Just Reading Away
The Mystery of the Yellow Room by Gaston Leroux (1908)
Early 20th Century French locked room mystery. The language is very formal, and the story intricate and clever, but I could not relate to the characters or the writing style. I got bored and I skipped to the end. D
Swan Song by Edmund Crispin (1947)
A colorful British amateur sleuth mystery about an opera singer who dies (murder? suicide?) and is not remotely mourned. Rather fun. A-
What the Lady Wants by Jennifer Crusie
Funny and kind of witty romance about a woman who employs a detective to find her dead guardian's diary so that she can get her inheritance. B+
(SRP1) Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie (2004) 391 pgs. (finished 06/11/06)
Zaftig actuary mets gorgeous man with commitment phobia and a tendency to compulsively make bets with his friends on things, such as asking her for dinner, etc. Could he be doing it for more than the money? I'm betting the next jennifer Crusie book I pick up will just as good as this one, since so far she has consistently written rounded characters whose motivations actually make sense, a rare phenom. in the Romance genre. It's also a fun summer read. A-
(SRP2) Tea:Addiction, Exploitation, and Empire by Roy Moxham (2003) 255 pgs. (finished 06/13/06)
This is quick read on the history of the relationship between tea, Western Europe, and British Colonialism. Educational without being a drag. The ending was a little weak ("Is that it?") and I am not certain I agree with the author's take on economics, but I would still recommend this book to anyone. B+
(SRP3) A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle (1973) 203 pgs. (finished 06/18/06)
I remember listening to A Wrinkle in Time when I was in elementary school, and at the time it blew my mind. I'm not certain how old I was - the library room I remember was in the school for grades 3 through 5 only - so I was somewhere between 7 and eleven years old. I thought "A Wrinkle in Time" was very original, and the descriptions were evocative. It stuck with me. So when I encountered a L'Engle book last week in Goodwill I decided to test my pre-pubescent reading tastes.
A Wind in the Door was rather original, and the descriptions were rather evocative. The bends it puts a person's mind through are entertaining. However... I found certain other things annoying enough to consider not finishing the book. Being a children's book is no excuse. I've read a lot of children's books - Harry Potter, Anne of Green Gables, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, etc., - and all I usually have to deal with is maybe a tendency to preach, gloss over some realities of life (light fiction, you know), and maybe not go too deep.
The first thing that bothered me was how naive the oldest child, Meg, who was also the main character, was for fourteen years old. She would have been more believable as twelve. She was a little down on herself about her appearance, but that was the only thing that marked her as being pubescent. Her relationship with her "friend-friend", Calvin, was excruciatingly platonic, even though she had no qualms saying she loved him. I just don't believe any fourteen year old could act that way, even a brilliant one. Maybe that's just me, maybe I was weird at fourteen. Hard to say. Also, while I appreciate the removal of slang from the children's vocabulary, sometimes it was very stilted.
Which reminds me: Is Madeleine L'Engle American? Because she writes like a Brit. Vegetable marrows, village, etc. The whole story stank of Brit trying to write American. Maybe that's just me, too.
Speaking of America, the thing that really almost had me tossing the book down was the blatant "America the Wonderful" propaganda that happened at times. "The height of civilization", a "great democracy"... is this 1950's propaganda, or what? This aspect was wrestling with another annoying thing: the overall Christianess of the story. Practically Narnia, folks.
Then, of course, nothing was really explained, or rational. Yet it was supposed to be science.
Somebody else might really like this book. Me? I am just to jaded, I suppose. Although I loved the Anne of Green Gables series. C+
(SRP4) Baths, Bogs and Basins: The Story of Domestic Sanitation by David J. Eveleigh (2002) 175 pgs. (finished 06/25/06)
A quick run-down on the history of bathrooms, primarily in England. Reading this book will grant you an intimate knowledge of toilets, a technological achievement that if often taken for granted in developed countries. I now know the difference between a wash-down water closet and a wash-out water closet, and am confirmed in my belief that sanitation is our friend. (Even if it wastes water. Cholera, anyone?)
