Andrea's Books

1. Moll Flanders, by Daniel Defoe (**1/2)
Category: Classic Literature written before 1900

Moll Flanders describes how she fell into whoring (her words) and thievery. Basically it's a long rambling tale of her life as she moves from one husband to the next, sometimes marrying one husband while still "technically" married to the last, and leaving a litany of children in her wake (whom she seems to have little interest in at all, despite assurances otherwise).

The point of the story is that this is supposed to be a tale of the misfortunate, as tales about thieves, murders, and other miscreants were very popular at the time period.

It had enough to it that I was able to keep trudging through it, as she fell into one misfortune after another (kind of like watching a train wreck). But I have to admit that I was severely disappointed in the book, because I so loved the movie. True, the movie had been Hollywood-zed big time, but in my opinion this is one of the very rare cases where this was a good thing. Moll was more naive in the movie, not so much trying to con her way through live but falling into the necessity so as to survive, which is part of what appealed to me. The book's Moll lacked that innocence, and was openly deceptive and conned many men (from fear of poverty, true), and there was very little to redeem her.

Tar and feather me, if you like, but in my opinion the movie was more enjoyable than the book.

Have you thought about giving Tom Jones a try? I thought it was pretty good---many years ago.

Looks good. I will definitely give it a try.

2. How to Uncage a Girl, by Francesca Lia Block (***1/2)
Category: Poetry

This poetry lives in the adolescent, in that its focus remains for the most part superficial. Since this book of poetry is directed toward a young adult audience, this is not a bad thing.

Many of the poems center on body image, fashion, popularity, finding self, boys, and the like. They revel in the insecurities of the teenager. If I had read this when I was in high school, I would have been amazed, thinking, This is me. She knows. I would have believed.

Even the language itself remains very on the surface. The breaking of the lines often seems arbitrary, and the descriptions tend to be repetitive (the first things to be noticed are the shade of the eyes or the color of the hair).

There is no punctuation throughout the book, except the odd question mark. Sometimes it helped the poem, allowing the thoughts to run into one another, the way they actually do in our minds, undeliniated. Other times this was a hindrance, causing confusion in the lack.

Block brings in mythology and fairy tales to help bring these poems depth and life. And every once in a while, she breaks away into something sublime, and I find myself wanting to linger over a line. I reread it, savoring it on my tongue. And there are those few poems where I have to pause and be still for a minute after finishing, because I just need to be there for a moment before I go back to read the poem again.

3. The Pluto Files, by Neil deGrasse Tyson (***1/2)
Category: Science/Science History

Tyson describes the rise and fall of Pluto as a planet. He looks at how Pluto was first discovered, Pluto's cultural significance (mostly in the U.S.), the new evidence that demoted Pluto, and the heated debates that resulted.

Tyson stood at the center of the Pluto controversy when it erupted, as he was the Director of the Rose Center for Earth and Space at the time. It was the layout of this center, which groups objects in the solar system according to their similarities, that began the public uproar even though some scientists had been already considering Pluto's demotion. The Rose Center listed these groups: the sun (as a star), the terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars), the asteroid belt, the , and the Kuiper belt (a group of icy objects, including Pluto).

Because Tyson had been so thoroughly raked over the coals for this decision, it could have been easy for him to be defensive throughout this book. Instead, he quotes directly from newspapers, emails, letters, postcards, and other items from scientists, teachers, laymen atronomers, astrologers, and school children (some of my favorites are from the kids). Illustrating the debate rather than getting in the middle of it for this book. Counting planets is not that important to him; understanding why and how the universe works is.

I had heard about Pluto's demotion, but didn't know much about it. Learning the science behind why it some scientists chose to demote Pluto, made me think, Well, duh. Scientifically, it makes logical sense, but culturally and emotionaly (for those whom Pluto was their favorite planet and loved it so), it was a serious insult.

While I enjoyed this book, it was very short, so short in fact that I couldn't help but get the feeling that something must be something more to it. But no, I don't think there can be much more than that. We don't really know that much about Pluto anyway. It was discovered, labeled a planet, knew discoveries changed the rules classifying it differently, people made a fuss, scientists created new definitions of planets, the debate goes on. End of story. There just wasn't much else he could have done with it.

I have to admit, though, that one of the facts that sticks most in my mind is the brief section describing about how Pluto the Disney character came into being. In the first film to feature a dog that looked like Pluto in the 1930s, Mickey was a criminal escaping from a chain gang. In the next film, horney ex-convict Mickey keeps trying to get on Minnie, and the pooch won't let him. What?! This totally blows my illusions about Mickey's supposed innocent naivete.

4. Japan Ai: A Tall Girl's Adventures In Japan, by Aimee Major Steinberger (****)
Category: Biography/Autobiography/Memoir

Maybe I'm cheating a little with this one, but it is autobiographical and memoir-ish (though I suppose it's more of a travel log than anything else). It's close enough that I'm going to fit into my Biography/Autobiography/Memoir category anyway. So there.

In Japan Ai, Steinberger tells about her travels in Japan, illustrating them with manga-style pictures, and keeping things interesting with a sense of humor. It's rather short and sweet and the art is lovely, and really there's not much more to say than that.

If you like travel and Japanese pop culture, then chances are you will probably like this book.

Like many, it seems, I am already thinking about which categories I would like to do next year. So I'm going to record the possibilities here for record keeping's sake.

Possible categories for 2010:
- The Living Dead**
- Apocalypse/Post-Apocalypse*
- Books about Books*
- Fairy Tales/Folklore**
- Japan, India, or Haiti (Edwidge Danticat)**
- Magic/Witchcraft/Occult
- About Women/Feminism**
- Film/Filmmaking
- Wild West History
- Scripture/Philosophy (the Bible, Koran, Nietzsche, etc.)**
- a specific scifi/fantasy genre (sword and sorcery, alternate history, space operas, or the like)
- Alchemy (in fiction and in history)**
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Flamel#References
- From my Bookshelf
- Pop Culture***
- Also, from the Modern Library's 100 best books
- Arthurian
- Travel
Already I've got too many. Ack!
I will definitely have to include a Miscellany category though, so that I have some wiggle room.

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My Final(ish) List

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Interesting set of ideas for next year, blythe. I am thinking about a Books on Books category (already have some lined up; hope I can put off readig them until next year). Fairy Tales/Folklore sounds good; Film/Filmmaking, About Women/Feminism. Hmmm. And I love reading about India. Some of my all-time 100 are set in India. Gee, I haven't even moseyed through one of each from this year's categories yet! But I'm more disciplined than last year, or indeed any previous year since those strict, list-driven college days.

Well, I'm not being totally diciplined this year. I'm really books outside my categories, which is why I'm planning to include a Miscellaneous catch-all category for next year. I could switch up one of this year's categories, but I just can't bring myself to get rid of one.

Most of the categories for next year come from the very long lists of books that I have to read. :)

Slight change of plans. I keep reading outside of my categories, basically my Miscellany category, so it just didn't make sense to keep those books out of my main count. So I have switched my Plays/Screenplays category to my extra credit section.

Since I haven't been keeping up with reviews on these books, here are some short ones now.

5. Inkspell, by Cornelia Funke (*****)

This is part two in the Inkheart trilogy, and it is just as well-plotted and complex as Inkheart. Dustfinger finds another reader to read him back into the Inkheart novel. Farid, desperate to follow, finds Meggie to read them both in. Once inside the book Meggie is enchanted with the beauty and magic, but is homesick, and so seeks out Fengolio to write the words that will allow her to go home. And Meggie's father and mother have their own set of adventures.

The tightly woven plot is entirely character driven. The characters (from villains to heroes) act according to their nature and to their own desires, and their choices drives the action forward. I found this book thoroughly enjoyable and fascinating and I can't wait to read Inkdeath, the final book in the trilogy.

6. Heart of Stone, by C.E. Murphy (****1/2)

Margrit, or Grit to friends, is a defense attorney in New York whose world is toppled upside down when she meets, Alban, a gargoyle. Suddenly she is thrust into a world of magic, and is finding herself dealing with all the old races, dragons and djin, selkies and gargoyles, and vampires.

It has a decent plot with a enough strings left unwoven for the second book to have somewhere to begin. This a fun, sexy read, by an author that has never let me down yet.

