Clfisha's Unlucky 13

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Charlas2013 Category Challenge

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Clfisha's Unlucky 13

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1clfisha
Editado: Ene 11, 2013, 6:31 am

13 is considered one unlucky number and never one to buck a trend the theme is the dark side and my aim this year is fail this challenge by a whisker. Oh yes success is a failure and failure is a success...

The rules:
-I must fail the challenge by a slim amount
-I must not make it insanely hard i.e. read 13 books in each category
-I must have lots of fun.
-All -tag challenges have a target number, defined my random rolling of two 6 sided dice (plus 1)
-I must read a book in every tag AND reach the total.
-No star ratings just: Bad, Average, Good, Excellent and Amazing.

(cue drum roll...) and so here are my ghastly categories:
1. 13 Linked Books
2. The four horseman of the apocalypse - Tags: - death, pestilence, famine, war, & general apocalypse
3. Unwanted lent books "it's my favourite book, you simply must read it!"
4. Death by dangerously leaning TBR
5. Superstition - Tags: curses, fantastical occurrences, witchcraft, supernatural shenanigans, luck
6. Crime and Unpunishment - Tags: Noir, Detective fiction, true crime, revenge, overly long books by Russian authors
7. Sheer terror - Tags: horror, unnatural creatures, dystopian futures, spiders, the romance genre
8. Hellish temptations - Tags: Iconoclasm, false idols, murder, hedonism, satanic worship
9. The curse of the Unfinished books
10. The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories edited by Jeff & Ann VanderMeer
11. "I think we are going to make it" - not in this challenge! books with unhappy endings
12. The Ernest Hemingway Category
13. Unlucky dip - 5 tags you choose (but not just yet wait till Jan)

Tags - A book must be related to 1 or more of the tags (so these are the easy categories

2clfisha
Editado: Jun 4, 2013, 4:49 am

Category 1: 13 Linked Books

One book must be linked by a theme to the next one. So a non-fiction book on a serial killer could lead to say Silence of the Lambs. Books in a series or by the same author do not factor into it.

Books.
1. Ubik by Philip K Dick (29/5)
2. Losing the Head of Philip K. Dick by David Duffy Tag: Philip K Dick
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10
11.
12.
13.

Tags for the next book:
AI, androids and robots, letters & interview, film promotion.

3clfisha
Editado: Jun 28, 2013, 4:10 am

Category 2: The four horseman of the apocalypse
Tags: - death, pestilence, famine, war, & general apocalypses

Books
1. The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass (4/1, Amazing) Tag: war
2. The Coming by Andrej Nikolaidis (8/1 Excellent) Tag: general apocalypses
3. Redshirts by John Scalzi (12/1 Excellent) Tag: Death
4. The Hidden by Richard Sala (16/2, excellent) Tag: General Apocolypse
5. The Great Game by Lavie Tidhar (15/5 Good) Tag: War
6. Deathless by Catherynne M Valente (Excellent) Tag: Famine
7. Dangerous Gifts: A Babylon Steel Novel Tag. Pestilence
8.
9.

Candidates:
Lost everything by Brian Francis Slattery (or category 7)
The Last Policeman by Ben Winters

4clfisha
Editado: Ago 23, 2012, 9:31 am

Catgeory 3: Unwanted lent books "it's my favourite book, you simply must read it!"
Must be lent, must fill me with dread

Candidates:
Luckily I still have The Time Travellers wife if no one is cruel enough this year

5clfisha
Editado: Jun 24, 2013, 4:48 am

Category 4: Death by dangerously leaning TBR
new books I buy & books off the shelves.. especially the heavy ones teetering on the top shelf

1. Blackbirder by Dorothy B Hughes
2. The Grass-Cutting Sword by Catherynne M Valente (Excellent June)

Candidates:
Too many too mention

6clfisha
Editado: Jun 24, 2013, 4:50 am

Category 5: Superstition
Tags: curses, fantastical occurrences, witchcraft, supernatural shenanigans, luck

Books:
1. Swamplandia by Karen Russell (excellent). I don't believe there was a ghost so the tag is Luck.
2. The Unreal and the Real: Outer Space, Inner Lands by Ursula K. Le Guin (excellent 27/1) Tag: Fantastical Occurences
3. The Half-Made World by Felix Gilman Tag: supernatural shenanigans
4. The Circle (hammer) by Sara B. Elfgren and Mats Strandberg Tag.witchcraft
5. The Rise of Ransom City by Felix Gilman Tag: supernatural shenanigans
6. Jagannath by Karen Tidbeck Tag: fantastical occurrences
7.

Candidates:
Mockingbird by Chuck Wendig

7clfisha
Editado: Mar 10, 2013, 11:22 am

Category 6. Crime and Unpunishment
Tags: Noir, Detective fiction, true crime, revenge, overly long books by Russian authors

Books:
1. The Gun Machine by Warren Ellis (Good 14/1) Tag: Detective fiction
2. I Was Dora Suarez by Derek Raymond (16/2, good) tag: Noir
3. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Excellent 5/3) Tag: Overly long books by Russian authors
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Candidates:
The Notting Hill Mystery: The First Detective Novel by Charles Felix (detective fiction)
No Sleep Till Wonderland by Paul Tremblay (detective fiction)
The Brothers Karamazov or Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyesky (russian authors) or then again probably not..
The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York by Deborah Blum

8clfisha
Editado: Jun 24, 2013, 4:49 am

Category 7: Sheer terror
Tags: horror, unnatural creatures, dystopian futures, spiders, the romance genre

Books:
1. Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman (author) and various artists Tag: Horror
2. The Collector by John Fowles Tag: Horror
3. The Mall by S.L. Grey (ok 10/3) Tag: Horror
4. Camera Obscura by Lavie Tidhar Tag. Unnatural Creatures
5. The Crane Wife by Patrick Ness Tag: Romance
6. The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson Tag: Dystopian futures
7. Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord. Tag: Spiders
8.
9.
10.

Candidates:
Talulla Rising by Glen Duncan (if it comes out in paperback) (unnatural creatures)
Losing the Head of Philip K. Dick by David Duffy well ok a robotic head may not be unnatural but its my challenge!
Lost everything by Brian Francis Slattery (dystopian futures)
The Devil in Silver: A Novel by Victor LaValle (unnatural creatures)

9clfisha
Editado: Jun 28, 2013, 10:52 am

Category 8. Hellish temptations
Tags: Iconoclasm, false idols, murder, hedonism, satanic worship

Books:
1. Delphine by Richard Salsa (Good, 5/1) Tag: Iconoclasm
2. The Unwritten Volume 6: Tommy Taylor War of Words by Mike Carey & Peter Gross (Excellent, 5/1) Tag: Iconoclasm
3. A Flight of Angels by Various Authors and illustrated by Rebecca Guay. Tag: Murder
4. Sandman: The Doll's House by Neil Gaiman and various artists (amazing)
5. Sandman: Dream Country by Neil Gaiman & various artists (ok 10/3) tag: iconoclasm
6. Mad Night by Richard Sala (3/10 good) tag: iconoclasm, murder
7. Isle of 100,000 Graves by Jason & Fabien Vehlmenn (excellent 10/3) tag iconoclasm, murder
8. The Sandman: Season of Mists by Neil Gaiman & Various artists. Tag: iconoclasm, satanic worship.
9. The Sandman: A Game of You by Neil Gaiman & Various artists. Tag: iconoclasm
10. Walking Dead: Volume 17 by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard. Tag: iconoclasm
11. You're All Just Jealous of My Jetpack by Tom Gauld Tag: iconoclasm
12. Science Tales by Darryl Cunningham Tag: iconoclasm
13. The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes Tag: Murder

Tags to complete
False Idols:
Hedonism:

Candidates:
Astro City: Family Album by Kurt Busiek (graven images: Iconoclasm)
Habibi by Craig Thompson (as above)
Betrayals by Charles Palliser (murder)

10clfisha
Editado: Ago 23, 2012, 11:35 am

Category 9: The curse of the Unfinished books
oh I have plenty

Candidates
Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu
Divided Kingdom by Rupert Thomson
Berlin Alexanderplatz by Alfred Doblin
Death cloud Peril by Paul Malmont (Still havent got past the 1st paragraph, no idea why)
Voice of the Fire by Alan Moore

11clfisha
Editado: Ago 23, 2012, 9:30 am

Category: 10 The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories edited by Jeff & Ann Vandermeer
its a stupendeously huge short story collection (1126 pages) and I must read it all

1.

12clfisha
Editado: Mar 10, 2013, 11:25 am

11. "I think we are going to make it" - not in this challenge!
books with unhappy endings

Hmm I guess a list of candidates could be considered a bit of a spoiler...

so um look away.

SPOILERS!

1. They Shoot Horses Don't They? by Horace McCoy (6/3 good)

Candidates:
Rereads..
Probably Tigana or Lions of Al'rassan by GGK
The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks.. I can;t actually remember the ending.. I don't think a family group hug happened..

END SPOILERS

13clfisha
Editado: Sep 14, 2012, 8:24 am

12. The Ernest Hemingway Category
Regular followers will know I utterly detested Old Man and The Sea. Dare I read another? will I be able to finish?

Candidates:
A Farewell to Arms

14clfisha
Editado: Abr 2, 2013, 8:47 am

13. Unlucky dip - 5 tags you choose
bad sex, intertextuality, adventure travel, surreal, happy endings

Books.
1. The Emperor of All Things by Paul Witcover Tag: bad sex
2. Three to See The King by Magnus Mills Tag: surreal
3. How to get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid Tag: Happy Endings
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10
11.
12.
13.

15clfisha
Ago 23, 2012, 10:01 am

Right now to add more candidates, any recommendations obviously welcome :)

16Her_Royal_Orangeness
Ago 23, 2012, 1:06 pm

I laughed all the way through your set-up! (Romance genre under sheer terror......bahahaha!) I am definitely gonna follow you in 2013! :)

17mamzel
Ago 23, 2012, 1:55 pm

This looks like a good way to set yourself up for success! Well done. Here's to next year!

18rabbitprincess
Ago 23, 2012, 5:15 pm

Unwanted lent books! Yikes. Good luck with that category!

19Zozette
Ago 23, 2012, 6:08 pm

I had the problem of my mother wanting to get a rid of a lot of books before she died. I didn't want to offend her by not taking the ones she selected for me but they are not the sort of books I usually read.

Now that she has died I don't have the heart to throw them out. Maybe in 2014 I could have an unwanted given book category?

20clfisha
Ago 24, 2012, 4:38 am

Thanks :)

18 it tends to happen when a colleague finds out I like reading.. cue their favourite book. Mind you my mum keeps trying too. :)

19 Sorry to hear about your mother. A category is a good idea. I guess all you can do is try a few and then, if you want to part with them, make sure they get a good home with charities or friends.

Having said that I always feel so guilty when anyone lends me a book and I do not want to read it.. I don't know why, we can't all like the same books! Still I usually just try skim reading it now, occasionally I am surprised and enjoy it!

21Morphidae
Ago 24, 2012, 8:47 am

Love your idea of a random roll to determine the number of books for each challenge. I'm going to steal it for my own challenge.

22clfisha
Ago 24, 2012, 11:15 am

Please do :) I did it this year too and it has worked real well :)

23SouthernKiwi
Ago 25, 2012, 2:22 am

Another creative way to structure your challenge Claire, love it!

24-Eva-
Ago 27, 2012, 6:17 pm

Great categories!! I see that you will continue to murder my wishlist in the new year as well. Excellent, can't wait. :)

25lkernagh
Ago 27, 2012, 7:42 pm

Oh what interesting dark fun your categories hold! I particularly like the liked books category and have already snagged that idea for a future category.

26clfisha
Ago 28, 2012, 4:38 am

Thanks guys and please do use anything you see here. I was going to do a category where pairs of books were linked (I.e. Alienist and The Devil in the White City because I have enjoyed that this year, but this is much harder :)

27VictoriaPL
Ago 28, 2012, 1:38 pm

I love linking books together in some fashion, that's a neat idea for a category.

28dudes22
Sep 3, 2012, 8:22 pm

I utterly detested A Moveable Feast if you'd like another Hemingway to detest. Great idea for a theme. I'm finally narrowing mine down, I think.

29clfisha
Sep 4, 2012, 4:17 am

@28 Heh thanks. I was going to try A Farewell to Arms as we have that on our shelves and I resent the effort to acquire more :)

30DeltaQueen50
Sep 7, 2012, 10:24 pm

Love your set-up, Claire, and I'm looking forward to seeing how you fill your categories.

31LauraBrook
Sep 13, 2012, 8:21 pm

*Starred* again!

32Zozette
Sep 14, 2012, 5:54 pm

After re-reading this thread I have just ordered Losing the Head of Philip K Dick

My favourite Philip K Dick novel is A Scanner Darkly

33clfisha
Sep 24, 2012, 8:32 am

Waves to everyone.

@32 I know. I saw it a bookshop & it just had to be mine :)

34Bjace
Oct 6, 2012, 10:23 am

I'm sorry to hear that dudes22 hated A moveable feast. I don't like Hemingway either, but I had hopes of that one. I read Farewell to Arms years ago and managed to get through it.

35VictoriaPL
Oct 10, 2012, 11:24 pm

I also had a hard time getting through Chinatown Death Cloud Peril and admit I skipped portions of it. Good luck.

We need to pick a month to read Swamplandia.

Ubik is probably my favorite PKD novel and then Clans of the Alphane Moon. I haven't read many of his novels but I really enjoy his short story collections.
Have you read Philip K. Dick is Dead, Alas by Michael Bishop?
Looking into Losing the Head of Philip K Dick... thanks!

36GingerbreadMan
Oct 11, 2012, 6:21 pm

*Making first ever to brief peek into the 2013 group*

Sensational setup, Claire. Made me giggle all the way. Lots of enticing candidates too! (And yep, there's a ghost in Swamplandia! Or, well, there probably is.) Love the fact that you of all people have a Hemingway category!

37clfisha
Oct 12, 2012, 8:13 am

;-) I am quite nervous at the thought I may no longer hate Hemingway quite so much this time next year!

38PawsforThought
Oct 12, 2012, 8:19 am

I've always been quite fond of Hemingway. I wasn't wild about A Farewell to Arms but I loved The Old Man and the Sea and Hills Like White Elephants, besides having one of the greatest titles in history, was one of few forced reads I thouroughly enjoyed in school.

39LittleTaiko
Oct 22, 2012, 4:56 pm

I've only read A Farewell to Arms and A Moveable Feast by Hemingway and enjoyed both. In fact, I have a sort of Hemingway category for 2013 as well. He's sharing space with Sherlock Holmes and Oscar Wilde. Eclectic bunch! Hope you enjoy him more than you think you will!

40PawsforThought
Editado: Oct 22, 2012, 5:26 pm

Hemingway has a very special way of writing and if you like books that don't spend a lot of time detailing and describing things, then you'll like him. He really is the master of sparse writing. I love that type of literature so I he's my kind of guy.

Also, I loved The Sun Also Rises despite hating the obnoxiousness that is Brett, Jake and the rest of them. That's quite a feat.

41luvamystery65
Oct 22, 2012, 11:33 pm

I love all your categories. This is going to be a fun thread to follow! I recently finished The Poisoner's Handbook and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have recommended it to three coworkers but we're all nurses and they love that stuff. Geez I hope I don't end up in their Unwanted Lent (Recommended) Books category. :)

42clfisha
Editado: Oct 26, 2012, 10:59 am

@39 I hope so too :)

41 thank you :) Nice to see a good rec for The Poisoner's Handbook.. although I want to read it now obviously! and the unwanted lent books was inspired by some really dodgy loans last year ..(Diary of a Wimpy Vampire anyone?!) after someone spotted me reading True Blood and my mum who keeps lending me grown up adult books involving romance and no Ninjas.

43luvamystery65
Oct 26, 2012, 2:34 pm

Romance books without Ninjas! Horrid! :)

44Tanglewood
Oct 27, 2012, 9:10 pm

Great categories, especially Sheer Terror. I definitely be popping over to check out your reads.

45ivyd
Nov 5, 2012, 1:35 pm

Love your creative categories -- especially "unwanted lent books"! I think my guilt comes from not wanting to insult or disappoint someone who is trying to do me a favor. Especially since they often come to me from people who read -- but not a lot -- and to whom I have previously suggested or loaned a book that they really liked.

46-Eva-
Nov 5, 2012, 5:03 pm

I try and dodge those "unwanted lent books" - usually pointing to my huge Mt. TBR and say that I'll let them know when I have time to read "their" book. :) Doesn't always work, though... :)

47clfisha
Nov 6, 2012, 5:27 am

Making notes Eva.. making notes.. :)

I also feel too guilty Ivy, it is the less avid readers I feel guilty rejecting (well that and family!)

