SomePig read and liked Miriam's review of Angels & Demons (Robert Langdon, #1):

"I picked up this book because I wanted some mindless action with a fast-moving plot. This book was exactly the opposite: political, too much dialogue, and slow moving. At first the politics of the book intrigued me because Brown attempts to take on...more I picked up this book because I wanted some mindless action with a fast-moving plot. This book was exactly the opposite: political, too much dialogue, and slow moving. At first the politics of the book intrigued me because Brown attempts to take on the clash between science and religion, however he seems to be completely ignorant about science and religion in the very ways that feed the clash between them.
For example, he talks about cutting edge scientists studying the big bang. (Cutting edge scientists dismissed the big bang as unlikely several years ago.) He presents religious scientists as being motivated only by a desire to prove scientifically that God exists by showing that the big bang and Genesis are consistent. (Not all religious scientists feel the need to prove God exists. Why would any scientist, religious or not, think of the Bible as a scientific text book?) He shows religious people as fairly fanatical. (Which is sometimes the case, but usually not.) At first I thought that this book was going to try to bridge the cultural perceptions that science and religion aren't compatible, but by the end, I think the book only deepened the problem.

Aside from that, the perspective in the book changes between at least 10 different characters who rehash material that has already been covered. It slows the book down whenever it seems to pick up even a little momentum. 150 pages could be cut easily without altering the plot even a little.

Also, the horrific violence in this book, which should be shocking, never really is. I haven't thought about it enough to figure out why that is. Hmmm... poorly described...too many coincidences....overdone...hmm. Something along those lines.

Overall, not a good read.(less) "

SomePig read and liked Miriam's review of City of Bones (Mortal Instruments, #1):

"It's hard to rank books anymore. In my mind, there are two separate scales for ranking books. There is the Neil Gaiman scale and there is everything else. This definitely falls in the everything else scale, but compared with the rest of everything...more It's hard to rank books anymore. In my mind, there are two separate scales for ranking books. There is the Neil Gaiman scale and there is everything else. This definitely falls in the everything else scale, but compared with the rest of everything else, it is pretty good. It's funny and well crafted fiction. It has good action sequences and a reasonably good plot. The relationships in it are cute and mostly believable, though I would like to point out that major immuno-histocompatibility genes generally prevent intense sexual attraction between siblings and close relatives. It's in the way we smell to each other, (just read it....you'll see).
This is entertaining literature, not life altering literature. It would be good for a long turbulent plane ride.(less) "