Lovely pictures. I would have liked to learn more about bathroom fixture design in the 20th century, but that was largely skimmed over. A-
(SRP5) Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams (1992) 218 pgs. (finished 06/26/06)
The 5th and final book of the Hitchhiker's Trilogy, wherein dimensions are crossed and identities explored. This book was enjoyable, practically whizzing by in one sitting. This may not be his strongest work, but his light and ironic sense of humor is always a great antidote to the dulldrums. I wish he had lived to write more. A-
Early 20th Century French locked room mystery. The language is very formal, and the story intricate and clever, but I could not relate to the characters or the writing style. I got bored and I skipped to the end. D
Swan Song by Edmund Crispin (1947)
A colorful British amateur sleuth mystery about an opera singer who dies (murder? suicide?) and is not remotely mourned. Rather fun. A-
What the Lady Wants by Jennifer Crusie
Funny and kind of witty romance about a woman who employs a detective to find her dead guardian's diary so that she can get her inheritance. B+
(SRP1) Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie (2004) 391 pgs. (finished 06/11/06)
Zaftig actuary mets gorgeous man with commitment phobia and a tendency to compulsively make bets with his friends on things, such as asking her for dinner, etc. Could he be doing it for more than the money? I'm betting the next jennifer Crusie book I pick up will just as good as this one, since so far she has consistently written rounded characters whose motivations actually make sense, a rare phenom. in the Romance genre. It's also a fun summer read. A-
(SRP2) Tea:Addiction, Exploitation, and Empire by Roy Moxham (2003) 255 pgs. (finished 06/13/06)
This is quick read on the history of the relationship between tea, Western Europe, and British Colonialism. Educational without being a drag. The ending was a little weak ("Is that it?") and I am not certain I agree with the author's take on economics, but I would still recommend this book to anyone. B+
(SRP3) A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle (1973) 203 pgs. (finished 06/18/06)
I remember listening to A Wrinkle in Time when I was in elementary school, and at the time it blew my mind. I'm not certain how old I was - the library room I remember was in the school for grades 3 through 5 only - so I was somewhere between 7 and eleven years old. I thought "A Wrinkle in Time" was very original, and the descriptions were evocative. It stuck with me. So when I encountered a L'Engle book last week in Goodwill I decided to test my pre-pubescent reading tastes.
A Wind in the Door was rather original, and the descriptions were rather evocative. The bends it puts a person's mind through are entertaining. However... I found certain other things annoying enough to consider not finishing the book. Being a children's book is no excuse. I've read a lot of children's books - Harry Potter, Anne of Green Gables, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, etc., - and all I usually have to deal with is maybe a tendency to preach, gloss over some realities of life (light fiction, you know), and maybe not go too deep.
The first thing that bothered me was how naive the oldest child, Meg, who was also the main character, was for fourteen years old. She would have been more believable as twelve. She was a little down on herself about her appearance, but that was the only thing that marked her as being pubescent. Her relationship with her "friend-friend", Calvin, was excruciatingly platonic, even though she had no qualms saying she loved him. I just don't believe any fourteen year old could act that way, even a brilliant one. Maybe that's just me, maybe I was weird at fourteen. Hard to say. Also, while I appreciate the removal of slang from the children's vocabulary, sometimes it was very stilted.
Which reminds me: Is Madeleine L'Engle American? Because she writes like a Brit. Vegetable marrows, village, etc. The whole story stank of Brit trying to write American. Maybe that's just me, too.
Speaking of America, the thing that really almost had me tossing the book down was the blatant "America the Wonderful" propaganda that happened at times. "The height of civilization", a "great democracy"... is this 1950's propaganda, or what? This aspect was wrestling with another annoying thing: the overall Christianess of the story. Practically Narnia, folks.
Then, of course, nothing was really explained, or rational. Yet it was supposed to be science.
Somebody else might really like this book. Me? I am just to jaded, I suppose. Although I loved the Anne of Green Gables series. C+
(SRP4) Baths, Bogs and Basins: The Story of Domestic Sanitation by David J. Eveleigh (2002) 175 pgs. (finished 06/25/06)
A quick run-down on the history of bathrooms, primarily in England. Reading this book will grant you an intimate knowledge of toilets, a technological achievement that if often taken for granted in developed countries. I now know the difference between a wash-down water closet and a wash-out water closet, and am confirmed in my belief that sanitation is our friend. (Even if it wastes water. Cholera, anyone?)
Lovely pictures. I would have liked to learn more about bathroom fixture design in the 20th century, but that was largely skimmed over. A-
(SRP5) Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams (1992) 218 pgs. (finished 06/26/06)
The 5th and final book of the Hitchhiker's Trilogy, wherein dimensions are crossed and identities explored. This book was enjoyable, practically whizzing by in one sitting. This may not be his strongest work, but his light and ironic sense of humor is always a great antidote to the dulldrums. I wish he had lived to write more. A-
(SRP6) The Ice Harvest by Scott Phillips (2000) 217 pgs. (finished 07/04/06)
One night in the life of an alcoholic mob lawyer who is about to bunk out of Wichita, Kansas permanently with a lot of money. He stops at every strip club, pick-up joint and massage parlor in town, it seems. I find it hard to believe there are that many in Wichita, and I can't say the book improved my view on sexual dynamics any. It was kind of funny at points and technically well written. If you don't mind reading about people with asinine reasoning skills and dubious (at best) ethics, you'll most likely give this book a higher rating than my C+
(SRP7) Stone Shelters by Edward Allen (1969) 192 pgs. (finished 07/06/06)
An overview of the vernacular stone buildings in the Apulia region of Southern Italy. Excellent photos, floor plans, and perspective sections, however I felt the accounting of the socio-political history of the area was confused and altogether too brief. This book would have been improved had the author shown the same zeal for Apulian history and architecture as he apparently felt for the cuisine, something which he waxed surprisingly poetic about for more than a paragraph. B-
posted by Unknown at 10:40 AM
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