63.
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Title: Waking the Witch
Publication: Hardback
Pages: 309 pages
Genre: Fiction, horror
Acquisition: Purchased August 6, 2010
Date Completed: August 8, 2010
Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Armstrong had me until page 278. The novel that had the potential to be the most satisfying in a summer of genre-flops suffers from a rather unfortunate series of concluding twists. Prior to a rather jarring shift in the narrative, Waking the Witch is an entertaining look at Savannah Levine, all grown up and "on her own" as she tackles a case without supervision. The twists are numerous, and the mystery involved is enthralling ... right up to the Great Revelation. Still, fans of the series are likely to enjoy it, and I'm looking forward to the next one, which is apparently due out this November.

62.
Author: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Title: The Palace of Illusions
Publication: Paperback
Pages: 360 pages
Genre: Fiction, mythology
Acquisition: Recommended by richardderus of LibraryThing
Date Completed: August 6, 2010
Rating: 5 stars out of 5

In a time of rich spices, jeweled saris, and everyday magic - a time of curses, vengeance, and the power of the heart - a girl stumbles out of the flames that have already produced her twin brother, carrying with her the thread and promise of change. In Divakaruni's masterful hands the myth of Panchaali takes shape, and the reader leaves behind the contemporary world for a society that carries far too many parallels to our own.

On its own, the narrative is majestic, but it is Divakaruni's character development that truly brings The Palace of Illusions to life. Panchaali herself is capable of invoking a sea of emotional responses, and the power to invoke sympathy, hatred, admiration and condemnation within the space of 360 pages speaks volumes of her author's narrative capabilities. The inhabitants of The Palace of Illusions are far from two-dimensional characters moving through a storyline: they breathe through the pages and welcome the reader into their mysterious world. In short, the novel is simply magical.

61.
Author: Neil Gaiman
Title: Odd and the Frost Giants
Publication: Hardback
Pages: 117 pages
Genre: Young adult, mythology, bedtime stories
Acquisition: Purchased for Brooks
Date Completed: August 1, 2010
Rating: 4 stars out of 5

The little Norse boy named Odd does everything with a smile on his face. Odd smiles when he's scolded, and doesn't lose the smile when he hears of his father's death. Odd smiles when he cripples his right leg and foot, and he smiles when he meets a trio of talking animals claiming to be gods. Odd even smiles when he comes face to face with a Frost Giant, and the giant threatens to crush him.

Odd and the Frost Giants is a delightful mock-epic in which Gaiman writes a crippled young boy into the world of the Norse gods. With little more than his (not so) simple understanding of human/god nature Odd conquers feats that leave the more-powerful themselves crippled, and with quiet perseverance he pursues a life more welcoming than the one in which he lives.

Despite Gaiman's never-ending love affair with comma splices, his young adult novel is quite charming. I would recommend it to young readers and parents alike.

60.
Author: Louise Penny
Title: Still Life
Publication: Paperback
Pages: 293 pages
Genre: Mystery
Acquisition: Beach read #5
Date Completed: July 28, 2010
Rating: 6 stars out of 5

Still Life by Louise Penny contains a simple grace that was entirely unexpected. The first in the Inspector Gamache series, the mystery breathes with a calm intelligence that can be attributed not only to the Inspector himself, but also to Penny and the characters she brings to life. The residents of Three Pines are real people, with all their flaws and eccentricities, and the ease with which they accept the reader allows for a great amount of comfort. I won't cheapen the novel by describing the plot, but I will express my admiration of Penny and my everlasting gratitude to the many readers of LibraryThing who are constantly recommending the series.

Still Life moves beyond the confines of traditional genre fiction, and becomes a Novel in every valuable sense of the word. I will certainly be pursuing the series in the future, with much delight and anticipation.

