Peter Proud goes on my wish list since it is in the same vein.

Seems Things fall apart was a big hit with all of us who read it! Still lingers with me.

183: Those books look scary. I've avoided horror novels for such a large part of my life I feel that I've just started to discover the genre in the past couple of years. It's nice to find authors new to me.

184: I enjoyed reading it as part of the group read. It's interesting to see the different reactions but I agree that most seemed to have liked it very much!

46. The Last Song by Eva Wiseman
In this young-adult novel by Canadian writer Eva Wiseman, the main character Isabel lives in Spain during the time of the Inquisition. Troubles start when it is revealed that Isabel’s parents have Jewish roots. To protect her from the dangers associated with her family’s past, her parents betroth her to a man from a respectable family, even though she finds him despicable and cruel. When her father is arrested, Isabel realizes she must act quickly to save his life.

My 13-year-old daughter also read this book, and we both enjoyed it. However, parts of the novel read very much like a history lesson, albeit a worthwhile one, and other parts seemed rushed. This novel is very short, which makes it an excellent read for middle-school or older reluctant readers, but I can’t help thinking that a fuller treatment of the characters and plot would have turned this from a good book into a great book. Still, it was refreshing for both of us to read a new young-adult historical novel (the YA genre seems swamped with fantasy/horror these days), especially one set in Spain during a turbulent time.

47. Embassytown by China Mieville
I’m putting this book into my Miscellaneous category because, though it’s ostensibly a sci-fi book, it is primarily about language and how it develops. The novel is narrated by Avice, who lives on a planet where humans coexist peacefully with an alien race, the Ariekei. The language of the Areikei is so different from that of humans that only a few special Ambassadors can communicate with them. The arrival of a new Ambassador suddenly brings about a major disruption in communication, and with that, a breakdown of language, relationships and infrastructure.

I found the first half of the book to be challenging and it required some commitment. Mieville builds a very complex world, and I needed to work at understanding his examination of language. It was worth the effort, though. After I had a better grasp of the ideas, I found that the second half of the novel moved more quickly. It wasn't as gripping as The City and the City but it was definitely a book that made me think. This novel was chosen for a local sci-fi book club and I'm sure it will provide plenty of meaty topics for discussion.

This novel was reminiscent of a Star Trek TNG episode called "Darmok" where Captain Picard struggles to communicate with aliens that speak only in metaphors. I’d rewatched this episode a few weeks ago and didn’t care for it, thinking that it had a silly premise and was unrealistic, but now I believe I was too hasty in my judgement. Certainly, Mieville’s thorough treatment of language makes the ideas more plausible.

I'm completing my Miéville canon for this year's challenge (except for Railsea as I just cannot muster the strength to read Moby Dick just now), and am really looking forward to this one. Good review!

Nice review... must resist reread this year... too many books!

good review of embassytown I loved that book - making a mental note about the star trek episode - although not really a fan of TNG...

I should get back to reading more of Miéville. Thanks for the reminder.

Embassytown is already on the radar so glad to see your positive review for it!

Nice to see so many Miéville fans here. Next up for me is Perdido Street Station. I'd like to read Railsea too but I too need to read Moby Dick first.

48. A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif
A Case of Exploding Mangoes is a satirical novel about events leading up to a real-life tragedy that remains shrouded in mystery: a 1988 plane crash that took the lives of Pakistan president and dictator General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, high-ranking military official General Akhtar Abdur Rehman, and American Ambassador Arnold Raphel.

Many conspiracy theories arose from the tragedy, and Hanif creates a very dark and funny story from one of these. The main character Ali Shigri plots to kill General Ali, who he thinks is responsible for the death of his father, but he is not the only one with this goal. Hanif is completely irreverent, poking fun at the military, religion, and politics. There are many moments that are both hilarious and disturbing at the same time.

A Case of Exploding Mangoes looks pretty interesting. I might have to check it out.

49. Mennonites Don’t Dance by Darcie Friesen Hossack

Darcie Friesen Hossack is another new author that I’ve discovered through the Ontario Library Association’s Evergreen list. I don’t often read short-story collections, but I greatly enjoyed this one, which gives us glimpses into the lives of Mennonites living on Canada’s prairies. I was impressed by how much Hossack drew me into each story after only a few paragraphs.

These are not particularly happy stories. A number of the characters suffer from depression or anxiety, and several stories deal with the tension between the older generation attempting to maintain the traditional way of life and the younger members trying to find their place in a modern society. At the same time, the stories celebrate lovingly the simple joys in life, like the smell of freshly baked bread.

Even though the stories are set in the prairies, they seem closer to home as we live near a fairly large Mennonite community here in Ontario. Hossack’s stories give us insight into Mennonite customs and traditions but they also show that their hopes, fears and concerns are not all that different from those of anyone else.

I think I need to add Mennonites Don't Dance to my TBR wish list. I think the "freshly baked bread" part got me! ;-)

> 196 - I have that one on my To Read Later list after reading VancouverDeb's comments. Looks like I might need to think about moving it up the list. Nice review Paulina!

Doing my catch-up round after my holidays - lots of good stuff over here, I see...! I'm another one of the Miéville-fans who loved Embassytown. I picked up a copy of Railsea while I was in Sweden so I'll be reading that soon - I might do a movie or graphic novel of Moby Dick beforehand, but I've decided to not read the whole thing - it's just too dense for my current mood. Some day.

I've been looking at I am the Messenger, but think I will wait until The Book Thief is out of my head a little more so that I can be a little more objective - good to hear it's worth the read!

@197: I read somewhere that Hossack is a food writer, and that really shows in the novel.

@198: I also enjoyed (and agreed with) VancouverDeb's review.

@199: I hadn't thought of doing a graphic novel of Moby Dick. That's a great idea, though I really ought to read the full version one day.

50. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
In The Sparrow, a scientist discovers a music-like signal sent from a distant planet. This eventually leads to a mission of exploration in a refurbished asteroid, with the crew consisting of four Jesuit priests, a doctor, an engineer and two scientists. When they reach the planet, they learn to interact with the alien races and discover things both wondrous and nightmarish. The story is told by one of the Jesuit priests, Father Emilio Sandoz, who, decades later, returns to earth as the sole survivor in a mentally and physically damaged state. As the Jesuit Society interrogates him about the mission, the details of the journey and the horrors of the final days of the mission are slowly revealed.

Throughout the novel, interspersed with the scientific jargon and alien encounters, are deep examinations of religion, delivered through conversations between the main characters or through Father Emilio’s thoughts. Indeed, the novel is as much an exploration of spirituality as an exploration of a neighbouring solar system. I found that the reflections on faith mixed in with an exciting sci-fi story made for a novel that was both thoughtful and thoroughly readable.