Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic 50 Book Challenge 2013/What I've Read In 2013

Happy New Year!

Well, what a terrific year 2012 was for sharing our books. I loved seeing what everyone was reading and getting ideas for books to check out. Looking forward to more of the same this year. I've already started on my new hoard of books received for Christmas.

Info on how this works can be found here .

Enjoy your reading in 2013!

LabRat :-)

This is actually a leftover from 2012, but since that topic is closed...

The Clark Kent Chronicles by Pamela Fagan Hutchins - I read the e-book version of this in one day this past week. It was an extremely fast read, but an interesting, enjoyable, and educational one.

Despite its name, it has nothing to do with the man inside the Suit. It is actually a collection of blog entries written by the mother of a 17-year-old who has ADHD and Asperger Syndrome. I've a very good friend who also has a son who has both conditions. I found myself recognizing many of my friend's son's behaviours in the author's son, and the book really helped me to get into his head.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in ADHD, and especially to anyone who takes care of a child with ADHD.

Joy,
Lynn

My #1 entry for 2013 is also a leftover from last year:

Big Boned - Meg Cabot

It's the third in the Heather Wells series, but the first I've stumbled upon. I thought it was a stand-alone at first but there was previous context hinted at throughout the book (from the previous murders on Fischer Hall to her relationship with love interest Cooper) and after a quick Google search I was finally enlightened about the Heather Wells series.

I found it a little mild for a sort-of-detective series but entertaining and light fun in a not-to-be-taken-seriously kind of way.

I'm going to read the rest of the series now. Just because.

1) Day of the Dead by J.A. Jance . A suspense novel. Not one of my favorites. I usually like her novels but this one was a bit too graphic with the violence.

#1 The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom

While I didn't agree with some of how this book handled things, for the most part, the overall message about treasuring the time you have was a good one.

Joan

#2 When She Woke by Hillary Jordan

This futuristic book brought up a lot of hot issues. It opens with a girl who got an abortion being punished by being injected with a virus to make her entire body red. Although I didn't always agree with the writer, it made me think about religion, abortion, woman's rights, and punishment.

Joan

1. J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century by Tom Shippey and
2. The Road To Middle-Earth by Tom Shippey.

Seeing "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" made me pull out my copy of "Lord Of The Rings" and read it all over again.

Shippey has some very good critical essays on Tolkien and LOTR. For example, he muses on the nature of evil. Is evil only an absence, the absence of good? Or is it a presence, something inherent in itself? He points out that in "Return of the King", the Nazgul Lord shows both: he is without form and only able to be harmed by the sword "wrought with spells"(absence) but he is able to wield a weapon and interact physically with others (presence.)

He also made the point that many authors of the twentieth century felt the need to deal with the big topics (world war, the Holocaust, death and destruction) by means of fantasy. For example, Ursula K. LeGuin's classic short story, "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" raises the question of responsibility. Kurt Vonnegut tried to deal with the fire-bombing of Dresden in his books. And Tolkien, obviously, put in questions of good or evil into his works, but hid those questions in story.

What made Tolkien's Middle-Earth so interesting, among other things, was the sense of the ages before the events of "The Hobbit" and "LOTR". For example, in "The Hobbit", Bilbo and the others find Sting, Orcrist, and Glamdring in the troll hoard. It's mentioned that these swords were made in Gondolin, long ago. Readers really didn't have a clue about Gondolin (where was it? Why did it fall?) till the publication of "The Silmarillion", forty years after "The Hobbit" was published. And that's just one of the many details adding verisimilitude. The poem about Beren and Luthien that Aragorn sings. The mention of Galadriel being exiled to Middle-Earth, away from the realms of the Valar. The passages of untranslated Elvish. Narsil being re-forged into Anduril, a repairing of a sword that was broken 3000 years earlier.

Another example of Tolkien's detail is the bit about King Theoden's horse - not only do we know the horse's name, we know the horse's mother's name.

All of these things let us know that Middle-Earth has a complicated and full backstory.

And then there's the exchange that makes me cry every time:

Shippey touches on this and how it applies to both Tolkien and to the current day.

The author discusses many more things than I can mention here. If you are a Tolkien fan, as I am, you will find these books highly rewarding and very thought-provoking. There is a considerable amount of overlap between the two books (it's obvious the author re-used some of his essay material) but in my opinion, both are worth reading.

3. The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Reading Shippey's essays and re-reading "LOTR" caused me to read once more about the Making of Arda, all about the Valar, Feanor and his siblings, the Two Trees, who was Ungoliant, the downfall of Numenor, and so many other things. "The Silmarillion" is one of those books that's best re-read several times so that you can pick up all the stuff you missed the first time around.

