Some Book Reviews, because I'm bored
Aug. 27th, 2006 04:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kikoteiAnd I must subject you all to my choice in reading material. Why Teen and Kid's books. Because the most of the same books in adults are either poorly written or poorly hidden bodice rippers. And honestly, I'm tired of sexy man/vampire/other supernatural type molests sexy mortal woman books. So I read kids and teens books. More fun that way, and easier to give the kids at work recommendations that way.
Teen Books
Dead Conection by Charlie Price
This read a lot like an episode of X-Files, but it was a fun, quick read. Murray is a loner kid, living with his less than stellar single mother who hops from man to man, bed to bed, and con to con. And to make the horrors of being the new kid in high school worse, Murray can hear ghosts when he stands next to their graves. A cheerleader has gone missing, and Murray has to find a way to make the cops believe that he knows where her body is buried with out making himself the prime suspect.
It's not the best piece of teen lit out there nor particularly scary, but it was a fun summer sort of read. Good note to Price, he totally had me on the wrong guy as the killer the whole freakin' time which was pretty cool, but the leap to the actual killer felt weak and ill done.
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Another fun summer teen book. This book felt like an 80's teen movie. Only with more use of the word fuck and all it's variations and gay bois everywhere.
Nick and Norah meet at a club after Nick finishes a set with his band. When Nick spots his ex-girlfriend heading his way to gloat, Nick asks Norah to be his 5 minute girlfriend and deflect the ex-beast. The rest of book follows them through the rest of the night as they fall in love, break-up, and then fall in love all over again.
This was was a quick hour or two read, and the alternating chapters and 80's music and movie references were fun. It's probably more of a 20 or 30-something's book than a teen book. They would probably miss all of the references. I'm also fond of David Levithan's boys, a previous book of his, 'Boy Meets Boy', was a was a cute and sweet teen boy romance and I highly recommend that one for sheer fluffy cute factor.
Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman? by Eleanor Updale
A thief of Victorian London, who never gives his name, is sent to jail after a failed robbery and a spectacular crash through a factory skylight. Left crippled by the accident, he becomes an experiment of a young doctor wishing to make his name in surgery. Pieced back together and finally released the thief uses his knowledge gained from days spent local scientists and inventors to restart his life of crime. This time he has new technology on his side, the sewers. Developing two identities, he lives as Montmorency, a wealthy gentleman, and Scarper, Montmorency's less than pleasant manservant.
This was actually a suprisingly good read, the first couple of chapters were tough, but in the end I was pretty happy with it. Especially as you start to see Montmorency's and Scarper's habit effecting each other and also becoming more distinct and separate. There are two sequels to this on my read list.
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
I'm honestly not sure if I blathered about this one already, so if I have I'll do it again now that I have the sequel in my hands.
This was a modern take on the Greek heroes quest. The Greek Gods are still up to their usual antics, and still having illegitimate mortal kids left and right. The one unfortunate thing with this book is that the first half is wretchedly boring. Percy's time at the prep school and in the relative safety of Camp Half-Blood are a snooze. The quest though is fun and exciting and made slogging through the first half a little more tolerable.
While the first book wasn't great, it was fun toward the end and I'm willing to give the sequel a shot.
Kid's Books
Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
Yeah, you read that right. Dave Barry. Writing kid's books. ^_^;;;
This is a definate read if you're looking for something quick. It's deceptively large at about 400-500 pages, but it can easily be finished in 3 hours or less. I was so very fooled on the train ride. I thought I would have a book big enough for a fair chunk of the 10 hours total I would be spending on the train to Otakon. Shyah, right.
The book is a look at just how Peter got to Neverland, how he learned to fly, how the mermaids came to be and the start of the fight between Captain Hook and Peter. The occasional juvenile humor is a touch annoying, but if you go into thinking a kid's book by Dave Barry it's not so bad. heh.
