I Know This Much is True

Hailed as a modern American classic, after reading The Godfather, I can't help but see why. It's a fantastic novel, and I enjoyed it very much.
It's a saga of the Corleone family, a (fictional) powerful Mafia family in New York, during the time when the Mafia families were at the height of their power (notably, the time of the great Al Capone in the 30's-40's). The book explodes into a great finale at the end, but... Wow, I don't know what to say except this is a really great novel! It's not a masterpiece of literature, or particularly eloquent, but Mario Puzo writes to project an image, not to necessarrily make the words flow poetically. The Godfather is one of those books that reads like a movie, so it's a great novel to carry around on the bus because it immerses you completely to this underground world of organized crime and fierce family loyalty. Anyhoo... two thumbs up for this classic piece!

2000-November: The Book of Three, by Lloyd Alexander

Another basic "kids" book, which introduced me to the fantasy-epic-genre, althought I'm nota huge fantasy fan per-se. This is the first book in the series of the Prydain Chronicles.
It starts with Taran, an assistant pig keeper, who unintendingly sets off on a long journey after he the pig he cares for runs away. On his journey he meets a few people who join him to become an interesting band. Princess Eilonwy of the red-gold-hair, Fflewder Flam the Bard, Gurgi (some creature that is not quite man nor quite a mere creature), and or course, Hen Wen, the pig.
This is a quite magical book, but probably will be most appealing to preteen or kids between the age of 9 and 14. ANyways, I enjoyed this novel very much. I was first introduced to it when my gr.6 teacher read it as a class novel, and now I have bought every book (5 in all) in the series as a little momento of my childhood reading.

2000-October: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, by J.K. Rowling

With much news and craze surrounding the Harry Potter books, I just had to read one to find out what it was all about. Much to my surprise, I found it a very good read! Not particularly challenging, mind you, but it has the right ingredients to make a good children's fantasy novel and your interet peaked.
I've realised a few things after readig the first book in the Harry Potter series. It has all the combined elements of all the novels I loved to read as a child:
1)A protagonist with a humble background
2)...who also coincidentally carries supernatural powers
3)A hideously evil villain you love to hate
4)Humorous characters/sidekicks
5)A link with our "real" present world with a lost magical world
I felt almost as if I had read this novel before, having come across such familiarities, but this is all of the best elements put into one, which makes one very good read! It's no wonder why it's a best seller among children and adults around the world. Soif you're looking for a light read for some simple escapism, you just might want to pick up a Harry Potter book :)

2000-August: Eating Memories, by Patricia Anthony

This is a collection of short science fiction stories. I didn't think they were particularly great nor anything worth noting. In short it was a good light read to take on the bus. As with short stories, I'm able to start reading and stop after a story or two rather than continuing on reading til 3 or 4 in the morning :).
What I thought was sort of interesting about Ms. Anthony's stories are that more often than not she has a male protagonist. When you read a collection of short stories, especially when they are all written by the same person, many things come apparent. For Anthony's collection, I really couldn't help but notice her choice to write from a male perspective rather than a female. I'm not trying to be gender bias and say that only female writers can write from a female perspective and males can only write from a male perspective, but most OFTEN people do choose their protagonist to be the same sex as their own.
Well enough rambling. To get on a critical level, I thought her writing was a little bit weak. Nothing really SPECIAL but it wasn't a bad read all the same :)

2000-July (late): The X-Files: Antibodies, by Kevin J. Anderson

Yeap, who'da thought? Reviewing an X-Files novel? Well I bought it for $0.25 at the local library, so I thought I would read some junky novel while I'm STILL trying to get through the text-book like Sophie's World.

Well I was hoping that YURI would update our book of the month but evidently she's too lazy. So. THe X-Files: Antibodies is obviously about the X-Files, and reads like an X-Files show. So if you like the X-Files and you feel like reading a no-brainer novel, this is it! It's like carrying around a little X-Files episode that you can resume "watching" when you're waiting at the bus stop or bored at home.

Basically, a whole bunch of people are after this little boy and his dog, both who carry "nanocritters" in their blood. Special tiny little machines that work to repair anything wrong in the body. In the boy's case, he has leukemia. The father of the boy creates these nanomachines in hopes of curing his son. The father dies in the lab explosion, leaving the only samples of the finalised prototypes in the son and the dog. Of course, this perfect prototype if nanocritters in his blood are sought after -if a sample of this prototype is captured, it can be duplicated to cure every disease known to man. So obviously this boy is running away, yada yada yada, and Scully and Mulder are trying to find him so they can protect him from the people who want ot harm him. Nothing terribly unexpected if you watch many X-Files episodes.

Sorry this book isn't the greatest of literature, but as I mentioned before, Yuri was supposed to update but she's too much of a big fat sloth!!!! Until next month! -Miki

2000-June: Sophie's World, by Jostein Gaarder

This is a novel on the History of Philosophy. Nope, it's not a textbook, but a novel where a young girl, Sophie Admunsen, receives mysterious letters in her mailbox, which evidently becomes a mail-correspondence Philosophy course. I'm about 1/3 thru the book, so it's too early to make any assumptions yet. I've found the novel relatively easy to read in the beginning, but reading the letter Sophie receives is somewhat like a textbook... So for those with very little patience for book, I wouldn't recommend it. However, it is quite a good read (so far).

September 9, 2000: I'm still reading Sophie's World. Hee hee. I have school and I'm working so I haven't had the time to read it. Sorry! Anyways. The book has this huge long boring monotoneous part (near the middle) and I think I'm finally getting out of it, where I am promised many twists and turns in the plot line. Anyways. Yes I am still reading this novel and no I have not finished reading it yet. Hee hee. Therefore, I have not had the chance to start another novel to review. My apologies.

