Crystal Moon

For some reason, this has not been a very good year for me in terms of books. Oh, I’m reading as much as ever – sometimes I feel like I’m reading even more than usual – but the quality of the books I’ve chosen have…not been the best. I’ll take full blame for one of them, as I knew going into it that there was a very large possibility I would dislike it, and I’ll take at least partial responsibility for another. As for the rest…to quote a character from one of my favorite novels, “I am most seriously displeased.”


What follows are the top worst five books I've read this year. They include a lack of plot, a bad plot, horrible editing, a romance book that was not even slightly romantic, and...Twilight.

( Click if you dare! )

(x-posted to livejournal)

Reviews of books from January:

( My Thoughts )

I may be the last person on LJ to see Prince Caspian, but see it I did! There be spoilers under the cut, just in case, but I'll just say that I liked it all right. There were some WTF moments, and some completely unnecessary alterations, but in the grand scheme of things, I'd say they kept things close to the spirit of the book. Plus, Caspian himself was hot.

( I liked Reepicheep the best! )

I've been looking at this and all of Philippa Gregory's books for some time now, and I just generally kept telling myself I would read them when I get the chance. I've heard good reviews of her writing, and I've always been interested in that part of history, so I figured they'd make good reads. About a week ago, Mike mentioned that he'd seen a preview for the movie adaptation of The Other Boleyn Girl, and that he thought it would be really nice for us to go see it. I immediately refused, because I have this Thing where I do not go to see movies based on books without first reading the books. At least, not if I can help it. Sooo, I ran out to the store and grabbed a copy of the book. Annoyingly, though perhaps not unexpectedly, the cheapest copy was the new paperback with Natalie Portman & Co. on the cover, and not the original. (I have a Thing about this as well, you see.) Still, since it was literally half the price of the original, I swallowed my pride, reminded myself that this would allow me to save money for the *other* books, and bought it.

( My Thoughts )

This particular book, The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody, by Will Cuppy, was a recommendation from our very own princesslucia, and I must say it was a very good book to read during the middle of a busy period. It was nice and light, and think I can safely say that it wins the prize for Novel with the Funniest Title Ever. Basically, Cuppy takes us through the centuries and explains the way things really happened in the past...and how they didn't work. I would recommend this for anyone looking for a good laugh, but a fairly decent knowledge of history would definitely come in handy.

( A million laughs a minute )

The second "book" I finished this year is called De Historia et Veritate Unicornis (On the History and Truth of the Unicorn): The Facsimile and Translation of an Original Manuscript. Despite it's huge title, this work is only 64 short pages, pretty much all of which contain extremely large, high-quality images. The basic plot is that the author, Michael Green, was approached by a member of a secret society who preserved records of the unicorn, and even had an original spiral horn. Green was asked to translate the manuscripts and publish them, in the hopes of generating more interest in the magic and wonder that is the unicorn. This is clearly not a rocket science book, but I was truly amazed not only at how believable the text was, but at the true feeling of awe and wonder it inspired in me.

( Review )

So I think I have sufficiently calmed down from reading the new Harry Potter book that I can right at least a semi-coherent review. I think I may go back and re-read it quite soon, just so I can get a better handle on some of the details, but for now I think I just need to sit back and absorb.

 
Needless to say, there are SPOILERS behind the cut for the entire book.

 
Got that? SPOILERS!!!  DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED THE BOOK AND DO NOT WANT TO BE SPOILED!!!

 
Ok, my karma is clear. On we go!

Oh, and be warned...this is long and rambly and...yeah  ^^;;

( Good, Bad and Ugly )

So, I’m afraid I have to squeal about this here, because as much as Mike indulges in my fandoms, he is a guy, and as such he will never be able to truly appreciate the beauty of a good chick flick (or books based on them).

I have just finished reading the first book in the Fitzwilliam Darcy – Gentleman series by Pamela Aidan. This series is basically a re-telling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, but from Darcy’s point of view. This first book, An Assembly Such as This, takes us up to the point where Darcy, Bingley and his sisters return to London, and deals a little with their time there. Unfortunately for me, the next two books are not out yet. I though I’d checked on Amazon to ensure that they were, because I *hate* getting involved in a series and then finding out that I have to wait for the rest of the them to come out, but apparently I was mistaken. They seem to have been released elsewhere (perhaps Britain) but the second book won’t be available until October, and the third comes out in January.
 

