January and February, 2010

Hey -- I just noticed that I should really change the title of this blog.

And it also seems that this month-by-month system isn't really working for me any better than the review-by-review system was, so I think I'll go back to that. I got behind on my write-ups; I have too many things to do with my time. Ah, well. At any rate, here's the first score of books for this year, and I'll try to update more frequently here.

Hope somebody's still reading this.

The Shelf theme, if you don't know, is because last year my book shelf collapsed under the weight of the books I have amassed and intend to read; I promised that I wouldn't buy any more books until I finished the ones I already had. Which was, clearly, a total lie -- but I am trying to read through the shelf, and keeping track of how long it takes me to read the books I had when the shelf collapsed.

Off the Shelf: Books for 2010

1. (Non-shelf: borrowed from student) The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (1/8)

Pick:
The Charbonneau twins, possibly the readingest pair of students I've ever had, said I HAD to read this one, and loaned it to me for Christmas break along with Elantris.

Thoughts:
They were right, this is an excellent book. Definitely going to keep up with the series, which seems lined up as a trilogy. I like the main character, Kvothe -- though it saddens me that he is quite that stupid with women, because I know that's going to go badly before this thing is over -- and I like the system of magic and I like the themes. Kvothe is studying to be a master Arcanist, their version of a wizard and a wise man; he is younger, poorer, and more desperate than any other student at the University -- but fortunately, he is also much smarter, quicker-witted, and apparently more powerful and talented than any of the others as well. He gets into plenty of trouble because of his precociousness and his impatience, but for all that, he has a very sad story. The mysterious bad guys, the Chandrian, are incredibly intriguing -- and the best part is that Kvothe's two favorite things, the things that keep him sane, are books and music. And the author does an excellent job of describing how both of those things weave into Kvothe's life. It's got a nice flashback going, with very ominous overtones but a slight sense of a distant hope for redemption, and I like that, too. Really excellent -- I'd recommend for high fantasy fans, though as always, maybe wait until all the books come out.


2. (Non-Shelf: Amazon Vine) Blood Ninja by Nick Lake (1/11)

Pick:
I've been looking for a ninja book for a while, as I'm trying to learn more about actual ninja history, and also for confirming or refuting my pro-pirate stance. I saw this one on Vine, it said it was for teen readers -- sold.

Vine Review:
It's about vampire ninjas. It really shouldn't be.

I had a smarmy comment all prepared for this review: I was going to imagine a satirical version of the author, describing his silly excitement as he thinks of the coolest idea EVER: vampire ninjas! But after finishing the book, and reading the author's note, I realize that was the wrong way to approach this. Because in his author's note, Nick Lake describes how he jokingly suggested a book about vampire ninjas -- and he thanks the person who said, "Oh, you should write that."

Actually, he shouldn't have.

The story is not too bad, though the plot has some painful cliches as it stomps and flails blindly toward the ending. The setting is certainly interesting, as are the background and the informative elements that Lake wove into the story, all of which were presented with some finesse and style. The characters are not so good -- well, no, the truth is that they're not good at all. The main villains are so over the top and one-dimensional they might as well be twisting their black mustachios while they tie the girl down to the train tracks -- actually, one of them does have a long black mustache, though he never twists it. Not that we know of. The mentor character, Shusaku, is both heroic and perfect, though he fails, Obi-Wan like, at just the right moment for the hero to step up and show his (remarkably quickly learned) masterful skills, and win supremacy over all foes. The hero, Taro, is -- I'd like to say he's amazingly capable for his age, but I have no idea what his age is. He is described as a boy several times, but he defeats men in combat without any particular dwelling on his inferior strength or youthful quickness. In fact, he wins through skill, though there's no good justification for his having this skill -- apart from the fact that, well, he IS the hero. It's in his blood, we are told. Taro's sidekick Hiro is the perfect sidekick, his mysterious past is the textbook mysterious past for a diamond-in-the-rough hero, his deus-ex-machina power is so deus-y (He can walk in sunlight. We don't know why. Maybe it's magic!), you want to pin a medal on it.

The primary theme of the book -- the essence of honor, as defined both by samurai and ninja -- is well-tilled ground, but this book doesn't do a half bad job with it, apart from the fact that it is worked through by these cardboard cutout people. The real problem is that there is absolutely no reason for these characters to be ninjas, and even less reason for them to be vampires. It would be better without these things, as the added power this grants the characters makes them even less realistic. Taro is a peasant boy with a dangerous secret in his past; he discovers the truth, after he and his family are attacked and his father is killed, and he sets out to avenge his father and destroy the villain. It's a fine setup for a novel. So why is he attacked by ninjas? The novel, working with the concept of honor in feudal Japan, points out that samurai are not always honorable -- or they may be honorable but not actually good -- and there are some ronin who have turned brigand who pop up in the story. So why not have Taro's attackers be ronin, or dishonorable samurai? Apparently, just because ninjas are cool. Okay, so why are the ninjas in this book vampires? Taro is turned into a vampire, which would be a real plot point -- except he is surrounded by people who accept and even envy his vampirism, and indeed, he can walk in the sunlight. Hey, why not be a vampire if it gives you super strength, speed, and healing ability, and doesn't come with any weaknesses, apart from preferring a, shall we say, different part of the pig for dinner?

