Category: Reviewed

A Cup of Sake Beneath the Cherry Trees — Yoshida Kenkō

By 5t4n5

A Cup of Sake Beneath the Cherry Trees -- Yoshida KenkōThis small book is a selection of quotes from Essays in Idleness.

The writer begins the book with this statement:

What strange folly, to beguile the tedious hours like this all day before my ink stone, jotting down at random the idle thoughts that cross my mind “¦

We are then regaled with a selection of those random thoughts, and quite good thoughts some of them are too.

Although written approx 1330 in Japan, a lot of these thoughts are as relevant today in the wider world as they were back then.   Yes, admittedly, some might be a bit dated and endemic but there are some very timeless thoughts for the modern, wider world to enjoy as well.

There’s also a delightful curmudgeonliness to the thoughts, like you’re listening to your favourite grand parent having a rant about what’s bothering them this week.

I shall certainly get a copy of Essays in Idleness and have a full read of Yoshida Kenkō’s thoughts.

Kenkō’s Page

#japan #yoshidakenko

Eats, Shoots and Leaves — Lynne Truss

By 5t4n5

Eats, Shoots and Leaves -- Lynne TrussAn absolute delight of a book.

Lynne has managed to take a rather dull and tedious subject — that of punctuation — and made it interesting and fun to learn.

Yes, it can come across as nothing but a curmudgeon having a rant, but it’s an intelligent curmudgeon having an amusing rant that is very educational.

We are now in an age where the written word is being used more than any other time in history to communicate; most people barely talk any more, preferring to text, or email, rather than pick up the phone or visit in person.   At no other time in history has the correct meaning and interpretation of the written word been more important, while punctuation, which gives the meaning and interpretation to the written word, is so utterly neglected and misunderstood.

Yes, punctuation is important, and while some of it is art, a lot of it is not:

… is there any art involved in using the apostrophe?   No.   Using the apostrophe correctly is a mere negative proof: it tells the world you are not a thicko.

Whether or not you think your punctuation could use a little housekeeping, this is a fun and interesting book to read and you will learn a few things while reading it: well worth it!

Lynne’s Page

#lynnetruss

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland — Lewis Carroll

By 5t4n5

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland -- Lewis CarrollWhen i read this last time i never wrote a review for it: possibly because i’d only just written a review for Alice’s Adventures Under Ground and didn’t really see the need to say much the same for this book.

So what brings me to reading this book again and writing a review now, you may ask.   Well, it’s because i just finished reading Heartless by Marissa Meyer and i so wanted to see how well it would flow into Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland if it was read as a prequel.

Now i’m certainly not saying that this book needs a prequel, but if it were to have one then Heartless has my full blessings to occupy that honoured place.

Yes, one can argue that Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a plenty wonderful book and stands perfectly alone without any need for a prequel, but, having just read Heartless beforehand as a prequel, i can fully attest that it makes for a much better reading experience if you do.

Here be some more “Alice and Wonderland” books.

Lewis’ Page

#aliceinwonderland #viclit #lewiscarroll

Heartless — Marissa Meyer

By 5t4n5

Heartless -- Marissa MeyerAnother book for fans of all things “Alice and Wonderland”.

In Heartless, Marissa has certainly written a very good prequel to the Lewis Carroll books, so much so that i now feel the need to re-read Wonderland and Looking Glass.

If you’ve ever wondered why the Hatter is Mad, why the Queen of Hearts likes chopping everyone’s heads off, where Jabberwockies come from, and lots more besides, then this is the book for you.

Well written, very enjoyable and quite unputdownable.

Marissa’s Page

#fantasy #aliceinwonderland #marissameyer

Blood & Tears — Patty Jansen

By 5t4n5

Blood & Tears -- Patty JansenThe final book in this trilogy that has certainly kept me turning the pages and wanting more.

My only complaint with this book is that it’s collected together all the main protagonists from the previous two books and hops, back and forth, between each of their stories.   Not normally a problem but because there are so many protagonists, each with their own little story to tell you, there are quite a few chapters between the chapter you leave off one protagonist’s story and the chapter you pick it back up again: each chapter in between belonging to a different protagonist’s story.   This all leaves you starting each new chapter having to make an effort as to what the protagonist of that chapter was doing when you last heard from them.   It’s not unwieldly or chaotic, but just loses the flow a little bit each time you get to a new chapter and you have to stop and think about where you are in the overall story each time.

And it’s not that i’m not used to dealing with lots of protagonists with contrasting story lines, i’ve read plenty of books like that; it’s just that in this book it just seemed to not quite flow as well and i’m not quite sure why.

And then all the protagonists stories coalesce into one single main event and *** BOOM *** it’s all over, finished, thank you very much for reading.

Maybe it’s just me being rather curmudgeonly, but i kinda wanted a lot more from the ending considering how much went on to get to it.   I really enjoy a good ending — don’t we all — and this ending really didn’t balance with the story that lead to it.

Or maybe it’s just that i didn’t want the trilogy to end so soon: maybe it could have done with another 100 pages just to keep this curmudgeon happy.

Yeah, so that all said, i did enjoy this trilogy as a whole and i’ll certainly be reading the “Moonfire Trilogy” sometime in the future to see what happens once everything has settled down from the icefire chaos.

