The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

This book is the first in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I really enjoyed this youth novel a lot. It's the story of 12 year old Percy Jackson who discovers he is not who he thinks he is--a normal human. He is in fact a demigod, born to a mortal mother and a Greek god father. Percy has dyslexia and ADHD which is explained by being part-god. Dyslexia is caused because Ancient Greek is his native language, so as a result he has a hard time reading standard English. And where his ADHD makes him a little distracted and unfocused in the classroom, it makes him great in battle because he is hyper-aware of what is going on.

I don't want to say too much about the storyline to give anything away. Basically, according to the book, the Greek gods still exist today, ruling over the world. Mt. Olympus simply changes locations to accommodate changes in the world/culture. They are in the Age of Western Civilization now and Mt. Olympus is currently located on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building in New York. The Underworld is currently located in West Hollywood, CA. The gods take on less classic appearances. In one of my favorite chapters ("I Settle My Tab") toward the end of the book, Riordan describes Poseidon and Zeus' current looks, all very amusing.

Through a series of events, Percy finds himself at Camp Half-Blood and is sent on an important quest to save the world from an impending World War III.

Overall, a great book, story and characters. I loved the theme of Greek Mythology. I always loved learning about mythology in school and this was a fun refresher of the various myths and who was related to each other, but with an updated twist. My only gripe about the book is how MUCH it is similar to Harry Potter. First let me say, I had no idea what this book was really about other than the description on Amazon. I was not searching to fill my Potter void or anything like that. Potter was not on my mind at all. However, as I was reading, things in the book kept striking me as very Potter-esque. So much, that it was very distracting to me and I began to keep a list of these comparisons in my head.

First, we have a boy who thinks he's normal until the pre-teen years when he discovers he is far from normal. Then, he is taken to a place that will both teach him and keep him safe from outside evils. He befriends both a boy and girl, with eerily similar personalities to Ron and especially to Hermione. The three set off on a quest in which they discover a power the gods thought to be extinguished fighting its way back to power. Then the gods ignore the fact that the power has a plan and is getting stronger (ie: Voldermort). Hmm.....I could be talking about Potter or Percy, they are so similar. Oh yes, there are also prophecies, swords, invisibility items, hearing voices in dreams, rivalry between cabins or god families (aka like the houses at Hogwarts). I know Rowling used mythology as part of a basis for her Potter world. Maybe, I didn't realize just how much was based in mythology or how much of Potter was a magical retelling of myths.

I don't mean to steer anyone away from The Lightning Thief. It really is a great book and I would recommend people read it. I was just so distracted the first half of the book by the Potterisms. The second half of the book was much easier to get into and stay focused on the Percy story. If you are a Potter fan and can forgive the similarities, I think you will really like this as a new series to read in the wake of Potter's end. There are three books published so far with the fourth due out next year. The Lightning Thief is also being produced as a movie with Chris Columbus directing (he also directed Harry Potter 1 & 2).

Second half of Bridge of Sighs

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. Character development is really good overall. The story sort of ebbs and flows. I tended to be very interested throughout sections and very bored through others. My husband asked me if I was reading a boring book. When I asked him why, he said, "Because you have fallen asleep to this book every night for a week." And that's the truth. :-)

The book is about small town American and a commentary on the American Dream and social classes. I can't say the book is totally without merit, but there are much better books out there. I definitely recommend Empire Falls over this one any day. Maybe Richard Russo will do better next time around.

I also finished The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson. This is a very fun and quick holiday read. I first read it in elementary school and liked it then. I remember my mom taking me to a children's theater production of the book and enjoying that. So I thought it would be fun to reread it. And I will be sharing it with my daughters when they get a little older as well.

Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris

Okay, finished holiday book #2 for today. This collection of essays is autobiographical in nature (found in the nonfiction section) and again a very quick read. Some of the stories are fiction. The best essay by far is "SantaLand Diaries" about Sedaris' experience as an Elf at Macy's in New York. I almost wish the whole book were like this. I enjoyed this first story the most, the rest of the book was a little bit too sarcastic for me. While the stories are entertaining, cynical and sarcastic, they almost go a bit too far for me. I find the idea of making fun of the annual Christmas newsletter amusing, but by the end of "Seasons Greetings" I wasn't so amused. And I found that to be the case with most of the stories. I started out interested and amused, then just sort of ended up skimming through them toward the end.

