Spring 2012 RAT: Hour Zero

I've done so many Read-a-Thons, I'm running out of clever titles for posts. The beginning is about 20 minutes away and we are hanging out, consuming caffeine, enjoying the cool weather in grey, gloomy Florida today. The hubster has Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter on deck and I've got The Valley of Horses here. I'm ready to start reading already! I think I'll make some cinnamon raisin toast before we get started...

Read-a-Thon Begins Tomorrow Morning!

Just a reminder, the Read-a-Thon starts tomorrow. If you haven't yet signed up, and you wish to do so, do it here. I've laid in supplies (junk food) and have a huge book that I've just started to get me through (The Valley of Horses). I'm hoping to get all the way through that chunkster and, if I do, I have a number of books standing by. I'll probably post a pic of my book pile sometime tomorrow. My favorite semi-annual event is about to happen! Now to get a good night's sleep to be rested and prepared for tomorrow!

Review: Chaos Bites by Lori Handeland

I bought this book a year or two ago for my birthday. It's the fourth in the Phoenix Chronicles series by Lori Handeland. I was introduced to this urban fantasy series when I received a review copy of the first book from LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program. I loved it and was hooked. I was very excited to see this book come out in 2010, because I'd read up to the third installment and was anxious to see what happened to Elizabeth Phoenix and the rest of the crew trying to save the world.

In this episode, Liz is fresh off of killing Sawyer, the skinwalker she loves, in order to save the world from Armageddon. The Nephilim (half-human, half-fallen-angel) are trying to bring about the end times, and Liz had recently become the leader of the light, the forces who are trying to prevent the extinction of the human race. At the beginning of this book, Sawyer is visiting Liz in her dreams. And a baby appears on her doorstep - Sawyer's baby...and who else's? In between learning how to care for an infant and trying to save the world, Liz is also trying to figure out how to bring Sawyer back from the dead.

The book was full of the expected thrills and chills. Plenty of violence, and danger, and sex. And cursing. As I've said before, this series is not for the faint of heart. If you don't like books with a lot of sex and cursing, go elsewhere. As those things don't bother me, I fully enjoyed this latest installment of the adventures of Liz & Co. - as you might be able to tell, since I finished it in an unheard-of two days. No worries, my next book is a chunkster, so it will last me at least through the Read-a-thon. Anyway, I give this one four-and-a-half out of five Whatevers. For those who like urban fantasy, fans of Lori Handeland's other work, or those who need a quick read in between heavier tomes.

2012-6

Review: O Jerusalem by Laurie R. King

I bought my copy of O Jerusalem from Powells, probably with one of the many gift cards I've received for them over the years. It is the fifth published in the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series, but chronologically it falls after (or, really, in the midst of) the first book, The Beekeeper's Apprentice.

In this book, Holmes and Russell have traveled, under the auspices of Holmes' brother Mycroft, to the Middle East. Mycroft indicated that he had something for them to do there, but he never specified what that something was. When they arrive, the Hazr brothers, Mahmoud and Ali, meet them at the dock and take Holmes and Russell under their wing. Russell dresses as a young Arab boy, Amir, in order to move more freely through a culture which does not allow women much freedom. They soon discover several deaths, which seem unrelated, but are eventually revealed to be the work of one man, or one group. Holmes and Russell, with the help of Mahmoud and Ali, set out to solve the murders and prevent an occurrence which could destroy the semblance of peace that has come to Israel.

I liked this book more than I thought I would. I was not terribly excited about the setting - the Middle East does not really intrigue me. But King's descriptions of the Holy Land really pulled me in, and made me feel like I was really there. The desert scenes had me running for water, and the scenes in the city of Jerusalem gave me a very good idea of what that ancient home to three religions was like. The race to save the day at the end was as exciting as always in a Holmes/Russell novel. Recommended for those who are already a fan of the series, for any who love the original Holmes and are looking for more, or for anyone who likes a good mystery. Four out of five Whatevers. And I think this one qualifies as my second review for the Merely Mystery Reading Challenge!

2012-5

Sign Up!

