books read

last updated: february 5, 2006

latest

author	title	comments
karl bollers, carlo pagulayan	emma frost vol. 3: bloom	the soap opera melodrama continues. the series limps its way to its end. who knew one of the x-men's most charismatic characters's early life could be so dull?
orson scott card	speaker for the dead (ender, book 2)	i had read that the rest of the first ender quartet was much more philosophical than action-packed, but i hardly noticed the difference. as usual card's writing severely limits the depth of his stories, but the characterization and plot are still fairly worthwhile, if overlong. will be interesting to read the next two books, although i hear that the quality goes down as the series progresses.
mike carey, salvador larroca	ultimate elektra volume 1: devil's due tpb	i was expecting this book to be dull and slow like the first ult. DD+elektra book, but i thought this was solidly written and enjoyable. i haven't really read any of the other DD/elektra books, but as a continuation of the ultimate versions of these characters i liked the plot's nice amount of twists and the characters' development. carey does a particularly good job highlighting the duo's conflicting beliefs and attitudes so that even when they're working together they're working less as a team and more as individuals. good to see the two sharing fight scenes, and although their relationship isn't explored so much, elektra's character does undergo some major events. looking forward to more ult. DD/elektra.
chris claremont, sean chen	dreamers and demons (x-men: the end, vol. 1)	packed to the rafters with cameos, but still a pretty solid beginning to an epic showdown.
chris claremont, sean chen	x-men: the end book 2: heroes and martyrs tpb	the storyline w/ bishop's daughter, aaliyah, continues to be the weakest link. the storylines about gambit and kitty's bid to become mayor bring this chapter up slightly, but a lot of it is rather too much like the first arc.
hayao miyazaki	nausicaa of the valley of the wind (vol. 1)	extremely dense drawings. interesting enough, but i was expecting this to be more different from the movie than it was, but i'm guessing that the other books in the series will be more different.
monkey punch	lupin iii (vol. 1)	loved the miyazaki lupin movie, but found this to be far less carefree and more crass. not enough humor or cleverness to keep me interested.
jeff smith	out from boneville (bone, vol. 1)	a light, fun book, if not completely original. looking forward to reading more.
brian k vaughan, adrian alphona, craig yeung	runaways: true believers (vol. 4)	after slogging through way too many mediocre and downright poor story arcs while suffering the seemingly interminable wait between the end of runaways vol. 1 and the new series, this TPB has single-handedly restored my faith in the power of a good story w/ great characters that's so worthwhile it gives you a buzz of enjoyment (and also restored my faith in vaughan's writing). i was wary of this new (or "renewed") series from reading descriptions of it, w/ the storyline focusing on the son of a famous marvel villain (named victor -- hmm, who could his father be?) and a new group of d-listed former teen heroes (among them darkhawk, chamber from gen x, and julie powers from power pack), but vaughan makes it work w/ some surprises up his sleeve. w/ so many characters, things could've easily gotten glossed over and left underdeveloped, but vaughan somehow makes it gel beautifully, somehow without effort. more of the focus gets shifted to these new players and so a lot of the characterization of the runaways themselves tends to be more reminders of who they are rather than further development. chase doesn't get as much to do, but the other four girls are in the thick of things and kick ***. gert is as sardonic as ever, and nico and molly are still "freakin' awesome" (wish karolina had a bit more to do though). the namechecks are still as pervasive and comical as ever also. if you loved the first series you prob. already have this. if you haven't yet gotten into runaways, get vol. 1! you know that a comic that namechecks the teen girl squad has gotta be worth reading.
joss whedon, john cassaday	astonishing x-men: dangerous (vol. 2)	i was surprisingly impressed w/ this, after having been unimpressed by vol. 1. the art still feels stiff to me, but the story, while not bursting with twists, did a good job of reworking familiar setups.
judd winick	a world apart (exiles, book 2)	#5-11. this series has really worn out its welcome. the characters, despite huge cool potential, are completely boring, and the alternate realities gimmick is already old. winick's attempts at character development, in this case with sunfire and morph, is crude and boorish.
judd winick	out of time (exiles, book 3)	#12-#19. had to struggle to finish this. as usual winick's writing is completely trite. the one redeeming factor here is a story w/ mojo that injects a little adrenaline. not nearly enough though. it's going to be a while before i can bring myself to pick up this series again.

literature

author	title	comments
martin amis	time's arrow: or the nature of the offense	the gimmick of telling the story backwards gets very old very quickly, although the interest, and the action, picks up slightly less than halfway through the book, making the last half readable and intriguing.
margaret atwood	the handmaid's tale: a novel	the first half of the book was incredibly slow for me, but when the main character starts having more serious interactions with the people in her life the action really picks up. atwood's prose is very dense, but in the end i felt it was necessary for the character. i'm not overly fond of books about dystopias (esp. since i just read one a few months ago), but this one was very inventive but also very believable. it's especially chilling to think about how similar some of the practices in the book (women being forced to cover themselves) are to modern day practices in some countries and within some religions. the last few pages (before the epilogue) were quite amazing. overall this isn't a book i'm going to force my friends to read, but it's definitely worthwhile.
jane austen	northanger abbey	i have a hard time not comparing jane austen's other books to P&P, which is pretty much perfect, but i enjoyed rereading -northanger abbey-. the protagonist seems unbelievable naive at times, but if i think of her as a jane bennett i can appreciate her simple goodness better. the story is a bit drawn out, but austen's writing is oftentimes quite funny and her characters are lovable.
jane austen	love & freindship: and other early works [sic]	selections from her juvenilia. the "history of england" and the title novella were definitely the most entertaining of the lot, but the rest was pretty disposable. didn't finish reading the group of disconnected "letters".
jane austen, j.e. austen-leigh, d.w. harding	persuasion: with a memoir of jane austen	complete text online. the novel was slow and relied on narrative instead of dialogue. also, rather too many characters, and although anne the main character was rather too good the romance was entertaining. the memoir had a bit too much on jane's background, but once it got into jane's home life and letters it was much better. the excerpts from the letters, while sometimes entertaining, def. does not make me want to rush out and buy the complete letters.
jorge luis borges, james e. irby (editor), donald a. yates (editor)	labyrinths: selected stories and other writings	knotty, but good. although the essays were dense and a little too philosophical for my taste, the stories and parables were quite amazing.
italo calvino	cosmicomics	the idea was interesting, to take highly theoretical concepts from physics and astronomy and write concrete, everyday stories about them, but it got old pretty quickly. i read a little less than half of it.