On the Barnes and Noble website there's an editor comment that Sedaris could be a 90's version of Jean Shepherd (the author whose stories were the basis for the film, A Christmas Story). I'm not sure I agree with this sentiment. I found Dave Barry's story to be much more Jean Shepherd-ish than Sedaris' volume.

If you are extremely sarcastic and cynical of the holidays you will really enjoy Sedaris' collection. If you are just looking for fun, humorous holiday fare, I'd go more with The Shepherd, the Angel and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog.

PS. While browsing book blogs I came across the Christmas Theme Book Challenge 2007. You can learn more here.

The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Miracle Dog

This book by Dave Barry is a delightful, easy and quick read. It takes place in 1960 in New York during Christmas. The narrator is a junior high boy telling about his family's Christmas, their dog, and the church's Christmas pageant. The story's style is very reminiscent of A Christmas Story. Throughout the book there are old photos, advertisements and illustrations that accompany the text. These make the book especially fun. Two of the pictures show Christmas trees circa 1960, and they look exactly like my Grandma Mazie's tree still does every year! This book is so short everyone should read it for a fun holiday treat!

First Half of Bridge of Sighs

I've been reading Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo. I LOVED Empire Falls. I really liked his style of writing and the depth of the characters. He had a great story as well. But here, I'm a little disappointed so far. I'm about half way through the over 500 pages (Allison, probably why I'm not excited to consider another 500 page book yet! :-). I was interested in the beginning and through the first 200 pages, but now it's sort of slowing down and I'm starting to lose interest. Again, he's pretty heavy in the character development but where Empire Falls had a great story, Bridge of Sighs lacks that (at least so far).

Again, Russo takes us to a small town in northeastern America. And again, the town is full of characters struggling to deal with everyday life. The timeline jumps around between the main character's childhood and present day. Russo does a good job of keeping what time we're in clearly defined, so its not hard to keep up. This book also reminds me a bit of I am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe. Not in the story elements at all, but in my reaction to the book. I read Charlotte Simmons fairly quickly for the length of it and found it only mediocre. It was great in character development again, but I felt the story was a tad boring. Bridge of Sighs is shaping up to be a similar reading experience for me. But I guess you can't always have great characters, great story, and keep it exciting too, huh?

I do want to finish it and I hope it picks up a little in the second half, but I think I will take a break for a bit. I have two holiday books on hold at the library that I might try in the meantime. The first, Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris, sounds like an amusing collection of short memoirs about Christmas. For example, some of the stories are about Sedaris' experience working as an elf at Santaland at Macy's. I'm chuckling just thinking about the things he must have witnessed. The second book was a high recommendation from my mom and others, The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog by Dave Barry. Maybe I'll read those and come back to Bridge of Sighs. :-)

Oh, and I finished Murder is a Girl's Best Friend, the 2nd book in the Paige Turner Mystery series. I enjoyed this one even more than the first. Paige's best friend didn't annoy me quite so much and the ending didn't fizzle out as much as the first did. I'll continue to read the others in this series.

We're getting 8-10 inches of snow today so it seems it will be a nice cozy reading day in Minnesota! Enjoy your weekend!

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl

I just finished this ambitious debut novel, which goes to show how behind I am in literary pursuits--it was published last year. It's been sitting on my nightstand for a while because, at over 500 pages, the book was a bit daunting. Well. I think it's clearly a love-it-or-hate-it book (the average 3 1/2 star rating on librarything would seem to corroborate this assumption) and I LOVED it. Comparisons with Safran Foer and Zadie Smith abound. The Zadie Smith part I agree with, but I (ahem) didn't really care for Safran Foer much, though I can see a passing resemblance. Like Zadie Smith and my beloved Kate Atkinson, Pessl pulls together disparate elements adeptly to keep control of her complicated plot. Part coming-of-age tale, part high school realism, part mystery, part History of Western Thought, this novel is packed with more similes, metaphors, and literary references (some real, others invented) than any high school English class. Yet this doesn't detract from astute characterization and masterful plotting. Pessl is an incredibly gifted writer and Blue is so well-drawn that it's easy to forgot this is not a real autobiography of a real girl. Blue's descriptions, wry asides, and painstaking references somehow make her more likeable instead of insufferably show-offy and pedantic. She shimmers on the page, on every page, a luminous force-to-be-reckoned with. (See, all that description and simile is contagious.)

