Goodbye 2012, hello 2013!

I must say, I am looking forward to the year 2013. 2012 was not a spectacular year for me overall, and I figure 2013 is bound to be better by default. However, some amazing things happened last year.

• My oldest and dearest friend got married! I’m so happy for these two and I was honored to be involved in their wedding.
• I learned a lot professionally from my current position. Granted, most of it was what-not-to-do and how to handle less-than-great situations; but now I’m more prepared.
• I did pretty well on my 2012 resolutions. I resolved to exercise regularly and widdle down my credit card debt. I can honestly say that I never went a full week without exercising at least once. I admit, however, that I need to work on a better schedule. While I am not credit-card-debt free, I did make a sizable dent, and hopefully I can take care of that this year. (Although I probably need a better paying position first.)
• I read well over 9,502 pages! I only counted the completed and reviewed books for this blog, not including professional material and books started. I’m going to track my pages read this year as well. It’s fun to see the progress.

I only have two official resolutions for next year:

1. Learn to knit socks. It seems like all good knitters know how to do this, but I failed at my attempt. Fortunately, I got good instruction books for Christmas, and I got some lovely yarn on a year-end sale. I’m going to make this happen.
2. Break the 10,000 pages read of completed works. I’m a slow reader, but I got awfully close last year.

I have some things I want to work on/tweak in the coming twelve months.

1. Come up with a manageable, consistent exercise schedule.
2. Obtain another job. I do love my profession, and have a fondness for my current position (as mentioned.) Unfortunately, I’m not terribly fond of the locale, nor am I fond of the pay and general lack of respect and support from the community. It’s starting to wear me thin.
3. Keep working on that debt. It will be slow but hopefully steady.
4. Work on corresponding with far-flung friends. I do love all of my friends, but it’s hard to stay connected since we are all scattered to the wind.
5. I’ll be attempting knitted items for the holidays next year. Like reading, I’m a slow knitter, so we’ll see how this goes.

So there you have it, folks! Do you have any new year’s resolutions, or things to tweak in twelve months time?

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Brilliant historic Follet

Fall of Giants by Ken Follet; page count 985.

Couldn’t resist a puppy picture. This fellow was a regimental mascot in France, from the National Library of Scotland.

This book was fantastic! I cannot say enough good things about this. Ken Follet has certainly earned his widespread acclaim.

This first book of the Century Trilogy follows five very different families from 1911 through 1924. The Welsh coal mining family: Williams, the English aristocrats: Fitzherberts, the German aristocrats: von Ulrichs, the Russian factory workers: Peshkovs, and the old-monied American family: the Dewars. These families struggle through the heart-wrenching events of everyday life and truly horrific historic events.

I particularly enjoyed all the different vantage points. It’s far too easy to be ethnocentric about historical events. All too often we are only presented with one side of events, even in history books. However, Follet shows the views of nearly every facet leading up to World War I and after. He delves into the reasons it began and the honest, albeit misguided, opinions of those in charge who lead their countries to the brink of destruction (or past depending on one’s point of view.) I was especially pleased that he didn’t just show the upper crust or just the down-trodden workers, but both and how they interact.

I highly recommend this book. I’m going to take a bit of a break before reading the next edition of the trilogy, Winter of the World, but I’m already intrigued by how these families will react to the next phase in history.

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Scurvy = scary as hell

The Terror by Dan Simmons; page count 784

Wow! What an excellent and terrifying book. This is the first time I’ve read a book penned by Dan Simmons, and it will not be the last.

This photo is from a much later expedition, but you get the idea. It’s basically my version of hell.

The book revolves around the lives of the 100-odd men traveling in two ships the HMS Terror and Erebus. They have come to the frozen artic in an attempt to find the North-West Passage. The men face not only the horrors which come from nineteenth century artic travel: frostbite, trouble with provisions and the cringe-inducing scurvy; they also encounter a terrible beasty from the north.

One thing I particularly liked was how Simmons changed up the viewpoints throughout the book. He wrote from the perspectives of various crewmen, a different voice taking each different chapter. I enjoyed peeping into the private musings of the sailors, as well as different opinions about what they are enduring on the ice. I was terrified and yet appreciated how Simmons described the thing hunting them on the ice. It’s described in glimpses and fearful panic. Perfect!