 This is Bad.

 Why, do you ask? Because I seriously do not think I have ever been so obsessed with an adaptation before in my life.
 

( Why Darcy Rocks My World )

 

Apparently when I get bored, I start thinking too much about things that are just too complicated for my poor brain to handle by itself. I know I’ve already ranted once today, but this is totally different, I swear, though perhaps no less boring to some/many/all of you.

 
As most of you know, I am a devoted Trekkie, and I firmly believe that the answers to life, the universe and everything can be found in both the number 42, and in Star Trek episodes. Even though I’ve seen most of them and Mike is buying them on DVD, we still TiVo The Next generation, because we’re geeks like that. A few days ago, the episode “The High Ground” aired, and, as I was bored, I decided to re-watch it, because it’s always been one of my favorites. For some reason, however, it resonated more with me than it had in the past. Or maybe not more, precisely, but at least slightly differently.

 
The long and short of the plot is this: The Enterprise is dropping off medical supplies to a planet engaged in a civil war. The “rebel” faction, the Ansata, are fighting for independence from the rest of the Rutian planet. Pervious tactics apparently failed, and they have become terrorists, doing whatever it takes to get the Rutians to acknowledge their claim. During the delivery of the medical supplies, an Ansata bomb is detonated and Dr. Crusher demands to remain to tend the wounded. While doing this, she is kidnapped by an Ansata member and, pardon the cliché, taken to their leader, Finn. The Ansata had desperate need of a doctor due to their unorthodox means of transport, a nuclear-powered inter-dimensional device. It allows them to transport unnoticed by Rutian sensors, but it slowly destroys their DNA and kills them.

 
During her incarceration, Beverly becomes sympathetic to the Ansata cause. While she deplores their methods, she comes to understand what drives them, especially Finn. They believe they are fighting a just war for their independence, and have resorted to terrorism because it is the only way to make their voices heard.

 
Beverly is eventually rescued and the Enterprise leaves Rutia, but, as was no doubt intended, the show leaves more questions for its audience than answers.
 

( More Thougts )

 

I just finished watching "Death Takes a Holiday," a 1934 flick where the Grim Reaper decides to take human for for three days to try to understand why humans fear him. He ends up falling in love with Grazia, the lovely daughter of a princess, and thus comes to understand the greatest gift of human life.

I'd never heard of any of the actors before, but I absolutely fell in love with Fredric March, who played Death. He has an amazing voice, which he shifted from a cool, chilling whisper as Death to a deeper, heavily accented voice as Prince Sirki, the human form he adapted. He was also very unstable, which made for interesting twists. You never really knew what he was going to do or how he was going to respond to comments. He had an amazing balance between a selfish immortal who looked down on humans as silly weaklings who wasted their lives and then yet feared Death, and a simple man who wanted to experience love before he, in a way, died. He reminded me more than of bit of a young Christopher Plummer, during his "Sound of Music" days, which is always a bonus. Evelyn Venable totally won me over as Grazia. She was so light and airy and whimsical. She seemed to already have a connection with the "land beyond" - always hearing music and seeing shadows. She claimed to always be looking for something to give her life real meaning, beyond getting married and having children and living in a wealthy home. I must also put in a good word for Sir Guy Standing, who played Duke Lambert, the man to whom Death appeared and ask to remain as a house guest. He was excellent at walking the line between intense fear of Death, and the determination that he protect his family and friends.

Of course, the  dialogue was over dramatic and pretty much all the characters over-acted, but that was style of the day, so I can forgive them. It may be cliche, but I was rather annoyed Death didn't challenge anyone to a chess match *pout*  Ah well. Either way, good movie.

Apparently there was a re-make of the show in 1998 - "Meet Joe Black" - staring Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins. It seems to have rather mediocre reviews, but I really did enjoy the original, so I think I'll take a stab at this one. Brad Pitt never did much for me, but I haven't seen Anthony Hopkins in anything I didn't like.