More books and a Thank you

In these last 3 days I received 3 more books (plus 2 more that I borrowed from a friend).

Jen7waters from Cuidado com o Dálmata has given me a copy of Dark Moon of Avalon by Anna Elliott, signed by the author. She won two copies of this book on Therese Walsh Facebook page, and decided to gift me with the second copy!


So, a big thank you to Therese Walsh, Anna Elliott and Jen7waters for this book.


The other two books were bought by me. They are Tithe by Holly Black, which has been on my wishlist for ages, and Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner.



The borrowed books are Catching Fire and Mockingjay, so I can finish the Hunger Games series.


And with these 5 books for me to read, my evergrowing To-be-Read list of books has reached the number of 165. It means that, if I keep with my reading rhythm, it should take me more than 2 years to read all of them. Maybe it's time to read more, and buy less books.

Reading Challenge - 45 to 49

45 - Watership Down by Richard Adams
Watership Down comes highly recommended, and won a fair number of prizes on the last 40 years. A story where the main (well, almost all) characters are bunnies. Actual rabbits hopping about the English countryside.

Despite the fact that it is clearly stated that these are rabbits (with one in the cover), not a human version with bunny ears, I kept having trouble picturing them as animals (I kept seeing them as Hobbits, go figure! - except for General Woundwort, that I imagined as a tiny Napoleon).

The rabbits were likeable and funny, and a bit stupid most of the time (seriously, did it take them that long to realise they were all males!?), but they were still able to come up with some inventive plans.

What I liked the most on this book were the stories of El-ahrairah, the ultimate trickster, of how he always managed to (cunningly) get his way.

It was an enjoyable book, but not as much as all the recommendations lead me to believe it would be.

(3.5/5)

46 - The Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
I've sat around pretending to be writing this review for a long time, when all I really want to say is: “This book is awesome! Go read it!” - There it is, I've said it.


[Full Review]

(4.5/5)



47 - Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn

Set in a Japan-but-not-Japan land, i.e., a heavily Japanese inspired land, full with its most traditional costumes, and samurais and ninjas, but not bound by the need to be totally accurate, because it's fantasy. But even the term fantasy is used very loosely here. There are hints of some things that may be magical. A term that I rarely use, but which I like, and fits this book is Speculative Fiction – a what if? kind of book.


This is the first book in the series, but can easily be read as a standalone. I will read the next ones because I loved this one.


[Full Review]

(4.5/5)


48 - The Beginning Place by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Beginning Place in a coming-of-age story, but different from usual. Although the two main characters, Hugh and Irena, are young, they are not in the usual age group for these stories, they are not teenagers, they are past the age when people become adults. Yet they are not fully there.

They both find the Beginning Place while running away, and so, it becomes their safe haven, their hiding place. But they don't find it together, first it is Irena, who has time to get to know Tembreabrezi and their language. But when she discovers Hugh in “her place”, trespassing, tainting what she thought was pure, she can only hate him.

The Beginning Place is a fantastical place, where time goes in a much different fashion than the outside world. They can spend a day there and only a few hours would have gone by outside. They can have adventures there. It's a bit like Narnia, but more barren, eerier, darker.

I can describe this book as being quiet and subdued, but deep and memorable. I enjoyed it a lot, slowly seeing the characters grow, become adults and free themselves from what was holding them back.

(4/5)

49 - Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch

Touched by an Alien is the story of Katherine “Kitty” Katt, who goes from being a marketing manager in Pueblo Caliente to helping an Alien Agency protect the Earth from nasty things from Space. The thing is, all the aliens in this agency are drop dead gorgeous (the author turned a major flaw in romance fiction into a feature!), and the hunk (Armani-clad!) that first appears to help her is ready to make his moves on her.

If you're a big romance fan, and don't care much about getting the science right, this book is probably for you. If you, like me, like your science fiction to be more about science, you can still enjoy this book as light reading, for the romance and the chuckles.

[Full Review]

(3.5/5)

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games
The Hunger Games is a dystopian young adult novel, and, even if I'm slowly moving away from young adult literature, I love dystopias.

The world in this book is a place where most people are hungry everyday of their lives. Of course these are the ones who live in the districts: the poor ones, the descendants of the rebels that tried to take down the Capitol city, and lost.

As a way to control the population against future rebellions, and to entertain those who are not so unfortunate, the Government hosts the Hunger Games, in which a boy and a girl from each district – 24 children between the ages of 12 and 18, are sent into an arena, pitted against each other, fighting for survival and to the death. There is no escape from the games; once the Tributes are chosen, they either die or win. And only one wins.