The Thief by Megan Whelan Turner
I actually picked this one up because one of the sequels, The King of Attolia, caught my eye and I must admit the cover made me curious. The story feels like it takes place in ancient Greece, even though it doesn't. Apparently the author wanted the world to feel just enough like Greece to make it familiar.
Gen is a thief who definately bragged to the wrong people and just a bit too loudly. To escape the horrific conditions in the King of Sounis' prison, Gen accepts a deal from the magus. Help him steal an artifact that will strengthen Sounis and allow them to annex the surounding country's through marriage to The Queen of Eddis, ruler of a neutral country that lies in the middle of everything. Gen, named after Eugenides the God of Thieves, takes the challenge, but political machinations and betrayal lurk everywhere. Even Gen is not all that he seems, but does he dare steal the treasure right from under the noses of the Gods.
This was actually a lot of fun. The cover of the copy I got from work so doesn't do the book justice, the cover is frightfully boring. Not like the cover for King of Attolia, that's a far more interesting and attention grabbing cover. I may even have to buy copies of these for myself.
What I'm currently reading, a.k.a. the Pile On My Night Table
'Poison' by Chris Wooding
'The Sea of Monsters' by Rick Riordan
'Twilight' by Stephanie Meyer
'Peter and the Shadow Thieves' by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
'The Queen of Attolia' by Megan Whelan Turner
'The King of Attolia' by Megan Whelan Turner
'Lost in Tokyo' by Graham Marks
'Montmorency on the Rocks: Doctor, Aristocrat, Murderer?' by Eleanor Updale
'Montmorency and the Assassins: Master, Criminal, Spy?' by Eleanor Updale
and a sack full of bad scifi/fantasy paperbacks I found at work
Teen Books
Dead Conection by Charlie Price
This read a lot like an episode of X-Files, but it was a fun, quick read. Murray is a loner kid, living with his less than stellar single mother who hops from man to man, bed to bed, and con to con. And to make the horrors of being the new kid in high school worse, Murray can hear ghosts when he stands next to their graves. A cheerleader has gone missing, and Murray has to find a way to make the cops believe that he knows where her body is buried with out making himself the prime suspect.
It's not the best piece of teen lit out there nor particularly scary, but it was a fun summer sort of read. Good note to Price, he totally had me on the wrong guy as the killer the whole freakin' time which was pretty cool, but the leap to the actual killer felt weak and ill done.
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Another fun summer teen book. This book felt like an 80's teen movie. Only with more use of the word fuck and all it's variations and gay bois everywhere.
Nick and Norah meet at a club after Nick finishes a set with his band. When Nick spots his ex-girlfriend heading his way to gloat, Nick asks Norah to be his 5 minute girlfriend and deflect the ex-beast. The rest of book follows them through the rest of the night as they fall in love, break-up, and then fall in love all over again.
This was was a quick hour or two read, and the alternating chapters and 80's music and movie references were fun. It's probably more of a 20 or 30-something's book than a teen book. They would probably miss all of the references. I'm also fond of David Levithan's boys, a previous book of his, 'Boy Meets Boy', was a was a cute and sweet teen boy romance and I highly recommend that one for sheer fluffy cute factor.
Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman? by Eleanor Updale
A thief of Victorian London, who never gives his name, is sent to jail after a failed robbery and a spectacular crash through a factory skylight. Left crippled by the accident, he becomes an experiment of a young doctor wishing to make his name in surgery. Pieced back together and finally released the thief uses his knowledge gained from days spent local scientists and inventors to restart his life of crime. This time he has new technology on his side, the sewers. Developing two identities, he lives as Montmorency, a wealthy gentleman, and Scarper, Montmorency's less than pleasant manservant.
This was actually a suprisingly good read, the first couple of chapters were tough, but in the end I was pretty happy with it. Especially as you start to see Montmorency's and Scarper's habit effecting each other and also becoming more distinct and separate. There are two sequels to this on my read list.
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
I'm honestly not sure if I blathered about this one already, so if I have I'll do it again now that I have the sequel in my hands.
