Books Read in August

Here's what I read in August:

1. SILENCE AND SHADOWS by James Long (407 p.) Mix together a tormented archaeologist who used to be a rock star, a woman who looks exactly like his long-gone wife, a man who can't talk but can sing legends from centuries ago, and put them all at a Bronze-Age dig in northern England somewhere, and things get interesting. Good book, good story. Such a shame this author doesn't write more.

2. STILL LIFE WITH CHICKENS by Catherine Goldhammer (176 p.) A memoir of a newly-divorced woman who needs to downsize to a smaller house, despite her 12-year old daughter's protests. Finally, she offers, "If we move, I'll let you get the chickens you've always wanted." . . . I think you can see where this is going, right? Enjoyable, well-written.

3. PRINCESS ACADEMY by Shannon Hale (316 p.) YA book. Miri lives in a little mountain town whose only industry is mining. Then one day, a messenger from the King arrives--it's been foretold that the next Princess will be from this town, and so, the traditional Princess Academy is instituted, to teach the girls of the town what they'll need to know if they get picked to be the next princess. Very enjoyable.

4. THE SPY'S WIFE by Reginald Hill (266 p.) On a normal day, Molly is in the kitchen washing the breakfast dishes when her husband dashes back in the house. Saying only, "I'm sorry," he runs upstairs and races out a few minutes later with a suitcase. Shortly after, the doorbell rings . . . it turns out that, all these years, her husband has been a Soviet spy!

5. WESTING GAME by Ellen Raskin (182 p.) A little gem of a Newbery Award winner. Sam Westing has left a will, leaving obscure clues to a group of seemingly completely unrelated people. The person who comes up with the right answer will win his entire $2 Million estate and so, of course, relative chaos ensues.

6. COUTURE KNITS by Jean Moss (137 p.) Primarily a book of knitting patterns, but also with some really good tips in the "how to" section at the back.

7. NO SHEEP FOR YOU by Amy R. Singer (157 p.) Also a knitting book, but chock full of lots of interesting details on all the non-wool fibers out there, where they come from, their relative properties. Informative reading, followed by some really nice patterns. Never a bad thing.

8. DINNER WITH DAD by Cameron Stracker (242 p.) Another memoir, this time of a man who, tired of forever grabbing a quick bite at a train station and getting home too late to see his kids, makes a deal with his wife that he will be home for dinner 5 nights a week--and that he'll cook, too. Leading to lots of family wrangles about what the kids will or will not eat, financial juggling, thoughts on the American dream and the way it's taken over . . . Highly enjoyable. Oh, and he's been blogging the experience, too, here.

9. FRANCES HODSGON BURNETT by Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina (307 p.) A biography of the woman who wrote "Secret Garden," "A Little Princess," and "Little Lord Fauntleroy" among many other things. Interesting, too. I had no idea that she was so enormously popular. Or that she was as much American as British. Born in Manchester, moved to Tennessee at 15, married an American, but spent as much time travelling or living either here or in Europe, even she couldn't pin it down. Frankly, a better biography than I really expected it to be.

10. ROMANTIC HAND KNITS by Annie Modesitt (140 p.) Pure knitting patterns and not much else (beyond the occasional helpful tip).

11. JUDGEMENT OF PARIS by George Taber (304 p.) I really enjoyed this book--non-fiction at its best, interesting and informative. This tells the story of the 1976 wine tasting that rocked the world--a blind-testing in Paris, with all French judges, between California wines and French wines . . . and the Californian won in both red and white wines. Everyone was beyond stunned, not least of which the people who arranged the testing. And the press, who with the exception of one reporter from Time, didn't bother to cover the event. This book tells the story of the people behind that win--the wine-seller who staged the event, the people who made the winning bottles, along with a certain amount of history of wine making in general. Really excellent.

