A Guide to L-Space

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

2009-11-08T23:10:00.003-05:00

Yep, I did it. I finally gave in and read the latest fangirl craze that's spawning all the vampire-themed novels, movies and TV shows. Despite the tepid to horrified reviews I'd heard, despite the fact that I've always considered vampire stuff to be rather silly, and despite the creep-out factor I get every time Robert Pattinson shows up on posters and magazine covers, I gave it a try.Somewhat to

Cesar's Way by Cesar Millan

2009-11-02T22:38:00.004-05:00

So, the full title is Cesar's Way: The Natural, Commonsense Guide to Understanding and Correcting All Common Dog Problems by Cesar Millan, Melissa Jo Peltier and John H. Mayer, but that wouldn't all fit in the title line.We recently adopted a new puppy to be a playmate for our first dog, and I figured that with so many furry bodies around, it wouldn't be a bad idea to read up on them.Gratuitous

South Sea Tales by Jack London

2009-10-26T20:41:00.000-04:00

I read this book almost a year ago, back when I was actually posting, but I've got it queued, so here goes:I tend to associate Jack London with icy cold settings and dogs (whether White Fang or The Sea Wolf, there's still plenty of cold + dog connotation), but it turns out he traveled and wrote about the sunny south as well. (No dogs in these either, for what it's worth) Not that the stories are

Back?

2009-10-25T21:32:00.004-04:00

Hi!Okay, reeeeally long break there, I actually gave up on posting for awhile. :-p In between moving back to Texas, buying and moving into a new house, and adopting a pair of adorable dogs, I haven't had much time to angst over postings.And that was the problem really :-p I'm thinking that I might just keep this blog as a record of what I'm reading, instead of trying to do in-depth reviews of

Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card

2009-02-23T20:37:00.001-05:00

Gasp, I actually managed a post! I guess in the whole hubbub of the holidays I lost the rythm, and since we'll be moving back to Texas in about a month, I'll probably lose it again soon. So, no promises as to regular posting, but I'll try!I first read this book about ten years ago, before I was an Orson Scott Card fan. At the time I was slightly uneasy with the book's apparent religion = bad,

Girl Genius by P Foglio, K Foglio, and C Wright

2008-11-21T10:02:00.002-05:00

It seems like I've been reviewing a lot of graphic novels lately, but Girl Genius should be the last one for awhile ^_~ And to be honest, it's only kind of a graphic novel. I read it as a webcomic, but it was originally published in graphic novel form and I'd love to get my hands on the volumes at some point.OverviewOur story takes place in an alternate universe Europe where the clothing is

Sagas of the Norsemen by L. Auerbach and J. Simpson

2008-10-23T22:05:00.002-04:00

I've been trying to read up on Norse mythology without being quite sure where to start. My first two attempts from a university library yielded a kind of reference book, with gods and heroes listed in alphabetical order, and the first volume of Jacob Grimm's Teutonic Mythology. The former had plenty of good information, but I was looking for something to read straight through, not a reference

The Fountain by Darren Aronofsky

2008-10-15T21:39:00.001-04:00

A couple of years ago this graphic novel was made into a movie starring Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz. I didn't bother seeing the movie when it came out 'cause it looked like the weirdness would outweigh the starpower, but I wasn't quite right. Turns out it's visually stunning, the acting is quite good (insofar as I'm any judge) and although the plot is just as weird as promised, it makes just

Housekeeping

2008-10-12T22:04:00.003-04:00

Yay, I finally did something with my tabs! I've added archives pages and cleaned up the labels to just genre and series.I've also decided that two posts a week just isn't going to happen :-( so in the interests of keeping a reliable schedule, I'll stick to one a week, probably Wednesdays. Maybe if I build up enough of a cushion of scheduled posts, I can give twice a week a try again :-p but I'm

Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett

2008-10-08T22:22:00.002-04:00

Hm, I usually try to come up with a witty opening section, but I've been sitting on this review for far too long as it is :-p So without further ado, we have the next book in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series.OverviewIt's a busy time for the Watch, now that they've expanded from night duty to 'round-the-clock City Guard. One result of this is the opening of CSI: Ankh-Morpork. (Okay, so maybe the

Not Dead Yet!