At least these vampires don't glitter.

Anyway, the hero wins the day and gets the girl (That was a nice twist, actually -- because there was some question of which girl he would get, and it wasn't the one I expected), but the tale does not end here . . . (I was hoping the book would have a large THE END? on the last page, but we can't have everything) The book would have been fine without any ninjas, without any vampires, and with a bit more genuine humanity in the characters. As it is, though? I'd give this one a miss. Maybe find a nice book about pirates.



3. (Non-Shelf: Amazon Vine) Union Atlantic by Adam Haslett (1/16)

Pick:
Actually, I liked that it featured a struggle between a banker and an ex-teacher who talked to her dogs. That and it was something different.

Vine Review:
I picked the book up because I liked the idea of a struggle between a young banker and a retired schoolteacher whose dogs talk to her -- being a dog-owning schoolteacher who dislikes many of the aspects of high-end capitalism, it was clear which side I would be on (And I was, and it was a good side to be on). But little did I know that the book would be both a revelation, and an inspiration.

The revelation is this: Adam Haslett is a staggeringly good writer. Since his first work, a collection of short stories I will be buying very soon, was a finalist for a Pulitzer and an NBA, I suppose this is no surprise to most people, but it really hit me. The man is brilliant -- one of the finest fiction writers I have encountered in years. This book, Union Atlantic, sweeps you into the lives of a varied group of people, all of them finely crafted and nuanced, and all of them entirely different from one another: from Doug Fanning, the rapacious banker; to Charlotte Graves, the tragic genius; to her brother Henry, the pragmatic idealist (I know -- but read the book, you'll see); to Nate, the stoned teenaged romantic; each of them alive and fully realized, each of them capable of affecting the reader in a new but very personal way.

The inspiration was this: "She had been content in solitude. Her soul kept alive by the leaps of incandescence that now and then hallowed intervals otherwise inconsequent: the rhythm of words singing off a page, a sonata turning time into feeling, a landscape on a canvas so caught as to grant one brief respite from the fear of total neutrality. These were the body and blood of her faith in the world. What the utilitarians and the materialists and the swallowers of all the cheap scientism would never understand: that the privilege of walking by the river in nature's company owed as much to a mind trained by poetry and painting -- of Protestant plainsong or Romantic largesse -- as to any quiddity of nature's own. You walked through the painting. You saw through the poem. Imagination created experience, not matter alone."

Read the book. I'm going for a walk.


4. (1) Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks by Ethan Gilsdorf (1/22)

Pick:
Toni demanded I read it. Demanded, I say!

Thoughts:
I love the concept of this book: Ethan Gilsdorf, former hardcore D&D nerd, looks back on his past and how his former passion has grown and evolved over the years, in order to see whether he has grown and evolved, and just what the connection between himself and the world of nerd means for him. I love it partly because it is very close to my own experience: I'm a few years younger than Gilsdorf, and so was younger when I went through my obsession with Gary Gygax's masterpiece, but otherwise we went much the same way: for a few years, at least one night a week was dedicated to invented people adventuring through invented lands; for both of us it was an escape from the real people and real lands that surrounded us for the rest of the week (Though Gilsdorf, with his divorced parents and his mother's crippling stroke, had far more to escape than I did -- I was just shy and unpopular.) Then we both made the decision to leave that life behind and seek out coolness and popularity; I made my choice during my junior year of high school, and Gilsdorf made the switch during college.

But then our stories diverge, and if anything, that was what gave me trouble with this book. Gilsdorf went on to become a career journalist, and only thought of his nerdish roots on the verge of his 40th birthday; I found new nerd friends -- cool nerd friends -- in college, and went right back to my old geekery with rapture and bliss. Gilsdorf questions the value of the nerd world -- of roleplaying games, of video games, of conventions, historical reenactments, and fandom and sci-fi/fantasy books and movies -- wondering if it is a negative influence on the people who participate, if they suffer for their hobbies and obsessions, or if they are somehow made stronger by them. For myself, I had no doubt: of course the various worlds of fantasy are more beneficial than harmful. Of course you gain problem solving skills, increases in quick thinking and wit, and a vast and vivid imagination when you let yourself participate in the games fully. And of course you need to let yourself go as much as possible to get the most out of it.