The other characters (even Blue's dad) are drawn with less depth, because they're shown only through Blue's eyes, but they are still fascinating. They propel the labyrinthine plot through increasing twists and turns, many wildly improbable, but I never stopped to ask, "Are you kidding me?" as another twist revealed itself. I think the pacing can be credited here. As some have complained, the first 300 pages move slowly, almost laboriously, and the last 200 really fly, snagging you as they pass, dragging you along through the satisfying conclusion and, better yet, a beautiful ending. I didn't mind the pacing of the first 300. Rather, I thought those pages set the reader up for the conclusion by gently unfolding events, coincidences, character oddities, in a leisurely fashion to make him/her invested in the outcome. A more perfunctory set-up would have meant a less satisfying pay-off, in my opinion.

Okay, I've gone on long enough. I hope Marisha Pessl is hard at work on her next novel, because I can't wait. I'll pass the time by re-reading this one.

Holiday Book Drive

Stepping back on my soapbox....ahem...is this thing on? *tap* *tap* :-)

Barnes and Noble is doing their annual book drive again this year. If you have the opportunity and inclination, please visit your local store and buy a book for a child. This program usually teams up with a women's shelter or other organizations who work with children who are in a situation where their parents may not have extra money to buy them books. The Barnes and Noble near us is doing a great thing this year where you can buy a children's book or an adult book (or both); the organization they are giving all the books to will let the children pick a book for their mom and the mom gets to pick a book for their child. I think that's pretty cool!

I'll be taking the girls again this holiday to pick out a book for another child their age and explain to them that some mommys and daddys aren't as fortunate to be able to buy their children books. This way we can help those kids have some of the books we love so much!

Peter and the Secret of Rundoon

By Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

This is the conclusion to the trilogy that began with Peter and the Starcatchers, documenting the events that preceded (and led to) those in Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie. This is an excellent conclusion to an excellent series. Truly enjoyable. The rollicking, swashbuckling adventures are just plain fun. The characters are engaging and well-developed, and the plot moves along at breakneck speed, one scene leading to the next. It's hard to put these books down. The dual imaginitive power of Barry and Pearson is amazing. They seamlessly weave in elements that will appear in Peter Pan without distracting from their own story. Without giving too much away, it's difficult to summarize the third book. I was hooked with the first book, and I can't recommend this riveting series too highly.

For A Good Time, Call Cece Caruso

As you know, I read a lot of mystery series. I have my favorites, but I always hope for a new series that I'll love. I've tried several lately, with mixed results. I finally have a new favorite, the Cece Caruso series by Susan Kandel. They are smart, funny, well-written, and well-plotted. The West Hollywood setting is fun and well-realized, and Cece's career (biographer of mystery authors) adds a fun, fresh element to this series. I read Not A Girl Detective first (about Carolyn Keene, the pseudonymous author of the Nancy Drew books) because I loved Nancy Drew, though it's the second in the series. It was great fun, and I zipped through the first, I Dreamed I Married Perry Mason, as well, and though I'm less of a Perry Mason fan than a Nancy Drew fan, I still loved it. I'm nearly finished with Shamus in the Green Room, the third (which, interestingly enough, is called Sam Spade in the Green Room in the preview printed at the end of Not A Girl Detective--this makes more sense, as I have no idea who Shamus is and I only have about 60 pages left). Christietown is the fourth, and then I'll be going into withdrawal.

I am now on LibraryThing! I'll be going back and adding 2007's books as I have time. My library is at this address!