Katniss, our heroine, volunteers as a Tribute, saving her younger sister from this fate. Together with Peeta, the boy Tribute from her district, she must try to win, to bring some respite from hardship and hunger to her district.


I liked The Hunger Games. It was well paced and gripping. Action was never missing from the story, but not at the expense of character development. I slowly came to like Katniss, who is quite cold, but made so by her life. By the middle of the book, I was truly rooting for her. The ideas on this book are horrific, after all this is a story where kids fight to death, but it doesn't use blood and guts to cause revulsion. It comes from imagining what it would be like.

The story could also be seen as a social commentary. The hunger in the far away districts, while there is so much in the Capitol – there is a lot of that going out in our world, no need for a dystopia in the far future. The reality TV aspect is also strong. People watch kids slaughter each other on TV. They watch them starve or freeze to death. And there are two sides to this as well. Because most watch it because they have to, but there are those who watch it for fun.

I really hope this gets more developed in the next books. I liked the construction of this imperfect world, twisted to its core. I would like to know what happens next, if it relates with the Capitol, or only District 12. There is potential for a lot in here.

And now for the final comment. The Teams. With hyped books, especially when there is a kickass heroine like Katniss, and when there is more than one male character of suitable age to be a romantic partner, readers will pick sides. It happened in Harry Potter, with the ship wars; it happened with Twilight, with teams for each possible character; and I'm quite sure we can trace this throughout time in literature – Team Darcy and Team Whickham; Team Paris and Team Menelaus, etc. In The Hunger Games, there is Gale, the childhood friend, and Peeta, the competitor/ally in the Games. So even before I finished the book I was asked: Which team?

To that I say: None!

But let me explain. I could see the romantic story being developed. It was hard to miss. However, it is much one sided, and I think there is a reason for that. Katniss has issues – trust issues, among other things. She doesn't need a boyfriend. I think she wouldn't know what to do with one. What she desperately needs is friends. Friends to help her trust in people, not to be so calculating and cold. More than Gale and Peeta, I think she needed more people like Rue and Cinna, who have showed her kindness where she expected none. To some extent Gale and Peeta also fit that role, but again as friends. Not boyfriends.

Another of my problems with picking a side is that I know a lot about one character, and nothing about the other. Hardly seems fair, right? Peeta, I liked. He was homely, pretending to be a bit dumb when he wasn't, and showing cunning when he or Katniss were in danger. Gale seems like he would also be a good sort of guy. But that is about as much as I could get from the book: a nice and quiet guy. Not much to go on. So I'll reserve judgement on the romantic aspect for the next book.

I know I will read the next two in the series, even if I'm expecting to be somewhat disappointed (from what I could gather from skimming the reviews for Mockingjay). With a more definite ending, The Hunger Games could easily be a standalone book – an a very good one at that.

(4/5)

Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch

Touched by an Alien
Touched by an Alien is the story of Katherine “Kitty” Katt, who goes from being a marketing manager in Pueblo Caliente to helping an Alien Agency protect the Earth from nasty things from Space. The thing is, all the aliens in this agency are drop dead gorgeous (the author turned a major flaw in romance fiction into a feature!), and the hunk (Armani-clad!) that first appears to help her is ready to make his moves on her.

The book drops you right into the action. One minute Kitty is leaving the court house, the next a man sprouts huge wings and starts attacking everyone. Not to be cowered, Kitty rummages her purse in search of a suitable weapon, finds a pen, gets off her high heel shoes (sensible girl!) and goes for the kill.

When the Armani-clad hunk, Jeff Martini, appears to save the day, the day is quite saved already. Of course there needs to be some damage control, after all a winged monster just appeared in broad daylight and started to attack people, so Kitty is escorted by Martini and the rest of his entourage (all of them male, all of them gorgeous) to a safe place.

And then the flirting starts. Because Martini is very impressed with our girl and makes his claim soon enough. And keeps doing it, to the point that I felt like screaming “Down, boy!” (later I realised I should also have been saying “Down, girl!”).

After the initial action the plot starts to drag a bit, mostly because there is a lot of information being dumped on the reader (and on Kitty, I suppose), but since it is all new, aliens and monsters and other things from space, it's to be expected. Once the plot is moving again, it becomes much better, and goes much faster. And faster means fast, because this book is a page turner, and what is refreshing is that it does not rely on cliffhangers – you genuinely want to know what happens next.

