Lies Sleeping - Ben Aaronovitch Disclaimer: there's not a lot of vampires in this, but a key element nonetheless. For some reason I'm really bent on sLies Sleeping - Ben Aaronovitch Disclaimer: there's not a lot of vampires in this, but a key element nonetheless. For some reason I'm really bent on sticking to my squares as they are, without transformations. Probably that will change.
So we get to see Peter Grant dealing with a very modern problem and I quite liked that. More Folly, more ghosts, more gods, more big bad, but really, don't much care. That last, I mean. I enjoyed it enormously for all the reasons I mentioned re Hanging Tree and I'm almost certain to keep reading as long as Aaronovitch keeps writing them. His cast is growing so huge that he could write easily feature other characters as leads, the way he does in the stories, and that would be fun, too.
I expect my immediate relations will read this with the same glee I did. Others who might also enjoy it very much: fans of cats, mysteries, horror, ShI expect my immediate relations will read this with the same glee I did. Others who might also enjoy it very much: fans of cats, mysteries, horror, Sherlock Holmes stories, libraries, classic works of horror, dogs.
It's a bit of every pre-war litterary genre thrown into the blender and served frothy, with a little bit of gore on top, to savor.
Anf for those who also enjoy this ilk, there's a 5 page Note From the Author at the end, there's a literary mood board showing Truss' inspirations, all friends of old.
Library copy but I am going to need my own copy. This is going to be a perennial Halloween Bingo read....more
It's all perfect, really. The art features a girl and a skeleton, minimalist, just a tad creepy, but also adThis has such a perfect cat on the cover.
It's all perfect, really. The art features a girl and a skeleton, minimalist, just a tad creepy, but also adorable. Which is pretty much the same as the text. It's fascinating what questions kids ask, and Doughty is clear and accurate in a casual, slightly snarky tone. The answers are age-appropriate for even quite young children because there's nothing scary: it's all the debunking of scary, really.
Really entertaining and clever. Now I'm eager to read her other books.
Just the book for fans of My Side of the Mountain and Hatchet. I am glad I have read the Lost City of Z: I still have a bit of Amazonia in my mind. ItJust the book for fans of My Side of the Mountain and Hatchet. I am glad I have read the Lost City of Z: I still have a bit of Amazonia in my mind. It's such a thrilling adventure with just enough humor, and I love the way Rundell has with description. She managed to convey quite a bit of what bugs and spiders taste like.
The History and Uncertain Future of Handwriting - Anne Trubek After a slow couple of months my reading has picked up again: I'm finishing more, and The History and Uncertain Future of Handwriting - Anne Trubek After a slow couple of months my reading has picked up again: I'm finishing more, and I'm enjoying what I'm reading. The sad aspect of this is that I keep finishing books that I want everyone else to pick up, and mostly no one does. This is an exception. It belongs on the odd shelf I don't have specifically, but can't resist reading from, called "History of a Thing". While it isn't funny exactly, there is a lightness of tone that makes this a pleasant break from heavier reading, like say, about Nixon and Mao, to pick a topic out of thin air and not off the cover of another book lying around the house. It's fascinating to learn at some depth about a very narrow topic. Not surprisingly, this book is a distillation of a topic Trubek has been teaching in college for years. Specialization is awesome: I've never thought about all the different kinds of writing together until now. I love this post-book feeling of erudition. Two days after I finished the book I can't recall anything specific that I learned, which isn't really the point. I've grasped the gestalt. I've placed my own flirtation with calligraphy (highly recommended as a means to achieving a legible handwriting) into the appropriate context. There are a number of people worried about the fact that schools aren't teaching cursive. I'm not bothered. I've done my share of handwriting and it hurts and it's slow, and I'm one of only two people I know who can write a cursive others can read. Admittedly, the time spent learning keyboarding will no doubt also become wasted time at some point in the Offspring's lives, in favor of something newer and easier for more people. That's fine. Favorite bit: seeing all the different types of clerks/scribes/copyists there were a fairly short time ago. Poor Bartleby and Bob Cratchit! Library copy...more
Short form: this book is awesome and every home and classroom should have a copy.
Long form: This was a whim. I just picked it up because it had a fu Short form: this book is awesome and every home and classroom should have a copy.