48pammab
Nov 8, 2012, 6:39 pm

Your thread looks like great fun! I'm also chuckling over the "unwanted lent books"... I have two on my shelf right now (one of which I've had coming up close on a year *wince*). People like to share, and I quite appreciate the thought, but sometimes I do wish they wouldn't...

49clfisha
Nov 9, 2012, 4:38 am

Thanks :) I am glad its not just me! I sometimes feel ungrateful.. still I admit sometimes I am surprised when it turns out to be good

50andreablythe
Nov 15, 2012, 12:00 pm

Darkeness and despair! lol. Love it.

(personally I think 13 is a lucky number)

51AHS-Wolfy
Dic 5, 2012, 4:13 pm

Looks like there's not a category I can safely ignore in your set up. Plenty of book bullets again no doubt.

52clfisha
Ene 2, 2013, 5:32 am

Well I am back after absconding to sunnier climes and having a Cuban Xmas. A fun, fascinating place but I am glad to be home, drinking strong coffee to offset the jetleg and catching up on LT. Happy New Year everyone!

My 1st book of the year will be The Tin Drum because it was so large and couldn't take it with me on holiday. The horror of leaving an unfinished book!

53GingerbreadMan
Ene 2, 2013, 6:21 am

Me and Flea backpacked in Cuba for seven weeks in 99. Still probably the trip of my life. Where were you?

Tin Drum is one of those milestone reads i've vowed to reread sometime. But at the rate my TBR is growing, it's probably not likely to happen soon...

54clfisha
Ene 2, 2013, 7:05 am

Oh wow, such a fascinating time to go to Cuba.. And it's a perfect county for hitching round. It's opening up a bit, lots of people are being encouraged their own small business, although the USA embargo is is still sadly in place but they are going after the tourist trade and doing up the Unesco areas.

We travelled round a bit managed to hit Vinales, Le Terraza, Habana, Trindidad, Santiago, Cienfugos, Santa Clara, hiked in the Sierra Maestra (Although not up the highest mountain). Being a city person Habana & Santiago were my favs but the mountains were fabulous, so were the people and the sounds. The food not so much (I dont eat meat)

What was your favourite place/memory?

55GingerbreadMan
Ene 2, 2013, 7:43 am

Lots to choose from of course. But I'd also say Santiago (including a fiesta night under a complete power blackout) and Habana the second time around (when we had six weeks of travel in us, and were less intimidated by the hustlers). We had lovely, sleepy days in Baracoa on the east coast. One particular memory I cherish was getting invited to a Father's day party in a Habana suburb with a great afro rumba band playing, headed by an old babaloa. I agree, the people were much better than the food :)

56lkernagh
Ene 2, 2013, 9:01 pm

Welcome back from what sounds like an absolutely lovely vacation and Happy New Year!

57clfisha
Ene 3, 2013, 3:31 am

Sounds fan Anders, it's the unexpected joys like fiesta or Fathers day party that make a holiday. :) you know we warned about the hustlers but they weren't much of a problem, usually left you alone after a No. Do you speak Spainish then? I think we would have had problems if it wasn't for Pete smattering.

Thanks Lori it was kind of special, happy new year!

58GingerbreadMan
Ene 3, 2013, 3:50 am

Nope, no spanish at all. But after seven weeks we were pidgin-ing away pretty good, with help of charades and drawing. At one time we were rained in in a bus stop tin shack outside of Vinales with three tobacco farmhands for two hours, having a really interesting conversation about sports and politics, which felt pretty detailed :) Back in 99, the people speaking english were generally hustlers.

59GingerbreadMan
Ene 3, 2013, 3:53 am

I'd love to go back and see what's happened. Did you stay in casas particolares or hotels?

60clfisha
Ene 3, 2013, 4:13 am

No for some reason we felt a bit too tired this year to wing it so we stayed in pre booked hotels, they were generally err.. interesting.. faded charm is a good expression. I use to whoop with joy when I found a fully functioning shower :) We tried to eat at the paladers though.. Hotel food.. Hmm.

Its on the brink of change, more small business, smattering of new cars, fresh paint on the buildings, hope that the embargo will fall but the two currencies are causing problems and a class system. Tourist CUCs are where it's at and people give up there jobs to work with tourists.

61GingerbreadMan
Ene 3, 2013, 4:40 am

That's was happening already back then. It was very apparent a new upper class was emerging, jiniteros and the jobs getting tipped in dolares. We spoke to more than one academic with dreams of getting a job as a hotel maid.

62GingerbreadMan
Ene 3, 2013, 4:43 am

With all their problems, cubans have so much to be proud of, too. I hope, in this new era of big tourism, they manage to keep some of the good stuff from these last fifty years (education, healthcare, ecology...), while getting rid of the bad.

63clfisha
Ene 3, 2013, 5:24 am

I think they will keep the good stuff, they are all hugely proud of their country; the free health & education etc.. As they should be. They are keen to travel though & once they do it will be interesting to see what impact that has. Both Castros are old now though, I guess it will really change after that (hopefully peacefully)

64SouthernKiwi
Ene 3, 2013, 7:53 pm

Welcome back Claire from what sounds like a fascinating holiday!

65-Eva-
Ene 3, 2013, 7:55 pm

Sounds like a fantastic trip! I've been wanting to go, but getting there from the US is a bit of a hassle. :)

66clfisha
Ene 4, 2013, 4:35 am

You can sneak in from Canada, where most of the tourists are from oddly. Those with American passports are allowed much freedom though.

67AHS-Wolfy
Ene 4, 2013, 7:59 am

Sounds like you had quite an adventure. Not seen Pete since you got back, did you leave him there?

68clfisha
Ene 4, 2013, 1:54 pm

He is somewhere around.. I can't seem to get him away from browsing in bookshops. Today I learnt there is such a thing as too many bookshops!

69-Eva-
Ene 4, 2013, 1:56 pm

They're probably regular Americans who say they're Canadian - people out in the rest of the world tend to like Canucks more than Americans... :) Luckily, I still have my Swedish passport, so I'll just have to leave the US and should be fine after that.

70PawsforThought
Ene 4, 2013, 3:28 pm

69. We're usually pretty welcome in most countries, aren't we? :) Except for Belarus, I suppose, who aren't big fans of us of late... ;)

71-Eva-
Ene 4, 2013, 5:02 pm

We manage to make ourselves somewhat unpopular in some parts of the world occasionally, but it usually passes pretty fast. :)

72PawsforThought
Ene 4, 2013, 6:56 pm

71. Yes, people tend to forget quickly and then go back to thinking about us as friendly, peace-loving blondes who are either deeply depressed or can only think about having sex. Which is of course all completely true.

73clfisha
Ene 5, 2013, 4:14 am

I have a terrible confession I can't tell the difference between Canadian and USA accents until maybe "about" is spoken.

Don't you have small childlike Vampires too? And are having a custody battle over Santa with Finland?

74PawsforThought
Editado: Ene 5, 2013, 7:39 am

73. Haha! I was always told that Santa lives in Rovaniemi (in Finland) so I'm on the Finns' side in the custody battle.

(I can't really tell the difference between Canadian English and American English, either. I just assume that Canadian English is less, ehm, well, American. You know what I mean.)

75lkernagh
Ene 6, 2013, 3:26 pm

I am not surprised that you encountered a fair number of Canadians in Cuba, Claire. Cuba and Mexico seem to be in the top five for vacation spots for Canadians looking for winter sunshine and beaches. Sadly, from where I am way, way over on the west coast of Canada, the travel packages that are a deal are hard to find - mainly because we still have to fly all the way over to Toronto and then down to Cuba from there and we just don't have the population numbers or the competition of multiple airlines to drop the fares down.

I can't really tell the difference between Canadian English and American English. I sometimes think it is only Canadians and Americans that can tell the difference, unless the American is from the southern states and has the distinctive speech patterns. It's more about mannerisms and subtle differences that are disappearing, more and more. My other half is Scottish and has been in Canada for over 20 year now - long enough to lose most of his brogue - but he still retains enough distinction in his speech to perk the ears of listeners to ask him where his is from. Sadly, only half guess correctly the first go, with the other half asking if he is Irish or Australian. Last time we were back in Scotland he was asked what part of America he was from, so go figure!

76clfisha
Editado: Ene 6, 2013, 3:34 pm

Category 2: The four horseman of the apocalypse. Tag: War

The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass
(Amazing)
Addictive and utterly original German classic

A lyrical and captivating, humorous, beautiful and grotesque German classic with a new English translation (2010 see below) that makes the original shine.

Oskar, our unreliable narrator, recounts his life from his bed in the mental hospital. And oh what a life. A life where he decided to stop growing at 3 and only ever to drum. A life where he could singshatter glass. A life of love, death, blasphemy and sex. Where he was a stone cutter, a jazz musician, a nude model, the head of a deviant gang.

It is a book that encompasses life, a book that gently takes you by the hand and wraps its beautiful language, its musical beat around you and never lets go. It could be seen to be shocking but it is never dull. Political and allegorical it maybe, a social commentary on Germany during and after the war (WWII) but it's also a superb story and I enjoyed it as such. Theme's hover gently, connections draw together the text, long sentences flow and crash into short ones. The characters dance in Oskar's story too, fully alive. There is never a dull moment, even for the tiny degenerations into insanity.

I've also been told it makes a good impression to begin modestly by asserting that novels no longer have heroes because individuals have ceased to exist, that individualism is a thing of the past, that all human beings are lonely, all equally lonely, with no claim to individual loneliness, that they all form some nameless mass devoid of heroes. All that may be true. But as far as I and my keeper Bruno are concerned, I beg to state that we are both heroes, quite different heroes, he behind his peep hole, I in front of it; and that when he opens the door, the two of us, for all our friendship and loneliness, are still far from being some nameless mass devoid of heroes.

One of the better books I have read and if your are in the mood for long immersement in deep waters may I highly
recommend this but please go for the new English translation.

Comment on the new translation
The translators afterword is fascinating on the trade of a translator but also sheds to light the difference they can make, on the aims of a translator: "Do we owe our allegiance to the reader or to the author?" I.e. do they make it more accessible in language or culture to target audience. I know my preference but it's an interesting point.

Here he has worked very closely with the author to bring the text in line with the original. Long sentences, originally were broken up for easy digestion and these were restored, as was the rhythm and certain themes (i.e. left handiness). I really can't imagine this book being as good with an earlier translation so I urge you to seek it out.

77GingerbreadMan
Ene 6, 2013, 3:52 pm

Fantastic review! The tin drum was one of those defining reads for me, at twenty or so. It was for the longest time my usual answer to the qestion of what book I'd bring to a desert island. Maybe a reread?

78-Eva-
Ene 6, 2013, 6:09 pm

Definitely a thumbs-up on that review from me! The book is waiting on Mt. TBR, but I have a memory of watching a film-version with some creepy parts when I was too young for it, so I've been staying away. Time to rectify, I think.

79pammab
Ene 6, 2013, 7:17 pm

I don't think I've ever read any Grass -- The Tin Drum sounds great! I will have to check that one out. Nice review.

80clfisha
Ene 7, 2013, 3:25 am

Anders: sadly, for me, lengthy books rarely get reread .. Hmm I sense a 2014 category.

Eva: There is a film? I am going to have to track that down.. It appeared very much unfilmable.

Pam: Thanks

81clfisha
Ene 7, 2013, 3:28 am

I completely forgot my 13 Category: Unlucky Dip required someone else picking the tags! So please go ahead I shall use the 1st 5 tags given.. Don't go easy on me now.

I will use the tags as the theme to a category, a descriptor. So for romance I would read romance books, for blue it could be in the title or a theme etc..

82GingerbreadMan
Ene 7, 2013, 4:47 am

>80 clfisha: The film is by Werner Herzog and very good. Obviously doesn't capture all of the book, but as I recall it does a good job capturing the ambience.

>81 clfisha: Ooh, how cruel would I want to be...? Just because the result might be amusing, I'm going to propose "bad sex". Intentionally or unintentionally :)

83GingerbreadMan
Ene 7, 2013, 4:52 am

And as a result recommend you Adam Thirwell's Politics, which I think you'd enjoy.

84clfisha
Ene 7, 2013, 7:24 am

Ha! Bad sex I like it.. whilst it also fills me with dread! Taking note of Politics thank you. The LT tag "gift from mum" made me smile though ;)

If the film is by Herzog I will definitely seek it out, I love his documentaries and of course Fitzcarraldo :)

85GingerbreadMan
Ene 7, 2013, 8:29 am

It's not a GREAT book as such, but a fun take at exactly bad sex.

86pammab
Editado: Ene 7, 2013, 9:27 am

I like this idea and I'd like to play along! (plus "gift from mum" is a great tag!)

I'd like to propose "autographed"/"signed". Ooh, can I change my tag to "intertextuality"?

87RidgewayGirl
Ene 7, 2013, 9:33 am

And I'll propose "adventure travel' because you went to Cuba. My children and husband have German passports as well, and can jaunt over to Cuba whenever they want. But would probably switch back to the American ones for that trip to Greece.

88clfisha
Ene 7, 2013, 9:56 am

-Anders, I will bear that in mind and be weary where I read it, in case of sniggering ;)

-Pam, of course you can change although I had to look "intertextuality" up and I am NOT reading Ulysses! :) maybe one of the other recommended texts..

-Thanks Alison, that's a fun one :)

Ok that leaves 2 more.

89drachenbraut23
Editado: Ene 7, 2013, 10:04 am

Hello, beautiful review on The Tin Drum. One of my fave reads when I was younger :). I am glad to hear that the English translation is well done, because I know that people very often complain that soo much of the language got lost.

If you do like Günther Grass did you read already any other German authors?

90hailelib
Ene 7, 2013, 10:54 am

How about "surreal"?

91pammab
Ene 7, 2013, 11:17 am

Oh gosh, I had no intent of subjecting you to Ulysses! Of that's the only one there, *please* jump at something else. :)

92-Eva-
Ene 7, 2013, 5:11 pm

I didn't know Herzog had made a version - I'll have to look for that one too! The one I saw was by Schlöndorff - it's the one that won the foreign Oscar in 1979.

93GingerbreadMan
Ene 7, 2013, 5:26 pm

>92 -Eva-: That's the one of course! I stand corrected!

94-Eva-
Ene 7, 2013, 5:32 pm

Darn! I was hoping I could see a Herzog take on that story!

95clfisha
Ene 7, 2013, 5:57 pm

Thanks hailelib, adds extra spice that one.

Right we need to get a petition up so Herzog can remake it :)

Ok so I have one tag left. I have bad sex, intertextuality, adventure travel and surreal. Wonder if I can get a novel with all 4 :)

96pammab
Ene 7, 2013, 8:24 pm

I bet you could find an English major's senior thesis....

97christina_reads
Ene 8, 2013, 4:50 pm

For the fifth tag, what about a book with a happy ending? Your other four tags look pretty heavy (well, maybe not "adventure travel," but still). I thought you might want a ray of sunshine to balance things out! But of course I won't be offended if you'd rather have something else.

98clfisha
Ene 8, 2013, 4:54 pm

Oh no that's a good one :) I have a unhappy ending category so I will need some cheering up. Plus it Is unlike me to go for a happy book! Thanks!

99LauraBrook
Ene 9, 2013, 7:46 pm

Claire, great review of Tin Drum! If both you and Anders love it, maybe I'll give it a try. Hmmm, something to think about for sure.

I watched the (1979) film in college with my best friend (whose family is very German and who is fluent), expecting a fairly traditional story with the narrator being a man who decides to stop growing at a young age. We were both shocked and horrified and ended up wincing and laughing through most of the film. Traditional, I'd say, it's not. Especially some of the sexual scenes, we just kept wondering - who is the actor that's doing this? Are we sure it's an adult, because we're confused and disturbed by what's happening on screen? Since then, we both vowed never to read the book (and indeed, have threatened to give it to each other as a gift) or watch the movie again. But maybe I'm wrong about this whole thing....

100clfisha
Ene 10, 2013, 7:16 am

Well its easier to control the images in your mind when you read rather than watch a film. A dwarf (what is the correct term? midget? little person?) having sex is much easier than an angelic 3 year old boy with a tin drum! Although you could just but an early English translation which removed some rude lines altogether!