Just a reminder: Dewey's Readathon is happening. April 21. I've signed up, the Hubster has signed up, it's gonna be a thing. I didn't even have to work that weekend, so no special arrangements had to be made. This is my favorite blogosphere event, and I look so forward to it every six months! I'll be reading and blogging up a storm. To sign up, visit the dedicated blog. Hope you decide to join us!!!

Review: Season of Ash by Jorge Volpi

I received this book from LibraryThing, as part of their Early Reviewer program. It's taken me a while to get to it, as I've gotten distracted by reading other things (and by doing things other than reading).

So, what is this book about? It's going to be hard for me to describe. The story stretches from the late 1920's to the early 2000's, following (primarily) three women: Jennifer Moore, uptight economist working for the IMF; Eva Halasz, free-spirited computer scientist, jumping from man to man, trying to keep her outsized intelligence employed; and Irina Granin, a Soviet biologist, living through the fall of the Soviet Union. We follow each woman independently for most of the book, but the Volpi brings all three women's storylines together at the end. Ostensibly written by Yuri Chernishevsky, after he murders Eva Halasz (this is disclosed VERY early in the book, so I'm not giving anything away), the book takes readers from the Chernobyl disaster through the fall of Communism and the rise of capitalism in the former USSR, and also works in the development of the Human Genome Project, as well. Volpi name drops Russian and American politicians and biologists throughout.

I mostly enjoyed the book while I was reading it, but I found it hard to go back to, once I'd put it down. I mostly went back to it to discover Yuri's reasons for murdering Eva, but when the revelation came, it was somewhat anticlimactic. I think it would have helped to have been better versed in Russian history (especially the history of the late 20th century), but I did learn a lot from what I read in the novel. I have a much better understanding of the meaning of perestroika and glasnost and how the fall of the Soviet Union was orchestrated than I ever did in my school days (when I was living through it!). Part of my issue with the novel was that there wasn't enough action. I like plot-based books and this was much more of a character study...not least the character of the swiftly changing USSR. I think I just needed more action to keep me involved.

I would have to give this novel three out of five Whatevers. Good, but not excellent. There were a lot of typos. I don't believe my copy was an ARC, so I don't know how to explain that, and it really bugged me. Recommended for those who like slow-moving, character-based books; for those who have an interest in either Russian history of the late 20th century, or the development of the Human Genome Project; or for those who don't mind a more literary style of writing. (I did like how all major politicians and large cities were almost always modified by a particular phrase. For example, Moscow was "city of wide avenues" and Yeltsin "of strong arms.")

2012-4

Review: The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel

This is one of the first books I ever Mooched, way back in 2008, when I first joined BookMooch! It's been sitting on the shelf ever since. Having finished the Outlander series, I needed a new series to keep me busy (at least until the next one comes out), so I decided to start in on the Earth's Children series.

This book tells the story of Ayla, a young girl left to her own devices when her mother is killed in an earthquake. She fends for herself for a few days, but is near death when she is discovered by the Clan of the Cave Bear (or one small clan of it). Ayla is not one of them, she is an Other. As far as I can tell, the Others are Homo sapiens, while the Clan is composed of Homo erectus. It's an interesting premise: two competing lines of humanity, one destined to die out, one destined to prosper. Ayla struggles to learn the ways of the clan, so different from her own instincts. She tries to adapt, to become a good clan woman, but her impulses sometimes get the better of her. This book tells the story of how she becomes Clan and how she maintains her differences, too. Will she be able to fully adapt to the ways of the Clan, or will she be cast out as too different to be accepted?

I enjoyed the book. I wish I had read something else that Auel wrote before I read this. The writing seemed simplistic, but that may have been a conscious choice, to better portray the early form of communication that the Clan engaged in and to echo their primitive language - they do not speak aloud, but rather use hand signals. I'll be continuing on with the series...I want to see what happens to Ayla and the rest of the Clan. I'd give this book 3.5 out five Whatevers. Enough to make me want to read more. Recommended for history lovers, those interested in the very early beginnings of man, and those who enjoy sweeping sagas.

2012-3