7. The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak (*****)

World War II, Germany. Told by Death, the story focuses on Liesel Meminger, the book thief. The book is organized by the books she steals, though the book theivery is really just a background to the larger story of growing up and living in Nazi Germany.

Some people will find the conceit of telling the story from Death's point of view annoying, or overdone. I personally found Death to be charming and full of dry wit, bringing a levity to the story.

All the characters throughout the book were well wrought, each with their own quirks and dreams and fears. I felt like they were really people, which made the tragedies in the story all the more tragic. It is certainly a sad novel (WWII) is a sad, tragic time, but there is hope too, and life and joy amid all the danger, challenges and despair.

8. After Dark (audio book), by Haruki Murakami (****)

After Dark strives for pure observation, starting from a bird's eye view over Tokyo after midnight, and circling down untill we see 19-year-old Mari sitting in a Denny's, reading. Cutting back and forth between Mari and her sister, Eri, who is at home sleeping herself into oblivion, we are shown the night world of Tokyo. Mari finds herself meeting a strange group of people, a jazz trombonist, the manager of a love hotel and her two maids, and a Chinese prostitute, while Eri takes a surreal sleep journey.

The writing sometimes seems cold to me, though whether that is the fault of the observational tone, or the fault of the translation, I cannot tell. Or maybe the coldness comes from the way each of these characters seems to have isolated themselves in some way, they all are distant from each other and from themselves despite their need to connect.

I would describe After Dark as a book of non-events. Nothing much happens here; there are conversations, connections, missed-oppurtunities, and the like, which slips into the metaphysical realm. There is an attempt to define reality, self awarness, and dreams, though no conlusions can really be made.

In the end, I enjoyed this observation of people. But I often enjoy these kind of meandering books, where not much happens, but the meaning runs deep.

9. Elephant Rocks: Poems, by Kay Ryan
Category: Poetry

Kay Ryan's poems are short, often no loner than then length of a page, and often at first glance they are deceptively simple. The cover such topics as the morning, and island for crustaceans, or time. But despite the seeming simplicity these poems weigh heavy in the mind. They linger. I kept re-reading each poem, hoping to get to the secret meaning that I suspected hid just beneath the surface of the words.

Her poetry is lyrical and playful. Rhyme follows no specific pattern, but seems to be thrown in for the pure pleasure of the sound. She gently tease the reader, even when dealing with the serious. A lovely collection of poetry that I will continue to go to again and again.

10. Daisy Kutter: The Last Train, written and illustrated by Kazu Kibuishi (****)
Category: Steampunk

This graphic novel is set in the Wild West with robots (though its a more modern wild west with telephones and other such devices, and there is a reference to it being the New West, so it might be in the future as opposed to the past). This is one of those books where people will debate over whether it's truely steampunk, since there is not much steam technology. It's close enough for my tastes, though, as I have a rather more relaxed definition of what steampunk it.

Anyway, The Last Train has a rather basic plot. Daisy is a former outlaw, who gets pulled into doing one last job. Things go awry.

This is not a book that will make you think. Rather, it's a good fun read with an interesting main character. Daisy is a strong women who embodies the myth of the old west, able like the John Waynes of old, to stand stoic in the face of chaos. I liked her, and I genuinely hope this book continues into a series, as the ending seems to set it up to do. I want to see more of her adventures.

11. On the Road (audio book), by Jack Kerouac (****)
Category: from The Modern Library's 100 Best books

On the Road is definitely a novel of a cultural era, deeply rooted in the beat culture that Kerouac helped create. The main character, Sal, tells of his journeys with Dean Moriarty, a young man he describes as mad (mad in the sense of being passionate about life). Sal crosses the country several times as describes his adventures hitching, the people he meets, and the crazy partying and wild nights with his gang of fellow hipsters.

Sal is in love with the America he sees, but it is a love laced with sadness and melancholy. Things don't don't stay wildly happy forever and he knows it.

I don't know if I would have enjoyed this book nearly as much if I had just sat down to read it on the page (since I listened to it on CD on my hour long drive to work). A large part of my enjoyment came from the excellent performance given by Frank Muller. He made the characters come alive on that CD, made them jump and bounce in their mad, wild bumbling travels.

On the Road is a rambling sort of story, where one event falls into another, and the only point or purpose you find is the one you invent on your own. Life is like that. My own travels have been similar in that you drink in all that's around you, and then its over, and you look back and wonder, did that really happen?

I can definitely see why this novel was so loved by its generation and many of the following generations. I'm going to have to read it again in print someday to see what I get out of it at a future time.

12. House of Cards, by C.E. Murphy (****)
Category: Miscellany

This is book 2 of The Negotiator Trilogy. I wasn't as in to this one as I was into Heart of Stone, but I think that had more to do with my own mental distractions than the storyline itself.

Margrit is still wrapped up in the world, and as is typical in part two of a trilogy things get more messy, complicated and violent. The shit hits the fan so to speak. Murphy does a good job keeping things interesting.

>13 andreablythe: I loved Daisy Kutter. On his Bolt City website, there's info for a Daisy Kutter story called "Phantoms" - http://boltcity.com/?article=341

So there's some good news!

I will say that I did read a lot here and there when I was looking after I'd originally read Daisy Kutter for fans wanting to see her turned into a feature film.

Thanks, stephmo, for pointing out the new Kutter story. Very cool that it's going to be in the new Flight anthology. They have some pretty amazing graphic stories in there.

It would be cool to see Kutter become a movie. I've always liked the idea of Cowgirls. There's something about the myth of the wild west that appeals to me.

13. Atoms and Alchemy: Chymistry and the Experimental Origins of the Scientific Revolution, by William R. Newman (***)
Category: science/Science History

Most discussions of the Scientific Revolution leaves out the impact that Alchemy has had on the development of chemistry, metallurgy, and (in this case) matter theory. Alchemy is portrayed as grounded in myth and mysticism, and therefore could not have influenced serious scientists.

But as Newman points out, Alchemy and Chymistry (a science that many alchemists practiced) actually had a significant influence in the 16th and 17th centuries, and must have had an impact on the scientists working in those periods. Newman uses strong textual evidence throughout his book to show in very specific ways, how Chymistry influenced the development of matter theory, specifically citing the ways in which Robert Boyle's mechanical philosophy was influenced by the work of Daniel Sennert. Sennert's use of reduction and experimentation to prove his theories was and especially important influence on Boyle.

This is not a fun book to read. In fact, it reads like a text book and is very dense with information. I was willing to work my way through it, because the subject matter was interesting enough to me. I especially liked seeing the thought processes that these scientists used, which is so foreign now, with our understanding of atoms and molecules.

I would not recomend this to everyone, but those who are interested in the subject matter and willing to put a little effort into their reading may find this an interesting book.

14. A Journey to the Center of the Earth (audio book) (*****), by Jules Verne
Category: By/About Jules Verne

Based on the discovery of a mysterious parchment detailing the entrance to the center of the earth, a passionate scientist drags his nephew to Iceland. There, with the help of their trusty Icelandic guide, they gain entry to travel deep into the earth,, where they have many great adventures including dangerous tunnels, an underground ocean, prehistoric creatures, and other natural hazards.

I have seen so many versions of Journey to the Center of the Earth from the good to the very, very bad. This book is so much better than all of them. Much of the book is just traveling through dark tunnels before they make their more outrageous discoveries (the movies seem to insist on adding more complications).

I had been worried that it was going to be dry like some books of the older style of prose, but i was pleasantly surprised. The narrative is entertaining throughout, keeping the reader on the edge of their seat, and often quite funny. I loved Professor Liedenbrock, whose wild passions often lead to humorous situations, as well as his more timid nephew Axel, who was not nearly as excited by the trip. I even enjoyed Hans, the silent and stoic guide.

This is a fun, entertaining adventure novel. I loved it, and am quite excited to read the rest of Verne's works.

15. I, Too, Sing America: Three Centuries of African American Poetry (audio book), edited by Catherine Clinton (****)

The audio book is an abbreviated version of the anthology, which includes some of the most influential poetry written by African Americans over three centuries (as the title implies). I have read many of these poets before in other anthologies, but it's always a pleasure to hear poetry read out loud. A lot of poetry comes alive that way, where the rhythms can be fully understood.

