Pandemic - Daniel Kalla
A killer version of influenza has been released by terrorists to get American troops out of Islamic lands, and Noah Haldane with the WHO has to stop the spread.
Kalla is a physician from right here in Vancouver, and has done a pretty good job with this book. It took me a while to get through it. At first I thought maybe we had another Michael Crichton type writer because it was really exciting, however, the excitement started to wane about half way through.
We learn a bit about Noah's home life in the book. That he has a daughter named Chloe, and a wife who is having an affair with a woman since Noah always seems to be off on business. The story around Noah and his wife Anna and their crumbling marriage doesn't have a lot of interesting things about it and I didn't really think that it was essential to the story. To me it seemed like filler, maybe to grab female readers.
Anyways, as Noah is zipping around the world trying to contain the pandemic, we are shown the world of the Islamic extremists and their motives for spreading the disease to take America to her knees.
This book was ok, but that's about as glowing a rating as I can give it.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Hey, What's on the Shelf? The Sealed Letter - Emma Donoghue
The Sealed Letter - Emma Donoghue
I picked this one up from the library because I thoroughly enjoyed another book of Donoghue's, Slammerkin.
This one is about Helen Codrington and her friend Emily Faithfull, known to her friends as Fido. Helen has never been happy with her husband, and has been unfaithful with other men. Finally her husband manages to catch wind of the fact that she has been fooling around. She's not completely discrete about it. Anyways, he wants a divorce and the book focuses on the details of the court proceedings.
I never know how much to say in my little synopses about the books since I don't want to give anything away.
The book was entertaining and it didn't take me long to get through it. I thought that the ending was really well done. I actually said "A-ha!" at the end. I don't know whether I recommend this book or not. If you like historical fiction, you'll probably enjoy it.
I picked this one up from the library because I thoroughly enjoyed another book of Donoghue's, Slammerkin.
This one is about Helen Codrington and her friend Emily Faithfull, known to her friends as Fido. Helen has never been happy with her husband, and has been unfaithful with other men. Finally her husband manages to catch wind of the fact that she has been fooling around. She's not completely discrete about it. Anyways, he wants a divorce and the book focuses on the details of the court proceedings.
I never know how much to say in my little synopses about the books since I don't want to give anything away.
The book was entertaining and it didn't take me long to get through it. I thought that the ending was really well done. I actually said "A-ha!" at the end. I don't know whether I recommend this book or not. If you like historical fiction, you'll probably enjoy it.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Death of the Paperback?
I've been mulling this over for quite some time and have often wondered with all the new technology whether good old paperbacks are going to become a thing of the past.
On the train a few months ago, I saw a fellow commuter with one of Amazon's reader things. We can't get them here in Canada, and apparently someone she knows in the US got it for her. I asked her if I could have a look at it.
It's a bit bigger than your average paperback and sits in a little case so it almost looks as if you are holding a book. It has buttons on the bottom for scrolling, etc. Over Christmas, Sony came out with a Digital Reader for about $250, which I thought was too expensive.
Plus, there's something I like about the feel of the book in my hands, turning the pages, and being able to look back at all those pages I read with a sense of accomplishment.
On CBC's Letter from London, posted on May 13th, they ran THIS STORY about the Espresso Book Machine, named as such because of it's ability to print books quickly to order. The story questions whether this will revolutionize publishing, and whether this will help the traditional bookshops to stay open, since it is so hard for them to compete with global online sellers such as amazon.com. It's a pretty interesting story.
On the train a few months ago, I saw a fellow commuter with one of Amazon's reader things. We can't get them here in Canada, and apparently someone she knows in the US got it for her. I asked her if I could have a look at it.
It's a bit bigger than your average paperback and sits in a little case so it almost looks as if you are holding a book. It has buttons on the bottom for scrolling, etc. Over Christmas, Sony came out with a Digital Reader for about $250, which I thought was too expensive.
Plus, there's something I like about the feel of the book in my hands, turning the pages, and being able to look back at all those pages I read with a sense of accomplishment.
