Cathedral Courtship by Kate Douglas Smith

E-NOTE:

This was an e-book! It was FREE and I downloaded it to my kindle. Nice! And it was totally charming. In it I found a new phrase to describe my husband. From now on I'm going to call him "the flower of chivalry". :)

This romantic story was told through the journal entries of the two protagonists as they traveled through England on a cathedral tour. It was short and sweet and witty. I especially enjoyed our hero's descriptions of his lady. They were both charming and funny.

A fun, quick and FREE read! Can it get better than this?

The Strange Affair of Adelaide Harris by Leon Garfield

This was an absolutely charming book! Written in 1971 and set in the mid 18th century, this book is the story of a lost baby, a mystery, a romance, a duel and of a Spartan custom. It is funny and witty and full of twists and turns. This is a book I'd like in my collection, for sure. I am eager to read the rest of Leon Garfield's books.

I'm often mystified at the genre labeling of literature. You can find an amazing variety of books in the children's section. And you'll find books that seem appropriate for children (like "The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie") in the adults' section! So many books that are clever and sophisticated and totally pleasurable for adults end up languishing in the children's section! Well, I guess they're checked out by children, so they're not exactly languishing, but we adults don't get to find them unless they're recommended to us by our children! I need to spend more time trolling the children's section at the library, though, because that's where I found this little jewel. Totally delightful!

Hygiene and the Assassin by Amelie Nothomb

This was a very very strange book. It was written in French and translated to English by Alison Anderson. It was the story of an eccentric and reclusive author who, at the age of 82, has been diagnosed with a rare and terminal form of cancer. He consents to be interviewed by a series of reporters, all of whom irritate him beyond bearing EXCEPT for the last interviewer, Nina, who has read all of his books and, more than this, knows all about his past. She forces him to retell the past and face his own mortality. She essentially completes the circle of his life. Sounds promising, doesn't it?

This book was an ugly story full of foul behavior and foul language. It was very interesting, but very uncomfortable. If this is your cup of tea, forge ahead. This author has a stellar reputation in and out of France. I am afraid that I often don't like what are labeled "modern classics". I read the glowing reviews, but I can't agree. I guess I have no taste for originality rolled in the mud and sprinkled with obscenities. I'd much prefer just clean, shining originality.

Bryant and May off the Rails by Christopher Fowler

This was a British mystery--a police procedural of a sort, only not Scotland Yard or anything like that, but A Peculiar Crimes Unit police procedural. I never got clear on the difference between the regular British police force and the Peculiar Crimes Unit--I didn't understand the need for both departments. The book itself was interesting, but not outstanding. Rather forgettable, in fact. I liked reading it, but don't feel inclined to read any more of the series. I think it was because I didn't really feel connected to any of the main characters--I just didn't care about them enough to read more about them. The story itself was not compelling either--engaging, but not compelling.

One very positive note is that this story was not smutty at all. That's always a good thing. And the mystery itself was interesting and not too transparent. I hate it when I can guess the ending ahead of time! Hmm, maybe I will try to read another of this series to see if I can engage more effectively with the main characters. So many books...so little time!!

Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett

This was the first time I've read Terry Pratchett, so I can't compare this book to any of his others (although I DO plan to read some of the others), and I'm sorry about that. I can only comment on this book, which is obviously part of a much, much larger whole.

This one took place in "Discworld", if that means anything to you, and involved the faculty of Ankh-Morpork's Unseen University (all wizards) manning a football team (soccer to us). There really were a few laugh-out-loud lines and the story was interesting enough for me to be engaged for the whole book. It was entertaining enough. But not exceptional. It reminded me a bit of Douglas Adams' ("The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy") style--the way the author pokes fun at our reality as he tells the story within his own alternative reality. There was some cleverness on that score. I'm going to read a few more of Terry Pratchett's books so I can get a bigger picture of his stuff before I draw any hard conclusions for myself. I really did not get a clear picture of Discworld from just this one book. I know it's hard for authors to write stand-alone books once they hit on a successful formula that provides enough ideas for many books. And it's rare to find any series that includes the true stand-alone novels. I'm not sure this is one of them.

It was entertaining enough, though, so that I want to read a few more Pratchetts. It was also fun to read--total fluff but not offensive and pretty clever to boot!

Macbeth, The Graphic Novel

I so love this book!! I'd love to have every one of this classic book series on my shelves--the original text AND the quick text version.

So... it's graphic novel of Shakespeare's "Macbeth", which is pretty cool to begin with and a great place to start before reading the play in all its iambic pentameteric goodness. But this company (www.classicalcomics.com) does these graphic books with three versions of text: the original text in the speech balloons (wow!), a simpified version of the original text which they call "plain text" and a VERY simplified version which they call "quick text". This version was the quick text one and it was very easy to understand.

At the end of the story, the classical comics people have included some background information about the true story of Macbeth and some other interesting tidbits. Very cool. In future I'll start every study of Shakespeare with my kids (and for myself) with one of these graphic novels. It's a great way to get the story in one's head before tackling Shakespeare's beautiful (and sometimes confusing) prose.

A Tapestry of Spells by Lynn Kurland

This book is a fantasy-romance. It's got magic, it's got adventure, battles, good and evil, interesting characters, a world that feels real AND a romance along the way. And it's squeaky clean. This is book #3 of a 6 book series about the "Nine Kingdoms".

Here's how it works: Books 1, 2 and 3 ("Star of the Morning", "The Mage's Daughter" and "Princess of the Sword") tell a whole story--another fantasy romance that overlaps the one begun in this book ("A Tapestry of Spells"). Books 4, 5 and 6 ("A Tapestry of Spells", "Spellweaver" and the final book which comes out in a year or so) tell the story of Sarah and Ruithneadh.

Sarah and Ruith's story is the one that this book begins.

I LOVED how clean this book was! There was chemistry between the characters too, which is often lacking in "Christian" romances. I felt very drawn into the story, Lynn Kurland's Nine Kingdoms really felt real to me.

This is a journey book. It's interesting how many fantasy/sci-fi books are journey books. It must be a good formula. Speaking of which, I can see that Lynn Kurland is kind of a formula writer. This is good in that you know what you're getting into when you start one of her books--an interesting, feel-good story. It's bad in that you know what you're getting into when you start one of her books. :) If you know what I mean. Even the language and phrasing she uses can be a bit repetitive between books. Not a serious objection for me, just an observation. I wouldn't want to sit down and chain read Lynn Kurland because I think it'd get boring. But I certainly will add her to my reading list inbetween other stuff. I liked this book a lot!