truman capote	breakfast at tiffany's: a short novel and three stories	the novel of breakfast at tiffany's adds another dimension to the well-known movie. the novel is more sharp-edged, but very well-written and satisfying in a diff. way. the three short stories are quick reads and also well-written, although lacks the eloquent writing of breakfast at tiffany's.
james fenimore cooper	last of the mohicans	almost got halfway through this. there's no doubt that cooper successfully evokes the untamed american wilderness, but this book wasn't nearly fast-paced enough to succeed much as an adventure story. still, there are some parts that i enjoyed and i can see how others might like this.
charles dickens	great expectations	a great, although looong book. i wasn't sure what to expect, but this was a surprising blend of gothic, cold-and-rainy british victorian storytelling and beautifully comic scenes and characters (the tea parties at the pockets and at wemmick's house are easily as hilarious as anything in lewis carroll's books). this book is one that you'll have to take repeated breaks from b/c it's def. not written to be read in one sitting, but the characters are wonderfully memorable (i think i'm infatuated w/ both mr wemmick and herbert pocket) and the psychological development of the protagonist is quite touching. and the last 50 pages are a real payoff and had me completely teary-eyed.
charles dickens	a tale of two cities	(the link isn't quite the right edition.) my first foray into dickens. the first 2/3 was rather verbose and i have to agree w/ the afterword that in general the characters lacked dimensionality and there were more than a few melodramatic coincidences. w/ that said, i have to say the last 1/3 was quite terrific, and the ending was very moving. this was my first exposure to dickens, and although it seems this is not the most characteristic of his style i definitely enjoyed the humorous parts and the characters. i look forward to reading more by him.
nathaniel hawthorne	the house of the seven gables	not that bad actually. slow, but not nearly as slow as some other classics. hawthorne successfully conveys a sense of claustrophobia in the majority of the book and although the plot is pretty straightforward there are some nice characterizations (although some of the characters, like phoebe, are far too flat) and some nice philosphical musings. a quote i liked in particular: "... [b]ank robbers ... after all, are about as honest as nine people in ten, except that they disregard certain formalities, and prefer to transact business at midnight rather then 'change-hours ..."
richard hughes	a high wind in jamaica	the middle is a little slow, but in general the book maintains interest in its exploration of the world of children vs adults and the dire consequences of the miscommunications and hidden motives between the two groups. some of the child characterization was a bit difficult to believe, but the examination of the central character emily and the trauma she experiences seems quite realistic.
aldous huxley	ape and essence	creative athough a bit dated: this book was pretty good, although since it was published in 1948 in reaction to WWII huxley's points are rather less revelatory now than they probably were then. occasionally huxley gets a little bogged down in essay-like pontificating, but in general he keeps things moving along. there are three main sections. the first serves as a set up and isn't that memorable. the second is poetic, metaphorical, and satirical and has some striking images, such as two albert einsteins on leashes with apes as masters. the third section makes up the bulk of the book and is an apocalyptic account of the world after world war iii, ravaged by nuclear bombing. there are some interesting ideas (his argument that the world becomes satan-worshipping is surprisingly convincing) and the occasional thought-provoking statement, but more well-known books like fast food nation, etc. have covered similar territory in greater depth. also, the plot involving the main character, dr. poole, is a bit predictable and overly familiar. still, the book as a whole serves as a good reminder and warning of the dangers of our "modern" society, although it's extremely disheartening that even now, 50 years later, so many governments and societies continue to turn the same blind eye to its own self-destructive behaviours. if only our world leaders would read books like this and learn from them.
jhumpa lahiri	interpreter of maladies	this collection won the pultizer prize, which says something, but although i found it to be entertaining and generally enjoyable, i thought the stories were a little too straightforward and the lessons a little too neat and orderly. there are definitely several standout stories, though, such as, "a temporary matter".
toni morrison	the bluest eye	morrison's first novel. very readable and as good an insight as any into the black experience (particularly the black female experience) of the 1940's. morrison tends to overuse metaphors and the novel is a bit disjoint at times, but it's worth reading.
ovid	metamorphoses	phew! i can't believe i read the whole thing. although edith halmiton's -mythology- remains my favorite book on mythology, this translation is good, very conversational (at times a tad bit too much so), and pretty easy to read. the stories get a bit repetitive and the gory battle scenes get a bit long, but there were definitely a fair number that i hadn't been familiar with and enjoyed. good if you're fan of mythology.
boris leonidovich pasternak, max hayward and manya harari (translators)	doctor zhivago	long and wordy, but a good "upheaval and chaos caused by revolution and how it affects one family" saga. the story of lara and zhivago seems quite secondary to the story about life during the revolution and it prob. would've helped if i had known more about the factual historical events of the revolution. pasternak's writing style can be a little long on the description, but after a while i appreciated his skillful use of imagery more. history and culture of russia: the path to revolution: background info, didn't read it that closely, though, so i'm not sure how much of the timeline fits the book's literature, arts, and medicine database: summarizes the book
h.g. wells	the invisible man	i had to skim through the long flashback/explanation near the end, b/c it was getting entirely too same-y. i was expecting something more dramatic along the lines of -frankenstein-, but wells seems content merely to let the visual image of an invisible agent hold our interest, when in fact those scenes get old pretty quickly. what's much more interesting is when the invisible man meets marvel and kemp, the only two people he really interacts with at all. the last 60 or so pages are pretty suspenseful and there are some nice bits here and there, but the prose was fairly humdrum and overall this isn't a noteworthy read.
virginia woolf	to the lighthouse	definitely an interesting read. rather slow in general, but i liked the themes and the ideas and some of the stream-of-consciousness style, and how the three sections were set up and connected. allegorical but subtle and multi-dimensional.

