http://www.goodreads.com/review/list_rss/136058 en-US Mon, 28 Jul 2008 21:30:04 -0700 60 http://www.goodreads.com/ 200 41 http://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/gr_logo.gif 18424819 Mon, 28 Jul 2008 21:30:04 -0700
My favourite parts were the conversations among the AI Minds of the space ships. Their strange names and personalities really kept me entertained, way more than the human characters.]]>
author: Iain M. Banks
name: Jillian
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1998
rating: 4
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/28/08
shelves:
review:
This book is really nifty and really complicated, I had to do a lot of thinking to understand the plot, but it was really really cool. It was frustrating to be on the fringe of understanding what was going on, but almost getting it, for most of the book - I could see that being really annoying.

My favourite parts were the conversations among the AI Minds of the space ships. Their strange names and personalities really kept me entertained, way more than the human characters.
]]> 27018620 Sat, 12 Jul 2008 00:05:20 -0700
author: Barbara Kingsolver
name: Jillian
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1993
rating: 4
read at: 06/08
date added: 07/12/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 8505599 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:03:50 -0700
author: Stephen King
name: Jillian
average rating: 3.59
book published: 1998
rating: 2
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/30/08
shelves:
review:
So it seems I just don't like Steven King's books very much. The narrator lacked depth, so I had trouble believing a lot of his thought processes and the like. The story was gripping but I didn't feel like it was very convincing.
]]> 24836489 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:57:42 -0700
author: Margaret Atwood
name: Jillian
average rating: 3.76
book published: 1993
rating: 4
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/30/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 24836652 Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:51:46 -0700
author: Christopher Moore
name: Jillian
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1998
rating: 5
read at: 01/07
date added: 06/18/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 24836637 Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:51:39 -0700
author: Christopher Moore
name: Jillian
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 06/18/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 24836557 Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:51:01 -0700
author: Christopher Moore
name: Jillian
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1995
rating: 3
read at: 01/07
date added: 06/18/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 20503951 Sun, 01 Jun 2008 20:22:02 -0700
author: Jacqueline Carey
name: Jillian
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/01/08
shelves:
review:
Better written, but not quite as exciting as the first.
]]> 8505888 Mon, 19 May 2008 09:04:39 -0700
author: David Crystal
name: Jillian
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2006
rating: 1
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/19/08
shelves:
review:
This book was so boring I exceeded my renew limit at the library before I got even close to finishing it. It was starting to pick up at the end (well, I skipped the middle) so it probably got better but ugh.
]]> 18423222 Fri, 18 Apr 2008 20:46:15 -0700
author: Vladimir Nabokov
name: Jillian
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1955
rating: 5
read at: 04/08
date added: 04/18/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 20503796 Fri, 18 Apr 2008 20:45:24 -0700
author: Christopher Moore
name: Jillian
average rating: 3.71
book published: 1992
rating: 4
read at: 03/08
date added: 04/18/08
shelves:
review:
Not bad for a first book. It's not as good as Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove or Stupidest Angel, but it was still great.
]]> 18131243 Sat, 22 Mar 2008 22:17:02 -0700
author: Alexandre Dumas
name: Jillian
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2003
rating: 2
read at: 03/08
date added: 03/22/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 14592071 Wed, 19 Mar 2008 16:42:19 -0700
author: Alexandre Dumas
name: Jillian
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1844
rating: 5
read at: 03/08
date added: 03/19/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 16486594 Wed, 19 Mar 2008 16:40:45 -0700
author: Fred Hoyle
name: Jillian
average rating: 3.11
book published: 2001
rating: 2
read at: 03/08
date added: 03/19/08
shelves:
review:
Not sure why I enjoy old pulp sci-fi so much - it's full of obsolete science and misogynistic ideas. This book is not good at all, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
]]> 14591857 Mon, 18 Feb 2008 11:36:27 -0800
author: Jacqueline Carey
name: Jillian
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at: 02/08
date added: 02/18/08
shelves:
review:
A page-turner filled with intrigue, battles, and kinky sex. In general it was great, although there were a few spots where the writing was Very Bad. Skip those parts and you will enjoy it too.
]]> 11056063 Mon, 04 Feb 2008 22:03:05 -0800
The book takes place in 2017, and 1999, and World War I, and ancient Sumer, and other times/places. At the heart of the universe is the Vellum, the underlying reality of which our world is only a small part. Time is... confusing, nonlinear. Oh and Heaven and Hell are at war, so the apocalypse is coming, and soon.

