read 52 books in 2009

It’s hard to be overly critical of any Terry Pratchett novel. His Discworld books are fabulous, mixing humor and satire beautifully. Unfortunately, the long wait for Unseen Academicals didn’t produce the fabulous story I had been hoping for.

It’s not that the story is bad, but the humor is on the light side. Several new characters are introduced in the story, which seems to put the focus on developing the characters rather than using familiar favorites to engage in witty banter and biting satire. The new characters are treated kindly and the story becomes more a lesson in accepting others despite differences than anything ironic. Which is fine and good, but when I read Pratchett, I want text that makes me laugh out loud. There was none of that here.

As mentioned though, any Terry Pratchett makes for a great book, so it’s hard to be too critical. It’s still an excellent story, just not up to par. According to his web site, it sounds like another Tiffany Aching novel is up next, so I’m hoping all the humor will be packed into that.

I had to resort to an audiobook to make it through the New Testament, but it worked. While the reader was a bit dramatic, he helped keep people separate and gave appropriate emphasis in the correct places. I chose this translation because I had heard it was the most “scholarly” and it seemed to be pretty legitimate.

As for the New Testament itself, it was interesting to compare the actual writing to what preachers and conservative Christians think the Bible actually says. The strongest impression is found in the four gospels, where Jesus consistently preaches about love for all and getting along with one another. There’s no hate, but lots of emphasis on not judging other people. It’s sad how distorted this message becomes when in the mouths of the wrong people. Once you get into the letters of Paul and so forth, more of the judgmental ideas start to surface. But if you focus on what Jesus says, it’s really all about loving each other.

I think this needs several listens to really understand, so I look forward to going through it again at some point in the future.

Romantic fiction is not generally my genre of choice, but given that Radclyffe is a popular lesbian fiction writer, I thought it was necessary to give this a try.

Radclyffe has some great plot ideas, and this one is no different. Her ideas for situations are unique and capture the reader’s interest. Her characters aren’t quite as developed as they could be, but they are still different and interesting nonetheless, except for physical features, which seem to standardize with fit and slightly muscular.

That being said, Radclyffe gets stuck in the romance aspect of romance fiction a bit too much. Above All, Honor is actually on the light side of the romance, and because of that, is probably the best one in her Honor series. I much prefer contemplating the plot than hearing about what goes on under the sheets.

Of course, quite a few people think otherwise, so that is what makes Radclyffe popular. She delivers for her audience. However, I can’t help but be slightly disappointed that she doesn’t take a slightly more serious approach to fiction and fully explore her strong creativity for plots and stories that engage the reader, rather than write for the largest common denominator.

This book is essential for any R.E.M. fan. It is a bit light on text to accompany the photographs, but it provides insight into the band nevertheless.

The amount and quality of the photographs seem superficial. Too many of the photos are taken while the band is on stage. Fans already get to see this side of R.E.M., so the pages would have been better spent with showing the band that typical fans don’t see. As they are, too few photos go beyond snapshot quality.

As a photographer myself, I have no doubt I could have produced better images that capture the spirit of R.E.M.. The poetry of their music deserves higher quality art. So while this book provides a taste of the band, it fails to really capture their soul and artistry.

My Quick Review:

I was hesitant to being the Tiffany Aching Adventure series by Terry Pratchett. I love his adult Discworld books so much, I was afraid his attempts at young adult fiction would be subpar and spoil his genius for me. After reading The Wee Free Men, I’m now just disappointed that I waited so long to read it.

While the familiar Discworld characters are absent, Pratchett’s fabulous writing is not. The new characters rank right up there with the Discworld characters and the plot is not watered down for younger readers. If anything, perhaps it’s not sufficiently different to account for younger readers.

The Wee Free Men are wonderful characters, complete with Scottish accents. Tiffany is also a wonderful new addition and has the makings of a wonderful, matter-of-fact, witch. Political and current events satire is missing, but the references to our own world is alive and strong and readers will enjoy making the connections.

Overall, another great book by Pratchett, in which he flaunts his writing range and mastery with ease.

This really isn’t my 34th book read – I’ve actually read more, but it’s taking time to write up my thoughts on them. So I’m starting with the one I finished most recently.