fiction

author	title	comments
pamela aidan	an assembly such as this (fitzwilliam darcy, gentleman: book 1)	against my better judgement i bought this book, a "sequel" to pride and prejudice. the style tries to be like austen, but oftentimes feels more like a supermarket romance. still, there are occasional interesting moments in its exploration of darcy's side of the story. however, once the scene shifts from hertfordshire and the author is left to her own imagination, the book quickly goes downhill. i'm prob. going to skip over the 2nd one and skim the 3rd.
lloyd alexander	the book of three	better than i remember it being, although books 2, 4, and 5 are the ones i usually pick up when i'm feeling nostalgic. the appearance of eilonwy 1/4 of the way through the book really adds a shot of adrenaline, as she has some of the most hilarious lines, such as, "i don't mean to hurt your feelings by asking, but is assistant pig-keeper the kind of work that calls for a great deal of intelligence?" and "that would be the sensible thing to do. of course, if he's an assistant pig-keeper, too, it's hard to guess how his mind would work." although as a first book it introduces a lot of new characters laying the groundwork for the rest of the series, there's still plenty of action as taran, a would-be hero, gets his first taste of what a "real adventure" is like.
lloyd alexander	the cat who wished to be a man	i've been regressing back to childhood and revisiting works by lloyd alexander. the story is pretty straightforward and not as engaging as his prydain chronicles, but it's told in alexander's characteristically light and entertaining style and has some interesting points to make about humans.
lloyd alexander	the first two lives of lukas-kasha	again, not his best work, but an engaging tale about a boy who is suddenly forced to be a responsible leader.
lloyd alexander	the foundling and other tales of prydain	a nice collection of miscellaneous short stories filling in some of the mythology about alexander's prydain. well-written, many of these have the same sageness of folktales.
lloyd alexander	the gawgon and the boy	not his best. although younger readers will enjoy david's daydreams, the much more interesting moments were the characterizations of the adults and the realism of the setting, both of which had the ring of authenticity found in memoirs.
e. f. benson	queen lucia	andy introduced me to the lovely world of lucia. another gently barbed look at a british village and its many eccentric, but memorable, denizens with their pretensions to sophistication. mostly vignette-like, but has some really memorable characters and situations. will def. be reading the next one.
ray bradbury	dandelion wine	i got more than 1/4 of the way through this. on one level i appreciate this book for what it is: bradbury's remembrance of an idyllic childhood summer. but i wasn't a fan of the structure (short, disconnected vignettes) or bradbury's overly circuitous language. still, this is a book that i can see others enjoying.
don callander	pyromancer	wow this book was slow. i read about 1/2way through before i gave up. the characters and setting are so generic and amateur, although the writing itself was okay (with the exception of the names which were annoying).
max cannon	more red meat: the second collection of red meat cartoons from the secret files of max cannon	a little repetitive after a while, but some are pretty hilarious, esp. the priest cartoons.
orson scott card	ender's game	very well-written and engaging book. the psychology of the main character is well-done, and although on the surface it seems like just a "good" sci-fi novel, card brings up some interesting ideas about struggles for power and ethics.
orson scott card	ender's shadow	man, this one was a definite page-turner. i literally spent the whole day reading this. it's been a few years since i read ender's game and my memory's not the greatest, so i think i enjoyed this more than i might have. the story missteps occasionally when the parrallelism b/t the two books is a bit too close, but in general card's different perspective is worthwhile. instead of concentrating so much on the students' lives as in ender's game, card lets us see really get a feel for how the adults are operating, and also what the situation on earth is like. it's also fascinating how bean analyzes every conversation, weighing motivations and character, from his skewed perspective. bean is a great character and from what i remember of ender i'd have to say bean comes out on top. the only problem is now i'm going to read the other books in the series!
orson scott card	shadow of the hegemon (ender wiggin saga)	the second in the bean series, this book focuses on bean and petra and to a smaller extent peter wiggin. although this is mostly an action-packed page-turner, it occasionally gets bogged down in risk-like play-by-plays and some tedious writing from card; but the events are only occasionally implausible and the characters are for the most part decently developed with some memorably emotional scenes. all in all not an instant reread, but a fairly decent sequel to the first bean book.
orson scott card	shadow puppets (ender, book 7)	mostly disappointing. low on plot, characterization, and suspense. characters mostly annoying and plot twists mostly farfetched. some occasional sparks of what made the first and some of the other books in the series compelling, but not enough. here's hoping that the final book in this series will be better, but i'm not really expecting it to be.
lewis carroll, martin gardner (editor), henry holiday (editor)	the hunting of the snark : an agony in eight fits (annotated)	fluffy but fun.
richard chase	american folk tales and songs	this book concentrates on anglo-american folklore, and so there is no reference to such characters such as paul bunyan or johnny appleseed. still, there are a lot of surprisingly familiar stories that survived and were passed down when europeans settled in america. about half of the book is devoted to tales, including "ancient" tales (with references as far back as norse mythology, as well as robin hood and chaucer), jack tales, "fool irishman" tales, and "tall" tales. the second half is devoted to songs, simultaneously notated in shape as well as traditional notation. this section include ballads (i.e. songs that usually have a narrative), songs, hymns, songs for children, dances (with the choreography explained), and fiddle tunes. the book also includes odds and ends like jokes and riddles as well as a fantastic section of texts from graves from the turn of the century (around the late 1800's). also includes a guide to further reading and nice illustrations by joshua tolford. the stories themselves may feel a little quaint to some, but the colorful local dialect make them engaging and they provide insight into the lives and times of the people who have passed them down.
grace chetwin	the starstone	i had read this book a loooong time ago, but i found a copy (it's out of print). i had thought this was the last book of the series, which i hadn't read, but apparently i had read it. it wasn't bad, but it wasn't really all that memorable either.
agatha christie	the murder at the vicarage	it's been a long, long time since i've read a mystery novel, and i quite enjoyed this. christie's style, despite being a murder mystery, is gentle and humorous, especially in its portrayal of english village life. some of the scenes made me smile outright, such as the scene in which the vicar interviews three gossipy old ladies, each with a secret bit of news, in one afternoon. in the end the mystery itself was actually the least compelling part of the book, as it seemed like some of the details were a bit too contrived, but all in all this was a good read, and i'm definitely going to be checking out the rest of the miss marple series.
eoin colfer	artemis fowl	surprisingly good. appreciated it for being less cutesy than the harry potter books and for its occasional sly quips aimed at adults. kame page: really cute site. includes the translation of the "encoded" text.
eoin colfer	the arctic incident	not as wildly inventive as the first, but still entertaining and at times witty. has the same clever inventions and use of gadgetry as the first.
john crowley	little, big	the style of writing is poetic (oftentimes a bit overly so) which can be enough if you're into that style, which i'm not so much. the story is sort of victorian and sort of rural new england and aspires to the epic, intergenerational, and magical level of one hundred years of solitude but is much slower. in the end i decided the story and the characters just weren't interesting enough so i stopped about 1/4 of the way through.
roald dahl	switch bitch	4 stories originally published in playboy. very strange to read dirty stories by the famous author of so many children's classics, esp. since the style is oftentimes very similar, but the stories themselves were overly long and generally slow.