Most of the work deals with racism and exclusion. I was especially interested to learn about those poets who were published as slaves, and were allowed to keep their wages from their published works. I'd like to learn more about them.

The two disk audio version is severely limited in terms of range, but I imagine that the print anthology has a lot more going on an a larger range of poetry. Based on this small sampling, it is definitely worth looking into.

I just read your review of Moll Flanders. It was such a great movie that I downloaded the audio book but I'm not so sure I want to listen now I know the movie moved so far away from the book. Though from your review I think perhaps the movie was a great improvement on the book. I liked Moll as an innocent doing her best among thieves and whores.

re: 21
Yep, that's pretty much how I felt about the movie. Though, there are people who really love the book, but they must like that style of writing. It just doesn't appeal to me personally.

16. Larklight: A Rousing Tale of Dauntless Pluck in the Farthest Reaches of Space, by Philip Reeve (****)
Category: Steampunk

Art Mumby and his sister Myrtle live with their father in Larklight, a house that travels on an orbit outside the moon. The house is quite large and in some ways falling apart. Things are peaceful (if you don't mind Myrtle's piano playing), until a ship full of spiders invades their house and set them on course to encounter space pirates and many other exciting adventures.

The setting is an alternate history of Victorian England (and far beyond), and Phillip Reeve uses the charm and stylings of that age to infuse the story with humor. I really enjoyed this one. This is just the kind of Steampunk that I like to look for. I like rousing, jaunty adventure a la Jules Verne, and this story fits the bill. This is a well plotted young adult novel with interesting characters and well wrought art work throughout. A good fun read.

17. Eclipse, by Stephanie Meyer (****)
Category: Miscellany

This is the third book in the Twilight series, which tells the story of Bella and Edward, a human and vampire in love with one another. In this book, Bella is torn between her love for Edward (vampire), and her friendship for Jacob (werewolf), who are natural enemies.

I was putting off reading the third book, because I foresaw the kinds of scenarios that would annoy me. It turned out to be far better than I expected. I'm still fascinated by the characters and enjoy the style and pace of the books. I plowed my way through it quickly, unable to stop myself.

I understand all the complaints I hear from other writers and critics about this series, but this is one of those stories where I am able to forgive any obvious faults and become totally absorbed with. Basically, this may not be great literature (said with a sarcastically upturned nose), but not every book has to be. This is a fun, entertaining read, and it doesn't need to be anything more than that.

re 11.

I have read The Book Thief, really liked it. Always a little nervous when a book is so highly recommended, as it doesn't often live up to the hype.
I loved Inkheart, have a copy of Inkspell, but want to get the third book so I can read them one after the other.

re: 25,
I can understand wanting to read everything at once. The "Ink--" series is great (I don't know the official name).

Me? I was okay with having a break between the books, because while the books are complex and fabulous, they are not entirely relaxing for me. I get complete absorbed in them, but Funke is so mean to her characters. And I mean that in a good way, as in she faces them with great challenges. In fact the danger is often so great that I cannot forsee a way out for those characters. It kind of stresses me out a little bit. :)

But she is an excellent writer, and I do enjoy reading her books immensely.

18. Around the World in Eighty Days (****1/2)
Category: By/About Jules Verne

Philease Fogg makes a hasty and rash bet of 20,000 pounds that he can travel around the world in 80 days. He immediately sets off, dragging his newly hired servant Passpartout along for the journey. He meets with many adventures and possible delays that risk preventing him from reaching his destination in time, including Fix, a detective who has mistaken Fogg for a bank robber.

The film versions of this books often make this story more exotic and fantastical than it really is, turning Fogg into some sort of an inventor, who sets off in his journey in an air balloon. But Fogg uses regular means of travel in this books, ships, trains, and even on elephant, but there are no balloons. Verne did pen another adventure story, called Five Weeks in a Balloon, in which travels travel across Africa in a hot air balloon (this is on my list to read).

That being said, I enjoyed Around the World immensely. Because the book was orginally written as a serial, the chapters are each vignette in which Fogg and his companions meets an obstacle and then over comes it. Verne's characters are something like caricatures, but the have enough depth to be fully entertaining.

This is only the second book of Verne's that I have read, but he is fast becoming one of my favorite authors.

18. Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel (audio book), by Michio Kaku.
Category: Science/Science History

Kaku explains the real science behind some of our favorite technologies in science fiction, including time travel, teleportation, invisibility, alternate worlds, and more. He explains that some of the technologies we consider commonplace now, would have been considered impossible 150 years ago. And in the same sense many of the things we consider impossible today may become commplace in the future.

He breaks these impossibilities into 3 categories:

Class I Impossibilities are those technologies that are currently unavailable, but that could be commonplace in our society within the next 50 to 100 years.

Class II Impossibilities are those technologies that are possible within the laws of physics, but would require a civilization 100,000 to a million years more advanced than our own.

Class III Impossibilities are technologies that are either impossible, or would require a complete restructuring of our known laws of physics in order to exist.

Surprising most of the science talked about in this book falls into Category I, including invisibility, light sabers, and teleportation. This was a fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable look at the science of science fiction.

20. Dating Jesus: A Story of Fundamentalism, Feminism, and the American Girl, by Susan Campbell (*****)
Category: Biography/Autobiography/Memoir

Susan Campbell grew up in a strict fundamentalist. She loved her god, and even felt that her's was a deep personal relationship with Jesus. But as she grew older she began to question her church, specifically the roles assigned women.

Her writing is smart and funny. She talks about her childhood relationship with Jesus with both parts humor and mourning. And interwoven throughout her own personal narrative are the historical journeys of the fundamentalist movement and feminism.

Overall, an enlightening, touching, and fun read.

21. Steampunk (anthology), edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer (****)
Category: Steampunk

This anthology presents short stories in the steampunk genre. Steampunk, in my mind, is a subgenre of science fiction, usually set in the Victorian Era with the use of advanced steam or clockwork technology and very much inspired by Jules Verne. Though some people would argue that it is more complicated than that.

"Seventy-Two Letters," by Ted Chiang and "Victoria," by Paul Di Filippo don't exactly fall into that category. While they are both set in the Victorian Era, they are more biopunk (biopunk, to my limited understanding, being a genre in which the science is more focused on biology and genetics.) than steampunk. Nevertheless, both stories are well written and enjoyable, so the break in genre did not bother me much.

However, the rest of the stories fall well into my definition of the genre, and the stories are consistently good throughout. These are some of my favorites:

"The Giving Mouth," , by Ian MacLeod, in which a dark feudal society, driven by steam powered horses and an industrial complex, is threatened by a shadowy killer.

"The Steam Man of the Prairie and the Dark Rider Get Down," by Joe Lansdale, in which the former hero of H.G. Well's The Time Machine has become a monster and has torn time and space apart in his travels.

"The Selene Gardening Society," by Molly Brown, in which making the moon inhabitable could solve a rather disagreeable problem.

There are also three essays that define the genre and look at steampunk in pop culture and the comic book medium. A great help if you are new to the genre.

Overall I would say that this is a decent introduction to the genre, and well worth a look.

PS. I am officially 1/4 of the way to my goal! Woot!

22. Breaking Dawn, by Stephanie Meyer (****)
Category: Miscellany

This is the fourth and final(ish) book in the Twilight series, a vampire romance story. I don't want to say much else about the plot of this one, as there a lot of it is a culmination of events from the last three books. The most I will say is that Bella and Edward finally marry, then a lot of other things happen.

As I said in my review of the third book (#24 on this thread) this is not great literature. But I have enjoyed this series, and this book was the best of the series in my mind. Meyer jumps out of Bella's point of view for a section of the book, which gives a nice look into another character's head. She also didn't seem to be as repetitive in her descriptions, and had a better handle on plotting for this one. I rather enjoyed it.

Meyer was supposed to be working on a fifth book for the series (hence the -ish at the beggining), but due to someone taking a draft of the work and posting it all over the net (she has a version on her website available for those who must read it now), the new book has been postponed indefinitely. I feel the fourth book ended in a good place and would be fine leaving it there. Though if she finally does publish the fifth book, I will read it when the time comes.