101clfisha
Editado: Ene 12, 2013, 2:51 pm

Already behind of reviews. Sigh. Here are some reviews for two very different fantasy comics

Both in Category 8. Hellish temptations. Tag Iconoclasm

Delphine by Richard Sala
Enigmatic, unsettling fairy tale



Sala's art is perfect for this deliciously creepy atmospheric modern fairy tale; inspired by snow white and seen from the Prince's view. Much is left unsaid, for it's a book that revels in mystery as we follow our hero in his search for the girl of dreams. we follow as he descends into dark nightmarish places, as the townsfolk mislead bewilder and confuse. Forget 7 dwarves happily singing songs this is haunting, sinister and fun, a comic that leaves a strong taste too and makes you want to revisit again soon.

Recommended and I can't wait to check out more from Sala



A Flight of Angels by Various Authors and illustrated by Rebecca Guay



An angel falls into a place of fairy tales and magic. Lying unconscious, unaware of fate he draws the denizens of the wood; witches and fawns, dryads and elves and all with their own view what to do. But this being a place of stories, well they take turns to tell who he is and what he has done and so decide his fate,

Each story is written by different people, with a framing story to keep tight reign on the plot. This proves to be a mixed bag of mostly good stories:The 1st story is the weakest; a retelling of Adam & Eve and man's shallowness (maybe I am just fed up with this being retold). The rest are more interesting though; a edgy tale of duty and murder or a beautiful story of romance. My favourite is the last, more a vignette, a twisting idea but one I was very taken with. In fact I might be more enthusiastic but the ending was tad lacklustre to this jaded reader, fresh eyes may find it shocking and intriguing in equal measure..

Of course the real reason you want to pick up a copy, is the gorgeous dreamy artwork by Guay and its displayed to such good effect, with different style to match the story.

Recommended for lovers of fairy tales and beautiful art

102clfisha
Ene 12, 2013, 2:24 pm

Oh and on top of learning how to do a line break :) I have changed my rules slightly. Now all Tagged categories I must read a book touching every tag AND meet the total number. Otherwise comics are just going to make this easy :)

103Tanglewood
Ene 12, 2013, 2:54 pm

Delphine sounds like a must for me and A Flight of Angels a maybe. Thanks for the great reviews!

104-Eva-
Ene 12, 2013, 3:03 pm

You seriously will have to stop finding new GNs! My elsewhere mentioned BB-vest is not strong enough! :)

105andreablythe
Ene 12, 2013, 4:34 pm

Two graphic novel book bullets! I love fairy tales and the art looks great.

106GingerbreadMan
Ene 12, 2013, 6:36 pm

>101 clfisha: You got me with the prince's POV. Sounds like an interestingly different take on this story, that could well make it pretty creepy.

107clfisha
Ene 13, 2013, 6:58 am

Hope you all enjoy, thanks!

Anders, I have to admit I didn't even notice it was a Snow White retelling for most of the book, it is a modern take & a very odd one. Still that fabulous atmosphere, the visual world he has created is very cool.

Eva I don't have any more GNs waiting to be read.. Honest.. Oh wait. :) We have actually got a book buying ban for the next few months. So of course I had to by a graphic novel yesterday. They are not really books.. Right? Right?

108psutto
Editado: Ene 13, 2013, 7:47 am

There's still at least one more GN from the Brighton haul as well....

And I have masses of GNs to catch up on (that Claire has already read), including the latest Unwritten...

109GingerbreadMan
Ene 13, 2013, 8:07 am

Picked up Unwritten 5 and Locke and Key 2 when I was in Stockholm ladt week. Will probably focus on Sandman for the first half of the year though.

110-Eva-
Ene 13, 2013, 5:16 pm

I like your way of conducting a book buying ban!!!! :)

111lkernagh
Ene 13, 2013, 10:57 pm

Oooohhh..... I could have done without the two GN bullet hit, Clare! My local library doesn't have Delphine, - *stomps feet* - but they do have Sala's The Hidden, which is now in my holds listing along with A Flight of Angels.

112AHS-Wolfy
Ene 14, 2013, 4:11 am

Delphine will undoubtedly find its way onto my WL now too.

113clfisha
Ene 15, 2013, 4:37 pm


Eva: I am glad I dont have a Kindle!

Lori: cue evil laugh -> mwahahahaha. Looking forward to seeing what the other Sala book is like.

Hope you enjoy Dave & Anders. Locke & key is winding up soon, nervous that it ends well.

Category 8. Hellish temptations. Tag Iconoclasm

Unwritten Volume 6: Tommy Taylor War of Words by Mike Carey and Peter Gross
Amazing ongoing meta fictional fantastical comic series
(excellent)



Series Review (no spoiler)
Imagine the worlds best selling fantasy series (yes with a boy wizard) was never finished, that the author disappears into thin air. Now imagine that was your father and that character is based on you and your life is now one monotonous round of signings, interviews and fantasy conventions talks. Bad enough until you realise your childhood was a lie and someone is out to kill you.

One of the best comic series out there. Beautifully drawn, expertly plotted and with an intelligent and gripping tale. The playful merging of reality, or literature and storytelling makes a great base for a plot. There is myriad of styles from nods to classics of Moby Dick and Winnie the Pooh, to Nazi Propaganda and USA pulp fiction. Blend that in with cults, conspiracies, magic and the modern world (blogging, celebrity fandom) you get a tale of huge breath and potential and Carey is an author that can pull this off.

Volume 6 Review

A whole sheer volume of plot; intricacies, sudden twists and imminent disasters, dramatic fights and double crossings, new discoveries, endings and new beginnings.

It wasn't my favourite of the series and it really depends what happens next. Its a volume that's needs the others to really make sense, probably cos its not a direction I am sure about. More of a pathway than a climatic tale. Still I will be there avidly waiting for the next one, its such a good series.

114clfisha
Editado: Ene 15, 2013, 4:42 pm

Category 2: The four horseman of the apocalypse. Tag: General Apocalypse

The Coming by Andrej Nikolaidis
Eclectic, wonderfully odd noir
(Excellent)

Snow falls in Summer, a library burns and a gruesome murder takes place. A PI who keeps the clients satisfied with lies, is on the case but then his long lost insane son, starts helping from afar with tales of blasphemy and religion.

Its a rich, fulfilling and refreshingly different story. The medieval history of cults and false messiahs is fascinating itself yet weaves itself against unreliable unfurling of his sons life story. The detectives cynical thoughts ooze off the page, with environmental apocalypse and shocking case as his background.Backgrounds that add tensions and also a sense of unreality to the plot. No part overwhelms the other, everything only adds the whole and its amazing what has been achieved in this short (126 page) novella.

A word of warning though don't expect firm resolution, take the truth you want. There are no gripping car chases or complicated whodunnits, more a dreamy open ended inevitability that hits hard against its Noir roots. The mystery is the book itself. That it comes from Montenegro a different culture and view which I have never tried is just the sprinkles on the icing of this bite sized cake.

Highly recommended. A truly delicious mix and if you want something different and like Noir this is for you.

115-Eva-
Editado: Ene 15, 2013, 4:47 pm

->113 clfisha:
Thank you for reading from a series that you've already "bookbulleted" me with!! :)

116AHS-Wolfy
Ene 15, 2013, 5:55 pm

Thank you for reading from a series that you've already "bookbulleted" me with!! :)

But then goes and spoils it with another that will have to find room on the WL.

117-Eva-
Ene 15, 2013, 6:15 pm

->116 AHS-Wolfy:
I don't know what you are talking about. I see nothing. Nothing, I say!

118clfisha
Editado: Ene 21, 2013, 8:19 am

Here's one for Eva :-)

I think its interesting reading different reviews on the same book so here's my review which really just degenerates into a plea to read it.

Category 7: Sheer terror. Tag Horror

Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman (author) and various artists
Astounding, iconic, fantastical comic series

A truly descriptive title, a preface for one of greatest comic series out there. It is a dark taste for what is to come, an ensemble for the darkest of nights where we meet Dream a mysterious helmeted figure (and brother to Death) who though escapes an earthly magicians clutches must regain his power and for that he needs his tools. And so a quest that to takes him to fight the most insane, to find the most lost and to face Hell itself.

"All Bette's stories have happy endings. That's because she knows where to stop. She's realised the real problem with stories - if keep them going long enough, they always end in death"

Gaiman is playing here and finding his style, trying out different ones, and introducing us to the world and some of the characters. It's a good and enjoyable read it with a promise of much to come. Gaiman is still interlocked with the DC universe and I find that it doesn't really work (I am not very familiar or interested). It's still a fun read and contains one of my favourite ever horror shorts "24 Hours" plus the touching, iconic "The Sound of Her Wings", a soft epilogue to the dramatic and scarier stories before.

To be honest, though, this is the spring board to the rest and you must start here. The Sandman collection is an epic tale that interweaves so many memorable characters lives, visits so many worlds, contains so many cool ideas, explores a myriad of myths and religions and looks at what its like to be human. It is one of my favourite things out there period and still feels fresh in a repeated reread. But if my gushing doesn't intrigue you, then know that is hard to state how much influence, how iconic and important this comic is and how much you miss if you haven't tried it.

So yes start here, see the promising beginnings and maybe, just maybe, try another. For this is a prelude to a truly great experience and deserves all of my praise.

Recommended.

119GingerbreadMan
Ene 16, 2013, 3:05 pm

It's like Buffy season one! Or maybe not really. Good review!

120GingerbreadMan
Ene 16, 2013, 4:35 pm

>114 clfisha:... And this sounds pretty wonderful. How fabulous to suddenly have such a strong candiate for a tricky country like montenegro in the Europe Endless! Your review meakes me think of Darkmans - are there any similarities?

121-Eva-
Ene 16, 2013, 4:56 pm

"Here's one for Eva"
Thank you! Yes, please only read GNs that you know for sure I already have... :)

"which really just degenerates into a plea to read it"
Well, I'll second that!

"Spring board" is a very good description. It going to be really interesting to see the new installment that's coming out this year since that one apparently will deal with the prelude to this prelude, i.e. how it was that Dream came to be captured in the first place. Exciting!

122clfisha
Ene 17, 2013, 3:03 am

Oi no Buffy Season 1 bashing here! ;-)

Ander's the flippant answer it's much short :) but I don't think do the individual stories are much firmer and slowly connect/unconnect. Leaving things open very much so.

Eva I didn't know there was one due out, yeay!

123psutto
Editado: Ene 17, 2013, 3:33 am

Wasn't there a video of Neil saying a new one was coming out at comic con?

124AHS-Wolfy
Ene 17, 2013, 8:10 am

Yes, see here.

125-Eva-
Editado: Ene 17, 2013, 4:50 pm

I think I'm remembering that the announcement was how we ended up having the group read this year - a recap in anticipation of the new one! It was definitely the highlight of my Comicon visit and, since David Tennant is no longer Doctor Who and doesn't show up anymore, it might stay the highlight of many Comicons to come. :) Haven't heard any more about it since then, though, so hopefully there aren't any pesky delays or anything like that.

126clfisha
Ene 18, 2013, 1:59 pm

Doh senility can't have already set in can it! Sigh still a nice surprise to get twice :)

Well it's snowed a few inches, (in the south west) so the country is in chaos. Sadly I didn't take part in the "working from home" i.e. Emailing from the pub tradition this year. Hopefully all UK Lters are all safe and having fun.

127clfisha
Ene 21, 2013, 3:47 pm

Category 2: The four horseman of the apocalypse. Tag: Death

RedShirts by John Scalzi
Intelligent, very amusing, head hurtingly good, fun sci-fi

“So the captain, the first officer and the ship's doctor and sometimes the engineer all beam down to a planet. Together."
"The entire complement of the senior officers?"
Billy nodded
"And who has the command of the ship?"
"I don't know. Junior officers I guess."
"If they worked for me I would have them court-martialed. That sounds like a dereliction of duty."
"I know. I know. I always thought it odd myself. But that's not the point."
"What is the point?"
"They're usually accompanied by a guy in the red shirt. Always a crew member you've never seen before.
And as soon as you see the shirt, you know he's going to die.”


Do you get a kick out of old sci fi? Love watching those expendable cast members die in a variety of completely idiotic ways by aliens in silly outfits who ignore the laws of physics? No? Actually it doesn't matter either way because this book will be funny, gripping and interesting even if you think Spock is a misspelling of Spork.

Scalzi is a very clever writer, his takes up gentle parody and extreme tongue in cheek silliness and turns it into a gem of story. What starts out pure fun warps into something serious, something you care about and cannot really second guess. I laughed, I wallowed in the bad TV tropes, I gasped at a plot misdirection and went "ooo" when he actually did go there and PLOT SPOILER REDACTED. It is a satisfying short novel with extra coda's to round it all out, initially I thought "yuk Padding!" but I really appreciated as I progressed. Its possible the book has faults but um., nope the plot answers all that.

Recommend for lovers of a damn fine plot, Galaxy Quest fans, bad TV and everyone who knows/thinks all Star Trek that doesn't involve Kirk DOES NOT EXIST.

128Tanglewood
Ene 21, 2013, 4:24 pm

Great review! I almost picked this up in the audible sale today, but I decided I'd rather read an actual copy of it.

129AHS-Wolfy
Ene 21, 2013, 5:33 pm

Glad you enjoyed Redshirts as well, Claire. It will find its way onto my tbr shelves at some point but I'm going to go through the Old Man's War series first.

130GingerbreadMan
Ene 21, 2013, 5:34 pm

>127 clfisha: Pete has already put this on my list. Seems quite a treat, to read a funny book and get swept away by the plot!

131RidgewayGirl
Ene 21, 2013, 5:40 pm

I've never read any of John Scalzi's books, but I do love his blog. He can write and he is awesome. Also, he did this:

http://www.jimchines.com/2012/12/pose-off-with-john-scalzi/

132pammab
Ene 21, 2013, 8:25 pm

I, too, saw Redshirts on Audible but didn't bite -- I'll have to find a paper copy!

133andreablythe
Ene 21, 2013, 11:33 pm

I've been reading Scalzi's blog for a while, but haven't picked up any of his books. Need to do that.

>131 RidgewayGirl:
And I LOVE the Hines/Scalzi pose off! Fabulous!

134sandragon
Ene 22, 2013, 12:28 am

The Hines/Scalzi pose-off is awesome! Thanks, Alison. That made my evening :oD

135psutto
Ene 22, 2013, 2:54 am

Love the comments on the pose off too :-)

136mamzel
Ene 22, 2013, 2:54 pm

I bought the Scalzi book yesterday. I have to get through one library book before I'll start it. Glad to hear it's fun!

137clfisha
Editado: Ene 23, 2013, 2:34 pm

Well hope you guys enjoy and it may not an original idea but I got a kick out of it. I guess it depends on your mileage for that kind of mucking about.

Category 6. Crime and Unpunishment. Tag: Detective fiction

Gun Machine by Warren Ellis
Interesting premise, standard thriller

From the blurb
This morning Detective John Tallow was bored with his job. Then there was this naked guy with a shotgun, and his partner getting killed, and now Tallow has a real problem: an apartment full of guns. Old guns. Modified guns. Arranged in rows and spirals on the floor and walls. Hundreds of them.
Each weapon is tied to a single unsolved murder.


It is an evocative premise and interesting entwining of history: Pre-settled New York and modern buildings swirl together to create a fantastic backdrop and unsettling atmosphere. The characters get to you too; the main lead in the usual "on the edge" cop territory gets you to care about the plot & his 2 colleagues are wacky and funny enough to add spice without going over the top. It is funny, dark and I do I like Ellis's style. However the plot endears me less, but then I am not really a fan of thrillers or cop procedurals, I just start nit picking even if undeserved but it did keep me entertained and became quite gripping towards the end.

It's not as dark as his first book, but it is a gritty crime thriller so you know, it's not nice. I think fans of the genre will really find something to enjoy here and I personally can't wait for the film (it's very visual). However if you can stomach a bit of darkness go for the much more fun and OTT Crooked Little Vein which has the opening line "I opened my eyes to see the rat taking a piss in my coffee mug." Yes it's that kind of book.

Recommended to lovers of crime fiction, look it hit the NY best seller list and it has this very cool book trailer (art by Ben Templesmith):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hU8L-sGeWaI

138AHS-Wolfy
Ene 23, 2013, 12:30 pm

That makes it official. Both novels of Warren Ellis added to the wishlist

139DeltaQueen50
Ene 23, 2013, 5:25 pm

Both yours and Pete's reviews of Red Shirts brought this to my attention, but those pictures of the pose-off have put this book firmly on my wishlist. The Blonde wig and demented expression totally won my heart!

140clfisha
Ene 28, 2013, 8:14 am

Enjoy Dave! I am wavering about rereading Crooked Little Vein right now!

Anyone who pulls a pose like that for a good cause must have a good sense of humour :) Hope you enjoy it Judith.

