Posts Tagged ‘book review’

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Just Finished Reading: Song of the Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce


04 Sep

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Authors & Books, Song of the Lioness, Tamora Pierce | Comments Off

I enjoyed the Song of the Lioness quartet quite a bit. If I had read the books when I was at the target age, they probably would have been among my favorites. As an adult, and a writer, I find them good, but not great.

Alanna is a likeable hero. She is not perfect, but she tries and is (mostly) able to admit her mistakes.

Pierce is most at home when writing action scenes. When in the midst of a fight, the reader is right there in the middle of the action, feeling every punch and clash of the swords.

Trying to read: The Elfish Gene by Mark Barrowcliffe


19 Aug

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Authors & Books | Comments Off

With a title like The Elfish Gene: Dungeons, Dragons and Growing Up Strange, a Memoir, its not a surprise the book appealed to me on the library shelf. But so far, not so good. The author seems to think that he’d have been better off had he not been obsessed with D&D- D&D being the problem. I’m pretty certain he’d have been better off not being obsessed.

Maybe the book will get funnier, or maybe I should know better than to try and read a book about D&D that has a quote from the Christian Science Monitor on the cover.

My Favorite Books: Orca by Steven Brust


20 Jul

Tags: , ,
Posted in Authors & Books, Steven Brust, Vlad Taltos novels | 2 Comments »

As a series, Brust’s Vlad Taltos novels are my favorite. I buy them in hardback as soon as they are released.

Orca, though not the first book in the series, was the first Vlad book I read. In Orca, two very important bits of information are revealed which are meant to cause a reader to go back and rethink the earlier books and inform the future ones– but the books are not written in chronological order, making it so that the reader needs to remember not only what they know now, but also what the characters know at this point.

My Favorite Books – A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny


13 Jul

Tags: , , ,
Posted in A Night in the Lonesome October, Authors & Books, Roger Zelazny | Comments Off

I loved the Amber series, especially the Corwin books, but my favorite Zelazny novel is A Night in the Lonesome October. When the story is being told by Jack the Ripper’s dog, Snuff, what’s not to love?

Jack and Snuff are players in a game. All the players begin to congregate into one neighborhood at the start of October. Snuff spends his time meeting other animal companions and trying to figure out who is in the game and who is not. But he doesn’t know what side anyone is on. And come the night of the event, anything can happen.

My favorite books – The Silver Sun by Nancy Springer


03 Jul

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Authors & Books, Nancy Springer, The Silver Sun | 1 Comment »

Let me be honest, this is not a good book. As someone who has taken numerous writing classes, there are flaws– many, many flaws. But try telling that to my twelve year old self.

I loved the Silver Sun. I loved the characters. I loved the dichotomy of one being the end times king and one being the beginning times king. I had no idea leaving the mainland to go to an island with the elves was derivative.

I still love the book because it helps me remember me at the time it was the best thing I’d ever read.

My Favorite Books – American Gods by Neil Gaiman


23 Jun

Tags: , ,
Posted in American Gods, Authors & Books, Neil Gaiman | Comments Off

Gaiman is an incredibly talented writer, but he made a name for himself by writing about the dark side of a world disturbingly similar to ours. Read American Gods and you will know why.

The characters are incredibly well drawn and three dimensional. You care about the main character and root for him throughout, but most writers can pull that off. What sets Gaiman apart is the richness of all the other characters- not just the secondary characters but everyone in the background.

His real coupe, though, is to end the book with creepiness tempered by a touch of hope.

My Favorite Books – The Color of Water by James McBride


21 Jun

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Authors & Books, James McBride, The Color of Water | Comments Off

Back when I was an undergrad, I took a combo English/History class that focused on memoir and autobiography. One of the books we read as memoir was The Color of Water, by James McBride.

I love this book. I have loaned it out and given it as a gift multiple times. The sub-title is “A Black Man’s Tribute to his White Mother” and it is a lovely story of generations and finding a place in a world where you may not belong. The title comes from the answer the mother gives when the children ask her “What color is God?”

My Favorite Books – Stardust by Neil Gaiman


10 Jun

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Authors & Books, Movies, Neil Gaiman, Stardust | 2 Comments »

Let me start by saying that I loved the movie Stardust. It is a new favorite and ranks close to Princess Bride for a romantic fantasy. DeNiro as Captain Shakespeare was inspired. That said, the book is even better.

I understand the concessions that were made to make the book into a movie, but the depth and complications of the book make the story even more poignant. I love that Dunstan crossed the wall, came home and married his human sweetheart. It creates a nice dichotomy with Tristan’s decision to stay on the other side of the wall with Yvaine.

My Favorite Books – Ranks of Bronze by David Drake


08 Jun

Tags: , ,
Posted in Authors & Books, David Drake, Ranks of Bronze | Comments Off

Ranks of Bronze is not from one of Drake’s many different series. It draws on his expertise as one of the best military science fiction writers there is. It is the story of a group of Roman Legionnaires who are kidnapped by aliens to fight in intergalactic wars against other aliens who happen to be of the same technological level as the Romans.

Once again, this is the first book I read by this author. It is the book that made me fall in love with David Drake. I rarely read pure science fiction, but if it’s Drake, I’m there.

My Favorite Books – The Winds of War by Herman Wouk


18 May

Tags: , ,
Posted in Authors & Books, Herman Wouk, The Winds of War | Comments Off

And now for something completely different. Well, not completely different, still a book, but not the same kind of book I normally read. Writing about Snow Crash reminded me of the first book I read that rolled some non-fiction into its fiction- The Winds of War by Herman Wouk.

I read the Winds of War the summer between 7th and 8th grades. I was bored and we hadn’t been to the library in a week or so. I “threatened” that if we didn’t go soon I was going to read the Winds of War. My step-mom said go right ahead.

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

100 Words On

topics explored in exactly 100 words