The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell was another book I picked up at the B&N clearance sale.

This one I grabbed because I am a fan of Maggie O'Farrell. I have read two other novels by her and I liked them both.

She writes about female characters that I can relate to in some way. They are more human, more real, and more tangible than a lot of female characters in "chick" literature. Usually the women are fat and or ugly but by some miracle they get skinny and beautiful, they get fabulous jobs, a ridiculous bank account, and they marry the latest Bill Gates. Please, that just isn't real life. Bless her heart, Maggie O'Farrell makes characters more like the rest of us. In the case of Vanishing Act I found myself relating to Esme. In a time when girls were raised to be proper wall flowers that married at 16 and spent their lives being Mrs. David Smith, Esme danced to her own drum. She was wild, different, and fearless. She couldn't stand the girliness of her class mates. There were moments the Esme described that I found myself instantly transported back in time. And contrary to Esme's world, I have to be thankful that I grew up in an age when women were encouraged to get an education, live your own life, experience the world before you worry so much about settling down. Esme was ahead of her time. She was me. Wild, independent, and free.

The first book I read by Ms. O'Farrell was After You'd Gone. I loved this story. So I followed it up with My Lover's Lover. Another good story.

The Devil You Know

The Devil You Know by Mike Carey was an impulse buy when I was shopping Barnes and Nobles 1.99 and up clearance sale.

It had an interesting plot. Ghosts on the loose and the main character helps send them on to the next place.

A fun and fast read. I found myself invested in the ghost he was hired to make go away. I wanted to know her story. And then there was the succubus. She also became a character I looked forward to seeing again. And those are all words I never thought I would write in a single paragraph. So there you have it. A good story with a few characters you really get to care about. Oh, and the landlord. LOVED HER! And I can't tell you why. I just did.

Leonardo's Swans

Leonardo's Swans by Karen Essex is a marvelous historical novel. I love books written about the Renaissance. And when the main characters include the artists of that time I love the book even more.

The characters in the story all lived. And from what I could see this story was researched to the finest details.

If you love art, the renaissance, and stories of court intrigue, you will love this book.

I am the Messenger

I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak -

Just read it!

That's all I have to say.

Ok, one more thing: I'm very happy that Mr. Zusak is a young guy. I can only hope that means many many more years of wonderful novels from him. He's simply amazing. He also wrote the heartwrenchingly beautiful novel "The Book Thief" which is on the short list of my favorite books of all time.

Soon I will be Invincible

Soon I will be Invincible by Austin Grossman has been on my reading list since it first came out.

It's one of those books I had a feeling I would enjoy so I saved it as one of those "Special treat" books.

This summer I decided it was the perfect time to read it.

And it was as enjoyable and entertaining as I hoped it would be.

Light, fun reading. It's a super hero/ super villain story that lets you escape from the world for a few hundred pages.

Twilight and New Moon

Twilight and New Moon by Stephenie Meyer are the first two books in her 4 book Twilight Saga.

For anyone that has read the Anita Blake series by Laurell K Hamilton, this is a must read.

It's an entertaining vampire/werewolves story without the constant porn.

Much more innocent. Much more focused on the story and the characters. This is young adult so the reading is fast and easy. But no so easy and young that any age can't enjoy them.

I look forward to the other two books.

The Portrait

The Portrait by Iain Pears was a very interesting tale.

It was unique in that the narration was entirely a one sided conversation between an artist and his subject.

A fast read.

An unforgettable ending.

Life of Pi

Life of Pi by Yann Martel has been on my list to read since it came out. It has been one of those literary marvels that everyone was talking about.

I had high expectations because of all the hype. And I gotta say, this is a good book.

It's not life changing.

It's just a good read.

Borderkind

Borderkind by Christopher Golden is book 2 in his Veil Series.

I loved the first one. Was enthralled by the second one. And look forward to number three.

Great characters, story, and scenery.

Simply put: I love this series.

Myth Hunters (take 2)

Myth Hunters by Christopher Golden was a re-read in order to be prepared to read the second book in the series, Borderkind.

Second time around I loved it just as much. This is a creative and fun story. And a pretty fast read.

Oliver Bascombe is sitting in his living room contemplating his pending wedding that is to take place the next morning. When a snow storm kicks up into high gear. And through a window comes an ice man in desperate need of help. So Oliver throws on a coat and helps Frost to the edge of the ocean cliffs. Much to Olivers surprise the ice man plunges over the cliff taking Oliver with him. And as Oliver prepares for his death he is shocked to find himself falling into a lake, the sky is blue, the trees are green, and Oliver isn't in Kansas anymore..................

The Rule of Four

The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell was a very fast read. I enjoyed this story. I added this book to my list after reading a review of it somewhere. It had received a great write up. When I looked at B&N it was interesting how the reviewers either gave it one star or 4/5. Sort of that loved it or hated it thing.

I enjoyed it. And I don't feel that I wasted my time at all with this book. It was an interesting read that kept my attention from start to finish. Considering I read it in just over 2 days, how can it loose ones attention?