The characters are repeated in each time/setting, sometimes as similar people, sometimes not. Sometimes their stories are more or less the same, and sometimes they're not. And the plot goes on, and on, and I really got the feeling that there would be some kind of great climax, and Things would Happen, and tales would be Wrapped Up. But no, not really. I mean they did... in some story lines, but not all, not my favourites. Or did they? See, I'm not sure. Can you imagine now how this is frustrating even though the book is wonderful.

There is a sequel, called Ink, I don't think I'll read it. Hannah (who lent me Vellum) is still in the middle of it, maybe I'll wait for her opinion. But probably not. I'll bet the Cliff's Notes are great though.]]>
author: Hal Duncan
name: Jillian
average rating: 3.15
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 01/08
date added: 02/04/08
shelves:
review:
I am torn as to whether this book deserves five stars or three (however four is completely inappropriate). Duncan writes sentences that I can taste, they are so beautiful, perfect, they shine. And I really enjoyed reading this book. But... I share the critiques of others, in that it doesn't make any sense. Or does it? I feel like I'm missing something, and I hate that feeling, when I miss a reference or don't make a connection that is hinted at. The whole book is this way, a book of references, connections, and some I got, and it was wonderful, and some I didn't, and it was hard. I don't think a re-read would help.

The book takes place in 2017, and 1999, and World War I, and ancient Sumer, and other times/places. At the heart of the universe is the Vellum, the underlying reality of which our world is only a small part. Time is... confusing, nonlinear. Oh and Heaven and Hell are at war, so the apocalypse is coming, and soon.

The characters are repeated in each time/setting, sometimes as similar people, sometimes not. Sometimes their stories are more or less the same, and sometimes they're not. And the plot goes on, and on, and I really got the feeling that there would be some kind of great climax, and Things would Happen, and tales would be Wrapped Up. But no, not really. I mean they did... in some story lines, but not all, not my favourites. Or did they? See, I'm not sure. Can you imagine now how this is frustrating even though the book is wonderful.

There is a sequel, called Ink, I don't think I'll read it. Hannah (who lent me Vellum) is still in the middle of it, maybe I'll wait for her opinion. But probably not. I'll bet the Cliff's Notes are great though.
]]> 8506106 Mon, 14 Jan 2008 21:45:54 -0800
Given the choice between (1) shunning the aliens and living in an all-Human colony which is doomed to fail or (2) mating with said aliens, which would result in mixed-species children, with some remnants of human genetics but are not recognizable as such... which would I choose?

The difference between this book and reality (besides the aliens I guess) is that in the book it's more or less certain that humans are doomed to destroy themselves because of genetic conflict. We are intelligent, but also hierarchical - this latter trait is what causes people to need to be dominant, marginalizing and/or ostracizing those who are different from the norm. This could be a valid theory from what I can see - while I personally don't feel the need to constantly try to stand above others and put them down, there are enough people who do that makes me wonder if it is genetic, or somehow programmed into us. Though it's probably a result of society and culture... but anyways. In the book, the Humans are told about this genetic conflict and then given the choice - join the surviving humans (the ones who didn't die in the nuclear winter) and start again, certainly to die for good this time, or go with the aliens.

So in our world this hierarchical behaviour sucks, but as the cynical optimist I am, I will hope and believe that we can overcome this crappy behaviour and act like rational caring beings, someday. I'd join the human colony, unless I were really caused to believe that the colony was doomed to destroy itself. Then... maybe I'd do the aliens.

What would you do?]]>
author: Octavia E. Butler
name: Jillian
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1997
rating: 5
read at: 01/08
date added: 01/14/08
shelves:
review:
So after reading this series, I've gotten to thinking, What Would Jillian Do?