4. "Jiffy" - A Family Tradition: Mixing Business and Old-Fashioned Values by Cynthia Furlong Reynolds.
Fascinating history of the Holmes family, owners of the Chelsea Milling Company, the manufacturer of Jiffy baking mixes, corn muffin mix, pie crust mix, etc. The company is over 100 years old and is tiny compared with behemoths such as General Mills, but it is able to have a large share of the market due to their focus on quality and value. The company doesn't advertise other than putting pictures of the Jiffy Mix box on their delivery trucks, counting on 100 years of goodwill and good value to get the word out to consumers. Four generations of the family have survived world wars, the Great Depression, personal tragedies, and monumental changes in the food industry. The book is chock full of historic photos and has a mouth-watering picture of Jiffy corn muffins on the cover.

1. A Christmas Bride by Susan Mallery She's always been a bit even, though never terrible. This book actually has two stories. The first one is 72 pages, and it is way too rushed, and there are some editing issues (there are no line breaks between scenes, which makes things a bit hard to read). I've seen authors do much in that amount of space, so I guess that's just not her forte. The second story is okay.

I had to finish it up quickly, since A Memory of Light comes out today. The Wheel of Time is complete!

LOL, Karen. My copy of MOL hit the doormat this morning. Mucho excitement.

It's going to be a bit of time before I get to it though. I've had the previous two books sitting on my shelf unread because I decided to wait till it was complete and then start from book one and read straight through, so I was fully up to speed.

I confess I'm intrigued to finally get a look at what Sanderson's done with the series.

LabRat :-)

#3 The Sisters Grimm: The Council of Mirrors by Michael Buckley

Last book in the series about two Grimm sisters acting as fairy tale detectives. I started reading this series with my kids several years ago and it's been great.

Joan

This year I've decided to include all the chapter books I read to my kids, since that's mostly what I get to read nowadays.

1. Nicholas St. North and the Battle with the Nightmare King - by William Joyce and Laura Geringer

I thought it was a little advanced for even my almost 8 year old. Lots of big words, on which she kept asking me for definitions. The story is interesting though, a different origin story for Santa Claus (aka Nicholas St. North), who starts out like as a warrior bandit, only to become a wizard to protect children from the Nightmare King. My 5 y.o. son liked the drawing of North's weapons.

This is the book "Rise of the Guardians" movie was based upon.


2. DC's Showcase presents "Superman" - V.1 - numerous authors.

500+ pages of old June '58 - Nov. '59 Superman comics. I felt like I got went through an intensive course on Superman reading this one, learning a bunch of Superman comic canon all in one book, including Brainiac, Krypton city in a bottle, Lex Luthor, Metallo, Lori Lemaris (the Mermaid Clark asked to marry him back in college), SuperGirl, Krypto, Mxyzptik, and Bizarro. Apparently, Lois wasn't only obsessed with Superman but that they were actually DATING. It makes her seem like she's only interested in Superman because of his super abilities.

There's also a comic where Lois gets glimpses of Superman's future wife (and children, who have super abilities from toddlerhood), but she can never see the woman's face, so she doesn't see that it's her (or whom the Reader assumes will be her).

Superman often lets people think that he's being duped, only to show it was the villain (or Lois, as the case maybe) who was being hoodwinked by Superman.

Only major annoyances were Lois trying to "trick" Superman into marrying her (her main goal in life, it seems, back then) and referring to herself as "girl reporter".



Okay, I have to admit, I read this one mostly to myself and not my kids.

Married In Haste by Cathie Maxwell.
Aristocratic Rich Heroine Whose Name I Forgot Already is turning into an old maid when she makes a bet with the other girls at the society ball - which one of them can get a marriage proposal first? At the same time Hero Whose Name I Forgot Already needs a wealthy wife to rebuild his tumbledown manor. Complicating factor: Brother of Rich Heroine, Both of Whose Names I Already Forgot has misspent Rich Heroine's fortune. A pretty standard romance, nothing special.

The Rake by Mary Jo Putney.
This is a romance that does it right. Reggie Davenport is a rake and a drunkard. Alys Weston is a woman with a mysterious and painful past, who has made a new life for herself as the steward of Strickland - an estate which formerly belonged to the Earl of Wargrave, but has been deeded over to Reggie (because it was his mother's estate originally - long backstory here.) Reggie has decided to turn a new leaf and leave his wastrel ways in London, and to move to Dorset where his estate is.
He meets Alys and decides to keep her on as his steward. He's attracted to her. She's attracted to him. But he's a drunkard and she's got her own issues. The story shows us how each of them perseveres through problems, changes, and grows, and how they find love together. I didn't forget anyone's name in this story. Well worth reading if you like romance and well worth reading as a story in its own right.

Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson.
Very interesting tome on why some nations get ahead and have good times, and why some nations are hellholes. The authors use countries with political borders for some of their examples - e.g., North and South Korea. The countries share similar climate, heritage, culture, and racial identity. Yet, due to the imposition of a border during the Korean War, and due to differing political systems, South Korea is prosperous and North Korea is facing famine. Or the difference between Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Mexico - the photograph shows the stark contrast. The authors argue that it's the presence of institutions - the rule of law, property rights, "inclusive" vs. "extractive" institutions, pluralism - that make all the difference. They discuss the oligarchy rule - maybe the leadership of a country is overthrown, but a new set of leaders come in and they do all the same things, except maybe worse. Example: The Tsar's reign in Russia (millions of peasants laboring in servitude, a few incredibly rich aristocrats at the top) was replaced by the Soviets (millions of 'comrades' laboring in servitude, a few incredibly rich 'comrades' at the top, along with a genocide of a few million people along the way.)

