Bimbos of the Death Sun by Sharyn Mccrumb

I have very mixed feelings about the book. I can't decide whether I like it or hate it. It's a clever premise. It is a murder mystery set at a science fiction convention. The title of the book (and it's a great title) is also the title of a book written by a minor author invited to the con; he is our protagonist. However, the author's agent/editor/girlfriend seems to be voice of this book's author, Sharon Mccrumb. And she's annoying.

And this is where my mixed feelings mostly come in. She seems to have a very cliche view of con-goers, incredibly judgemental about what losers they all are. The geeks are all superfically characterized. At the same time, I had to admit I'd met con-goers like those portrayed. Thus I was constantly bouncing back and forth between offense and laughter.

As for the tale itself, I liked the premise. It was a fairly interesting read (I don't normally read murder mysteries), and they way the killer was brought to light at the end (through a Dungeons and Dragons game) was a great idea. Unfortunately, the events at the very end of the game when the murderer is revealed led me to roll my eyes. I didn't buy it. I think that the suspension of disbelief was lost because of the weak characterization. We as readers had not been given a deep enough understanding of the murderer - or any of the characters, for that matter - to accept what was then told us about what he did and his motivation.

So... mixed feelings. Clever premise, fairly good read, but weak characterization, which damages the entire story.

Double Star by Robert A. Heinlein

Good book. It's a tale about an actor who is hired to impersonate a politician who has been kidnapped. His kidnapping threatens the relationship between Earth and Mars because the Martians have an intensely ritualistic culture that makes it impossible to just not show up for an impending important ceremony, and this politician is expected to participate in this ceremony.

I had a hard time getting into this book. For the first half of the book, I thought it was quite dull and was disappointed. I just wasn't caring about the actor - actually, he was kind of annoying, and he wasn't supposed to be annoying. But then around the midpoint, I suddenly got really into the story and quite enjoyed the rest of it. The ending was predictable, but it was a good enough tale that I didn't mind.

Indecision by Benjamin Kunkel

Painfully boring. I didn't finish it, and I generally don't write a review about books I don't finish, but I feel the need to warn people away from it. I kept thinking the story would have a point and get better, but finally gave up about midway through. It's about a guy who can't make decisions and just sort of stumbles through life. Plot? Who needs it. Interesting characters? Waste of brain power. Abundant profanity and vulgarity? Got it.

The few hours I spent reading it, thinking it would get better, have been pointlessly lost forever, and I'm bitter.

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

Pure fluff chick lit, but I liked it. It made me happy I have absolutely no connections to the fashion world, though. I read some reviews where the reader found it an annoying book because the narrator didn't realize how out-of-touch she was from reality, but I think I understood the narrator's perspective better than the perspectives of her friends and family and became annoyed with them for not getting how important this was to her. It was a fun read.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson

Since it's Christmas-time, I wanted to read something Christmas-y. I haven't read this book since I was a wee beastie, so I broke out the book Saturday. Yep, it's still a fun, good story.

Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling by Richard Bushman

Excellent.

History just isn't something that interests me, especially American history after the Revolutionary War (ancient Greece and Rome are much worse than American history and make me want to poke my eyes out with a spork, but Europe earlier than 1200 AD and Asian history are quite fascinating). Thus, Church history gets folded into the category of "boring" and I generally ignore it. But this book was such the hot item, I gave in and read it. I learned quite a bit from the book. Nothing was particularly shocking; I love studying LDS doctrine, and Church history gets sprinkled in when you study that. However, it provided more detail and context than I'd previously known.

Context is the thing Bushman is quite good with, and it makes all the difference. He provides a contextual interpretation of why Joseph did what he did and how he became who he was. He firmly places Joseph in the human category, and yet as believing readers, we see how he was a prophet despite his humanity. It's inspiring, actually, providing hope to us mere mortals who hope to be great (or even just kinda good and not a waste of carbon).

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Brilliant. This is a kids story, and I would have adored it when I was a kid, but I loved it as an adult, too. It's a short, easy read, as you would expect for a kids story. Like all of Neil Gaiman's books (he is one of my favorite authors, and I read this in my attempt to read everything he has written - I haven't quite been able to convince myself to read his graphic novels, though), this is a tale of an altered, bizarre, fantastic world just a heartbeat away from the world we know. In this case, a young girl finds her way into a duplicate world where the Other Mother has trapped her, some dead children, and her parents. It's a creepy story, and a lot of fun. I'd recommend it for kids and adults.