The story takes place at Princeton University. Basically the narrator tells the story of a rare and unusual manuscript. His father made it his lifes work to uncover the secrets behind the book, but he died before he could solve the mystery. One of narrators friends has made the book the subject of his thesis. And thus begins the adventure. Jealousy, murder, revenge. It's all here.

Yellow Dog

Yellow Dog by Martin Amis is one of those books in which I have to stop at page 30 and say "Life is too short to waste on a bad book"

I was looking SO forward to this one too.

Oh well. Life goes on and this one goes back on the shelf. Maybe someday I'll pick it back up and give it a second try. But for now we have moved on.

The Shadows of God

The Shadows of God by J Gregory Keyes is the 4th and final book in his Age of Unreason Series. Fast paced and easy to read this was a satisfying end to a terrific series.

But, you do have to be a Sci Fi geek to enjoy this series. It's a bit out there. And delves into trying to discover the true nature of god and the angels.

Overall I loved these books. I thought reading them back to back was going to be a good idea but in all honesty I got to the point where I was ready to be done. Not because it was bad. But I like variety in my reading so four in a row just made me itch to move on to another type of story. And honestly, it wasn't the books, it truly was me. I get the itch to move on sometimes while reading the best books I have ever read. I'm restless like that.

Empire of Unreason

Empire of Unreason by J. Gregory Keyes is book 3 in the Age of Unreason series. Where book two lagged a bit, book three was far more of a page turner. Due mostly to the author ending every chapter with a climactic moment. And because he switches between characters you had to keep reading to find out what happens. It was a vicious cycle since I do have to function as a responsible adult and can't spend ALL my time reading.

But book three was satisfying and fun.

A Calculus of Angels

A Calculus of Angels by J. Gregory Keyes is book 2 in his Age of Unreason series.

Still love it.

The continuing adventures of Ben Franklin, Isaac Newton, and many other characters.

The author does get maddeningly worse at ending every chapter with a cliff hanger. So be prepared to not want to put these books down. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Newton's Cannon

Newton's Cannon by J. Gregory Keyes is book 1 in the Age of Unreason series.

I had heard about this series I don't know where but I have had a hard time finding the books. Then Amazon started selling the whole series. And I jumped at the chance to at least try it.

Needless to say about twenty pages into the book I was ordering the rest of the series. It really is fantastic.

The main characters in the first book are Newton and a youthful Ben Franklin. The world is full of magic and wonder and something else they can't quite identify.

This is a fun series and I love the adventure. So much so that I am actually reading this series straight through. I normally will skip around and read several other books in between any given series. This time around I'm going right on through.

That's not because this is better than any series ever, it's simply that this series doesn't neatly end at each book. It begs to be read as a group. And I would hate to put so much time in between each book that I feel like I should go back and read them again.

The Name of the Wind

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss was a VERY pleasant surprise. Only in that I bought the book on a whim while shopping on Amazon. It came up as a recommendation while I was ordering other books. It sounded good so I figured, why not?

Well, let me tell you. If you love Robert Jordan, George R. R. Martin, or any of those big Sci/Fi fantasy series writers you will LOVE this book. It is a fantastic debut novel that is also the beginning of a planned series called the Kingkiller Chronicles.

To say I LOVED this book is putting it mildly. I adored every word, sentence and paragraph. It's poetic, visually lush, and sometimes I found myself chewing on sentences just to savor the idea in the words. Yeah, it's that good.

The Nature of Monsters

The Nature of Monsters by Clare Clark was a book I grabbed at Barnes and Noble because it was on clearance and sounded appealing.

I won't say this was a great book. I hesitate to say it was even a good book. But I did enjoy reading it. I found it intriguing. And I wanted to finish it.

But I also felt like it was a great book that didn't reach it's potential. That it could have bumped itself up a notch but missed. And I don't know why.

Like I said, I enjoyed reading it. And I wanted to finish it. But maybe I just didn't relate to any of the characters. I just never found myself caring about them or their lives. And because of that distance I didn't fall in love with anything about it.

And this review is just as non-committal as the book. Not bad, but not a must read.

The Count of Monte Cristo

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas has been sitting by my bed for months. And I have been reading it off and on. It's 1488 pages. Give me some slack.

But this was the second go around for me. I think I might have originally read the abridged version. So I picked up the unabridged and decided to give it a second read.

And even the second time around I loved this book.

I had one of the guys at work stop in mid sentence when he noticed it sitting on my desk. And he said I was reading his all time favorite book.

My dad LOVED it as well. He decided to read it because I had mentioned it was my favorite classical piece of literature and so had his friend at the coffee shop.

It's an amazing story. Even the second time around.

To Reign in Hell

To Reign in Hell by Steven Brust - well, let's just say I shelved it about half way through. It's not a bad story. But I was getting so pissed off at one of the characters that I wasn't enjoying myself.

This is the story of the great war in heaven between god and satan. All the archangels are there as well as a host of other greater and lesser beings.

I might pick it up again but who knows. It had some very interesting moments. And a few characterizations that I really liked and wanted to know more about. However, like I said, I was so annoyed at the character instigating all the trouble that I had to stop. Probably stupid, but when you find yourself gritting your teeth while you read, well, it's time to stop.