March List

Hello everyone. Sorry about being a few days late. I had the flu. No really. The real flu. It's about as much fun as they say it is too. I also didn't get a lot read. The freelancing gig is taking up way much more of my time than I thought it would. Hopefully I should be done within a week or two though so on to March! Lot's of repeaters and a few thrown in just because I know I can knock 'em out quickly and painlessly. I'll role February's books into March's recap.

1. M.Y.T.H. Inc. Link by Robert Asprin
2. Myth-Nomers and Im-Pervections by Robert Asprin
3. M.Y.T.H. Inc. In Action by Robert Asprin
4. Sweet Myth-tery of Life by Robert Asprin
5. Myth-ion Improbable by Robert Asprin
6. Something M.Y.T.H. Inc. by Robert Asprin
7. Cookwise by Shirley Corriher (NF)
8. Wicca by Peter Cunningham (NF)
9. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
10. About a Boy by Nick Hornby
11. Chapterhouse Dune by Frank Herbert
12. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
13. On Beauty by Zadie Smith
14. Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War by Robert Coram (NF)
15. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin
16. The Day of the Dissonance by Alan Dean Foster
17. Eats Shoots & Leaves: A Zero Tolerance Guide to Punctuation by Lynne Truss (NF)
18. Stranger In A Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
19. Empress Orchid by Anchee Min
20. A Dirty Job: A Novel by Christopher Moore

18. Little Myth Marker

by Robert Asprin (208 pgs)

Rating: 4

We open with Skeeve playing Dragon Poker, a game he has absolutely no understanding of. He should be losing his shirt but somehow he's winning. Not just winning. Beating the pants off of everyone else at the table. He's so good he ends up with Markie, one of his opponents kids and his promise to make good on his loses. Aahz will not be pleased. But Aahz is less pleased to find out there's a character assassin out after Skeeve.

Whatever problems there were with Myth-ing Persons, Little Myth Marker makes up for them. The plot is complicated without being inscrutable. There's marked growth in Skeeve's character and the character interactions become a bit more savvy.

17. Myth-ing Persons

by Robert Asprin (208 pgs)

Rating: 3

Skeeve and Aahz, newly ensconced in a 'humble' dwelling in the Bazaar at Deva have developed a reputation. Skeeve, at least, is learning that there are both pluses and minuses to having one. When three fugitives use Skeeve's back door to make a hasty escape, Aahz and Skeeve find that the Devan business association is holding them personally responsible.

Myth-ing Persons starts out promising but quickly bogs down. I'm not sure exactly why this one doesn't come off as well as the previous books, and I've thought about it quite a bit. It might be a flaw in the setting (Limbo) or it could be that the plot twists didn't fit together as well. On a certain level, I feel that there was a general lack of character development.

Still recommended as a part of the Myth series but I think generally it could be skipped with very little resulting confusion.

16. Hit or Myth

By Robert Asprin (208 pg)

Rating: 4

In many ways Hit or Myth feels like two separate books. The first begins when Aahz leaves with his Nephew Rupert and the King of Possiltum asks Skeeve for a favor. Somehow with Aahz gone, Skeeve must figure out how to deal with an amorous/murderous would be royal bride and the Mob turning up looking for their missing army (Myth Conceptions). In the second book, Aahz is back and discovers Skeeve isn't nearly as dependent on him as he thought. They relocate to the bazaar at Deva only to discover the Mob has also opened shop there and the local business association would like the Great Skeeve to do something about it.

In many ways this is a transition book. The relationships between Skeeve and his friends all change. With the move to Deva, the entire tenor of the series changes. While it's still plenty lighthearted, Skeeve's voice takes on a pensive aspect. There is a great deal of character development in this book and despite its dichotomous nature.

Highly recommended as a book in the Myth series and as a fantasy book in general.

15. Myth Directions

by Robert Asprin

Rating: 4

Tananda, the Trollip, appears out of the blue and whisks Skeeve away to go dimension hopping on a mysterious shopping trip. Skeeve's ecstatic, not only does he get to spend time with the luscious Tananda, he also gets to see new dimensions. Things go a bit awry, though, since Tananda's idea of shopping doesn't necessarily include paying for things. Eventually, Aahz gets involved and that's when the really fun starts.