All Through The Night by Suzanne Brockmann

If you're not familiar, Suzanne Brockmann writes suspense novels that are also romance novels (I phrase it this way because I think the suspense is more central than in most romantic suspense novels). This, the 12th in her Troubleshooters series, is a short holiday novel about a wedding. Here's the biggie: Jules and Robin, two guys, are getting married. Brockmann includes a letter at the end of the book explaining that her son is gay, and the thought of his not being permitted to marry really upsets her. She's donating all proceeds from this book to Mass Equality. The book isn't perfect. Brockmann sort of drops at least one outside subplot, and every two pages, the guys are looking at each other and either thinking or saying how much they want to have sex. The straight couples do this a bit, but not to the sex-crazed extent to which Jules and Robin do. This seemed a slightly overcompensatory way of not shying away from gay sex, but it plays on the perception many people have that gay relationships are only about sex (which, in turn, leads to stereotypes like all gay men are promiscuous). Brockmann is careful to state over and over that Robin and Jules love each other and want to be together, and she shows this admirably, but it's a bit obscured by all the sex, sex, sex that gets a smidge tiresome (and I believe I would have felt that way if it had been a hetero couple as well). But I just skimmed past those bits when they got annoying, and I still recommend this book for two reasons: 1. It may be the first gay romance novel written by a mainstream author and 2. Brockmann does suspense very well, and I stayed up WAY too late reading this one, even though I was jet lagged and exhausted. You don't have to have read the previous books in the Troubleshooters series to follow this one.

My Reading Marathon

I've actually finished three books in two weeks! Quite a record for me lately, I've had a hard time even deciding what book to pick up. A while back Allison sent me a box full of fun cozy mysteries, so I decided to take a look at those and try one out. I chose Murderers Prefer Blondes by Amanda Matetsky, the first in her Paige Turner Mystery Series. The book's heroine, Paige Turner, works for a detective magazine in New York City when she stumbles across what she hopes to be the perfect story to jump-start her writing career. The story takes place in the mid-1950's in New York City. As I was reading, it seemed like my mind was watching an old black and white detective film. I could picture all the characters. I got a little annoyed by Paige's best friend and her tone in conversations. I'm sure the slang was accurate to the time period, but it felt a little forced in that character for some reason. Although, I enjoyed the novel, the ending was very anticlimactic and predictable. But if you take it for what it is, a cozy mystery, this was an entertaining read.

I spent last week visiting my mom with the kids and spent the better part of any free time I had reading. It was great to be away from the house so I didn't have the guilt of "I should be doing this, oh, I'll just read a few more pages...." I could read to my heart's content and it was fantastic. I brought My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult with me. Whenever I mention Picoult to anyone, this seems to be the common book that people have read. I read it in about 2 days. For those unfamiliar, the story is about Anna, a 13 year old girl who was conceived to be a perfect genetic match for her older sister sick with leukemia. Throughout her life Anna undergoes various procedures that help prolong her sister's life. Finally, she decides she will no longer be a guinea pig for her sister and seeks medical emancipation from her parents. The book is told from the different viewpoints of all the characters and flows really well. It's a pretty heavy book because of its topic and you spend the whole book waiting for the inevitable. Picoult surprises with quite a twist at the end that shocked me. I wasn't very thrilled with it actually. I think because I had spent the majority of the book expecting a completely different outcome. Picoult covers the medical ethics topic well and from many angles. And I plan on continuing to read her other books. This was the second Picoult book I have read and both were told alternating the characters viewpoints. I'm curious, does she do this with all her books? Is this her signature writing style?

The last book, I just finished this morning: Crashing Through: A True Story of Risk, Adventure, and the Man who Dared to See by Robert Kurson. This is our November book club pick. I have to say, the topic did not intrigue me much and I toyed with the idea of not even looking at the book. I just figured I'd be bored to tears. But part of the reason I like being in a book club is because it makes me consider books I would not normally read on my own. So I thought I should at least look at the book. I got it from the library and figured I'd just sort of skim through it enough to make a comment or two at the meeting. Well I was very wrong, the book really pulled me in. It's the story of a man, Mike May, who lost his sight at age 3 and spent the next 43 years of his life blind. One day, he was with his wife at her eye exam and the doctor just looked at his eye on a whim. Then his colleague took a look. They told May he would be an excellent candidate for a new stem cell surgery and he might be able to see again. I was curious about how May lost his sight, how he gained it back, and whether or not he would keep it. And continued reading to find out. There were some very technical sections that read like an Intro to Biology textbook. I tended to skim or skip these sections all together. But everything else was very interesting and flowed very easily. May's tenacity and attitude are amazing. It was fun to read about his journey and see how it ended. If anyone is interested in nonfiction books, this was a quick and enjoyable read.