The story was entertaining, and I was chuckling on the right parts at the beginning. Then the jokes got old, and I started to get a bit tired of all the banter. Because if there is something in this book is a lot of banter between characters. There are a lot of cheesy lines (and cheesy pick-up lines), and they soon lose their charm. Also, some of the characters lose a bit of their charm towards the end of the book, especially Kitty (so sensible in the beginning, taking of her shoes before running, only to end up going into a battle with her purse. And her iPod. And her hairspray).

As a Fantasy and Science Fiction aficionado I had some trouble with the believability of this book. This book gets its Science Fiction more from blockbuster movies than the genre literature. There are explosions, monsters, parasites and aliens, but most ends up serving as backdrop to the romance. But there is some development of the plot, and that, I liked. I liked the story of the parasites (once they were on Earth, that is. The idea of jellyfish-like parasites travelling on Space... *shudders*) and the aliens, and even the religion aspect of it.

On the romance part, though, I have nothing to complain about. Well, it was predictable with whom our heroine was going to end up with, but I don't think the author ever wanted it to be a mystery. There was also a hint of what could have been a love triangle, but it was dealt with as a means to character development and not to throw angst at the reader.

If you're a big romance fan, and don't care much about getting the science right, this book is probably for you. If you, like me, like your science fiction to be more about science, you can still enjoy this book as light reading, for the romance and the chuckles.

(3.5/5)

Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn

Across the Nightingale Floor
Across the Nightingale Floor has been following me for a long time. For a long time I kept almost buying it, but never doing so. And once I finally acquired it, it also took me some time to pick it up. It was a good thing that I read it now, because my interest with oriental things waxes and wanes regularly, and right now I want everything Japanese.

Set in a Japan-but-not-Japan land, i.e., a heavily Japanese inspired land, full with its most traditional costumes, and samurais and ninjas, but not bound by the need to be totally accurate, because it's fantasy. But even the term fantasy is used very loosely here. There are hints of some things that may be magical. A term that I rarely use, but which I like, and fits this book is Speculative Fiction – a what if? kind of book.

Across the Nightingale Floor is the tale of Takeo, who has lost everything but is taken under Lord Otori's wing, who will educate him. Once Takeo's powers become apparent, his education will also be redirected to a sole objective – revenge, Takeo's and Lord Otori's.

Caught in this story is also Kaede, who has been a hostage for a long time, treated as a servant instead of a girl of high birth, and who everyone believes to be cursed.

What I loved the most was the writing style; I found it vivid and to the point, which is always a bonus. But there was a softness about it, something that made me want revel in it. The story was good, but was made great by the way it was told.

This is the first book in the series, but can easily be read as a standalone. I will read the next ones because I loved this one.

(4.5/5)

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a classic, and as such, is very hard to write a review for. What can I possibly say that hasn't been said before? Add to that the fact that it's awesome, in a way that I can't really put my finger on, and you've got a terrible case of Reviewer's Block.

So, I've sat around pretending to be writing this review for a long time, when all I really want to say is: “This book is awesome! Go read it!” - There it is, I've said it.

The story follows Arthur Dent, who is quite annoyed because his house is going to be demolished to make way for an overpass. Of course that should be the least of his problems because Earth is going to be demolished to make way for an overpass. What follows is a parade of nonsense, surreal moments, funny stories and much wackiness.

To elaborate more on the awesomeness of the book, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is extremely funny, described by the author as “a story with a long beginning and then an ending”, which is true, but causes no problem for the reader. You just want to keep on reading more and more. It is filled with so much nonsense, that it ends up making perfect sense. More than a story, it a Universe, one that is most fun to be in. Sometimes is not so much about the characters and their plight, but where they are and how they got there. That being said, I loved the characters, all of them.

If there is any down side to this book is that it feels terribly short (I want more! Now!), but that's is easily rectified as there are four more books in this trilogy (written by Douglas Adams, that is – there is a sixth one by Eoin Colfer). I will be getting my hands on them as soon as I can.

Now, go read this book!

(4.5/5)

Back from Holidays and New Books in

I'm back from my holidays in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria, and finally I had time to stop. Yesterday I had to go to Lisbon (3-hour train trip) just to do an English test for a job interview. That was done in 30 minutes. Finally a day to rest! (I usually need holidays to recover from the holidays :S) 

I was waiting for some books to arrive, and today, finally, came the last one. A jibe from the mailman as well. He says I need a bigger mailbox, industrial size. I have to agree.

Sunny Beach, view from the Swimming Pool

So, first the holidays. I went to a resort in the Black Sea, where there is not much to do besides beach, sun, pool and reading. So I read a lot.