This was a modern take on the Greek heroes quest. The Greek Gods are still up to their usual antics, and still having illegitimate mortal kids left and right. The one unfortunate thing with this book is that the first half is wretchedly boring. Percy's time at the prep school and in the relative safety of Camp Half-Blood are a snooze. The quest though is fun and exciting and made slogging through the first half a little more tolerable.
While the first book wasn't great, it was fun toward the end and I'm willing to give the sequel a shot.
Kid's Books
Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
Yeah, you read that right. Dave Barry. Writing kid's books. ^_^;;;
This is a definate read if you're looking for something quick. It's deceptively large at about 400-500 pages, but it can easily be finished in 3 hours or less. I was so very fooled on the train ride. I thought I would have a book big enough for a fair chunk of the 10 hours total I would be spending on the train to Otakon. Shyah, right.
The book is a look at just how Peter got to Neverland, how he learned to fly, how the mermaids came to be and the start of the fight between Captain Hook and Peter. The occasional juvenile humor is a touch annoying, but if you go into thinking a kid's book by Dave Barry it's not so bad. heh.
The Thief by Megan Whelan Turner
I actually picked this one up because one of the sequels, The King of Attolia, caught my eye and I must admit the cover made me curious. The story feels like it takes place in ancient Greece, even though it doesn't. Apparently the author wanted the world to feel just enough like Greece to make it familiar.
Gen is a thief who definately bragged to the wrong people and just a bit too loudly. To escape the horrific conditions in the King of Sounis' prison, Gen accepts a deal from the magus. Help him steal an artifact that will strengthen Sounis and allow them to annex the surounding country's through marriage to The Queen of Eddis, ruler of a neutral country that lies in the middle of everything. Gen, named after Eugenides the God of Thieves, takes the challenge, but political machinations and betrayal lurk everywhere. Even Gen is not all that he seems, but does he dare steal the treasure right from under the noses of the Gods.
This was actually a lot of fun. The cover of the copy I got from work so doesn't do the book justice, the cover is frightfully boring. Not like the cover for King of Attolia, that's a far more interesting and attention grabbing cover. I may even have to buy copies of these for myself.
What I'm currently reading, a.k.a. the Pile On My Night Table
'Poison' by Chris Wooding
'The Sea of Monsters' by Rick Riordan
'Twilight' by Stephanie Meyer
'Peter and the Shadow Thieves' by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
'The Queen of Attolia' by Megan Whelan Turner
'The King of Attolia' by Megan Whelan Turner
'Lost in Tokyo' by Graham Marks
'Montmorency on the Rocks: Doctor, Aristocrat, Murderer?' by Eleanor Updale
'Montmorency and the Assassins: Master, Criminal, Spy?' by Eleanor Updale
and a sack full of bad scifi/fantasy paperbacks I found at work
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-27 08:54 pm (UTC)I KNOW that book description of "sexy man/vampire/other supernatural type molests sexy mortal woman"!
The series was SO much better before it turned into a GIANT Mary Sue, where it was clear Hamilton was living vicariously through Anita. *sigh* I'm surprised I hung on through the first 6 books... the first 2 or 3 were really good, but after that, it all started getting incredibly predictable and going downhill.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-28 01:24 am (UTC)Sad to say, I found an author that is just like Hamilton. I snagged 'Dark Side of the Moon' from work thinking that the summary sounded fairly interesting. I got it home and realized it was the newest book in a series. So I popped over to the author's site to get some details on the series order and realized that they were *all* Mary Sue bodice rippers, with a different couple in each, slightly interconnected book. Including the one that sounded interesting. Pooh.
As far as good supernatural bad-ass-ery, try Jim Butcher if you haven't already. Dresden Files is way fun. I'm actually disappointed each time I get to the end of a book. I'm saving the two latest ones for a quiet day when I can disturb the whole house with my hysterical laughter. Can't wait til the TV movie is on SciFi (even though I'm mad at them for dropping Stargate).