The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (4/5 stars)

I have been wanting to read this sci-fi classic for a while so I finally brought it on the plane with me. This is a very good book. I can't say it was the most enjoyable read, but it is an exquisite read...kind of like a work of fine art. In general it was hard to decide if this was a 4 or 5 star book. It wasn't personally my favorite book, but it was a very well put together book and a book that asks a lot of very deep questions.

Genly Ai is an ambassador to the planet Winter. Winter is a planet that has the unique distinction of being the only planet where the humans are both genders at once or have no gender at all depending on the moon cycle. Genly's goal is to bring Winter in contact and into trade agreements with the rest of galactic civilization. He starts his quest in the somewhat uncivilized nation of Karhide; where he is eventually driven to the countryside. Next he seeks to win over the more civilized and lawful nation of Orgoreyn. But which nation is really the more civilized of the two? Estraven, who starts the story as the chief adviser to the King of Karhide, ends up being Genly's companion for much of his journey...and at points the story is told from Estraven's viewpoint.

The story starts out a little slow and it has a lot of throwing around of terms that are unknown to the reader (as many sci-fi books do). Maybe a third of the way through the book the story really picks up and starts to get interesting. This is not the easiest book to read. The detail is meticulous and the reader must concentrate and really pay attention to what they are reading. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I wouldn't pick this book up for a fun/quick read.

The plot is well-woven and the worlds Le Guin build's are amazing. She has extensively developed language, culture, policy, and structure of the societies on Winter. The detail she took with this world building is just fantastic. The other amazing thing is that in this well woven story she manages to touch on a multitude of issues humanity faces now and will always face. Much of the issues she delves into are of a political nature, but many of them are also of a personal nature. Probably the most interesting issue she deals with throughout the book is how society would be changed if everyone was both genders or did not have a gender.

All in all it is an interesting read and the book is well done. Given how long ago the book was written it has aged pretty well. Some of the writing style is a little archaic, and as I had mentioned it is definitely not an easy or particularly fun read. Still, it is a good book for everyone to read because the ideas presented in it are intriguing and it is just such a classic work of sci-fi. Did this book make me want to run out and read everything by Le Guin? Not really, but if I am in the mood for a heavier sci-fi read I might consider it.

This book went towards the following reading challenges:
- The 100+ Book Reading Challenge
- GLBT Reading Challenge

Inklings: A Memoir by Jeffrey Koterba (3/5 stars)

I got this book as an advanced reading copy through the Amazon Vine program. I have heard of Koterba before but wasn't very familiar with his work. I thought that a Memoir of a cartoonist would be fun to read and it was an okay read, but not fun.

Koterba tells his story of growing up in a poor and dysfunctional family with Tourettes syndrome. He finds refuge in music and drawing; and is constantly seeking approval from a father who never gives it. He shows us his path to become a full-time cartoonist.

There were some things I liked about the book and other things I didn't. Koterba does a good job of telling the story from the point of view he would have had at that age. For example when he talks about what happened when he was six, he does it from a six year old's perspective. The strange things his dad does are all he knows; so the story doesn't seek pity from the reader rather it tells the story in an unbiased way. This changes as he gets older and starts to compare his family to other families. Some of the looks into his life at various times are fascinating, and at points, this memoir is more a nostalgic journey back into the seventies than anything else.

The above being said I had a lot of trouble getting into this book. It starts out slowly. A lot of time is given to his childhood and then as he gets older the story becomes less detailed and more disjointed. To be honest some of the childhood stuff is interesting, but some of it really drags on. I was also a little disturbed that early on he spends a ton of time talking about his family, but then when he has a family of his own they are mentioned infrequently as if they are only an afterthought to the story of his career. This was confusing because you would think his children and wife would shape his life just as much as his own mother and father did. He spends so much time talking about all the clubs he played at and cartooning jobs he took, that as a reader I felt like his own family (wife and children) really didn't matter all that much. This made me kind of sad, because I had hoped he would learn something from his own experiences growing up in a dysfunctional house.