roald dahl	charlie and the chocolate factory	saw the movie last night w/ andy. it was really dumb, so i reread the book which i hadn't read in ages. the version i got didn't have the illustrations i like; it had these new ones by quentin blake. still, the book was enjoyable, although def. not as good as matilda. i'll have to reread the sequel, heh.
roald dahl	charlie and the great glass elevator	kind of feels like two stories in one, but it's fun and i thought more inventive than c and the chocolate factory, with the silliness of the president and his cabinet. i found a copy that had the original illustrations which i vastly prefer.
roald dahl	matilda	skimmed through this recently. one of dahl's best, imho, w/ a great heroine to root for, as well as a great cast of supporting characters including miss honey and the terrifying headmistress, miss trunchbull. lots of fun.
robertson davies	the manticore	hmm. i didn't have any preconceptions about this book, but after reading about 1/3 of it i've decided it's not quite my cuppa tea. i found this book to be in the same vein as -a prayer for owen meany- where we get the whole life story of a person but where nothing much happens. i suppose there are people who like to exhaustively explore a character's history and how all the sum of childhood incidences have affected his adult person, but i don't have the patience for episodic character studies with little real plot.
philip k. dick	galactic pot-healer	only mildly amusing sci-fi tale. most of the interest comes from dick's imaginings of a futuristic society in which people play pointless international games to while away their boring existences, and neighbors on flights are given bios on each other.
diane duane	door into fire	i was a fan of duane's first few wizard books, so i picked this up. i guess i'm in a minority here, but i wasn't very impressed w/ this book. granted, it was one of duane's earliest efforts, but the plot is predictable and book lays on the mythology really thick. also, duane's dialogue feels out of place with its constant, very american-sounding vernacular. there are just a few interesting twists. the most interesting is the way she explores sex and sexuality, and the ideas of open relationships, bisexuality, and sex in relation to religion. it's also nice to see a (mostly) homosexual character in the main role, but the last herald mage series by mercedes lackey is much more poignant. be aware that this edition (1984) is a revised edition and slightly diff. from the original 1979 edition.
diane duane	so you want to be a wizard	the story itself isn't that complicated or unique, but it has some nice touches. the prose, though, could've been better.
louise erdrich	love medicine	i liked the structure, in that we hear about impt events from diff angles by diff people at diff times. the majority of the stories are well-written and evoke an emotional response, although some are a little overly familiar and at times supermarket romance-ish.
esther forbes	johnny tremain	wow. this book was a page-turner. i think this book does for the early days of the american revolution what -a tale of two cities- did for the french revolution, really making the historical events coming alive. the book is 1/2 an adventure story about a young boy growing to adulthood and 1/2 about the revolution, so younger readers may get bored, especially w/ the sometimes difficult adult language and writing. but the characterization, especially of the children, is absolutely spot on and the story is deeply compelling. reminds me a lot of -oliver twist- in its dramatic scope and true-to-life characters. the ending was a tad slow and then i found the finale to be just a bit jarring, mostly b/c by then i was so caught up with the characters that i wanted to read more. would love to make this into a movie; wonder how disney's version is.
william gibson	neuromancer	apparently this is an impt book in the history of sci-fi b/c it invented an entire genre known as "cyber-punk". it was interesting to read this book after the success of the matrix as much of the setup is eerily similar, including the use of the term "the matrix". the story itself was rather slow and really really heavy on the jargon. it was kind of fun to figure out what the jargon meant, but it got old after a while.
janeane garofalo, ben stiller	feel this book: an essential guide to self-empowerment, spiritual supremacy, and sexual satisfaction	garofalo comes across as being rather bitchy and stiller comes across as being much like his zoolander character -- dim, but good-hearted. gets a little old and has only a few real laughs. generally amusing, though.
edward gorey	amphigorey	some of gorey's earlier works. a really nice anthology and features gorey's trademork humour. includes the classic gashlycrumb tinies.
james herriot	all creatures great and small	started reading this after seeing much of the first season of the BBC series, but ended up giving up. the book just didn't add enough more to what i'd already seen and enjoyed in the tv program. maybe after i've seen all the episodes i'll come back to this.
a. m. homes	things you should know: a collection of stories	had a few stories that were novel, but i have to agree with this amazon reviewer who said: "... she's a slave to literary fashion, specifically, boring, New Yorker-style catatonic realism" and that the stories quickly got repetitive.
rachel ingalls	i see a long journey	interesting collection of three novellas. the second ("on ice"), which concerns an american girl and her relationship in germany, is rather silly and pointless, but the first (the title story) and third ("blessed art thou") were interesting. the third, which concerns a monastery thrown into disarray by unexpected events, took on rather too many things at once but had some good ideas. the first concerns a woman who marries into an extremely wealthy family, but was rather too simplistic, but it worked well as a character sketch. hopefully the other works by this author are better but retain the mystery and interesting ideas of these three novellas.
john irving	a prayer for owen meany	i stopped reading this between 1/2 and 2/3 of the way through. the story had entertaining parts, but there was a lot of really dull dead space. i don't see why people say this is their favorite book, unless they see it as a validation of their own christianity, which seems unlikely b/c the buildup to the final event seemed a little arbitrary.
christopher isherwood	a single man	an interesting stream-of-consciousness book which follows a single middle-aged gay man who teaches english at a nearby college. reminds me of virginia woolf. the mundane details can get dull at times, but there are occasional insights and the ending is fantastic.
tove jansson, elizabeth portch (translator)	comet in moominland : can moomintroll save his beloved valley?	really enjoyed this one. turns out this was the first moomintrolls book, and it was great seeing the characters get introduced and meeting for the first time. the colorful characters are great. the adventure itself is a bit less engaging, but the gentle humour and wit is beautifully done and very memorable.
tove jansson (illustrator), elizabeth portch (translator)	finn family moomintroll	this was a great find. i liked the whimsical characters (esp. snufkin and thingumy and bob!), and the illustrations are fantastic, although the group's adventures were a bit overly familiar. however, the scenes near the end really brought up my rating. the scene with snufkin leaving was lovely, and the appearance of the hobgoblin at the end was fun. i'll be keeping my eye out for others in this series.
diana wynne jones	power of three	reread this accidentally thinking i hadn't read it. a good book, but not one of her best. this one is a very anglo-saxon/celtic/mythic sort of tale, but still has jones' trademark twists and instantly likable characters.