Given the choice between (1) shunning the aliens and living in an all-Human colony which is doomed to fail or (2) mating with said aliens, which would result in mixed-species children, with some remnants of human genetics but are not recognizable as such... which would I choose?

The difference between this book and reality (besides the aliens I guess) is that in the book it's more or less certain that humans are doomed to destroy themselves because of genetic conflict. We are intelligent, but also hierarchical - this latter trait is what causes people to need to be dominant, marginalizing and/or ostracizing those who are different from the norm. This could be a valid theory from what I can see - while I personally don't feel the need to constantly try to stand above others and put them down, there are enough people who do that makes me wonder if it is genetic, or somehow programmed into us. Though it's probably a result of society and culture... but anyways. In the book, the Humans are told about this genetic conflict and then given the choice - join the surviving humans (the ones who didn't die in the nuclear winter) and start again, certainly to die for good this time, or go with the aliens.

So in our world this hierarchical behaviour sucks, but as the cynical optimist I am, I will hope and believe that we can overcome this crappy behaviour and act like rational caring beings, someday. I'd join the human colony, unless I were really caused to believe that the colony was doomed to destroy itself. Then... maybe I'd do the aliens.

What would you do?
]]> 8506095 Sat, 12 Jan 2008 00:19:37 -0800
One thing I like about this book is that it gives humanity some hope, even though the main theme is still that we are all doomed. (and I like that there is solid genetic evidence for this fact) Humanity needs hope, and hope they get. It also relieves the burden of the main characters, whose guilt that they had believed to have ended the human race must have been crushing. I wonder if the third book will tell us if we all destroy ourselves again.]]>
author: Octavia E. Butler
name: Jillian
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1997
rating: 5
read at: 12/07
date added: 01/12/08
shelves:
review:
This book jumps ahead in time from the first in the series, and is from the perspective of one of Lilith's children. Octavia does an excellent job of crafting a general sense of what the perspective of part human, part alien would be like - these characters get personalities consistent with what one would imagine them to be like. This is better than the Oankali (alien) personalities, which are hard to understand and fathom, and don't seem very deep - though that might just go along with the idea that Humans can never come all that close to understanding them anyways. They are pretty weird.

One thing I like about this book is that it gives humanity some hope, even though the main theme is still that we are all doomed. (and I like that there is solid genetic evidence for this fact) Humanity needs hope, and hope they get. It also relieves the burden of the main characters, whose guilt that they had believed to have ended the human race must have been crushing. I wonder if the third book will tell us if we all destroy ourselves again.
]]> 11056538 Sat, 12 Jan 2008 00:13:49 -0800
author: Octavia E. Butler
name: Jillian
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1997
rating: 5
read at: 12/07
date added: 01/12/08
shelves:
review:
I've read this before, it was great the second time too. It paints a very accurate picture of humanity - the good bad and ugly. I love all of the issues that Butler brings up in a book about aliens - gender, race, love, the meaning of Earth and Humanity, honesty, change, diversity, survival. I'm moving on to the rest of the series now, reading them for the first time.
]]> 8505759 Wed, 26 Dec 2007 18:49:00 -0800
author: Sarah Waters
name: Jillian
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at: 12/07
date added: 12/26/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 11055969 Wed, 26 Dec 2007 18:48:05 -0800
author: Nick Ray
name: Jillian
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 12/26/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 8823681 Thu, 06 Dec 2007 23:57:15 -0800
author: Peter Hessler
name: Jillian
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 11/07
date added: 12/06/07
shelves:
review:
This is a great way to get a feel for China without reading some boring step-by-step history book. The narrative goes back and forth from bits of ancient Chinese history to following several characters who find that that history no longer applies to them in modern China. In the modern world of migrants, immigrants, and ex-pats, the (non-fictional) characters have to make things up as they go and build their own support systems on the fly. The juxtapositions of archaeology and more recent history appear just often enough to keep the book educational as well as interesting (good for someone like me who is really interested in China but doesn't know many historical details).
]]> 7268141 Mon, 05 Nov 2007 23:00:33 -0800
So if you like fantasy books with maps and journeys and prophecies and magic and WOO necromancers! then read this series.]]>
author: Garth Nix
name: Jillian
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 10/07
date added: 11/05/07
shelves:
review:
So now that I'm done with the trilogy I'll say that it was Great. I read the last book so fast, I think I read it in two days? Maybe three. Anyways, the climax is good (and not painfully predictable like book 2) and the characters are developed so well by the end that I was just sucked in. My face even scrunched up at the end when one character... you know. It always happens to someone. The fact that I even thought about crying is quite a feat for an author, since I pride myself on stoicism when it comes to things like books and movies.

