2010 May » Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog

TSS (May 30): Summertime blahs

Posted by Anastasia on May 30, 2010 No Responses »

May 302010

Things I feel like doing: listening to wizard rock.
Things I don’t feel like doing: blogging, writing reviews, reading books (ironically enough).

So basically this summer is turning out like last summer, when I barely blogged at all and one time entirely forgot to post anything for about a week. Huzzah! Or not. Summer just makes me want to laze around and surf the web/watch movies/not do anything like “work” (although I still do have to work) and that mindset isn’t very conducive to Getting Stuff Done. But I don’t want to fall too behind on my reviews (again) so I’m setting myself a schedule: write one review a day. And that’s it. I can do that, surely! Right? Right.

Ironically enough, as soon as I wrote that I decided to a) get away from the computer and b) turn off the TV so I can read without any distractions. Now if I could just figure out a way to write a review without any distractions, either…

Books read this week:
120. The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole – Susan Townsend [rating: 3.5/5]
121. True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole – Susan Townsend [rating: 3.5/5]
122. Blood of Ambrose – James Enge [rating: 4.5/5]
123. The Lost Conspiracy – Frances Hardinge [rating: 5/5]

Books reviewed this week:
115. Darklost – Mick Farren [rating: 3/5] %

Mount TBR Stats
3 books conquered
37 books conquered total
1 additions
0 subtractions
313 books remaining

Currently reading: Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev. Magical theatre stuff! I’m only 20 or so pages in and have no idea what’s going on, but I love the quirkiness and can’t wait to get to the next chapter.

Thursday Tea (May 27): The Lost Conspiracy

Posted by Anastasia on May 27, 2010 No Responses »

May 272010

Thursday Tea is a weekly meme hosted by yours truly. To play along, all you need is some tea, a book, and the answers to these questions: what tea are you drinking (and do you like it)? What book are you reading (and do you like it)? Tell us a little about your tea and your book, and whether or not the two go together.

The book: I’m about 160 pages into The Lost Conspiracy, Frances Hardinge’s newest book. I’ve been saving it since at least October, and now I’ve decided it’s the right time to read it. The plot just did a 180 turn on me, so I’m not entirely sure what the heck’s going on yet but it’s fast-paced and intense and I’m kinda scared– so believe me when I say that I’m really enjoying it!

The tea: I’ve deliberately made myself a cup of tea this afternoon (as well as my requisite coffee), though if I had thought about it more I would have chosen something that fit better with the pseudo-Polynesian/Western European setting in The Lost Conspiracy. I chose my favorite vanilla tea, though I think it’s gone a bit off since the last time I drank it (last…November, I think?).

Do they go together? Like I said, if I had been thinking over it more I would have grabbed something like a blood orange tea– something with citrus-y flavors, because that’s what I always associate with islands formed via volcanic eruption. My vanilla tea is lovely, but I think I need something stronger tasting for this story; it’s so vibrant and energetic that my tea needs to keep up with it more than the vanilla does!

What are you drinking/reading this Thursday?

Review: Darklost by Mick Farren

Posted by Anastasia on May 24, 2010 No Responses »

May 242010

115. Darklost by Mick Farren
Publication: Tor Books (March 2000), Hardback, 412pp / ISBN 0312869797
Genre: Horror, Paranormal, Fantasy/Sci-Fi
Rating:
Read: May 9-13, 2010
Source: Bought
Summary from Amazon:

Los Angeles–City of Angels, city of dreams. But sometimes the dreams become nightmares.

Having fled New York, Victor Renquist and his small group of Nosferatu are striving to reestablish their Colony in Los Angeles. They have become a deeper, darker part of the city’s nightlife. And Hollywood’s glitterati are hot on the scent of a new thrill, one that outshines all others–immortality.

But someone, somewhere, is meddling with even darker powers, powers that even the Nosferatu fear. Someone is attempting to summon the entity of ancient evil known at Cthulhu.

And Renquist must overcome dissent in his own Colony, solve the riddle of the Darklost (a being brought partway along the Nosferatu path and then abandoned), and combat powerful enemies to save the world–of humans!