141clfisha
Ene 28, 2013, 3:46 pm

Category 8. Hellish temptations. Tag: Iconoclasm

Sandman: The Doll's House by Neil Gaiman (author) and various artists
Second of this unique, compelling, fantastical comic series



This is the volume where you can start to see and feel the genius of Sandman. The world starts to unfurl and let you in, we meet more of the Endless; the fabulous Desire and the beautifully, ugly Despair. Iconic ideas and fantastic shorts lace through the overarching tale of Rose, a young women who whilst searching for her lost brother unwittingly threatens Dreams realm. You can already see links forming, causality and future echo's. It is a multi layered feast of stories, a glut of riches.

It starts* with a wonderful rhythmic pastiche of African aural storytelling not only heartfelt but questioning the nature of stories and their tellers before introducing us to a mystery created without you noticing in the 1st volume. The art is much better here too, take the tale of Hob Gadling as he lives through the ages, each time beautifully drawn and lovingly researched or take Desires unimaginable large fortress or the Corinthians nightmarish eyes. This is a comic brimming with ideas in both words and images. It is a joy to read and to whet one's appetite in anticipation.

Highly recommend.

*depending on printing

142lkernagh
Ene 28, 2013, 7:38 pm

Ooohhh.... I like your cover for The Doll's House better than mine! Great review, Claire and looking forward to volume #.

143clfisha
Editado: Ene 31, 2013, 8:24 am

Lori, I do like Dave Mckean's covers!

Category 2: The four horseman of the apocalypse. Tag: Death

Hartmann the Anarchist: The Doom of the Great City by Edward Douglas Fawcett
Interestingly flawed very old Steampunk

Written in 1892, this is an interesting, short and flawed early science fiction novel. Why Interesting? Well it imagines a future of aerial bombing, gets a tad over-excited with its dreams of flying (airships), has a wonderful old fashioned style and exudes the social and political background of the time.

It does have a very iffy plot and a be-musingly relaxed protagonist (who seems to go along just to allow the plot to have a narrator). It does turn into an exercise in of too much description and sometimes the author is snobbish but really I think in this case the flaws make it interesting too. For you read this because of its age as its fun and crazy and weirdly over the top (that body count!). It does have a few illustrations by Stanley Donwood too (check out that funky cover) but not enough to make it the reason for buying the book.

Recommend to lovers of very early Steampunk

144GingerbreadMan
Ene 31, 2013, 4:04 pm

"Lovers of very old steampunk"-lol! Seems a very small demography. Fun review, starred!

145lkernagh
Feb 1, 2013, 2:11 am

> 143 - and now I am curious to read it and a bit taken aback to discover that I cannot find a copy of this on the Project Gutenberg site, considering it was written back in 1892.

146hailelib
Feb 1, 2013, 10:55 am

There is a Kindle edition, apparently.

147clfisha
Feb 2, 2013, 5:08 am

Anders, I think they probably meet up in a small fuggy pub back room every month and swap cogs and pistons and boasts of the machines they made, doomsday ones of course.

Lori makes you wonder what other, interesting, lost gems we are missing!

Two interesting facts I missed out of the review, one he was 17 when he wrote it and two his brother, Percy, disappeared up the amazon looking for a lost city and became the subject of a popular LT book The Lost City of Z.

148clfisha
Editado: Feb 3, 2013, 12:41 pm

Category 5: Superstition. Tag: luck

Swamplandia by Karen Russell
Chaotic, evocative, utterly flawed, funny, shocking coming of age.

Swamplandia! A Floridian Gator park is in trouble, its star Hilola Bigtree champion alligator-wrestler has died. Ava, her 13 year old daughter, is determined to make it work but her father is AWOL, her brother defects to another theme park and her sister is besotted with a ghost.

“If you're short on time, that would be the two-word version of our story: we fell.

There is so much to love about this book but so much to make you wince. It's funny and dark (very dark in places) it captures the magic of life and also its hard, dreary cruelties. The language is superb. Yet it's deeply uneven, the pacing askew as after a slow yet entertaining start it splits into two ill-matched tales that kick you out so hard out of one into the other that you have to reset your head to immerse your self again (that narration shift!). It has too many ideas, promises too many things and tries to actually be a few but really all it does is lock you in, hard, to just one; a roller-coaster ride of a plot that is too late to get off once you find out its heart.

“I didn’t realize that one tragedy can beget another, and another — bright-eyed disasters flooding out of a death hole like bats out of a cave.”

The sets are evocative and touching on surreal; the superb Kafkaesque theme park of hell, the cloying, dank beauty of mosquito ridden swamp life. The characters are either lovable or irritating. The father makes me want to slap him, Kiwi's odd quirks and sudden maturity left me cold but then you get the complexity of Ava, Osceola's yearning, the mother's unearthly presence. The depiction of all that teenage naivety and human frailty is wonderful.

“No, I don’t have to tell a soul about this, I promised myself. When you are a kid, you don’t know yet that a secret, like an animal, can evolve. Like an animal, a secret can develop a self-preserving intelligence. Shaglike, mute and thick, a knowledge with a fur: your secret.”

For all its flaws I fell in love: I liked that the story allowed the reader an adults knowing, to read between childish thoughts, I loved the chills I got when the Birdman appeared, I laughed at the description of tourists, I even loved the abrupt ending.

It's like an old battered, much loved armchair with spilling stuffing, a broken spring and a weird smell. I cannot imagine it without these flaws, so inherent are they to what the book is. This is never the book you want it to be but there is nothing wrong in that.

Recommended.

149GingerbreadMan
Feb 3, 2013, 1:24 pm

Loved that review! Especially the last paragraph. Agreed, sometimes flaws are what make a book truly unique.

150andreablythe
Feb 3, 2013, 2:14 pm

Fantastic review! I think a spring from that armchair popped out and stabbed me in the backside at one point, but I was able to shift around and get comfortable again. ;)

This book definitely wouldn't be what it is without the flaws. In a way they contributed to how much it affected me.

151-Eva-
Feb 3, 2013, 3:40 pm

Great review! I am quite intrigued by it now that I've seen the various discussions.

152clfisha
Editado: Feb 4, 2013, 6:43 am

Thanks guys, it has been simmering away in my head for a while :)

I always like the end of year round ups that show the book covers, so in a fit of pure indulgence he is mine for January by rating

Amazing:


Excellent:


Good:


153RidgewayGirl
Feb 4, 2013, 7:29 am

Excellent review of Swamplandia. You captured why it's such a compelling book despite its flaws.

154DeltaQueen50
Feb 4, 2013, 1:31 pm

Congratulations on your well-deserved spot on the Hot Review list!

155-Eva-
Feb 5, 2013, 12:10 am

Hot Review-congrats from me too!!

156clfisha
Feb 5, 2013, 4:11 am

Well that cheered me up, how nice! And one for the team too ;-) Thanks guys.

157GingerbreadMan
Feb 5, 2013, 5:28 am

Congrats! We RULE (lol)!!!!!111

158clfisha
Feb 13, 2013, 8:37 am

This is why I should never request a short story e-book from Early Reviewers.. I forgot it's there and then take ages to review it. I am a bad person.

Category 5: Superstition. Tag: Fantastical Occurrences

The Unreal and the Real: Outer Space, Inner Lands by Ursula K. Le Guin
Fabulous fantastical shorts

Second volume in this collection of shorts which opens with one of her famous stories "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas". I won't spoil it but it’s a stunningly good story wrapped around a simple, shocking question. It would overshadow most collections but Le Guin can write and tell engrossing stories and has ideas that still feel fresh and interesting. The societies she creates, the characters; the fantastical reflected back, full of imagination and familiarity these thoughts can stay with you months after.

There are fascinating tales of a planet of introverts, of alien races that never speak, of a place where those that fly are outcasts. Then there are human stories of love and forgiveness, twisted fables and old fashioned quests. Gender is humorously and seriously tweaked as societies segregate or aliens land on earth. Although I am doing Le Guin a disservice, no story is about one thing. "Mazes" maybe about language but as she states in the introduction it comes from not being allowed a chance to speak."The Shobies Story" maybe a cute science fiction tale of an experiment with instantaneous travel but it’s also about how we use stories to define ourselves.

This is a stunning collection, although fans will already have them anyone else who loves fantasy and science fiction, short stories, beautiful writing and refreshing look at gender will really enjoy. I have only ever read The Earthsea Trilogy which I was never truly enamoured with but now I am desperate for more.

Highly recommended.

159GingerbreadMan
Feb 13, 2013, 10:11 am

That bullet hit home. I'm sadly illiterate when it comes to LeGuin!

160andreablythe
Feb 13, 2013, 11:38 am

I love LeGuin! Will have to pick up that collection.

161hailelib
Feb 13, 2013, 12:41 pm

My local library has the Le Guin book. I'll have to think about getting it.

162-Eva-
Feb 13, 2013, 1:42 pm

I put my ER-book on top of the pile just so I don't forget about them, but I probably would have forgotten an ebook too once it was downloaded. Making a note for myself that if I win an ebook, I'll put up a big reminder note that it's there! :)

163lkernagh
Editado: Feb 13, 2013, 11:02 pm

I am about to admit my very limited reading experience of Le Guin books. The only one I have read - and we are going back quite a few years here - is Malafrena and I loved it... absolutely loved it.......and haven't read another Le Guin since. If anyone has read Malafrena, is it safe to say this is the type of story I can expect from Le Guin's other books or is it one of the exceptions? Just wondering if I am up to venturing back into fantasy novels.

... very nice review, Claire, considering it set me off to investigate which Le Guin I have read!!

164SouthernKiwi
Feb 14, 2013, 1:34 am

I've never read anything by LeGuin, but I've had The Earthsea Quartet sitting on the shelf for at least a couple of years. Nice review Claire, LeGuin's moving up my TBR pile.

165psutto
Feb 14, 2013, 3:51 am

Was only just recently aware that there is a 4th Earthsea book - the trilogy for me seemed "finished" when I read it many years ago - anyone know if the 4th is any good?

166clfisha
Feb 14, 2013, 5:24 am

*Cough* 2 books in the collection Anders *cough*

Thanks, hope you all enjoy it when you get round to it. I might try Malafrena next, thanks Lori!

I usually add a link so you can try a short story but I can't really find any except excerpts on her website which is a bit odd. Oh wait The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas is here.
http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/dunnweb/rprnts.omelas.pdf
Hopefully they have permission!

167RidgewayGirl
Feb 14, 2013, 7:47 am

I really liked Malafrena, too.

168christina_reads
Feb 14, 2013, 12:57 pm

"The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" is fantastic! I'd recommend The Left Hand of Darkness if you want a seriously interesting look at gender, clfisha.

169andreablythe
Feb 14, 2013, 1:08 pm

Seconding, The Left Hand of Darkness. It's fantastic.

170PawsforThought
Feb 14, 2013, 1:12 pm

165. Tehanu, the fourth books in the Earthsea Cycle and written much later than the original trilogy, is AWFUL and I wish I could go back and un-read it. It ruins a lot from the trilogy (we meet Ged and Arha/Tenar when they're middle-aged) and I can't for the life of me figure out why LeGuin would write it. So very, very bad.

171RidgewayGirl
Feb 14, 2013, 1:26 pm

I've read, and loved, the original trilogy. I didn't know she'd written a fourth book, but I will continue to ignore it. Thanks for reading it so I don't have to!

172andreablythe
Feb 14, 2013, 1:38 pm

170.
I loved the original Earthsea trilogy, and loved it as well. Tehanu wasn't as good as the others, but I also enjoyed it.

Apparently, there's also Tales from Earthsea and The Other Wind, neither of which I've read.

173PawsforThought
Feb 14, 2013, 1:52 pm

172. I felt that the character traits Ged and especially Tenar had in the original books were completely erased and replaced with your run-of-the-mill crap romance novel character. I LOVED Tenar in The Tombs of Atuan - she's one of my favourite female characters ever - and she just had a personality transplant in Tehanu with no similarities to her old self at all. I was bitterly disappointed. Character assasination at it's worst, I say.

174andreablythe
Feb 14, 2013, 2:02 pm

173,
Hmmmm. I think it was a year or years between the reading of each book, so I wasn't making a direct comparison. I guess it allowed me to take Tehanu more on its own, rather than in relation to the other stories.

175PawsforThought
Feb 14, 2013, 2:14 pm

174. I didn't read Tehanu directly after the trilogy either (but closer in time than you did). Didn't help-

176psutto
Feb 14, 2013, 3:20 pm

So no 4th book in Eathsea for me

177SandDune
Feb 14, 2013, 3:23 pm

I was always intending to read that fourth book as well, but maybe not!

178Bjace
Feb 14, 2013, 7:07 pm

Tehanu isn't that bad, but it won't enhance your feelings about the trilogy. The three original volumes make a fairly complete whole and are--at least it seemed to me--with a teenaged audience in mind. In Tehanu, sex is introduced into the story. Also, LeGuin does something fairly risky that should work with the Ged character. I can't say what it is without spoiling the plot. It totally alters the character and his relation to the story and, since she doesn't really change him in other ways, it sort of declaws him permanently. If I hadn't read it, I wouldn't.

179casvelyn
Feb 14, 2013, 7:43 pm

I read A Wizard of Earthsea after hearing so many good things about it... and I hated it. Absolutely hated the lack of character development, the lack of plot development, and the whole writing style. But I first started reading Le Guin because The Ones who Walk Away from Omelas was in my American Short Story textbook in college, and it blew my mind. I'm not at all a fan of short stories because I like plot development and there just isn't room, but Le Guin is just so talented at writing them, so I've read so many of her stories and loved all of them. My favorites are "April in Paris" (because I'm a historian) and "The Wife's Story" (because you don't realize how brilliant it is until the end). Her novel Lavinia is also excellent, but more historical fiction than science fiction.

180clfisha
Feb 15, 2013, 5:17 am

Such a lot of Le Guin love :) and making note of some more recs so thanks! I would have no desire to read the 4th book in the Earthsea series anyway but I always find it very sad when a series goes bad, it's like the author and you had a falling out.

181clfisha
Feb 15, 2013, 10:09 am

Category 7: Sheer terror. Tag: horror

The Collector by John Fowles
Weird and dated horror

Frederick is obsessed by Miranda, when he wins a lot of money he buys an isolated house in the country, one with a large cellar, one that could accommodate a guest... someone to add to his collection.

An infamous book, shocking when published in 1963 and notoriously cited by some serial killers as inspiration so carrying that kind of baggage I guess it is kind of interesting to read even though I didn't think it was very good or has aged well. Let me explain why..

Subtlety is not Fowles strength which works at the beginning as we see our fledging serial killer grow, he is suitably creepy and brings a terrible foreshadowing which keeps the book alive against minor issues of a too old fashioned feel and mistakes such as that chloroform myth. Fowles then cleverly switches to the diary of doomed Miranda. Who can be a wonderful vibrant juxtaposition, a fantastic character who feelings and thoughts can be heartbreaking and this effect is especially horrific when she tries to sleep with him .

But (and it’s a big but) it's not enough to save the book. The diary technique traps her view in too tight constraints, I never really felt the relentless horror. It also rewinds the story and adds very little to what has gone before; character building (check), minor differences in events (check) but honestly since nothing much happens anyway its a bit dull the second time around. Then (and these two are the bigger faults) we get a long discourse on art, education and class which I found boring, dated and somehow just wrong (for the story being told and just also incorrect). Even worse Miranda seems only to be defined by men, her mentor who shapes her and her kidnapper, I can see why this comparison is done but I think it is a huge mistake in the context of the story, a story that needs less sexism to survive. Of course my last complaint is again with its age and that was, for me, the ending is just a cop out.

So I don't recommend it, not really even out of interest.

182RidgewayGirl
Feb 15, 2013, 10:58 am

Wow, it's like we read different books!

183clfisha
Feb 15, 2013, 11:07 am

I know I read you review! I wasn't sure how to comment but I think you just did perfectly ;-)

184RidgewayGirl
Feb 15, 2013, 12:01 pm

It's funny how unpredictable our likes and dislikes are. We both really liked Swamplandia!, which wasn't something everyone loved, but disagreed entirely on The Collector. It does make reading your reviews more interesting when I can't tell ahead of time what you'll think. And face it, book discussions are boring when everyone agrees that the book is fantastic or very, very bad.

I liked the ending of The Collector. It made the book much more frightening, although I was so rooting for a different ending. Her object of affection did sound like a dick, I'll agree with you there.

185-Eva-
Feb 15, 2013, 12:19 pm

Hmm, now I want to read it, just to find out where I land. :)

186clfisha
Feb 16, 2013, 4:26 am

True about variety! I was thinking it's very much a character novel, as well as a philosophical one, and I never was truly engaged. I do wonder if the whole small mindedness of the "lower" classes got too much on my nerves too, it's a very dated (Uk?) thing that happened a generation above me & has died.

