30 September 2009

What I am reading: September 2009

  1. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (tran. Lucia Graves): Wonderful book. I am so glad that one of my book clubs chose this. Very dense and reminiscent, strongly, of Dumas, particularly The Count of Monte Cristo. Particularly appropriate as it was set in Barcelona and I'll be there the first weekend of October.
  2. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrow: I thought this was a charming epistolary novel. It made me think of childhood and Daddy Long Legs (the book, not the movie!). A quick read and for my book club- I loaned it to a friend from Manx and she says that it was irrtatingly clear that it was written by an American, so I look forward to hearing why she felt so and how she felt it might have been done differently. I was glad to read it though, and can recommend it.
  3. The Shoe Tester of Frankfurt by Wilhelm Genazino (tran. Philip Boehm): Genazino has won several German literary awards and I'm not quite certain why. This book was originally called Ein Regenschirm fuer diesen Tag, or An Umbrella for this Day and it perhaps was more apropos when reading this lachrymose stream of consciousness novel. But it was extraordinarily tedious. 132 pages and it took me 5 days to force myself through it.
  4. Curse the Dawn by Karen Chance: Another in the Cassie Palmer Pythia series. Well done, no falling off in quality at all, imho.
  5. Spirits that Walk in Shadow by Nina Kiriki Hoffman: Another good Hoffman read. A "normal" freshman at college discovers that her roommate is a member of a clan with powers. But Kim is not exactly normal: as an extremely talented artist, she's been targeted by anoter of the races that share the earth with humans, one that feeds on emotions and has become unhealthily addicted to negative emotions. Lots of fun.
  6. Melting Stones by Tamora Pierce: A YA novel by a writer whose work I always enjoy. Done first as an audio book by FullCast Audio and written especially for that production, she later wrote the actual novel of the audio play. Enjoyable maturation story of a Sone Mage and a look at Stone magic and the threat of a volcano on an island. As I plan on seeing Pompeii next month, I enjoyed that aspect very much.
  7. Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce: I have waited for a long time for this sequel to Terrier and I wasn't disappointed at all. Second in the 'Legend of Beka Cooper' I am really enjoying theis (adult) series about the growth of Rebakah from the slums into the Hounds (the King's "police" force) and the exploration of the society she lives in. I hope Mastiff doesn't take as long to arrive!

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