Myth Directions sees a real smoothing of Asprin's style. I think it is interesting how well he manages to juggle so many characters and still round them out. While the style improves, the plot line itself is weaker than the previous two. It's both disjointed and a little slow. The omnibus edition is so typographically flawed that it aggravates the problem.

Recommended to Myth fans but get a stand alone edition of the book.

14. Myth Conceptions

by Robert Asprin (217 pgs)

Rating: 4

Skeeve and Aahz have set up shop in abandoned inn. Aahz teaches in his surly manner and Skeeve learns. Every thing's going pretty smooth until a courier arrives from Possiltum to summon 'The Great Skeeve' to appear before the court as a potential court magician. This apparently qualifies as a cushy job according to Aahz so they pack up and head out with Buttercup, the war unicorn, and Gleep, the juvenile dragon, in tow. Of course, nothing is ever that simple and Skeeve finds himself fighting a war against a massive army...without Possiltum's military backing him up.

Myth Conceptions is every bit as light as Another Fine Myth but Skeeve starts to pop into three dimensions. Before both he and Aahz were more like paste board caricatures and with this book they've developed into more believable characters. The one major criticism I have is that the resolution of the conflict happens abruptly and feels a little like a cheat. I still enjoyed the book but I found that one point just a tad frustrating.

Recommended as part of the Myth Series and more generally as well.

13. Another Fine Myth

By Robert Asprin (208 pgs)

Rating: 4

Skeeve, native of the dimension Klah, is studying to be a magician...or a thief. He doesn't actually seem to be terribly sure which, but the point becomes moot when his teacher suffers an unexpected crossbow bolt to the chest while incidentally summoning a demon to impress his sneaky apprentice (that's Skeeve) with. Garkin (that's the teacher) manages to deal with the assassin before falling to the ground lifeless. That leaves Skeeve alone in the hut...with a demon. Lucky for him, demon is short for dimensional traveler so he survives although, as the story progresses, I think he sometimes wishes he hadn't.

Another Fine Myth is the opening book in Robert Asprin's Myth series. Aside from few typographical errors that have surfaced in the omnibus edition, this a beautiful quick read. I mean really quick. Like I read it in about two hours kinda quick. This is not serious fiction, but it's light and fun. Worth reading on a whim or just because a pick me up is required. I actually met both Rober Asprin and Phil Foglio(who does all the cover art and illustration inside) they are very interesting guys. Phil reminds me a little of Aahz.

Recommended to fantasy fans and teenagers (lighten up with the angst, yo)

Febuary List

This is indeed a motley assortment of books. I'm a little behind now. I read 12 books in January which means I now need to read 17 books a month for the rest of the year or I can read 21 books this month to catch up. And it's a short month too. ;) A couple of comments about the list: I've included the D&D core rule books because I've started picking up freelancing gigs and need to reread them. I don't plan on reading through the entire D&D cannon on this blog in case anyone's worried. There are also two 'cookbooks' on the list. Generally speaking, I don't think cookbooks count but Cookwise is actually more of a food book with some recipes and this edition of The Joy of Cooking actually is very interesting in the text about how American cuisine has changed in the last 75 years.

1. Cookwise by Shirley Corriher (NF)
2. Wicca by Peter Cunningham (NF)
3. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
4. About a Boy by Nick Hornby
5. Players Handbook (D&D)
6. Dungeon Master's Guide (D&D)
7. Monster Manual (D&D)
8. Another Fine Myth by Robert Asprin
9. Myth Conceptions by Robert Asprin
10. Myth Directions by Robert Asprin
11. Chapterhouse Dune by Frank Herbert
12. Hit or Myth by Robert Asprin
13. Myth-ing Persons by Robert Asprin
14. Little Myth Marker by Robert Asprin
15. Joy of Cooking 75th Anniversary Addition (NF)
16. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
17. On Beauty by Zadie Smith

Bonuses:
18. Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War by Robert Coram (NF)
19. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin
20. The Day of the Dissonance by Alan Dean Foster
21. Eats Shoots & Leaves: A Zero Tolerance Guide to Punctuation by Lynne Truss (NF)