Long form: This was a whim. I just picked it up because it had a fun cover and title, but once I started reading it I couldn’t bear to put it down. The introduction is amusing, the art is spot on, and the stories are delightful. Well, many of them have violence and heinous cruelty, or just plain gore, but Porath forewarns the reader with some very specific codes. And when he’s writing about the evil that is lynching he doesn’t shrink from sharing the horror. But also, whenever there is a specific named villain in the piece, he comes up with some amusing expletives. Somehow he manages to hit a sweet spot between maintaining a light tone and historical accuracy, and he manages to do it in both the text and the art. Even when he gives these women enormous Disney eyes he makes sure to get the period details right: you know he isn’t mocking these women, he’s taking them seriously but not striving for an imagined objectivity. And then there are art notes on many of the illustrations, which explain details one might miss and their significance. Dude has found his calling and I hope he sells beaucoup books and can continue to devote his time and energy to the project. I love this like I haven’t loved any history since Lies My Teacher Told Me.
It only just hit me that the reason I loved this book so much was that I really needed to read about kick-ass women who got shit done and had fun and/or really improved their world.
I've written before about how much I love this series of mythology biographies. They are so good that you should read them all right now if you haven'I've written before about how much I love this series of mythology biographies. They are so good that you should read them all right now if you haven't already, and also, buy copies for all the kids you know, who will also love them. If you don't know any kids, make sure the local library has them.
One of the great things about them is that in the extensive back matter O'Connor explains his choices and decisions as to which stories to include and how. Great stuff.
A series of interlocked stories taking the reader back through time and through the recurring lives of two characters on an island called Blessed, somA series of interlocked stories taking the reader back through time and through the recurring lives of two characters on an island called Blessed, somewhere in the far North Sea. Very cool. I was charmed by the idyllic island itself, by the overtones of The Wicker Man, the hare motif, and how the stories illuminated one another. Pleasurable stuff, with a strong creepy vibe but not too much really scary stuff. Should appeal to middlegrade readers as well.
Such a marvelous and satisfying read. A complex medieval world set in someplace very like Greece, with active gods. The political machinMarch 19, 2012
Such a marvelous and satisfying read. A complex medieval world set in someplace very like Greece, with active gods. The political machinations, the complexity, the trickery. Nom, nom, nom.
Library copy.
***
June 6, 2015
Well, there I was engaged in an epic re-read, and the library not only didn't have a copy, they didn't even have a record of it. So I had to buy a kindle copy for total instant gratification. Yeah, it was worth it.
I enjoyed the medieval Greece-like setting, the stories of the gods, the elaborate heist, as well as the real politic of the internatioJanuary 1, 2012
I enjoyed the medieval Greece-like setting, the stories of the gods, the elaborate heist, as well as the real politic of the international situation. A really good adventure story with characters that gradually are revealed to us. My only complaint was that it was pretty much devoid of female characters until the very end. I have high hopes for the rest of the series.
I forgot to mention that I haven't read better descriptions of someone learning to ride since The Horse and His Boy.
Library copy.
***
June 4, 2015
I will only add that in fact the rest of the series does include multiple female characters. And I loved this at least as much on the second reading as the first.
O'Malley pits the Greek gods against the Greek heroes in a game of basketball. You get a little history, a little mythology, a lot of humor, sources fO'Malley pits the Greek gods against the Greek heroes in a game of basketball. You get a little history, a little mythology, a lot of humor, sources for further info. and a close competition. That's a hell of a lot to pack into one little book. Sure, you can read and enjoy something by Mary Stewart, and want to visit Greece just as badly, and sure, it's all good. But sometimes you don't want a Masterpiece Theater production, just a little something is all you need.
A good choice for kids more interested in facts than stories, and for those whose interest level exceeds their reading level, or for someone who doesn't know anything about Greek mythology and isn't sure they want to.
You wouldn't think that there would be a fresh way to tell the Greek myths, but you'd be wrong. O'Connor is brilliant. He's managed to drag stale old You wouldn't think that there would be a fresh way to tell the Greek myths, but you'd be wrong. O'Connor is brilliant. He's managed to drag stale old stories into the 21st century, and he's managed to make them better. Here Hera isn't just a stereotype of a jealous wife, she's a clever, clever woman, with plans of her own and a much longer view than the others gods, who are an impulsive, impetuous lot.
Most of the story here is about Heracles and his ten twelve great tasks. And let me just point out that I love a hero who isn't only strong or well-trained in fighting, but is also clever. Action, adventure, and a mind at work behind the scenes. Great stuff.
And unlike many books for kids that just throw a bunch of stuff in at the end without much thought, all of the after-matter here is equally excellent. There's a note from the author, explaining how and why he chose these stories; further reading suggestions grouped by level for younger and older readers; end notes elaborating on the content of specific frames, drawing the reader's attention to other characters, and scenes from the other Olympians volumes; discussion questions that are actually interesting; a one-page cheat sheet of info on both Hera and Heracles. Really, it's all great. Entertaining as hell but educational in a way beyond simple facts: O'Connor really wants the reader to think about which stories get told, and by whom.