Sidenote: I'm also on Library Thing now. You can find my library here. I started one for my daughter as well, to keep track of what books she really likes. I also added books I think might be good for her in the future too. You can find her library here. I updated the Links in the blog sidebar, added a few new book blog links, and added book covers from my library. I thought it was time to spice up the blog a bit. :-)

Tidbits

When I picked Ella up from preschool today, I noticed a pamphlet on a table entitled, "Raising Readers". I thought it might be interesting so I picked it up. It is produced by the Mpls St. Paul Magazine. There were several things in it that I thought I would pass along. There was an article about boys and reading. The main point stated many boys lose interest in reading by middle school because its usually their mothers who read or they have female librarians and teachers picking out books for them. So generally, the books are not adventurous enough to entertain boys. The article also pointed out that girls/women are more hardwired to be readers based on neurological and biological differences. Somewhat interesting, but mostly common sense, nothing too earth shattering.

The other main article talked about children's book series and discussed the history of them and 5 classic series that have endured (Nancy Drew, Adventures of Tintin, Cherry Ames, Tom Swift, and Anne of Green Gables). Of course it talked about the blockbuster success of Harry Potter and revealed that The Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park is slated to open at Universal Orlando Resort in 2010!! I think that sounds like a great place to take the kids! :-) I'm sure it will be sooo overwhelmed with visitors when it opens that it will be a pain in the butt to visit. Maybe by the time Ella and Lily are old enough to read the Potter books on their own, the novelty of the park will have died down.

The last thing I thought was interesting: the digital mark-my-time bookmark (mark-my-time.com). It either counts down or logs your child's reading time. Might be a handy gadget for school-age readers who have to read a certain amount of time each day for class.

Other links listed in the pamphlet: literarychild.com (E-mag Literary Child has puzzles, games, and other activities related to the month's featured kids' book). Also, libarything.com seemed an interesting website. Log what you're reading and find others who are interested in the same books as yourself.

Just thought I would pass along the info! Enjoy the cooler weather by curling up with a book, blanket and a warm drink!

Time Traveler's Wife for TV?

I know this is a book blog and not a television blog. But has anyone been watching the new show on NBC, Journeyman? And have you read The Time Traveler's Wife?

I keep seeing some similiarities to the book and the show when I watch it. I'd really like to know if they were using that book as part of the basis for the show? That is one of my all time favorite books in recent years. And I'm really enjoying the show too.

Just thought I would share. :-)

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

This book received RAVE reviews on both Barnes and Noble and Amazon as well as in my Bookmarks Magazine. It falls into juvenile literature but adults young and old seemed to like it as well. This was our book club pick for October. And only one person finished it. I got to about page 75, others got to page 100, half way and a little beyond that. And no one liked it much. I was extremely disappointed. It was a slow read and lacked flow. I think we all expected it to read much quicker because it was a youth book. One person said it read much better if she could dedicate a longer chunk of time each time she picked it up. This is not one to read in ten minute increments (which is how I tend to read things these days).

The book is narrated by the character of Death set in Germany during World War II. Death encounters a little girl (the Book Thief) several times throughout her life and we hear about her life experience with a foster family and the people who live on her street, including a Jewish man they hide in their basement. We all agreed Death as narrator was a very unique and good idea. But it just didn't captivate us like we had hoped. Perhaps this is a case of having too high expectations going into the book.

Back to deciding what to read next....

Lots of reading!

