The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

( 68 )

Percy Jackson & the Olympians, book 2

I’m kind of glad I listened to the first book in this series, it meant all the characters had voices in my head.  That said, I liked the first book better.  This one was, dare I say it, a little too easy.  It didn’t ring true like the first one, there was no real mystery; an adventure, sure, but not much of a mystery.  I hope book 3 is better.

Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata

( 67 )

I still haven’t read Kira Kira, though I’ve been meaning to for a while.  I read this one because:

• It looked interesting — on that score I was a little dissatisfied.  It was interesting, but felt incomplete, like there was more to tell but the author was afraid she was going on too long and stopped at a “logical stopping point.”
• It is an event and a period I am interested in –  As an American born in the 70s I know very, very little about the Japanese internment in the U.S. during WWII. Let’s be honest, it was a horrible, wrong, unfair thing to do, one which resonates over time when you think of the racial profiling associated with our post-9/11 country (not to mention all the loveliness that is Guantanamo). It is also extremely under-reported in history texts, or was when I was a kid.  Maybe they wait til college to go into detail? My Am Hist 1865-Present was a 300+ person lecture @ UH in the 90’s — if we talked about the internment at all, I either slept through it or forgot it. It makes me wonder, even more than I already did, how WWII is taught in places like Germany, Italy, Spain, Russia, and Japan… ??
• A friend of mine is close to the author — I remember when Kira Kira won its awards, how excited she was.  My friend moved away a while back, and reading this brought to her mind.

A good little book, but desperately in need of a little more depth and a little more character development among the supporting cast.

Beneath My Mother’s Feet by Amjed Qamar

( 66 )

I enjoyed this, probably because I’ve been doing a lot of reading about the Middle East and India/Pakistan this year.  It’s a world I know nothing about, so I’m thinking starting with teen novels on the subject is a good way to go.

I liked that all the women, even the unsympathetic ones, in this book were strong.  As a Westerner I know this is a world I don’t really know anything about, but the Western stereotype of Muslim women is of an oppressed culture of fear and these women were nothing like that. A few of them were very one-dimensional, though (the mean baji, Seema, in particular), but overall I enjoyed getting to know these women.

X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills by Chris Claremont

( 65 )

I loved this! It is so sad that Chris Claremont wrote a story as relevant today as it was 20 years ago

The best parts of this book were the extras; the interview with Claremont and his intro to the book.   My absolute favorite bit, though, was the interview with Neal Adams, the artist who turned the project down (thus clearing the way for Brent Anderson) because of the work-for-hire contract.  He was initially told he would retain the rights to his art, then the contract came as w-f-h; he stood on principle and I admire and respect that.

This, obviously, is an issue near & dear to my little writerly heart, and I am a bit horrified that comics were (I say were, I *hope* past tense is correct here) treated as work for hire.

Staked by J.F. Lewis

( 64 )

I was really surprised by this book.  The MC is such a jerk that I got about 1/3 of the way through the book asking myself why I was still reading.  Then it got interesting. I found myself paying attention to the plot to the exclusion of the characters (a bit flat) and the language (just because you can cuss all the time doesn’t mean you should–especially with characters from an era before it became as prevalent as it is now).

The writing was alright; it read like there was a switch in editors part-way through the book and the second editor was better.

Too many unanswered questions (first-time author hoping for a series?) for me, though the main plot was resolved.  Mostly.

If he gets his book deal I’ll read the next one–the library copy at least.

Star Wars: Crimson Empire, Volume I by Mike Richardson

( 63 )

I liked the story.  Dh didn’t like the artwork. I don’t know enough about graphic novels to know if he’s wrong, I just liked that the mc never changed his stripes, even though you really, really wanted him to by the end of the book.

Chocolat by Joanne Harris

( 62 )

I genuinely don’t know what I think of this book.  I ~loved~ the movie and have seen it several times, so I thought I should read the book.

Vianne is a rather shallow character in the movie. She is more complex in the book.  The bit about her potentially being a stolen child threw me off.  It was such a huge thing, and it was just mentioned & forgotten. As though anyone would forget a revelation of that magnitude!

I liked Anouk more in the book; in the movie she is a bit irritating. Caro of the book actually managed to be even more annoying than Carrie Ann Moss’ portrayal in the movie.  I think now maybe she WAS acting.  All along I thought the stiff attitude was bad acting; maybe she’s a method actress?

