"Botchan" by Natsume Soseki

Odd little book translated from the Japanese. Apparently it's very popular in Japan and can be compared to Huckleberry Finn. I got the feeling that it lost a tremendous amount in the translation and in cultural differences. Nice to have a tiny view into Japanese culture. I bought the book because Botchan sounds like the name of a bird (stork or flamingo?) in Polish.

"Blood Rites" by Jim Butcher

I enjoyed this story. It has some interesting plot twists. Dresden finds a brother etc etc.

"Death Masks" by Jim Butcher

I enjoyed this book. It contained several interesting revelations about Dresden's powers and about his family. I also enjoyed Susan's character and will actually miss her. I read part of this book in Montreal and on the Greyhound bus... 

...visit to my mother to go with her to the the bazaar in Holy Trinity Church where I had tripe soup for lunch and a nalesznik for dessert. I enjoyed brushing up on my Polish and French

"Far from the Tree" by Andrew Solomon

I bought this thick scholarly book because it caught my eye when I was passing through the downtown Chapters. The cover was a nice gold colour, it had some award stickers on it, and the subject matter interested me. It is written by a gay guy, who used his own experiences to extrapolate to other types of children who are different from their parents, and so horizontal, as opposed to vertical. It includes deaf people, dwarves, schizophrenia etc etc. I quite enjoyed most of the chapters but I did skip the one on children of rape, and most of the one on musical prodigies. I had been hoping for intellectual prodigies instead, and have very little interest in musical giftedness.

To my surprise, I found the chapter on schizophrenia to be totally boring to me. I had thought I would be riveted... perhaps the problem was too much knowledge. I did end up skipping or skimming quite a bit of stuff, but I am glad I read this book. It definitely broadened my knowledge of the human condition,

"The Casual Vacancy" by J. K. Rowling

I read this book on Eva's recommendation. I just texted her in Winnipeg to let her know I think it's one of the ugliest and most realistic exposes on the ugliness in human nature that I have ever encountered. The book describes the internal politics and machinations in a small narrow minded English town that is much more interested in naval gazing than in helping the needy. It's all judgement and no understanding.  Kind of like Republicans in the United States who had a major victory in the midterms last night.

"Haunted: Tales of the Grotesque" by Joyce Carol Oates

An interesting collection of very unpleasant stories, which actually caused me to finally like Joyce Carol Oates. In the past, what I've read by her has somehow let me down. Not these stories, which contained some of the most grotesque and disgusting images I have  ever encountered in literature. There is an eerie allegorical aspect to some of the stories in this collection, which forces the reader to have to interpret exactly what's going on.

"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" Joyce Carol Oates

Decently creepy story, but not quite as horrific as some of the other ones I have read/am reading in a book of Joyce Carol Oates short stories. I came across this story in an internet list of 50 amazingly scary short stories, that conveniently included links to the text.

"Summer Knight" by Jim Butcher

Same old same old.

"Grave Peril" by Jim Butcher

This was a pretty good read. It was significant for being the 1st ebook I ever borrowed from the Library, and I was very pleasantly surprised by the user friendliness of the entire experience. I finished this book in a Chicago hotel, after a pleasant evening with Kathy Hughes et al. By some miracle, and a Facebook posting by Kathy, Ray found out she was here the same time we were. Ray hadn't seen her since 1998, and was really sad when she disappeared off the radar for a number of years. He rediscovered her through Facebook.

"Fool Moon" by Jim Butcher

As Pete Toth said, the books get better as the series progresses. This one was about werewolves. I particularly like the Dresden and Murphy dynamic.

"Carniepunk" short stories

Overall I enjoyed this collection of carnival related fantasy stories. Silly me, I didn't realize there were so many authors writing in this urban fantasy type of genre. A few of the stories reeked too much of female wish fulfillment,  but that's life, I guess. A few of the stories were so corny I was afraid their sameness would ruin "The Dresden Files" for me, but it didn't.

"Storm Front" by Jim Butcher

I've been meaning to give the Harry Dresden books a try ever since I watched it on tv years ago. The show was, to my disappointment, cancelled after one year. Pete Fisher recommended the books to me recently. He's enjoying them, and said they improve as the series goes on. I enjoyed this 1st book. I guess I was about 70% riveted, which is good for me. I really like the female policewoman, and I'm looking forward to watching her relationship,with Harry evolve. They can ditch Susan the reporter, for all I care.

"Rudyard Kipling's Tales of Horror and Fantasy" edited by Stephen Jones

I bought this thick book because I like horror and fantasy, and because there was an introduction by Neil Gaiman. I must admit that I am unable to finish it, and will pass it on to Kanak in case she can make something of it. The stories are 99% about the English soldiers colonizing India, and the jargon as well as Indian terms make the stories very "mushy" to me. Very few are true horror/fantasy and they describe a life which is "Greek" to me. Even the story "The Man Who Would be King", which has a movie based on it, was foggy to me.

"The Ocean at the End of the Lane" by Neil Gaiman

I enjoyed this book. I liked the way it captured the magic of childhood from an adult perspective. It also somewhat reminded me of "Wrinkle in Time" because it contained  beings outside the petty laws of physics as we understand them. As usual, Neil Gaiman, though not perfect, was suitably quirky and light for my taste.  P.S. I don't remember the specifics of "Wrinkle in Time", just the feeling it left me with.

"The 100-Year-Old Man Who ...." By Jonas Jonasson

I enjoyed this clever book, but I have to admit that after awhile, the cleverness got to be a bit tiresome. I will be discussing it at the summer CFUW book club.

"Swamplandia!" by Karen Russell

I've been meaning to read this book since it came out a few years ago. It sounded as if it had the type of weirdness which appeals to me.