Patty’s Page

#fantasy #pattyjansen

Dust & Rain — Patty Jansen

By 5t4n5

Dust & Rain -- Patty JansenJust when you thought it couldn’t get grimmer, Patty managed to pull it off.

So the City of Glass has shattered and icefire is spilling across the land chasing lots of surviving refugees as it burns and destroys everything in its path.

Then we throw our bunch of rather troubled protagonists from the 1st book into the refugees; have another bunch of them chasing some of them and causing lots of nasty along the way; throw a whole bunch more troubled protagonists into the country they’re heading to; stir up all the political nonsense that a time of crisis deserves and then hit the capital city with a huge bunch of the afore mentioned refugees coming via train and road — oh, and, nearly forgot, the refugees are contaminated with high levels of icefire, mostly injured, very hungry and needing shelter.

The one thing i like about this book is the pacing.   Patty keeps everything concerning the refugees really moving along at a good pace until we get to the parts with the politicians.   Suddenly, the pace slows and it feels like the story is trudging along.   This is so like real life; whenever there’s a crisis you can guarantee the only people dragging their heels — forming committees to discuss things while people are actually dying — will be the politicians who are always more concerned with what they can get out of it for their political careers.   Point well made, Patty.

It follows straight on from book one, Fire & Ice, without a pause for breath, and i’m very much diving straight into and devouring book 3, Blood & Tears, with only a little respite to write this review along the way.

So now, if you’ll excuse me, i’m off to read Blood & Tears.

Patty’s Page

#fantasy #pattyjansen

Fire & Ice — Patty Jansen

By 5t4n5

Fire & Ice -- Patty JansenMy first comment about this book is that it should be made clear at the point of sale that this book contains male on male rape scenes.   I’m pretty sure not everyone wishes to buy books with such content in them for very obvious reasons.

That said, let’s get on with the review.

As a first book in a trilogy i was very impressed.   I feel it’s certainly set the stage for some good grimdark fantasy to come.   It isn’t pleasant, the characters are flawed and too busy struggling with their own shit to worry about you, the reader — get over it!

No really, looking at some reviews i don’t think some people get this genre of story telling: you ain’t getting it laid out all spotlessly cleaned and ironed with your clean socks in the morning, it’s crumpled, still got stains and a bit of a stale wiff to it.   But they’re the only clothes you’ve got for the day so just throw ’em on and get out and enjoy the adventure they take you on.

To sum up, this was a great beginning to a trilogy that also has another trilogy following straight after.   As the stage builder for this grimdark, disturbing world that the story is set in, it’s certainly got my interest and i’m diving straight into Dust & Rain to see if what follows can meet my expectations.

Patty’s Page

#fantasy #pattyjansen

The Great Gatsby — F. Scott Fitzgerald

By 5t4n5

The Great Gatsby -- F. Scott FitzgeraldWhile i think that this is a really good book, and a thoroughly enjoyable read, i certainly don’t think that it deserves to be ranked as one of the ‘best novels of the 20th century’ and all the other plaudits it gets.

Basically, this story boils down to: poor young man falls in love with a rich, young and beautiful woman but doesn’t have the wealth to support her in the life to which she is obviously accustomed.

So Gatsby disappears from her life and sets out to become the wealthy man that he thinks will attract her.   In the meanwhile, once Gatsby’s disappeared from her life, she meets and marries someone more of her class, breeding and money.   But all the while Gatsby’s been stalking her until he has the courage to finally reveal himself and all the wealth he has somehow amassed.

So yeah, nothing much new there.   You can find plenty of books of that ilk, plenty better books published in the 20th century, and plenty better American novels.

But what you can’t find very often is the delightful prose in which this is written and the way the story is presented.   And the story is rather more nuanced than my simple precis above.

So yeah, definitely a good book and well worth a read, but it’s certainly not the greatest and i’m certainly not planning on ever reading it again.

Scott’s Page

#fscottfitzgerald

Jonathan Livingston Seagull — Richard Bach

By 5t4n5

Jonathan Livingston Seagull -- Richard BachI fail to understand why this book is lauded by so many people.   I fail to see why this book is regarded as inspirational.

It’s like: completely ignore anyone else, even if they might actually be right, and just go and do anything you feel like, no matter how dangerous to yourself or to others around you.   Remember, your ego is the most important thing in the universe so get out there and show off your ability to be better at something than everyone else.

What, you’re not better at something than everyone else?   Well you best get out there and practice and work hard every single day from dawn till dusk until you are better than everyone else.

And then when you’re better than everyone else go and tell them you are.   Make sure all that hard work and effort isn’t wasted by not having anyone be inspired by you, you super amazing thing you, oh, just look at the size of that amazing ego shining forth from your…

Do make sure to let all the dull and boring people know how utterly amazing you are as you ignore the 30 mph speed signs and drive your amazingly fast car over 150 mph down these busy, boring, urban streets; past schools and playgrounds where the children of dull and boring parents await eagerly to be inspired by your rebellion.   Ignore what anyone else has to say, even if they may actually be right and have a very good reason to say it.   Don’t worry if you kill or injure anyone while doing your stupid stunts, just make sure they all get to see how amazing you are.

Ho hum, call me curmudgeon, i’m off shopping on me moped.

Richard’s Page

#richardbach