Books finished in February

[fenchurch]

Quantico by Greg Bear
It was not what I was expecting, but was still an enjoyable read. I thought the plot took some rather abrupt twists that made no real sense (and made it somewhat difficult to suspend disbelief) and the ending was a bit unsatisfying... the plot was finished off quite nicely, but I'd gotten involved enough with the characters that I wanted a lot more closure for them (which probably says a lot about how well they were written). It actually felt a bit like it should have been split into two books, or perhaps a larger book with two distinct sections: one to deal with the terrorist plot and the other to deal with the political intrigue. Neither was integrated very well with the other and the latter sort of popped, rather confusingly, into prominence right at the end. The book was almost better for what it could have been than what it was, but I'd still recommend it if you're looking for a near-future action/intrigue story.

A Personal Odyssey by Thomas Sowell
A very interesting memoir that basically recounts moments in Dr. Sowell's life that he believes led him to become the person he is today. Some remarkable insights into life in the mid to late 20th century for an African-American man... following him through his early childhood raised by an aunt he believed to be his mother, dropping out of high school, being drafted into the military, making his way into college to earn a PhD in economics and eventually becoming a professor and an analyst.

House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones
Much, much better than The Game (the last DWJ book I read), although it suffers from the same problem that plagues so many of her books... the story goes along quite nicely until she seems to realize it needs to end, so there's a whirlwind of plot tidying and then the story just stops. Also, I hate to admit (because it's such a nitpicky thing) that I kept getting bugged by the declaration on the cover: "The sequel to Howl's Moving Castle." Shouldn't it be "A sequel"? I mean, Castle in the Air was a really good book (I think it was actually a little bit better than this one, to be honest) and it seems like it's being ignored completely.

All that being said, it was a fun read and overall had a satisfying ending, despite the rush and the fact that she withheld all sorts of information from the reader that made the ending possible.

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull
A fun book with an entertaining plot. The biggest complaint I have is that it uses the convention of the deliberate idiot in order to drive the story, which is something I have a really difficult time reading. It was all I could do to not just skim ahead (and I managed to slog through the worst of it) when the "deliberate idiot" character repeatedly failed to learn from his experiences, meaning he was repeatedly throwing himself and others into danger. The last quarter of the book was a great improvement on the middle and I'm actually looking forward to next book in the series to see where the characters are going to go next.

High Five by Janet Evanovich
Just as good as the last Stephanie Plum book... still a bit overly silly in places, but I'm starting to get used to it, I think. The books really are getting pretty consistent in quality and enjoyability, which is not a bad thing.

Pebble in the Sky by Isaac Asimov
I was a bit surprised by this one... I was expecting to really like it, considering my experience with other Asimov books and with SF&F from that era (I'm actually pretty good about viewing it through the lens of time, knowing that many of the things we now consider to be tired conventions were fresh and new then), but the plot was filled with entirely too many convenient coincidences that were absolutely necessary for the story to happen. It just stretched my suspension of disbelief a little too far...

It felt a bit like Asimov had a handful of ideas that he wanted to explore and tossed them all in the same book, meaning he was unable to actually fully pursue any of them. The book left me feeling fairly unsatisfied and with an urge to read some Heinlein, who can always be counted on to deliver on the follow-through.

I'm really quite pleased with the rate I'm getting through my Teetering Pile. I'm still not reading anywhere near as much as I used to, but I feel like I'm finally starting to redevelop the habit of reading... I no longer have to force myself to pick up the next book when I finish the last (not because it's a chore, but because it simply had stopped coming naturally).

I think I'd better look at tackling Twilight sometime soon... I've been putting it off as long as possible, but my niece has started to seriously pester me about it.

Comments

[rahirah]

I always thought, when I was younger, that I must just be dim because DWJ's endings often seemed muddled and abrupt. Since the beginnings an middles were so awesome, obviously any problem with the ending had to be my problem...

[gillo]

She always brings her key characters together in unexpected ways and forces a conclusion. Sometimes it works well, sometimes you can see the cogs, gears and ropes of the story in operation. I still adore her books, though.

[rosiewook.livejournal.com]

Isn't it wild how much reading is a habit? As a kid, I never had "trouble" reading. I tore through them.

Then, when college hit, I got out of the casual reading habit and have struggled with it ever since.

And I find that very sad.

(Still hasn't stopped me from buying more books, though!)

[tomte.livejournal.com]

"I think I'd better look at tackling Twilight sometime soon... I've been putting it off as long as possible, but my niece has started to seriously pester me about it."

I finally did the same (incidentally, because my niece was seriously pestering me about it)... don't expect to be pleasantly surprised. Simple, poorly-written teen wish fulfillment fantasy, IMO.