Previously: The Time of Feasting

Review

It’s been a while since I read the first Renquist book– in fact, The Time of Feasting was the first book review I ever posted here!– but I remembered enough to continue onward in the series with this second book. Now, unfortunately I didn’t like Darklost as much as I did the first book, mostly because of the Cthulhu thing which annoyed me for some reason. I can see that it was incorporating more classic horror stuff, but it was almost like namedropping, and so it was very distracting.

I did appreciate the vampires, who were real vampires that are scary and disgusting and who kill people, who don’t try to hide what they are and don’t apologize for being something other than human. They also still retain that weird attractiveness that makes people like vampires in the first place, so it’s not a complete dovetailing of modern vampire fiction dynamics.

I also liked the plot, kind of. Like I said, the Cthulhu thing was annoying and I think some other details in the book were sort of…dated, maybe? Darklost was written in 2000 but some details feel like those late 1980s/early 1990s supernatural novels that stuck in a lot of S&M/gothic stuff to make it more “exciting.” It sort of felt like The Crow mixed with an early Anne Rice book– in atmosphere, I mean, not in plot, necessarily.

Okay, that was confusing. But I hope I made myself at least a little bit clear? Anyway, Darklost starts off slow and doesn’t really pick up until somewhere around the middle, which is why it took me so long to read; I actually put it down for a few days and read something else. And though I wasn’t enamoured with the main storyline, the character dynamics changed so much within the course of the book that I’m still interested in finishing the series, mostly just so I can see what happens next with Renquist’s colony, which is really the best part of the whole series. I could do without most of the secondary characters, honestly.

And

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I’m never sure whether to count this series as sci-fi or not, since it has aliens in it but they’re more horror-aliens than anything else. Ugh, genre confusion~

TSS (May 23): Nerds Heart YA and other interesting stuff

Posted by Anastasia on May 23, 2010 No Responses »

May 232010

So the brackets for the Nerds Heart YA tournament were announced this weekend. I’m judging along with Danielle from Opinionated? Me?– we’ve decided on doing a split review kind of thing! Fun times, yeah. We’re reading Evil? and Devil’s Kiss, neither of which are familiar to me (which is partly the point) and both of which seem very intense. Yay!

In other news, the results from last Sunday’s poll are split between The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Corrections. Since Dorian was read before The Corrections I’ll write that review first; I’ve actually got about half of it written out already, although it’s not particularly enjoyable to read, yet. Thanks to everyone who voted!

You may have noticed that despite my lamenting about not being able to write a review, I did in fact write about five of them in a row earlier this week in a fit of productivity. I have no idea how I did it, but I’m hoping to replicate it again for this upcoming week. I’ve got a LOT of books from April that need to be reviewed. Sigh.

So, how has your week been? Did you get a lot of reading done? Are you better at writing timely reviews than I am? Ugh.

Books read this week:
117. The Little Lady Agency – Hester Greene [rating: 3.5/5] %
118. Meeting Faith: The Forest Journals of a Black Buddhist Nun – Faith Adiele [rating: 5/5]
119. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 – Susan Townsend [rating: 3.5/5]

Books reviewed this week:
111. Changeless – Gail Carriger [rating: 4/5]
112. Rough Guide First-Time Around the World – Doug Lansky [rating: 4.5/5]
113. Go Your Own Way: Women Travel the World Solo [rating: 4.5/5]
114. Wanderlust and Lipstick: The Essential Guide for Women Traveling Solo – Beth Whitman [rating: 2/5]

Mount TBR Stats
2 books conquered
34 books conquered total
0 additions
0 subtractions
316 books remaining

Currently reading:
I’m working my way through an Adrian Mole omnibus, which has four of the books in it (there are eight books in the series total). It’s a fun series, although Adrian is a twat and his personality makes reading his diary a chore sometimes. Apparently there’s a TV series adaptation of several of the diaries, which I REALLY want to see. I wonder if I could get it from the library…

Review: Wanderlust and Lipstick: The Essential Guide for Women Traveling Solo by Beth Whitman

Posted by Anastasia on May 22, 2010 1 Response »

