imperfectletter | Entries tagged with blue

41. Thirsty by MT Anderson
Thanks to

fiveforsilver, I started reading vampire YA fiction. It's such a huge category and you never run out of stuff to read. All of the books share some characters (vampires, for example), but each one obviously deals with vampires in a different way. Thirsty is no exception. MT Anderson is an exceptional storyteller. Feed, one of his other books, was one of the best books I read last year. In many ways, Thisty is a lot like Feed, both are first person stories about boys whose lives are changing, and both are boys who like girls. But Thirsty is much darker, where Feed has a little bit of light to it. Of course, where Feed is science fiction, Thirsty is fantasy.

One of the things reviewers seemed not to like was how fast paced the book is. I don't think Anderson can be faulted for that. The whole concept behind the novel requires it to be fast paced. Chris is becoming a vampire and the story revolves around his race against the clock, as it were. Others stated that the end was a disappointment, and I can kind of see that. But Anderson's extremely good at the heartbreaking ending that you see coming without realizing it. He did the same thing at the end of Feed and I expected no less with Thirsty. This is an extremely good book and quick read, which enhances, rather than detracts, from the quality of both the story and the writing.

41 / 80 new reads. 51% read!

ETA: I have decided on the advice of a couple of people to change my challenge from 80 books to 120. Here's the new meter:

41 / 120 new books. 34% read!

blue_ant

38. Ophelia by Lisa Klein
Another reimagining of Hamlet. Unlike Something Rotten, Lisa Klein's book takes place in the same time period as the original play. The characters and most plot remain the same as well, what's different is that the story is told from Ophelia's point of view (hence the title). As with Something Rotten, there are clichés, but I think that's just a hazard of the genre. Otherwise, the story is solid and for the most part, well written on a YA level. I really enjoyed the characterizations Klein has created, both taken from Shakespeare's original story and from Klein's imagination. The story ended the way I wanted and Klein surprised me with a few of the things she did (none of them bad). If you like Hamlet and you don't mind reinterpretation of classics, then this is a good, quick read.

39. Choke by Chuck Palahniuk
My friend B loves this book and I can see why. I, on the other hand, liked it, but I doubt I will read it again. It's a good book, well written and compelling. It reminded me of Marcus Sakey's novel, The Blade Itself. They're both very rough books about addicts of one sort or another. Choke is a much more graphic (though not disgusting or violent) type of book. Palahniuk does a good job of telling the story in two parts, we can follow Victor Mancini's life in two threads. One is the present day in the book, while the first is Victor as a child. The stories are told differently, the present day is first person while Victor's past is third person. Palahniuk does an incredible job with this, managing to keep the two story lines connected without confusion. Choke is a good book and I understand why people, my friend included, liked it. But it's not my type of book.

40. Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman
This book was fantastic. I can't remember where I heard about it, it might have been Library Journal, but I'm not sure. Basically, this is the story of what the world would be like if everything related to superheroes/villains was real. Several reviews I've read said this book is best for those who love comics, but I take exception to that. While the story is about (and told by) superheroes, it's much more than that. Really, you have to be able to appreciate superheroes, villains, and the human condition. Grossman tells multiple stories within his novel. You follow the storyline of Mr. Impossible, a villain -- not only his exploits to escape prison and take over the world (again), but also how he became a villain and why he does what he does. In alternating chapters, you read about Fatale, a cyborg superhero. Her storyline is a little bit different -- you get the views of her life, how she became a cyborg and her experiences with The Champions (a group of superheroes), but you also get to find out the history of superheroes in the world Grossman has created. I think that these multiple stories make Soon I Will Be Invincible one of the better fantasy books I've read recently.

One thing that amused me was how similar Fatale is to the main character, Lila, from Justina Robson's Quantum Gravity books. They are very different characters, of course. And Robson's book is much sexier (though both books are similar in their emotional depth), but at the same time, both Fatale and Lila are women who were changed into something both less and more than human. I throughly enjoyed this book.