23. What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew, by Daniel Pool (****1/2)
Category: Victorian History/Culture

Pool looks at everyday life in 19th century England. Everything from card games to fox hunting to orphanages. His goal in writing this book is to illuminate some of the cultural mysteries of the era for the reader of 19th century novels, which he does with a sense of irony and wit.

The book is composed in two parts. In Part I he describes everyday life, using quotes from popular 19th century novels to illuminate his descriptions. In Part II he includes an in-depth glossary (somewhere in the range 100 pages long), which I was quite happy to flip through discovering new-to-me words that have long since become archaic.

This book is an invaluable introduction to the 19th century, giving the basic ins and outs of everyday life. As a writer, this would be the first source I would turn to if I ever decided to write a historical set in that era. Definitely a book I would like to have on my shelf for easy reference.

I officially have at least one book read in each of my nine categories! Whoot!

24. Click, by David Almond, Eoin Colfer, Roddy Doyle, Deborah Ellis, Nick Hornby, Margo Langan, Gregory Maguire, Ruth Ozeki, Linda Sue Park, and Tim Wynne-Jones (*****)
Category: Miscellaney

After their famous photographer grandfather Gee dies, he leaves his grandson Jason some signed photographs from famous sports stars and his granddaughter a box of seven shells. These mysterious items begin the unfolding of mysteries that carry across decades.

Ten authors came together to write this novel, each writing one chapter, more of a series of short stories. It's amazing to me how well these stories weave together to make a complete picture, not just a random assortment of stories, but truely a novel. The book is well written throughout, and the characters are interesting. This is a genuinely sweet and touching story, and definitely one of my new favorite books.

Click sounds very interesting. Would you say it's a YA book? Some of my favourite authors have contributed a chapter.

(Don't know if this is the right touchstone for the book)

Yes, it's a YA book. I found it in the teen section at my library. The choice of authors was definitely why I picked it up.

I can't get the touchstone to work for me either, so

25. Cranford (audio book), by Elizabeth Gaskell (****1/2)
Category: Classic Literature written before 1900

In Cranford is a town in Northern England in which women rule. Men of the Gentile class are mostly absent, and if a woman does marry, her husband is quickly found to be elsewhere for business, or one reason or another.

I found each of the women of Cranford to be fascinating, especially Mary Smith, the narrator, who mostly observes the goings ons and various adventures with wonderful wit. Cranford is also a great portrait of daily life for women in Victorian England (it was especially cool to read it after reading What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew).

I am currently reading:
The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck
Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex, by Mary Roach (which is overdue at the library *sigh*)

ETA: The touchstones don't seem to be working anymore. Don't know why.

26. Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex, by Mary Roach (****)
Category: Science/Science History

Having already tackled the subjects of human corpse (Stiff) and the afterlife (Spook), Roach once again takes on the taboo in Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex. As the title suggests, she looks at the science of sex -- from viagra to female libido to erectile implants to sex as a health benefit -- and she does so in her straightforward, unflinchingly humorous style.

This book will probably make you blush; it made me blush. I would alternatively blush, let my jaw fall open, look around sheepishly to see who might be watching me read this strange book, and laugh.

This may or may not be a book for those who are inhibited about discussing sex, as it is definitely unabashed about describing anatomy, though purely in a scientific way. There is much to me learned in this book, much that needs to be learned, and much that is purely amusing for the sake of anecdote. Bonk was a very enjoyable, though sometimes disturbing, read.

27. Versed, by Rae Armantrout (**1/2)
Category: Poetry

Not my favorite book of poetry. Armantrout writes short simple lines with short stanzas. The poems tend to come with numbered (I'm sure there's another name for it) chapters or sections, and often I couldn't see what the connection between each one was. The overall message of each poem elluded me, and I kept thinking that a chapter/section could be a poem all on its own.

Poetry comes down to resonance with me, and different poetry resonates with different people. In the end, with one or two exceptions (in which I wanted to hold the stanza or line forever), the vast majority poetry in this book did not resonate with me. Maybe it will work for someone else.

28. Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert (****1/2)
Category: Biography/Autobiography/Memoir

After a brutal divorce, author Elizabeth Gilbert decides to spend a year abroad in purposeful traveling. in Italy she practices the art of pleasure, in India the art of spiritual devotion, and in Indonesia she learns how to balance the two.

This is a lovely books, about one woman on a spiritual quest across the globe in an attempt to know herself fully, a heady challenge for anyone. Gilbert describes her travels with a quiet humor, and the book is full of the fascinating characters that one seems only to meet when they leave the safety of home. A fabulous book all around.

5. Zombie Haiku: Good Poetry for Your...Brains, Ryan Mecum (****)
Category: Poetry

I love zombies. I also love poetry. So, of course, I have to read any book that combines the two.

Ryan Mecum tells the story of a haiku poet, who continues to write 5-7-5 syllabled haiku after he has been turned into a zombie. The book is laid out as though it were the poet's actual blood-splatterd journal, complete with Polaroid photos of zombies and mayhem.

The haiku themselves are not spectacular, but through them he weaves a graphically dark story. They force the poet to tightly pack the events and imagery into short sharp lines. The overall effect is an intense look at the apocalypse from the point of view of the undead.

I'm glad I found this thread! I've already added Daisy Kutter to my TBR list. I really enjoyed Larklight when I read it and the sequel.

The Mysterious Island is on my 'loser-books' list. I won't tell you why, but after you get started, you'll see what I mean, even if you don't agree. I was disappointed, because I love Journey to the Center of the Earth.

I understand that The Mysterious Island is supposed to be a sequel to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which I plan to read first. Could that have contributed to the dislike?

30. The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck (*****)
Category: from The Modern Library's 100 Best books

The Grapes of Wrath tells the story of the great depression, interweaving the broad tale hundreds of thousands of farmers who fled to California in hopes of achieving the mere basic necessities of food and home with the tale of the Joad family. Like so many farmers put off their land by the banks, the Joad family loads all they can into a jalopy and heads west.

This one of those books that was required reading in high school, and like most books I read for class, I read the bare minimum that was required of me and barely paid attention to what I was reading. It's amazing how much I missed when I read it in high school.

This book was one of the most powerful books I've read in a while. Steinbeck switches from the broad to the specific, giving you the very personal tale of the Joads, while letting you know in subsequent chapters that they are just one of many. Each character is fascinating, each strong and weak in their own ways. Even the people the family meets on the road, who enter their lives for but a brief moment before slipping away, are so real that it was as if they could walk right into the room in which I was reading and say hello.

This is definitely on my list of personal favorites, tragic but hopeful all in the same breath.

Have you tried East of Eden by Steinbeck? It's my favorite of his, and I thought it was better than Grapes of Wrath. That zombie haiku book sounds just ... so ... kooky. I don't like zombie stuff at all, but the premise is intriguing.

My sister loved East of Eden, so it's definitely on my list of to-be-read. That's another one I read portions of in highschool, but didn't pay as much attention to.

Yeah, I love zombies, but it's a personal taste kind of thing.

31. The Film Club, by David Gilmour (****)
Category: Biography/Autobiography/Memoir

When David Gilmour, a Canadian writer and film critic, begins to see that his son hates school and learning with it, he decides to take an unconventional approach to parenting. He makes a deal. His son can drop out of school, doesn't have to work, and can come and go as he pleases, as long as he agrees to watch three films a week with his father.

I am always fascinated by alternative approaches to teaching. The public school system's cookie cutter approach to education is bound to fail for some kids, which means that otherwise intelligent and good kids get lost along the way.

Gilmour's son falls into that category, and although he writes about him in a rose colored glasses kind of way at the beginning of the book, he presents an interesting journey in which father and son use movies as a form a communication, relating to one another, and as a form of intellectual pursuit. Multiple life challenges come up for both father and son, including the loss of a job and the loss of love (as well as Gilmour's doubts as to whether he is doing right by his son), but movies offer a way of connection and catharsis throughout. Overall an entertaining book.

32. The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories, by Tim Burton (***1/2)
Category: Poetry

Tim Burton in typical fashion weaves many darkly humorous tales about a variety of odd characters, including oyster boy, matchstick girl, stain boy, the boy with nails for eyes, and more.

I read this book (for the second time) in just over an hour. It's very short. Each tale is illustrated and told in verse, lending them a false sense of innocence, like a nursery rhyme, but most feature unfortunate events and bad ends for the characters. One has to enjoy this kind of dark humor to enjoy the book, and I actually found it more entertaining on the second go around.