Gilsdorf finds these things out over the course of the book as he explores the fantasy world; he goes much deeper into it than I've ever been, which was definitely the fascinating part for me. The book made me want to join the SCA, and start LARPing; though more than anything, it made me long for the days of pencil and paper and pewter figurines and plastic dice by the bucketful. It also showed me that I probably don't want to visit New Zealand for the purpose of finding Middle Earth sites from the Lord of the Rings movies, and that I'm still not terribly interested in WoW; knowledge I am very glad for.

All in all, it was nice to get back into nerddom vicariously through the book; anyone else with a nerd background, or persistent curiosity about the state of nerdishness today, would enjoy the book as well.



5. (2) Royal Destiny: Queen of the Orcs Book III by Morgan Howell (1/27)

Pick:
Wanted some fantasy, after two serious books and one pile of vampire ninja crap. I also wanted to finish this series and tie it up with a bow.

Thoughts:
I liked this series less with each book, unfortunately. To be honest, the female orcs were much less interesting than the male orcs, and Dar made a much better slave than a queen. The humans were way too annoying, the bad guys much too successful and the anti-orc prejudice just moronic. I also got really sick of reading orc words, particularly anything with the root "muth," which means "mother" in Orcish; since they have a strongly matriarchal society, that was everywhere: muthuri for mother, Muth La for the goddess, or Mother of All; Dar's name becomes her title, Muth Mauk; their homes, run by the mothers, are hanmuthi -- good grief. Dar's strategies for dealing with the problems are stupid, and only succeed because of the even-greater stupidity of the enemy. On the plus side, I liked the concept of the evil possessed wizard guy -- and honestly, I really liked the ending. So it was worth reading, once.


6. (Amazon Vine) Bite Me: A Love Story by Christopher Moore (1/30)

Pick:
Christopher Moore! Sequel to Bloodsucking Fiends and You Suck! For free! Amazon Vine is the bestest ever!

Review:
Being the Review Fallen From the Languid and Morose Fingertips of One Who Would Totally Be the Love Monkey and Blood Slave for Countess Abigail von Normal, Back-Up Mistress of the Greater Bay Area Night.

'Kayso, I'm looking through my e-mail, and it's all like "Viagra . . . Nigerian Banker . . . Help me, because I'm such a worthless loser I need you to friend me on Facebook (which I would never have gone on, except it's such a handy way to keep my minions and worshippers up on my comings and goings. Plus I like Farmville.) . . . Write your mom back, already," and I'm all, "Oh, whateverz -- delete, delete, delete, ULTRAdelete," and then I saw it. Amazon Vine Newsletter. Well, perhaps there will be something in here that will fight off my enervating ennui, my soul-crushing Weltschmerz. Plus I get to read free books. (That's right -- chew on that envy, losers!)

So I open it up, and look at the books listed there. Yeah okay: lame, lamer, complete lameness, so lame it should be in the Special Olympics, lame duck with a loser viniagrette and a side of sucka pilaf . . . Oh, this will be no help at all, and I will be forced to cut my wrists and my throat, and maybe stab myself in the heart, just a little bit so there will be but the tiniest spot of red on my artfully arranged corpse, and those who find me and weep for the sorrow that will encompass the world (or at least encompass my dog) at my loss will know that I died of a broken heart. But then I saw the last book on the list.

Bite Me: A Love Story. By Christopher Moore. I swear I threw up in my mouth with excitement. Just a tiny bit, but I still had to down the rest of my latte-and-bitter-wormwood to wash out the taste. (Okay, it was cinnamon, but they just keep ignoring my suggestion cards at Starbucks, even when I wrote, "You should totally start putting out bitter wormwood on the sugar-and-cream table. You'd get every caffeine-addicted Goth within a hundred miles coming here, and you could snap your fingers under the noses of all the other Starbucks managers at the next Starbucks Manager convention and be all like, 'OWNED, you wheezy java-pimps!' Signed, The Starbucks CEO (I just stopped in to check your store out and make a suggestion. Nice place. I'm telling you: bitter wormwood.)" I guess nobody would ever believe the Starbucks CEO would use a suggestion card, even though I totally wrote it in rich-old-guy handwriting. Anyway.) Then, after a moment of reverent silence, I clicked "Send Me This Book."

Then I had to wait forever. Like at least a week. I know, unbelievable, right? They should totally send them by magic Jetsons transport tube, or maybe by owl, so that you can click that button, get up and walk to your window, and there's your book waiting for you. Maybe with a nice thermos of hot chocolate and a cookie. Amazon should get on that now.