On CBC's Letter from London, posted on May 13th, they ran THIS STORY about the Espresso Book Machine, named as such because of it's ability to print books quickly to order. The story questions whether this will revolutionize publishing, and whether this will help the traditional bookshops to stay open, since it is so hard for them to compete with global online sellers such as amazon.com. It's a pretty interesting story.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
What's on the shelf? Michael Tolliver Lives by Armistead Maupin
I loved, loved LOVED this book.
I felt like Michael Tollover was sitting in my reading room telling me the story and as ordinary a story as it was, I still didn't want to put him down and was pretty sad when we came to the end. I'll have to find out if there is a sequel.
Michael Tolliver has AIDS, but he is getting along okay with the new drugs. He's seen many of his friends die. He's managed to find love online in a younger man and he's married and living in San Francisco. In the book he has to deal with the death of his mother.
We learn a lot about Michael and the people he's met, and I just love the writing style. I'll definately go and look up Maupin's other books to see if I like them just as much. I really recommend this one.
I felt like Michael Tollover was sitting in my reading room telling me the story and as ordinary a story as it was, I still didn't want to put him down and was pretty sad when we came to the end. I'll have to find out if there is a sequel.
Michael Tolliver has AIDS, but he is getting along okay with the new drugs. He's seen many of his friends die. He's managed to find love online in a younger man and he's married and living in San Francisco. In the book he has to deal with the death of his mother.
We learn a lot about Michael and the people he's met, and I just love the writing style. I'll definately go and look up Maupin's other books to see if I like them just as much. I really recommend this one.
What's on the shelf? The Seance
The Seance - John Harwood
To tell you the truth, I really didn't enjoy this book. I thought the title was misleading and that it wasn't really that exciting. I borrowed it from the library and am really glad I didn't shell out the money to buy it. I got the recommendation for this one from one of the NextReads newsletters that I get from the library.
The story is told from multiple points of view and once you finally get down to the nuts and bolts of it, it is about a woman (Nell or Eleanor) who goes off to live with a friend where she meets Edward Ravencroft and they decide that they want to marry. Nell goes home to tell her mother about the betrothal, and the mother casts her out from the family because the match is unfavourable.
Edward is captivated by an old house with a shaky reputation, and ends up falling to his death when climbing up the side to get a better look at one of the features of the house. Are you bored yet? She ends up marrying the mysterious Magnus Wraxford. Now Magnus is dead and Nell has disappeared with her child and the people left over have to figure out what really happened.
Honestly, this is a snore, and wasn't worth this many pages.
To tell you the truth, I really didn't enjoy this book. I thought the title was misleading and that it wasn't really that exciting. I borrowed it from the library and am really glad I didn't shell out the money to buy it. I got the recommendation for this one from one of the NextReads newsletters that I get from the library.
The story is told from multiple points of view and once you finally get down to the nuts and bolts of it, it is about a woman (Nell or Eleanor) who goes off to live with a friend where she meets Edward Ravencroft and they decide that they want to marry. Nell goes home to tell her mother about the betrothal, and the mother casts her out from the family because the match is unfavourable.
Edward is captivated by an old house with a shaky reputation, and ends up falling to his death when climbing up the side to get a better look at one of the features of the house. Are you bored yet? She ends up marrying the mysterious Magnus Wraxford. Now Magnus is dead and Nell has disappeared with her child and the people left over have to figure out what really happened.
Honestly, this is a snore, and wasn't worth this many pages.
What's on the shelf? Through a Glass Darkly.
I picked up this little gem of a book because Amazon.ca recommended that I read it. Gotta love Amazon!
Through a Glass Darkly - Karleen Koen
Through a Glass Darkly is a historical fiction novel that follows the life of Barbara Alderley. We meet Barbara, or "Bab" as she's often called as a young girl of 15 living with her grandmother at Tamworth, the family home. Her father Kit, has run away in disgrace after the fall of the Stuart cause. Her mother Diana, is disinterested in the lives of her six children and is out in society petitioning for a divorce using any means neccessary to persuade the men of the upper classes to support her petition.