@185 Ah a cunning trap we laid for you there Eva :)

187whitewavedarling
Feb 16, 2013, 6:34 am

My students used to tell me that I gave them nightmares with "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas", but he always had such wonderful discussions about it--one of my very favorite short stories of all time, though I generally don't like fantasy short stories at all.

188GingerbreadMan
Feb 18, 2013, 5:09 am

Might give The collector a miss. But I agree with Alison, it's a strange, exciting and interesting experience when someone you feel you share tastes with suddenly disagree completely on a book. You hating The year of our war springs to mind, or pammab's strong dislike for Perdido Street Station. It's a nice reminder how complex something like your taste in literature really is.

189clfisha
Feb 21, 2013, 12:03 pm

184/188 It always throws me when Pete recommends a book I don't love.. and there is your younger self.. I will never get over the shock of rereading Judge Comic and thinking how poor it was :)

187 It's quite a brilliant story to kick start a conversation over what would you do & its brilliantly written so you do feel sort of included too.

190clfisha
Feb 21, 2013, 12:05 pm

I seem to be reading books where flaws are such an inherent part you couldn't remove them.. here's another one which keeps growing in impact long after I have read it.. This is my 2nd attempt at a review...

17. I Was Dora Suarez by Derek Raymond
Odd, compelling, brutal, iconic Noir

Her sprawling limbs admitted only one image. They were what they could only be–joints of chilling, upset meat–and her bloodstained grin, the fixed, yet slack absence of her dark eyes were the worst of all sentences, the one that condemned a killer by looking past him. Yes, something had gone wrong this time.

Opening with one of the best starts I have seen, this forceful, flawed book takes the lid of those salacious tabloid headlines to the reality of evil underneath. A tale of a serial killer, a dying prostitute and an unnamed detective spiralling downwards in the tragedy of his loneliness. It is a book made for impact, a book that veers from haunting description, ugly detail, harsh and ill fitting dialogue. It could easily be accused of being overwrought or of pushing the boundaries too far but as whole, as a messy whole it's much more that these failings. It bleeds honesty, a book that the author couldn't see clearly enough to write

..in writing the book I definitely underwent an experience that I can only describe as cathartic; the writing of Suarez, though plunging me into evil, became the cause of my seeking to purge what was evil in myself. It was only after I had finished the book that I realized this; I was far too deeply involved in the battle with evil that the book became to think any further than that at the time … Suarez was my atonement for fifty years’ indifference to the miserable state of this world; it was a terrible journey through my own guilt, and through the guilt of others. from The Hidden Files

A warning though whilst standalone it is 4th in the iconic Factory series. It is also not a book for those who live for the puzzle as our narrator doesn't detect (no time) he swears, bullies and threatens his way to the truth and who needs a forensics team with this method? The book’s faults could drive people crazy but it's not about a perfect crime take. It doesn't matter that peripheral characters are thin, not that the dialogue is lopsided you wonder if he is talking to himself in his insanity or that his constant rudeness is seriously over the top.

Flawed though it maybe, it deserves its iconic status and is a must for noir lovers but also for anyone who is interested in the writing craft (bring strong stomach). Recommended

I thought as I drove that even though I was too late to save her, if I could solve her death, I might make some contribution to the coming of a time when such a horror would no longer be possible, a time when society would no longer throw up monsters.

191-Eva-
Feb 21, 2013, 1:56 pm

I could go for that. Adding He Died With His Eyes Open to the wishlist (can't not start at the beginning of a series, no matter how loose it is).

192RidgewayGirl
Feb 21, 2013, 2:04 pm

Now, that is a review. On to the wish list it goes!

193clfisha
Feb 22, 2013, 9:18 am

Eva, He Died With His Eyes Open is a much better book but it left me a bit cold to be honest.

I hope you enjoy it Alison! It is a bit of a mess so I should say I nervously recommend it and it really gets OTT.

However I found the review (of the series) that echo's a lot of my thoughts.. Over to you Mr VanderMeer..

http://www.jeffvandermeer.com/2009/05/15/derek-raymonds-factory-novels/

194AHS-Wolfy
Feb 22, 2013, 12:14 pm

How can we avoid these book bullets when you bring out the big guns like that? So not fair! Like Eva, I'm going to stick He Died With His Eyes Open on the wishlist.

195-Eva-
Feb 22, 2013, 1:35 pm

She's a menace, this one! :)

196SouthernKiwi
Feb 22, 2013, 9:01 pm

I'm not sure if The Factory series is one for me, but great review!

197clfisha
Feb 25, 2013, 8:45 am

Steeples finger.. starts to chuckle in an evil fashion.

& thanks Alana!

You will be pleased to note this I am still reading Crime and Punishment so my next review will be for a while.

198electrice
Feb 28, 2013, 8:15 am

Hi Claire, I've found your reviews very compelling.

I'm happy to add two new GN to my wishlist as I'm looking for ones which are not from France, Korea or Japan. I've got plenty of them already :)
Unwritten, how can I resist the merging of HP, literature and thriller ?
A Flight of Angels, I must confess a love for beautiful graphics

Le Tambour and Swamplandia are going to the wishlist too. Your reviews have erased my last doubts to try, even more so for their possible flaws.

199clfisha
Mar 2, 2013, 5:02 am

Hi electrice. Hope you enjoy the books/GNs when you get to them, The Unwritten has finished yet I think it's going to be very much dependent on the next volume whether the series keeps up the quality.

It's odd but I think this is the year of flawed books. Flaws as a positive quality is new idea for me, it's interesting.

200electrice
Mar 2, 2013, 5:16 am

Well it's an interesting idea and you make it work :)

201clfisha
Mar 5, 2013, 5:07 am

End of the month its cover round up time :) this time in order of cover gorgeousness.



Look at that awful The Collector cover. Look at it.. that salacious glimpse of nipple. UGH!

202RidgewayGirl
Mar 5, 2013, 7:38 am



I really like my cover for The Collector. I'd like to get Fowles' other books in the same editions.

203GingerbreadMan
Mar 5, 2013, 4:59 pm

>201 clfisha: I thought the Fowles cover was a two-headed, white-masked creature trying to strangle itself at first. That would have been better.

204-Eva-
Mar 5, 2013, 5:23 pm

->203 GingerbreadMan:
Haha! I saw a two-headed masked person talking to "each other."

205clfisha
Mar 6, 2013, 5:32 am

I quite like that one. I am dull though I just saw the word :) I want to collect these covers, as I started off with them.. but second hand you cant be that fussy. I wonder who else would buy another second-hand copy to get a better cover!

206PawsforThought
Mar 6, 2013, 6:02 am

205. I would. In a heartbeat.

207RidgewayGirl
Mar 6, 2013, 9:54 am

As someone who has bought copies of books she already owned, whether for nicer edition or better cover, I recommend it. Our libraries should be a finely honed reflections of who we are as readers. In my defense, I get rid of all books I don't love or plan to read again.

208-Eva-
Mar 6, 2013, 12:17 pm

Me too - if it's a book I'm planning on keeping, I'll trade the one I have for one with the cover I want.

209PawsforThought
Mar 6, 2013, 1:00 pm

208. Hear, hear!

210GingerbreadMan
Mar 6, 2013, 2:55 pm

I'll do that too. Especially if I happen to have it in those dreadful Swedish bookclub editions from the eighties. Another typical manouver of mine is to upgrade from paperback to hardback.

211RidgewayGirl
Editado: Mar 6, 2013, 5:56 pm

American book club editions are anathema to me. Cheap, grayish, thin paper with meager margins, cheap cardboard covers and an overall feel of stinginess. I dislike reading them.

edited to add that a book should be a pleasure to read. It should feel like a tiny luxury.

212clfisha
Mar 7, 2013, 4:45 am

I feel enabled :) I agree though why else read a physical book, it's the touch, feel and look not solely the words.

213GingerbreadMan
Mar 7, 2013, 4:54 am

>211 RidgewayGirl:+212 I'm not really elitist like that. I'll read an ugly edition, and don't mind mass market paerbacks. But if I like the book, I'll gladly buy a better edition of it if the chance arises, typically second hand. And I much prefer a heavy book with good paper, no question there. Incidentially, sometimes buying better editions of books I already own has been a way of getting my book buying fix without growing the TBR...

214lkernagh
Mar 8, 2013, 8:52 pm

> 201 - I have to ask.... is The Collector a story with naked women (or at least a naked woman) butterflies and a camera? The cover made me think the woman was being attacked by a giant butterfly but I am guessing Fowles doesn't write that type of stories....... ;-)

215clfisha
Mar 10, 2013, 11:10 am

I think that story would have been better :) no its about a fledging serial killer who collects butterfly's and laterally women who then he likes to take photos of. Tasteful cover eh?

216clfisha
Editado: Mar 13, 2013, 11:25 am

Category 6. Crime and Unpunishment. Tag: Overly long books by Russian authors, murder

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky
Surprisingly brilliant, literary crime classic

"Brother, brother, what are you saying? Why, you have shed blood?" cried Dunya in despair.
"Which all men shed," he put in almost frantically, "which flows and has always flowed in streams, which is spilt like champagne, and for which men are crowned in the Capitol and are called afterwards benefactors of mankind... If I had succeeded I should have been crowned with glory, but now I'm trapped."


A surprising book. A book whose reputation overshadows it with those dreaded words "a worthy classic". A book of social commentary, a discussion of philosophy, of morality and justice, a plea for the Christian faith. But it’s also a playful crime novel, a crime of The Why, a wry look at art of catching criminals and with the number one genre attribute: a gripping plot. It is also beautifully written; discussion and descriptions slip of the page and their gems lurk in your brain. It is far too easy a read for such a chewy book.

“It would be interesting to know what it is men are most afraid of. Taking a new step, uttering a new word is what they fear most.”

Of course it's not without its faults. Personally (and though open to interpretation) the epilogue with its religion as a panacea felt a like a let down to the topics explored, a simplistic choice God or Nihilsm. Sexism is endemic, although female characters abound they all lean towards self sacrificing end of the spectrum (yes Sonia is the embodiment of self sacrifice but every female character?) Racism is littered throughout too with throw away anti Semitic comments and for some reason a dislike of Germans. I can ignore these things, there is too much good stuff to take away but it depends on your sensitivity.

Where is it?" thought Raskolnikov. "Where is it I've read that someone condemned to death says or thinks, an hour before his death, that if he had to live on some high rock, on such a narrow ledge that he'd only room to stand, and the ocean, everlasting darkness, everlasting solitude, everlasting tempest around him, if he had to remain standing on a square yard of space all his life, a thousand years, eternity, it were better to live so than to die at once! Only to live, to live and live! Life, whatever it may be!... How true it is! Good God, how true! Man is a vile creature!... And vile is he who calls him vile for that," he added a moment later.

Overall highly recommended. Ignore the overly academic introductions and essays and dive right it, take away what you will and most of all wallow and enjoy (unless you’re a Nihilist)

217andreablythe
Mar 13, 2013, 12:04 pm

Ah, good old Crime and Punishment, my old enemy. Seriously though, I'm not a fan. I've tried several times to get past the first hundred pages, but just cannot. My sister loved it and said it gets better in the second half, but I don't know that I'll ever get there.

There's something about Dostoyevsky's writing in general that I don't like. I've read and disliked Notes from Underground, too. The main characters in both novels are just so unlikeable to me that I can't get past it.

I keep thinking I should try again, but really there's so many other books out there for me to read. I know a lot of people love this book, but I think it's just not for me.

218RidgewayGirl
Mar 13, 2013, 1:24 pm

You really caught the feel of Crime and Punishment. What a book! What a review!

219-Eva-
Mar 13, 2013, 6:03 pm

Crime and Punishment was one of my absolute favorites when I read it at Uni - possibly because it looked and sounded so intimidating and turned out to be something more akin to a well-plotted murder mystery. I do remember our seminar discussions being mainly about Nihilism, but to be perfectly honest, no details are left in my mind. I'd reread, but I'd rather remember the surprise I got at its readability and try something else from him instead. :)

220GingerbreadMan
Mar 13, 2013, 7:12 pm

Loved your review of Crime and punishment! It's one of those books I read much to quickly (three days, while at university), but it's still the best of the three Dostojevskij books I've read. I also found it extremely readable. I should do a reread someday, but let's face it, it won't happen soon :)

221pammab
Mar 13, 2013, 11:58 pm

Thumbed! What a great review -- you make me want to try the book. I'm struggling with The Brothers Karamazov's lack of plot right now, though the philosophy is nice -- a murder mystery plus philosophy sounds quite enjoyable.

222clfisha
Mar 14, 2013, 5:37 am

Thanks guys :) I keep feeling its a book to reread.. I already know that's unlikely!

Andrea he is pretty unlikeable isn't he? I have to say I don't think it changes enough to keep going, it does become more gripping once the murder occurs and you are in the "will he give himself up" moment.

Pammab I was going to try The Brothers Karamazov next but I am still intimidated. May I recommend The Brothers K which references the Fyodor but I suspect a much better read.

223RidgewayGirl
Mar 14, 2013, 8:00 am

The Brothers Karamazov is a lot of fun. There's a big drunk party, terrible behavior, head stomping and bucket loads of angst. Besides, you have to decide which brother you'd date. No one ever picks Smerdyakov, but there's Dimitri, Vanya and Alyosha to choose between.

224clfisha
Editado: Mar 14, 2013, 11:34 am

Ok I am now officially intrigued by Brother Karamazov :)

and now over to Richard Sala ...

Category 2: The four horseman of the apocalypse. General apocalypses
Hidden, The by Richard Sala



Another delicious blend of Salas evocative, wry horror graphic novels this time a short, satisfying, apocalyptic riff off Frankenstein/Zombie mythology. Quiet amusement rub against B movie schlock horror, a mad cap idea of a plot beautifully layered to ramp up to the only ending that does the story justice. Sala's art is of course fantastic and my only complaint is it’s a bit short.

Highly recommended to comic fans, horror lovers.

225clfisha
Editado: Mar 14, 2013, 11:33 am

Mad Night by Richard Sala

Category 8. Hellish temptations. Tag iconoclasm, murder


Sala's take on the murder ,with perky foul mouthed investigator Judy Drood, is of course a darkly, gothic, bonkers romp through the genre. It all starts with a series of nasty murders n the University campus and soon different people are trying to get the secret of immortality. This being Sala means as well as a multitude of murders and shadowy figures galore we get beautiful grotesque group of professors, an all female pirate crew led by the evil hand puppet Auntie, a giant octopus, a lecturing owl, an ex war criminal and a priestly interrogator (sans nuns) with a penchant for axing people.

It's a vibrant chaotic mix that doesn't quite come off. I admit I found the beginning slightly bewildering (and I do wonder if you are meant to be familiar with Judy Drood) but in end I still had a lot of fun, over the top, amusing and horrible with a nice line in running jokes. It is in black and white and I did miss Sala's fab colouring but really his art suits it just as well.

Recommended.

226AHS-Wolfy
Mar 15, 2013, 4:30 am

Definitely going to have to give Richard Sala a go some time. Whether it's the earlier mentioned Delphine or one of these.

Judy Drood looks like it was going to be a throw-away character but then got used again when the ideas for Mad Night seemed to fit. Full story and original strip can be found here.

227clfisha
Mar 15, 2013, 5:06 am

Thanks for the link Dave. It's a pity they didn't add it in as an extra :)

228lkernagh
Mar 16, 2013, 1:09 am

Great review of Crime and Punishment Claire! I love it when the musty, academic-laced reputation of "a worthy classic" can be undone and a story of more popular interest is uncovered. ;-)

229christina_reads
Mar 17, 2013, 9:27 pm

Echoing everyone who has praised your review of Crime and Punishment! I felt the same way about The Brothers Karamazov when I read it -- surprised that such a heavy Russian classic could be such a page turner!

230clfisha
Editado: Mar 18, 2013, 10:42 am

Thanks :) can't wait to try more of his!

Category: "I think we are going to make it" - not in this challenge!

They Shoot Horses Don't They? by Horace McCoy

Marathon dancing and Nihilism, this is a novella that packs a punch. A young man recounts how he ended up in court and each chapter is framed with a snippet of the judges sentence. Short and shocking at first then gradually layering on detail as we hurtle towards the fatalistic ending. The setting is fascinating within itself, a surreal never-ending endurance dance off, full of rivalries and dubious showmanship. Couples are offered money to marry, fights start over cheating, collapses and prudish protesters abound.

A page turning story that offers so much but in the end fails slightly because of the nihilistic doom laden simplicity. A personal taste sure, but also affects Gloria's fatalistic character. There is no substance behind her, no reasons given, Her character and Robert's response just feels stupid, a let down to the richness that came before.

