Catch as Cat Can, by Rita Mae Brown

Summary: Something's rotten in the state of Denamrk city of Crozet, and various people (this series's ameteur detectives as well as the police) are determined to learn the truth. (Um, yeah. So far the only thing that separates this summary from that of any mystery is the location. That narrows it to one of about a dozen books. Maybe more. Lessee if I can come up with a summary that doesn't give away anything important. I suppose first I need to figure out what's important. Do I really need to say anything more? I've told you it's a mystery after all (or at least I will)) 

Reaction: Whee, mystery! I kinda knew who did it thru most of the book, but I had no idea how (and there's ~no way I would've guessed the truth). The solution in this book is similar to the one in the other one of this person's books that I've read, but knowing that doesn't exactly help me any in trying to solve things. And it's a general enough similarity that it can be chalked up to the constraints of a mystery series about a small town. All in all, this book was a reminder of how much I enjoy well-written mystery stories. And, better yet, this book had the feel of any random novel except for the fact that the main action was centered around crimes and trying to solve them. In short, I enjoyed this book immensely and want to read the rest of the series. And maybe it would be better to read them in order so that I wouldn't have to try to figure out little details of what the situation is (who is/isn't married to whom, for example), but it's not that important and I don't think I'd have the patience to do that, so I doubt I'll bother.

The Color of Magic, by Terry Pratchett

Summary: The adventure of failed wizard Rincewind and tourist Twoflower in a world where the tourism industry in non-existant.

Thoughts: This book seemed almost like several short stories all of which had a climax and a near-death situation for the protagonists. It was, quite possibly, way too much action for my liking. Also, this being the first book, the author apparently felt he had to try to make sure everyone understood exactly what his universe was like and went out of his way to tell the reader about it. But other than that, it was a pretty good book. Course it ends with an enormous cliff-hanger, but that's another matter entirely.

Naked without a Hat, by Jeanne Willis

Summary: Will moves out of the house on account of not getting along with his mother. This leads to meeting some new people, and it sort of leads to a new job where he meets a girl. ...I can understand why they didn't bother putting a summary on the back of the book: no one wanted to write one and/or it's a large challenge trying to write one without saying anything vital to the plot that one thinks the reader ought to discover for him/herself.

Thoughts:I wasn't sure what to expect, but it certainly wasn't this. I only picked up this book because it had the word "hat" in the title and the first paragraph or two didn't look too bad (there was no summary for me to judge it on). It's kinda like Catcher in the Rye only not nearly so lousy (I'm probably only making the comparison because my brother is reading Catcher in the Ryefor summer reading (and complaining about how bad it is), but there are some definate similarities. The lots of talk about sex, for example. And the against-the-norm protagonist). But no matter what happened, I couldn't put it down because I wanted to find out what happened to the characters and whether they lived happily ever after (I don't think that question was really answered, but the author made me think it was). I'm not sure I'd call it a good book, but it certainly wasn't a bad book. I guess it exists outside of the realm of good/bad. It wasn't the kind of book that makes me extraodinarily happy and wanting to talk about how great the book was, but maybe I'm a better person for having read it. I guess it's mostly just a book with a point to it.

Sourcery, by Terry Pratchett

Summary: A sorcerer has been born, and under the guidance of his father, very nearly causes the world to end (three of the four horsemen of the apocalypse getting totally plastered and losing their horses, not necessarily in that order, probably also helped). Also, Rincewind, Conina, and Nijel work against the bad stuff going on.

Thoughts: Well, besides getting horribly distracted throughout the last part of the book because I had (and still have) "Hardware Store" running through my head and any time I managed to ignore it, it occured to me that it was lurking and was suddenly stuck in my head again, it was quite a lovely book. As most of them are. Lots of amusing comments, as might be expected. Some real-world stereotypes twisted into something Discworld can include. Um, yeah. That's all I got at the moment.

The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place, by E.L. Konigsburg

Summary: After the City Council declares that her uncles' towers must be demolished due to nitpicky details of the law (really because they're hurting property values, but who's to judge), Margaret is determined to save them. But it sure won't be easy saying as the law is technically against her...

