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June 24
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Celia
gave  to:
The Point of Rescue (Hardcover)
by
Sophie Hannah
bookshelves:
mystery
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my rating:
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read in June, 2009
Celia said:
"I enjoyed this mystery. Sally spends a week having an affair with another man and then goes back to her normal married life. Years later, she sees on the news that the man's wife and daughter have been murdered. But the man speaking to the press i...more
I enjoyed this mystery. Sally spends a week having an affair with another man and then goes back to her normal married life. Years later, she sees on the news that the man's wife and daughter have been murdered. But the man speaking to the press isn't the man she spent the week with - so which one of them is lying?
There's abductions and creepy diaries and a kind of overly layered solution to the murders, but it was an enjoyable mystery for the train ride home.(less)
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Celia
gave to:
I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence (Hardcover)
by
Amy Sedaris
bookshelves:
humour,
non-fiction
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my rating:
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read in June, 2009
Celia said:
"This mostly tongue-in-cheek (although occasionally serious) and very eclectic book on hospitality is terribly funny. A mixture of stories, suggestions, recipes, and random ideas - as someone who likes to daydream about crazily themed parties, it app...more
This mostly tongue-in-cheek (although occasionally serious) and very eclectic book on hospitality is terribly funny. A mixture of stories, suggestions, recipes, and random ideas - as someone who likes to daydream about crazily themed parties, it appealed to me, but it's very much a library book. I don't think I'd ever re-read it or actually use it.(less)
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June 21
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Celia
gave  to:
The Forest of Hands and Teeth (Paperback)
by
Carrie Ryan (Goodreads author)
bookshelves:
fantasy,
youngadult
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my rating:
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read in June, 2009
Celia said:
"I was quite disappointed by this book, having read so many glowing reviews. Mary lives in a village ruled by the repressive religious order of the Sisterhood. Her brother is a Guardian, part of the group who maintain the fence that protects the vil...more
I was quite disappointed by this book, having read so many glowing reviews. Mary lives in a village ruled by the repressive religious order of the Sisterhood. Her brother is a Guardian, part of the group who maintain the fence that protects the village from the Unconsecrated, the roaming dead humans who thirst for human flesh, and spread their disease through their infected bite.
The problem with a set up like this - which isn't a fantasy, but a future of our own world - is that you want to know more about it. How does the infection start? How does the world end up completely infested by zombies? All interesting stuff, but the one snippet we get about the past is a New York Times article which doesn't tell us much at all. It makes the current scenario much less enthralling when it's so disconnected from any idea of our present.
Mary is rather disconnected as well - obsessed with her mother's stories of an ocean she has never seen, her dream is to make it beyond the village to the ocean. It's not really enough - I understand the evocative call of an unending stretch of water to a girl who grew up in an enclosed village, but honestly - people die around Mary, she fights her way out of terrifying situations, rather too often she flirts with suicide (it's too often because you know nothing's going to come of it, she's done it before) and all through it, all she thinks about is getting to the ocean. Her companions tell her it's all a dream, what's she going to do when she actually gets there, if she gets there, and Mary has no answer. It seems like a rather pointless quest (and the ending, while it sets us up for a sequel, doesn't make the quest seem any less pointless really).
So, an interesting set-up that didn't come off, for me. I'd probably pick up the sequel out of interest because I want to know the backstory of this world, and I'd like to see if Mary becomes any more interesting. She just wasn't a strong enough character to carry this story.
(less)
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Celia
gave  to:
Anansi Boys (Mass Market Paperback)
by
Neil Gaiman (Goodreads author)
bookshelves:
audio-book,
re-read,
urban-fantasy
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my rating:
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read in June, 2009
Celia said:
"Lenny Henry is an awesome narrator. I read "Anansi Boys" when it first came out, and I think I enjoyed it even more on this re-listen, purely because of Henry's fantastic story telling. He does all the voices and accents so well, particul...more
Lenny Henry is an awesome narrator. I read "Anansi Boys" when it first came out, and I think I enjoyed it even more on this re-listen, purely because of Henry's fantastic story telling. He does all the voices and accents so well, particularly the elderly West Indian women.
And of course, it's a wonderful story - after his father's funeral, Fat Charlie meets Spider, the brother he never knew existed, who proceeds to try and take over Fat Charlie's life. Then Fat Charlie finds out his father was a god. And when Fat Charlie makes a deal with a Bird Woman to get Spider out of his life, it all goes disastrously wrong.
Dark and funny and generally wonderful. (less)
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June 14
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Celia
marked as to-read:
The Demon's Lexicon (Hardcover)
by
Sarah Rees Brennan
bookshelves:
fantasy,
to-read
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my rating:
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Celia
marked as to-read:
Cast in Shadow (Chronicles of Elantra, Book 1)
by
Michelle Sagara West
bookshelves:
fantasy,
to-read
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my rating:
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June 12
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Celia
marked as to-read:
Fire (Hardcover)
by
Kristin Cashore
bookshelves:
fantasy,
to-read
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my rating:
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Celia
is currently reading:
The Windsingers (Paperback)
by
Megan Lindholm
bookshelves:
currently-reading,
fantasy
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my rating:
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Celia
gave  to:
The Society of S (Society of S #1)
by
Susan Hubbard
bookshelves:
fairly-awful,
youngadult
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my rating:
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read in May, 2009
Celia said:
"This was extremely odd. Ariella discovers that her father is a vampire, and she is a baby vampire, and spends her time vaguely wandering around finding her long-lost mother, whom she greets vaguely, and vaguely thinks a bit about what it means to be...more
This was extremely odd. Ariella discovers that her father is a vampire, and she is a baby vampire, and spends her time vaguely wandering around finding her long-lost mother, whom she greets vaguely, and vaguely thinks a bit about what it means to be a vampire. Like woah, you know?
I think Ariella has taken too much valium - the narration suffers from extreme slo-mo. Even when a villian turns up, things drift along at a peacefully glacial pace. Not recommended.(less)
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Celia
gave to:
Bone Crossed (Mercedes Thompson, #4)
by
Patricia Briggs
bookshelves:
urban-fantasy,
vampires,
werewolves
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my rating:
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read in June, 2009
Celia said:
"Carries on from the previous Mercy Thompson books - the vampire Queen is a little pissed off that Mercy has such a talent for killing vampires, and she's out for revenge. Mercy is dealing with her agreement to be Adam's mate, and therefore part of t...more
Carries on from the previous Mercy Thompson books - the vampire Queen is a little pissed off that Mercy has such a talent for killing vampires, and she's out for revenge. Mercy is dealing with her agreement to be Adam's mate, and therefore part of the pack (even though she's not a werewolf). She has a run in with a new vampire from out of town, and still has an irritating flirtation/unrequited thing going on with two other men (man, I hate that in my fictional heroines - could we make choices and stick with them please?).
I don't mean to sound cranky - I enjoy these books, but sometimes I get a little tired of tough-as-nails supernatural women who are constantly getting themselves in death-defying situations and have a bevy of men standing adoringly around them to mop up the blood.(less)
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