2009 October 07 » Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog

Challenge completed! The Final Frontier Reading Challenge

Posted by Anastasia on October 7, 2009 No Responses »

Oct 072009

I’ve finished my third reading challenge of this year: the Final Frontier Reading Challenge (Space Odity level) hosted by Becky of Becky’s Book Reviews. It took me the full amount of days granted (plus an extra one), but I had a lot of fun.

Probably the best thing to come from this challenge was that it forced me to read an Isaac Asimov book (actually four). I think I’ve found a new author to become obsessed with! I had no idea his books were so good– I’ve heard that they were, and I know how important a writer he was, and I’ve read some stories set in his world(s), but I’ve never actually read any of his books before. And I’m glad I did! I’ll have some reviews up on the books I read (Foundation series #1-4) soon-ish so you can see why.

Here’s the final list of the books I read for this challenge, with links to any reviews I’ve posted for them:
1. Interstellar Patrol – Christopher Anvil
2. Earthseed – Pamela Sargent
3. March Upcountry – David Weber & John Ringo
4. Foundation – Isaac Asimov
5. Foundation and Empire – Isaac Asimov
6. Second Foundation – Isaac Asimov
7. Foundation’s Edge – Isaac Asimov

I’m probably going to continue with the Foundation series for now, but are there any other Asimov books I should definitely read? (Maybe not on the I, Robot side of things.) I think I have his autobiography, as well.

Haiku Reviews: Million Dollar Baby, Whose Body?, A Total Waste of Makeup

Posted by Anastasia on October 7, 2009 No Responses »

Oct 072009

Did you like my last haiku review post? Eh? Well, I had a lot of fun with it, and I’ve decided to do it again! This time I’m doing a more loose version: instead of lines of 5-7-5 syllables, I’m doing short-long-short lines (see here).

This was actually a bit harder than I thought it’d be. Do these sound like proper haikus? Or do they just sound like crappy pseudo-poems? (Help?)

Million Dollar Baby by Amy Patricia Meade
Publication: MIDNIGHT INK (April 1, 2006), Paperback, 384 pages / ISBN 0738708607
Genre: Mystery
Rating:
Find @ Amazon or IndieBound
Read: July 2009
Source: Library

I really wanted to like this.
Mystery writer solves mystery in 1920′s? Awesome!
But this wasn’t.

Everything was forced.
Mystery, setting, people were boring.
Cover was the best part.

Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers
Publication: HarperTorch (June 21, 1995), Paperback, 224 pages / ISBN 0061043575
Genre: Mystery/Detective
Rating:
Find @ Amazon or IndieBound
Read: July 2009
Source: Library

I like the short stories,
And I was expecting this to be the same.
It’s a little different.

Not as snappy
Nor as fun as the shorts; it dragged a little.
But the mystery was good.

I still love Lord Peter,
And I’ll definitely read the rest,
But this was a bit dull.

A Total Waste of Makeup by Kim Gruenenfelder
Publication: St. Martin’s Griffin (December 27, 2005), Paperback, 384 pages / ISBN 031234872X
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Beach Read
Rating:
Find @ Amazon or IndieBound
Read: July 2009
Source: Library Book Sale