59.
Author: Madelyn Alt
Title: A Charmed Death
Publication: Paperback
Pages: 289 pages
Genre: Mystery
Acquisition: Beach read #4
Date Completed: July 22, 2010
Rating: 3 stars out of 5

A Charmed Death, the second bewitching mystery in the series, finds Maggie settling into the new life that fate has thrown her way. As a character, she has grown in terms of confidence and comfort, and her narrative reflects the positive changes in her life. When tragedy once again strikes her small town Maggie keeps her wits about her, and is ready to help in any way she's asked.

I was not as enthralled with A Charmed Death as I was the previous novel, and I found myself constantly bothered by Alt's use of dialects. The teenagers are wooden and forced, Felicity sounds a bit ridiculous, and the Amish member of N.I.G.H.T.S. had me rolling my eyes. I enjoyed the development of Maggie's character (and Marcus' character) much more than the two-dimensional "sidekicks" of the novel, and I'm hoping the third in the series will continue to flesh out the characters that really "matter."

58.
Author: Terry Pratchett
Title: The Unadulterated Cat
Publication: Hardback
Pages: 156 pages
Genre: Humor
Acquisition: Beach read #3
Date Completed: July 19, 2010
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Somewhere in the limitless possibilities of reality and consciousness there is a young man named Schrodinger in a box with a vial of radioactive material and a device which may - or may not - break the vial and immediately end the consciousness of the young man. He is both alive and dead, and is doubtless bleeding from the back of his heels, because somewhere in his future he had (purposeful shift in tense) proposed a thought experiment that begins with the extremely hazardous suggestion that an individual place a cat in a box.

And cats hold grudges, even if you haven't angered them yet.

In The Unadulterated Cat, Pratchett endeavors to define a Real cat (as opposed to those fluffy, squished-faced monstrosities that can apparently eat their food out of crystal dishes without tipping them over). Punctuated with telling cartoons by Gray Jolliffe, Pratchett provides a 150+ page description of those horrible beasts, and even provides some analysis as to why we (cats and their roommates) tolerate each other. I have long been under the impression that my own cats are just horribly uncatlike beasts, especially when forced to consider such adorable and friendly examples in literature and the Facebook photo albums of (childless) friends, but Pratchett has shown me otherwise. My cats are undeniably Real cats.

While I certainly enjoy Pratchett's writing style, I believe my partner enjoyed The Unadulterated Cat far more than I. But that's really to be expected, because my partner is the true cat lover in our household. After reading what my Real cats are truly capable of I think I'll stay loyal to my ridiculous cat-sized dog.

56.
Author: Donna Andrews
Title: Swan for the Money
Publication: Hardback
Pages: 306 pages
Genre: Mystery
Acquisition: Beach read #1
Date Completed: July 17, 2010
Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Swan for the Money is pretty typical for Donna Andrews and Meg Langlsow, although this is the first book of the series that left me without some way to relate personally.

Unfortunately, the publishers yanked all copies of this book from stores in preparation for the paperback publication in August ... and the latest Langslow mystery was published a month before. I eventually gave in and located a used copy of the title, but I would have much preferred that the publisher either a) left the hardcopies in stores or b) published the paperback before the latest edition. Not Ms. Andrews' fault, but a minor disappointment.

57.
Author: Donna Andrews
Title: Stork Raving Mad
Publication: Hardback
Pages: 309 pages
Genre: Mystery
Acquisition: Beach read #2
Date Completed: July 18, 2010
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Stork Raving Mad is the latest book in the Meg Langslow series, and it picks up approximately thirty-four weeks after the previous novel. I appreciate Andrews' sense of timing for the novels; instead of detailing every months or week bit by bit, Andrews hops and skips through a timeline that allows her to remain current, and gloss over major events without drawing them out unnecessarily. The hijinks are in full swing, the familiar cast of characters are accounted for, and the reader will be happy to meet the characteristically miserable victim and the even less likable guilty party.

I do have this to say about the last page: No fair.