The prose was lyrical in some spots, in others it was heavy handed, kind of a bumpy ride. I am glad I read it, and I’ll probably read the sequel.  I’m just not sure I liked it enough to keep my copy; I may give it away now that I’ve finally read it.

7th Heaven by James Patterson

( 61 )

Women’s Murder Club #7

I just, well, I just can’t say anything.  It was like white bread, okay, a little bland, and bad for me, according to my doctor.

I have a ton of issues with the co-authoring thing Patterson has been doing, and don’t want to get into it now, but you CAN tell the difference between the ones he writes himself (Alex Cross) and all the others.

Bella at Midnight by Diane Stanley

( 60 )

Wow.  This one was excellent. Another Cinderella story in less than a week! It wasn’t until I was a third of the way through the book that I realized that was what it was. And again, no magic A little religion and faith and “power of God,” but no magic.

I can see why the Texas Library Association likes this one.

Imaginary Men by Anjali Banerjee

( 59 )

This was entertaining, but not at all what I was expecting.  The little bit of magical realism in it threw me off. It was also more of a romance than I was expecting.  Still, a fun little read.

Witch’s Wishes by Vivian Vande Velde

( 58 )

A cute book, though it was aimed at a younger audience than I expected once I started it.  My 7yo would like it, and I’ll probably read it to her around Halloween.  The premise got me, even though the book was a bit young for me.

Imagine an old witch thanking a 6yo girl for being kind to her on Halloween by giving her costume wand the power to really grant wishes for a single night…? Now think of any 6yo you’ve ever known and imagine the mayhem!

Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich

( 57 )

A Stephanie Plum novel

There is no rhyme or reason to it, I just love this series.  I must admit, though, that this one had the least laugh-out-loud moments of any book in the series for me, including the holiday-themed “between the numbers” books.

For those of you with a MMORPG junkie in your life, imagine them taking it to the extreme & dressing the part 24/7 and tagging (spray-painting) magical game symbols on everything in sight.  Then imagine them getting your 80yo great-grama and her friends doing it too.  For those scenes alone it was worth it

Stranger in Paradise by Robert B. Parker

( 56 )

A Jesse Stone book

I think I may have missed a Jesse book between the one where he hooked up with Sunny Randall and this one, but I’m not sure.  This was fluffy, a quick read (like all of Parker’s stuff), and entertaining.  As always, Parker’s dialogue is fast and witty, though Stone is starting to sound dangerously like Spenser…

Speaking of which… more Spenser, please, Mr. Parker?

Bound by Donna Jo Napoli

( 55 )

I’ve mentioned that I love fairy tales, right?  Current scholarly consensus is that the oldest versions of a Cinderella-type story are from China, so that is where Napoli set hers.  It was richer than Cinderella (a shallow tale if ever there was one) and beautifully written, as are all Napoli’s fairy tale re-creations. This character is strong, no-nonsense, and there is no magic or fairy godmother… Well, unless you count a ~really~ big carp.

The Keep by F. Paul Wilson

( 54 )

My book club made me do it.

It wasn’t hideous, since I read vampire fiction like it’s going outta style anyway, even the bad stuff (except Douglas Clegg, I will never subject my brain to that level of moronic ick ever again!), but neither was it particularly good. Truth be told, I was kinda pissed when the bad guy turned out NOT to be a vampire.  And the predictable, “good guy gets girl,” ending was trite.

I read it, and I wonder how the hell we’re gonna talk about it at the meeting since, based on the fact that audio versions are only available on cassette, I’m betting there aren’t any discussion questions.

S chose this book to get us out of our comfort zones; she doesn’t like “book-clubby” books.  Honestly, neither do I.  I read them precisely because they are outside my comfort zone. And the reason we read “book-clubby” books is because they frequently delve into issues that we can discuss.  We’ve had frank discussions of issues that would not normally come up, like the morality of abortion for the married-with-children set, that are fantastic.  These grotesque books (2 Clive Barkers and this book) she chooses do not open up the possibility for that kind of discussion, which is what I like least about them.

PS – Do ~all~ of Barker’s books have rape scenes?  I read “Weaveworld” (that’s the sound of me spitting out the bad taste it left in my mouth) last year and, obviously, found it utterly repugnant and wished I could scrub my brain free of the detritus and images it left there.  I skimmed through “Great and Secret Show” the ‘bonus’ book for my book club for July, and ran into the rape scene in the pond and I was done.  I decided life is too short for extra-credit books I am not gonna like, and waaaay too short for anymore damn Clive Barker in my head!