Book reviews! Or something.

Summary: A fairly complete summary of the history of Alaska, as told through the stories of assorted fictional characters who played different roles and filled different niches in it.

Comments: It was kinda cool learning the history of Alaska. And the fact that it was a novel rather than a true history meant I almost felt like I was part of it. And of course it was far more engaging than the average history book. But maybe not any shorter (this book is ~1000 pages). However, I may have been getting annoyed with the frequency of things like "Now we return to the story of the guy from the last chapter" or "who just so happens to be the grandson of the guy we were followed 300 pages ago" (i.e. I'm not sure the whether the number of recurring characters or recurring lineages was believable). Other than that, I enjoyed it. Just be warned that it's a long book.

Summary: Ford, Arthur, Trillian, and Zaphod are once again wandering the galaxy having wild adventures. And I shall refrain from saying any more for fear of ruining any surprises.

Comments: First, let me say that this being a continuation of Douglas Adams's trilogy by a different author, one really ought to be skeptical of whether the new author can do a good job of making the new book mesh with the old ones. But I think Colfer does a marvelous job of that, both in staying true to the characters and in continuing the pattern of random amusing comments that comprise a large portion of Adams's books.

And the book does an excellent job of just being an amusing book independent of any context it might have. It's a gripping story line (come on, don't these characters have to somehow manage to escape sudden death at some point in the story?) with random amusing comments. What's not to like? Okay, I'm done with my random squeeing

Summary: Something is going on in the city of Ankh-Morpork with respect to the game of foot-the-ball, or football, as it is sometimes called. And it's not just that the wizards of Unseen University are putting together a team. And add to the mix Nutt, who is probably one of the most erudite individuals at the University but might not actually be human.

Comments: Given the usual insanity of Ankh-Morpork and Terry Pratchett's amusing comments, you have a book that's hard to put down. Another amazing Pratchett book. I quite like the cast of characters. They're all so real and varied. And capable of surprises. Quite the page turner (and there were lots of pages to turn...)

Summary: When Jasper telepathically hears a call for help, he knows it is one of his friends from the monastery of Vbngoom, presumably under attack by his arch-enemy, Bobby Spandrel. He and his friends Lily and Katie must make their way through the jungles of Delaware to whichever mountain contains the fabled monastery (the mountains have been known to switch places when no one's looking).

Comments: How anyone can say things that outrageous with a straight face, I may never know. It seems like this book is usually poking fun at something, and it's just chock full of amusing comments. The goat in the shower, for instance.

Summary: Once again, a moving tale. This one is about a 15 year old boy, Georg who has just found a letter from his father, who died when Georg was 4. Most of it is the father's story about the mysterious Orange Girl, but Georg makes some interjections as well.

Comments: the mysteriousness of the first half really kept me reading. And by then I was so interested in the characters that I wasn't going to stop anyway. This book may not have the level of messing with my mind as Gaarder's other books, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Regardless, I enjoyed it. And that's what really matters, right?

Summary: random stuff one might not know about the state--random stories and places. Can I come up with any adjectives other than "random"?

Comments: all kinds of stuff that I didn't know. And some number of small towns I'd never heard of... I rather enjoyed reading about all everything, especially some of the things that I had some hope of imagining (ie references to places I've been).

I don't think I can say anything about this book without ruining the ending. And I'm not sure it's worth reading if you know the ending in advance. I suppose the very abridged version is that the book is on crack and/or was/is messing with my mind.

( So I hide my entire post )

Summary: We have Easy Rawlins, the reluctant black detective, trying to find a white woman because DeWitt Albright, a shady white guy, is willing to pay him to do so. And Easy needs the money. Things end up more complicated than that though...

Comment: As much as I enjoyed the mystery and the unexpected plot twists, I'm not sure I'd read any of his other books simply because the glimpse into the black community was too depressing. I think it boils down to "if you're black, you're guilty. Give us time, and we'll figure out something specific that you're guilty of." Among other things. It was definitely a glimpse of blatant racial inequality, at least as it existed in LA in 1948.

Summary: Remember Frank Poole, drifting out into infinite space in 2001? Well he's back. Watch as he learns to interact with a society of the future.

Comments: Of course I have to say nice things about the book. Like, for example, that I enjoyed it (which I did). Possibly "omg you have to read it", but only if I think I have an audience interested in sci-fi (all kinds of nifty technology). Is this also when I admit that I read most of it before/during various classes? Very much an action story, and very much enjoyable. And we learn more about that enigmatic Monolith. Kinda.

