6 Month Review

Well, it's been six months since I started this project, and I've learned a couple of things. One, I don't read the amount of quality books that I thought I did. Two, I don't actually read as much as I thought I did (although I think that moving and not taking the bus anymore has a big hand in that, and also having graduated and taken on a real job without the time between classes to read too is responsible). Third, I have gotten more stringent with my stupid rating system. I hope Meg Cabot isn't out there crying herself to sleep somewhere because I gave her crappy book two whatevers out of five. Finally, keeping up and remembering what books I've read, and what they were about is harder than I thought.

So far in 2009...

The best book has been The Observations, with The Forgotten Garden in second place. I love me some historical novels.

The worst book has been Revelations, with that Jill Mansell and Ransom my Heart tied for second. I read some crappy crap.

Coming up this summer (or so my bedside table tells me)...

New Sarah Dessen (big tortured teen "Yesssss!" on that)
New Jennifer Weiner
Some more tortured historical novels with plucky heroines, no doubt
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - probably going to be the best and most important book I ever read.
My required summertime classic - I haven't decided what it will be yet, but am taking suggestions if you have an idea...

Being Nikki

You didn't think the stream of adult books could carry on forever, could you?

Well, Meg Cabot, here we are. I have an interesting relationship with you - at your worst you are ridiculous and cheesy, and make me feel dumber for having wasted time on your drivel (see Ransom My Heart). However, at your best, while not going to win the Orange Prize, keeps me pretty entertained. This was one of your better efforts.

As with any Meg Cabot review, I won't get into plot specifics - all you need to know is that it involves a brain transplant (oh, come on!) and every 14 year old girl's fantasy life. That's not to say that while completely and laughably outrageous, it wasn't fun to read. Yes, I probably could have found a better way to spend that two hours of my life than reading Meg Cabot's teen fiction, but it was just so freaking fun I couldn't help myself. I have decided to look at books like these as my ice cream sandwich of the literary world - one occasionally is really great and enjoyable, but repeated consumption will just make me bloated and full of shit.

On the Meg Cabot/Teen Fiction scale, I give this one four dreamy but appropriately aged gentlemen all competing for the heroine's love out of five. On the Real Book Scale, I give it a mediocre two and a half Hannah Montana posters out of five. It's not great literature, people. Ahhhh, fun though...

Grave Goods

Next up was the newest installment into the Mistress in the Art of Death series, a kind of CSI in 12th century Britain.

The best thing about these books is that they are well written, and very well researched. The mystery that is the backbone of the story isn't usually predictable as you would need some level of understanding of 12th century history in order to put it all together.

The time lines of this book are a bit bizarre, in that one minute you are in one place, and then somehow it's a month later - it is pretty jarring. Other than that, good times. I giggled out loud a few times, the characters are all pretty well rounded and have their individual quirks, and rarely act outside of the way they've been written. Other than a few minor cop-outs, overall I had an entertaining few hours reading this, and I would recommend the series to people like me who are both history dorks and enjoy a good bit of intrigue.

three and a half excaliburs out of five.

Church of Lies

Changing the pace from fluffy girl novels, I next read this book on the FLDS and polygamy in the United States by Flora Jessop, a former FLDS member and current activist against the group.

Again, I love this stuff - these people are so messed up, and reading about how they've been manipulated interests me to no end. This isn't my first volume (as is evidenced in my blog history) on the topic, but it is probably the most angry. By all accounts, the author led a very horrific life, both prior to leaving the cult and afterwards, in her drug abuse and dead-end relationships.

While I am sure that everything she speaks of actually happened to her, it was written with a mix of self-congratulation and a great deal of not-unjustified anger. Most memorably, it was a bit bizarre and completely horrifying to read explicit details of her father's sexual abuse of her. While I think that it is necessary for the truth of how these girls, women (and men and boys) are abused and manipulated to be told, I think she loses some gravitas in her arguments just by writing with such a strongly biased tone. Of course, she IS biased, based upon her own personal history, but I think her issues have blocked the accessibility of her book which will ultimately do a disservice to those people that she is trying to help.