So if you like fantasy books with maps and journeys and prophecies and magic and WOO necromancers! then read this series.
]]> 7268250 Wed, 31 Oct 2007 21:35:03 -0700
author: Garth Nix
name: Jillian
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 10/07
date added: 10/31/07
shelves:
review:
While painfully predictable at times, the plot is great, the writing is decent, and the journey is entertaining. Can't wait to read the third one.
]]> 6445987 Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:19:16 -0700
author: Garth Nix
name: Jillian
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 10/07
date added: 10/22/07
shelves:
review:
Lovely goth-ish fantasy about Good necromancers saving the world. Well, their world. Can't wait to read the next two.
]]> 6446068 Mon, 15 Oct 2007 10:17:08 -0700
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Jillian
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1990
rating: 4
read at: 10/07
date added: 10/15/07
shelves:
review:
The first time I tried to read this book I hated it and tossed it aside. Now I've read a little more Pratchett and decided to give it a go. Turns out this book is actually good! The goofiness is a little more endearing and less annoying now. The characters Aziraphale and Crowley are really wonderful, and I love the four Horsemen. I think they are my favourites. A very entertaining story, with a surprising Zen-ish twist (ie it's all a big cycle that keeps going forever, instead of a finite world with a Beginning and End. Ironic since the book is about the apocolypse).
]]> 6446035 Wed, 19 Sep 2007 11:09:33 -0700
author: William Goldman
name: Jillian
average rating: 4.34
book published: 1973
rating: 5
read at: 09/07
date added: 09/19/07
shelves:
review:
yay!
]]> 5768156 Wed, 19 Sep 2007 11:07:48 -0700
author: Leif Enger
name: Jillian
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2001
rating: 3
read at: 09/07
date added: 09/19/07
shelves:
review:
Not sure what to say about this one. The writing is excellent, the characters are great. The plot... hmm. A little too fluffy for me - lots of "miracles" and "love" and "journeys" which is all well and good, but better for someone more sentimental than I.
]]> 5768267 Thu, 06 Sep 2007 08:32:25 -0700
author: Deborah Sundahl
name: Jillian
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at: 10/07
date added: 09/06/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5267875 Tue, 28 Aug 2007 21:22:36 -0700 and fun.]]>
author: Barbara Ehrenreich
name: Jillian
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2001
rating: 5
read at: 08/07
date added: 08/28/07
shelves:
review:
A funny and fast read, not what I expected. I thought it would be more fact-filled, more of a research endeavour, but it's really just a chronicle of this woman's attempt to survive on minimum wage. There certainly are facts among the narrative, and she definitely gets her point across that it's more or less impossible to support oneself on $7/hour, so I guess I was pleasantly surprised to find this book to be both informative and fun.
]]> 4605257 Wed, 15 Aug 2007 14:45:44 -0700
author: Robert A. Heinlein
name: Jillian
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1984
rating: 3
read at: 08/07
date added: 08/15/07
shelves:
review:
This book is weird, it's hard to figure out if Heinlein is joking about the infuriating opinions presented in this book, so I'm supposed to find them hilarious, or if I should hate him for presenting them seriously. I'm pretty sure it's the former... the end does sort of sway that way... it's hard to tell. I haven't read too much Heinlein, so I'm not sure how to judge it. But the story is entertaining, that's for sure.
]]> 4605204 Wed, 15 Aug 2007 14:44:32 -0700
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Jillian
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at: 08/07
date added: 08/15/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 4604900 Wed, 15 Aug 2007 14:36:36 -0700
author: Diana Wynne Jones
name: Jillian
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at: 08/07
date added: 08/15/07
shelves:
review:
Fun magic-fantasy. Read most of it in a day while I was stuck on a plane.