33. Fantasy Lover, by Sherrilyn Kenyon (***1/2)
Category: Miscellany

Grace Alexander is a sex therapist, who has not had sex in four years. One night, under the influence of wine and convinced by her new-age friend, she castes a spell to draw an ancient greek love slave out of a book. Julian of Macedon, formerly a Spartan general, appears naked and gorgeous in her living room.

But this is a perfect cotton candy book. Lacking in substance, but oh, so fun to read.

Despite the poor, cliche ridden writing, the characters are well developed. And even though the sex is somewhat over the top (I laughed a couple of times), the romance is truely romantic and endearing. There is something incredibly sweet about the way these two deeply wounded people find comfort in each other. There loves grows naturally beyond lust and sex, into an everyday fondness and a comfortable tender intimacy.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

* * * *

And that technically ends my Micellany category, though I have a feeling that this category will grow far beyond the nine (I already have a tenth). I just hope that I can get myself through all the rest of the categories.

42 - No, it wasn't that. The story opens with a group in a Civil War prison camp and they decide to escape. It was after they reached the island that I lost interest.

And I need to add the Zombie Haiku to my TBR list.

34. Emma Victorian Gazette (***1/2)
Category: Victorian History/Culture

This is a companion book that came with Season 1 of Emma, an anime series set in the Victorian era about a romance between two classes of society. The book presents itself as a gossip style newspaper, talking the events in the series as a gossip column. The book also includes information about everyday dress and living in Victorian England, and includes a brief glossary at the end.

The only reason I read this one is because I found it while browsing the shelves at my local library. It's not a straight history book, and the fiction is so blended with the nonfiction that I'm sure the accuracy of the historical fact could be called into question. I also found the gossip section at the beginning of the book to be drudgery, because I didn't really care about the characters (since I have never seen the show).

But the book did have some great drawings of Victorian clothing styles, and had diagrams of typical room layouts. It also had sections on local places that exist in England, showing what they looked like in the 19th century and what they look like now. So I enjoyed it for those moments, and it does make me want to go see the anime.

*
I'm now reading Between Women: Friendship, Desire, and Marriage in Victorian England, which looks to be a rather interesting read.

35. Book of Haikus, by Jack Kerouac (****1/2)
Category: Poetry

Book of Haikus compiles Jack Kerouac's haiku from various published works and journals (Regina Weinreich does an excellent job with the introduction and with the asides throughout).

Kerouac breaks away from the Japanese syllable counting tradition of 5-7-5 per line. Instead he developed his own standard of American Haikus, which often exists in direct relation to the Japanese haikuists. His haiku bends the traditions further, playing with seasonal references in new ways and infusing humor into his lines. Sometimes dark sometimes light-hearted, his haiku are always (or almost always) poignant. Kerouac's haiku and his love of Japanese haiku inspires me to want to read the traditional Japanese greats.

I quite enjoyed the poetry throughout this book, and I found it inspirational to my own writing. I'm enthralled by the haiku form, how so much can be said in such a small space. I'm going to have to buy my own personal copy, so that I can flip through it randomly as I'm out and about in the world.

36. The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling (****)
Category: Steampunk

The Difference Engine is considered to be one of the definitive works in the Steampunk genre, and is said to help bring the genre into being.

Gibson and Sterling present an alternate history, in which Charles Babbage actually completes his difference engine (sort of a steam powered computer). (Interesting to note: It's been proven that Babbage's analytical engine could have worked if he actually constructed it. The machine has been recreated according to his exact designs and the functioning machine is on display at the computer history museum in California.)

The story follows three characters through this world, Sybil Gerard (fallen woman), Edward Mallory (scientist and adventurer), and Laurence Oliphant (diplomat and journalist). The plot lays out as three separate stories from the point of view of each of these characters, and the narrative interweaves around a box containinga mysterious set kinotrope cards (sort of the difference engine's floppy discs). Various catastophe's and calamities befall the characters and the nation.

Due to the format, the book reads a little disjointedly, and I would have liked to have seen the characters interact on a greater scale. Mallory's story is the longest and most interesting, dipping into the realms of violent dystopia, and I was genuinely concerned for Mallory's safety throughout.

Certain threads are never resolved in the book, leaving the ending a little more open ending (which some might find annoying). Life however is not neatly tied, and I found this storyline to present an entirely believable world of intrigue had the computer age been brought to the world a century earlier than expected. I would not say that this is my favorite science fiction I've ever read, but it was enjoyable in its way.

* * * *
Currently reading Between Women: friendship, desire, and marriage in Victorian England, by Sharon Marcus for the Victorian History Category and listening to Middlemarch, by George Elliot on audio book for the Classic Literature before 1900 Category.

37. Between Women: Friendship, Desire, and Marriage in Victorian England, by Sharon Marcus (****1/2)
Category: Victorian History/Culture

In Between Women, Sharon Marcus aims to disprove the misconception that female friendship, desire, and marriage were not contrary to heterosexual relations in Victorian England, as well as to show that "the asexual Victorian woman able only to respond to male advances is a myth -- not a Victorian myth, but our own."

She presents three forms of female relationships. The first is female friendship, which was considered to be an important aspect of a woman's education in feminity. It was important in the Victorian era that a woman maintain friendships with other women, friendships that were intimate and passionate (but nonsexual), otherwise she may be deemed unwomanly by her lack of such friendship. In fact, Marcus shows how female friendship was vital to a successful marriage instead of opposed to it, and presents several novel plots in which the happy marriage at the end would not have been possible without female friendship.

The second form of relations involves female desire, namely in the eroticised figures of fashion plates and dolls. Marcus presents evidence that rather than being simply an objectification of women for male desires, fashion plates and dolls were meant primarily to represent and avenue for female enjoyment and pleasure.

The third relationship form she looks at are female marriages, in which two women merge their housholds, will their property to their partner, and behave in the same way as any married couple. Marcus shows these marriages were not the antithesis of heterosexual marriage, but an acceptable alternative to it. Women in female marriages were not outcastes, but for the most part accepted as couples in certain circles of society. And in fact it was partially the example of female marriage as contractual that aided in the reform of heterosexual marriages.

This book was a fascinating reading, opening my mind to new perspectives about Victorian England. Looking back on the past, it is easy to generalize, often to the result that some aspect of history and culture gets ignored in trying to define it. This book is a reminder that one should not assume that everyone bevaed a certain way in the past, and that culture is as infinitly complicated as in our every day lives. I would certainly recomend this book to anyone interested in Victorian history.

* * *
Currently reading A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess and Five Weeks in a Balloon by Jules Verne, and listening to Middlemarch, by George Elliot on audio book.

38. Middlemarch (audio book), by George Elliot (****)
Category: Classic Literature before 1900

Middlemarch details the ins and outs of various people's lives in the area of Middlemarch. One of the main plot lines follows Dorthea, a so woman passionate to do some sort of good in the world that she locks herself into a loveless marriage. There is also Dr. Lydgate who marries the wrong woman (very wrong) and Fred Vincy whose lazy ways may cost him the favor of his childhood love.

This book is very long and the descriptions of the various characters' daily lives can make it a slow read. Especially in the beginning third, it seemed like there was too much going on and in someways I felt like some of the details could have been left out. Do we really know the inner workings of the lifes of every minor character? No, probably not.

That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The writing style was quick witted, and had turnings of phrase worth savoring. The characters, down to the very last minor character (oh, so many of them), had unique personalities and were fully formed. I could easily believe that this town existed and that every single one of these people walked around in it. I especially began to enjoy the book in the last third, where all the wanderings of what came before began to crystallize into where everyone was going to end up.

Not a light read, and not for everyone, but worth the effort for those interested in Victorian Era novels.

* * *
Currently reading A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess and Five Weeks in a Balloon by Jules Verne.

I am 38 books into my 999 Challenge, but looking over my tag, I've found that I've read 55 books this year. So 17 books have been read that are either outside of my categories or can't fit into a category that's already full. Just for the hell of it, I'm listing them here.

