Reading Slump

In 2006, I read 143 books.  I’m not even going to come close this year.  I think I haven’t even read 50 yet and the year is more than half over. 

Songs of the Humpback Whale by Jodi Picoult 07/29/07

I didn’t finish this.  I think I only got about 50 pages or so into it.  It was too confusing bouncing from person to person, from time to time.  I had no idea who people were or even what time they were in - it bounced back and forth from when one of the characters was a little girl to when she was a teenager but the story isn’t even really about her.  Good thing I didn’t read this JP book first, or I never would have read any more.

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris 07/23/07

I didn’t want to like this.  Well, sort of I did, but I thought I wouldn’t.  I mean, it seems like thanks to the success of the Anita Blake series,  there are vampire stories all over.  Oh, I know, Anne Rice started it all.  I may even have to go back and re-read those. 

Here’s the gist: Sookie Stackhouse is a mindreader.  She doesn’t want to, but she can hear other people’s thoughts.  She meets a vampire, oddly named Bill Compton. Oddly, I say because vampires tend to have exotic names like “Jean-Claude” and “Lestat” but his name is Bill.  Several women get killed and Sookie’s brother Jason and Bill are suspects.  Sookie must solve the mystery.  Throw in a shapeshifter who fancies himself in love with Sookie and some anti-vampire people and there you are.

It’s fluff, I’ll tell you that.  Nothing deep or even remotely so but still a well-written story if you’re just looking for a fun, light read.

Notes for future reference in case I read more of these: 

• Sookie’s grandmother is murdered.
• It was Sookie’s friend Arlene’s man who killed these girls.
• Jason had sex with both the murdered women (or was it 3?) and took videos which is why he was a suspect.
• Bill is from the town they live in, which is why he’s there now.
• He was in the Civil War.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowlings 07/22/07

It’s the final book of the series.  I can’t believe it!

I liked it but I think I should have read all of the other books again to remember what went on in previous books.  I was ticked off at some of the deaths.   I mean, really, Hedwig?  Why Hedwig?  And why Dobby? Hell. Or was it Kreacher? Okay, I can see Mad Eye, Remus and Tonks.  I was *sure* that Dumbledore wasn’t really dead and that he’d be back for this.  Perhaps the next time I read it, I’ll have more coherent thoughts.

I can’t really write a review of it at the moment. Or even notes of it.  I enjoyed it, I think she did a good job of wrapping it up and I liked that she put in the epilogue.

The Harlequin by Laurell K. Hamilton 07/20/07

I finished this just in time since I got Harry Potter the next morning.

I wish I had thought to read all of the books leading up to this one again.  This was, by far, her best yet but there was a lot that I didn’t remember.  I’m going to go back and re-read the books, including writing notes here about who is who.

 I liked that the ardeur wasn’t the primary focus of this.  There wasn’t nearly as much sex, which was nice for a break.  I mean, I don’t mind the sex but sometimes it seems excessive to me.  I was so disappointed in Richard, I was just disgusted.  Seriously disgusted. 

I’ll have more to say next time I read it.

Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton 07/18/07

#of Pages: 272

Date finished  07/18/07

Any thoughts?

This is the synopsis from Amazon (with a couple of small changes for accuracy’s sake):

 Anita Blake may be small and young, but vampires call her The Executioner. Anita is an animator and vampire hunter in a time when vampires are protected by law–as long as they don’t get too nasty. Now someone’s killing innocent vampires and Anita agrees–with a bit of vampiric arm-twisting–to help figure out who and why.

Trust is a luxury Anita can’t afford when her allies aren’t human. The city’s most powerful vampire, Nikolaos, is 1,000 years old and looks like a 10-year-old girl. The second most powerful vampire, Jean-Claude, is interested in more than just Anita’s professional talents, but the feisty necromancer isn’t playing along–yet. This popular series has a wild energy and humor, and some very appealing characters–both dead and alive. (The amazon.com review called her a necromancer, but she doesn’t find out that she is truly a necromancer until later.  Or at least, we don’t. I can’t remember which.)

I read this book because a friend of mine listed “Circus of the Damned” among his favorite books.  Once I found out it was a series, I decided to read from the beginning.  COD is the third.  If you read these, please don’t stop at Guilty Pleasures.  It’s good, but it’s her first and not the best.  The books get better and better as they go on.  Even if you don’t count yourself a sci-fi/fantasy fan, read at least through the third book.  By then, you’ll forget that there is no such thing as werewolves, werehyenas, wererats, even wereswans.  You’ll care about the characters and want to know more about what happens to them.  LKH is going to have legions of very sad fans when she finally decides that it’s time for Anita to retire.

The rest of these notes are just for me and things I want to remember about the book. Sometimes, in later books, I forget who people are and want a place to reference.

•   Monica – Catherine’s co-worker, who set up Anita to get her to help the vampires.
• Phillip – human, “freak”, who is killed by Aubrey
•   Aubrey – vampire.  Killed by AB in the end.
•   Valentine – vampire. Tried to kill Anita pre-book but she threw Holy Water on him and thought he died in a fire.  He did not.  She kills him now.
•  Nikoloas – the master of the City until Anita kills her.
• Robert – I can’t remember now if he’s in later books but he is Jean-Claude’s and was supposed to protect Phillip but couldn’t.