Diana has a bargaining chip in Barbara. With Barbara comes a package of land as a dowry. She decides that she is going to try and get the count, Roger Devane to marry Barbara. After a lot of drama and finagling, Barbara does marry Roger, and comes to learn a deep, dark secret that he has been harbouring for a long time.
This book is long, and it took a while for me to get into it, but once I did I was pretty glad that I read it. There are two other books in the series, a prequel and a sequel, which I am planning on reading in the near future.
Through a Glass Darkly - Karleen Koen
Through a Glass Darkly is a historical fiction novel that follows the life of Barbara Alderley. We meet Barbara, or "Bab" as she's often called as a young girl of 15 living with her grandmother at Tamworth, the family home. Her father Kit, has run away in disgrace after the fall of the Stuart cause. Her mother Diana, is disinterested in the lives of her six children and is out in society petitioning for a divorce using any means neccessary to persuade the men of the upper classes to support her petition.
Diana has a bargaining chip in Barbara. With Barbara comes a package of land as a dowry. She decides that she is going to try and get the count, Roger Devane to marry Barbara. After a lot of drama and finagling, Barbara does marry Roger, and comes to learn a deep, dark secret that he has been harbouring for a long time.
This book is long, and it took a while for me to get into it, but once I did I was pretty glad that I read it. There are two other books in the series, a prequel and a sequel, which I am planning on reading in the near future.
Friday, June 5, 2009
What's on the shelf? Sookie Stackhouse!
For the last few weeks, I've been reading The Southern Vampires series by Charlaine Harris. It was recommended to me by a friend from another blog when I put out a desperate request for somebody to recommend a new series for me to start.
I wandered over to my local Chapters (Danger! Danger!) and bought the shiney new box set that came out in April. It comes with the first 7 books:
I wandered over to my local Chapters (Danger! Danger!) and bought the shiney new box set that came out in April. It comes with the first 7 books:
- Dead Until Dark
- Living Dead in Dallas
- Club Dead
- Dead to the World
- Dead as a Doornail
- Definately Dead
- Altogether Dead
These books are appetizer size, at about 292 pages each, so they are quick reads, but don't pick them up if you are looking for intellectual reading material. They're pretty fluffy.
The series follows Sookie Stackhouse living in a time when vampires have come into the mainstream world. Synthetic blood has been invented by the Japanese so that the vampires do not have to hunt humans to live. Sookie is a telepath, who lost her parents when she was young in a flash flood. She lives with her grandmother in Bon Temps, Louisiana.
Sookie's life changes when one night at Merlotte's (this is the pub she works at) a vampire comes in. From then on, she finds herself wrapped in situations filled with things that she doesn't understand. Turns out that vampires aren't the only supernatural beings out there...
Seriously though, I have enjoyed the series even for all it's fluffiness, and it's been made into the television show, True Blood, which is airing on HBO Canada and stars Anna Pacquin. I bought season 1 of True Blood, since I don't get HBO Canada, and it's not exactly sticking to the books, but meh, who cares?! It's pretty entertaining. Just take it at face level for what it is.
Welcome to Hey, what's on the shelf?
Those of you that know me, know that I love to read.
Those of you that don't know me, now you know I love to read.
So many times I find people asking what I'm reading, and I used to do a book review site a long time ago so if people want to catch up with me and see what I'm reading they could check it out there.
So here I am doing it again.
I try to read 50 books a year, so obviously considering that it is June, I won't be starting from the beginning with the book reviews, and I'll just do them as I go. Hopefully somebody reads this blog other than me! LOL.
Those of you that don't know me, now you know I love to read.
So many times I find people asking what I'm reading, and I used to do a book review site a long time ago so if people want to catch up with me and see what I'm reading they could check it out there.
So here I am doing it again.
I try to read 50 books a year, so obviously considering that it is June, I won't be starting from the beginning with the book reviews, and I'll just do them as I go. Hopefully somebody reads this blog other than me! LOL.
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