diana wynne jones	year of the griffin	i'm an avid fan of DWJ's earlier works ... although i like the world of -dark lord- and -griffin- better than the chrestomanci or cart and cwidder novels, the characterization and plot here seems more forced than her previous books, such as -hexwood-, -archer's goon-, -fire and hemlock-, and -howl's moving castle-. the book lacks DWJ's more typical clever plot twists and page-turning action (the bulk of the story takes place at the wizard university and consists of more reaction than action) ... still, DWJ juggles her large cast easily and the book contains her characteristically readable text and her great sense of humour, along with creative situations and characters, such as seven miniaturized assassins teaming up with pirates who have been turned into mice and two characters who have jinxes. not her best book, but worth reading ... better than -dark lord-, in my opinion.
diana wynne jones, mark zug (illustrator)	wild robert	very lightweight novella without much of a plot. skippable unless you're a DWJ completist.
diana wynne jones	conrad's fate (chrestomanci series)	first off, i'm about as avid a DWJ fan as anyone and have read pretty much all her books. this book started off well, but after a while it feels just way too familiar. the main character is a pale imitation of sophie from howl's moving castle (cursed, put-upon, but decent and talented); the mother is distant and uncaring (like in fire and hemlock); i could go on. for long-time fans of DWJ there are several things that would make this worthwhile: if you are a big fan of upstairs/downstairs stories (i.e. nobility and their servants) there's a lot of that here (too much in my opinion). also, if you're a big fan of the chrestomanci books this is part of the series, although prob. my least fav. of the bunch (although christopher chant is one of my fav characters of the series, he's just not that interesting here). newbies should def. skip this and head for one of the classics first, like archer's goon and howl's moving castle.
diana wynne jones	unexpected magic : collected stories (hardcover)	a collection of 15 short stories and one novella. in general starts off fairly strong, but all in all only has a few really memorable stories ("the fat wizard" is particularly good). the novella is completely humdrum and lacks the wit and twists of DWJ's more mature work, although at times it does hint at her sense of humour.
carol kendall, erik blegvad (illustrator)	the gammage cup	another good 'un from my childhood. published in 1959 and a newbery honor book, this fantasy, which begins with a character who prefers to wear an orange sash instead of the rest of the village's green ones, has both comedy and adventure, and the characters are lovable and memorable.
mercedes lackey	the fire rose	this is an average book -- entertaining, but not all that memorable and definitely not lackey's best. the dialogue, which is meant to consist of witty repartee, sounds forced. the characterization is rather dull; the overall effect is a bit too trashy supermarket romance; and even the magic/fantasy aspects of the book seem secondhand. still, it's a fast read and decent summer reading. be forewarned, this is more of a romance than a fantasy novel.
julian lake	domestic partners, inc.	really short, but i find quite a few of these to be really funny/clever. not really accessible for a non-gay audience, though.
c.s. lewis	the magician's nephew	the book started off being fairly slow, but once the scene moves tonarnia things pick up. overall not a keeper, but it was fun to read thisafter -the lion, witch ...- and recognize the origins of some familiarelements from that book.
hugh lofting	doctor dolittle's post office	this isn't the best doctor dolittle book, but it's a fun read. the book takes place in africa and concentrates on birds. there are several new characters including speedy the swallow and quip, and dab-dab has a slightly bigger role than usual (and cheapside also to some extent). this book features the first appearance of mud-face the turtle and the secret lake, and there's a nice section where each of the main characters tells a story. the beginning is a little slow and some of the scenes seem a bit familiar, but in general it's good fun.
hugh lofting	gub gub's book	gub-gub is one of my favorite dr dolittle characters. his book, selections from his "encyclopaedia of food", is entertaining, although it reads less like a dr dolittle book and more like roald dahl. most of the stories are kind of whimsical parodies, so there's a story about a famous food detective named "sherbet scones" and a three-part "epicnic" about a "Picnic King". there's also a recount of "the war of the tomatoes". there's some funny dialogue among the other animals as they comment on the stories. overall this a decent read if you love dr dolittle, although i imagine some of the stories would be less engaging for kids than the other dr dolittle books.
hugh lofting	doctor dolittle's circus	one of my favorite dolittle books. includes the escape of sophie seal and the puddleby pantomine.
hugh lofting	doctor dolittle's caravan	another good dolittle book. mostly centers on the green canary and the canary opera.
hugh lofting	doctor dolittle in the moon	a bit slow, but definitely has imagination and atmosphere.
hugh lofting	doctor dolittle's return	one of the more serious books, this is the last in the series. the beginning is a bit slow, but there are some really great moments (like when the doctor is trying to get into jail), and the ending, where tommy stubbins is following in the doctor's footsteps, is bittersweet.
lois lowry	the giver	i'd read this a long time ago but forgotten most of it. this was a quick and enjoyable read. the society lowry imagines is creative and generally believable (with the exception of some intentionally fantasy elements), and the themes of safety vs richness in life and conformity vs diversity are very cleverly explored. lowry successfully illustrates that there are no easy answers, and this is one of the best newbery winners i've read recently. the ending in particular is quite great. spoiler: i like how at the ending, lowry uses the image of the warm, loving homes to contrast with the cold and harsh snow that surrounds each of them. it's a great image that chrystallizes what the whole book is about.
robin mckinley	the blue sword	not bad. fairly straightforward story about a girl who becomes the saviour for a race of people that is not her own. the fate stuff is heavy-handed and the romance completely glossed over, but the development of the main character is pretty good. i remember its "prequel", the hero and the crown, being better, though, with more magic. won a newbery honor award.
edith nesbit	the phoenix and the carpet	a fun read. nesbit as the narrator includes a lot of quite funny asides, which add to the story which is mostly straightforward, concerning a group of victorian children and the magical adventures they have. the language is a bit hard to decipher at times, but as a nice change quite a lot of the book favors realism instead of black and white morals (i.e. has what children would do rather than what they should).
linda sue park	a single shard	at first i was suspicious that this book won the newbery medal just to be politically correct, but it turned out to be very well-written and in the end quite moving. like seesaw girl, another book by park, this book is jam-packed with factual information about a remote era in korean history. this book is set in the twelfth century, but park's story doesn't get too bogged down in the factual details and although younger readers may find the beginning to be a little slow, it picks up speed to a memorable and emotional ending.
meredith ann pierce	treasure at the heart of the tanglewood	pierce has still yet to write anything that comes close to equalling the imagination of the darkangel trilogy, particularly the first two books of the series. still, despite being completely predictable the book is in general worth reading for pierce's generally adept writing style, although readers will be frustrated by the density of the protagonist.