Still I do recommended it. It’s a fantastic, rich novella for all that.

231-Eva-
Mar 18, 2013, 8:23 pm

I remember watching the movie of They Shoot Horses and being absolutely amazed that a movie about marathon dancing (as it was marketed) could be so riveting! :)

232mathgirl40
Mar 18, 2013, 10:45 pm

Fantastic review of Crime and Punishment -- great analysis of its strengths and faults! I'd read and re-read that book several times in my late teens and twenties, and it's probably time to discover it again.

233clfisha
Mar 19, 2013, 5:42 am

Paulina, Thank you :) I think it's a book I will let settle for a few years and then read again! Any recommendations for the next book I try of his?

Eva: I do want to see the see movie..

Category 7: Sheer terror. Tag: Horror

The Mall by S.L.Grey

Dan is an Emo loser who works in a giant bland mall in Johannesburg and Rhoda (a strung out junky) is about to seriously ruin his day, dragging him through back corridors searching for the lost kid she was babysitting. Which is bad enough, but then they get lost, some psycho keeps sending text messages and the power goes. Then something starts chasing them in the dark...

I don't usually like horror novels, grotesque but dull is my usual impression and this proved no exception (use the fact that I also thought this about Dawn of the Dead as your gauge). However I can see it has positives for fans of the genre. It is a refreshing new take on the consumerism/horror melding and it does have some nice set pieces, particularly the descent into hellish mall. Darkness and mannequins sure, but also blinding mirrors and dark water and the lost dregs of society. The other mall with its amusing slogans and grotesque inhabitants, are suitably twisted and eerie.

What I can't forgive is it commits the cardinal sin of the genre: characters that are far too stupid to live. Seriously I nearly threw the book at the wall. They are also unlikeable and, I admit I might be picking holes here, but I didn't find them particularly believable either. Talk about twisting to fit the predictable ending. I could rant on but I won't, I don’t think it’s a terrible book but just a very bad fit for me

I can't recommend it but horror fans might want to check out other reviews.

234mathgirl40
Mar 19, 2013, 6:57 am

>233 clfisha:: I'll echo the others' sentiments about Brothers Karamazov. It was a challenging read but definitely worthwhile.

I think I can safely skip The Mall based on your review. I've been trying to read more in the horror genre, but it sounds like there's plenty out there that's better. :)

235clfisha
Mar 21, 2013, 9:54 am

234 hmm I would!

Category 4: Death by dangerously leaning TBR

The Blackbirder by Dorothy B Hughes

Julie Gill used to be a pretty little rich girl in Paris, but then the Nazi's came and she had to flee, through Europe to Cuba and illegally into North America. Heir to a fortune she hides from Nazi agents and the FBI, until a murder forces her to flee, to get out of the country fast. But only the mysterious Blackbirder can help and the cost is going to be high.

Written in 1943 this is a page turner spy thriller and a fine piece of war time propaganda unusually with a heroine at the fore front of the action. Julie is a believable everywoman too, easy to root for and it is so refreshing not to have a character that survives against ridiculous odds and never gets scared. Ok so the plot may not hold too many surprises these days but the atmosphere of loneliness and paranoia is superb. I also have to say my copy, part of the femme fatales series holds a deeply fascinating afterword on Hughes technique and it’s almost worth getting for that alone!

Recommend for lovers of spy genre, feminists and any new aspiring writers.

236Bjace
Mar 21, 2013, 10:02 am

Nice review of The Blackbirder Hughes was highly regarded years ago but she's not much read anymore.

237GingerbreadMan
Mar 21, 2013, 10:10 am

>230 clfisha: I saw a stage adaptation of They shoot horses many years ago, and felt the same about the ending.

238clfisha
Mar 22, 2013, 5:04 am

Thanks Beth, I am going to try and seek out her other books.

@237 odd you think if you could adapt something you could try & fix these things... mind you it's about a philosophy I just find pointless :-) ahem.

So behind on reviews & I haven't started the The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories yet. Oh dear

239clfisha
Editado: Mar 22, 2013, 11:49 am

Category 8. Hellish temptations. Tag: iconoclasm

,b> Isle of 100,000 Graves by Fabien Vehlmann (author) & Jason (artist)



Darkly funny and hugely entertaining, this a gripping adventure on the high seas as young Gwenny swears to find her father who went in search lost treasure and instead finds a secret school for torturers that lures pirates for practical sessions. It's a genius idea and while I was unsure of the art at first it works sublimely well with story and its deadpan humour and pitch perfect comedic timing. It’s absurd and lovable and absolutely delicious.

Highly recommend. I am off to seek more works from the both of them.

240clfisha
Mar 22, 2013, 7:58 am

Category 8. Hellish temptations. Tag: iconoclasm

Sandman: Dream Country by Neil Gaiman & various

4 separate stories all flowing into the themes and feeding the rich story world of Sandman. This is third in the series and it’s time for a fabulous intermission. A tale of the power of dreams and the dreams that cats want, a horrible tale of rape and the grasp for ideas and for fame, a amusing and clever tale of Shakespeare, playing a tale of fairies to the Fae and a lost lonely tale of a superhero who has give up hope.

It may be one of the my least favourites, Calliope's brutal tale personally turns me off the whole thing and Facade I feel was clumsy but I admire the dark cuteness of A Dream of a Thousand Cats and enjoy the cleverness and humour in the retelling of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Facade pleases me less, I feel a longer story hidden there, a better character portrayal. Still it’s a short intermission and an interesting one. I am very glad Gaiman wanted to break away and tell other stories, its partly what makes Sandman great.

241andreablythe
Mar 22, 2013, 11:44 am

Isle of 100,000 Graves looks quite fun. :)

242-Eva-
Mar 22, 2013, 12:20 pm

I'm not sure about the drawing style, but I saw that I have Werewolves of Montpellier on the wishlist already (can't remember why I added it, though - I really should make notes!). Deadpan works for me, so I'll add this one too! :)

243clfisha
Editado: Mar 25, 2013, 12:24 pm

It is fun, the art work does work honest :) Jason was on the list of top 10 Noir comics so he appeared on my radar that way!

And now for the 1st of 3 reviews showcasing some amazing fantasy.

Unlucky dip - 5 tags you choose. Tag: Bad sex

The Emperor of All Things by Paul Witcover

1785 and Britain is at war with France, an invasion with Bonny Prince Charlie is rumoured. Daniel Quare, is an ambitious member of the secretive guild “The Worshipful Company of Clockmakers” and he is been sent after a much sought after innovative watch. A watch that everyone wants, even as they fear it and Daniel is going to be dragged into a nightmarish world of intrigue and murder, of dragons and gods.

A strange, wayward book. A book that holds the idea of genre trope of fast paced fantasy action adventure with huge contempt. This is a book that stops what it's doing to let a minor character (at that point) to tell his story and only then do you begin to grasp how fantastic this duology(?) is going to be.

It is a book that starts off seemingly happy to play with the urban fantasy/clockworkpunk genre within Georgian British empire and it's secret society stockpiling the latest time technology. It has a female master thief and clueless everyman, political machinations and sword fights, doomsday devices and flying machines. It is all good fun if a tad genteel but when that character takes our hero and spins a tale, oh boy do you start to see its riches. The slow unfurling of magic in the world, the power that Time has and the shifting hidden meaning of the "other" world. Although at no point is the book completely honest with you, it’s a hidden nefarious, lying book and well that is part of the fun

Whilst it is layered it does follow a relatively simple plot arc and luckily this holds the weight of the complex, mutable world. It helps too, that its hugely visual with some evocative moments: the dark labyrinth streets of a snowed in mountain top village, a chase through the dark canyons of underground London under the mesmerising rain of glowing mushrooms.

Of course it will not be to everyone's taste, those with more prudish sensibilities be warned, the humans reaction to the "other" is sexual. Witcover’s style is rich and it took me a page or so to get into the flow. I think I have put off already, anyone who dislikes complexity or confusion, who needs a rollicking ride but again be warned. It could be said to be overblown and too full of, well everything but to be honest I would disagree. The main protagonists is a passive idiot too but oddly this didn't drive me mad.. Lastly it is part of a series and does end mysteriously on a cliff hanger that makes you go "what the?".

But look it does become gripping. No really. Plus it has dragons and ninja monks, well I think it does at least, and the creepiest town clock ever.

Recommend, although whether you wait for the sequel is up to you, it’s a rich experience in itself

244GingerbreadMan
Mar 25, 2013, 5:50 pm

Sounds mysterious and intriguing. Book bullet taken, and have a thumb for the review!

245AHS-Wolfy
Mar 25, 2013, 7:35 pm

BB and thumb for/from me too.

246clfisha
Mar 26, 2013, 6:51 am

thank you :) its been a good month for fantasy!

247psutto
Mar 26, 2013, 8:54 am

I'm almost convinced to follow the half made world with the emperor of all things and follow that with Lavie Tidhar...

248clfisha
Mar 26, 2013, 11:47 am

do it...

249GingerbreadMan
Mar 27, 2013, 4:46 pm

Congrats on your hot review! Eagerly looking forward to the five star review of Half-made world. :)
(I got The rise of Ransom city in the mail today, btw. Yay!)

250clfisha
Editado: Mar 28, 2013, 11:26 am

aww hot review, cool! And I am very jealous of your latest acquisition. I actually dithered about rating to I thought it started out good and became brilliant so maybe 4 1/2 and then I thought about how I felt when I closed the book. A feeling rare enough to get 5 stars.. review is coming after this one!

Ok my second in the fab fantasy reviews is completely different but still utterly worth it.

Category 7: Sheer terror. Tag: Unatural Creatures

Camera Obscura by Lavie Tidhar
Rich, rollicking, Litpunk Adventure

Meet Lady De Winter, agent to France’s quiet council of intelligent automatons who is called to a locked room mystery and as is the way of things is soon involved in a grasp for a bizarre zombie creating alien artefact which will drive her to underground labs, terrifying asylums, beautiful world fairs fighting against the British giant space lizards and a multitude of Chinese factions.

Utterly fabulous, totally silly and quite, quite serious; this a mad cap, magpie of an adventure story. It’s very hard to encapsulate every delight here, it’s an over-packed gem but a hugely satisfying one. An adventure romp with a meaty almost meandering plot that is packed to the rafters with literature references and neat ideas. The characters are superb (look women in fantasy!) De Winter is a perfect example of anti-authority cop and all the minor
characters seem to be spot on whether it’s the repulsive Marquis De Sade, or tragic Kai Lun.

All genres are pretty much mashed here but never overwhelm and the plot is a page turner but maybe not for those who prefer threads tight and few and tied up at the end. It is the 2nd in the Bookman trilogy but is pretty much standalone and um I can't think of many faults to be honest. I did have a niggling need to know more about French literature but it didn't affect the story just my pride and I had much fun with Google.

Recommended for all horror, crime, sci fi, fantasy and adventure fans. Plus everyone else

251AHS-Wolfy
Mar 28, 2013, 11:44 am

I've already got Lavie Tidhar on my wishlist from when you reviewed Osama. Looks like I should try and actively find something by him to try sooner rather than later.

252clfisha
Editado: Mar 28, 2013, 12:32 pm

Well I think the Bookman trilogy has been published all in one and he does have a new book out soon set in Mars.. Osama is far more serious then Bookman.

Edited to add..
Well I think myself & Pete are off to World Fantasy con in Brighton, UK this year so if anyone is going and wants to say Hi let me know! I am bemused by the world part.. since its only ever in the USA/UK but hey ho China Melville is attending

253clfisha
Editado: Abr 5, 2013, 9:23 am

I have found it so hard to write this review and now I am so behind..

Category 5: Superstition. Tag Supernatural shanigans

The Half-Made World by Felix Gilman
A slow burning fantastical wonder

Poised deliciously between wonderful world building and fantastic characterisation this 1st in a dulogy(?) slowly built but the by end left me quite breathless.

The world? Well it's a A wild west frontier torn between the logical, industriousness of the Line and their giant locomotives ripping through the landscape, consuming and twisting all to their needs. Their armies full of grey men, with their mind shattering bombs. Humanities last gasp, the Red Army was defeated long ago and The Guns, chaotic beings who love to possess outlaws cannot hold them back. No one thinks much about the natives who sulk on the edge of reality or are enslaved by the thundering progress of The Line. Into all this, looking for an adventurous new start is psychologist Liv. From the staid East to a home for the war broken. A home that contains an old general who in his broken mind may hold the secret to ending the war.

It’s a wonderful premise, that as you can tell is hard to summarise. The characters that form it grow to be delicious, the pitch perfect tone of the demonic gun, wheedling and cruel in equal measure or the terribly fragile humanity of Liv (one of my favourite characters period). Liv's journey West and the drawing together of all forces keeps you entertained whilst furiously building the story and then goes in unexpected places. Be warned I don't think it hits the wow factor for a while and it always refuses to fall into easy plot tropes of epic battles and glorious romance; passivity with chaos and sudden, very real bravery against familiar cowardice. It maybe a page turner but it’s not nonstop action.

It is the first book is in a series, but the ending is satisfying whilst leaving it wide open for the next. Yet I think whether this books really shines is going to rest on the next book.. I have much invested in this now.

254rabbitprincess
Abr 5, 2013, 8:59 pm

I really, really have to re-request this one from the library. Since it's a slow burn I want to be in exactly the right reading frame of mind for it. It sounds excellent.

255GingerbreadMan
Abr 6, 2013, 1:46 am

Love the review - eagerly anticipated :) Happy to announce that The rise of Ransom City is great so far. Gilman does the smart thing of starting in another end altogether.

256andreablythe
Abr 6, 2013, 3:06 pm

Great review. I keep hearing good things about The half made world. I need to get around to reading it.

257-Eva-
Abr 6, 2013, 5:35 pm

Great review! Yes, what is a series of two books called? Is it duology, or should we just go ahead and call it that? :)

258lkernagh
Abr 6, 2013, 9:10 pm

Very intrigued by your review of The Emperor of All Things, Claire! Thumb! I will need to keep my eye out for that one! Tidhar's Bookman series also looks very enticing. Do you know if this is a series that should be read in publication order? My local library has Camera Obscura but not The Bookman. I think Pete - or someone else - already hit me with The Half-Made World, not that that really stops your review from having a further impact!

...... I think I am all caught up now and can safely remove my flak jacket.

259clfisha
Abr 7, 2013, 8:31 am

Thank you & glad to hear it Anders. Eagerly waiting for your review!

Lori I think you could get away with read them out of order, although I haven't read the 3rd one yet.

260clfisha
Editado: Abr 7, 2013, 9:01 am

Forgot to do my March round up of covers.. this time in order of size (Large page size to smallest)

Books!



Comics!



Top Picks: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky and The Half-Made World by Felix Gilman
Picks to avoid: The Mall by S L grey

Best cover has to be Crime and Punishment.. worst I reckon is How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia (its a good book though). Yes I AM behind on reviews..

261andreablythe
Abr 7, 2013, 12:12 pm

Love the covers round up! So fun. :)

262clfisha
Abr 10, 2013, 10:38 am

@261 thanks :)

Unlucky dip - 5 tags you choose. Tag: Happy Endings

How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid
Exciting, fascinating experimentation

A pastiche on the self help novel, a sharp social commentary on modern day Pakistan and a story of the rise and fall of one unnamed man. In fact that man is "You", this novel is written in the 2nd person.

"Is getting filthy rich still your goal above all goals, your be-all and end-all, the mist shrouded high-altitude spawning pond to your salmon?
In your case, fortunately, it seems to be. Because you have spent the last few years taking the essential next step, learning from a master"


There are some truly delicious moments in this book, some stunning craft and sly manoeuvres. It is a book that deftly instructs “You” the reader and “You” the character separately from different points and often the author wryly comments. It’s a book where all characters have no name and makes their descriptors work through them; "the pretty girl" brings sweet reminiscences in her dotage. It is a book where the entirety of a person’s life is written in the modern day but manages never to be jarring. It’s language is not fluid, but beautifully twists and makes interesting patterns in your head. It is also for me a book let down by the plot; the unrequited young love, the empty marriage, the struggle for work. An extraordinary ordinary life that personally doesn't interest me, although I found the end so beautiful I was in tears.. go figure. Yes the 2nd person is hard initially to get on with (especially as the character is male and I think he missed a trick there), but the separation of character and reader helps greatly.

It is a fascinating, heart breaking and joyful flawed experiment, dull in places and delightful in others. Anyone interested in technique, or a thirst for the different should try this. Anyone jaded by too much Western fair should take a peak and of course there will be a multitude who will love the story just fine. I do highly recommend it, I think it will shine in a reread.