]]> 2957242 Wed, 15 Aug 2007 14:30:42 -0700 toubab in China, traveling around, and his daily life are so well portrayed. It was so interesting reading about the differences between PC life in China vs The Gambia, as well as the similarities (living as an outsider in a complicated culture, for example). He expresses his frustrations and occasional anger (which I SO identify with) in a way which doesn't insult the people he has been living with (something I'm not always good at and wish I could do better). There is also plenty of joy and awesomeness in his life. This book is a great read. I always thought a plain old PC narrative without a real plot line would be boring, but this one is damn good. If I could write like him, you guys could all read my story next...]]>
author: Peter Hessler
name: Jillian
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2001
rating: 5
read at: 07/07
date added: 08/15/07
shelves:
review:
This is a great narrative of an RPCV-China. He taught literature in an industrial town in Szechuan. He is an excellent writer, and his insights on living as a toubab in China, traveling around, and his daily life are so well portrayed. It was so interesting reading about the differences between PC life in China vs The Gambia, as well as the similarities (living as an outsider in a complicated culture, for example). He expresses his frustrations and occasional anger (which I SO identify with) in a way which doesn't insult the people he has been living with (something I'm not always good at and wish I could do better). There is also plenty of joy and awesomeness in his life. This book is a great read. I always thought a plain old PC narrative without a real plot line would be boring, but this one is damn good. If I could write like him, you guys could all read my story next...
]]> 2957106 Wed, 11 Jul 2007 17:17:33 -0700
author: David Eddings
name: Jillian
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at: 05/07
date added: 07/11/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 2957115 Wed, 11 Jul 2007 17:17:13 -0700
author: David Eddings
name: Jillian
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 06/07
date added: 07/11/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 2957121 Wed, 11 Jul 2007 17:16:56 -0700
author: David Eddings
name: Jillian
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 06/07
date added: 07/11/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 2957047 Wed, 11 Jul 2007 17:11:59 -0700
author: David Eddings
name: Jillian
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at: 05/07
date added: 07/11/07
shelves:
review:
The Belgariad and the Mallorean are two series by David Eddings that I just re-read. They are pure fluff fantasy, full of sorcerers, prophecies, weird creatures, treks across zany continents, and the occasional dragon. They are a great distraction from the real world and they read incredibly fast.
]]> 2058061 Sun, 17 Jun 2007 13:16:37 -0700
Wild Seed actually takes place in colonial Africa and America. Its main characters are people who are born with various "supernatural" powers, from seeing ghosts to healing their organs consciously from the inside. This is not a happy book - some of the characters can be hard to deal with and do cruel things, but it gives you an idea of how living 3000 years and watching everyone around you die gives rise to a very lonely life without love. The reader is strung along hoping that the characters can find a way to regain love in their lives without destroying each other. While that hope is thin, it was enough to keep me reading.]]>
author: Octavia E. Butler
name: Jillian
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1980
rating: 4
read at: 06/07
date added: 06/17/07
shelves:
review:
I love Octavia Butler - a Seattle-area author who recently passed away. She was a black woman who wrote science fiction, and wrote it well. Most of her books deal with gender and race as well as aliens and supernatural powers. This is no fluffy sci-fi.

Wild Seed actually takes place in colonial Africa and America. Its main characters are people who are born with various "supernatural" powers, from seeing ghosts to healing their organs consciously from the inside. This is not a happy book - some of the characters can be hard to deal with and do cruel things, but it gives you an idea of how living 3000 years and watching everyone around you die gives rise to a very lonely life without love. The reader is strung along hoping that the characters can find a way to regain love in their lives without destroying each other. While that hope is thin, it was enough to keep me reading.
]]>