PS Also, Yuri that lazy fat ass, has given up on the page so it's all up to me now.

September 28, 2000:HURRAH! I have finally finished Sophie's World! OK. So now that I have the entire novel in perspective, here is the conclusion that I've come to:
Just when you think that the book couldn't get anymore boring, it makes a very abrupt and interesting change. After awhile Alberto's teaching become quite monotoneous, making it very hard to continue through the novel. It seemed as if page after page I was reading the same thing over again (in regards to different philosophers and they're ideas). Basically, DON'T GIVE UP! The book takes a very interesting twist in plots halfway through the novel, and it only gets better! So without ruining the ending, if you've started Sophie's World, don't dispair! It does get better!

2000-May: Kane and Abel, by Jeffrey Archer

Miki: Recommended by a friend, I thought "Kane and Abel" was a pretty good book overall. My first impression on the book was that it reads like a movie. From the changes in the setting to the characters, it was a very movie-like book, which makes me wonder why it hasn't been made into a major motion picture yet.
The book takes place through the 20th century, following the lives of two men born on the same day but into two completely different worlds. William Kane was born into a wealthy family of a long generation on rich bankers in Boston, while Abel Rosnovski was an abandoned infant found by a family of peasants in the woods of Poland. Their paths always cross in the most unexpected ways, and both men gain incredible wealth and power despite Kane having the upperhand of being born with wealth.
Obviously this book is very surface level, and what one would read for some good entertainment. It's easy to read, easy to follow, and quite straightforward, which is no wonder why Jeffrey Archer is a best-selling author. It has twists and turns in the plot line, always captivating one's interest in the book. I enjoyed it, although I would grade it as an "average" book.
Recently I have realy been into books that more into "thinking" than "doing" and touching the tip of existentialism. "Dance, Dance, Dance," is the sequel to April's "A Wild Sheep Chase" which I really loved!!! But to get back on topic :), I found "Kane and Abel" a very good read and male readers will find it more enjoyable then the majority of popular books that fall under the "Oprah's Book Club" genre.

2000-April: A Wild Sheep Chase, by Haruki Murakami

Miki: What a wild, crazy, and fantastic novel! I enjoyed this novel very much. In this contemporary fiction, the protagonist sets off on a journey to find a strange sheep with a star on it's back. Set in near-present day Japan (this novel was written awhile ago), yet again I find the setting of the novel very refreshing (I have this thing about reading too many novels taking place in the countryside of US).
I profoundly enjoyed this novel, but I have to admit near the end of the novel I found it a little confusing and hard to understand. Not the language itself, but the idea behind this special sheep. I really liked the protagonist of the novel; the way he viewed life and how he lived it.
The only thing I have to pick a bone (pardon the corny expression) about is how I find the fact that the book is a translation irritating. My friend who has read the book in both English and Japanese said that the English translation is more or less the same tone and style as the original in Japanese. Unfortunately, as in most translations, sections of the book were left out because of the difficulty or translating it correctly. :(
But all in all this is an AWESOME book. It's not flooding with passion and emotions like "White Oleander" or "Here on Earth" but a little more like Meursault in "L'Etranger" (yet again, another translation :). Anyways, this is a really good book, and if you couldn't tell already, I thoroughly thoroughly enjoyed it!

2000-March: Angela's Ashes, by Frank McCourt

Yuri: This is SUCH an amazing book! This book is a memoir about Frank McCourt's childhood in Limerick, Ireland. His opening paragraphs ends thus : "There is nothing more miserable than the poor Irish childhood. More miserable than that is the poor Irish Catholic childhood.". And there you go. Those few lines define the very being of McCourt's tale. He was born in New York, brought to Ireland at 5 with his brother Malachy. His mother, the said Angela, had 7 children. 3 of which died. It is a book full of hardship but triumph too.. I know some of you may have seen the movie which will take away from reading the book, or its sequel, 'Tis , which is about Frank's life in New York. But this is a book worth reading. I hope you will.. and tell us what you think. That's it for March!

2000-February: A Child Called It, by David Pelzer

Unlike the previous book of the month, this one wasn't that great. It is a true account, part of a trilogy, of a young boy who was severely abused as a child. I finished it in about an hour, with easy-to-read printing and basic language (as it is supposed to be from the perspective of a young boy). This is nothing like "They Cage the Animals at Night", which was the March 1999 book-of-the-month.
Basically I felt as if this book had no conclusion, and the author should have put the three books together rather than having three individual 100 page books. The true story of his childhood being abused by his mother is somewhat heartbreaking, but it didn't really capture much in me, besides a little sympathy. A friend recommended it to me, but I really did not enjoy it at all. It's not "experiencing" the abuse that bothered me so much as I felt as if Pelzer was crying out, "Feel sorry for me!!!"
Sorry if I come across as insensitive, but if any of you disagree, feel free to voice your opinions if you want to bother with the book at all.

2000-January: White Oleander, by Janet Fitch

Sorry we haven't updated for awhile. Well the current book I'm reading is the much acclaimed "White Oleander" from Oprah's Book Club. Typical of her books, White Oleander is beautifully written yet somewhat dark and depressing. And of course, like books from Oprah's book club, the books are mainly geared towards female readers.
Well, after the main chracter, Astrid Magnussun's mother is sent to jail she is sent through various foster homes.
This book is excellent and will gaurantee staying up latenights just to see what happens in the next chapter. This is an incredible novel and I hope you will all enjoy it!!! -Miki

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