Simmons also did an excellent job of capturing period details, and tiny things about life on the sea which makes the book even more believable. I’ve been lucky enough to visit several nautical museums, so I can say with a fair amount of confidence that Simmons did his due diligence in regards to research.

I would not recommend this book to the faint of heart. It is beyond creepy, and even gory. Plus it’s 784 pages long! That’s over 700 pages of freezing cold terrified men. However, if you can stomach reading about the symptoms of scurvy (bleeding, swollen gums, teeth falling out, blood oozing out of orifice & definitely more horrifying than any fictitious monster) than you definitely should take the time to read this one.

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faster than speeding bullets

I’m doing another double-whammy of reviews for a few reasons: 1) These two books flew by.  2)It’s been fairly hectic at work lately and I don’t really have the time to write two full-on reviews. Yes, I still have time to read, but something’s gotta give, yes? 3)I don’t have a whole lot to add about either of these, so combining them just made sense.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins; page count 391

The second book in the Hunger Games trilogy was pretty much what you would expect from a second book. It develops characters a bit more, starts building toward a spectacular finale, but does not quite live up to its predecessor.

Yes, I enjoyed the book. Yes, I can barely wait to get the final installment, Mockingjay. But did I like it as much as I liked the hunger games? No. that being said, I did like the new characters and the developments in the second book. I also enjoyed the depth that was added to somewhat secondary characters. (I like reading about backstories. It’s odd; I know. Just imagine how much I enjoyed the appendixes in Lord of the Rings.)

Anywho, I’ll try and write a bit more when I obtain and finish the last book. Something  slightly more worthy of the whole shebang. Once again, I would recommend this to just about anyone.

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Scarecrow Returns by Matthew Reilly; page count 350

This was my first Matthew Reilly book. He seems to be getting more popular as an author. Although I think that has more to do with military/action books being on an upswing right now, and less to do with his writing style.

Scarecrow Returns follows Captain Shane “Scarecrow” Schofield, USMC, as he leads a small, unlikely group against an anarchist military from destroying the Northern hemisphere. Schofield, three other Marines, and four civilians are temporarily in the Artic testing out potential weapons/tools for the military. As fate would have it, an anarchist military/terrorist group (can one really call anarchists a military?) has taken over a top-secret Russian base several miles south of Schofield’s camp. When the Russians and Americans discover the plot afoot on top of the world, they are faced with a ticking clock and little hope beyond Schofield’s ragtag team.

You may be asking yourself, Why did Cornflower even bother reading it? Honestly, I was looking for an action movie, and didn’t find one that I hadn’t seen before. I decided instead to try out an action book. The book did succeed in satisfying my action craving, so that’s a point in its favor. That’s about it, though. The writing was less than stellar. If Reilly had not included pictorial diagrams of the setting, I don’t think I would have really had a sufficient mental image. That’s not good. Even with that, I am more disappointed in how unbelievable some of it was than anything else. If the general scenario isn’t bad enough, you should read some of the stunts. Wow!

All that being said, I might recommend this books to someone who wants to test out a military action novel wihtout devoting a lot og time or energy to the genre. As long as their expectations are not too high, I doubt they’d be very disappointed.

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two audiobooks

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho; page count 197

Once again, I’m probably the last person who has read this book. But I’ll sum it up anyway, since it was really popular a couple of years ago. The story is a simple fable about a Shepherd who has a dream of treasure, and sets off on a quest to obtain it.

There was something lovely about the sheer simplicity of this book. Like reading a fairy tale.

However, I just cannot understand how this became a national phenomenon. I mean, sure it was nice and all, but the writing wasn’t worth writing home about (admittedly, this could be a translation issue.) The plot and most of the characters were not complex. The moral or message of the book is nice, if a little naive.

from the Brooklyn Museum, Egypt 1900.

That being said, I have discovered the best to utilize this book. This novel would ideal to read aloud to your 9 or 10-year-old child. The message and the characters would be great for them. I say, read to your child, not have them read it because this is one of those books that is almost better to talk about than to actually read.

Recommendation: Listen to the audio version read by Jeremy Irons. He was an excellent narrator. I just loved listening to his voice!

 

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Striking Back: The 1972 Munich Olympic Massacre and Israel’s Deadly Response by Aaron J. Klein; page count 288

If you didn’t get it from the title, this is a non-fiction book about the 1972 terrorist attack in Munich and a country’s reaction.