We are all refugees from our childhoods. And so we turn, among other things, to stories. To write a story, to read a story, is to be a refugee from the state of refugees. Writers and readers seek a solution to the problem that time passes, that those who have gone are gone and those who will go, which is to say every one of us, will go. For there was a moment when anything was possible. And there will be a moment when nothing is possible. But in between we can create.”

263RidgewayGirl
Abr 10, 2013, 1:47 pm

I was going to go and star your review, but you haven't added it to the book's page. I really enjoyed The Reluctant Fundamentalist, but descriptions of this book had left me cold. I'll have to read it-you've reassured me.

264clfisha
Abr 10, 2013, 2:23 pm

Thanks, It's there now, slight delay :) I haven't tried his others, I am wary because of my hesitation the plot in this one.

265clfisha
Abr 15, 2013, 9:06 am

Category 8. Hellish temptations. Tags: Satanic worship

Sandman: Seasons of Mists by Neil Gaiman & various

An Endless family meeting descends quickly into accusation and argument, yet serves its purpose to make Dream rethink his actions and free his former lover from hell. Hell where Lucifer is waiting and has sworn revenge.

The slow unfurling universe of the Sandman universe takes centre stage, spinning to take in to unusual and unexpected directions, scattering pure gems of self contained shorts. This is why think this volume showcase the delights of Sandman so well, even if it’s not my favourite it's a wonderful story with its grab bag of myths and wonderful short story "Charles Rowland Concludes His Education". Sadly whilst the arts better the colouring is still pretty awful

266SouthernKiwi
Abr 16, 2013, 6:29 am

I don't know if The Emperor Of All Things is for me, but that's a great review. Can't avoid a BB on The Half-Made World though, it looks like you've had a fantastic string of books lately.

267clfisha
Editado: Abr 18, 2013, 7:35 am

Thank you ;) I do like getting a good run, however its probably feels worse when you move into a so so one

Unlucky dip - 5 tags you choose. Tag: Surreal

Three to See the King by Magnus Mills
Low key, quirky, ominous perfection

"Existing in a house of tin was an end unto itself, a particular state of being, and time didn't come into it/ "

A happy curmudgeon lives in a tin house in a featureless, undisclosed desert until an old acquaintance turns up on with a suitcase and rumours of a messianic tin house builder far away to draw him out of his

As sparse as its setting, this is a pared down story, almost a parable, with dead pan humour and a deftly wry look at humanity. Solitude and mob mentality, neighboured politics, urbanisation and false prophets. Funny, thoughtful and nightmarish. Mills is pretty much one of a kind, the everyday made ominous, societies unwritten rules looming large as cruel crisis and his books are an experience in themselves. I really would urge everyone to try him at least once, maybe not to start here (try Restraint of Beasts ).

Recommended, unless you need a fast paced adventure tale. It may not be my favourite of his work but fans will enjoy this hugely.

268GingerbreadMan
Editado: Abr 18, 2013, 7:46 am

One of my favorite Mills! :) Thumb!

269lkernagh
Abr 18, 2013, 8:44 pm

with dead pan humour and a deftly wry look at humanity.

Sold, and thumb!

270clfisha
mayo 12, 2013, 6:29 am

Blows dust off thread.. why what a horrid month.. to reviews and actually reading again.

Category 2: The four horseman of the apocalypse. Tag: Famine

Gulp by Mary Roach
Fab popular science

A hugely fascinating and highly entertaining look at our digestive system. Roach’s skill is managing to ferret out
those interesting facts and explain simply so a layman can understand. She has a deep love of science and oddity,
and manages to find and bring to life the hidden eccentrics

So we learn about extreme chewing fads, creepy historical experiments on stomach acid, the real myth behind the fire breathing dragon, what really happens to drug smugglers and the amazing amount of research that goes into food science.

“I don’t want you to say, ‘This is gross,’ ” she writes. “I want you to say, ‘I thought this would be gross,
but it’s really interesting.’

and it really is, I really wish biology was this much fun at school.

I have seen her style irritate the more serious expert or those that like a less eclectic magpie mix and more
in-depth look but for everyone else no problem. My only problem is I don't care what scientists wear and also that takes a while to really grip, becoming increasingly interesting as it goes on down the canal.

If you haven't read Roach before start with Stiff but this I think is one her better books. Highly recommended

271SandDune
mayo 12, 2013, 7:27 am

I have so many books by Mary Roach that I've added to the wishlist. I really must get around to reading one of them.

272dudes22
mayo 12, 2013, 8:26 am

I've got Stiff in the TBR and keep meaning to get to it, but something always pushes it out of the way. Oh well - someday.

273rabbitprincess
mayo 12, 2013, 4:23 pm

Ooh, Gulp was already on the to read list but now I definitely have to read it for the story behind fire-breathing dragons!

274andreablythe
mayo 12, 2013, 5:23 pm

I love her science writing. Mary Roach has been consistently great, so I'm looking forward to reading this one too!

275GingerbreadMan
mayo 13, 2013, 5:50 am

I've written the sentence "I need to read Mary Roach" so many times on this site, I'd just feel stupid doing it again.

Oh, I just did.

276clfisha
mayo 14, 2013, 5:43 am

At least you can just start cut and pasting Anders... Go on everyone.. go and read some Roach ;) I have her Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife to read next, but I have heard mixed reviews.

Right now have to try and write a review for a book I read over a month ago this could take a while..

So in the interim.. I have started the mammoth The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories. I wasn't going to do mini reviews just highlight the best.. but the first 2 stories I have read been utterly wonderful, old fashioned atmospheric ghost tales at their finest. The 1st a true creepy haunting and the second a majestic story of the "other". I really think anyone who buys this is going to be in for a treat but boy is it large.. I think this could be an e-book candidate.

So far I have read
F. Marion Crawford, The Screaming Skull 1908
Algernon Blackwood, The Willows 1907

277lkernagh
mayo 14, 2013, 9:01 am

It took all I had to try and not get sucked in by Pete's reviews of The Weird. I don't know if I have enough strength to continue to resist this one, although I have to say e-book sounds like a good idea!

278clfisha
mayo 31, 2013, 12:45 pm

@277 e-book would stop it looking word too.. paperback not holding up!

Category 7: Sheer terror. Tag: Dystopian futures

The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson
Stunningly brilliant dystopia

Prepare for a gushing review.. I may have read this over a month ago but the joy of reading it still lingers.

“The key to fighting in the dark is to perceive your opponent, sense him, and never use your imagination. The darkness inside your head is something your imagination fills with stories that have nothing to do with the real darkness around you.”

This is on one level a very gripping adventure tale of Pak Jun Do, an orphan who survives the horrific famine () to be become a tunnel fighter, a kidnapper and a spy. It also a love story of a Commander Ga and his wife, a torturers story of dissolution and loss, a mad cap caper of diplomatic one-upmanship and the winning tale of the Best North Korean Story.

It’s a very scary, horrific, hugely funny, utterly gripping, heartfelt and bonkers tale of a very real dystopia. It is a story that carries a stark warning on the evil and power of stories; an anti story in two parts, with different narrators (1st person and third) that create a loving chaotic jumble that works solely as a damn fine story at the same time whetting your intellectual taste buds. Did I mention that is very very well written?

“Where we are from, he said, stories are factual. If a farmer is declared a music virtuoso by the state, everyone had better start calling him maestro. And secretly, he'd be wise to start practicing the piano. For us, the story is more important than the person. If a man and his story are in conflict, it is the man who must change....But in America, people's stories change all the time. In America, it is the man who matters.”

Its trick, for me, is to overcome all the faults I have with dystopian fiction and grab the reader’s imagination and thrust it so deeply into a different culture that when you meet Americans for the 1st time your head explodes with the oddity. Johnson draws an amazing sense of place then fleshes it out with tiny details like the shock of a blank wall (sans Dear Leader photo) and imbues it with characters that fit just so. It hooks you in and never lets you rest as it’s so packed with plot. It will make you complicit in the lies of the anti-story because we know so much more.. the orphan master's son? sure he is, and then lie to you and twist your expectations (but never cruelly)

Of course it depends on what you want from the book. It doesn't have a linear narrative nor is it a factual account of North Korea, research was done and liberties taken. It is at once very dark and insane but not nearly as dark or insane as the reality and if that doesn't give you pause for thought I don't know what will. I guess it could be said to be too clever for its own good but I think that’s a matter of taste.

I loved this book and I highly recommend it. Literature and story lovers, adventure fiends and Dystopia fans will find something of interest here. Without a doubt one of the best books I have read all year.

"Jun Do never looked. He knew the televisions were huge and there was all the rice you could eat. Yet he wanted no part of it - he was scared that if he saw it with
his own eyes, his entire life would mean nothing. Stealing turnips from an old man who'd gone blind from hunger? That would have been for nothing."

279DeltaQueen50
mayo 31, 2013, 2:07 pm

That is a great review and had me wanting to rush out right now and get this book! Definitely in my sights, hopefully will be able to fit it in this year.

280lkernagh
mayo 31, 2013, 7:27 pm

I usually flee in the opposite direction of a dystopian novel but you do make The Orphan Master's Son sound appealing, even to me. Great review!

281AHS-Wolfy
Jun 1, 2013, 8:03 am

Added to the wishlist and review thumbed. I'd seen a few reviews around LT with some being not quite so complimentary as yours so I've been wavering on this one for a bit.

282clfisha
Editado: Jun 1, 2013, 8:32 am

Well it is what it is. I think those who prefer the fantasy/Sci fi genres may get on with this better. It's not a straight story, it's OTT and slightly risible.. I think the 2nd part gets more fantastical and playful with tropes but I did love it & amazed how he achieved it.

Warning some parts are dark but its never that gory or overtly sexual. Still eating moths to stay alive is the lighter part of a prison scene..

283mamzel
Jun 1, 2013, 2:03 pm

Well written gush!

284-Eva-
Editado: Jun 1, 2013, 4:52 pm

Stiff is my favorite, but Gulp sounds like it's up there as well - wishlisted!

The Weird was on sale at the Sci-Fi bookstore in Gothenburg and it took some convincing before I put it back on the shelf - it's just too huge for a suitcase. Definitely leaning toward ebook on that one!

Thumbing The Orphan Master's Son and, obviously, adding to the wishlist as well.

285DeltaQueen50
Jun 1, 2013, 6:40 pm

Congratulations on your "Hot Review' of The Orphan Master's Son.

286SouthernKiwi
Jun 2, 2013, 1:05 am

Great review of The Orphan Master's Son, I think this is one I'll get to eventually.

287clfisha
Jun 4, 2013, 4:32 am

Thank you guys & I hope you enjoy it! A hot review cheers me up no end too :)

288clfisha
Jun 4, 2013, 8:44 am

Category 8. Hellish temptations

The Sandman: A Game of You by Neil Gaiman et al

Volume 5 in the iconic Sandman and we return to a single(ish) story. A story of identity and inner worlds. The right to exist on your terms and sometimes the cost. Dream hovers at the edges, his realm is after all where most of the actions lies; a typical fantasy dream world fighting for survival against its all-consuming impostor the mysterious Cuckoo.

Playing with tropes & myths, weaving in past and future plot strands are all here as expected and whilst story is good the stars of the show though are the characters. Barbie (who we have met before), the fantastic full of life Wanda and the deliciously hard ball witch Thessaly. It's a refreshing overtly female cast too (yes I include transgender Wanda in that) and whilst the some of what Gaiman was trying to say doesn't quite work but the story and its ideas still work very well. The artwork/printing still is sadly still below par though.

289clfisha
Editado: Jun 4, 2013, 8:47 am

Category 5: Superstition. Tag: witchcraft

The Circle: The Engelsfors Trilogy--Book 1 by Elgren & Strandberg
Fab YA Fantasy

A derelict fairground and an ancient prophecy, a shocking and suspicious suicide at school and six girls drawn together one dark and stormy night.

Such a familiar (if enticing) setup means it's all down to the execution and rest assured that's all good. It's not a quick, fast paced flash bang of a story though. It’s meaty and rich, with multiple flawed characters you will need to get to grips with and then fall for. A slow burner of a story that gently draws you then builds and builds until tension oozes off the page. It's dark enough for teenagers to lap this up but may give some adults pause. Ok I didn't love it (not a fan of YA) but I still had a lot of fun reading it.

It does have some faults, I think the translation Americanised it so to my (UK) ears I struggled for a while to get a sense of place and one of the girls (Ida the bully) barely makes it to two dimensions as do some of the adults but the rest is all good. It is the 1st in an unfinished trilogy too but it manages to have a great plot and be cool piece of world building. Plus I think the 3rd is due out Sweden this year.

Strongly recommended for YA lovers and anyone else who wants an engaging fantastical read.

290-Eva-
Jun 5, 2013, 12:24 am

Great to hear you enjoyed The Circle - those aren't bad words from someone who normally doesn't care for YA. Too bad about the translation, though - the sense of place should be pretty strong, or at least it is in Swedish (or perhaps I just know of such places and fill in the blanks...).

291AHS-Wolfy
Jun 5, 2013, 3:33 am

Nothing in your review for The Circle makes me want to remove it from its place on my wishlist.

292clfisha
Jun 5, 2013, 5:32 am

@290 I think words like "high school" didn't help either I as I automatically imagine a US setup and it was hard to break out of. Of course Gymnasieskola(?) may well translate to high school (Yes I had to wiki for that, so if it's wrong blame them not my research laziness)

293GingerbreadMan
Editado: Jun 5, 2013, 5:47 am

>278 clfisha: Brilliant and enticing review, well deserving it's top spot in Hot Reviews! I tend to get suspicious of the concept of "western writer describes the miseries of a foreign land from a domestic perspective", but with the OTT feeling of this, it sounds like it really could work.

>289 clfisha: Happy you enjoyed it - and I totally expected your YA reservations. I agree with Eva, the sense of place is strong, so that must be a flaw of the translation. Gymnasieskola DOES translate to high school (school for 16-18 year olds), but "High school" carries strong implications from all film and Tv, giving a somewhat different feeling. Ida goes interesting places in the second book, by the way :)

294clfisha
Jun 6, 2013, 4:25 am

@293 Thanks you & I was feeling sorry poor old Ida so glad to hear it!

I think the 2nd book is out soon in the UK. Your right about TV/film I have been conditioned to think of teenage witches as North American :) Although weirdly, all vampire children are Swedish & zombies/werewolves are English.

295mathgirl40
Jun 8, 2013, 7:33 am

I'm happy to see your positive review of The Circle. It's been sitting on my e-reader for a while, and I've been meaning to read it.

296clfisha
Jun 10, 2013, 7:16 am

Paulina: Hope you enjoy it!

Category 7: Sheer terror. Tag:Romance

The Crane Wife by Patrick Ness

Based on a Japanese story that entwines the mystical in the every day. As a 50 yr old divorcee George rescues a crane in his back garden and falls in love with a mysterious women all in the same week.

I loved the exploration of the myth, the wonderful descriptions of the art and its impact. I loved the blurring of reality and leaving the truth carefully un-said. The romance at its heart was ok and the everyday "nice guy" lead and mysterious women worked well within the story.

However I really didn't get on with some of the other characters. Mostly Amanda who I never understood and couldn't empathise with. Some of things she said or did just seemed weird. Why would anyone would socialise with work colleagues they don't like and I was infuriated that they were all female in a work place that was overwhelmingly male. Nor did I buy that her character would say things like
"But as she watched Rachel's unfeasibly shapely bottom shuffle off in defeat, Amanda found herself feeling an emotion so unassociated with her that it took her a minute to identify it properly. It was pity."
Of course the HR women hating harpy, or backstabbing work "friend" and her insipid sidekick might say it but not her. Oh did I mention sexist stereotypes? Which is the other glaring problem with the book.

I don't think Ness is sexist but this book is, sometimes purely because I felt what he was trying to do just back fired
Spoilers:
Who the volcano incorporates is nicely inverted (gender wise) but then by turning back stabbing friend into relationship destroying harridan and you are starting to free fall into female stereotypes.
End spoiler

So in the end I can't recommend this book. The moments I enjoyed equalled the moments I wanted to throw this book at the wall. Even if you don't care about gender issues or think all women are actually like that (sigh) I still think that Amanda is going to take some getting used to.

297clfisha
Editado: Jun 10, 2013, 7:32 am

Category 8. Hellish temptation. Tag: Iconoclasm

You're All Just Jealous of My Jetpack by Tom Gauld

A really quite amusing collection of singe page comics on literature, popular culture and of course human foibles. All delightfully prodded with irreverent whimsy and because its so hard to describe humour have some examples






You can see loads more over at http://myjetpack.tumblr.com/

298andreablythe
Jun 10, 2013, 3:46 pm

I see the Tom Gauld comics all over the Internet, and love them, so it would be fun to check out the collection.