I did end up enjoying it, because of its strong whiff of magic realism. The fact that I've been to the Florida Everglades helped me appreciate the descriptions of the Florida swamp. Who would have thought that parental death, mental illness, rape, alzheimer's etc could all be included in a book, and not overwhelm with misery. I guess it helps a lot that Ava's descriptions had a dreamlike quality.

The book had a bit of an odd style re point of view. The chapters with Ava were in the 1st person. The chapters dealing with her brother and sister were in the 3rd person. Also, it was a Pulitzer Prize Finalist. Do I have taste, or what?

"The Cuckoo's Calling" by Robert Galbraith

I bought this book with a gift certificate from Morgan and a recommendation from Eva. Galbraith is a pseudonym for JK Rowling, and Eva is right, she is a good writer with excellent character development. I had a bit of trouble getting into the book, but Strike and Robin eventually won me over. Poor supermodel, murdered by her adoptive brother, who also murdered his other sibling when they were children.

"The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

I read this book because Natalie recommended it once. The book was worth reading because it gave me some understanding of what went on in the Congo in the 1960's, how it was exploited for its treasures, etc etc. The story itself, of a preacher, a wife and 4 daughters was kind of dreary. None of the characters captured my imagination.

"The Haunted Doll's House and other Ghost Stories" by M.R. James

The 2nd book of short stories I've read by this author, whom I just recently discovered. Some of the stories in this collection also appeared in the first collection of stories I read by him. James is OK, but I think I've read enough by him. His style is so similar from story to story that I actually skim over some of them.

"Under Heaven" by Guy Gavriel Kay

It's surprising how much I enjoyed this book, considering that a large portion of this large book involves political intrigue. It provided an interesting look into Chinese history, of which I know very little. And I was actually interested enough to read it in more than 10 minute spurts, which is my usual habit. Nevertheless, this was not my favorite book by Kay.

"The Princess of Burundi" by Kjell Eriksson

Picked this book up for free at the Royal Ottawa Hospital. Murder mystery translated from Swedish. Very pedestrian writing style and plot. I don't think I'll bother reading the other book in this series. Salvation Army here I come.

'MockingJay' by Suzanne Collins

An enjoyable but dark conclusion to the trilogy. Too bad I read the ending beforehand, so was not surprised by the most shocking surprise (killing Coin) in the book.

'Microserfs' by Douglas Coupland

OK book. I read it because I like geeks, and because I wanted to give Coupland another try, to cement  my opinion of his writing. I find he has too many unnecessary, boring intellectual dialogue games going on in his books. I can read them more quickly if I skip over that stuff, which is just mind masturbation anyways.  The book, under all its cold, geeky trappings, had a nice warm, human message. But I think I've read enough of Coupland.

"Life after God" by Douglas Coupland

This is the first book I've read by this Canadian author, though I've been curious about him for years. There were parts that I liked a lot, and parts that I didn't. Overall, the book was a bit too airy fairy for me, but I guess I'll give another one a try.

"Forests of the Night" by Tanith Lee

I think that Alice bought this book for herself, which is definitely not a healthy thing to have done. At first I enjoyed the short stories in it,  and thought that they might even represent the type of writing I would  do if I were a writer. I liked the dreamy gothic element,  with more of a focus on atmosphere than on plot. They reminded me of a story I wrote in high school, of an Indian in black watching New World settlers come and go.

But after awhile, I became sick of the lack of clarity in these fantastical, dreamy stories, and was very glad when I finally finished it.

"Bridge on the River Kwai" by Pierre Boulle

I read this book many decades ago, and reread it now, when Ray took it on our vacation to Thailand, where we visited River Kwai. Ray was disappointed in the book because it didn't tell him anything about Thailand. I remember enjoying the book when I was young, but this time, I started skimming it after awhile. It's an interesting story about human nature with an unfortunate outcome.

"Shroud for a Nightingale" by P.D. James

Read this book while in Thailand. It dealt with the murder of some student nurses. It's funny. The book shared a strong similarity with the George book that I read just before this one. In both cases, the main motive for murder was deep, platonic love for a same sex character, and the commission of murder to 'help' the character and so bind them forever to the murderer.

"Well-schooled in Murder" by Elizabeth George

Read this book largely during my plane trip to Thailand. A decent enough crime book, that dwelt a bit too much on the existential miseries of the various characters. This is the first time I've read this author, and I'm not sure if I would do her again. A 13 year old boy murdered in a private British School. The murderer arranges for it out of love for a fellow student.

"Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs (second novel of Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children)

I enjoyed this book very much. The fantasy world infrastructure hangs together weakly, but the characters and story have many unique and interesting features. The author has excellent and intelligent vocabulary, and the vintage photos are a very nice touch.

"Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card

Interesting book, I guess! but not my favorite. I've lost interest in seeing the movie. Too ugly a book, and then too religious a book. Cold, without real people.

"The Daughter of Time" by Josephine Tey

I bought this book because it appeared in an episode of 'The Mentalist' and a fan said it was good. Tey is a classic crime writer from the 1950's and very British. This particular book deals with the process by which 'history' turned Richard the 3rd into a mosterous and deformed murderer.
I enjoyed the book, primarily because it was educational, rather than because of the author's writing abilities. It has definitely changed the way that I view historical scholarship, and has even influenced my understanding of Stephen Leacock's history of Montreal, which I'm currently reading.

"A Dance with Dragons" by George RR Martin

I thought I would never finish this overlong book. Good story, but at this point, I think Martin is writing more for himself than for his fans. The excessive amount of detail definitely takes away from the effectiveness of his books. I wonder how long I have to wait for the next one.