They are:
1. The Best of the Spirit, by Will Eisner
2. Bleach, Volume 25, by Tite Kubo (manga)
3. Confessions of a Blabbermouth, by Mike Carey (graphic novel)
4. The Magic Flute, by P. Craig Russell (graphic novel)
5. Naruto, Volume 31, by Masashi Kishimoto (manga)
6. Naruto, Volume 32, by Masashi Kishimoto (manga)
7. Naruto, Volume 33, by Masashi Kishimoto (manga)
8. Bleach, Volume 26, by Tite Kubo (manga)
9. Fantasy Lover, by Sherrilyn Kenyon
10. American Born Chinese, by Gene Luen Yang
11. The Brief History of the Dead, by Kevin Brockmeier (audio book)
12. The Forest of Hands and Teeth, by Carrie Ryan - This is one of my favorites from this year
13. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by J.K. Rowling
14. The Savage, by David Almod, illustrate by Dave McKean
15. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, by Max Brooks
16. A Fantasy Medley, edited by Yanni Kuznia
17. Kiss of a Demon King, Kresley Cole
18. Pretty Monsters (audio book), Kelly Link
19. Love Marriage, by V. V. Ganeshanathan
20. Any Given Doomsday, by Lori Handeland
21. Where the Wild things Are, by Maurice Sendak
22. House of Many Ways, by Diana Wynne Jones
23. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel, by Susanna Clark
24. The Onion Girl, by Charles De Lint

What did you think of World War Z?

cmbohn, someone asked me that on my blog, too. LOL.

Honestly, it was better than I thought it would be. The beginning sections were a little slow to me (I thought the various voices all sounded alike), but it paints a rather realistic and vivid picture of what a zombie pandemic might look like. Also, the conceit that the book is nonfiction and a historical account worked really well to me.

He occasionally falls into stereotypes when handling other cultures, too, but overall it's a good read.

39. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess (****1/2)
Category: from the Modern Library's 100 best books

A Clockwork Orange, follows the story of little Alex, a fifteen year old kid, who enjoys causing all kinds of mischief and ultraviolence (as well as the ol' in and out), at least until he gets arrested and put into an experimental program aimed to cure him of his violent ways.

Alex is a fascinating character, violent, often funny, and, at times, almost romantic. I found myself enchanted Alex's romantic perceotion of the ultraviolence, sympathising with his plight, and understanding just how fun nights spent in such entertainments could be.

The invented slang used throughout only slowed me down in the first chapter or so. As I began to pick up the meaning of certain words, the text became quite clear, and I was able to read along at my usual pace. And, of course, I find myself wanting to find excuses to pick up and use the slang, to somehow incorporate it into my everyday language, because it was just so much fun to read aloud.

The version of the book I read also included the 21st chapter that had been excluded from U.S. versions of the book (and hence excluded from the movie directed by Stanley Kubrick) until now. I can see the arguments for either removing it or leaving it in, as Burgess said, without it the character has no growth, so the story becomes more of a fable than a novel, but either ending would have satisfied me. I truly loved this novel.

40. The Usable Field, by Jane Mead (*****)
Category: Poetry

Jane Mead's poetry seems to meander from vivid thought to vivid thought. Like any great mystery (by which I mean the universal kind), there's meaning and substance, but it's for the reader to find the interconnections and define them.

I loved reading Mead's poetry, and I enjoy them even more on second and third readings as I flip back through the book. Her poetry taking on new meanings with each successive meaning as its meant to.

41. The Call of the Wild (audio book), by Jack London (****)
Category: VIII. from The Modern Library's 100 Best books

Jack London tells the tale of Buck, a dog used to a life of entitlement until he is stolen away and shipped off to Alaska, where he is sold as a sled dog. In Alaska, he learns the ways of club and fang, and begins to understand the brutal ways of the wild.

On this second reading (I read it in highschool), I could better appreciate the descriptive style of the book. Buck is sort of an idealized dog -- smarter, larger, faster, better than all the rest. Despite that idealism, this story is certainly realistic, in that I'm sure many dogs did go wild, and still do from time to time. Its an interesting transgression, the movement from civilisation to wildness, and I'm sure there' s a message in there about the call of savageness in humanity as well as animals. Not necessarily a favorite, but an easy read, and enjoyable overall.

* * *
Lookie that, I'm halfway there! :)

Congrats!
And way to go on finishing A Clockwork Orange. I couldn't do it!

42. Five Weeks in a Balloon (***1/2)
Category: By/About Jules Verne

Three Englishmen depart from London with the aim of traversing Africa from East to West in a balloon. The three have many adventures facing natives, wildlife, storms, deserts and other obstacles.

This is not one of my favorite Verne novels so far. While it still has a sense of adventure, the characters don't seem as well wrought as in some of his other works, and the plot is repetitive due to the construct of balloon travel (travel happily in the balloon for a while, run in obstacle, repeat). I don't know if I would recommend this one, because it's just not as exciting as Around the World in 80 Days or Journey to the Center of the Earth, both of which are also quite funny and fun. But its a good read for Verne lovers to pursue.

43. The Hollow Earth: The Narrative of Mason Algiers Reynolds of Virgina, by Rudy Rucker (***1/2)
Category: Steampunk

Mason Reynold narrates this rather odd tale involving a slave named Otha, a dog named Arf, and the arrogant and not-so-famous Edgar (Eddie) Allan Poe. Mason leaves his family farm, becomes accused of theivery and murder, and then meets Eddie Poe when he takes refuge in a town downriver. Eddie Poe is not the famous writer we know, but a struggling writer, alcoholic, and all around strange and detestable human being.

But it is Eddie's interest in a theory that the Earth is actually hollow that drives the main thread of the story as Mason becomes wrapped up in the fascination and follows Eddie and others into the twisted and strange hollow earth.

This is just about one of the weirdest stories that I have ever read, that touches upon rather uncomfortable subjects (like sex with corpses) and delves into various oddities. It is mostly this version of POe that offers the most discomfort and the everyday world before they enter the hollow earth. Once inside the story takes on a more surreal tone while managing to seem relatively plausible (for a book filled with shrimp-like pig things, flower people, and god-like sea cucumbers). I didn't know what to make of it while reading it, and I still don't know what to make of it. It certainly got more and more interesting as it went along, so I think I liked it.

*

44. A Modern Mephistopheles, by Louisa May Alcott (***1/2)
Category: Classic Literature written before 1900

Many people are not aware that along with writing classic children's morality books, such as Little Women, Louisa May Alcott much preferred writing sensation thrillers.

This book, which is Alcott's only completed full novel in this genre, tells the story of a young writer, who makes a sort of devil's compact with a rcih, bored old man. The old gentlman uses a variety of means to corrupt his charge, including the corruption of the writer's young and innocent wife.

For me, I enjoyed this book far more than Little Women, in which the morality seemed to get in the way of the story (though I did love the characters as a girl). A Modern Mephistopheles offered sharper writing with interesting characters, who make mistakes and suffer for them. Only the too pure wife seemed two dimensional to me. She never seemed to grow in the book beyond this girlish purity.

45. Tori Amos: All These Years: The Authorized Biography by Kalen Rogers (****)
Category: Biography/Autobiography/Memoir

Written in 1994, it depicts only the first half of Tori Amos' life and career, and there has been quite a lot that has gone on since then. I was hoping for more. I suppose that's the problem with writing a biography of someone in the middle of their lives.

In a sense, it kind of reads like a biography for fans, especially considering it was written in the height of her career (not that it's diminished since then, but still). It was not as well rounded as I might like and was rather vague over some areas that I might have been interested in (for example, her relationships).

However, the photography throughout was beautiful and it was an enjoyable read, giving me an expanded view of one of my favorite musicians.

46. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (****)
Category: By/About Jules Verne

This novel tells the story of Captain Nemo and his submarine, the Nautilus. The story is narrated by a Professor Aronnax, who by accident and chance becomes a part of the ships crew, along with his servant and a whaler called Ned. They travel the seas, exploring the many wonders that the oceans normally keep hidden beneath its waves.

I enjoyed the book throughout, however, the beginning and the end chapters are the most interesting, having more adventure to them. Verne is a lover of scientist and he can't help going on and on about the new species of fish and plant life beneath the waves, which are a wonder to the Professor narrating, but all sort of blurs together as any long list of names and descriptions would do. It fits perfectly with the character, of course, since he would have been deeply fascinated by such things, but it's a bit tedious for the reader.