299GingerbreadMan
Jun 10, 2013, 6:29 pm

>297 clfisha: That's just lovely. I've posted this guy's "trekking with dramaturgs" drawing on Facebook before, but these are all wonderful!

300clfisha
Editado: Jun 11, 2013, 8:28 am

298/299 I am now tempted to pick up his Goliath which was raved about a while.

Category 2: The four horseman of the apocalypse. Tag: war

The Great Game by Lavie Tidhar
Pure eclectic litpunk fun

Empires rise and fall playing the greatest game, the quest for power and control. Yet the lizard run British empire is losing ground, Frances rebellious Quiet Council of automatons nipping at its heels, a multitude of Chinese infiltrating every where and upstart Vespuccia daring to dream. But there is a new player, the mysterious murderous figure who collects them all, precursor to the long feared alien invasion. An invasion that will rule them all.

Conclusion(?) to the Bookman trilogy, satisfyingly tying together the earlier disparate novels. Although this time its gently riffing of the spy novel its pretty much more of the same: a kaleidoscope, fizzing with ideas, full of action and adventure, a huge host of characters, a slightly meandering plot that is lots of fun whether you enjoy spotting those references or not.

Explosions, chases and mad escapes, fights in the dark and a glut of fabulously mad scientists (my favourite being Pavlov), ancient artefacts and odd futuristic machines.
It's intelligent exuberant mad-cap fun and I heartedly recommend it. The 2nd book may be the best but this is a satisfying conclusion none the less.

301AHS-Wolfy
Jun 11, 2013, 12:32 pm

I really do need to get around to picking up a Lavie Tidhar at some point.

302SandDune
Jun 11, 2013, 12:54 pm

#300 the lizard run British empire is losing ground - I think I need to read the book just to find out what that's all about!

303GingerbreadMan
Jun 11, 2013, 5:11 pm

I held an omnibus of the The bookman series, as well as Osama in my hand yesterday, at Science Fiction-bokhandeln in Stockholm. But in the end left without buying anything, thinking about how my reducing the TBR goal by 35 books this year goal is going... I'll very likely pick them up at a later time though!

304-Eva-
Jun 11, 2013, 11:19 pm

What a shame about The Crane Wife, especially since A Monster Calls was so great!

305clfisha
Editado: Jun 12, 2013, 4:36 am

Dave: yes you do! :P

Rhian: It is such a fun premise :)

Anders: He has a new book out to so you will have more choice :)

Eva: Ah well Pete liked it more than I did so it depends on what bugs you I guess

306clfisha
Editado: Jun 20, 2013, 10:54 am

Category 5: Superstition. Tag: Supernatural shenanigans

The Rise of Ransom City by Felix Gilman
Exquisite slow burning wild west kind of fantasy.

Note: A sequel to wonderful The Half-Made World, my review here

This is ”Professor” Harry Ransom's own story, a story of magic on the edge of the known world, of creating mysterious machines for the sheer love of them. It’s hope against greed and invention against destruction. It’s the bad things we all do, and the good things we want to do. It’s story of a man who gets caught up in a war that he has no wish for or stake in and in the end... well that would be telling. For Ransom is known as a traitor or a visionary (depending on your politics) in the war between the sentient trains of The Line and the maverick demons of The Gun and he wants to set the record straight.

This is a blissfully wonderful sequel, at a sidewise slant to 1st. It is not the story you expect and that's going to annoy some, but for me it is a blinder of a move. How else could Gilman follow the 1st? How can the explanation of the mystery be worth its destruction?

Gilman's world building continues to be superb, this is exciting place to be. But he has other strengths, he is knows how to create a very human character and a very human tale. Ransom has a seductive storyteller’s voice and for all his salesmanship and tells a tale so honest it sometimes hurts. Then there is Gilman’s masterful layering. This book coyly and slowly unfurls its secrets. It knows when to tease and mislead, when to build and when to whack you between the eyes. But it’s not slow and grabs your heart much quicker than the 1st.

It's going to annoy that it’s not a direct sequel and for those seeking fast paced, non stop action adventure with neat resolution they should avoid (oh gosh the ending is divine). But look, there are so many books out there like that and who cling fast to their hero that makes this one a special, unusual book. A book to savour, to find a quiet place and do it justice. It is a book for western fans and fantasy lovers, those who are searching for something to wallow in, something different. Word of warning I really would read them in order for the full effect but you can just dive straight in here.

Highly recommended

I would not presume to call myself a man of greatness, but as it happens there were a few moments back there when it was my hand that seized the reins of History and Fortune, if only by accident or because nobody else wanted to or while I thought I was doing something else.

1st chapter can be found here:
http://www.tor.com/stories/2012/12/the-rise-of-ransom-city-excerpt?start=1

307clfisha
Editado: Jun 20, 2013, 10:56 am

Category: 13 Linked Books. 1st book so no tag

Ubik by Philip K Dick

Anti-psychic consultancy is a lucrative but dangerous business (pyschic spies play dirty). Runciter runs the business with his dead wife (suspended in half life) but when his team are ambushed things start getting really weird, technologies regressing and everything else deteriorating fast, including the food. The weird product Ubik is the only thing which might save them

Dick seems to be an ideas man, characters and tight plotting aren’t the point. In fact main character’s stupidity to get the plot started set my teeth on edge. Do you think this could be an ambush guys? Do you? Sigh. It also doesn't help that Ubik is a bit light on the idea front and full of humour that I don't find funny. It's not a horrible read by any means, the regression of technologies and the eras they evoke is a lot of fun. The mystery of who is the bad guy and they how to get out of it is enjoyable even if the ending is bit too signposted for a modern reader.

I picked Ubik at random after a bad experience trying to read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? when I was a teenager so maybe there is no hope for me but I think he deserves one more try.

Not recommending this one, has to be a better Dick out there

well that kicks off the 1st in my linked book section.. the next book has to be linked in some ways so I chose the remarkable Losing the Head of Philip K Dick

Edited: because I put anti-physics.. not anti-psychics ;-) technically that may have been more interesting.. "Take that gravity!"

308lkernagh
Jun 20, 2013, 9:20 am

I have just added both Gilman books to my future reading list. Great review, Claire!

309GingerbreadMan
Jun 20, 2013, 10:46 am

EXCELLENT review of Ransom City! And I agree, a brilliant way of handling a sequel, that brings VanderMeer to mind.

310clfisha
Jun 20, 2013, 11:55 am

Enjoy Lori!

Thank you Anders.. it took me a while I admit, I was intimidated by your superb review :)

I agree, I did get an Ambergris like vibe from it , taking a minor character & expanding building up a fantastic world, I think its a great thing to do if you can pull it off. I think the character in Shriek was reminded me off each other.. all they are not all that alike.

311andreablythe
Jun 20, 2013, 12:01 pm

Hmmm. Phillip K. Dick is a hard one, because as you said, he's more of an ideas man and so doesn't deal much with character development. This hasn't bothered to me much as I've read his work, as I've just let the weirdness of his ideas be the fun of the reading experience and let go any need for other stuff. I actually enjoyed Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and The Crack in Space (another ideas heavy book).

I guess I would probably recommend The Man in the High Castle, which is the only other Dick story I've read. Again, it's ideas heavy, but I remember liking the characters more and it has a compelling premise, which presents an alternate history in which the Germans and Japanese won WWII.

"because I put anti-physics.. not anti-psychics ;-) technically that may have been more interesting.. "Take that gravity!"

LOL! Too funny.

Speaking of funnies. I almost abbreviated the author's name in that first sentence, which would have read "Dick is a hard one," and then stopped my self, because I started snorting with laughter. ;)

(I live on Junior High level humor.)

312christina_reads
Jun 20, 2013, 3:04 pm

@ 311 -- Andrea, I totally giggled at "there has to be a better Dick out there." Maturity is overrated. ;)

313rabbitprincess
Jun 20, 2013, 4:52 pm

Tee hee! Joining in the Dick-related giggles ;)

314andreablythe
Jun 20, 2013, 5:38 pm

>312 christina_reads:
OMG! I can't believe I didn't catch that one! LOL!

315Yells
Jun 20, 2013, 6:11 pm

Snerk ;)

316clfisha
Jun 21, 2013, 4:33 am

oh dear I did try hard not to do that and then it slipped in :) most amusing.

I have a collection of his books so I will try another see what happens.. maybe it wont have the tiresome running jokes of descibing every character wearing outrageous clothes

317clfisha
Jun 25, 2013, 7:19 am

Category 8. Hellish temptations. Tag Iconoclasm

Walking Dead: Volume 17 by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard



This is the volume that made me realise I had serious series fatigue.

It's been great so far, a sprawling epic of what happens to a band of survivors after the zombie apocalypse hits. It’s played a bit with the zombie mythos, explored what happens to people and the morality in the aftermath, it’s had mind blowing dramatic set pieces and small heart breaking drama.

I do recommend the series (15+ volumes of quality) but now I am done. It’s the monotony of always having just one story strand with no single issue look at other things or people. It’s the shock and awe tactics of the latest volume which requires a too obvious plot contrivance to make it happen and only seems to happen to wake you up. It’s the fact that it echoes too much a better, earlier plot when what it really needs is a fresh injection. It’s Rick. I am so fed up of Rick and the fact he is still the central focus and quickly becoming narrow in definition. And whilst this volume maybe addresses the issue of what the character has become it’s too late for me.

It probably doesn't help I just played Last of Us on the PS3. Stunning story, with deft use of character view points & far better at the morality question & playing with tropes.

318clfisha
Jun 25, 2013, 7:23 am

Science Tales by Darryl Cunningham



Cunningham is superb at explaining the essence of an idea, in this collection he tackles the big scientific issues such as climate change, the moon landings, MMR, homeopathy & chiropractors, evolution and general science denialism.

Cunningham is great not only at the salient points but providing context and history, so you will pick up some interesting new titbits (background of chiropractors for me) as well as helping consolidate your thoughts. It’s great for kids, or those who are interested but unsure or those who need to hone their arguments. It’s a must for people who don’t vaccinate their kids. Anyone who knows about these things probably won’t find anything new here and diehard science denialists probably won't listen (although they should at least so they can counteract the arguments).

It’s not evangelistic but a measured and interesting summary of the facts. Recommended & his more personal look at different mental illnesses in Psychiatric tales too.

319andreablythe
Jun 25, 2013, 12:59 pm

I can totally understand series burnout. I love Walking Dead, but I need breaks from it. So I'll read a couple of books, then come back months later.

Science Tales sounds great! I love science and its history, especially if it's creatively explained. :)

320-Eva-
Jun 25, 2013, 1:18 pm

->317 clfisha:
I'm in the middle of vol. 18 right now and it's fantastic! Sorry. :) Series burnout is common, though, with series that are that long - no use in pushing yourself either because you'll just like every installment less than you would have if you had taken a proper break.

321rabbitprincess
Jun 25, 2013, 4:45 pm

Psychiatric Tales is at my library -- added to the list of books to check out sometime :)

322clfisha
Jun 26, 2013, 4:38 am

@320. Does Rick die? (she asks hopefully... )
I have decided to keep an eye out on the plot by wikiing it occasionally, see it it turns in a direction that interests me..

Hope you guys enjoy Cunningham!

323clfisha
Editado: Jun 26, 2013, 9:12 am

Category 1: 13 Linked Books:
Link: Ubik by Philip K Dick links to this one via the author

Losing the Head of Philip K Dick by David Duffy
A wonderful title for a wonderful book.

Philip K Dick was an iconic Sci Fi author. Think Bladerunner, think total recall. Think of identity crisis and paranoia and ponder the question he raised; In the future how will you tell if you are human? If you a building a cutting edge robotic head who else could you choose?

This is a story of its conception and creation of the robot that captured everyone’s imagination and then in a delicious fit of irony, disappeared forever.

It is a heady and compelling mix. No previous knowledge is required of the science or the author, both are beautifully described and deftly interwoven into the tale. In fact even if you do know something his descriptions are a delight. The late nights, the excitement of creation and tense resolution of last minute issues all keep your interest and even more fascinating the odd glimpse of actual conversations held with the head.

I highly recommend it to popular science fans, sci fi lovers and anyone who wishes to see a quirky story and ask themselves, how do you know you're you?

There is an excerpt here (and one a video)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/06/the-philip-k-dick-android_n_1573318.htm...

Note: Sold in the USA under the really dull title:
"How to Build an Android: The True Story of Philip K. Dick's Robotic Resurrection"

324lkernagh
Jun 26, 2013, 9:42 am

Happy to see you enjoyed the Duffy book, Claire! I didn't know anything about Philip K Dick or his books (except for having watch the movie adaptation of Bladerunner) before I read it and I learned a lot about Dick's life and books..... and the really cool bits about building a robot! ;-)

325-Eva-
Jun 26, 2013, 10:22 pm

->320 -Eva-:
Sorry, not thus far, at least. :)

326clfisha
Editado: Jun 28, 2013, 11:00 am

324 It was great wasn't really wish I could have talked with it! & Dick is such a character so it was fun learning about him

Category 8. Hellish temptations. Tag: Murder

The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
A beautifully crafted, page turning, tempestuous thriller

“It’s not my fault. It’s yours. You shouldn’t shine. You shouldn’t make me do this.”

From the blurb
In Depression-era Chicago, Harper Curtis finds a key to a house that opens on to other times. But it comes at a cost. He has to kill the shining girls: bright young women, burning with potential. He stalks them through their lives across different eras until, in 1989, one of his victims, Kirby Mazrachi, survives and starts hunting him back.

So tightly wound, so beautifully constructed, two ideas so perfectly joined. This is not a book for bleary eyed 5 minute snatches, this is gripping page turner, a nested doll horror, an Ouroboros of gripping drama, that you are going to want to pay some attention to.

But fear not, it’s not over complicated nor just a clinical puzzle. It's bursting with wonderful characters especially Kirby, a survivor of one of the brutal (and I mean seriously brutal) attacks who manages to be our superb heroine and believable victim and that's before you get a soft spot for Dan or learn not to loathe Kirby's flaky mother. That's before you learn about the shining girls.

For Beukes goes beyond the static horror of murder victim and introduces us to Harper’s victims. Some we merely see glimpses of (Misha the lab tech) and some we walk with for a while and then mourn: for Margo fighting for a women’s right to choose and Alice who is fighting to be a women. And this is the other thing the Shining girls brings, a bracing sweep of history and a strong sense of place. Beukes is as great at describing depression era slums or dusty office blocks as bringing these women bring it alive. Time is a character here as much as place.

Of course it will not please all. It’s fast paced and very tightly wrought so for those who like to meander in a world are going to be as annoyed as those who want explanations. Beukes serial killer is firmly with the genre too, don't expect an in-depth look at what drives a killer or how a tired, overworked and ancient cop catches him. There are tropes here but not tired ones. Don't expect a Zoo City or Moxyland either, this is a slightly different animal and I have to admit I don’t know if it all adds up as I read it too fast but to be honest that’s a good thing too.

I really do recommend this book to anyone who wants a smart thriller, a twist to the tired crime genre & anyone who loves historical fictions or is just fed up with yet another male cop trying to catch a male murderer whilst a blonde women lies dead and unknown.

327SouthernKiwi
Jun 29, 2013, 5:30 am

Fantastic review of The Shining Girls Claire, thumbed!

328AHS-Wolfy
Jun 29, 2013, 7:33 am

Having read and enjoyed her other two books, there's no doubt I'd have been picking this one up at some point. Still nice to see a very good review for it though.

329clfisha
Jun 30, 2013, 9:23 am

Thanks.. really hard book to review! Dave I think if enjoyed her other books, although they are different, you will enjoy this one.

330clfisha
Jun 30, 2013, 10:12 am

Ok since its the end of June.. a half year round up and a shiny new thread.

It's been a great year so far so here are the Top 10 most memorable reads so far:




My favourite cover is still the Crime and Punishment one..

331GingerbreadMan
Jun 30, 2013, 10:25 am

Lovely review of Shining Girls, which already waits on the shelf. We share three top reads so far, I expect more...

332clfisha
Jun 30, 2013, 10:30 am

Thanks Anders, I had to cull some great books too :-( lets hope we swap many more book bullets.

Shiny new thread here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/155904

333Earthsophagus
Mar 8, 2015, 11:12 pm

I know this was a year ago you wrote the review. I just finished it and agree with most of your points. And, interesting to me, the lines you quoted are all ones I had marked as significant.

At the distance of a year, do you still think highly of Swamplandia?

There's a reddit reading group going thru it for March 2015 book, if you or anyone else is interested, drop by reddit.com/r/bookclub.

Thanks for the great review
Este tema fue continuado por Clfisha's Unlucky 13 - Part 2.