robert pirsig	zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance	the setup was interesting, but the book itself could have been much more interesting if it wasn't so long-winded and slow to get to the point. i think gloria's right and that people just say this is their favorite book b/c it makes them sound like they're deep. i read the first two parts (of four).
scott pomfret and scott whittier	razor burn	i enjoyed this book, although it was about what i expected in terms of a farfetched plot and mostly 2-dimensional characterization. still, this was nice fluff and better than most of the gay movies that get made, and it does have the advantage of pretty good sex scenes. not a keeper, but i really appreciate that books like this are getting published, and it's nice for a quick read. the one thing that really brought this book down for me is that the proofreading is really, really atrocious. every page has at least a few blatant typos, and for me they were almost painfully distracting.
scott pomfret, scott whittier	hot sauce	i enjoyed -razor burn-, but i quickly grew annoyed at the superficial characters in this. the book was much longer than it needed to be, the plot ridiculously simple, and being "beautiful" and being rich are really not high on my list of ideals, even in a gay romance like this. i read to ch. 10 but skimmed the rest. i think this was their first book; hopefully their other books are more like -razor burn-.
terry pratchett	the bromeliad trilogy: truckers (the bromeliad trilogy)	my first experience w/ pratchett. okay story, but not my type of humor. more along the lines of a xanth book than a harry potter.
arthur ransome	swallows and amazons	a slow but idyllic and in the end rather charming book about british children spending their summer sailing their small boat the swallow and living a few days on a small isle. the interaction between the adults and the children is sweetly rendered, but in a charmingly innocent as opposed to hokey way.
dan rhodes	timoleon vieta come home: a sentimental journey	pointlessly dour, mostly nihilistic, with a whole slew of unlikable characters. frame stories are only as good as their frames and their stories, and this book didn't have much compelling about either. this author seems to be all about pointless nihilism, and the vignettes, while sometimes entertaining, weren't memorable and didn't add up to anything.
tom robbins	jitterbug perfume	robbins' writing is full of smug cleverness that is ocassionally amusing and almost as often outright irritating. the book is an "epic" in the sense that it takes place over the span of 1000 some odd years and several countries, but despite a few interesting characters and situations the book is slooow. the somewhat entertaining plot gets bogged down time and time again by robbins' philosophical meanderings that some will interpret as "insightful" while others (including me) will label as simplistic and pointless. zzz.
j. k. rowling, mary grandpre (illustrator)	harry potter and the order of the phoenix (book 5)	rather long-winded, but all in all an interesting addition to the series. time will tell how well (or not) the various threads from this book get resolved.
rudy rucker	software	has the same general style as the phillip k. dick book i read, but much more purposeful and coherent. the ideas are interesting although not that novel. the novel runs out of ideas and gets a little repetitive near the end and it prob. could have been even shorter than it was. still, it's entertaining and has a few interesting things to say.
louis sachar	wayside school gets a little stranger	reread this on a whim. as wacky as his other books, although overall i think i liked the first two better.
antoine de saint-exupery, katherine woods (translator)	the little prince	apparently there's another translation available, but i thought the translation i read successfully captured the whimsy of the story. this book is a classic for good reason. its satire of grownups is gently barbed, and its lessons make it like a modern but not overly preachy fable.
david sedaris	me talk pretty one day	entertaining, although i didn't find it to be as riotously funny as some people seem to. was a just a tad too pop friendly for me, but that might be b/c i'm an indie snob (haha). i thought the sharper-edged, more shirley jackson-esque barrel fever was more unique and intriguing and less fluffy.
zadie smith	white teeth: a novel	a word that i've seen used a lot to describe this book is "sprawling". another is "ambitious". there was an almost dizzying array of characters and situations and as a whole the book felt a little too much like a set of character sketches, and there wasn't quite enough continuity b/t the generations. still, the writing is consistently adept, and winnie points out that this was written by a 21 year old = wow.
lemony snicket	the bad beginning (a series of unfortunate events, book 1)	really rather dull. thought it was going to be more sinister like edward gorey, but it was actually really straightforward. i don't see why this series is so popular.
jesse stuart	hie to the hunters	i remember reading and loving this when i was in elementary school. i had to stop reading it this time around b/c it was so slow. typical "city boy goes to the country" story. too bad.
joyce sweeney	face the dragon	had read it before when i was in high school or so. a little breakfast club-y, esp. w/ the supporting characters, but the central emotional drama, namely the relationship b/t two long-time friends and how it changes as they enter high school, was nicely done.
emma thompson	the sense and sensibility screenplay & diaries: bringing jane austen's novel to film	thompson's adaptation is ideal. she includes all the best bits of austen's novel while combining the austenian essence with a keen cinematographic instinct in the additions. and blasphemous as the remark might be, for fans of austen she comes dangerously close to improving upon the original. the diaries are less interesting, as they often revolve around "went to bed at such and such a time", "woke up at such and such a time", "ate blah blah blah", "felt crappy blah blah blah", blah blah blah. still, the glimpse of the world of "making a film" and thompson's articulate wit surfaces regularly enough to keep it interesting.
j.r.r. tolkein	the lord of the rings	if i were the type of person who could bring myself to skim through boring parts of books, i would have enjoyed this trilogy much more than i did. however, since i am not i was bored for the majority of the reading of these books, although parts of it were definitely page-turners.
various	roald dahl's book of ghost stories	this collection consists of short stories before 1950, most british. the writing is a little too dense to make this book light reading, but the stories are pretty readable. dahl's main criterion was for the stories to have the "chill" factor, and through the authors' descriptive writing and pacing all of these stories do just that. however, most of them are actually not that interesting in terms of plot or character development and more than a few are overlong, which is too bad. the standouts are the ones that combine chills with a solid story, such as "playmates" and "on the brighton road". all in all, a good and unusual collection.
margaret weis and tracy hickman	dragon wing	pretty decent intro to a series which i decided to reread. the characterization of the dwarves is a little hobbit-like and other parts sound a little generic, but there's enough creativity and suspense to make it worth reading. good for the morning commute b/c it's easy to pick up and get into, but not too hard to drop. it'll be interesting to see how the other 6 turn out, although already i like the premise that the first four books are set in diff worlds that only interact in the last 3 books.
margaret weis and tracy hickman	elven star	about the same level as dragon star. perhaps slightly faster-paced. the romance got a little old, but the apocalyptic chaos was realistic and memorable, although occasionally a little obvious (like the sister who decided to not try to escape).