47. The Disastrous Mrs Weldon: The Life, Loves, and Lawsuits of a Legendary Victorian, by Brian Thompson (*****)
Category: Victorian History/Culture

Georgina Weldon lead quite the life. She flung away a wealthy suitor, eloped with a poor soldier, sought a career in singing, ran an orphanage and a school for music/choir, kept lovers (including a woman), brought well over 100 lawsuits to courte (many of which she presented herself), and brought about reform of asylum/insanity laws and marriage laws.

Of course, it all sounds romantic and idealistic when you put it like that, but Brian Thompson also makes clear than any benefits she gave to society happened more as side effects of her own manic energies and selfish and vindictive tendencies than any philanthropic efforts on her part. She was beset with delusions of grandeur, believing herself worth much more than she received, but unwilling to face the realities that might otherwise have allowed her to achieve it. She is not called disastrous here for nothing.

But despite her many, many flaws, which Thompson points out in loving detail, there is something endearing in this woman who was mostly unlikeable to her peers and almost entirely oblivious to what her wild energies released into her English world. I enjoyed this book thoroughly. True it was often with the same fascination might have as watching a train wreck, but also because of the determination and spitfire of the woman in an age when women were expected to be silently submissive in the world of men.

48. Women Astronomers: Reaching for the Stars, by Mabel Armstrong (***1/2)
Category: Science/Science History

This book presents short biographies of women astronomers from ancient times through to the modern era. Aimed at young adults (fifth grade through junior high, perhaps), this book presents the advancements of women in the astronomical sciences. It is well details with a lot of interesting sidebars and data, and is well suited to its aim of inspiring other young women to see what they can achieve in the field.

My one complaint is that the book seems to be very western centric with fe references to women astronomers outside of the United States and Europe. That may be because women astronomers outside the west are few and not as well known, but I would have liked to have seen more multicultural faces.

49. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, by Carson McCullers (*****)
Category: from The Modern Library's 100 Best books

McCullers tells the stories of five lonely people whose intersect in a small Southern town. I love this book. It has a strange, melancholy feel to it without completely disregarding hope. The writing is beautiful vivid and lyrical, like a poem and the story and characters came alive in my mind as it unfolded. Definitely on my favorites list.

50. The Invisible Man, by H.G. Wells (****)
Category: Classic Literature written before 1900

A stranger wrapped in bandages comes to a small town. Several strange occurrances start to occur and the people of the town take it upon themselves to discover the stranger's secret. Well's classic tale of an invisible man run amoke carries well into the 21st century. The aspects of mystery and adventure are well told and the writing is crisp and clean. This is a book I would pick up to read to my kids (if I had any) as well as to reread it again for my own entertainment.

51. Camping with the Prince and Other Tales of Science in Africa, by Thomas A. Bass (****)
Category: Science/Science History

Thomas Bass travels through Africa, visiting and sometimes assisting various scientists and laboratories while he is there. The scientific programs he visits include studying how the desert is advancing, learning about evolution through studying fish mating patterns, the sociology and possible preventative measures for famine, hunting for viruses in Nigeria, and so on.

Bass does a great job of both taking the reader on a journey, as well as presenting the science in a way that just about anyone can understand. One of the things I really liked about this was that he didn't just talk about Europeans who come into Africa to study science, but introduces the many Africans who are taking an active part in developing science in their own countries.

52. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells (****)
Category: Classic Literature written before 1900

This 19th century story of a scientist who constructs a time machine and travels 800,000+ years into the future holds up remarkably well. I suppose this is in part due to how far into a strange future the narrator takes us, but also due to Well's writing style, which picks and chooses details carefully, smoothly dropping the reader into the worlds he creates.

53. Boneshaker, by Cherie Priest (*****)
Category: Steampunk

After a catastrophic accident caused by an experimental drilling machine, a poisonous gas begins to leak into the city of Seattle, causing all those who breathe it to rise as the living dead. The city is walled off and abandoned, until Zeke Blue enters the city with a desire to rewrite history, and his mother is forced to follow after him in a rescue attempt.

Boneshaker not only has an awesome cover, but is a fantastic read. Furthermore, while it combines two of my favorite things (steampunk and zombies), the storyline is totally addictive and the characters totally believable. The result was that I was totally absorbed in the book and could not think of doing anything else until I finished it, at which point I was promptly upset that it was over.

7. Mainspring, by Jay Lake
Category: Steampunk

Hethor is an aprentice clockmaker who lives in a literal clockwork universe. One night the brass angel Gabriel comes to him and charges him with the task of finding the Key Perilous so that he can wind the mainspring of the world so that the Earth will continue turning.

There were some things that threw me when I first picked up the book. First, I hated "Hethor" as a name choice. It made me cringe every time I read it, tossing me out of story. Second, while I'm all for starting in the middle, this book launched so quickly into the action of the story that I didn't have a chance to know anything about Hethor, so I just didn't care about him.

But these issues were eventually overcome. I started to ignore the oddness of the name, and I learned to care about the character through how he faced the challenges presented to him. The book also grew on me further as he journeyed into an ever-weirder world. Some of the oddities might be jarring, but I found them delightful, and I grew to thoroughly enjoy this strange and heretical book.

55. The Victorian Internet, by Tom Standage (****)
Category: Victorian History/Culture

The Victorian Internet tells the story of the telegraph. When the telegraph was invented and popularized it opened up the world to such an extent that its influence was comparable to the internet, changing the way information is received and distributed, the way business and governments operated, and even the way individuals carried on relations.

It was a new kind of communication and, at least for its operators, it allowed the kind of open conversing that appears in chat rooms, in which every individual can speak up in democratic manner. Operators even found themselves naming people across the country, whom they've never met, as closer friends than the living breathing people in their lives (sounds familiar).

This book was a fun, quick read that made me reassess my assumptions about telegraphic communication.

So I'm having to totally reassess my categories. There's no way that I'm going to be able to finish the challenge based on the categories I currently have. However, I have read 81 books already, so I've rearranged the categories to include some of the non-category books. It now looks like the following (the original list left as is at the top of this thread). This leaves me only 8 more books to read by the end of December, a far more reasonable prospect.

I. Steampunk (8/9 complete)
1. Daisy Kutter: The Last Train, written and illustrated by Kazu Kibuishi (****)
2. Larklight: A Rousing Tale of Dauntless Pluck in the Farthest Reaches of Space, by Philip Reeve (****)
3. Steampunk (anthology), edited by Ann VanderMeer (****)
4. The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling (****)
5. The Hollow Earth, by Rudy Rucker (***1/2)
6. Boneshaker, by Cherie Priest (*****)
7. Mainspring, by Jay Lake
8. The Anubis Gates, by Tim Powers (*****)

Currently reading: Leviathan, by Scott Westerfeld

II. The Fathers of SciFi - Books by Jules Verne & H.G. Wells (9/9 complete) -- DONE!
1. A Journey to the Center of the Earth, by Verne (audio book) (*****)
2. Around the World in Eighty Days, by Verne (****1/2)
3. Five Weeks in a Balloon, by Verne (***1/2)
4. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, by Verne (****)
5. From the Earth to the Moon, by Verne (****1/2)
6. A Tour of the Moon, by Verne (****)
7. The Invisible Man, by Wells (****)
8. The Time Machine, by Wells (****)
9. The Green Ray, by Verne (***1/2)

III. Biography/Autobiography/Memoir (9/9 complete) -- DONE!
1. Japan Ai: A Tall Girl's Adventures In Japan (memoir), by Aimee Major Steinberger (****)
2. Dating Jesus: A Story of Fundamentalism, Feminism, and the American Girl (memoir), by Susan Campbell (*****)
3. Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert (****1/2)
4. Film Club, by David Gilmour (****)
5. Tori Amos: All These Years, by Kalen Rogers (***1/2)
6. The Disastrous Mrs Weldon: The Life, Loves, and Lawsuits of a Lengendary Victoria, by Brian Thompson (*****)
7. The Fixer: A Story from Sarajevo, by Joe Sacco (***1/2)
8. Immortal Summer: A Victorian Woman's Travels in the Southwest : The 1897 Letters & Photographs of Amelia Hollenback (***1/2)
9. Shenzhen: A Travelogue from China, by Guy Delisle (***1/2)