Ah, this definitely hits that sweet spot. London police, magic is real, sorcery lessons as well as conventional detective work. It's all good. I've paAh, this definitely hits that sweet spot. London police, magic is real, sorcery lessons as well as conventional detective work. It's all good. I've passed it on to the daughter who loves The Name of the Star and Doctor Who. I loved the character of Peter Grant, and his family and backstory, and look forward to learning more about his mentor.
A retelling of Faust, with a young demonologist attempting the classic three wishes, and an unfortunate Rincewind trying to explain why he can't proviA retelling of Faust, with a young demonologist attempting the classic three wishes, and an unfortunate Rincewind trying to explain why he can't provide them. My favorite part is the Helen of Troy bit. Possibly a good place for a younger reader to start, a theory not yet tested.
I am the sort of person who wonders:what kind of person argues about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin? It isn't as if any factual evidenI am the sort of person who wonders:what kind of person argues about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin? It isn't as if any factual evidence can be agreed upon. I don't think there's even widespread agreement that angels are minescule, is there?
Anyway, now I know. "People on the internets" is the answer. Zuk uses the statements of random people on various paleolithic-ish lifestyle blogs and demonstrates just how wrong they are. Of course, it's shooting fish in a barrel. The statements in published scientific papers are more speculative and more moderate, but as they filter through news headlines and magazine articles and diet and exercise books, the positions just get continually more outrageous as well as more deeply held.
Zuk's thesis is pretty straightforward: while there are many things we can know about the behavior of our ancestors in particular places and times, there is just too much diversity of place and time and climate and culture to pretend that any one setting was somehow ideal. And, even if everyone could agree on that perfect paleolithic golden age, evolution has been continually working on people ever since, so we're not those people.
I don't know how many people are really convinced that there was a single best way for humans to do everything (eating, mating, child-rearing, exercising, etc) in our distant past, but the author has done an excellent job of explaining human evolution and prehistory in great detail without losing her sense of humor. A really good work of popular science, both entertaining and informative.
Although the title says Hades, the story is more about Demeter, as usually told. As O'Connor tells it, the story is all about Persephone. This is a veAlthough the title says Hades, the story is more about Demeter, as usually told. As O'Connor tells it, the story is all about Persephone. This is a version of the myth that aligns more with Meg Cabot's Underworld. Here we're shown a young woman with an overly watchful mother who has the first chance in her life to choose what she wants.
The girls and I both love this series for the way O'Connor tells the stories, as well as how he draws them. And I love the back matter, in which he explains the choices he makes, adds notes on specific panels, includes further resources, etc. Great stuff. Highly recommended as an easy and enjoyable way to learn about the Greek characters, good for any age and reading level. The strong narrative combined with all the informative stuff makes them equally appealing to fans of fiction and non fiction. And the family tree is really helpful, too.
The concept is brilliant: specific sites to see associated with periods of London history. The arrangement is clever, the illustrations are charming. The concept is brilliant: specific sites to see associated with periods of London history. The arrangement is clever, the illustrations are charming. But for a book that purports to contain a lot of history, there aren't any sources or references or documentation. Call me a skeptical old geezer, or something worse, I won't mind, but I'm deeply mistrustful of anything that is just asserted without proof. Particularly so, since much of what everyone knows about history is patently wrong. There's a bit about Americans which says "Malls are shopping streets without any cars." Well, no, malls are large buildings containing many stores, which are surrounded by parking lots.
Why, yes, I'm the kind of parent who really hates when the kids bring home stupid worksheets that associate George Washington with cherry trees.
The fun of these books lies not in the mysteries, per se, but in the milieu. Peter Grant is a 21st century London cop who learned, only a year ago, thThe fun of these books lies not in the mysteries, per se, but in the milieu. Peter Grant is a 21st century London cop who learned, only a year ago, that magic is real. Now there���s a great deal more that he���s got to learn. The actual mystery provides momentum, but it���s all the other mysteries: What is this magic? What else can it do? How is it being practiced elsewhere? Is doing magic going to kill him or keep him alive longer than average? How can he bypass the problem of disintegrating his mobile phone battery every time he does a spell? Aaranovich understands that this is the stuff his audience is there for, so he delights us with Harry Potter jokes, Lord of the Rings jokes, D & D jokes, obscure movies and jazz recordings, and a great deal about London history and architecture. There is, besides, the fun of watching a second-generation Sierra Leone immigrant navigating old-fashioned racism, sexism, and thuggery. What delights me most is Grant���s logical and scientific attitude to the seemingly illogical: he���s going to make sense of this eventually.
Urban paranormal procedurals for skeptics. What���s not to love?
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