Books of January 2011

The Bourne Betrayal
Eric Van Lustbader
ISBN 0-446-61880-2
724 pages

I like the Bourne trilogy, and the movies were fun.  This, however, is a stinking pile of crap.  2D characters and a plot that is so improbable it becomes ridiculous to the point of stupidity.

Walking on the Land
Farley Mowat
ISBN 1-55263-167-2
208 pages

Saddening.

Tomorrow, When the War Began
John Marsden
ISBN 978-0-330-27486-9
304 pages

The Dead of Night
John Marsden
ISBN 978-0-330-35647-3

272 pages

The Third Day, the Frost.
John Marsden
ISBN 978 0 330 35668 8
288 pages

Darkness, Be My Friend.
John Marsden
ISBN 978 0 330 36005 0
272 pages

Burning for Revenge
John Marsden
ISBN 978 0 330 36063 0.
272 pages


The Night is for Hunting
John Marsden
ISBN 978 0 330 361361
256 pages

The Other Side of Dawn.
John Marsden
ISBN 978-0-330-36213-9.
256 pages


Saw the movie based on the first book, figured to give the series a try.  Not just a Red Dawn rip-off.  Should really just be one big book rather than seven little ones, but it is a 'young adult' series.  Nothing spectacular, but I enjoyed it.  I loved the idea of Red Dawn when I was a kid.

9 Dragons
Michael Connelly
ISBN 978-0-316-16631-7
377 pages

Picked it up from Bookmooch, a hardcover even.  Typical Bosch, seemed shorter than usual.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Mark Twain
ISBN 0-06-046721-5
366 pages

Figured it deserved a reread.  Perpetually on lists of banned books and controversial over use of the word nigger and portrayal of Jim.  In the media recently over a recently published edition where the word nigger was replaced with the word slave.  Of course in the debates always referred to "The N-Word".  I have 3 thoughts.  When was the last time you heard someone say "The F-Word" or "The S-Word".  Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.  "Nigger" (or "Nigga") seems to be entrenched in popular culture - think music - I am surprised at the frequency I hear it.  The book itself was OK, nothing spectacular.

The Dragon's Village
Yuan-Tsung Chen
ISBN 0-394-50791-6
285 pages

An interested semi-autobiographical novel about a young woman participated in rural land reform after the Chinese revolution.  I liked it.  China has always impressed me.

Dark of the Moon
John Sanford
ISBN 978-0-399-15477-5
373 pages

Not about Lucas but Virgil Flowers.  The most enjoyable Sanford book I've read in a while.

Hell's Kitchen
Jeffery Deaver
ISBN 0-671-04751-5
353 pages

Deaver is not on my A list of authors.  An ok mystery.

Mars gets his African Groove on

The first time was when CBC radio was on and they played some drum heavy African music.  Mars decided that he wanted to dance, and when it was over he asked me to play it again so he could dance some more.  Of course, his "dancing" looked suspiciously like jumping on the couch, which he is not allowed to do.  Cute enough to allow to continue though.  Along with Odin, he spent a good ten minutes jumping and rolling around.  It was all fun and games until, inevitably, someone got hurt.  A quick cuddle and we moved on to playing trains.

Books of 2010

120 books, 44437 pages in total.  I am surprised I averaged 10 books a month.  Can't decide if I'll continue keeping track.  I got pretty slack towards the end.  I want to try and read more non-fiction and less of the popular fiction junk that contributed to the high numbers.  Fluff reads so fast but is ultimately unrewarding.

Books of December 2010

None.  I read no books in December.  Partly busy with retail shopping season, party lethargic due to the season, partly addicted to Starcraft II.