Summary: The summary of Philip Marlowe's involvement with Terry Lennox. And also with a drunk author named Roger Wade, and Roger's wife Eileen. After Terry's wife is murdered and Terry disappears, things start getting very messy indeed. But Marlowe is a private investigator. He know how to get to the bottom of things.

Comments: I actually enjoyed this one. That's unusual for required reading... Marlowe is kinda amusing. He won't take any crap from anybody, and dishes out far more than his share of insults. I'm thinking Chandler might make is onto my list of authors to look for in the future. Assuming I ever get near the bottom of my to-read pile...

Summary: We have an anarchists, the Embassy-lead intrigue, a mentally challenged brother-in-law, and a shop of shady dealings. But things don't go as planned, and death is the result.

Comments: I don't know how much I have to say about a book for school that I actually finished a week ago. The short version is that it was a challenge to read and I didn't much enjoy it.

Summary: It turns out that Alice in Wonderland was based on a true story, but horribly mangled. This is the story of Alyss and her struggle against Queen Redd.

Reaction: I rather enjoyed it. It was rather neat how it was a new take on a somewhat familiar tale. The fact that I might describe it as an adventure doesn't hurt either...

...a book that too me over an entire quarter to read, a book that I only read because I got it for Christmas (over a year ago), a book that I only finished now because my computer is going annoyingly slow and giving me time to read, but still a book I enjoyed.

Basically, he laid out his view of that should be done to improve America, or something along those lines. And I found myself agreeing with most of his points. Whether this was because he was very persuasive, I'm easily persuaded, or I already agreed with much of what he had to say I don't know. Still, I enjoyed it. It's nice to know what our president wants to do to our country.

and now for the book I've been reading all quarter...

Summary: Strobel investigates eight of the biggest obstacles to faith that people have by talking to experts on the various topics.

Comments: Very thought provoking. It seemed like on several occasions, something I read coincided with a discussion I had with someone a few days before/after. Do I believe that's a coincidence or that it was God's work? I only ask because towards the end of the book, he points out that in general people explain away evidence of God actually working in the world. I suppose it's possible that coincidences are God pushing things in a direction of his choosing. But it's also possible that things just happened that way or that we're making something of nothing.

Anyway, I think I've gotten off-topic. It's very much a thought provoking book, and ...I think it would be redundant to say it made me think. It expanded my thinking. Or maybe it propelled my thoughts in directions I might not have considered. I kinda want to go find the other books he's written and read those too. I seem to recall The Case for Christ being similarly thoght provoking.

Summary: a collection of random facts on a wide variety of subjects.

Comments: I think this was aimed at a younger audience than I (hence each page of facts had a page of "consider similar things and/or try something at home"). But it was still an amusing collection of random facts (there were various amusing comments sprinkled throughout).

Summary: After a rather large wave destroys Mau's village and many others and leaves the ship Daphne is on stranded on the island where Mau lives, they, and soon other people as well, band together to learn to survive in the aftermath of the storm.

Reaction: Very thought provoking. Definitely raises issues about what is really "savage" and opposed to unfamiliar, and aren't people pretty much the same everywhere. I rather enjoyed it.

(And of course the bits in the romance direction made me consider certain parts of my own life)

(Note that the first book I post about in two months is one I read in two days. The one I've been reading for most of that time is still not done on account of my hardly having time to breathe, let alone read.)

Summary: This books describes what we know about the various planets and how we found out.

Comments: This book was a bit dense to read straight through (hence I didn't manage to do that), but it was written in a way that was easy to comprehend. Very informative, but I'd suggest reading it gradually.

Summary: Another of Artemis Fowl's many adventures. In this case, his mother is horribly sick and he's trying to saveher by going back in time to find an extinct lemur.

Comments: Incredibly conveluted. I'm not entirely sure I understand exactly how some of the time stuff worked out. Gripping tale of suspense and survival at the last minute (or maybe after the last minute).

Summary: A biker intent on finding his girl turns up in Crozet. Meanwhile, news of a computer virus to be released on August 1 has everyone on edge. And of course this turns into a mystery that Harry just has to investigate (why else would it be something worth reading? For the love triangles?)

Comments: Do I really need to say anything? I'm pretty sure anything I might have to say could be copy/pasted from a post about one of Brown's other books. Aside from the fact that I really do enjoy the "continuing saga of Harry's love life" parts. Which have nothing to do with the actual story.

Summary: Miss Marple finds herself beckoned to solve some crime about which she knows nothing, not even what it is.

Comments: A very intriguing plotline, trying to solve a crime that was incorrectly solved in the past when the person encouraging you to look into it won't tell you what the crime is. And of course I have to say "woot, mystery!", don't I?