I finished Perdido Street Station (reviewed), and started on the books that won the What should I take with me in Holiday Poll. I started with Brother Grimm, which was fast (440 pages is 2 days :D). Then came Watership Down, that took me awhile (or at least felt like it - it was just 3 days). I started The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy on the day of my return, and finished it on the plane (still with another 3 hours of flight ahead of me - and no paper to write a review in). When I got the chance to go to my cabin luggage I picked up Across the Nightingale Floor, and finished it yesterday, on my trip to Lisbon.

I still have reviews to write for the last three books, though. The only book left from that poll to read is The Beginning Place, which I started today!


And today I received the book I won on the Book Lovers Inc. 450 followers Giveaway. Thanks so much for this book!

This week I also received 3 books that I bought (no mooched books, those came all before I went on holiday). And with 2 of the books came bookmarks (I love bookmarks, although I rarely used them)

Sojourn by R. A. Salvatore, the Graphic Novel - I already have books 1, 2 and 4 on the Legend of Drizzt Graphic Novel series. This one seemed to be out of stock everywhere, so I got it second hand.

The City & The City by China Miéville - I bought it while I was still reading Perdido Street Station (and realised that I still had one Bookdepository voucher to use and I had to so before going on holidays - so I bought this one and Palimpsest while waiting for the plane in the airport). It has been nominated (and won) a lot of prizes this year, including the Hugo, Arthur C. Clarke and Locus awards.

Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente - This one had been stalking me for a while, popping up everywhere, and it was nominated to a few awards (losing the Hugo and Locus to China Miéville), so I decided to give it a try.

Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch - The book I won! It has a great cover and the blurb says:

Katherine "Kitty" Katt joins forces with gorgeous aliens to protect the Earth, kick evil enemy butt, and save the day...

Looks like a fast and fun read.

Reading Challenge - 40 to 44

40 - The Third by Ricardo Pinto
The Third God is the last book of the Stone Dance of the Chameleon, a much anticipated ending to the series. Although the wait for this third book has been long, it was worth it.

I loved reading this series, but, like it usually happens with good things, I'm sad that it came to an end. Different from most fantasy I've read, it evokes a vivid imagery every time I think about it. Not a fast or light read, but an immensely enjoyable one. I will probably do a re-read of the entire series in a near future.

[Full Review]

(4.5/5)

41 - Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Now, this one was just boring.

I found the characters to have little depth, and the plot was hardly novel. Despite this, the characters (or at least Marianne) do evolve a bit to reach the unsurprising ending: they all make good marriages (makes me wonder if there is more to life than that).

Final opinion: watch the movies/mini-series and you'll be more entertained than with the book.

On another note, I'm not sure what Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters is about (I suppose there will be sea monsters in it, but after my experience with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies I am in no rush to find out), but if anyone wants to make a remake of this book in which little Margaret turns out to be an evil murderess possessed by the devil, killing everyone on revenge because they spend the entire book ignoring her, I'll read it. Because I'm not entirely sure why there was a need for a third sister if she is to be forgotten during most of the book.

(3/5)


42 - The Painted Man by Peter V. Brett

The Painted Man is hardly ground-breaking fantasy, but it has nice concepts and the action packed plot means it's an easy and fast read, and enjoyable enough. I will read the next one in the series, because I want to know what happens next, not because I loved this first book.

[Full Review]

(3.5/5)


43 - Perdido Street Station by China Miéville
Perdido Street Station comes highly recommended on the steampunk genre, and is the winner of various awards. I haven't read much of steampunk (if you consider Wells' The Time Machine steampunk, then that's all I've read), so I decided to give the genre a try. And I can say this will not be my last book (either on the genre or by China Miéville).

[Full Review]

(4.5/5)


44 - Brother Grimm by Craig Russell
Detective novels are not my thing, I like Fantasy and Science Fiction and weird stuff far better. I picked Brother Grimm because of its fairy tales connection, and didn't care that it was the second book on a series.

I liked the book well enough, a bit like CSI, but more focused on the detective part than on collecting the forensics. It is a fast read, and enjoyable. There is plenty of action and twisted murders, but there is still room for more deep musings about the significance of Fairy Tales, and especially of the Brothers Grimm task of collecting all the fairy tales through Germany, in a way of collecting the essence of the German People.

The one thing I have to point out is that there seemed to be much repetition of the characters descriptions (time and time again referring “the two Sex-Crime SoKo members, Petra Maas and Hans Rödger” as such every time they appear, especially when they didn't provide much to action. They were there but didn't do much).

I might read the first novel of the series if it comes my way.

(4/5)