Death at Bishop's Keep by Robin Paige: The first in the Victorian mysteries by Susan Wittig Albert and her husband. This was really fun. American Kate Ardleigh moves to England to live with an aunt. Secret societies devoted to the occult, an archaeological dig, and strangely attractive amateur detective Sir Charles Sheridan make this a fun, engaging read. Kate is a plucky heroine, and I'll be reading more of these.

The Tale of Holly How by Susan Wittig Albert: The second Beatrix Potter mystery. Cozy and charming. I will be reading more of these.

The Boggart and The Boggart and the Monster by Susan Cooper: Fun children's books set in Scotland, where a Canadian brother and sister encounter the Boggart, a troublemaking spirit.

Mr. Darcy's Diary by Amanda Grange: This was surprisingly enjoyable. Quite fluffy, but fun. It's really superfluous, since you can tell in Pride and Prejudice what Darcy was thinking most of the time, but if you're a P&P fan, this might be worth picking up. I zipped through it pretty quickly, and really liked it. There are some conversations with Bingley and comments on Caroline that are entertaining, and we see a bit more of his relationship with Georgiana. And of course, we find out what happened when Darcy went after the eloping couple. Grange has also written Mr. Knightley's Diary, which I will have to pick up!

Molly Moon, Micky Minus, and the Mind Machine by Georgia Byng: This is the fourth in the series about a plucky heroine who discovers she has amazing powers. These are very cute, over-the-top adventures, beginning with Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism.

Key to the Treasure, Pirate Island Adventure, Clues in the Woods, and The Haunted House by Peggy Parish: Four of the six Liza, Bill & Jed mysteries. I've gotten nostalgic about childhood books, and sometimes I have only a dim memory of a book I loved as a kid, without remembering the author, the plot, or the character names. This makes it hard to search for a book! For this one, all I remembered was that there was a "treasure key" or "key to treasure" or something in the title and it had codes in it. Pretty quickly found Key to the Treasure, and I had completely forgotten it was the first in a series. These are good natured adventure-mysteries that are neither too adventurous nor very mysterious. These are really cute, wholesome mysteries. There are no video games or television shows, and the kids play outside and volunteer to do the dinner dishes without being asked, but they're not disgustingly sweet. They carp at each other like real siblings. I wasn't sure if they would still appeal to kids, or if they would be too dated, but they were recently re-released, maybe because people like me who loved them as kids are now having children themselves.

Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg by Gail Carson Levine: This was a fun fairy tale set in Never Land. Prilla, a new fairy, hasn't yet found her talent. Meanwhile, trouble is brewing for the Never fairies. There's not much suspense that Prilla's yet-unknown talent will play a key role in solving the trouble in Never Land, but the story is cute and the illustrations lovely.

Halloween Nostalgia

Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year. I love the whole month of October with the culmination of Halloween. The (supposedly) crisp Midwestern air, leaves changing colors and falling to the ground, but still nice enough to play outside, apples and pumpkins. LOVE it!

I've started getting Halloween books from the library to read to my daughter at night. And one, Harriet's Halloween Candy by Nancy Carlson, made me think of a book from my childhood that I just loved. I don't think I had a copy of it (I'll have to ask my mom), but I remember the librarian reading it to us at school and I think I probably checked it out a few times too. It was about a bear, a halloween party and popcorn. The whole house fills with popcorn and they have to clean it up. I searhed "halloween popcorn" on the Barnes and Noble website. Turns out it was called Popcorn: A Frank Asch Bear Story by Frank Asch, originally published in 1979, I think, but reprinted several times. Sadly, this wonderful book is out of print, but there are several copies available on ebay. I may need to purchase one for me (and my two girls too, of course). ;-) I even checked with the library and they do not have one copy of it in circulation, at any of the branches. I can't believe that!

If you ever come across this little gem of a book, you should definitely take a look!

Survivor--Real Life

I just finished Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World by Joan Druett. A nonfiction book that describes the experiences of castaways on the Auckland Islands circa 1864. The book mostly focuses on the five survivors of the ship Grafton. They were on the island for almost 2 years. As far as I can tell the author pieced the story together through survivor journals, articles and books written by two of the castaways, as well as newspaper accounts.