magaret weis, tracy hickman	fire sea	i think this series is one of the most inventive and worthwhile. the first four books take place in four diff worlds with only a few recurring characters, and then in the last three books people from all four world begin interacting. incredibly ambitious and really sets a high standard for the epic fantasy genre. this is the third book in the series and although in general their writing is a little too long, the images and ideas tend to be very memorable and at times somewhat thought-provoking. haven't read the following four books in ages, but i'm working my way through them.
margaret weis, tracy hickman	serpent mage	found this to be slow. characters were a little wooden and slow to act.
margaret weis, tracy hickman	the hand of chaos	geez this book was slow. the fifth book of the series, this was the first book in which the four worlds have opened up, but there was almost no interaction b/t the four worlds and almost all of the action takes place on the first world, arianus. once the main story is put in place, which turns out to be a rescue mission, the book really picks up, but the characters are generally predictable (w/ the exception of the priest elves) and the kid is really annoying. hopefully the last two books will be better.
margaret weis, tracy hickman	into the labyrinth	one of the better books in the series. the four worlds and their characters interact more.
p. g. wodehouse	love among the chickens	i didn't enjoy this as much as i thought i would. the writing is wittily humorous in the way the british do so well, but the plot and the characterization (with the exception perhaps of garnet the main character) is pretty thin; and i found ukridge to be less an endearing scamp than an irresponsible slacker. still, i enjoyed wodehouse's writing and will prob. pick up another book by him.

non-fiction

author	title	comments
j. r. ackerley	my dog tulip	read the first two chapters but couldn't finish it. a memoir about a man and his dog, but i found the writer to be annoying in that anal british sort of a way. might appeal to dog owners more.
david attenborough	life on air : memoirs of a broadcaster	so slow! i didn't even get past pg. 30. he rules though.
sue birtwistle, susie conklin	the making of pride and prejudice	a good behind the scenes book of the fantastic movie. doesn't quite dig deep enough in general and it would've been good to have more anecdotes, but overall it's a good book. plenty of publicity pics, film stills, and interviews w/ cast and crew.
james r. blandford	PJ harvey: siren rising	i enjoyed this book, but this def. isn't the definitive biography (although as there aren't any others we'll just have to make do w/ this one). diehard fans prob. already know the vast majority of this info. also, i def. noticed several glaring inaccuracies ("nickel under the foot" was not written by PJ, for example), so i wouldn't believe everything he says, esp. since the vast majority of his quotes come from previously published magazine articles and interviews. it's nice that all that info is organized, though you could prob. find a lot of the interviews reprinted online.as is often the case, the book oftentimes is little more than "and then she released this album, did this tour, put out this single, had a song on this soundtrack, collaborated with so-and-so", esp. near the end, but the first few chapters about her early life and bands are worthwhile. in any case, a book like this is a good checklist if you're looking for PJ-related tracks you don't already have and great excuse to re-listen to all PJ's albums and re-evaluate and re-appreciate a great artist's career. as an added bonus there's a good discography and bootlegography.
margaret cho	i'm the one that i want	margaret cho is undeniably funny, and although her book looselyfollows the same chronology as her stage show turned movie of the same name, the book is quite different in tone. although the book isdefinitely humorous at times, margaret cho might have recognized thatit would have been impossible to translate her jokes to the pagewithout the benefit of her comic timing and her classic vocalinflections and facial expressions and opted to concentrate onfleshing out other parts of the same story of her early success,failure of her sitcom, and subsequent, greater happiness andsuccess. for example, she spends a few chapters talking about herearly childhood and teenage years in san francisco and her firstboyfriends and her early drug addiction. the repetitive sectionsdetailing her drug addiction and low self-esteem, while valid, are alittle wearying after a while and probably could have been condensed,but other than that the book is a quite entertaining read and hasenough side anecdotes that keeps it flowing and makes it worth checking out.
danny danziger, robert lacey	the year 1000	some good info, but not that enlightening and not really worth rereading.
ian gittins	bjork: there's more to life than this : the stories behind every song	not amazing and the author can be a bit annoying in his conjectures and his style, but has some nice pictures and is a fairly decent overview of bjork's career.
joanne gordon	art isn't easy: the theater of stephen sondheim	not the most informative or thought-provoking, but this is a good introduction to sondheim's works and a good starting point for further appreciation and study. the writing is generally competent, although not particularly well-written or engaging.
jeremy gray	lonely planet montreal	i picked this book out of the ones at the bookstore b/c i liked the look of it: good number of pictures, good maps (inc. a map of the metro which most other books didn't seem to have), good info. -however-, a huge drawback to this book is its poor organization. if you're looking at one of the street maps in the book, the landmarks, etc. aren't marked by page number, so you have to look up the landmark in the index (which they have separated into food, accomodations, sites instead of all together, which proved to be very annoying), and then flip back to the page in the book. also, the book is organized again according to categories (food, sites, shopping, etc.) instead of by area, so if you're trying to build a list of things to do in one part of the city you have to keep flipping back and forth from the maps to the indices to the book, which is a huge effort that could've been fixed w/ better planning. this is really too bad, b/c o/w it has a lot of good info. next time i'm def. getting a book by a diff. company.
chris lavers	why elephants have big ears: understanding patterns of life on earth	answers many evolutionary questions and brings up topics you probably hadn't even thought to ask about. incorporates a lot of paleontological evidence and focuses on the evolution of different groups of animals, as well as on specific species. repeatedly refers back to basic laws of physics to explain various adaptations. readable in general, although sometimes the text is a little awkward and overly detailed and the footnotes could have been better integerated. here's a complete rundown of the topics covered: Ch.1: covers issues with the scaling of areas to volumes, how it affects an animal's leg shape, body size, head size, hair, etc. Ch.2: the energy costs for cold vs. warm-blood, looks more closely at issues w/ body size Ch.3: looks at theories about the evolution of warm-bloods Ch.4: looks at theories about whether or not dinosaurs were cold or warm-blooded Ch.5: adaptations for animals, including in the tundra and desert Ch.6: why there are hardly any huge cold-bloods, except in unstable, infertile areas like Australia Ch.7: why there are hardly any large mammals in freshwater regions, although they exist on land and in the ocean. looks at the success of crocodiles. Ch.8: why there are many species of birds in general and why there aren't many species of large birds Ch.9: the catastrophic events that happened when there was global warming and decrease of global biodiversity in a previous era
deirdre le faye	jane austen : the world of her novels	this is a book i'll have to come back to, but i read the half about jane austen's life and times in general. the author seems unusually preoccupied w/ pinpointing exact locations and doesn't quite delve into the most interesting aspects of georgian life, but this is a very attractive edition and has a lot of not-that-insightful info. the big drawback to the book is that the sections highlighting each novel are almost entirely simply summaries and only drop tidbits of information here and there. not an indispensible read, but entertaining enough.