Anyway, I read the book with bated breath (And if you think it's easy to keep your breath bated all the way through a 300 page book, you've never driven past a farm just after the manure delivery), and with tears of joy squeezing from the corners of my eyes to stain my silk reading jacket with little blots of reading bliss, which went nicely with the coffee stains. And once it was finished, and I had spent a respectable amount of time in a worshipful silence, appreciating the craftsmanship of The Master Scribe Christopher Moore, I decided to come on here and basically dry-hump his prose until I created a bastard mutant spawn version of my own. And I realize now that writing like this is WAY harder than you would ever think, and I can't do it a thousandth as good as Moore can, so I should probably just shut up and let him do the funny stuff. And I also realize I've gone on way too long without saying anything real about the book, so I'll just say this: if you have read "Bloodsucking Fiends" and "You Suck," you have GOT to read this one, because it's even better than those two put together with a triple mocha and a fresh biscotti. All the same characters are here: Tommy and Jody, the Emperor of San Francisco and his men Bummer and Lazarus, the Animals (with Troy Lee's gangsta grandma), and of course, the inimitable Abby Normal, who acts as the narrator for much (but not all) of the book. The story is just as fast and surprising and unexpected, the writing is just as hilarious and easy to read, and the ending is by far the best of the three books.

And if you haven't read Bloodsucking Fiends and You Suck, then what in the name of all that's unholy and profane are you waiting for? Go get them now! Maybe by the time you get around to clicking the button, Amazon will have that owl-and-hot-chocolate thing ready to go. But even if they don't, you should read those books, and then this one. Because they will rock your stripy socks.

kthxbye!


7. (Non-Shelf: Insistent Loan from Friend) Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton 2/3

Pick:
Jaime asked me if I wanted to read this one, and I did; she offered to lend it to me, and I said that's fine, I plan to buy my own copy at some point, since it's a pirate book and I want to own pirate books. But she said, "No no, you can borrow mine -- I like lending books. My husband will bring it to work tomorrow and you can pick it up." So fine. I borrowed it, and I wanted to give it back, so I read it as soon as I could.

Thoughts:
This was a really good pirate story. It did seem to me to be lacking some polish in places, which is presumably why it was still in Michael Crichton's files when he died, rather than at his publisher's; but the man clearly did a ton of research into the golden age of piracy, and this had all kinds of cool historical details: how the ships sailed, how the cannons worked, their strengths and weaknesses; the politics behind piracy and privateers in the Caribbean during the 1600s, and especially the many ways to die, or to kill. This was one bloodthirsty book: not only because it tells the story of a raid on a Spanish fort by an English privateer, but because said privateer is betrayed at one point, and swears vengeance on everyone who betrayed him. Vengeance he carries out in the bloodiest way possible.

Which, of course, was incredibly cool.

So I'd give it four stars as an adventure story, and a hearty YARRRRR! for the pirate end.


8. (Non-Shelf: About to loan it to friend) Dead Beat by Jim Butcher 2/8

Pick:
Xian is reading these, and reading them fast; he has asked to get books 7, 8, and 9 from me next week. I expect to get them back within a few weeks, but I wanted to get a jump on them before I handed them over, since this is where I am in the rereading of this series, too.

Thoughts:
Along with Death Masks, this one is probably my favorite in this series. The bad guys are incredible, the ending battle scene is the best ever, and I really like what Harry goes through in this one with the Wardens and the war against the Red Court. This also has my all-time favorite description of the thirst of a vampire, when Thomas explains to Harry what it is like to deny himself a true feeding. I also love Mouse, and Bob's ominous past. Great book.


9. (3) Glenn Beck's Common Sense by yep, Glenn Beck. And Thomas Paine. 2/12

Pick:
Yeah, that's right, I read Glenn Beck's book. Know your enemy. I bought this one a while ago, wanting to know more about this jackass and his Tea Party crud, and it's been sitting on the shelf ever since, though I did read the first chapter and started making notes in the margins. I thought now would be a good time to foment some outrage, so here we go.

Thoughts:
Sure, there's some outrage. But the most interesting thing about this book, other than the glimpses into the psychology of my political opponents, and particularly into the mentality of those who manipulate the right wing of America, was the number of similarities between my views and theirs. I actually found myself agreeing with Glenn Beck, which honestly surprised me. I knew that I had some views and values that coincided with those on the right -- but with Beck? He's a whacko and a hack, isn't he?

Well yes. And an idiot: because he modeled his little treatise here on Thomas Paine's influential pamphlet from the Revolution era, and he included that work in the back of his book. Which was stupid, because Paine was far and away the better writer -- which Beck did admit, at least -- but also far more intelligent and focused on genuine societal change for the better, which Beck is not. But I get his rationale, since he is trying to appeal to the people who want to go back to the founding principles of this country -- hence the persistent Revolutionary imagery and symbolism and jargon, from the Tea Party reference to the Don't Tread On Me flag they are trying to adopt, to this book and the Paine connection. And he put Paine's work in the back of his book. Because enough of the people who read this book will not actually want to read Paine's pamphlet after working through Becks' screed, that Beck won't actually suffer by comparison in the minds of most of his readers.