The book was slightly dry but the story interesting enough to keep me intrigued. I kept wondering how they would finally make it off the island. I was also amazed at the ingenious ways these men devised tools and learned trades such as shoe making to come up with everything they needed to stay alive and stay meagerly comfortable. The Frenchman, by the name of Raynal, was utterly amazing to me in engineering things they needed such as soap, shoes, tools, the chimney of their house, a boat, and killing and hunting seals. It seemed whatever they needed he could come up with. Definitely the right person to get shipwrecked on an island with.

There was also a parallel storyline about another group of sailors of the Invercauld ship where only 3 of 19 survived to be rescued. Basically, the book concludes that the Grafton survivors were able to eventually get off the island because they worked together and lived very democratically with each of them treating the others as equals. The Invercauld crew lived exactly the opposite of the Grafton crew. They remained in their hierarchy of officers vs. crew, did not stick together, didn't bother to work hard, laid around. And miraculously, the three remaining survivors were rescued long before the Grafton survivors.

There were long sections of the book dedicated to the intricacies of seal/sea lion hunting and mating. These were somewhat boring and too in-depth for my tastes. But perhaps someone will find them interesting. I suspect the author used it as filler to make her book longer. While reading this book, and particularly the part describing the differences between the two groups of castaways, I thought of the book Lord of the Flies by William Golding. I haven't read this book since middle school and I believe the movie came out about the same time as I read the book (1990). I decided I was going to get it from the library again and reread/skim it to see what I thought about it now as an adult.

The other thing that kept coming up in my head while reading Island of the Lost, was the reality television show Survivor. Okay, although parts of Survivor are completely contrived and edited to make certain things seem like a bigger deal or more intriguing, you learn that the tribes that work together as a team and stay together or align together get the furthest in the game. If I'm ever stuck on a deserted island, I guess I've learned that I will for sure be a team player. :-)

I think this book might be an interesting book club choice if it seems to be a topic your particular book club would be interested in.

PS. Yay! This is the 100th post to On My Bookshelf!

Arrrgggh!

Okay so I finally settled on a book. :-) I think because it was a short one, I knew I wouldn't have to invest too much time in it. A silly little ditty entitled The Pirates! In an adventure with Scientists by Gideon Defoe. I'm not entirely sure how to describe this book. It is short at 131 pages. The story is about a bunch of pirates who come across Charles Darwin and together they try to save Darwin's brother, Erasmus from an undesirable fate. The Pirates pose as scientists to "fit in" with Darwin's crowd. The whole thing is quite a yarn. The pirates are all incredibly stupid while thinking they are incredibly smart. And everything is very tongue in cheek. I enjoyed it for a short read. It was a bit too silly I think. But if you're looking for something light-hearted about pirates this would be your book.

And in sticking with the ship theme, my shipwreck book is available at the library and waiting for me to pick it up so I'll hopefully be reporting on that one soon.

Happy first day of Fall today!

Same Old, Same Old

With the end of summer, reruns should be over, too, but I have just finished books in two of my favorite mystery series. I say "same old, same old" even thought they're new books because I've posted about these series before.

The Penguin Who Knew Too Much by Donna Andrews: The latest in the Meg Langslow series, and a very fun read. The first in the series is Murder With Peacocks. I usually just say how fun this series is, which I'll do again, but maybe I'll try to add something new this time! Meg is a blacksmith with a huge extended family. Her parents are a hoot. Her mother is very proper, while her father, a doctor, loves murder mystery novels and relishes the chance to be involved in a real investigation. Her brother, Rob, is a law student without much interest in practicing law (boy, can I identify!). The family lives in a small Virginia town. The mysteries are fun, but the characters are what make this series stand out from the crowd of cozy mysteries. Meg's dry wit and exasperated tolerance of her crazy family manages to make her appealing rather than unsympathetic and complaining. There's obviously a lot of love behind her good-natured comments about her family. In Murder With Peacocks, she meets university theater professor Michael, and it doesn't take a sleuth to see he'll be an important character in later books. Murder With Peacocks introduces Meg and the Langslow clan. The much put-upon Meg is involved in three weddings--her brother, her friend Eileen, and her mother's. Each bride is more demanding and exacting than the last, and poor single Meg runs errands and puts out fires all over the place.