Honestly, I don’t want to go into detail about the attack, or Israel (very understandable) retaliation to it. Because this isn’t really the place for that kind of politicized talk. If anyone is really interested in my opinion on that, we can comment about it if you really want to.

It seemed very well written to me. Klein created a sketch of events and emotions of people involved without making it too dramatized. even knowing the outcome of events, I wanted to hear what happened next. What I believe encompassed the last couple of chapters (it was the last CD in any case) dragged a bit, but then that could have been me projecting my long road trip onto the book. So don’t take my word for that.

Audiobook specifics: Generally, the story was well-read. However, I would have preferred slightly heavier accents for some of the characters. Just to get me more in the mindset, really.

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the last to read

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins; page count 384

First of all, apologies to everyone for not reading this sooner. I feel like I am the very last person in America to read this book.

I doubt I’ll need to recap the plot here because everyone does know it already.

It is fantastic! I was concerned that I knew too much about the plot & events (I knew about some of the more harrowing bits in the book prior to reading it) so I was concerned that I wouldn’t actually like the book, that everything would be old news to me. Boy was I wrong! I was still very engaged in the book. In fact, I read it much faster than I normally read books. (Although, it was also a YA novel, not my typical fare.) Even knowing basically what happened, I wanted to know how it happened, which seems like excellent writing to me.

I am very impressed with Collins attention to detail, and her development of Katniss. It’s pretty impressive that readers grow to care about this somewhat ruthless teenager. And the detail! I just loved all the bits she put in about Panem and its back story. I’d like to know a little more of it, but she presented it all in a very reasonable, believable light.

Seriously, you should read this book. Literally everyone loves it, and now I know why.

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 Plead: Please do not reveal any key plot points to me. I’ve only just read the first one, and I’m on a waiting list for the other two. I will be upset if you spoil it for me.

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Spy stuff

The Tourist by Olen Steinhauer; page count 432

Anyone who knows me, or at least anyone who has been on vacation with me, knows how much I enjoy a good espionage novel. I’m a complete action junkie when it comes to movies, and I do like a good, thrilling book, as well. While I normally do read historical fiction novels, I will certainly make an exception for a good shot-em-up.

So when I was at my local Friends of the Library annual used book sale and came across this Edgar finalist, bestselling, starred reviewed book by Steinhauer, I thought it would be worth a shot. (Pun definetely intended.)

The Tourist is about Milo Weaver, CIA case manager, formerly a field agent. The book begins September 10, 2001 when Weaver is in the field, but quickly jumps and remains in 2007 when Weaver is working mostly behind a desk. Weaver is asked to help bring in another CIA agent who is being investigated for treason. Weaver is asked specifically because the agent is his close friend. Soon, Weaver finds himself on the run from his own agency.

Book sidenote: I really hated the main characters wife. First of all, she’s a librarian, which should automatically put me on her side, but instead I kept thinking “couldn’t Steinhauer made this b!tch belong to another profession?” She was a ‘fraidy cat, whiney, and had abosolutley zero tolerance for her husband’s predicament. I constantly got the feeling she was just settling for the guy, and I wanted to kick her in the shins every time she appeared. I’m not entirely sure if that was Steinhauer’s intention, but if it was, kudos! because I hated her.

I did like the book. The writing was first class. I enjoyed that the book was fast-paced and yet the plot unfolded in a lovely, logical manner which took you inside the characters’ heads. I liked all of the side characters (except one) and the “bad guys” were multi-faceted, too.

Now, get ready for an odd result: I don’t think I’ll read any more about this Tourist character. It was good and all, but I do not feel compelled by the lead character to read any more about his exploits. However, I would feel completely comfortable recommending this to other readers interested in a spy book. It’s certainly worth a look-see if that’s your thing.

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black cross

Black Cross by Greg Iles; page count 528.
The novel is about two men at opposite ends of the spectrum during World War II: Mark McConnell, an American medical doctor, chemist and pacifst working on defensive gas suits and Jonas Stern a Jewish zionist fighting to gain Palestine who hails originally from Germany. The two a recruited by English OSS (office of strategic services) to con the Nazis into thinking the Allies have a nerve gas.