Next by Michael Crichton

 

 

# of Pages: 423, including author’s notes which I read

Date finished: 7/17/07

Thoughts:

I really ought to not read this guy.  It’s not that I don’t think that scientists are capable of this stuff and it’s not that I think it doesn’t happen.  I just wish it didn’t.  Sometimes, I prefer ignorance.  If I were in “The Matrix”, I’d rather not know.  Truly.

The basic premise:  There’s not that much difference between chimps and humans, genetically speaking. Could you then cross-breed chimps and humans, create a “humanzee”?  We’d like to think “no” but Crichton seems to think it’s not completely out of the realm of possibility.  How about other animals?  Birds and primates besides chimps who can talk? Is that possible?  Well, why not?

Crichton also talks about patenting of things like genes and how that can lead to all kinds of problems that we really don’t consider.  Or at least the US Patent Office doesn’t consider.  Such as, if you patent a gene, then how can you own something that is in someone else’s body?  How is that possible?  And then there is the ethics of allowing someone to own a gene, then testing for that gene (ie if a person has a “breast cancer gene”) can be prohibitively expensive for most people.

Interspersed throughout the book are “news articles” about a variety of things, some quite funny.  Such as:

• are blondes really smarter than the rest of us and “blonde jokes” are a result of jealous brunettes? 

• Did humans and chimps “split” more recently than we’d been led to believe?

• Did humans have sex with chimps even after the split?

• Adults don’t really “grow up” any more, partly due to our long educational process that keeps us in a perpetually child-like state for far longer than our ancestors.

   

List of Books from 2007, Prior to This BLog

List of Books Read in 2007 that I finished before beginning this blog:  (40 Total) 

Book and Author                                                              Date Finished

The Red Tent – Anita Diamant                                                            01/01

Mistral’s Kiss – Laurell K. Hamilton                                                     01/05

The Thirteenth Tale – Diane Setterfield                                              01/08

Blind Submission – Debra Ginsberg                                                    01/11

Rubyfruit Jungle – Rita Mae Brown                                                     01/24

Good in Bed – Jennifer Weiner                                                            01/26

Jemina J – Jane Green                                                                        01/27

Pope Joan – Donna Woolfolk Cross                                                    01/27

The Girl’s Guide to Power and Success – Susan Wilson Solovic         01/28

The Lady, the Chef and the Courtesan – Marisol                                01/28

The Glassblower’s Children – Maria Gripe                                           01/28

Pawley’s Island – Dorothea Benton Frank (audio)                              02/06

The Florabama Ladies’ Auxiliary & Sewing Circle – Lois Battle            02/10

The Yada Yada Prayer Group – Neta Jackson                                     02/11

The Abortionist’s Daughter – Elizabeth Hyde                                      02/12

The Pact – Jodi Picoult                                                                        02/13

Perfect Match – Jodi Picoult                                                                02/15

Salem Falls – Jodi Picoult                                                                    02/18

The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Down – Neta Jackson                  02/16

Plum Lovin’ – Janet Evanovich                                                            02/18

Plain Jane – Fern Michaels                                                                  02/19

The Ninth Life of Louis Drax – Liz Jenson                                            03/15

The Polysyllabic Spree – Nick Hornby                                                  03/05

The Curious Incident of the Dog in Nighttime                                      03/29

In This Mountain – Jan Karon (audio)                                                  03/30

The Bad Girls Guide to Getting Personal                                             04/30

Wear More Cashmere – Jennifer Sander                                            05/04

Beautiful Lies – Lisa Unger                                                                  05/13

The Quilter’s Homecoming – Jennifer Chiaverini                                 05/14

40 Over 40 – Brenda Kinsel                                                                05/16

Sweet Revenge – Fern Michaels                                                         05/22

Light From Heaven – Jan Karon (audio)                                              05/23

The Good Girls Guide to Bad Girl Sex – Barbara Keesling, Ph.d          05/28

Second Nature – Alice Hoffman                                                          06/01

Second Change – Jodi Picoult                                                             06/05

The Art & Power of Being a Lady – Noelle Cleary                                06/16

Miss Julia Strikes Back – Ann B. Ross                                                06/19

Size 14 is Not Fat Either – Meg Cabot                                                06/21

Over Sea, Under Stone – Susan Cooper                                             06/22

Love Smart – Dr. Phil                                                                          06/22

  

 

Why on Earth Do I Need ANOTHER Blog?

When I was 8,  I bought a 5-subject notebook and started my first book journal.  All I wrote in it was the title of the book I read, the author, how many pages it had and the date that I finished it.  I had that notebook for years until, in one of my many moves, the box it was in was lost.  I was devastated - that notebook chronicled my reading life for nearly 20 years.

 It was upsetting enough that, for whatever reason, I didn’t begin another notebook until about 2 years ago.  Again, all I write is the name, author, number of pages and date.  I, however, think that I’d like to remember more than that about the books I read.  Thus, “My World in Books” was born.  My intention is to write about each book, even if I can’t bear to finish it.

I am not going to go back and try to recreate any books I’ve read recently.  I’m currently reading “Next” by Michael Crichton and I’ll write about that when I’m finished with it.

If you’re here, you’re welcome and please leave a comment to let me know that you’ve been by.  I am writing for myself, but I’d love to know what you think about the books I’m reading.