Coming soon: a search engine for the archives! Whoopdy-doo!

By the way, my reading is going to be slooooowing down some (has been for the last couple of weeks). Reason why? I got a kitten! So, instead of reading in the evenings, I'm much more likely to be found running around the apartment trailing a piece of string and a little white ball of fluff. Hope I don't disappoint anyone, but some things are more important than books. Like play!

• (2/28)George Bush, Dark Prince of Love by Lydia Miller.
  
  Very funny short novel about a beefy female ex-con who falls head over heels in love with George Bush after watching him on television. After receiving a form letter from the president, she launches a personal campaign to get his attention for real. What happens next is not exactly what she was hoping for. Political satire at its kookiest. Loved it!
  [FICTION]

  (2/24)Gap Creek by Robert Morgan.
  

  A self-described "story of a marriage," this novel follows a young couple through the first year of their life together, living in a falling-down house on the edge of Gap Creek in Appalachia (around the end of the 1800's, I'd say). Just about every bad thing that can happen, does. Which is fine with me. But the characters are poorly drawn and the storyline seemed kind of pointless to me. Now, that doesn't make a lot of sense, I know. It's just a novel that is supposed to be a year pulled out of these people's lifetime. There doesn't HAVE to be a point. Yet other novels that do the same thing haven't left me feeling like I missed something. I enjoyed this book, but it isn't anything special. If you want to read a book about the hardships, triumphs, and strengths of people living under harsh conditions, read the "Little House on the Prairie" books again. This was a lot like them, except it lacked everything that made those books great. Like depth. I'm not sure why Oprah selected this one -- there ain't much to talk about.
  [FICTION]

  (2/21)Hearts and Bones by Margaret Lawrence.
  

  Historical thriller about a woman raped for three straight days and then murdered in her own home in a small country town in Maine, 1786. Her body is discovered by the town's midwife, Hannah Trevor, who also happens to be the ex-mistress of the number one suspect. Very engaging. Interesting construction, too -- it's not really set up like a typical novel. Some chapters are interviews with suspects, some chapters are coroner's reports, etc.
  [MYSTERY]

  (2/19)The Julius House by Charlaine Harris.
  

  Another Aurora Teagarden mystery. In this one, Roe and her new husband-to-be buy a house together, a house that has a pretty spooky history. It had once belonged to the Juliuses but one day, about 6 years before, the entire Julius family had vanished. Roe sets out to find out what happened and meanwhile begins to learn things about her new spouse she may not have really wanted to know. Excellent, as usual.
  [MYSTERY]

  (2/18)Cracks by Shiela Kohler.
  

  Short novel about a group of women who return to their childhood school in South Africa in order to try to rescue it from financial ruin. Once there, they begin to think back about a horrible event that occurred while they were young. Very gripping. Actually made me think of "The Lord of the Flies" a bit -- put a bunch of youths together with minimal or no supervision, and some pretty terrible things can happen.
  [FICTION]

  (2/17)Serpentine by Thomas Thompson.
  

  Scary true-crime book about a killer named Charles Sobhraj, who left a trail of bodies that led back and forth over half the globe. After killing somewhere between 12 and 24 people, he was finally caught in Delhi, where he only served a 7 year sentence. Besides being a pretty thrilling chase story, the book takes you to some pretty exotic locations as well as offering a riveting narrative of the lives of both the intelligent and inhuman Sobhraj and his victims. Scary stuff. Well written and thoroughly enjoyable.
  [NON-FICTION]

  (2/15)King Rat by James Clavell.
  

  A pretty gripping story about life in a World War II POW camp that is run by the Japanese. Actually, that's not even true -- the Japanese have left the camp and put a set of Allied officers in charge of carrying out their rules. Don't enforce the camp rules, get no supplies. Of course, this is a pretty horrible thing to do to everyone involved; think of the emotional effects on the enlisted men who once trusted their officers to look out for them. The story actually centers on two men -- King Rat (a man who seems to have the world in his hands, despite his circumstances) and his quiet friend Peter Marlowe. The description of the camp life is harrowing and these two men are truly great. I really enjoyed this book a lot.
  [FICTION]

  (2/14) The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro.
  

  Collection of short stories and the first Munro I've ever read. The first story was definitely the best one -- it was kind of about the drowning of a small-town optometrist and kind of about some kids and kind of about a spiteful old lady who confesses something horrible on her deathbed. In a story by anyone less talented, the fact that I couldn't figure out just whose tale it was would've driven me nuts (the optometrist? the kids? the old lady? her nurse?), but something about Munro's style made it work. I'm not sure I'm ready to call myself a Munro fan, in fact, I didn't really care much for the other stories in the book, but my interest is definitely piqued and I will look for more.
  [FICTION]

  (2/10) Watership Down by Richard Adams.
  

  When I was about 8, I saw the cartoon film based on this novel. I forgot almost everything about it except for one horrible, bloody, nightmarish scene that has haunted me ever since. I couldn't remember what the plot was, though, so I finally decided it was time to read the novel and put a face to the demons. What a great book! It follows the story of a group of rabbits who flee their home after a bunch of men come in and try to kill them all off (this was the scene I remembered). The way they struggle to survive and rebuild their warren is really inspirational, oddly enough. Plus, bunnies are cute. Adams really constructed an entire new civilization in these rabbits -- they have their own language and folklore, even. It's actually pretty fascinating. Good for people of all ages. I would've loved this when I was 13 and I loved it now, too!
  [FICTION]

  (2/9) Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King.
  

  Interesting and VERY different book, comprised of short stories that are connected by a set of recurring characters (taking them from childhood to adulthood). In the background of some (and foreground of others) is the Vietnam War -- its impact on the youths growing up around it and then fighting in it. I was actually surprised at how well-written this book was; I sort of forget that Stephen King can actually WRITE as well as spin a good yarn. Even if you're not a fan of King's fiction, you might consider reading this one. It's not a horror novel, though parts of it are horrifying (no monsters, though). And it's got an interesting structure. I'm actually impressed!
  [FICTION]

  (2/4) The Archivist by Martha Cooley.
  

  Lyrical novel about an archivist, Matthias Lane, who is the proud gatekeeper to a set of letters T.S. Eliot wrote to his sort-of-but-not-exactly girlfriend, Emily Hale. The letters were donated to Lane's university by Hale, but under the condition that they not be read until 2020 (the book is set in the 50's). Yet when a young poet comes to him seeking access (in a haughty, self-assured way that reminds him of his wife, Judith, who had also been a poet but had committed suicide 25 years earlier), Matt is intrigued. By the end of the novel, he has come to care for the young poet (Roberta) and finds himself having to choose between two betrayals -- the way he solves one of the conflicts is horrifying to me as a librarian myself, but pretty understandable. The author weaves a lot of Eliot's poetry throughout, to link together feelings between the characters and Eliot himself (Eliot's wife was crazy just like Matthias' and they both had to deal with a lot of guilt after committing them). The characters are also very focused on the effects of religion (specifically the Jewish religion) on them -- both Roberta and Judith had parents who hid the Holocaust from them, in one way or another, and this left them both feeling betrayed and confused about which god they were actually supposed to believe in. (Lots of betrayal-related issues in this book).

  I enjoyed this book because it was unlike anything else I've ever read. I loved the snippets of poetry from Eliot, I loved learning more about his actual life, and I thought the religious issues brought up were very interesting (especially Roberta's thoughts on religious conversion). However, I didn't really care about any of the characters -- they were all so solipsistic that their problems struck me as self-perpetuating. It was worth my time, but not a book I'm likely to return to again.
  [FICTION]