Not me, of course. I read Paine first. Beck's a doof.

But: take away the shilling for corporations, and the subtle but consistent racism, and the unbelievably stupid denial of global climate change (Global warming? But temperatures have been cooler! Burrarroom! [That's a Treebeard-esque grumble, as emitted by the phlegmy throat of a fat, self-satisfied idjit who smokes cigars in between bacon-wrapped entree courses.]), and there's some interesting points here. Education in America is screwed up, and probably can't be fixed. I finally understand that the push for gun control is personally insulting to gun owners, because we are telling them they cannot be trusted with their firearms, regardless of how careful and responsible they are. The national debt is completely obscene, and the bailout to avoid the second depression was less effective than it should have been. Lawmakers are too concerned with their own reelection, and they are appealing to the extremes of both parties in order to assure their continued place in the catbird seat -- and we should have definite term limits on all elected positions, and probably on some appointed and bureaucratic ones. Laws are far too specific and incomprehensible, and they should return to shorter, simpler versions (though that idea came from a book about common sense that was worlds better than this one) that actually allow people freedom while protecting them from harm -- and we should trust individuals to handle those things much more than we do.

So even though I plan to blog quite a bit about how stupid and appalling Glenn Beck is (Did you know Glenn Beck is trademarked? By the Mercury Radio Corporation?), what this book really made me want to do is: join the Tea Party at some events or conventions or something, and try talking to them. See if we can't get a real discussion going. Wouldn't that be fascinating? If the Tea Party could withstand some honest disagreement over ways and means, or even over basic principles? Wouldn't if be fantastic if we could actually try to build a political party that wasn't dogmatic?

Yeah. I don't think it's possible either. But I'm curious as hell about trying.


10. (4) The Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle 2/14

Pick:
I had to read something short, because Toni will be finishing the Vampire Diaries soon, and I want to read those.

Thoughts:
This is the sequel to A Wrinkle in Time, and it isn't as good. It's not bad; it's a fun exploration of the possibilities of infinite and infinitesimal, the whole idea of a cell being a solar system for creatures inside us who are so small we could never detect them, and perhaps the universe going the other way, with us living inside cells of some unimaginably large being. It has a nice theme about universal interconnectedness, that everything that lives relies, to some extent, on everything else, and that nothing exists in a vacuum; that your choices affect me and mine affect you and both of ours affect the universe. And it's got a fantastic concept for a villain, the Echthroi, the creatures of nothingness, of destruction, who wish to tear apart the order of things. I like that an angel becomes an Echthros when it decides to cease to exist, and that its death sounds like a scream tearing the fabric of space and time. That was cool.

But Meg came off more as whiny than fearful in this, and her Seraphim friend was kind of a shmuck, and I couldn't get behind the decision to bring Meg's dead-souled teacher along to try to reinvigorate him as an educator and lover of young people. Meh. It also wrapped up too quickly for me -- they save the farandola, which saves the mitochondrion, which saves Charles Wallace. The end.



11 & 12. (Non-shelf: borrowed) The Vampire Diaries (The Awakening/The Struggle) by L.J. Smith 2/17

Pick:
One of my students was reading this in class, and I ripped it out of her hands and slapped her across the face with it. After she left in tears, I took a second look, and thought it sounded intriguing.

No, of course not. I commented that I liked the TV show based on these books, and she asked if I wanted to borrow it when she was done. I said sure. Then Toni read it first, and made several comments to the effect that it was very different from the show in certain ways, but that they nailed Damon's character; since Damon is the best part of the show, I only wanted to read it more.

Thoughts:
Of course she was right; the books are very different from the show in certain ways. I prefer the show's version of Elena; the book makes her into a popular fashion princess, which is all fine and good for a teen romance novel, but it holds absolutely no interest for me -- if anything, it makes me hate her a little bit, and I like her character on TV. They also made much of her being blonde, blue-eyed, and slender, and again, for me? Meh. My biggest issue with her was the way she moans and wails over two things: Stefan, within about eight minutes of seeing him for the first time, becomes the one man she MUST HAVE, she has never known love before until she kisses Stefan, he is the ultimate in every possible way -- and at the beginning, it's because he's hot, wears good clothes, and isn't interested in her. Yeah, okay. I understand that, too, since we're talking about teenagers, but it's totally annoying to read about. It made me wish I was the object of her affection so I could thoroughly reject her and shatter that shallow spoiled little heart. The other thing that annoyed me in Elena's whining was her urge to be popular. That one I don't understand. I see the desire to have friends, but she has good friends; why would you want to be popular at school, too? I mean, haven't these girls figured out how empty and worthless teen popularity is? Of course they haven't; they're still teenagers.