Vital Stats For January

Number of Books Read: 12
Total Number of Pages: 5582
Average Number of Pages per Book: 465

Favorite Book for January: Fall on Your Knees
Least Favorite Book for January: The Historian

Books of Note:
Tender At the Bone for voice
The Stand for sheer length

January's List - Catch Up

Now, over the last year many people have either lent me books or recommended them to me. This list is going to start taking bites out of the back log so I can start returning books to people :)

1. The Tent by Margaret Atwood
2. On Writing by Stephen King (NF)
3. Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert
4. Children of Dune by Frank Herbert
5. God Emperor of Dune by Frank Herbert
6. Heretics of Dune by Frank Herbert
7. Timeline by Michael Crichton
8. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
9. On Beauty by Zadie Smith
10. Fall on Your Knees by Anne Marie MacDonald
11. Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War by Robert Coram (NF)
12. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
13. Chapterhouse Dune by Frank Herbert
14. The Stand by Stephen King
15. Eats Shoots & Leaves: A Zero Tolerance Guide to Punctuation by Lynne Truss (NF)
16. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin
17. Tender At the Bone: Growing up at the Table by Ruth Reichl
18. Comfort Me With Apples: More Adventures at the Table by Ruth Reichl

bonus:
19. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
20. About a Boy by Nick Hornby

12. Fall on Your Knees

by Anne Marie MacDonald (512 pgs)

Rating: 4

The Piper family from Cape Breton starts ignominiously with a cross racial elopement of a young man (16) and a young Lebanese girl (13). Neither of them are truly ready for the responsibilities of married life and the girl particularly is not ready for the realities of motherhood. With their three daughters the family survives the first and second world wars, economic depression, and intercultural/racial misunderstanding.

Fall On Your Knees is an extremely well written book. MacDonald manages to cover sometimes shocking material in a way that doesn't feel like a play for shock value. This family has secrets and MacDonald's writing frames them and sets them up for discovery. It covers the history and time of pre war Canada in way that blends almost unnoticeably into the narrative.

Recommended to people who like family dramas or who have an interest in genealogies.

11. Comfort Me With Apples: More Adventures At the Table (NF 3)

by Ruth Reichl (320 pgs)

Rating: 4

Comfort Me With Apples picks up where Tender At the Bone left off. Reichl is living in a Berkley commune with her husband when she gets her first gig as a paid restaurant reviewer. This is not, apparently, a suitable occupation for a commune living hippie. Ah well, life does go on and in Reichl's case it gets even more interesting. From this simple reviewing gig Reichl launches herself on a career where in she meets the stars and rising stars of the culinary world while travelling all over the world.

Reichl continues with her frank conversational style the story of her life including the break up of her first marriage and the reasons for the break up of her first marriage. Her honesty, at times, made me a little uncomfortable but I found in the end that I felt grateful for her ability to share that time of her life...even if it made me all soppy.

Recommended to foodies, cookbook fanatics, and people in tough relationships.

10. Tender At the Bone: Growing Up At the Table (NF2)

by Ruth Reichl (304 pgs)

Rating: 5

Ruth Reichl, in case you don't know, is the restaurant reviewer for the New York Times. This, her first memoir, covers from her childhood through to the 1970s. It's an interesting read partly because her family is so eccentric and partly because of Reichl's conversational tone. I began to feel that she was sitting on the other side of my kitchen table with a mug of coffee and telling me about here bi-polar mother and her misspent teenage years. Her frankness in the telling stops well shy of being embarrassing and is instead a comforting level of confiding.

Tender At the Bone is a very good, very quick read. I suspect that it may appeal slightly more to women then to men, but I think that's more incidental than intentional. The recipes look interesting although there are only a couple I suspect I will try.

Recommended to everyone, but specifically those who love to cook, those who love to eat, and those with crazy families.

9. Heretics Of Dune

By Frank Herbert (480 pgs)

Rating: 4

The emperor is dead. Long live...the priesthood? Rakis is returning to desert and the great sand worms are slowly dying. The peoples of the scattering are returning and they bring with them strange warped versions of the familiar institutions. The Bene Gesserit play a dangerous game that might save them all.

