false 3 271 252 true 5649627 read 4 true 258737 currently-reading 12 true 258736 to-read 3 true 2163298 abandoned 95 false 4200382 2009 54 false 4200389 2008 54 false 4200454 2007 53 false 2595834 general-fiction 49 false 2727626 graphic-novels 46 false 2595667 non-fiction 36 false 4031835 british 34 false 2595669 japanese 29 false 4200482 2006 21 false 259018 drama 20 false 2595770 short-stories 18 false 2595818 fantasy-and-adventure 18 false 259020 poetry 17 false 2595706 sf 14 false 2595668 french 13 false 2606494 canadian 12 false 2373642 gaming 9 false 2595646 russian 8 false 2595819 childrens-and-young-adult 8 false 2606420 irish 8 false 3828389 religion 7 false 3795849 humour 6 false 2595656 german 6 false 2595671 hard-boiled 5 false 3828385 mythology-and-folk-tales 4 false 2595720 horror 4 false 2606423 south-american 3 false 5446565 indian 3 false 3370500 aloud 2 false 4031850 spanish 2 false 2595716 pulp 2 false 4181528 chinese 2 false 2987060 greek 1 false 7015158 african 1 false 4031849 portuguese http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78831358 to: I Haven't Dreamed of Flying for a While (Paperback) by Taichi Yamada
bookshelves: japanese
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78808008 The Acrobat's review of A Dream of Birds: Word Sonnets
by Seymour Mayne

Is this the flip-book one? ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78641761 Gods Behaving Badly (Paperback) by Marie Phillips
Far more interesting in concept than in execution. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75353582 to: Antony and Cleopatra (Modern Library Classics) by William Shakespeare
bookshelves: 2009, british, drama
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77724642 to: Unseen Academicals (Discworld, #32) by Terry Pratchett
bookshelves: 2009, british, fantasy-and-adventure, humour
Possibly the best Discworld novel Pratchett's written since Going Postal, though there's admittedly more than a bit of damning with faint praise present as he's felt like he's been coasting for years now.

Its desire to parody the various genres (most notably romance and sports, with the usual healthy dash of fantasy) made it feel occasionally more formulaic than need be, particularly when combined with the fact that large parts of it felt formulaic (or at least derivative) with regards to Pratchett's previous Discworld books. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77944107 In the First Circle (Paperback) by Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn
bookshelves: 2009, currently-reading, general-fiction, russian
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77539495 to: The Death of Bunny Munro (Hardcover) by Nick Cave
bookshelves: 2009
Point form review: begins poorly, but the writing style/tone picks up and improves as it goes on. Telegraphs its plot-twists miles away in the literary equivalent of big flashing neon letters. Last several chapters unfold in a manner reminiscent of what I'd expect in a high-school writing project. Attempts at deepness and meaning only serve to come off as amateurish and heavy-handed.

Shorter review: a disappointment. Stick with And the Ass Saw the Angel.

Two-and-a-half stars (if Goodreads let me give half-stars). ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77302366 to: A Moveable Feast: The Restored Edition (Hardcover) by Ernest Hemingway
bookshelves: 2009, non-fiction
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/74669670 Mike's review of Voices from the Street
by Philip K. Dick

Mm. I find Dick's non-genre work to be adequate at best. There's nothing that really grabs me, and it often feels like he's merely aping the more successful pop-lit authors of the day. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/76385818 to: The Power That Preserves (The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, #3) by Stephen R. Donaldson
bookshelves: 2009, fantasy-and-adventure
An interesting premise, but Donaldson's word-craft, though improved drastically from the initial Lord Foul's Bane, still remains not quite up to the task of giving the story its proper treatment. The notable overuse of certain favourite words is particularly irritating; if I never encounter "inchoate" and "preternatural" again, I will die a happy man. ]]>