Category: Reading

Guest Post: My Uncle’s Best Reads of 2013

I’m relinquishing my blog today to my favorite uncle so he can share his essay on his best reads from 2013.  You’ll have to wait for another day to learn the answer to the question ‘Why doesn’t he have his own blog?’  Currently, he is a retired Air Force Colonel, writing historical and speculative fiction and painting and teaching watercolor.  And now without further ado …

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In 2013, I read a record number of books and don’t plan to read that many again in one year. I don’t just read for pleasure. I am an author-wannabe, so some of my reading is researching what’s on the market. (That’s my story.) And, I have a lifelong love of history, so I read a lot of history, biography and alternate history stories. Also, at church I give a Bible study a month, so I’m always looking for ideas to steal . . . uh, in a Christian-sort-of-way. Finally, I love humor. So, I occasionally give extra credit to stories that tickle my funny bone.

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Book Review: Ysabel by Kay (3.5 Stars)

Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay

3.5 out of 5 stars

Read in Nov/Dec 2013

Synopsis (excerpts from author’s website Bright Weavings):

Provence, in the south of France, is a part of the world that has been—and continues to be—called a paradise. But one of the lessons that history teaches is that paradise is coveted and fought over. Successive waves of invaders have claimed—or tried to claim—those vineyards, rivers, olive groves, and hills.

In Guy Gavriel Kay’s novel, Ysabel, this duality—of exquisite beauty and violent history—is explored in a work that marks a departure from Kay’s historical fantasies set in various analogues of the past.

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Book Review: Allegiant by Roth (4 Stars)

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

4 out of 5 stars

Read in December 2013

Synopsis:

The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories.

But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature—and of herself—while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.

My Thoughts:

Roth redeemed herself, at least in my mind, with Allegiant.  While not perfect, I felt more at home with the direction the plot took than what happened in the middle weak-link book Insurgient (which I didn’t bother to review because it disappointed me so much).  For my review of Divergent, follow this link.

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Audiobook Review: Rendezvous with Rama by Clarke (4 Stars)

RendevousWithRamabyClarkeRendezvous with Rama by Arthur C Clarke

Read by Peter Ganim

4 out of 5 stars

Original novel winner of the following awards: Hugo Award for Best Novel (1974), Nebula Award for Best Novel (1973), Locus Award for Best Novel (1974), British Science Fiction Association Award for Novel (1974), Jupiter Award for Best Novel (1974), Seiun Award for Best Foreign Novel (1980), John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (1974)

Synopsis:   At first, only a few things are known about the celestial object that astronomers dub Rama. It is huge, weighing more than ten trillion tons. And it is hurtling through the solar system at inconceivable speed. Then a space probe confirms the unthinkable: Rama is no natural object. It is, incredibly, an interstellar spacecraft. Space explorers and planet-bound scientists alike prepare for mankind’s first encounter with alien intelligence. It will kindle their wildest dreams…and fan their darkest fears. For no one knows who the Ramans are or why they have come. And now the moment of rendezvous awaits – just behind a Raman airlock door. Includes an exclusive introduction by Hugo Award-winning author Robert J. Sawyer

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Book Review: Total War Rome: Destroy Carthage by Gibbons (DNF)

Total War Rome: Destroy Carthage by David Gibbons

DNF (no star rating because I did not finish reading it)

Attempted to read during September, October and November 2013

I wanted to love this book.  I read a blurb about it from one of my many book-related newsfeeds, through Tor’s RSS feed.  Here’s a link to the article penned by the author:  Ancient Rome and the Destruction of Carthage: The Stuff That Dreams Are Made On.

I started reading with high hopes, because I’m always fascinated by ancient history.  I’ve read other historical fiction novels set during the time frame of the ancient Roman Empire and enjoyed them.  I also enjoy movies that visit that time period.

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eBook Review: A Princes of Mars by Burroughs (3.5 Stars)

A Princes of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

3.5 out of 5 stars

Read in September 2008

I read this as an ebook from the Project Gutenberg edition of this novel.

I found this a very enjoyable read via my BlackBerry on my morning commute and before bed.

I was amazed at how well this novel appealed to me. For a science fiction novel published in 1912 (actually as a six-part serial in a magazine that year), it has stood the test of time quite well. Granted what we know of Mars makes much of the story ludicrous if you look at it strictly from a factual point of view. But if you suspend belief and imagine that Mars is actually not the Mars we know, but an imaginary world or planet of Burroughs devising, then it’s a fine story in an interesting setting.

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Audiobook Review: The Knife of Dreams by Jordan (3 Stars)

The Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan

Read by Kate Reading and Michael Kramer

3 out of 5 stars

Listended/Read in February 2013

Loial and Mat tied the knot (but not with each other). Perrin and Faile end their two book separation. Nine months can’t come soon enough for Elayne (or me). Egwene and Eliada under the same roof but not speaking to each other. Nynaeve returned Lan to Malkier along the Borderland Scenic Byway. Someone please give Rand a hand!

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Audiobook Review: Crossroads of Twilight by Jordan (3 Stars)

The Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan

Read by Kate Reading and Michael Kramer

3 out of 5 Stars

Read in January 2013

I listened to the audiobook edition. Apparently unabridged doesn’t include the Glossary. It’s a good thing I own the hardcover for reference and for the maps.

Crossroads of Twilight is one of my least favorite books of the Wheel of Time series because of the turgid plot.  The train wreck that started ten books ago finally comes to a crashing halt, right before it teeters and ultimately falls off the cliff for the long slow-motion plummet to the end, four books later.

Using male and female readers helped especially with the switching viewpoints.

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Book Review: Hounded by Hearne (3.5 Stars)

Hounded by Kevin Hearne

3.5 out of 5 stars

Read from February 25 to 28, 2013

This type of urban fantasy could easily grow on me. Absolutely no zombies and only one token cameo vampire. I didn’t mind the pack of werewolves.

All the rest of the ‘paranormals’ hailed from Celtic mythology. Oberon the Irish wolfhound got the best lines, often at the expense of our hero, the Iron Druid.

A fun fast read.

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