Plane Insanity by Elliott Hester

Hahahahaha! That's what I thought of this book. Human beings are idiots. And as long as they are not idiots around me, idiots provide good laughter.

The author has been a flight attendant for the past 20 years (I think), and he has seen almost everything. There are, of course, tales of sex in the air, but there is a lot more that he goes into. It provided a few hours of laughter, so I enjoyed the book.

Candyfreak by Steve Almond

Eh. The info about the candy world is actually quite interesting, and I enjoyed learning about the realm of candy makers. However, he takes far too many random diversions that have only the tiniest of connections to the theme of the book. Far, far too many. If he cut those out, it would be a greatly improved book. It would also no longer be a book, but that wouldn’t be a bad thing. With the harsh hand of a good editor, this would make an excellent long article in a magazine like Atlantic Monthly. Also, I find the very casual tone of voice kind of annoying. That tone isn’t entirely out of place considering the fact that this is a book about the author’s obsession with candy and his explorations of candy makers, which is not exactly a serious topic, but still the casual tone just seems to go too far.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Fascinating novel. It's a story told in the first person from the perspective of an autistic teenage boy. The story itself is interesting - he's investigating who killed his neighbor's dog and finds out a much more difficult secret and has to deal with what he learns - but it's also a fascinating character study in how someone with such different experiences thinks. Definitely recommended.

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

Not bad. Not worth all the hype, but that's what I'd heard. Still, a fairly entertaining read, but the ending was less than satisfactory. There is no way this book could have lived up to its hype, so I tried to keep very low expectations. That's they only reason it was enjoyable at all. Foucault's Pendulum, a book with a similar theme, is much better.

I am baffled, though, why this book seems to be so popular in Mormon circles. I understand being drawn to the idea that Christ was married, as that idea is fair game within LDS theology, but there are so many other ideas in the book that are definitely contrary to LDS theology. As long as you read the book as fiction (which is how I take it) then there isn't a problem. Unfortunately, it seems that people (LDS or otherwise) are up in arms or all excited because they forget that it is a novel, not a history book. Weird.

But not a bad escape book for a few hours.

The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson

I'm definitely going to work my way through all his books. I love 'em. I particularly like his style of travel: wandering. It's the way I prefer to explore when I travel. I'm not really a tour group person. He's got humor. He loves travel. I enjoy his writing. What more could you ask for? This book covered a few months he spent wandering by car around the continental U.S., searching for the perfect small town America. I'd recommend everything by him, even the stuff I haven't yet read.

So You Want to be a Wizard by Diane Duane

Not bad. This is a kids book that has been recommended as something that kids who like Harry Potter would like. Though it isn't as engaging as the HP books, this wasn't a bad story. It's about a couple kids who are misfits who decide to become wizards after, having the wizard-type personalities that let them see that there are such things as wizards, saying the oath that gives them the info on how to do wizarding things.

Then they save the world.

Okay, there's a lot that goes on. There's a white hole that gets pulled into our world, and he's just really cute. I want one. And there are these interesting parallel universes.

Anyway, not a bad book. I'm not screaming out to read the rest of the books in the series, but I might.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

SPOILER SAFE -- Loved it. However, this was probably my least favorite book, and that's because the ship was out of control. I get that they are teenagers, but does it really have to play that big a role in the story? (IMO, the answer is no.) It was like mediocre fanfic. I kept expecting JK Rowling to throw in some slash, like many a fanfic-er. Ugh. She also went with the most blindingly obvious matches. I have to say, though, the HP fandom wank has been amusing.

But aside from that, the rest of the story was great. However, with what has been set up, book 7 has to be excellent, or this book will drop down into the category of blech. Just looking at this book, without taking into account what it seems to be building up to, it was a good story. There was a lot more explication than in the other books. Aside from the out-of-control ship, not much happens until the last 200 pages; that's it's greatest weakness (the ship, I mean - the explication was actually interesting). There wasn't much character growth in this novel, though.

Egypt Books

I'm too lazy to list them all, and none were so outstanding as to stand out, so this is just a general entry. They were vaguely enlightening, but I'm now sick of the basic books. They covered hieroglyphics, mythology, and history. I've got a few more that should offer some more indepth info, and that's what I'm after now. I am, however, grateful to Angela to have loaned these to me.