Heretics of Dune is a bit of a break from the familiar patterns Herbert set up in the intervening three books between Dune and this one. Almost as convoluted as the first and dealing with much less powerful individuals, I think this book has almost single handedly convinced me to finish off reading the original series. I found the characters well drawn and highly believable and the plot was dense but compelling.

Recommended generally as a political science fiction. It's almost too bad you have to read 4 books to get to this one.

8. God Emperor of Dune

by Frank Herbert (432 pgs)

Rating: 3

Leto II has inherited his father's empire but he inherited it hundreds of years ago. The consequences of his decision at the end of Children of Dune has extended his life and warped his body. With the long view of the nearly immortal, Leto has truly tortured his subjects economically among other things and has earned himself the title of tyrant. But being an Atreides, there's always a reason and it's always for the greater good.

God Emperor of Dune picks up after a significant lapse in time covering an economic crash and recovery. The plot is pretty straight forward but interesting. The writing style is a little dry. I did find it an interesting treatment of a nearly immortal character which strikes me as being fairly difficult to write. It's about as good as the previous book and worth reading if one's been following the series.

Recommend to those who are following the series

7. Children of Dune

By Frank Herbert (416 pgs)

Rating: 3

Paul Muab-dib's twins are now children wise far beyond their years. Like their aunt Alia they were awakened to multiple lives of Bene Gesserit Reverend Mothers before birth. Leto and Ghanima must face their grandmother Jessica and also struggle to maintain their identities to avoid being labeled Abomination. And all this while sidestepping the machinations of those around them, both well meaning and not.

Children of Dune follows the twins through the crisis of direction left by the death of their father and also through their crisis of identity. Each of them must fight the battle to remain human and themselves. It's a good book but not a great book. It's not as good as Dune but it is better than Dune Messiah. The continuation of the story begins to look like a Roman imperial saga but I still enjoyed it.

Recommended for Dune fans.

6. On Writing (NF 1)

By Stephen King

Rating: 4 (320 pgs)

On Writing is about two thirds memoir and one third instuctional text. The memoir is actually fascinating and I didn't go in thinking it would be. I've never been a huge King fan. I like his books just fine but I never put him on the 'god of horror' pedistal that so many seem to. That being said, I wasn't thinking of him as particularly human either. It was refreshing, to say the least, to discover he was really just a man like I'd always suspected and encouraging to know that he's struggled too. The instuctional third was interesting but nothing particularly new. As most of King's books, On Writing is well written.

Recommended to those who want to write and those who love King.

5. The Historian

By Elizabeth Kostova

Rating: 2 (656 pgs)

Our narrator is a teenage girl being raised by her father, an American diplomat. Through her recollections and the journals of her father, a story filled with mystery and dark overtones emerges. The novel takes us from America to Britain on to Turkey and into the Eastern Bloc. The story is sinister.

The Historian, I'm sorry to say, is a good story crippled by bad structure. Kostova's voice is well developed and engaging but the format she chose for the story hinders momentum and, in some places, breeds confusion. I have a hard time recommending this to people although, as I said, it is a good story. I will definitely pick up her next book, I feel Kostova is an author worth giving a second chance and may very well develop into a very good writer.

Not recommended.

4. Dune Messiah

by Frank Herbert (331 pgs)

Rating 3

Paul Muad'Dib is emperor and working to avert disaster for the human species. His mistress and love, Chani, is unable to conceive. Alia becomes more and more strange. There is a conspiracy a foot. And all of it, virtually every moment of it is foreseen by the emperor Paul. What if there were blind spots though? What if they found a way to get around the prognostication problem?

Dune Messiah is a continuation of Dune. Like Dune, it improves with rereading mainly because Herbert's writing style is so dense. The culture around Paul develops into a high tech cross between ancient Egyptian and Imperial Britain which is an interesting flavor. The story picks up very quickly after the end of Dune. There are a number of somewhat cynical religious themes and and great deal of character development.

Recommended if you liked Dune, if you didn't, you certainly won't see this one as an improvement.

3. The Tent

by Margaret Atwood (158 pgs)

Rating 5

The Tent is a collection of short fiction and essays gathered from a variety of sources. Never having read Atwood before, I can't say how representative these are of her style but I loved them! There's a broad mix of genre and subject matter.

I recommend this book to everyone. :)