May 222010

114. Wanderlust and Lipstick: The Essential Guide for Women Traveling Solo by Beth Whitman
Publication: Dispatch Travels; Second edition (May 15, 2009), Paperback, 229pp / ISBN 0978728068
Genre: Non-Fiction, Travel
Rating:
Read: May 12-13, 2010
Source: Library
Summary from Amazon:

Designed for women of all ages traveling for business, pleasure, or family, this indispensable travel handbook offers encouragement, lighthearted anecdotes, and numerous travel-tested tips. Drawing upon 20 years of travel experience, the guide includes a wealth of information—including how to budget and save money, pack the necessities, and apply for passports and visas—as well as a full list of website resources and advice on the latest travel technology. This travel resource is the ultimate manual for any female traveler embarking on a journey by herself.

Review

I feel like I’ve rated this book unfairly. It wasn’t what I needed in a general travel guide, and so I pushed the rating down because I was dissatisfied. But at the same time, I don’t think it’s as good a guide as it could have been, certainly nothing like Vagabonding.

The problem is that The Essential Guide for Women Traveling Solo seems to have been written for professional women somewhere in their 30s, women who have steady jobs and responsibilities and whatnot. And even though it SAID it was also for college students and women in their 20s (or women even in their 50s), it didn’t feel like it applied to me. It also seemed more focused on the shorter vacation type of traveling, not long term traveling like I’m going to be doing. Not that that’s a bad thing; it’s just not what I was looking for. So, because it was geared more towards the business woman instead of the just-out-of-college woman (hi!), I didn’t get anything new out of it. Plus, the majority of info wasn’t specifically geared towards women’s needs during travel, which is ALSO what I was looking for.

Even if I WAS a business woman, I think the information presented in the book is way too vague to be of any use except maybe as a starting point for deeper research into traveling. The best part of the book was the small anecdotal sections included in each chapter, where real woman travelers talked about going solo. And the writing style, while not quite my cup of tea, was friendly and entertaining.

So, basically, it wasn’t what I needed or wanted and my irritation at that made me feel rather harsh towards this book. If I WAS the target audience I think I would have given it…a 3.5 or 4 bird rating. Maybe. It’s hard to say, because I can’t entirely put myself in the mind of a business woman who only has two weeks to travel and needs to figure out how to do it solo. But I think she would have like The Essential Guide for Women Traveling Solo a little bit more than I did.

And

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Other reviews: My Several Worlds | Vagabondish | Working Your Way Around the World

Review: Go Your Own Way: Women Travel the World Solo

Posted by Anastasia on May 21, 2010 3 Responses »

May 212010

113. Go Your Own Way: Women Travel the World Solo, edited by Faith Conlon, Ingrid Emerick, and Christina Henry de Tessan
Publication: Seal Press (May 4, 2007), Paperback, 280pp / ISBN 1580051995
Genre: Non-Fiction, Travel, Memoir
Rating:
Read: May 10-12, 2010
Source: Library
Summary from Amazon:

There is nothing quite like hitting the road by yourself to awaken your senses, sharpen your mind, and build your confidence. In twenty-three beautifully crafted essays, women recount the thrills of traveling solo.

Despite threat-assessment levels and airport-security hassles, women of all generations are traveling more freely and independently than ever before. In that go-for-it spirit, Go Your Own Way spans the globe: adventure diva Holly Morris finds herself lost in the jungles of Borneo, alone with her thoughts and a cold-blooded companion; Lara Triback’s quest to learn the tango takes her to the late-night dance floors of Buenos Aires; Stephanie Griest finds female friends invaluable in her journey through Uzbekistan; and Amy Balfour recounts a hilarious trek up Yosemite’s Half Dome.

The writers in Go Your Own Way pay tribute to the empowerment of independent adventure and discovery, offering up the perfect antidote for today’s climate of fear and international discord. All the while, they show that alone doesn’t have to mean lonely.

Review

I normally enjoy travel narratives that have a purpose beyond just talking about what the author did in whatever place they were at: I especially like ones that show a personal or spiritual growth, or ones that have a “lesson,” or even ones that just want to explain what that place was like. Travel stories that are simply “I went here and then I did this, and wasn’t that thing weird” are boring to me, so imagine how freakin’ happy I was when Go Your Own Way gave me exactly what I wanted!