Puss N Cahoots by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown: Sneaky Pie co-writes this series with her human companion, the fabulous Rita Mae Brown. The first in the series is Wish You Were Here, which introduces Crozet, Virginia postmistress Harry and her small brood of intelligent animals. Mrs. Murphy, a tiger cat, and Tucker, a Corgi, along with numerous other Crozet animals (wild and domestic), really solve the crimes here, trying to steer the humans to the root of the mystery. Yes, the animals talk to one another, and that could be really cloying and irritating, but it's not, at least to me. They add a fun dimension to Crozet life and the usual whodunit cozy. There's a companion cookbook, Sneaky Pie's Cookbook for Mystery Lovers, that includes Mrs. Hoggendobber's Orange Cinnamon Buns, thank goodness. They're amazing :) The latest book wasn't necessarily the best, but having followed the human and animal antics for many years, I enjoyed it anyway.

Sweet Revenge by Diane Mott Davidson: I can't really summarize this one too much without giving away things that happen in earlier books, so I'll talk about the series instead. The first is Catering To Nobody, which introduces Goldy, a caterer who recently escaped from an abusive marriage to John Richard Korman (the Jerk) with her son Arch (poor kid--naming him Arch? No wonder he's such a brat). Goldy caters the wake for Arch's former teacher and special friend. Her former father-in-law keels over dead, and Detective Tom Schulz shuts her business down until the investigation is complete. This gives Goldy the incentive to nose around on her own. Each book includes recipes (from Sweet Revenge, I just made the Pina Colada Muffins, which were YUMMY), and several are all-time favorites of mine. I like Goldy, and despite some annoyances in the books, I enjoy the series. The cooking talk is fun, Aspen Meadow is fun, and Goldy's nosing around is entertaining (even as you sometimes roll your eyes at her extreme nosiness). Edited to add: Something Davidson said in Sweet Revenge sort of changed my perspective on this series a bit. While reading these (and re-reading), I've been guilty of muttering, "Oh, just get OVER it already" in regard to Goldy's whining about her ex-husband. In Sweet Revenge, she says something about how it's easy to SAY "get over it" but it's not easy to DO. And that really resonated with me. She was married to an abusive philanderer for seven years, in constant fear for her safety and her son's, and she found the courage to get a divorce. Of course it's not so simple that she can just get over it as soon as the papers are signed. Davidson went to a lot of trouble to develop a complex heroine in a conventional genre, and I think Goldy's words are a smack at the critics who want Goldy to just get over it. Anyway, I have sort of a new appreciation for these now.

I'm now reading The Tale of Holly How, #2 in Susan Wittig Albert's Beatrix Potter series.

The Land of Indecision

Okay, I'm not sure if I'm just not in a reading mood lately, just can't find the right book for my mood, or what my problem is. I just can't settle on anything. As I've mentioned, I've enjoyed the No. 1 Ladies Detective series by Alexander McCall Smith. He's written quite a few other books as well so I thought I might try out his newer Isabel Dalhousie series. The first book is The Sunday Philosophy Club. I forced myself to read about half of it and just could not continue to waste my time. I was bored to tears. I guess the characters weren't likable enough to me to want to see how it turned out.

Then I moved on to The Uses of Enchantment by Heidi Julavits. It was reviewed in my Bookmarks magazine awhile back and I thought it sounded interesting. Again, I'm about 75 pages into it and I'm debating whether to keep going. The characters again are not that appealing to me (at least not yet) and the tone of voices switches between characters in a way I find annoying. I usually must finish a book once I've started it. But lately, I feel like there are too many good books out there to waste my time with something I don't really want to read.

So what to read then? Hmm.....maybe another Jodi Picoult? I'm also waiting for a book I requested from the library, Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World by Joan Druett. It's historical nonfiction about two different shipwrecks on Auckland Island south of New Zealand. One crew fights with each other and only 3 survive, the other crew manages to all survive for more than two years. It sounded sort of interesting to me. I'll give a full report if and when I read it. ;-)