Anyway, other than being annoyed by reading a teenaged girl's thoughts and feelings, the books (there were two collected in one volume) were quite good. I really like the version of vampire that Smith writes; they need to drink human blood to gain vampiric powers, and the more they drink, the more powerful they become -- except the more human blood they drink, the more strongly they are limited by the classic vampire weaknesses, inability to cross running water or face a cross, that kind of thing. Actually I don't think the cross works -- I'm probably confusing this with Fright Night, which we watched recently. Plus it's been a while since I read this; I've been slacking, here. But Damon was great; I like him better as pure evil, which he is in the book but not the show. I like it better that Catherine killed herself in despondency over their feud (though I don't think she did it -- I think Damon killed her and faked the suicide note to throw guilt onto Stefan), I like that they are from the Italian Renaissance rather than the antebellum South, and I like that Damon is actually attractive to Elena in many ways. Makes sense for someone that shallow and sight-oriented. Like a freaking pointer, those teenagers, I swear. Yeah, I know I wasn't any different.

And, of course: great twist at the end. Can't wait to read the next books and see what happens. And I'm curious as hell to see if they'll do it on the show.



13, 14, 15. (5) How Right You Are, Jeeves; Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves; Jeeves & the Tie That Binds. by P.G.Wodehouse 2/20, 2/21, 2/24

Pick:
I grabbed this at the library sale, because I remember being curious about Wodehouse for years; somehow I thought he did detective fiction -- now that I think about it, I believe he was shelved among the detective books at the library in Escondido when we were getting our reading from there. My, how things have changed: I haven't been to the St Helens Public Library in, what, two years? Three? Now I have my own library here. Anyway, I decided to read it now for absolutely no particular reason, other than I thought it would be good and it was on my shelf.

Thoughts:
It was good, though it certainly wasn't detective fiction. Each of these was a short novel about Bertram Wilberforce Wooster, a fine upstanding young man of the British gentry, ably assisted by his gentleman's gentleman, Jeeves. This might actually be where the name Jeeves as the standard appellation for a butler started, as Wodehouse wrote many novels, several about this pair, over a 60- or 70-year career.

I remember in one of my lit classes being told about P.G. Wodehouse's manner of editing: he would pin the pages of one chapter up on the walls of his study, and look at them one at a time; as he edited each page, and got it closer to the perfection he sought, it would move up the wall, where the poorer pages would move down. He would keep doing this until the pages lined the ceiling, and then he was done and would move on to the next chapter.

Seems like a lot of work. But worth it, from my perspective; these stories were silly, a tad repetitive (in every one, Wooster is trying desperately to avoid marriage to a domineering young woman), but every one was brilliantly written: witty, sharp, some outstanding phrases and very very smooth and easy. I'm definitely going to be on the lookout for more Wodehouse. When was that next library book sale?


16. (6) In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan 2/27

Pick:
Toni made me read it. She does that a lot. She's a book bully. (Not really. She has good suggestions, I take them. I just like teasing her a lot -- you should see the buttface she gives me when she's irritated. So cute.)

Thoughts:
I'm glad I did. We've taken an interest in food the last few years, starting with Supersize Me and Fast Food Nation -- and culminating recently in Food, Inc. and the Vote for Real Food group on Facebook (Which seems to be petering out, more's the pity.) -- and that led pretty naturally to Michael Pollan. Toni read this a while ago, and it's been sitting on the shelf calling out to me ever since; seemed like a good time to actually go through it.

It's an interesting book. The best part about it is that it is more hopeful and informative than it is infuriating; I expected the opposite. Oh, there's plenty of appalling descriptions of what the food companies do to our grub, but it focuses mainly on the historical buildup to the current state, rather than bemoaning that state in excruciating detail. The last third of the book focuses entirely on how to do better for yourself and the world when shopping and eating.

The best part of the book is what Pollan has been stumping for years now: the food-eater's manifesto. "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." The goal is to avoid scientifically developed lab-altered food-like substances, and stick with things your grandmother would recognize as actual food. Now, since my grandmother enjoyed serving me frozen and reheated peas as a dish, I can't fault this logic in terms of health -- but I fear I might have issues with the taste. But to be honest, we have started going through our food and trying to make it healthier, piece by piece, and so far -- it's going well.

Thank God coffee isn't bad for you.

I think my favorite aspect of this book was the depiction of the way the scientific and medical community, the media, and the food companies feed off each other. It was remarkable to read how the doctors and scientists would discover a new aspect of food that appears to be either healthy or unhealthy; how the media would trumpet it to the stars as the new breakthrough and beat it into the ground, and how the food companies would further alter their food-like products to highlight their healthiness when the food itself was anything but. Really wild how this all goes back to the idea -- which I had never questioned, until now -- that the health is in the nutrients, not the food. Now I'm thinking I should blog about this.

