People of the Lie (1983) M. Scott Peck I’m taking Legal/Ethical Issues in Public Health, and this is one of the books my professor has brought up several times, so I thought I’d read it. Parts of the book I like, other parts I was less sure about, and sometimes even disagreed with. I was […]
The Blackie Ryan Mysteries by Andrew M. Greeley Happy Are the Meek, Happy Are the Clean of Heart, Happy Are Those Who Thirst for Justice, Happy Are the Merciful, Happy Are the Poor in Spirit, Happy Are Those Who Mourn, Happy Are the Oppressed, The Bishop at Sea, The Bishop and the Three Kings, The […]
The Death Gate Cycle Dragon Wing, Elven Star, Fire Sea, Serpent Mage, Into the Labyrinth, The Hand of Chaos, The Seventh Gate by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman It had been years since I’d read the Death Gate cycle, mostly because 7 books is a lot to read for someone who has to complete an […]
The Books of Magic John Ney Rieber The Books of Magic: Bindings (1) The Books of Magic: Summonings (2) The Books of Magic: Reckonings (3) The Books of Magic: Transformations (4) The Books of Magic: Girl in the Box (5) The Books of Magic: The Burning Girl (6) The Books of Magic: Death after Death […]
Waifs and Strays (2002) Charles de Lint Charles de Lint’s latest short story collection is not as much for young adults as it is about young adults. As I recognized several titles in this collection from other collections, I hadn’t been in a hurry to get this collection. That was my mistake. Only the last […]
Robert B. Parker‘s Spenser mysteries. So while home sick, I decided to read all the Robert B Parker Spenser books I could get my hands on. I think that would be all of them but two. Here are my thoughts (will probably continue to be updated/): The Godwulf Manuscript (1973) is the first Spenser book. […]
The Legend of Nightfall Mickey Zucker Reichert Nightfall, the legendary assassin, has taken his name from the children’s song that warns about the danger of the night. A master of disguise, he survives by his wits, but survives primarily, despite is small size, because of his natural talent. A talent coveted by sorcerers who methods […]
Men at Arms, Soul Music, Interesting Times, Hogfather Terry Pratchett Men at Arms I’m rather fond of the night watch. Captain Vimes is getting ready to retire, and not only must they find his successor, they need to discover who broke into to Assassin’s headquarters, discover what was stolen, and find out who or what […]
The Lions of Al-Rassan (1995) Guy Gavriel Kay This is a very good, albeit very depressing book. Set in the same world as Sailing to Sarantium, this book describes the battles between the followers of Jad versus the Asharites. If Sailing to Sarantium reminded me of Rome, this book reminded me of Spain. Of the […]
Witches Abroad, Mort, Wyrd Sisters, Small Gods, Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett Mort (1987) Death takes an apprentice. The horse entered the square by the Hub road, steam curling off its huge damp white flanks and sparks striking up from the cobbles beneath it. It trotted proudly, like a war charger. It was definitely […]
The Boy Who Drew Cats Arthur A. Levine Paintings by Frederic Clement I first read this tale when I was in elementary school. It was one of the stories in my reading book (it was 4th, 5th or 6th grade, I can’t remember for certain), and for some reason, this tale stuck with me. Several […]
The Old Man Mad About Drawing Francois Place Translated by William Rodarmor I got this book solely on the recommendation of Jim at the Bookshelf, who said he thought I would like it (several years ago I had been looking for the story “The Boy Who Drew Cats” which I remembered from a reading book […]
The Sarantine Mosaic: Sailing to Sarantium and Lord of Emperors Guy Gavriel Kay On a note unrelated to the story, I do have to say that I greatly prefer the Canadian cover art to the American. That’s the problem with thorough websites. You get to find out what you’re missing. I’ve had these books for […]
Red Slippers Dennis McKiernan This compilation of short stories should be the final Mithgar book. As Dennis McKiernan says in the beginning, there were some loose ends that he wanted to go back and tie up, or explain, or stories that were mentioned in passing that he wanted to mention in greater detail. For this […]
The Fall of the Kings (2002) Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman This book is set in the same world as Swordspoint, about two generations later. The story begins at the University, where Basil St Cloud is a young Doctor of History at the University. It is there that he meets Theron Campion, son of the […]
Swordspoint: A Melodrama of Manners (1987) Ellen Kushner This is a marvelous book. Richard St Vier is a swordsman in a time and places where nobles hire swordsmen to fight their duels and to make points of honor. The system was originally created to formalize dueling, and to, one imagines, reduce the number of deaths […]
A Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket (1999) I really liked this book. It may have only taken me 45 minutes to read, but it was a very enjoyable 45 minutes. A Bad Beginning begins the tale of the Baudelaire children, who, in the first few pages of the book, are orphaned and lose everything except […]
Kingmaker’s Sword, The Western King, Broken Blade by Ann Marston Harper (1996, 1996, 1997) This series falls victim to the good first book problem. The first book is very good, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The problem is that the rest of the series, while good, did not really live up to the first book. […]