40 / 80 new reads. 50% read!

blue_ant

35. Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 by David Petersen
Reading the summary, I imagined I would be reading something similar to Redwall, and while there are some things in common, this series is quite different. The conflict stems from differences between mice, instead of a larger and greater threat, as found in Redwall. Not that there aren't greater threats, but they will be found in later volumes, I imagine. Instead, we're given some of the most extraordinary artwork I've seen in a graphic novel. Petersen's drawings are fantastic and quite beautiful. My only problem is that some of the text is hard to read due to font choices, but it's not hard enough to stop me from reading. The concepts might be a little tough for younger children, there is violence and torture, after the book is about war. But, really, I loved it.

36. The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation by Philip Shenon
Nonfiction! I know, I was surprised too. It took me just over four weeks to read this, not necessarily that it was long, but I often found myself reading things extremely carefully. Shenon proved that he is a great storyteller as well as investigative journalist. The book, as the title states, is about the commission that set out to investigate the events of, as well as before and after, 9/11. I highly recommend this book because it gives quite a view into what happened as well as the people who worked for the commission, and of course, our government. Shenon grabs you from the first chapter and drags you down a path you aren't sure you want to go. Somehow he makes this story into more than just a story. My only issue is that Shenon treats certain issues as though the reader should already have known about them when perhaps they were only well-known to people in the DC political scene or those who follow such things closely. Overall I can't say that I enjoyed it, because it was depressing and disappointing (though not unexpected) to read about our failings, but it was an extremely good book.

37. Last Rituals: An Icelandic Novel of Secret Symbols, Medieval Witchcraft, and Modern Murder by Yrsa Sigurdardottir
I've read a couple of reviews comparing Last Rituals with Helene Tursten's The Torso and The Glass Devil that say that Sigurdardottir has nothing new to add to the genre. And that the books are too similar (not plagiarism or anything) and that Tursten's works are the better books. While I don't disagree that Tursten's books good, Last Rituals is not the same. The plots are similar, but the books are very different. I don't think that the comparison is fair and not just because the tones of the books are different. Irene Huss and Thóra Gudmundsdôttir are different, not only because Huss is the police and Gudmundsdôttir is a lawyer, but also because there are parts of Last Rituals that are light hearted and amusing.

I will admit that I completely fell in love with this book and the characters. I hope that Sigurdardottir writes more about Thóra Gudmundsdôttir. I did not find her book to be lacking and perhaps there is nothing new to be added to the genre, but if that's true, I didn't find it at all off-putting.

37 / 80 new reads. 46% read!

Currently reading: Ophelia by Lisa Klein

blue_ant

32. Return to Barrow (30 Days of Night, Book 3) by Steve Niles
Another graphic novel in the 30 Days of Night series. Better than the first one and on par with the second. The story gets better, but I think I might stop after this one. I believe Niles no longer writes/illustrates and I'm not sure I'm willing to read the other issues. That being said, they do get a little bit more wicked and I like that. I also watched the movie, which is basically the graphic novel on screen and it's not great, but much scarier than the comic itself.

33. Something Rotten by Alan M. Gratz
A surprisingly engaging reworking of Shakespeare's Hamlet. I'm fond of updated adaptations of Shakespearean works and I was pleased with this one. It's a YA book, set up as a mystery. It obviously borrows heavily from the story of Hamlet, including the name of the town (Denmark, Tennessee) and some of the main characters (best friend is named Horatio). Which the book seems slightly clichéd at times, it's really quite fun.

34. Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest
Thanks to my sister, I've been reading Cherie Priest's blog on a regular basis and so I was curious about her work. The book is billed as horror, but that would be far too limiting. I found this book to be quite good, the characters engaging and her writing style fantastic. This isn't a book for the faint of heart, but by no means is it horror. Priest does a great job of combining suspense and mystery to create a book I practically devoured.

34 / 80 new reads. 43% read!

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One imperfect letter, one missing page

Where a book, once opened, may still be closed...

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