Thoughts: This book as a style of writing that requires one to read it patiently and thouroughly because one couldn't possibly go back and read it again. It just isn't done. And somehow that's an asset, because it takes skill to write a book that makes such demands.

This book reminds me of another, probably by the same author, where people use roughly the same tactic to achieve their end. That's ~all I remember about it, unfortunately.

There's something about the book that's just wonderful: the planning, the way everything comes together in the end, ...whatever it is, it makes me happy. Actually it doesn't; it seems to have made me thoughtful. But close enough. I enjoyed it, in a thoughtful kind of way. Maybe that's the point I was trying to make. And if that doesn't make sense, blame the fact that it's after 2:30 am and words are escaping me with regards to describing my reaction to the book. Why do I bother with this anyway? Because I can? I guess that's as good a reason as any. I guess I should get some sleep at some point, too.

Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett

Summary: Moist von Lipwig is a thief. Not the usual "thief in the night" type. No, Moist is a master of making people think what he wants them to think. And a few slight of hand tricks don't hurt either. After his capture and subsequent execution at the hands of the Ankh-Morpork Night Watch, he is offered a job as Postmaster General. But there might be a slight catch: 40 years worth of backlog and stiff competition from the clacks (a semaphore/telegraph type operation).

Thoughts: Ah, a classic good vs. evil book. Except in this case, good is personified by a criminal working on the right side of the law. Takes some creative thinking to bring down a bad guy, ya? Plus this book is sprinkled with the kinds of random amusing comments that dot all Pratchett books as far as I know (although I'm not sure anything can beat "Better marching had been done. And it had been done by penguins")

I think I've figured out why I've gotten so annoyed around the endings of most of the books: When I get near the end, someone nearby invariably distracts me and I fail to ignore them and return to my book to a sufficient degree to enjoy it. Well, now that I know, maybe I can avoid it, ya?

Hot on the Trail, by Jane Isenberg

Summary: After the death of one of her students, Bel Barrett starts investigating why and comes to a surprising conclusion.

Reaction: Woot, mysterious mystery! I wasn't too interested in some of the stuff related entirely to the personal life of someone ~my mom's age, but other than that, I enjoyed it. The ending was such a surprise I'm still not sure how Bel figured out who the murderer was even knowing all the facts.

I guess mysteries aren't really books one rereads because the whole point is trying to figure out whodunit, and there's no point to that if you already know.

This is an example of a book where the irrelevent personal life stuff fits into it nicely. There's plenty of stuff that serves no purpose in terms of the mystery story, but it doesn't draw attention to itself that way (historical narratives are kept to a page or two and everything fits nicely in the continuing saga of the characters (it seems to be a series, so this is another chapter in the personal lives of the characters in addition to being a self-contained mystery) Hey, that's a good idea for how to deal with my inability to come up with a decent plot for any story I'm trying to write: I can integrate it into a series of mysteries. Except that means I'd have to come up with crimes and clues and try to imagine the mindset of someone, or several someones, who doesn't know who was responsible for whatever crime. Never mind.)

Reaper Man, by Terry Pratchett

Summary: After Death gets forced into retirement for having a personality, things start getting really wierd in Ankh-Morpork as a result of all the life force that wouldn't be there if Death was still in business. Meanwhile, Death is rather enjoying himself off somewhere else.

Thoughts: There's too many other people-based distractions around here. I could've enjoyed the last 50 or so pages a lot more if I'd been able to continue reading right after the preceeding however many as opposed to being forced to either put up with the TV or go somewhere else.

Why is it that I take a liking to the really random characters? Actually I can't think of any from this book at the moment. But I could've sworn there was at least one. Besides the Death of Rats. Or maybe he was the one I was thinking of.

*tries to come up with comments not related to distractions or lack of sleep* Why do I get the feeling that the circumstances of my reading a book color my opinion of it afterwards? Right now I'm rather frustrated and that doesn't seem like a reasonable response to the book even if I am a bit annoyed by the whole Death's romance thing. There's too much amusing stuff to dislike this book regardless of what one thinks of the plot. Although I must admit, it is quite a nice plot.

Enter Three Witches, by Caroline B. Cooney

Woot, this time I'm bothering right after finishing the book. What a surprise!