All in all this book doesn't really teach anything. The author doesn't really come to any deep realization about his life, he just states the facts and lets you draw your own conclusions. The story itself pretty much just ends in the middle of things. All in all I found it kind of a depressing read. Maybe I would be more excited about it if I was a Koterba fan or knew more about him. I was also very disappointed that despite this book being about his life as a cartoonist, none of his cartoons are in here. It would have been nice to have at least a few of his cartoons in here for people unfamiliar with his work. Especially since most of the end of the book revolves around different pieces of work that he did for magazines/newspapers.

Overall it was an okay read. Some of it is interesting, but the disjointed way the memoir is presented makes it difficult to get into at times. I was also disappointed by the lack of any of his cartoons in the book itself, this was the main reason I wanted to review the book. I probably won't be checking out any more works by Koterba.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- The 100+ Book Reading Challenge

Kitty's House of Horrors (Kitty Norville, Book 7) by Carrie Vaughn (5/5 stars)

This is the seventh book in the Kitty Norville series by Carrier Vaughn and it was a great addition to the series.

In this book Kitty gets invited to participate in a reality TV show. Her and a bunch of other paranormal celebrities are supposed to spend a week at a house out in the middle of nowhere. With them will be a skeptic; they are supposed to convince the skeptic that paranormal creatures exist. Of course things start going terribly wrong when people start turning up dead. It is up to Kitty and her housemates to figure out what is going on before everyone is killed!

I was worried that this story line would be a bit cheesy for Kitty, but it really worked. I loved learning more about a lot of the paranormal celebrities that Kitty has interviewed on her radio show or talked about, but never really got to know. Then of course Odysseus Grant shows up and he is a whole lot of mysterious and interesting. The subtext that goes on between Odysseus and Anastatia (a very old vampire) is intriguing and leads this book to a whole new level and potentially a whole new story arc.

The book was fast-paced and super easy to read. Vaughn's writing style is just so readable and personable; reading the book is such a fun pleasure. There were some very well done action scenes but not until later in the story. It takes a while to set up the story but Vaughn does a good job of making the setup suspenseful. The really strong feature of this novel is the characterization, there are some awesome characters in this book. Kitty especially has grown even more comfortable in her role as a leader and really steps it up in certain scenes of this book...knowing where Kitty started, it makes me proud of her :-)

Given the horror house theme of this book I was happy that it wasn't too scary. It is definitely suspenseful and creepy just not crazy scary (I am too much of a wimp to read really scary books). The story arc that is developing longer term, that deals with the vampires' "long game", is fascinating. I was so happy that we got to spend more time with Grant...he is just super intriguing to me and my favorite character. Grant gets a chance to show his human side in this book as well as demonstrate some somewhat disturbing magician's skills.

The only bad thing about this book was that it was over too soon. I can't wait to read the next book! I am also looking forward to checking out Vaughn's new young adult book "Voice of Dragons".

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- Thiller and Suspense Challenge
- The 100+ Book Reading Challenge

The Kestral (Westmark Trilogy, Book 2) by Lloyd Alexander (4/5 stars)

This is the second book in the Westmark Trilogy and starts up a short time after the last book left off. It was a solid young adult fantasy; I didn't like it quite as much as the first book but it was still a very well put together fantasy.

Theo is assigned with going exploring around the kingdom and reporting the findings back to the Queen and King. While he is out news comes to him from Florian that one of the kingdom's main generals may be a traitor; right after Theo gets this news he receives news that the king has died...now Mickle is Queen of the realm. Theo sets off to find Mickle but instead gets embroiled in fighting and it is fighting that brings out the more violent side of his nature. Mickle, meanwhile, has other ideas of what a Queen should be doing and takes off to find Theo.

This book switches perspective a lot more than the first book. We hear things from Theo's view, Mickle's view, Kellner's view, the Chief Magistrate's view, Prince Connie's view, and the water-rats' view. All that switching around breaks up the story a little, but for the most part things flow very well.

As in the first book, the plot is very engaging as are the characters. This book is a bit of a tougher read because you have to read carefully to follow the plot and all the people; in that it is typical of most epic fantasies. The style of the writing is very similar to the first book.

