A couple re-reads and a couple romances

106. Pratchett, Terry. Night Watch. 338 pages. 8.17.09


107. Pratchett, Terry. Monstrous Regiment. 405 pages. 8.24.09.


108. Adrian, Lara. Kiss of Crimson. 416 pages. 8.28.09.


109. Adrian, Lara. Midnight Awakening. 400 pages. 8.29.09.

104. Pratchett, Terry. Feet of Clay. 357 pages. 8.12.09


105. Lowry, Lois. Messenger. 169 pages. 8.13.09.

Lois Lowry's Messenger is the third young adult novel in the sequence containing The Giver and Gathering Blue, and follows the character of Matty, who is first introduced in Gathering Blue. The beginning of Messenger introduces a Matty six years after the conclusion of the previous novel, and focuses on his life in Village, a community of escapees living beyond the control of the oppressive societies they fled. Here, Matty is a messenger who risks the perils of Forest to facilitate communication between communities, and he prides himself on being the only one who can make the journeys time and again. However, as the plot develops the reader discovers with Matty that citizens of Village are being negatively impacted by trading, and when these changed neighbors vote to close the village Matty sets out to retrieve Kira, the daughter of the blind man with whom he has lived for the past six years.

Messenger lacks the power of development of The Giver and the compassion of Gathering Blue, leaving me very dissatisfied as a reader. The story itself seems shallow and poorly developed as if Matty's store is a mere after-thought that Lowry thought she should wrap up. While some of the satire and social commentary present in early novels exists, in Messenger they are overshadowed by supernatural themes: Forest is a personified forest that can literally kill citizens, who are essentially trapped by homicidal vegetation, and characters such as Matty, Kira, and "Leader" work through magical gifts (such as "seeing beyond") which allow them to overcome obstacles, as opposed to the strength of human spirit and belief in life, freedom, and humanity as presented in the earlier companion novels. Messenger is a disappointment in both method and, well, message, and is the weakest of the sequence that begins so beautifully with The Giver.

103. Pratchett, Terry. Men at Arms. 377 pages. 8.11.09.

Rereading a Pratchett book is like curling up with a cup of my favorite tea on a cold evening; it's comfortable and familiar and simply delightful. My then-boyfriend-now-husband convinced me to give Pratchett a try when I was in high school, and at this point I believe I have read all of his Discworld novels (and several other novels as well). However, it's been so long now since I first read most of them that I am almost guaranteed to find something new. I had forgotten how much I enjoy the guard books, and I'm glad I went back to Men at Arms instead of one of his more-familiar novels. Next up is Feet of Clay, just because I want more Vimes!

102. Rowling, J.K. The Tales of Beedle the Bard. 111 pages. 8.10.09.

I am incredibly disappointed with The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling. The book, presented as a collection of wizard fairy tales annotated by Albus Dumbledore, lacks the inventiveness of the children's novels that have made Rowling famous. The short tales themselves, which contain all the elements familiar from classic fairy tales, can be quite charming (I myself enjoy reading classic fairy tales, and Rowling's writing varies very little from the style and intent of classic collections). However, the "extensive commentary by Albus Dumbledore" is uninspired and does little to accentuate the collection or the past character of the headmaster of Hogwarts. While I am no Harry Potter fangirl, I did enjoy the original novels, and The Tales of Beedle the Bard does not live up to the imagination Rowling showed in her previous writing.

101. Colbert, Stephen. I Am America (And So Can You!). 230 pages. 8.9.09.

I am really not sure how to describe this book to anyone who doesn't already know Stephen Colbert, or what his book actually includes. I've attempted to begin this review five different ways, and am finding that I just can't adequately describe it. On his show "The Colbert Report" Stephen Colbert satirizes the Conservative Right through his portrayal of an ultra-conservative reporter, and his book I Am America utilizes the same character and force to represent that satire in printed form. Like "The Colbert Report", the bestseller "attacks" everything from education to gay marriage to race in such a way that highlights what Colbert (and writing team) undoubtedly see as the ludicrous agenda of specific political parties.

I have always enjoyed watching Colbert's show on Comedy Central, and have intended to read his book since it was first published. Of course, like many of the books in my "to be read" stack, the reading actually took place long after it first hit my radar. From my perspective, the level of entertainment of Colbert's book is equal to that of his show, but I gained a new appreciation for the 30-minute increments. After reading the first 100+ pages straight through I found the writing style to be a bit tedious. In hindsight, I believe I would have enjoyed the book more if I took it a chapter or two at a time as opposed to plowing through in two sittings.

But I'm a sucker for footnotes and side notes, and that alone makes the book worth reading.

100. Valenti, Jessica. The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women. 219 pages. 8.7.09.

Jessica Valenti's The Purity Myth examines America's Puritanical views on female purity in an attempt to reveal the negative consequences of an unbalanced and unrealistic sexual culture. Valenti draws on policy, popular culture, and the materials presented by the Conservative movement for virginity in order to demonstrate the extent to which young people (and the public at large) are outright lied to under the guise of abstinence-only sex education, and presents compelling evidence as to how the push for female virginity and "purity" actually undermines the rights and liberties of young women.

As a whole I found Valenti's book to be enlightening and informative - and sometimes terrifying. While her propensity for snarky footnotes ultimately keeps the text from being what I would consider "academic", The Purity Myth is intended for a large public audience, and Valenti's style of writing adds entertainment value to the information she presents. Given my own negative experiences with self-labeled feminists in academia (for example, a graduate professor recoiling in horror when she discovered I was expecting my first child) I am often hesitant to read "feminist" material. However, I found Valenti to be fairly even-keel, and many of her ideals match my own (equality of the sexes vs. "men are evil"). As with any politically involved author, it is obvious that Valenti has a specific agenda and that she is writing to that agenda, but I do not believe her conviction works to the detriment of the text. I cannot remember which of my fellow LibraryThingers recommended the book, but I am grateful that it was brought to my attention and would certainly recommend it.

(first edition cover, courtesy of Wikipedia)
98. Verne, Jules. Around the World in 80 Days. 297 pages. 8.4.09.+

Around the World in 80 Days is the most recent book in the list of novels I have read to my son. Never having read Verne before I settled on our nightly routine, I found myself convinced that his novels would be good "boy books", and am pleased to say that I myself have found them very entertaining.

First published in 1873, Verne's narrative describing an eccentric gentleman's pursuit of a saloon wager is charming in its simple and straightforward presentation of what may be seen as typical 19th-century views and expectations. Although many of the stereotypes and presentations of British imperialism would be viewed as politically and socially incorrect to a modern audience, the innocence and casual frankness of Verne's depictions allow readers a glimpse at how the British may really have viewed their place in the global community. For this alone, I find the novel intriguing.

The characters of the novel are strangely underdeveloped, which allows the reader to focus more on the excitement of the journey as opposed to the emotional consequences suffered by the protagonists. Passepartout, Mr. Fogg's French valet, is arguably the most developed character, and proves to be an interesting addition as readers not only discover information about his rather colorful past, but are likewise pacified in the desire for emotion that is markedly absent from the figure of Phileas Fogg himself.

In the end, I enjoyed Around the World in 80 Days much more interesting than our reading of Journey to the Centre of the Earth, despite (or perhaps because of) its simplicity of plot and character. Verne's 1873 novel frequently appears on reading lists for young teenagers, and I strongly agree with the recommendation; I can't wait until Brooks has a chance to read it for himself.


99. Kenyon, Sherrilyn. Acheron. 816 pages. 8.4.09.

It's hard to give this book a fair rating. I enjoyed learning of Acheron's past, but for every interesting passage or chapter there is an equally dull or tedious one.