My quick Review:

Terry Pratchett is a remarkable writer, and Wintersmith is one of his finer books. It’s quite rare to read a book that makes me laugh out loud, but this one did so numerous times. While technically a young adult book, this reads just like all the other Discworld books. The main character just happens to be 13.
The witches in Pratchett’s books rank as his best characters, so following TIffany and her continued growth as a witch under the guidance of the elder witches is simply delightful. The Wee Free Men complement the witches perfectly. The witches use truth in wonderful sarcasm, while the Wee Free Men use it in complete innocence. Both result in great moments.
I highly recommend Wintersmith to any Pratchett fan, and to anyone who can appreciate the intelligent sarcasm and irony presented by his characters. Pratchett ranks up with the best writers ever. That’s hard praise to give someone who writes fantasy, but he stands apart in the mastery of telling a story that encompasses so much more.

This is an excellent and easy to read primer for anyone wanting to look into the stereotyping of women. A variety of categories women are lumped into are examined, illustrated, and explained in all their sexist histories. Using biting sarcasm touched with humor, the Guerrilla Girls explain how stereotypes have affected women though time. Tips for how to overcome or remove stereotypes are also scattered throughout the book. For a light yet revealing introduction to feminism and the stereotyping of woman, you can’t find a better and more entertaining book. The last few pages also feature tools to create your own feminist subversions and a thorough bibliography for further research.

Marilyn French is so wonderful in constructing her characters, that for many chapters in The Love Children, I thought she was writing a memoir. The greatest strength of this book is the deep inner examination of her main character’s personality. That drives the book more than any turmoil outside the character.

The main action of the story involves the inner development and discoveries made by Jess Leighton as she graduates from high school, finds herself during her college years, and completes the examination and determination of who she is and what her life will consist of. This never feels like a young adult novel; despite the young age of Jess when introduced to her, the deep introspection can be understood across ages.

Along with the Jess’s introspection comes wonderful observations about her family life, with a feminist mother and a sexist, depressed, artistic father. Her friends come from a variety of economic and social backgrounds, so the variety of observations and the interplay between all these groups result in another layer of introspection.

The Love Children is a wonderful book that offers a refreshing change of focus. Instead of the typical action-driven novel, this book offers a deep examination of a person’s personality and all the questions one asks oneself when uncovering who you want to be.

Quotations:

p49
That is what is meant to be part of the new generation; we were each a love child. We thought that we were a miracle generation born to create a new way of seeing and feeling, a different morality. We had the sense that for generations, for eons, maybe, people had thought war was a great thing, killing was heroic, and domination noble. Be we knew that killing was awful, domination miserable for dominated and dominator, and war a horror.

p155
When you need love desperately and show your neediness, you can count on people kicking you.

I read this book before B is for Beer, but it took a while to figure out what I wanted to say in my review.

But here it is:

As an adult reading a book geared towards young adults, it’s hard to really understand how a teenager will view this book. The language seems simplistic and generalized, but that may well be appropriate for the intended age group.

However, the first half of the book does seem especially casual, almost geared towards pre-teens. The life of Phoebe, a simple country girl, is described, and her gradual awakening by the arrival a new friend, Melita.

Once Melita encouraged Phoebe to come visit her in the city, the book takes on a story and language geared towards older teenagers. Themes of discovering one’s sexuality, feminism, and complex friendships are explored. All are great topics to be weaving into an entertaining story, but it would have been nice for these themes to be introduced sooner and examined a bit more. As it is, they are rushed and hurried into the last half of the story.

Overall, this is a nice little book for teenagers to read. Both gay and straight teens will benefit from reading a story of a young woman trying to figure out how her sexuality fits, or doesn’t fit, within the norms found around her. The slim book allows for an easy reading that is entertaining and informative.

This book was too much of a tease – I still long for another Robbins novel.

My Quick Review:

B is for Beer is basically Tom Robbins Lite. While there are hints and traces of the writing that makes Robbins such a wonderful writer, the high-minded philosophical thoughts are toned down.

Nevertheless, what’s left is still a highly amusing and entertaining story that does encourage the reader to look at the world with a skeptical eye. In fact, Robbins seems to have packed in an extra dose of political messages criticizing the ever-scary conservatives found in the United States.

The topic of the book and the intended audience – beer and kids – seems to be an obvious attempt at shocking people. Robbins admits as much at the end credits, noting that others thought he wouldn’t “bloody dare”. Robbins makes the book work – neither being outlandishly scandalous, nor pandering to more conservative readers.

B is for Beer is a nice change of pace for Robbins, but his fully adult fiction is so wonderful, it would be a shame for him to become too enamored of writing young adult fiction. This book is certainly a good read, but it doesn’t take the place of a normal Robbins novel.