Medieval Pottery in Britain by Michael McCarthy and Catherine Brooks

Read: 22 December, 2007

A survey of Medieval pottery divided into two parts. Part one deals with shaping, firing, and decorating techniques as well as the uses for pottery in both the domestic and industrial settings. Part two has an in-depth look at each area of England and the pottery styles common to each.

Part one is very interesting and a fun read. The writing style isn't too dry and it's full of great information. If you're looking for something to just pick up and read one afternoon and have some interest in pottery or Medieval life, it's a great choice.

Part two is a much more in-depth study. It's mostly sketches of pots with explanations that are written for brevity rather than readability. Basically, part one is the read bit and part two is the reference bit.

The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham

A big thank you to Alyson for suggesting and lending me this book.

Read: 17 December, 2007

The small English town of Midwich has had a largely uneventful history until one day, September 26th, when every living creature for a mile around fell asleep. When they awoke a day later, every woman of childbearing age found herself pregnant. The babies (31 boys and 30 girls), when born, seem strange. They have glowing golden eyes and seem to age at about twice the normal rate.

I'd seen both movie adaptations, but I had no idea there was a book. I very much enjoyed reading it. The writing style is absolutely delightful and the pure English-ness of Midwich comes through beautifully. It was interesting, too, that the novel is told from the perspective of someone other than the protagonist.

Anyways, I highly recommend it to any fans of Science Fiction, the English countryside, or just interesting writing styles. It's a fairly short book, easily read through in an evening, so there's really no excuse not to pick it up.

Gifts by Ursula K. Le Guin

Read: 6 December, 2007

Book jacket summary: Scattered among poor, desolate farms, the families of the Uplands possess gifts. Wondrous gifts: the ability - with a glance, a gesture, a word - to summon animals, bring forth fire, move the land. Fearsome gifts: They can twist a limb, chain a mind, inflict a wasting illness. The Uplanders live in constant fear that one family might unleash its gifts against another.

Two young people, friends since childhood, decide not to use their gifts. One, a girl, refuses to bring animals to their death in the hunt. The other, a boy, wears a blindfold lest his eyes and his anger kill.

So that wasn't entirely laziness on my part. It's a fairly difficult story to describe in a few short words. OK, so maybe it was partially laziness...

I'd like to start off by saying that I'm a huge Le Guin fan. Her Earthsea books were my first taste of fantasy (and probably the reason why I don't read much fantasy - very few books compare). From that perspective, I found Gifts to be a little disappointing. I could see hints of what made her other books (like the Earthsea cycle or Left Hand of Darkness) so amazing, but they didn't seem to come together in as solid a book as I might have hoped. That being said, it was still a very good story.

One of the things I like best about Le Guin is that her stories tend to be character driven more than anything else. Several chapters might go by before something really happens or there's any action, but her books are interesting and readable from start to finish regardless. This was present in Gifts as well.

I also enjoyed that Gifts didn't wrap up or give the sense of a completed story. Rather, it mimicked life - ending with a new story beginning. This makes the characters feel alive, it makes them feel like they really exist somewhere and we readers are merely getting a chapter from their lives.

The characters themselves were fairly well constructed. They all felt real and distinct. However, I found that Orrec seemed to think in a strange way. He would come to a conclusion that isn't necessarily obvious and then hold to it as fact. It's almost as though Le Guin wanted X to happen but wasn't sure how to do it, so she implanted the thought into one of the characters' heads. This wouldn't be such a problem (heaven knows we all believe things that aren't strictly backed with facts) except that he's always right.

One of the classic Le Guin traits that made it into Gifts is the real world theme conveyed by the story. In this case, dealing with power. There aren't many authors who are able to carry both theme and story as Le Guin does and she does so quite well in this story.

In conclusion, this isn't my favourite book, but it isn't my least favourite either. If you have a spare afternoon and don't know what to read, this is a great choice. On the other hand, I wouldn't go out of my way to get it either.

The Beetle by Richard Marsh

Read: 2004

As wikipedia puts it, The Beetle is a xenophobic story about an evil oriental antagonist wreaking havoc about London with his powers of hypnotism and shape-shifting. Unfortunately, I don't remember too many of the plot details as it's been about two years since I've read it.

I do remember enjoying the novel quite a bit, though. I've always enjoyed the use of multiple narrators and the suspense is well-maintained from begining to end. The only flaw, and, unfortunately, its a real doozy, is the ending. The tension mounts and mounts and the climax builds and then BAM! Train crash! Damsel saved and evil guy killed! How disappointing...

Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon

Read: May, 2007

There is a scandal in town - the beautiful Lucy Graham, a poor governess, has married the wealthy Sir Audley. But that isn't the end of it. When his nephew, Robert Audley, brings his friend George Talboys to Audley Hall in an attempt to cheer him up after he's found out that his wife has died, he goes missing! Now it's up to Robert to find his friend and uncover his step-aunt's mysterious past.