Other than that, I thought she had some valid points. The one that sticks in my mind most is her thought that the only people to come out of the FLDS and stay out successfully are for the most part the kids. By the time women reach adulthood, they are too strongly brainwashed against the outside and, for the most part, can not function in the real world. I think there is some truth in that - it seems that only those who have questioned the lifestyle since early childhood can make a life outside with any degree of success and adaptability. Everyone else seems doomed to go back into what essentially amounts to a form of slavery.

I am giving Church of Lies two ratings - two crazy religious rants out of five for the writing, but four holy pairs of underwear out of five for the message. P.S., Flora, I think you should fire your ghostwriter.

The Temptation of the Night Jasmine

I believe this is the fourth (or is it fifth) installment in Lauren Willig's series on regency mysteries. Think of her books as kind of a cross between Meg Cabot and the Scarlet Pimpernel, and you'd get the idea.

I picked up her first book, The Secret History of the Pink Carnation several years ago while killing time on Whyte Ave in Edmonton, and I enjoyed it for a) it took place in on of my favourite eras, the Regency; b) it was entertaining; and c) it was a bit sexy.

The further volumes more or less follow the same standard - going between the present day story of an American grad student and her dissertation topic of Regency-era spies, and the actual spies she studies, young ladies of a certain class gadding about the British Isles solving mysteries. Kind of like Scooby Doo, but with more corsets and less mystery machine.

This most recent incarnation does not disappoint, although it doesn't exactly blow your mind either. It's better than a couple previous volumes, but doesn't quite capture the charm of the first. My biggest complaint - not sexy enough. Now, it's not like I am some sort of maniac, but a girl likes a bit of gratuitous sex once in a while - why put that in your first volume and then back away in further efforts? Talk about frustrating.

Anyway, for delivering what it should, but no more, I give this book two and a half hidden stilettos out of five, and a big fat chastity belt thrown in sexual frustration. I like a little blush with my plucky and historically inaccurate, mystery-solving heroines thank you very much.

Every Secret Thing

This book, a political mystery by Canadian Emma Cole, is basically about my fantasy life as a plucky young journalist travelling the world, uncovering diabolical schemes dating back to yore and yesteryere.

Traveling between both WWII and present day, as well as all over Europe and North America, it was refreshing to read a book in this genre that focused on more than just the American or British perspective and had some sort of historical basis of understanding in Canada's role in the war (intelligence in particular). While it didn't have the requisite visit to the Imperial War Museum that I feel all thrillers about WWII that take place in London should, it still proved satisfying.

Overall, a decent first novel that fit well in the political thriller genre and kept me entertained - if only my life were that cool.

Three secret identities out of five, with the "Sceptre of Can-con" raised in acknowledgement. Now where's my plane ticket to Europe, where a handsome stranger can pseudo-stalk me and eventually save my life (and we can make out too)?

The Forgotten Garden

This was an actual, real, decent book that I read (especially after all the sludge lately). Yet another historical mystery, it was well written, intrguing and had
more to offer than straight up escapism.

It centred around the story of a small girl who is abandoned on a ship to Australia from England in 1913. Upon her arrival, she is taken in by the dockmaster and his wife, and raised as their own.

The book jumps around in time, from 1900 all the way to 2005, with various dates in between. This story of family and betrayal, told through the search of a woman for the real story of her grandmother's history was actually pretty riveting, and I was right with it for pretty much the entire thing.

That isn't to say it didn't have it's faults - it ran a bit long and could definitely have used a bit of trimming. Overall, I enjoyed this book and read it a lot faster than anything else in the last little while. Maybe this is the key, read actual good books instead of tripe - you end up reading more.

Regardless, good read, a bit more dense than the past few and I didn't have the mystery figured out until the end. I give it 4 creepy hair-filled Victorian brooches out of 5.