| Monday, Sept. 29, 2003 Didn't read much during my holidays, busy diving and drinking cocktails during Happy Hour.... "The Eye of the World, Book 1 of The Wheel Of Time” by Robert Jordan: My first laugh when I read the index - the first 14 or 15 chapters are really similar to LOTR. And they read similar as well. Bunch of teenagers, backwater village in the middle of nowhere, preparing for a feast, waiting for someone bringing fireworks, having to flee, crossing a river, meeting up at a guesthouse in the next bigger town…give me a break! And it goes on….huge statues of kings flanking a river running through a chasm, excuse me??? Pretty liberal idea-stealing. I wonder if he had to give a percentage of his earnings to the Tolkien estate….Ok, having said all that, from around page 70 or so the story really started to take off and developed a life of its own. I had a really good time, I couldn’t put it down anymore, I just had to keep going, those guys stumbled from one nerve-racking situation to the next. Just ordered the next two books on Amazon! I think there’s 10 in total, let’s see if I make it that far….Just one last thing….those trollocs are really weird! What are they, orcs after an accident in the genetic lab or what? Tuesday, Sept. 09, 2003 Bill Bryson, “Mother Tongue”, a book on the English language. After having so much fun with his travel books, I thought I give it a try…. It was good, I enjoyed it, although I skipped a little on the chapter about spelling. I think he got a bit carried away there. Very interesting and sometimes funny, when he takes the piss out of some poor non-English speaker cocking up the language. Giving up on….Aimee E. Liu, “Cloud Mountain”. Half way through, on page 345, I decided today that I am bored with this book. It took me forever to get this far. Set in the first half of the century, it is the story of an American woman falling in love with a Chinese. She marries him, despite the prejudices and the racism, and eventually follows him to China. Not a bad book, but I just didn’t connect much with the main character. The other characters felt even more lifeless. The adjectives on the book’s jacket were “Majestic, compelling, epic, bold, poetic, riveting, bittersweet….”, but I just didn’t feel very riveted. Back on the shelf. Perhaps I’ll have another go at the rest of it later. Sunday, Aug. 17, 2003 Wilbur Smith, “The Leopard Hunts in Darkness”, good, reliable entertainment. Although I have read so many of his novels now that it’s starting to become a bit repetetive. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had read that book before, which I haven’t. But it’s just the same themes over and over again. Even though, it’s still an excellent adventure yarn and hard to put down. This time it is set in Zimbabwe, formerly Rhodesia. Guerillas, poachers, a white damsel in distress, a heroic white guy saving the day, after someone wrongfully takes everything he owns. Etc. If you have read Wilbur Smith before, you know the score…. Sunday, Aug. 10, 2003 Tony Hillerman, “The Wailing Wind”, only mildly entertaining, all in all pretty forgettable. Run-of-the-mill crime novel. Only exception – the main characters are native American Indians. |
| Books, books and books......... |
| The last 10 books I read: Robert Jordan - The Wheel of Time 1: The Eye of the World Aimee E. Liu - Cloud Mountain Bill Bryson - Mother Tongue Wilbur Smith - The Leopard Hunts In Darkness Tony Hillerman - The Wailing Wind Judy Budnitz - If I Told You Once Alice Borchardt - The Silverwolf J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Jonathan Kellerman - The Butcher's Theater Ian McEwan - First Love, Last Rites |
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| ...in August & September 2003 |