IV. Poetry (9/9 complete) -- DONE!
1. How to Uncage a Girl, by Francesca Lia Block (***1/2)
2. Elephant Rocks: Poems, by Kay Ryan (****)
3. I, Too, Sing America: Three Centuries of African American Poetry (audio book), edited by Catherine Clinton (****)
4. Versed, by Rae Armantrout (**1/2)
5. Zombie Haiku: Good Poetry for Your...Brains, Ryan Mecum (****)
6. The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories, by Tim Burton (***1/2)
7. Book of Haikus, by Jack Kerouac (****1/2)
8. The Usable Field, by Jane Mead (*****)
Currently reading: Full Woman, Fleshly Apple, Hot Moon: Selected Poems, by Pablo Neruda
9. Buried Treasure, Dan Bellm (***1/2)

V. Science & History (9/9 complete) - DONE!
1. The Pluto Files, by Neil deGrasse Tyson (***1/2)
2. Atoms and Alchemy: Chymistry and the Experimental Origins of the Scientific Revolution, by William R. Newman (***)
3. Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel (audio book), by Michio Kaku.
4. Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex, by Mary Roach (****)
5. Women Astronomers: Reaching for the Stars, by Mabel Armstrong (***1/2)
6. Camping with the Prince and Other Tales of Science in Africa, by Thomas A. Bass (****)
7. What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew, by Daniel Pool (****1/2)
8. Between Women: Friendship, Desire, and Marriage in Victorian England, by Sharon Marcus (****1/2)
9. The Victorian Internet, by Tom Standage (****)

VI. from The Modern Library's 100 Best books & Classic Literature before 1900 (9/9 complete) -- DONE!
1. On the Road (audio book), by Jack Kerouac (****)
2. The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck (*****)
3. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess (****1/2)
4. The Call of the Wild, by Jack London (***1/2)
5. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, by Carson McCullers (*****)
6. Moll Flanders, by Daniel Defoe (**1/2)
7. Cranford (audio book), by Elizabeth Gaskell (****1/2)
8. Middlemarch (audio book), by George Elliot (****)
9. A Modern Mephistopheles, by Louisa may Alcott (***1/2)

VII. Miscellany (9/9 complete) -- DONE!
1. Inkspell, by Cornelia Funke (*****)
2. Heart of Stone, by C.E. Murphy (****1/2)
3. The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak (*****)
4. After Dark (audio book), by Haruki Murakami (****)
5. House of Cards, by C.E. Murphy (****)
6. Eclipse, by Stephanie Meyer (***1/2)
7. Breaking Dawn, by Stephanie Meyer (****)
8. Click, by Various Authors (*****)
9. The Forest of Hands and Teeth, by Carrie Ryan (*****)

VIII. (new) Graphic Novels, Manga & Comics (9/9 complete) -- DONE!
1. The Best of the Spirit, by Will Eisner
2. Bleach, Volume 25, by Tite Kubo (manga)
3. Confessions of a Blabbermouth, by Mike Carey (graphic novel)
4. The Magic Flute, by P. Craig Russell (graphic novel)
5. Naruto, Volume 31, by Masashi Kishimoto (manga)
6. Naruto, Volume 32, by Masashi Kishimoto (manga)
7. Naruto, Volume 33, by Masashi Kishimoto (manga)
8. Bleach, Volume 26, by Tite Kubo (manga)
9. American Born Chinese, by Gene Luen Yang

IX. (new) Fantasy Novels (9/9 complete) -- DONE!
1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by J.K. Rowling
2. A Fantasy Medley, edited by Yanni Kuznia
3. Kiss of a Demon King, Kresley Cole
4. Pretty Monsters (audio book), Kelly Link
5. Any Given Doomsday, by Lori Handeland
6. Fantasy Lover, by Sherrilyn Kenyon
7. House of Many Ways, by Diana Wynne Jones
8. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel, by Susanna Clark
9. The Onion Girl, by Charles De Lint




X. Above & Beyond (Books that don't fit categories)
1. Emma Victorian Gazette (***1/2)
2. The Brief History of the Dead, by Kevin Brockmeier (audio book)
5. The Savage, by David Almod, illustrate by Dave McKean
6. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, by Max Brooks
7. Love Marriage, by V. V. Ganeshanathan
8. Where the Wild things Are, by Maurice Sendak

75. The Fixer: A Story from Sarajevo, by Joe Sacco (***1/2)
Category: Biography/Autobiography/Memoir

This graphic novel doesn't so much cover Sacco's experiences in Sarajevo, as it looks into the life of one of its residents, Neven. Neven is a fixer, a man who connect advises and guides reporters through the war torn city. But when Sarajevo begins to find some stability and peace, this leaves Neven without work.

It's an interesting look at this man's life and how he sees the war and the people involved in it. It has a very news feel to it, which makes sense, because Sacco is a newspaper man. The artwork was gorgeous, with a thin line technique that made it look gritty in all the right ways, but that was also able to accent the cartoonyness of Neven's character at the right moments. However, I didn't really connect with anyone in the book, and maybe that was the point, but it left me cold.

76. Immortal Summer: A Victorian Woman's Travels in the Southwest : The 1897 Letters & Photographs of Amelia Hollenback (***1/2)
Category: Biography/Autobiography/Memoir

Instead of their usual summer trip to London, Ameilia and her sister decided to travel into the southwest where they rode man style on horseback with spilt skirts, roughed it camping, and climbed up and down rock faces to visit ancient cliff dwellings. They were some of the first women to photograph the south west as tourists and if their letters are any indication, they loved every second of it.

I enjoyed seeing this kind of trip from the point of view of the women who lived it. They're letters are rather descriptive and detailed, if a bit flowery, because they loved the place so much and praised it so well. It's a short book, loaded with pictures from their trip. For the most part I enjoyed it, though at times it grew a bit tedious as letters home to family members can sometimes do.

77. The Green Ray, by Jules Verne (***1/2)
Category: Fathers of SciFi - Books by Jules Verne & H.G. Wells

When Helena Campbell reads of the green ray in a local newspaper, she insists that she must see it, refusing to accept her uncle's plans for her to marry until she does. Thus she and her uncles sets off in an effort to see it with two potential suitors in tow.

This is not my favorite of Verne's books. In part this is due to the fact that it is more of a romance and because the main character is female. Neither of which he seems to write very well. He's much better at the boy's club grand adventures. However, I found enough humor and interest in this book to keep reading. I didn't mind much when it ended, though.

I have only 4 books left to read to complete the challenge. Can I do it by the end of Thursday? That's the question.

78. Buried Treasure: Poetry, Dan Bellm (***1/2)
Category: Poetry

Bellm tends to have a meandering style to his poetry, kind of like a running internal monologue. One thought bleeds into the next, the universal drawn down into personal experience. It took me a long time to read this book. Bellm tends to favor longer form poems, which require more focus and attention and several read throughs so that I can try to grasp the effect of the overall poem. I will probably need to read these poems again, sifting through them to grasp them. I tended to enjoy the shorter poems in the collection, which allowed me to follow the flow of thought in a more managable fashion.

79. The Anubis Gates, by Tim Powers (****1/2)
Category: Steampunk

Brendan Doyle is hired to act as a Coleridge expert by a wealthy millionare, who takes him through a gateway to meet the poet in the past. Powers fills this books with a fascinating cast of characters: a terrifyingly clown, a society of magicians wishing to restore the power of Egypt, a woman dressed as a man, a crew of beggars, and so on. The story is tightly plotted and I followed the journey through time with eager joy. A couple of times the writing style strayed into the confusing, and I had to go back and reread a page to make sure I was clear on what was happening, but overall I loved it.

80. Shenzhen: A Travelogue from China, by Guy Delisle (***1/2)
Category: Biography/Autobiography/Memoir

Delisle shares described his time in Shenzen, where he worked as a director on an animated series. Most of his time is spent in boredom, because the city is geared toward straight business not tourists. There are only a few people who speak English in the city, so most of his time is spent in silence, too. But Delisle manages to make all of this apparent boredom and silence seem interesting an entertaining as he faces the day to day chaos and innefficiencies of his time spent in China.

These three books were finished before midnight new year's eve. I still have one book left to read before I can call this challenge done. :)