There were a couple this about this book that were a bit "off" for me. The first was that there was so much discussion of politics; I personally prefer reading about adventuring versus politics...the politics are well done but there are a lot of them. The second thing was Mickle's character. It bothered me how she spent most of her childhood as a beggar and then she is Queen and suddenly she understands military strategy and is super strong and proficient. I think if I were a younger reader this wouldn't bug me as much; but as an adult I want to know where she learned all these military tactics...I know she is smart, but still.

Outside of the above mentioned quibbles, this was a very well done novel. You definitely need to read the first book first. I would recommend this for young adults and older, it is not that content is inappropriate for younger children...it is just that I don't think younger children will be all into the politics going on here. I am eager to read the third (and final) book in the trilogy "The Beggar Queen".

This book went towards the following reading challenges:
- The Young Adult Reading Challenge
- The 100+ Book Reading Challenge

Waiting on Wednesday - 1/20

Okay "Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week my WoW book is "Game of Cages" (Twenty Palaces, Book 2) by Harry Connelly.  The first book in this series was great.  If you love the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher I would definitely check it out.  I am eager to read the next one!  I couldn't find a synopsis, but the cover art and release info is below.



Game of Cages: A Twenty Palaces Novel by Harry Connolly
Pages: 400 pages
Publisher: Del Ray
Release Date: August 31st, 2010

Teaser Tuesday - 1/19

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.
 
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This week my teaser is from "Westmark" by Lloyd Alexander


Here it is: "The girl had never stirred.  Through all her weeping, she had been fast asleep." Pg. 56

Westmark (Westmark Trilogy, Book 1) by Lloyd Alexander (4.5/5 stars)

This is the first book in Alexander's Westmark Trilogy. I read Alexander's "Chronicles of Prydain" when I was in middle school and really liked it. When I realized that I had never read this series I had to grab it up. It is a wonderful young adult series and the fact that it still reads well (over twenty years after being written) is a testament to Alexander's exceptional style of fantasy writing.

Theo is an apprentice to a printer in a time where the monarchy is becoming increasingly stringent about printed materials. During an inspection Theo and his master run afoul of the Royal inspectors and in a fit of rage Theo smashes one of the inspectors with a part of the printing press. Theo's master is killed and Theo becomes a criminal on the run. Shortly after fleeing town he meet up with Dr. Absalom, who is not as much of a doctor as he says and much more a rogue, and a midget named Musket. There crazy adventures eventually have them grouping up with Mickle, a girl thief who is much more than she first seems. Theo partakes in some wild adventures and struggles with the morals of the livelihood he is making as a rogue, he eventually tries to make a honest living, but that only ends up with him deeply embroiled in politics that could make or break the country.

This book was a wonderful classic young adult fantasy. You have Cabbarus, the evil chief minister, who is a wonderful villain. You have an ailing king, who puts the lineage of the throne at risk. Theo is a young boy who struggles with his solid morals, as actions that should be honorable end up not being right. The characters are well-woven and make for interesting reading. In fact the characters show an admirable level of maturity and reasoning throughout the book. The plot moves a little slow, but everything that happens in this book happens for a reason so it is a very tightly woven story. The writing is excellent and fits the mode of the story perfectly.

There are some excellent actions scenes, lots of intrigue, and plots woven within plots. This is a book that makes you think in order to follow all the threads of plot that are happening. There is a lot of delving into morals and violence and what is wrong and right. I was amazed at how complex the story was for such a short book. Definitely an excellent read. It would be appropriate for all ages, but younger readers might not be able to follow all the intrigue and ethics discussion that goes on.

I look forward to reading the next book in this series "The Kestrel". "Westmark" is a must read for young adult fantasy lovers. The plot may drag a bit at parts, but the story is intricate and interesting. I did like "The Chronicles of Prydain" better; those books were an easier and more engaging read, but "Westmark" is close in quality and definitely a classic.

This book went towards the following reading challenges:
- The Young Adult Reading Challenge
- The 100+ Book Reading Challenge
- First in a Series Reading Challenge