2008-10-03T09:39:00.002-04:00

I haven't dropped off the face of the earth, I promise! I'm in the middle of a job search right now, and nothing saps the will to be productive like endless searches and applications >_< I should have a new post up by next week though.Incidentally, anyone in the San Antonio area need an environmental engineer? :-p

Watchmen by Alan Moore

2008-09-20T20:22:00.002-04:00

I'd been meaning to read this graphic novel for years, but I wasn't smart enough to borrow it while it was in easy reach. Now that the movie is in the making though, I decided to stop stalling. Luckily the Baltimore County Library system has very good inter-branch loan service. (I'd never thought of libraries as a place to get graphic novels, but it turns out that half the books I'm checking out

A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

2008-09-17T20:21:00.004-04:00

I've got to admit, I still harbor a slight resentment against this series because so many people have compared it to Lord of the Rings, even though I stand by my statement that they're completely different animals. My resentment is only heightened by the fact that I couldn't help but immensely enjoy and admire this second installment of the Song of Ice and Fire series.OverviewThe Game of Thrones

An Educated Fangirl

2008-09-12T21:54:00.005-04:00

I've been trying to post twice a week, but I didn't have time to write a real review >_< so I'll run a quick plug for an awesome site I just found.Journey to the Sea is a new online magazine devoted to the study and discussion of myths and comparative mythology. The issues aren't long and there's not too many of them yet, but it's really good stuff. In the first few issues, they briefly cover

Balzac & the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie

2008-09-09T21:41:00.006-04:00

This book first caught my eye because the title seemed so offbeat, even though at the time I didn't know that Balzac was a famous French author, which makes it even more so. Once I read a bit about the synopsis though, I was even more interested: Balzac & the Little Chinese Seamstress takes place during the Chinese Cultural Revolution of the 1970s, and I'm not only unfamiliar with that time

A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

2008-09-04T20:32:00.002-04:00

After the awesomeness that was WALL-E, director Andrew Stanton's next movie will apparently be an adaptation of A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, of Tarzan fame. He's said that the movie will involve both live action and animation, but that's not much help, since anything from Harry Potter to WALL-E itself counts as a hybrid :-p Either way, I'm sure it'll be an awesome

Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut

2008-09-01T19:04:00.004-04:00

I could take the easy way out (and help catch up on my growing backlog of reviews to write) by summing up this book in one word: torture. And half way through the book, that's about what I was ready to do, but I persevered for your sake, dear reader. (or was it because I'm too stubborn for my own good? I always forget :-p )Oh well, I wasn't actually expecting to enjoy Slaughterhouse 5; I'd heard

A Review of Reviews

2008-08-27T22:23:00.001-04:00

Since I seem to be varying from my standard format, I'll sneak in this post. I ran across a pair of Harry Potter reviews from earlier this year that address two opposing Catholic viewpoints of the books. Unsurprisingly, I completely agree with the positive essay by Paolo Gulisano, which talks about the book's emphasis of weakness over strength and the central theme of death and what lies beyond.

Partial Restoration

2008-08-18T22:18:00.001-04:00

Yay, the pretty is back! (knock on wood, I still don't know what was wrong in the first place)The layout isn't perfect (don't bother clicking on the tabs, for instance, they don't go anywhere yet) but hopefully tomorrow I'll actually post something substantial :-p

Rebellion

2008-08-11T23:10:00.002-04:00

Grrr, I apologize for the weird format. I'm not sure what's wrong, and I don't really have the time or energy to fix it right now :-p Hopefully I can bring the prettiness back soon.

Iron Man by Peter David

2008-08-03T19:04:00.002-04:00

I was at the library a few weeks ago and just happened to stumble upon the novelization of the Iron Man movie. I was unenthusiastic at first--a novel based on a movie based on a comic--there's only so many iterations a story can go through before it runs out of steam. But I picked it up anyway, read through a few paragraphs, and remembered that I really liked the movie, had wanted to see it a

Grass for His Pillow by Lian Hearn

2008-07-30T10:27:00.001-04:00

I finally decided that it was time to pick up Tales of the Otori again--time to grow up and get over my disappointment from the last book I'd read. Grass for His Pillow turned out to be less intense than the first two books, with no major surprises or twists. There's still a fair amount of action, tragedy, etc, but this volume is suffering from the 'middle of a trilogy' effect. (despite the fact

Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett

2008-07-28T18:43:00.003-04:00

Men at Arms was the first Discworld book I read that actually belonged to a continuing character arc, so I've always considered it to be a flagship of the series. It's not a bad place to start, either, since several new characters are introduced and the old ones are expanded upon, but there's not so much backstory that the reader gets lost. It's an excellent book, both on its own and as part of

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

2008-07-22T12:57:00.005-04:00

I'd heard quite a bit about the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin before I actually steeled myself to read it, and what I'd heard justified the use of the word 'steeled'. 'Wonderful story!' they said 'epic and complex, with such real characters! But very dark, lots of violence and sex, very gritty!' (I like that word, gritty, for these novels--think Frank Miller does fantasy)

The Planet That Wasn't by Isaac Asimov

2008-07-16T22:37:00.003-04:00

* Warning: this review is ridiculously long, partially because I had a lot to comment on, and partially because I’m sitting in an airport with nothing better to do *I have a tendency to pick up random books by famous authors if they’re available for cheap, and apparently I don’t pay too much attention to the book’s actual description. Therefore, I started reading The Planet that Wasn’t expecting