Discworld by Terry Pratchett Pyramids, Guards! Guards!, Faust Eric, Reaper Man I’ve been re-reading Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, mostly because they’re funny, and a quick read. I know I’m missing quite a few books, but I’m buying them when I find them. Pyramids ROC (1999) Teppic, son of the pharaoh of the Kingdom of the […]
The Vlad Taltos Novels by Steven Brust Longer reviews for individual books can be found on my Steven Brust page. When I recommend fantasy books, this series is at the top of my list. The books are relatively quick to read, and is written in the tone is that of a hard boiled mystery. And […]
Sethra Lavode: Book Three of the Viscount of Adrilankha by Steven Brust Tor (2004) The conclusion to the Viscount of Adrilankha series finishes the story of Empress Zerika’s restoration of the Empire and the final end of the Interregnum. It also continues the story of Piro (the actual Viscount for whom these tales are named), […]
The God of Old by James L. Kugel This was one of my “½read before bed” books that although good, took quite awhile to finish, since some nights I felt like I could barely read a page before I fell asleep. But then that is why I read history books and non-fiction before bed, precisely […]
Woe is I: The Grammarphobe’s Guide to Better English in Plain English by Patricia T. O’Conner I picked this book up several years ago, but had not gotten very far in it, for as much as I wanted to improve my writing, I was not necessarily interested in reading about improving my writing, but since […]
The Sandman Book of Dreams Neil Gaiman and Ed Kramer, editors It took me several months to read this book, not because it was boring, but because I was carrying it back and forth to work to read at lunch, or if I had to go somewhere for an appointment. This means that as I […]
Saga of the Volsungs Trans. Jesse L. Byock I found this book more frustrating than gratifying (but I have to admit in a way that bothers me about some folktale collections as well) in that we have a fantastic story, but no one has not bothered to do anything other than lay down a bare […]
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer Another children’s/young adult book, and a pretty good one at that, although I didn’t find it quite as interesting as either Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials or Garth Nix’s Sabriel. It was still good, and I liked the fact that the protagonist is an antihero. Ostensibly, no good qualities, although […]
Taking the Red Pill Science, Philosophy and Religion in The Matrix Glenn Yeffeth ed We’re not going to discuss my somewhat obsessive interest in The Matrix. Let’s just say it’s one of those things and move along. Obviously, this book is not of interest to you if you did not like The Matrix or are […]
SAMS Teach Yourself CSS in 24 Hours by Kynn Bartlett When I decided that it was time to lean CSS, I knew I was going to need a book for reference, so I went looking for one. I found plenty of HTML books with sections on CSS, but I quickly discovered that it wasn’t what […]
Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith Originally published as Crown Duel and Court Duel. Great writing, great characters, great story. (Even realistic cover art!) Unfortunately it was written as a romance. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with romance per se, nor is there anything wrong with romantic elements within a story, but I […]
Lord of Castle Black, Book Two of The Viscount of Adrilankha, by Steven Brust Tor (2003) I knew that it was going to be a good book when I was laughing out loud reading the first page of the introduction. “We have been informed by those to whom we have entrusted our manuscript for publication […]
Spirits in the Wires by Charles de Lint Spirits in the Wires is the story of the Wordwood, the literary internet site set up by Holly and others that has taken on a life of its own. Saskia Madding is an independent being, created by the Wordwood, and sent out into the World As We […]
The Onion Girl by Charles de Lint The only author I possibly like more than Steven Brust, is Charles de Lint. There is nothing he has written that I have not liked, and most of what he has written I really love. Despite that, and despite buying this book over a year ago, I had […]
Paper Mage by Leah R. Cutter Xiao Yen, hero of Paper Mage is a dutiful daughter, dutiful niece, and practicing paper mage. The book is set in the Tang Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom (China about the time of the European Middle Ages), and the magic is quite unlike any I have previously read. Parts […]
Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen by Garth Nix I’d been looking Sabriel for awhile but hadn’t picked it up to read, mostly because I already have too many books I’ll read when I have time to get around to it, but I read some positive comments about the books, and decided to read them over the break. […]
The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman I picked these up because I had heard good things about them, because they were supposedly ‘Young Adult’ books and thus a fast read for me, and because all three books of the trilogy were out and available. Importance not necessarily in that […]
Paths of the Dead by Steven Brust Tor (2002) I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and am considering buying the next book in the series in hardback, just so I don’t have to wait. (I hate waiting.) Still undecided on that, though, because as I have said once or twice before, I am partial to paperback […]