Thursday, May 29, 2008

On... The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

This is the second book in the HIs Dark Materials trilogy. I read the first, The Golden Compass last year just after the movie came out. I had intended to read the book before I saw the movie but to this day I have yet to see the movie.

Pullman ambitiously tries to weave an insanely complex world with all kinds of different mythologies that leave out God. Well... perhaps that's not the best way to say that. Pullman tries to kill God, at least that's what this knife can do... the one referred to in the title of the book.

While Pullman writes with great ability I think he bit off more than he could chew in trying to sort out this completely different world. In the beginning I couldn't even completely understand how the two young children were transitioning between these different worlds or even what world they were in at various times.

I did enjoy the book and would recommend it to people who can read with discretion.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

On... The Listener by Terri Blackstock

I expected something a little more profound from a book that asked the question "what if you could hear what God hears?" But then again when I stopped to think about that I realized how much that actually fits with the book.

So often we think that in order to do something significant for the kingdom of God we need to hear the voice of God or something else as significant as that. We don't.

I enjoyed Blackstock's writing style although it was nothing new, nothing unique from other authors that I have read. I guess I'll have to reserve judgment on Blackstock until I read other books of hers.

Monday, May 26, 2008

On... The Professor's House by Willa Cather

I never really got into the book. I probably would have understood the book a little bit more if I had read the book a bit slower but still there didn't seem to be a coherent plot moving the book forward.

At one point the plot deviated and told the story of a character dead before the first part began. I thoroughly enjoyed that section of the book. It had plot and a very interesting purpose behind it.

Not my favorite of Cather's but not terrible either.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

On... Love Thy Neighbor by Ann Turner

I keep gaining a new sense of satisfaction when I open a new Dear America book.

This book is written from the perspective a young girl growing up in a Tory family during the height of the anti-British fervor. I've never thought about what that perspective would be. I've always grown up thinking that the Patriots were right and the Tories were just sticks in the mud.

The more I read out of Pru's journal, the more I realized that my family, had we been in America at that time, would probably have been a Tory family. As Christians we probably would have supported the government that we had and tried to work within it had there been an issue rather than rebel against it (which is what the American Revolution was).

Once again I was not disappointed with this series and can't wait to start adding the series to my own personal collection.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

On... Rekindled by Tamera Alexander

I have found a new author that I love to read. As I have been adding books to my grand list and tentatively branching out and sampling the works of authors I had never even heard of before I find myself rewarded on at least 2 out of 3 bites.

The beginning of this book sets the stage for a flashback that takes up a quarter of the plot. I believe that Alexander could have done without the beginning few pages and made it a little more suspenseful for the reader, for me personally. I can see why Alexander structured the book in this way though.

I loved the idea of restoring the marriage. So many times people focus on winning the love the first time and the ending is either a proposal, a wedding, or the birth of a child. There's no talk of what happens ten years down the road. This is where that book takes place... ten years down the road when selfish thoughts, things left unsaid and unspeakable hurts of the past combined to create a wedge between husband and wife, a wedge that nearly kept them apart for ever even after a miraculous recovery.

I loved the book and will definitely be adding the rest of the series to my to be read pile.

Friday, May 23, 2008

On... Secrets, Lies and Alibis by Patricia H. Rushford

I liked the book well enough. I've always loved Rushford's books... mostly her Young Adult series starring Jennie McGrady. I kept the rest of her adult books on my to be read list after reading a couple of the Angel Delaney seriesand enjoying them.

I'm not a big fan of this series though. While the story came together in a logical procedural crime story manner Rushford introduced far too many characters. By the end of the book I still didn't have a few of the minor characters sorted out. What with the multiple officers of the law as well as more suspects than I can count (almost) I found myself slightly overwhelmed by the information.

Hopefully other books in this series won't be as much of a let down.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

On... Going Solo by Roald Dahl

Dahl's writing has always intrigued me. There are many times when I would not recommend one of his books to someone else or certainly to kids because of some of the crassness in his writings.

He has a captivating writing style though and when he avoids some things that are simply unpleasant I enjoy his writing such as with this book Going Solo. This book is a partial autobiography and centers on Dahl's time as an RAF pilot during the first years of WWII. My opinion? Pretty great book.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

On... Escape by Lorena McCourtney

This book fell into all of the conventional patterns. I knew from the beginning the ultimate outcome of the book. Of course... i ddi look at the end like I usually do but even without that I could have told you just from reading the back of the book exactly what happened... perhaps not the details of what happened it the middle but for the most part there was no real unexpected development.

While this book doesn't sink to Gilbert Morris levels (in my opinion) it does dangle perilously close. I'll read the other books of hers on my list and hope that those books are better than this one. (The other books I own of hers I enjoyed much more than this one.)

