Review: The Host

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Meyer's writing, while still repetitive, has gotten a bit better. The plot pulled me in more than I expected. It was a one day read on the laziest day of my trip yet.



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Review: The Rotters' Club

The Rotters' Club by Jonathan Coe

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Back when I lived in Scotland, I used to see this book in charity shops for a pound all the time, but the title totally turned me off. It's a really interesting look at England in the seventies and I learned a lot. I think my star rating would be higher if circumstances (in the form of Interhash) hadn't led to me reading it in two parts.



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Review: Emergency Sex

Emergency Sex by Kenneth Cain

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I picked this book up at my hostel in the Cameron Highlands and I'd bet it came from Cambodia - it was a photocopied book. It was also incredible. Three people, out to change the world, meet during a UN mission in Cambodia to supervise an election. From there, they travel to the hot spots of 1990s peacekeeping missions, slowly growing more disillusioned with the peacekeeping process. I found it education and entertaining.



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Review: Disobedience

Disobedience by Jane Hamilton

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This book struck me as completely engrossing. A teenaged boy's narration of an affair his mother has during his last year of high school, but about so much more than that. I flew through it.



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Review: Devoured by Darkness

Devoured by Darkness by Alexandra Ivy

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I read this yesterday before and after my nap, with a nice breeze coming in the room and the sound of the call to prayer from the mosque next door. It was entertaining. My love of vamp porn continues unabated.



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Review: The Rape of Martha Teoh & Other Chilling Stories

The Rape of Martha Teoh & Other Chilling Stories by Tunku Halim

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I picked this up in Ipoh because it was in English and by a Malaysian author. It mostly reminded me of those books you read when you were a kid, full of short ghost stories. I did enjoy all the Malaysian references, but the stories themselves were a bit silly.



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Review: Into the Beautiful North

Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This book gave me the weirdest sense of deja vu, but I really hadn't read it before. It's an awesome story about a girl on a quest, and one that examines Mexican/American relations. Well worth reading.



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Review: Seize the Day

Seize the Day by Saul Bellow

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



As an examination of failure and the regrets of middle age, this was really well done.



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Review: One Child

One Child by Torey Hayden

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This book left me wanting to be a better teacher. It saddened me and made me hopeful. And to a slight extent, I felt like my emotions were being played.



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Review: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Fantastic. Huck and Jim are fantastic characters, the plot zips along, and the section where they drive Aunt Sally crazy with the missing items made me laugh out loud. It was a great to read right after Abraham Lincoln Vampire Slayer, because it covered the same basic time and geography, and after The Day They Came To Arrest The Book, which was about censoring Huck Finn. Now that I've read it, I think it would be a great book for a classroom, if handled carefully.



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Review: Guantanamo

Guantanamo by David Rose

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This was well written, examining just how George W. Bush was an asshole, made America into a bully, and destroyed the ideas of democracy and freedom. Read it if you want to get angry (or if you happen to find it in a guesthouse in Malaysia.)



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Review: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I thought this book was hilarious. I suspect I actually learned a fair amount about Lincoln, I liked the symbolism of vampirism and slavery, and it was engrossing.



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Review: Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything

Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything by James Gleick

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I learned FAR more about watch mechanics than I ever wanted to know. And to be honest, I found the sections on the technology changes a bit tedious. But the parts about lifestyle were interesting, especially the comments on reading and sustained concentration. Also, he's quite funny at times.



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Review: Running With Scissors

Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I expected funny. I don't find Burroughs funny. But he totally immersed me in his weird little world, and that interested me. I'll likely read the next one.



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Drinking Alone under the Moon, By: Li Bai

(I)
Among the flowers, from a pot of wine
I drink without a companion of mine
I raise my cup to invite the Moon who blends
Her light with my Shadow and we're three friends.
The Moon does not know how to drink her share;
In vain my Shadow follows me here and there.
Together with them for the time I stay,
And make merry before spring's spent away.
I sing and the Moon lingers to hear my song;
My Shadow's a mess while I dance along.
Sober, we three remain cheerful and gay;
Drunken, we part and each may go his way.
Our friendship will outshine all earthly love;
Next time we'll meet beyond the stars above.