eric liu (editor)	next: young american writers on the new generation	from 1994. consists of essays by people in their 20's and 30's. it feels a little dated now, but the first essay, which is about the lack of and the need for modern day heroes, is interesting and relevant, as i'm sure others in this collection are as well.
konrad lorenz	king solomon's ring: new light on animal ways	almost unflaggingly entertaining throughout, although this was pretty much entirely anecdotal rather than scientific writing about animal behavior or language. the chapter on jackdaws was completely fascinating, and the way lorenz describes them convinces us they are as intelligent and emotional as a colony of monkeys. likewise he gives us a new appreciation for the lives and personalities of fish and dogs. it would be easy to accuse lorenz off over-anthropomorphizing his subjects, but his defense is plausible and illuminating: that he does so less to anthropomorphize than to remind us that our instincts and behaviors are essentially animalistic.
john mcphee	oranges	pretty entertaining. it's exhaustive and a bit tedious at times, but overall it provides loads of useless facts that would be perfect for impersonal cocktail chitchat ... well, among pomologists anyway.
desmond morris	catwatching	entertaining, but as it was published in 1986 i just wonder how accurate it is.
desmond morris	catlore	a sequel to the book catwatching. both are chockful of interesting info about cat behavior. this particular volume includes info on why cats do that sudden, crazy scampering around and a guide to tail signals, among other things. def. a good, very quick read, although it was written more than a decade ago so i'm wondering how the info has changed, if at all. apparently the author has tackled other areas of behavior, including horses, dogs, babies (?!), and humans. interesting stuff, although there are quite a few sections that try to rationalize cat behavior from a scientific POV but ends up being highly suspect human-projected psychoanalysis instead (although he says he decries such analysis).
peter f. ostwald	glenn gould: the ecstasy and tragedy of genius	i'm not that fond of biographies, but my sister got this for me a while back. entertaining enough although a little repetitious. some good photos and quotes, although as a portrait of gould it doesn't evoke much more than the superb film, 32 short films about glenn gould, did.
steven pinker	the language instinct	despite its 400+ pages, this was a pretty quick, engaging read. i came into it with a highly (probably overly) critical and suspicious eye, but i have to say that i didn't find much to fault and enjoyed it. one ofthe things that always amazes me about non-fiction books about highly specialized topics like this is how many other topics they touch on. for ex, the oranges book by mcphee covered biology and economics, but also touched on history, language, art, and mythology. this book has aneven wider range, covering not only evolution, psychology, neuroscience,and grammar, but also genetics and human migration, animal and child behavior, slang and "grammatical mistakes", the history of english and its seemingly unsystematic spelling, artificial intelligence, deaf culture, and human anatomy. there are times when pinker's choice of topic seems a bit too far off in terms of relevance, but for the most part the book doesn't overstay its welcome. pinker overall comes across as a bit of a wise guy (in the same way astom robbins does, but much less so), and there are times when i feel he's glossing over a lot, particularly in his chapter devoted to explaining grammatical parse trees. it seems like it wouldn't take much to come up w/counterexamples to a lot of his arguments, but from my POV it's impossible to tell how much of his presentation of the grammar rules he presents is "simplification" vs "evasive omissions" w/outreading/knowing more about it. i suspect it's some of both. i can say from a background in speech recognition (my current occupation) that the relatively few comments he includes about computer science and its current approaches and limitations in speech are accurate. my biggest complaint, and not a very major one, is that pinker has a tendency to dwell too long on a point, such as the pages and pages he spends defending evolution and natural selection. even if there are some readers who blindly refuse to believe evolution, i highly doubt that anything he says about it is going to make them change their mind. it was surprising to me that he had to spend so much time defending human's language abilities as features as specialized and remarkable but thoroughly explainable as a bat's use of sonar or an elephant's trunk when it seems so completely plausible, but i suppose the idea was (and i suppose still is) controversial. all in all i enjoyed the book enough to put his other book -the blank slate- on my list of books to read.
daniel pool	what jane austen ate and charles dickens knew: from fox hunting to whist-the facts of daily life in nineteenth-century england	not bad, although i ended up skimming through a lot of the more boring sections (e.g. the government, the army), and the parts i was more interested in didn't delve quite as deep as i would have liked. i'll prob. pick up another book about the same period some time. topics in this book included pudding, dances, the difference between an earl and a marquis, and card games. (i found out that the exotic-sounding whist is actually the familiar game of spades. i have a sudden urge to play it now, heh.)
howard rheingold	they have a word for it: a lighthearted lexicon of untranslatable words & phrases	for the most part a pretty interesting mix of words, although the author's style gets to be quite annoying, with his endless repetitions of "these words will help you see the world differently" and and his martha stewart-like "helpful suggestions on usage". but worth dipping into.
ken smith	junk english	a book that purports to point out sloppy usages of english, but ends up being rather obvious and just a case of preaching to the choir. feels like reading 150 pages of junk mail nonstop, i.e. 150 pages of pure irritation. didn't finish.
lynne truss	eats, shoots & leaves: the zero tolerance approach to punctuation	just finished reading . i imagine most people have heard about this book by now. all in all it was a quick and mostly diverting read. there was some correct usage that i didn't know, some i did know, some i didn't know i knew, and some i didn't know i didn't know. also, incorporates a lot of history about where our punctuation comes from, and choice quotes from famous writers such as shaw and gertrude stein about punctuation. surprisingly, given its trim size, the book could have been edited a bit; but it's still a good read and has me using semicolons more often with a little less guilt. the humor is a bit predictable, but there are some bits that made me laugh out loud like some sort of english major nerd.
peter vanderwarker	boston then and now: 59 boston sites photographed in the past and present	didn't finish reading this one. the idea is good. they take a historic (or "an historic" if you're feeling pretentious) photograph of boston and then take a modern day picture from the same location and camera angle and place them side by side. i read through the beginning which included many pictures from copley square, but the writing is short and factual and quickly grows tedious. also, the book is rather out of date since it's from the 80's. still, worth skimming once at the bookstore or library.
james k. wangberg	six-legged sex: the erotic lives of bugs	the content was good, but i didn't really like the format of this book; it seemed geared toward middle school students rather than adults. the short chapters, the "storytelling" tone, and the jokey drawings were distracting to me. w/ that said, i did enjoy the content (although it never went into much depth).

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