12. SUSPENSE AND SENSIBILITY by Carrie Bebris (297 p.) I mentioned this series last month. It's a dilemma, really--a series of mysteries using Jane Austen's newly-wed Mr. and Mrs. Darcy as the sleuths, mixing together characters from her other books . . . which is something along the lines of a travesty. And yet, the writing is pretty decent, she has a deft hand with dialogue, and they're not actually bad reads. Although, with this one being kind of a cross between Sense & Sensibility and the Portrait of Dorian Grey, just like last time, there's too much supernatural stuff going on for this mesh of mystery an Austen to really work. But still . . . oddly entertaining.

13. NORTH BY NORTHANGER by Carrie Bebris (312 p.) Third in this Darcy mystery series, and I think it was the best of the three. Elizabeth, pregnant with their first child, finds a letter written by Darcy's long-dead mother, talking about a precious object she'd lost . . . the trail of which leads the Darcys to Northanger Abbey, where they get embroiled in a robbery . . . far-fetched, so far-fetched, and yet . . . can't. stop. reading . . .

14. THE DARK IS RISING by Susan Cooper (216 p.) A 1970s YA classic (being turned, gulp, into a movie). Will Stanton finds mysterious things happening on his 11th birthday--the animals won't come near him, the radio bursts into static whenever he nears it . . . it turns out that he is the youngest "Old One," part of the ancient fight of Light against Dark . . . and the Dark is rising . . .  Classic.

15. GREENWITCH by Susan Cooper (131 p.) Next summer, Will joins up with the Drew children (from the series' precursor, Over Sea, Under Stone) to help recover the stolen Grail and to retrieve a vital secret that the ocean's Greenwitch has.

16. UNHERALDED by Edwin Gere (244 p.) History book about the Berlin Airlift. It's a unique book in that it tells the stories of the people who were vitally involved without being the actual pilots--the ground crews, flight staff, people unloading the planes. The author (who himself was involved) worked really hard to gather as many personal recollections as possible. The writing style, unfortunately, doesn't quite live up to the material, but that doesn't change the fact that it was worthwhile reading after all. That was one, enormous, incredible, admirable undertaking!

17. THE GREY KING by Susan Cooper (208 p.) The next in the "Dark is Rising" series--Will goes to Wales to recuperate after a bout of meningitis and meets Bran, an adopted farm boy with white hair and a dog that can see the wind . . . and, apparently, a mysterious past.

18. SILVER ON THE TREE by Susan Cooper (269 p.) The grand finale, where all the elements come together--Will Stanton, the Drew children, Bran Davies, his long-lost father, and the final quest for the Light. Such a good series.

19. BEST OF ENEMIES by Nancy Bond (248 p.) One of my very favorite books--Charlotte, as the much-youngest of her family, is feeling left out and just a little sorry for herself when she gets involved with an apparent "invasion" of a group of British "troops" bent on disrupting Concord's annual Patriot's Day festivities. I just adore this book--when I read it in junior high school, it had just everything I wanted in a book--good characters, great story, satisfying ending. And as an adult, it still has all those things (though thankfully I'm well past adolescence now), but it also has wonderful writing and a story every bit as satisfying as it was the first time I read it. Love this book. Which probably explains why I've read it 8 times since 1997, huh?

20. PLACE TO COME BACK TO by Nancy Bond (187 p.) This, the sequel to "Best of Enemies," I don't read as often. It takes place a couple of years later, when Charlotte and her friends are in high school. But suddenly, Oliver's guardian the Commodore passes away and everything changes. This one is sadder, moodier, and not nearly as satisfying, so it doesn't get off the shelf nearly so often as its companion. (Only twice, in fact, since '97.) There is another sequel called "The Love of Friends" but that's almost depressing . . .

21. BELGARATH THE SORCERER by David & Leigh Eddings (644 p.) What does one say about an auto-biography of a 7000-year old man? This book comes technically after both the Belgariad and the Mallorean series, but it tells Belgarath's story, from his childhood all the way through to when Garion was born. It's not really a stand-alone book because there are so many constant (somewhat distracting) asides to "current" characters who might be reading the book, but at the same time, it would make a good introduction to this world of Eddings' . . . which is their best world by far. I've read most of their books and the one with Garion and his friends is the one I keep coming back to.