Good book.


17. (7) A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L'Engle 3/2

Pick:
I was waiting for Vine books to come, and I wanted to read something short and fictional before they did. I also thought it would be nice to finish this series up; I seem to be much better at starting a series than I am at finishing it.

Thoughts:
These books definitely went downhill from the first. This one was still good, still nicely written and with a fairly sweet message, but it was way too ambitious. I really like the concept that the future can actually impact the past, showing that not only is everything interrelated despite the vast distances of space (which was the point of A Wind in the Door) but also interrelated through the infinite marches of time, as well. I liked that idea, but the characters were not as interesting or well-fleshed. The supernaturals got more annoying and less interesting with every book: the best were the three in the first book, Mrs. Who, Mrs. Which, and Mrs. Whatsit; the seraphim in the second book was okay, though not as well done; the unicorn in this book was more lame than fascinating. The visit to the unicorn world was basically pointless, which was really too bad -- kind of a missed opportunity, and way too derivative of the first book's extraterrestrial visits. And while the second book had the advantage of introducing the Echthroi, this book dropped the ball on them and focused too tightly on the Welsh myth and the children with blue eyes. We didn't even get to visit the time and place where the real climax occurred, because L'Engle locked herself in too closely to let the narrative wander where it should. I didn't like the modern connection to Mrs. O'Keefe, and I didn't like the way she handled the grown-up Murry family. I also definitely thought it ended too abruptly, since this one completed the series -- and the Mad Dog Branzillo threat was just lame, from our place in the nuclear holocaust continuum.

I did, however, like the message, and I liked the way the rhyme, St. Patrick's prayer, came in to each storyline and saved the day. I certainly can't fault the writing; L'Engle has a beautiful way with prose, particularly the large and sweeping description. So: good writing, good concepts, but poor characters and a weak finish.


18. (Amazon Vine) The Wish-Stealers by Tracy Trivas 3/4

Pick:
I'm not sure; I liked the concept, the idea that someone could steal wishes, and someone else could return them. I had picked a non-fiction dog book already, and I was looking for something in a fiction book; this was the lightest of the choices I had narrowed it down to, so I went for it.

Review:
This is a very sweet book with a lovely concept, but it's a little underdone in some places. The main character, Griffin Penshine, is well done; I particularly liked how she wavers between her desire to do what she knows is right, and the temptation to do something wrong when provoked -- the villain of the piece, the pretty and popular, and vicious and obnoxious, Samantha would be well-deserving of Griffin's anger. But the book shows very clearly how that desire to hurt someone back after she has hurt you is not the right thing; it was nice to see that put into motion, rather than staying in the usual cliches about doing unto others, or not sinking to their level. All those things make sense, of course -- but they aren't terribly satisfying in the moment.

Griffin, however, is faced with a real challenge: things are going badly, through no fault of her own, and she has the power to get back at the people that are doing her wrong. If she does so, however, she will lose much more than she gains: she will become like the cruel,spiteful old woman who victimized her in the first place. Griffin was made into a wish-stealer, without her knowledge, because she caught the attention of an old wish-stealer at the end of a long career of ruining people's lives. Now all of Griffin's good wishes will go badly -- but all of her evil wishes will come true. Enter Samantha and her pretty fashionista friends, sniping and giggling and eye-rolling, full of put-downs and mockery: like waving a red flag in front of a bull. So will Griffin give in to the temptation to turn Samantha into the slimy toad her personality resembles? Or will she take the high road, do the difficult thing, and get rid of her unfortunate curse by making up for the sins of the original wish-stealer?

I wish that the book had been able to spend more time exploring the idea of wish-stealing; it has a lovely message about wish-stealers in real life -- they are the people who make others too afraid to follow their dreams, and they are some of the worst people there are, and it is absolutely true -- but the magical aspects of the wishes in this book are very vague and unexplored. I feel like there were just too many wishes -- eleven stolen wishes, and seven good wishes of her own -- for Griffin to deal with in trying to fix her problem. It made it impossible for the book to really get into each wish's story, which left me hanging some of the time. I also didn't think a whole lot of the romantic interest, though the romantic story itself (Nothing happens, of course -- these kids are in sixth grade; they don't even hold hands.) was very well-done and very sweet.

Overall, I liked it, and I would guess that a young girl would enjoy it much more than me, being the actual target audience and all.