Summary: The story of Shakespeare's Macbeth, as told by an assortment of minor characters, many of whom didn't make it into the play. Much of the story centers around Lady Mary, the daughter of the thane of Cawdor (the one before Macbeth) and companion to Lady Macbeth.

Reaction: I rather enjoyed it. I think it was helpful to know what happens in the play so that I could compare the two plots. This book made it clearer that Macbeth's court kept migrating, first to Scone, and then to Dunsinane. Shakespeare, if I remember correctly, glossed over that point. I rather liked finding out about what was going on in the background of Macbeth's adventures in kingship and murder: gossiping servants, rebellious soldiers, other people roaming the castle at night, everyone speculating on who Duncan's murderer(s) really were, etc.

Wintersmith, by Terry Pratchett

Summary: After Tiffany joins in in the dance to usher in the winter, the Wintersmith falls in love with her and things get kinda wierd.

Reaction: I suppose there's a lesson to be learned about facing your problems. And having friends who can help you out when you're not looking.

Ok, I'll admit that I finished the book last night and have since forgotten most anything I had to say about it. Except for the cheese. The cheese was amusing.

Gilbert and Sullivan Set Me Free, by Kathleen Karr

Summary: Libby is in Sherborn Women's Prison, never mind why, when Mrs. Wilkinson shows up and decides to organize a chior. It's amazing how much that changes things.

Reaction: First, there's always the fact that the book takes place in a prison (a WWI era prison, at that), which intrigues me. Isn't it natural to be curious what prison life is like?

Then there's the fact that the book includes random snippets of songs, most of which I recognize, which is rather cool.

Third is the story itself, a moving account of the influence one person can have on the lives of many, especially the protagonist. I'll admit I almost started crying at/near the end of the book.

Night Watch, by Terry Pratchett

Summary: Sam Vimes finds himself in the midst of a past he already experienced, as someone else. And now he has to figure out how to survive and not get his past self killed and hopefully when the time comes to bring the criminal who arrived with him back to their own time.

Thoughts: I probably could've enjoyed this book more if I had had some kind of reasonable length attention span. I wonder if there's another book that tells this story from the perspective of the Sam Vimes who belongs in that time. But apparently what happened here and what happened in Sam's memory are a little different and they gloss over the effect of that.

Oh, I should say something about my reaction to the actual book besides trying to enjoy it when I wanted to do something else but wasn't sure what. Well, it was definately action-packed, and I kept feeling a need to look up things that happened or were mentioned earlier. Yeah, that's all I can think of.

The Quest of the Fair Unknown, by Gerald Morris

Summary: When Beaufils sets out to find his father, a knight of Camelot, he has no idea what to expect, having spent his entire life in the forest with his mother. Along the way he meets many interesting people and has a variety of adventures.

Thoughts: When I first started the book and saw that there was likely to be an awful lot of culture-shock, I figured I wouldn't like the book because such things tend to get on my nerves (ever see the movie Elf? Much of that movie annoyed me alot because they seemed to be playing up the "dude does stupid stuff because he doesn't know any better" aspect, which is kinda sad, because what little I remember of the actual plot suggests that if they had cut most of that it would've been a good movie. Even if it would have been about 2/3 shorter... But I digress). But the culture-shock was mostly Beaufils not knowing what life was like and asking questions most people wouldn't and being determined to think the best of people no matter how horribly they might act. Maybe the Middle Ages had a higher tolearance for unusual people.

Then I read further and saw that it was Arthurian legend of some kind, and wasn't sure I was interested. I guess I'd rather read about times I know something about, yano?

But I ignored both those issues and continued reading (basically because a book has to be /really/ horrible for me to actually put it down. I think the only book I've started recently and not finished is the Bible (or more correctly, the newest one I've gotten. Not that I've finished any of the others I have), and that has more to do with having way too many library books to read to bother with a book I own than my not wanting to read it. That, and the fact that it's incredibly thick, but more that books I own tend to get put off until I've finished all my library books (which is usually never. The only time I remember that happening recently I managed to get thru all the books I'd gotten for Christmas that year before getting more. How did I get so off-topic? *looks over paragraph* I think I should start a new paragraph to finish this particular thought))

In the end, I ended up enjoying it. It's got this lovely message about everyone having their own quest and some people have no idea what theirs is, but they manage anyway. I'm not sure it can be elaborated into our here and now considering that there was a sorcerer type guy who was helping to point people in the proper direction and there were several different worlds that they traveled between at various time. But still, everyone has some quest in life.