As with any anthology, Go Your Own Way has hits and misses, but the hits are the sort of stories that will stay with me for a while, and so I can forgive the misses for not being as good as the hits. What I enjoyed most about Go Your Own Way was, of course, that it was focused on solo women travelers, who I don’t think get quite enough (good) publicity as they should. I loved reading about all these different women, some with families and some without, traveling around the world on their own and being absolutely fine with it. In fact, every single one of them said they preferred traveling alone, although of course they had feelings of loneliness sometimes (everyone does, I suppose).

Just like how reading general travel guides helps me feel more confidant about traveling, reading about solo female travelers makes me feel more confidant about traveling solo myself! Traveling alone isn’t without its scary moments, but the personal growth that nearly every traveler, solo or otherwise, goes through in their journeys just makes me want to travel even more. And I do think I would travel better alone, at least most of the time– I like being with my family and friends but for personal growth, and not just sightseeing, I need to be alone. Go Your Own Way has pretty much convinced me of that!

Bottom line: Go Your Own Way is a fantastic anthology about solo female travelers, with anecdotes and inspirational stories that aren’t cheesy, and with a wonderful variety of voices and writing styles. I dare anyone to read this book and not come away with something, even if it’s just a new perspective on a country.

And

Get your own copy @ Amazon or IndieBound and support Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog!

Nearly all the authors in Go Your Own Way have written entire books about their travels, and I’m pretty much just working my way through them with help from inter-library loan. Seal Press looks like a really good publisher, too, which means I’ll just have to add a ton of more books to my wishlist!

Thursday Tea (May 20): Meeting Faith

Posted by Anastasia on May 20, 2010 No Responses »

May 202010

The book: I’m currently engrossed in Meeting Faith: The Forest Journals of a Black Buddhist Nun. It’s less self-help spiritual guide and more (really awesome) memoir, but I must admit that Faith’s experiences with Buddhism and how it ties into her life/personality/memories/etc really did touch something in me– spirituality-wise, I mean. But that’s almost beside the point; Meeting Faith is superbly written, extremely informative (about Buddhist nuns in Thailand, Buddhism, faith, etc), and really just fun to read. I’ve actually been reading slower than normally so I can hang onto it for a little bit more, but I’m about 50 pages from the end now and figure I might as well finish it today.

Here’s a summary, because my ramblings aren’t good enough to give you an idea of what Meeting Faith is actually about:

A wry account of the road from Harvard scholarship student to ordination as northern Thailand’s first black Buddhist nun.

Reluctantly leaving behind Pop Tarts and pop culture to battle flying rats, hissing cobras, forest fires, and decomposing corpses, Faith Adiele shows readers in this personal narrative, with accompanying journal entries, that the path to faith is full of conflicts for even the most devout. Residing in a forest temple, she endured nineteen-hour daily meditations, living on a single daily meal, and days without speaking. Internally Adiele battled against loneliness, fear, hunger, sexual desire, resistance to the Buddhist worldview, and her own rebellious Western ego.

Adiele demystifies Eastern philosophy and demonstrates the value of developing any practice—Buddhist or not. This “unlikely, bedraggled nun” moves grudgingly into faith, learning to meditate for seventy-two hours at a stretch. Her witty, defiant twist on the standard coming-of-age tale suggests that we each hold the key to overcoming anger, fear, and addiction; accepting family; redefining success; and re-creating community and quality of life in today’s world.

I’m completely in love with it (and the author!), so go out and get a copy for yourself STAT.

The tea: Honestly, I should probably just rename this meme into “Coffee Thursdays” because that’s all I seem to be drinking lately. I love coffee, but it’s almost useless for a tea meme.

Do they go together? Yes, coffee does go with Meeting Faith, because Faith still drinks (instant) coffee even when she gets into the.– I guess you’d call it a nunnery/monastery?– retaining her Western roots while trying to lay down Eastern ones. Eventually I think she throws even the coffee away, preferring to drink only water/juice. So, yeah!

What are you drinking/reading this Thursday?