Lithograph by Leo Haas (1901-1983), Holocaust artist, who survived Theresienstadt and Auschwitz.

I like reading about World war II, and espionage, and nerve gas is an interesting topic which I do not know much about. I liked that Iles does not stray too far from historical events to set up his novel. (Although, admittedly he takes more creative licence than other WWII books I’ve read.) Iles, unfortunately, throws in the grandson of Mark McConnell in at the beginning and end of the book. Frankly, I found this completely unnecesary. The story stood up just fine on its own. No need to gild the lily. The other thing I did not completely enjoy about this book was its tendancy to lag in the mid-to-last fourth of the book. I took me a while to muddle through those chapters. I also found some scenarios to be a tiny bit contrived, mostly in the character set-up. It might have been possible for everything to fall just so, but it’s a bit of a stretch..

I listened to the audio version read by Dick Hill and except for his pronaunciation of “appalachia” I fell in love with his Georgian accent. Good job, sir!

I’ve got to be honest, I generally liked the book, and did not feel it was a complete waste of my time. However, I cannot say wholeheartedly that I would recommend it to others. Only if they were very specific about the sort of book they wanted (e.g. a WWII historic fiction, and previously read better titles.)

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Digging Prehistory

Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel; page count 512.

I actually listened to the audio version, read by Sandra Burr. It was fantastic!

This book, the first in the Earth’s Children Series, was amazing! I can’t believe it took me so long to read it. This first book was originally published in 1980, and Auel finished the series last summer with the publication of the sixth and final book, The Land of the Painted Caves.

The story, the series in fact, follows Ayla, a prehistoric woman traversing through Europe about 30,000 years ago. Clan of the Cave Bear opens with an earthquake which destroys five-year-old Ayla’s home and her family. The child travels alone for a few days, encountering a cave lion along the way, before finally collapsing from exhaustion. She is picked up and rejuvenated by a neanderthal medicine woman traveling with her clan. The medicine woman is allowed to keep the girl even though Ayla is an “Other” (Homo sapien sapien.)

Auel breathes such life and depth into her characters. I love the differences she has created between “Others” and the Neanderthals. I was hooked from the moment I popped the CD in my car. Her landscapes are probably the most stunning thing. She makes it very easy to picture the surroundings. The crispness of the air, the color of the leaves. All of it is very well done.

The brilliance of Auel, however, isn’t in her writing style, which is certainly far above par; it’s in her research. It’s apparent the writer took a lot of time to research and get her facts straight. I appreciate any author who shows a reverence for facts, while making it accessible in fiction. Having read several previous books about human evolution, and watching numerous documentaries on the topic, I can say with some certainty that the history (prehistory?) quite accurate. (I mean, except for the obvious, albeit brief, dip into fantasy, but it’s so small and done so well, that I’ll overlook that bit.) Well, done, Auel!

Needless to say, I’ll definitely be reading the rest of this series. Although I may take a bit of a break in between installations for other books.

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If you are interested in more about human evolution, I recommend these sites: http://humanorigins.si.edu/  and https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/index.html

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in ol’ new york

The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye; page count 411.

I love this book! I honestly don’t want to write too much about the plot because I don’t want to accidentally give the game away, so I will just sum-up only the first couple of chapters.

an awesome book you should read

1845, New York City. A young bartender, Timothy Wilde, leaves work with his head going ’round plans to marry a lady he is smitten with when a fire rampages through downtown Manhattan obliterating everything he owns. Suddenly finding himself with neither home nor job nor prospects, Wilde takes a job in the newly established New York Police Department monitoring the infamous Sixth Ward.

(The Sixth Ward encompassed most of the brothels, hovels and crime dens in New York City until after the Civil War. It was the location Five Points. Or for movie buffs, the setting for Gangs of New York.)

If that’s not enough to make you want to read this book, let me gush for a moment. The story is artfully crafted to keep you on the edge of your seat. It’s incredibly well-written, sucking you into the grime of a nineteenth century metropolis. The characters are immensely lovable and realistic. Included is a bunch a newsboys so fantastic, I want to carry them around in my pocket. Faye’s attention to detail is just staggering.

Seriously, read this book. Read it if you like crime or mystery novels. Read it if you like historical novels. Read it if you like well-written characters. Read it if you like New York City. I promise you will not regret it.

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