Non 1001 Book Reviews

Swamplandia! by Karen Russell

There certainly was a lot of buzz about Swamplandia! It seemed like everyone was talking about it, and I put it on my list after reading about the upcoming HBO series based on the book.  So I definitely had high expectations when I picked up the book, although I actually knew very little except for the buzz factor.

And it started off well, I thought the cover was really nice, and we are introduced to 13 year old Ava Bigtree, her family, and life at Swamplandia!, the family owned home and theme park featuring alligator wrestling.  We learn of her mother's (the star performer) illness and death, and the chaos it causes, along with their new rival - World of Darkness.

After the first few chapters I started to buy into the hype, and thought it was well written, and this would be good story, and then...

And then, I don't know what to think.  I guess things just didn't go in the direction I expected and got a little weird.  Neither of which are always bad things, but left me feeling like I didn't really care where it was going.  I found myself dreading the chapters that weren't about Kiwi, Ava's older brother because the other storyline wasn't too compelling, at least to me.  I also felt the ending did two things I don't like, wrap things up too quickly and leave too many questions unanswered.

A good premise at the start, well written, but for the most part plot free.  I'm not unhappy that I read it, but I don't know if I'd recommend it to someone else.  There was enough promise that I'd read the second book that Karen Russell puts out, but enough concern that if the plot isn't better that would be my last.  I guess a real mixed review.

My rating: 3 stars



The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

I can't help but draw parallels to Swamplandia! to The Art of Fielding, which I read last year when it first came out.  Maybe the only real parallels were the hype for a debut authors first novel.

Since I love baseball, I really wanted to read The Art of Fielding because of the topic, and the hype.  So I wanted to buy into the hype and really had high expectations for this book.

Henry Skrimshander is the star shortstop prospect destined for big league success, and headed to play college ball at a small school called Westish College.  The president of the college, Guert Affenlight falls in love with Henry's roommate and teammate Owen Dunne, while the president's daughter Pella returns to Westish to start a new life.  Mike Schwartz, the team captain, takes Henry under his wing after recognizing Henry's talent.

While this is technically a baseball novel, it's a lot more than that.  The relationships of the five main characters and how the decisions of one effects the others plays a major part.  Their success and failures, and how they handle both kept me interested.  The characters felt real, yet flawed.  They may do things wrong, but I still found myself rooting for them.  There were a couple of points that I felt were unrealistic, but I won't nitpick too much.

In the end I really enjoyed the book, and thought that it lived up to the hype.  It does remind me of Jonathan Franzen, but that isn't a bad thing.  A well written story, that was an impressive debut.

My rating: 4 1/2 stars

 

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

I guess today's theme is hyped debut novels, so I might as well continue with the Night Circus.  A book about magic, with comparisons to Harry Potter had high expectations.

Two magicians each pick an apprentice to train who will compete at a travelling circus until their is just one winner.  I won't go into many details about the plot, but it was both simple and complex.  It's a magical world, and I really enjoyed reading it.  It wasn't perfect, and it wasn't Harry Potter, but I really enjoyed reading it.  It jumped around time periods a little too frequently, and I want to say that I enjoyed reading the book more than the story itself, but don't mean that in a negative way.

I'm torn with adding another 1/2 star because it's on the cusp right now, but I would highly recommend it regardless.

My rating: 4 stars

I've also finished a few Reading Olympic books, which I talked about previously.

Here Lies the Librarian by Gregory Peck - 3 1/2 stars

Eye of the Crow by Shane Peacock - 4 stars

This was a fun book to read, as 13 year old Sherlock Holmes solves his first case.

Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis - 4 stars

A novel about life under the Taliban.

Bridge to America by Linda Glaser - 4 1/2 stars

This book really surprised me, and I really enjoyed it.  The story of Fivel, a young boy in Poland who journeys to America.

Bull Run by Paul Fleischman - 3 1/2 stars

The Merlin Effect by Thomas Barron - 3 stars

Foundation by Isaac Asimov (55 of 1294)

This one is a hard one to review for me.  The Foundation series won a Hugo Award for best All-Time series, and have been labeled as the epitome of science fiction.  So there was/is plenty of hype for the series, and to be fair I've only read the first in the series.  I've also read that Foundation is the weakest in the series, but I haven't read past the first book yet, so I'm going to stick with what I know at this point.

I'll admit I was a little disappointed after finishing Foundation.  Foundation is made up of five short stories, and there is a lot of jumping forward quite a bit, so the characters you get to know are gone by the next part of the story.

The basic premise is that Hari Seldon uses psychohistory to predict the future of the galaxy, and the fall of the Galactic Empire.  Seldon creates a Foundation at the far reaches of the galaxy, preserving knowledge and documenting this in an encyclopedia.

The overall story was good, but there just were too many things that I didn't like to rate it too high.  Hopefully I feel better about the rest of the series, but Foundation was just good, not great.

My rating: 3 stars

James Thurber

The Wonderful O by James Thurber (53 of 1294)

I wasn't sure what to expect with a book titled The Wonderful O, but it definitely what I got.  I put this book on hold at the library, and was surprised that this was actually a kid's book.

Black hates O's.  His ship is the Aeiu.  Black and his pirates land on the island of Oroo searching for trouble, and ransack the island to no avail.  So what to do?  Ban the letter O.  No gold, no chocolate, no dough, and you get the idea.

"Oft becomes the same as foot."

"A man named Otto Ott, when asked his name, could only stutter."

I was pleasantly surprised finding this book, or bk if you prefer.  I read it for myself first, then I read it to my kids, and even read it to my daughter's class, then read it again.  It was a fun book, and well written.  It immediately made me want to run out and get the other James Thurber book on the list.



The 13 Clocks by James Thurber (54 of 1294)

I actually wished that I read The 13 Clocks first, because I enjoyed The Wonderful O so much I could only be disappointed.  But after reading I was only slightly disappointed, because it really is a wonderful book.  The writing is amazing, and it's one of those books that are good for any age.

My ratings:
The Wonderful O - 5 stars
The 13 Clocks - 4 1/2 stars