22. POLGARA THE SORCERESS by David & Leigh Eddings (643 p.) Naturally Polgara, Belgarath's 3000-year old daughter, had to have HER say, so here's her "autobiography." Also entertaining. Also enjoyable. Also somewhat irritating with all the cute little asides, but still . . . My big question is how would she feel to know, after criticizing Belgarath for having been so long-winded in his story, that her book was only one page shorter when her lifetime was only half the length of his?

23. SEPARATE PEACE  by John Knowles (204 p.) Another YA book, this time set at a New England boys' school during WWII, narrated by one of the students. This tells about the difficulties of life and friendship and sports and doubts all during a time of war, yet removed from it . . . . I don't want to give too much away, but it was a beautifully-written book, deftly handled . . . although I saw the ending coming from a mile away, there were still surprises as the story unfolded and it was definitely a good read.

24. PAWN OF PROPHECY by David Eddings (258 p.) Book one of the Belgariad. Garion is just a simple boy being raised by his aunt on a remote farm, but one day, some mysterious something is stolen and he, his aunt, and a group of others suddenly are caught up in a quest to find it . . . but Garion is frustrated by not knowing what it is, and there seems to be something unknown about his aunt and the old storyteller, too... This series of five books is one of my favorites. I've been a fan since high school (and even exchanged a few letters with the author back in the 1980s while he was still writing them), and it's just a story that I keep coming back to. Highly enjoyable.

25. QUEEN OF SORCERY by David Eddings (327 p.) Book two of the Belgariad. Garion has come to accept (mostly) that his aunt is really Polgara the sorceress, and that Mister Wolf is Belgarath, but still, he keeps getting hints about his own future that are worrying . . . and then there's that pesky Imperial Princess who's suddenly part of the group . . .

26. MAGICIAN'S GAMBIT by David Eddings (305 p.) Book three of the Belgariad. Garion's own talent for sorcery is now obvious and he begins his training, all while he and his companions get closer to Mallorea, where the stolen Orb has been taken . . .

27. MAYFLOWER by Nathaniel Philbrick (358 p.) History book telling the story of the Pilgrims' trip to the New World and, then, the story of their relationship with the Indians . . . and its degrading into "King Phillip's War," so named for the Indian sachem who instigated it, and which I had never heard of. Now, this was an excellent book, but all the gore once war broke out kind of turned me off a bit. Great story, though.

28. CASTLE OF WIZARDRY by David Eddings (373 p.) Belgariad book four. With the Orb retrieved, now they just have to get it back to Riva safely . . . and then figure out what comes next...

29. ENCHANTER'S END GAME  by David Eddings (372 p.) Belgariad book five, the grand finale. Garion journeys to the big showdown, finally knowing exactly who he is and what's expected of him . . . Like I said, this is a delightful series. Fun, entertaining, a "classic" kind of fantasy series, but one that works and works well, without being derivative. And did I mention that it's fun? Great way to end the month.

Comments

[minnie]

i came to a screeching halt reading the belgariad, mostly because liam was reading the series along with me, and lost magician's gambit. i need to go back to paperbackswap.com and see if i can find it again. of course, by now, i need to start over, sigh.

[Angie]

I really enjoy seeing what you've read each month. "A Little Princess" is one of my favorite childhood books, I'll have to find the biography of Ms. Burnett.

[Julie]

Some gems this month! I *loved* Raskin as a kid -- the Westing Game was so wonderful and different! I must get that for my daughter to read. I think I just heard they are reprinting her books? Or maybe releasing a new one that she never really finished before her death? And I love Frances Hodgson Burnett (my fav is The Secret Garden.) Sounds like an interesting biography.

[sprite]

You've definitely got some great books on the list this month that I've got to add to my queue at the library. I've never read The Westing Game nor the Belgariad series, although I've heard of both. And I'm another one who now wants to read the Frances bio. Thanks!

[Marnie]

You are a much faster reader than I am, with far more reading time, I think. How do you manage it? Where do you find the time? Do you do other things while reading?

[Chris]

Wow, it's been a long time since I read the Belgariad. I think I got kinda frustrated after the second series... Kinda like with Thomas Covenant. Sometimes you need to let characters go.