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

On... Second Opinion by Hannah Alexander

Once again the writing duo of Hannah Alexander doesn't fail to disappoint. I love everything medical... one of the reasons I almost went into the medical profession... and the way that Alexander weaves together multiple stories works. I don't always like multiple story lines or too many characters and sometimes Alexander gets dragged down with too many.

While I probably won't ever purchase any of these books they are an enjoyable read and I don't mind spending time reading them.

Monday, May 19, 2008

On... A Season of Grace by Bette Nordberg

This book wasn't on any of my lists. I simply walked into the library last week and started looking up and down the aisles for different books that were on my list. I picked this book up because I have read a couple other books by Ms. Nordberg and enjoyed them. (I think I own those two books but I can't remember).

This book intrigued me because of the weighty subject Ms. Nordberg dealt with... AIDS. AIDS and homosexuality are difficult concepts for a Christian to grasp. So often we state the "love the sinner, hate the sin" mantra but don't practice it. Instead, Christians go around wiping down keyboards because the sister of a man who has AIDS played there.

Ms. Nordberg did a commendable job dealing with complicated physical symptoms and complicated spiritual emotions and reactions. While her writing style is not on the level of some of my absolute favorite authors I did enjoy this book. (I know it's picky but using "Even though" to start two paragraphs with only one small paragraph in between them is a bit distracting).

Sunday, May 18, 2008

On Gypsy Rizka by Lloyd Alexander

Such a cute and fanciful book. I love how Alexander created such a lovable character that in the end chose to love all of those who when looking at her at first didn't love her.

Lloyd Alexander remains one of my favorite authors.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

On... The Gawgon and the Boy by Lloyd Alexander

I have always loved Lloyd Alexander's books. In fact, the name of one of his characters made its way to one of mine in my first attempt at a novel, my only fantasy.

I revisited Alexander several months ago with The Arkadians and loved the book. For some reason when I picked up this book I kept expecting Roald Dahl's style. I found myself pleasantly surprised. I absolutely loved this book and the fantastical journeys that David entered on all with only his imagination.

I can't wait to pick up Gypsy Riska... the next book on my list.

Friday, May 16, 2008

On... The Solitary Envoy by T. Davis Bunn and Isabella Bunn

For me this book got off to a rough start. I couldn't really get into the book and feel like the Bunns could have left the beginning part out and referred to it as a memory or spent less time establishing Erica's natural accounting ability.

I almost threw in the towel and let my opinion of the book go down the tube but after a brief break where I read four other books (:D) I picked the book back up and got caught into the much stronger main plot of the story that began about a third of way into the book.

While I wouldn't purchase this book or add other books by T. Davis Bunn to my list I won't mind reading the books that are already on my list.

I find myself actually looking forward slightly to the next book in the series.

On... the rebirth of a computer

Two weeks ago my hard drive unexpectedly decided to take a permanent trip to that better place for computer parts. Because the following week was my last week at my two jobs I focused on finishing well and settled for using my mother's computer until I could take my computer to the apple store to be fixed.

So five days after the hard drive died I took the computer to the apple store, found out what was wrong with my computer and turned down a $120 recovery service fee. (The repair was free because of the wonderful applecare warranty.) The technician told me that my computer would likely be ready Monday or Tuesday of the following week. I didn't realize until later that I would be out of town when my computer was ready.

Once we arrived at the hotel I checked my phone and found a message from the technician saying that my computer was ready. I think that we could have picked up the computer before we left but instead I recovered her three days later on Thursday.

I am so absolutely happy to have my computer back. I also took advantage of the completely clean slate to install the Leopard operating system onto my computer. Today started the long trek back to normalcy by adding all of my information like music and documents that I can recreate in addition to learning the new and really cool features of the Leopard operating system. I feel like I'm using a computer from the future! Not really but the features are awesome.

Oh... I got the added bonus of having the front piece around the keyboard replaced. It had cracked so while they had my computer they replaced it for me.

In the two weeks since my computer stopped working I have read many books but did not bother to write reviews because of the added hassle. Since I'm on vacation until June the reviews will recommence and will most likely become daily as it is my goal to read at least a book a day.

Thursday, May 01, 2008

On... Never Too Late by Michael Phillips

I kept waiting for the plot to kick in. This book weaved in and out of the characters life. The first hundred pages skimmed the early life of Seffie or Josepha touching down on certain key incidents in her life. Once Josepha joined the rest of the characters I couldn't see a need for the book to continue.

I skimmed through the rest of the pages as quickly as I could. I couldn't see the worth of spending precious time reading the book. I've never been this disappointed with a Michael Phillips book before.