A Friend at Midnight, by Caroline B. Cooney

Summary: After her brother is abandoned at the airport by her father, Lily has to learn to cope with the situation, and perhaps even forgive her father.

Thoughts: I think this might be the author responsible for every single random reference to band that I've ever noticed in a work of fiction.

I wasn't expecting God to be mentioned at all, and certainly not play an important part in the storyline.

This is kind of a downer of a book. It's more reflective than most of the stuff I've read recently, possibly even moving into the realm of depressing. But I think everything works out as well as it can in the end, so it has what passes for a happy ending within the framework of the book.

Size 14 Is Not Fat, Either, by Meg Cabot

Summary: When a girl is found dead in the dorm where Heather Wells works, she can't help wondering why. And trying to find out more. And putting herself in dangerous situations. While trying to deal with various other facets of her life.

Reaction: Yes, this sounds like a fluffy book. And it kinda is, but there's way more to it than self-pity over weight gain and going "omg I'm fat. I think I'll eat an entire cheescake now even tho I'm so bloody fat" (I'm not cynical, really) (not that there isn't some of that; not that that isn't annoying. Why are some people so obsessed with their weight? I could understand it for someone who's actually fat, but most of the people who come to mind aren't. Anyway, that has nothing to do with the topic at hand, and little to do with the book...)

Mystery! Yay! This is the second in the series, and based on the few vague references to the first book, I think I know who the murderer in that one was. I suppose now I have to read it and see if I'm right. Although there's a reasonable chance I would've read it anyway. Or at least added Cabot's adult books to my list of books to look for when I'm at the library *refrains from long rant about her book reading habits, which are pretty much that she collects so many impulse books at the library that she has little time for reading books she owns and doesn't feel like she can put books on hold without really stressing herself out over how bloody many books she has to read* *remembers perhaps a little guiltily several recent instances of having one or more books that she was desparately trying to finish because she couldn't renew them any more times* *realizes that she's gotten horribly off-topic again* *is happy that she's capable of writing a long post* *decides that this isn't the best place for it and returns to trying to write a review of sorts*

Midway thru, I suddenly noticed that the book was written in present tense and it was mildly annoying for about a minute and a half until I quit noticing it. And there was one sentence that jumped out at me as ackward because it was using the word "can" in conjunction with stuff it implied happened. And a couple sentences that I thought might be candidates for the Dark And Stormy Night Contest (or whatever it was. The contest for most random f-ed up sentences to start a book.), although the sentences weren't actually at the beginning of the book, but whatever.

The Real Deal: Focus on THIS!, by Amy Kaye

Summary: Fiona is a New York City girl who finds herself stuck in a small New Jersey town after her parents get divorced. Not only that, but her new school is the subject of a reality TV show. How can she survive with all those cameras tracking everyone's every move?

Reaction: At first I thought it was yet another book of "transplanted teen feeling sorry for self", but by the end, I had seen that there's a lot more to it than that. I'm debating whether to call it fluffy or insightful and concluding that it's too early for me to come up with something significant. Whatever it was, I enjoyed it, after I got thru the first chapter or two.

The Light Fantastic, by Terry Pratchett

Disclaimer explaining my forgetfulness: I probably should've done this right after finishing the book Thursday afternoon, but at that point I thought I'd get a chance either Thurs evening or Fri (which maybe I could've, but not with my engrained computer habits)

Summary: The Discworld is on the verge of being destroyed unless all eight Spells are said together some specific day. Unfortunately, one of the spells is stuck in the head of failed wizard Rincewind (I think that's his name), so they have to find him first. Unfortunately, he doesn't know what's going on so he tries to evade capture. Meanwhile, things are going strangely as a result of the visible signs of this potential doom.

Reaction: I rather like the Luggage. Um, yeah. This book has many amusing comments (like, for example the druid complaining about incompetent computer users (the computer in this case being something like Stonehenge)). As do all the Pratchett books I've read. Other than that, nothing really stands out right now.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by J.K. Rowling