I had to read this book quickly for class. With little time to spare, I ended up having to read the begining and end of each chapter only, just to get the general plot. When I graduated, I sat down with the book and read it through once more, slowly, enjoying it. I'm truly glad I did.

It's a fantastic novel with great characterization and a terribly interesting plot. Mostly, I liked the ambiguity. While Robert is posited as being "right" and while he does win in the end, there's a great deal of sympathy for Lucy Graham and her supposed mental illness leaves much to interpretation.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Read: 2006

Offred is a handmaid in a Christian theocracy existing in what was once the United States. Her function is to produce a child for couples who cannot conceive. She is forbidden from reading and must cover her body at all times. She is valued only as a vessel for a potential heir. Her mind is suppressed, her individuality taken.

With all that has been going on these days about evolution being removed from school curriculums and abstinence-only education, Atwood paints a dismal picture of what is increasingly appearing to be a possible future. Most importantly, perhaps, she posits this world coming from a great disaster (albeit one that leaves most men sterile) and some connections may be made to the terrorist paranoia of recent years.

Atwood is a fantastic writer with an easy-to-read style and multi-layered storytelling. This is one of the aspects I've enjoyed most about her books. It is possible to read them for their surface story, but if interested, there are all sorts of allusions to discover.

Discworld #8: Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett

Read: June 2007

Constable Carrot, Captain Vimes, and the rest of the Nightwatch must save Ankh-Morpork from a "noble dragon" that's taken over the city.

Another great book from the Discworld series. I absolutely loved Captain Vimes. He's just such a great character and would work perfectly well in a story of his own sans the comedy. The humour is, as usual with Pratchett, laugh-out-loud hilarious.

The Warden by Anthony Trollope

Read: 2006

Hiram's Hospital was a small alms house that functioned without much public notice under the guidance of the warden, Mr. Harding. When the young reformer, John Bold, notices the disparity between the lifestyles of those in the care of the hospital and the warden, he appeals to England's presses to correct the issue, despite being a friend of Mr. Harding's and a suitor to his daughter. When the case comes under the notice of some popular journals and authors (including a Mr. Popular Sentiment - a hilarious caricature of Charles Dickens), Harding falls under very public attack.

The story is well-written and interesting. Though the beginning is rather heavy with facts and figures (the first ten or so pages devoted to the total earnings and holdings and allocations of the hospital), the story quickly picks up and, for me at least, was functionally glued to my hands. The drama was well handled and the characters, particularly Harding and Bold, had enough depth for me to feel sorry for both. One of my favourite aspects of the book is that it took both sides of the issue and dealt with both sympathetically enough that I would have been saddened by any possible outcome.

The moments of humour were also well handled, particularly those passages that poked fun of Dickens.

Hard Times by Charles Dickens

Read: 2003

Gradgrind rules Coketown with Utilitarian facts and figures, killing fantasy in the young minds he teaches. Hard Times does not follow a single main character, but rather a community driven by materialism that, without humanity, oppresses all who dwell within it.

Hard Times was my first conscious exposure to the ideas of Utilitarianism and I loved the portrayal. I also found it to be more serious than many of the other Dickens novels I've read, a short attempt at depth in characterization (only a little, though - the writing is still mostly an expression of ideas and stereotypes).

The Epic of Qayaq retold by Lela Kiana Oman

Read: 2006

As Qayaq's siblings grow up, all leave home to seek their fortunes and never return. Qayaq, the youngest and last of his parents' children, decides to go in search of his siblings. From there, the story cycles through episodes of Qayaq's legendary journey over land and by kayak.

Qayaq has something of the trickster in him making these stories very interesting. In particular, I found the fluidity between the animal and human worlds very interesting. Qayaq is able to turn himself into animals and they into humans. Because the book is a collection of stories from an epic cycle each functions well alone and they make for a pleasantly varied experience if read all at once.

I especially enjoyed my edition because the edges of each page contained short summaries of the stories as well as illustrations that fit the action described. It may seem like only a small detail, but being able to see the Inupiat art along with the stories added a fantastic extra dimension.

Dune #3: Children of Dune by Frank Herbert

Read: 2008

With Paul supposedly dead, his children, the twins Leto II and Ghanima, are left under the regency of Alia who is suspected to have become an Abomination. The Empire has come under attack from a mysterious blind Preacher who some suspect may be Muad'Dib. With Dune becoming green and the worms dying, with a multiple of forces trying to shape Leto and Ghanima to their own desires, the children must find a way to work with their inner voices and find a future of their own.

I liked this book, but not as much as the first two in the Dune series. I felt that it turned the series in a new direction (which makes sense since it's all about Leto trying to change the path his father had started). I also found it far more confusing in parts than the first two, though this might have been because I read it on and off over a few months.

All in all, I did enjoy it and I'll definitely continue reading the series.