Read Em and Eat 2008

I may have mentioned it before, but a lot of the books I review on here are also featured on the Thunder Bay Public Library's blog http://readem2008.blogspot.com. However, I go into a lot more detail on this blog than I do on the TBPL's. So if you're looking for more reviews on books, or just looking to see what other people are reading this summer, go and check it out!

Legions of Hell

Well, this is another book that I decided I could not go to sleep before I had finished it. So once again it was 5am when I went to sleep.

C. J. Cherryh's Legions of Hell was a very interesting read. It's not every day that you come across a novel with Julius Cesar, Cleopatra, Napoleon Bonaparte and a whole host of others running about in a shared Hell. The book was a bit slow to start off, but after I made it about a third of the way through, I found that I didn't want to put it down! Legions of Hell is mainly the story of Brutus, the man who helped assassinate Cesar - but who did not remember anything beyond his 17th year. In Hell, Brutus and Cesar are both given a rare chance to change the history between them for the better.

I am going to complain about the ending though. It didn't really wrap the story up. I'm sure that was because Baen Books or C. J. Cherryh want the reader to keep reading the series. But I was really looking forward to seeing how some things would be resolved; I was very disappointed that that resolution never came.

Bookstore Adventures

Well, I am proud of myself: I went into not one but THREE bookstores yesterday, and I didn't buy any books!!!! And believe me, it's not because there were no books that I wanted....

My friend and I first decided to go to a local used bookstore. While there, I found a book that is in the same series as the one I am currently reading (Legions of Hell by C. J. Cherryh), so it was tempting to buy that (even though I figure I am better off reading the one I have before deciding whether or not I want more). Next we went to Chapters, but nothing really caught my eye (except for a few books I've wanted for awhile). And finally we went to Coles in the mall, where I found You Suck! by Christopher Moore for only $7.99. But I managed to leave it behind! (I figure I'll go back in August and if it's still there for cheap, then I'll pick it up).

Go me!

The Snow Queen

I finished Mercedes Lackey's The Snow Queen last night at about 3:30 am. I just didn't want to put it down, I enjoyed it so much! It was a really happy read, a love story, where everything turns out alright in the end (well, it IS based off of Fairy Tales....most of which turn out alright in the end). There were some parts that were really predictable (a lot of Mercedes Lackey books are like that), but others really took me by surprise. I also really liked that this was the first Tale of the Five Hundred Kingdoms that featured a different Godmother than Elena (although Elena is still in the book of course). This was an excellent read...and it makes me want to reread the actual fairy tale The Snow Queen to see how much of it Lackey used!

Starcraft Ghost: Nova

Alright, so I started reading this a few days ago while on a work break. I got through the prologue, but then didn't pick the book back up for a few days. Then today I picked it up again and read the first chapter before heading out to Sleeping Giant for the day. Finally, on the way home, I started reading. And I found that I couldn't put the book down!

Nova is one of the most powerful Ghost operatives of the Terran dominion. But she was originally a child of one of the Terran Confederacy's ruling families. This book details how her psionic powers manifested themselves, and how she went from her priviledged life to embrace the anonymity of being a Ghost.

Keith DeCandido did an amazing job bringing Nova's back story to life. After reading this, I am now even more disappointed that Starcraft Ghost has been put on hold indefinitely!

The Bookstore Delimma

Well, it appears I have to stay out of bookstores! I wandered into Chapters yesterday to kill some time, and ended up wandering out with two more books! So the List is back up to 99 books!!! This is also because I have been extremely slow with my reading (and busy!) So I have decided that I am going to attempt to stay out of the bookstores until the first week of August! Wish me luck!

Michael Crichton's "Next"

Wow am I slow! I finally (just) finished Next. I found it a bit of a confusing read, as there are many characters who seem unconnected. But it was really good. Pretty much all of the characters were eventually connected in some way and the plot did come together rather well from a bunch of seemingly unrelated stories. Next also really makes you think about a lot of the issues surrounding genetics, the patening of genes, and the disconnect between the legal system and the people the legal system is supposed to serve.