If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B-Movie Actor by Bruce Campbell.
Everybody's favorite B-movie actor ("The Evil Dead", "Army of Darkness", Autolycus on "Xena", and of course Bill Church, Jr., on "L&C") talks about how he got his start in acting, along with some of his buddies (Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert, and others.) Bruce doesn't take himself too seriously and the book is loads of fun.



Make Love The Bruce Campbell Way by Bruce Campbell.
In the second book, he gives his unique spin on making a movie with Mike Nichols, Renee Zellweger, and Richard Gere. (Warning: some events may be fictional. In fact, the whole book is probably fictional. But it's funny.)


When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro.
The blurb: "Born in early-twentieth-century Shanghai, Banks was orphaned at the age of nine after the separate disappearances of his parents. Now, more than twenty years later, he is a celebrated figure in London society; yet the investigative expertise that has garnered him fame has done little to illuminate the circumstances of his parents' alleged kidnappings. Banks travels to the seething, labyrinthine city of his memory in hopes of solving the mystery of his own, painful past, only to find that war is ravaging Shanghai beyond recognition-and that his own recollections are proving as difficult to trust as the people around him." A good book.

Judging by how I did last year, I haven't a hope of getting anywhere close to 50 books, but I'm going to try anyway!

1: Carte Blanche by Jeffrey Deaver.

Been big into James Bond recently & this is a new 007 novel. I like Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme books so gave it a bash. And was pleasantly surprised to find half of it set in my neck of the woods, South Africa. An entertaining enough read.

The House At Riverton - Kate Morton

I just adored this historic mystery novel, set mostly in the Downton-esque world between 1914-1920. Young housemaid Grace is set on a tragic course when her life becomes increasingly entangled with her young mistress and the upper class family she serves.

A skifully drawn plot and intriguing characters you can empathise with pulls you effortlessly along, leaving enticing breadcumbs that draw you to the tragic conclusion. I especially love the way that the ultimate tragedy could be traced back to a simple, single and seemingly harmless white lie, so many years before.

LabRat

2. A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

It's done! It's done! The series is done! It was a long road, that's for sure. I'm still a little unsure about the ending. In one way, it's the perfect ending. In another, it's "I need at least 20 more pages!" Which is funny considering the series is 14 books long. Labby, Brandon Sanderson actually did a pretty good job of finishing the series, in my opinion. Things actually moved better, but I'm not sure if that's Brandon, or just because it's the end of the series. I've heard rumors of followup books, so maybe I'll get the answers I want.

Right - I'm going in. <rolls up sleeves and packs emergency supplies> Book 1, here I come. Wish me luck!

LabRat

#4 Life as We Knew It by Susan Pfeffer

My daughter recommended this one. It's about what happens to a family after the moon is hit by an asteroid and all sorts of natural disasters take place.

Joan

3. Knight's Castle - by Edward Eager

Read this to my kids. Semi-Sequel to "Half-Magic", but it was a bit more confusing. I recommend reading Ivanhoe first to know about the knight characters the book refers to.

My daughter loved this writer.

Joan

Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson, aka The Bloggess .
Hilarious collection of essays about her childhood and her life. I had to read it just for the ethically taxidermied mouse on the cover. The mouse is standing on his hind legs, dressed as Hamlet with a velvet cape and a lace ruff, and holds a cleaned and polished mouse skull in his right paw.

Well worth reading, but alerts for adult language and situations. Highly recommended.

Understanding The Lord of the Rings: The Best of Tolkien Criticism edited by Rose Zimbardo and Neil Isaacs.
Darn it, every time some Tolkien-based movie comes out, I relapse into my addiction. Sure, I can read only one chapter.... OK, maybe two... now I have to read more about the Ents! Get away while I look up some hobbit family trees, you!

The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling.
A local councillor dies and there is much jockeying for his vacated position. It would have helped if I had known more about British small town governance (although Rowling makes it clear from context.) The author is excellent at characterization. However (SPOILER WARNING) this doesn't end as happily as the Harry Potter books did.

Agent of Hel: Dark Currents by Jacqueline Carey.
The author of the "Kushiel" series stays in the current world, where the title character is a half-demon, half-human girl who is literally the Agent of Hel, Hel being the Norse goddess of the underworld, and the liaison between the human and eldritch communities. Things aren't going well in Pomkowet, a small resort town - there has been a murder and there's a link to the Underworld. Well-written, snappy, and light-reading fun.

A Confusion of Princes by Garth Nix.
I've liked Nix's work ever since I read "Sabriel" years ago. He doesn't disappoint with this stand-alone novel about a Prince of the Empire. The Emperor is abdicating in two years and all the Princes of the Empire are angling for his position. One of the ways to get ahead is to kill your competition. Our hero comes of age and has to grow up. Not as good as the "Sabriel" trilogy but still enjoyable reading.