19. (Vine) Scent of the Missing: Love & Partnership with a Search and Rescue Dog by Susannah Charleson 3/9

Pick:
Sweet puppy face on the cover, non-fiction, much more cheerful seeming than the usual "Ol' Yeller: How I Learned To Suffer In Silence While Both My Dog And I Were Dying Of Leukemia," which seems to be the major trend in animal non-fiction these days. Plus I don't know anything about search and rescue dogs, so hey, I'm in.

Review:
I learned two main things from this book. The first was, if I'm ever lost in the wilderness, or my senility increases until I wander aimlessly away from the house, or even, in the worst case, if I drown and my body gets stuck underwater, I want someone like Susannah Charleson and her dog Puzzle to come find me. The dedication that these people, and these animals, show to this grueling, heart-wrenching, UNPAID task, is nothing short of amazing. By the time Susannah and Puzzle gained their certification in Search and Rescue, they have spent thousands of hours going through practice sessions and over different terrain, honing their communication and teamwork, building their unspoken connection, learning the ins and outs, the habits and tricks of the trade in all kinds of scenarios. Susannah spent years running behind other handler-dog teams before she even got the go-ahead to pick out a puppy to train; years spent handling radio communications and map navigation, years spent observing every other dog in her unit in Texas. And let us note: these are years spent doing these things on weekends, and in the middle of the night after being woken by a page and sprinting out of the house, from dead sleep to fully dressed, equipped, and ready to move in less than fifteen minutes -- and then going to work the next day. This woman, and every other person that is involved in this, is truly remarkable.

The second thing I learned is that I don't ever want to do this job myself. Amazing to read about, but oh man -- I need more sleep than that. I need less time (Not that I spend any now, but you get my point) spent looking for people who are missing and possibly dead, with the chances of a successful rescue growing smaller and smaller as time wears on. I need less time standing watch over a small fragment of the space shuttle Columbia, waiting for an official from NASA or the FBI to come and collect the evidence, one piece of millions spread over thousands of square miles. I need less time spent hiding in between sweaty, smoke-stained mattresses inside a firefighter's practice burn building, in a Texas summer afternoon, posing as a victim for a practicing dog to find. I would like to spend my time playing with my dog, thank you.

That is not to say that Susannah and Puzzle -- and Susannah's six other dogs, a variety of rescued Pomeranians -- don't spend time playing; they spend plenty of time playing, and plenty of time relaxing and napping, and bonding into a pack and being together, and all of those things were wonderful to read about. The entire book was wonderful to read, even the sad parts; Charleson is quite a good writer, and the detailed descriptions of the life of a Search-and-Rescue team were fascinating and informative. So I think I'll leave the hard parts to the people who are willing and able to give so much, and I'll just spend my time saying thank you. And recommending this book to anyone who loves dogs (It doesn't end sadly, by the way, like so many other animal books do), and anyone with an interest in the topic. Anyone interested in taking this task on, my hat's off to you.


20. (Non-Shelf: one of Toni's.) Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning 3/13

Pick:
Toni made me read it. She really likes the series, and it sounds interesting, and I'm thinking of writing a Fae book after Brute. (Not sure I like that title.) She wants me to read this series now so that I can get caught up in it and get stuck on the cliffhanger like she did. Misery loves company: that's my sweetie's motto.

Thoughts:
I definitely liked the book, and I am going to continue the series. I like them better than Merry Gentry, the other Fae series that Toni got me reading; that one I have really left hanging, what with the Vine and the Shelf.

Good name for a pub.

Anyway, I hate the character's name, but her personality is mostly good; just as long as she stops trying to deny the Fae. I like her tenacity, I like her desire for simplicity; she reminds me a lot of Sookie. I also like her strength and her willingness to keep going despite the horrible things she sees. But MacKayla? Come on. Like the teenagers of the world aren't tortured enough with that name; now we have to bring it to paranormal fiction? Bothers me a little bit too that "MacKayla Lane," spelled differently, is the name of one of my students. Whom I don't like too terribly much. But the character didn't remind me of her until just now, as I'm obsessing over the terrible name, so no big deal for the reading.

I like her power, I like the Fae, especially how horrible the dark Fae are. I like the OOPs (especially the acronym) and the Dark Area idea, even if it has been done many times before; I like how this author played with it. If I have one issue with this book that I hope doesn't turn into too much of a problem, it is the way it seems to be following the Black Dagger Brotherhood system of man-description: every guy is immensely tall, immensely muscled, utterly gorgeous, with long hair and a tan, wearing expensive and beautiful clothes, and utterly perfect in terms of knowledge, strength, ability, sexiness, and total arrogance. They're all around 30, which makes them old enough to be rich and worldly-wise and powerful, but still young enough to be sexy and reasonable matches for a 22-year-old heroine. Sigh. I want there to be a little weedy guy with an endearing stutter, or maybe someone a little pudgy but cute.

So anyway, I did enjoy it, I will read the next. When I get around to it.