55.
Author: Mark Barrowcliffe
Title: The Elfish Gene: Dungeons, Dragons, and Growing Up Strange
Publication: Paperback
Pages: 277 pages
Genre: Memoir
Acquisition: Purchased for work
Date Completed: July 5, 2010
Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Mark Barrowcliffe's memoir caught my eye in the bookstore several months ago, and again during each subsequent visit. I have never been a gamer (of any kind - I don't even like social board games), but my social circle has always been peppered with gamers of all sorts, so I feel a connection to the subject. I went into the book knowing next to nothing about the game, but knowing a bit about gamers, so I was looking forward to a sneak-peak of what my friends were really up to.

Barrowcliffe's memoir delivers just that; he moves through a description of the kind of people attracted to role playing games, how he himself was introduced to the phenomenon, and what really goes on during those 6-10 hour marathons.

I really enjoyed Barrowcliffe's descriptions of other players, and found myself longing to meet some of his awkward and fantastic boyhood friends. I loved the description of the mania that D&D can create, and laughed along with the author as he presented some of the "mainstream" views of D&D (you know, gateway to the occult, Satan's game, that sort of thing).

But here's why can't rate this book higher than 3 stars out of 5: I can't stand the adult Barrowcliffe. Spaz? He's an overly-enthusiastic, mildly obnoxious, and completely obsessed teenage boy who discovers the world he's always dreamed of in a role playing game. He has the same personality flaws as 75% of all teenagers, and while I may not seek his company in real life, he's a perfectly enjoyable character in the memoir. However, Barrowcliffe? He's a bit of a prick when it comes to gamers. His criticism and observations are frequently true, and often add to the narrative itself, but every other chapter or two he takes it a bit far and is just unnecessarily nasty.

This shift from teenage-gamer to adult author has left Barrowcliffe feeling exposed. While he desperately wants to write about his boyhood obsession, he's afraid of the labels and classifications that come with it. In an attempt to distance himself from such a distinctive label he mercilessly condemns all gamers.

But let's be honest: who is going to pick up a book with "Dungeons and Dragons" in the title? Gamers, ex-gamers, or individuals like myself who feel very kindly towards gamers. The kind of bashing that slips in and out of the narrative just doesn't suit the actual audience.

So, it all comes down to this: 4.5 out of five stars for entertainment, but minus 1.5 stars for insulting the audience.

Still, if you have any kind of relationship to D&D - even a very distant one - I would recommend this book.

54.
Author: Neil Gaiman
Title: Smoke and Mirrors
Publication: Paperback
Pages: 365 pages
Genre: Short Fiction
Acquisition: LT Recommendation
Date Completed: July 15, 2010
Rating: 2 stars out of 5

Smoke and Mirrors was not to my taste. I found a few gems in the book, for for the most part I found the collection to be a bit much to swallow. Many of the stories simply fell flat, and the, er, poetry, was simply painful. As a whole, the collection made me feel like I was back in Freshman Creative Writing (which, coincidentally, is where I first heard of Neil Gaiman, as so many of my classmates cooed over the brilliance of American Gods).

Gaiman is typically hit-or-miss for me, and this volume just happens to be a strong "miss."

And I have to say, I disagree with Miami New Times, which calls Gaiman "Literature's rock star ... Among the most daring of writers around ..." I can't help but think the author of the quote isn't very well read.

53.
Author: Frank Wedekind
Title: Mine-Haha or On the Bodily Education of Young Girls
Publication: Paperback
Pages: 88 pages
Genre: Fiction
Acquisition: Early Review Copy
Date Completed: July 6, 2010
Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Mine-Haha is a mildly disturbing and completely enthralling novella about a mysterious boarding institution. The girls who attend the school care for each other almost from infancy, and they know little of their future. They are instructed in dance and music by a handful of instructors, and spend their prepubescence completely isolated. In the end they are thrust out into society, with nary a question about their future.

The narration is superb; it's told from the point of view of a woman looking back at her youth, and the story itself focuses on all the superficial details that are sure to make an impression on a young girl (clothing, jewelry, an accidental death, friendships, fear). The style gives the reader a sense of natural perception is an alien institution, and confirms the unspoken realities of this peculiar life. Mine-Haha presents a quiet exploration of sexuality and bodily consciousness, while developing a progressive technique of education, performance, and gender roles.