A Feast for Crows: A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 4 by George R. R. Martin

Oy. It was no joke that this book is just bonkers hard to get through. There's a note from the author at the end of the book, explaining that he had written a book twice as long, and "To tell the story that I wanted to tell, I was going to have to cut the book in two. ... The more I thought about that, however, the more I felt that the readers would be better served by a gook that told all the story for half the characters, rather than half the story for all the characters."

The story was interesting, but much too long, and followed all of the minor characters. Seven hundred pages of reading about the minor characters was a major slog to get through. I hope reading this to get to the fifth book was worth it!

3/10

Heat Wave by Richard Castle (sorta)

So, after the TV show Castle became such a hit (Nathan Fillion as Richard Castle, a mystery writer), a book was released by Richard Castle, Heat Wave. It is the book that Castle is supposed to be writing during the first season of the show, based on his time spent 'researching' detective work in the NYPD.

If you like the show, the book is a hoot. It reads almost as another episode of the show, but with more detail and more racy (since it's Castle's writing, and not his 'real life'). It's a great summer murder mystery read.

I (briefly) tried to figure out who really wrote this book, but the Amazon page is true to the game and lists Richard Castle as the author, complete with a bio that fits with the show. Interesting to see TV spawning books!

Two more books have come out since this one - I'll be reading the second one soon!

(7/10)

A Storm of Swords: A song of Ice and Fire: Book 3 by George R. R. Martin

I just finished the third book in the Game of Thrones series, reading inspired by the new HBO show. After watching the pilot episode, I decided to read the first book before watching the rest of season 1 (each season follows one of the books) to help me understand what was happening and keep track of the characters. After finishing the first book (7/10) and watching the first season, I continued on to the second (6/10) and now the third books. What Tao told me about this series before I began to read it is that the author tends to kill of characters just as you start to like them, and I'd say it's a fair assessment. There are lots of different plots to follow - each chapter is told from the point of view of a different character (thankfully you know which character it is, it doesn't make you figure it out as you read). I almost wish I were reading hard copies of the books rather than on the Kindle so that I could look at the maps more easily from time to time, but it's not a big deal.

Basic premise: Seven Kingdoms are united under one ruler, and this is about the fight to be in control. There are various families contending for the throne, lots of interesting subplots, and some really interesting and cool characters. I'm really enjoying the series so far (though I've been warned that the fourth book focuses on minor characters), and am happy to be reading a series where the end is in sight (the author needs to finish the series so that the TV series can also be completed). The fifth book was just released this month.

I strongly recommend watching the series after (or as) you read the first book, especially if you have difficulty keeping characters straight. I found that after watching the series I was much more successful at knowing who was who while reading the second book because I had mental images of most of the main characters and that made it easier for me to keep track. Also the series is just plain fun (if racy - it IS HBO). One other thing I love about this series - I have *no idea* who's going to win in the end, totally opposite of most fantasy books/series. There's always an unexpected twist.

To sum up - enjoyable series so far, I definitely recommend it if it's your kind of story (fantasy). Book 3: 7/10

Reluctant Disciplinarian by Gary Rubinstein

This is really a book aimed at beginning or early teachers, about how to be more successful at classroom management. The author was a Teach for America fellow, and apparently has an awful first year, complete with kids punching him and trash cans set on fire. Once he got his act together, he wrote this book in hopes of helping other new teachers avoid some of his mistakes.

I can't say I agree with all of his advice - the whole 'no smiling until Christmas' thing always felt wrong to me - but it was an interesting (and quick) read that helped me to think about how I manage my own classes, and how I might tweak some of my methods. I also like that the author acknowledges (some of) the (many) failings of teacher education, especially when it comes to teaching new teachers how to control a classroom.

I'd recommend reading this book to relatively new teachers, or any teacher having trouble controlling classes.

6/10

All Is Forgotten, Nothing Is Lost, by Lan Samantha Chang

Rodin gave me this book about a week ago, and I set out to read it today (it is short, only 208 pages).

The story is about a man in his late 20's who is attending graduate school to work on becoming a poet at the beginning of the book. It begins in his second year there (of a two year program), as he sits in the seminar class of a professor who is known around the school for her brilliant poetry and tough criticism of students' work. The main character, Roman, eventually falls into a relationship with the professor, which ends when he leaves the school. The echoes of that relationship are felt throughout the rest of the book as we follow him into adulthood and (some measure of) maturity.

The book seems to be about the perils of working only toward an unlikely profession with no backup plan, the pain of realizing that who you are/were to someone is not necessarily who you think you are/were to them, and regret upon looking back and seeing moments that you missed. Many of the main characters are incredibly lonely people, some without realizing it.

It was strange to me to read a book with such a small cast of characters - many of the ones I've been reading lately I need to keep notes to keep track. Even though the story spanned perhaps 40 years, it felt small and intimate. My main complaint is that the writing didn't make me particularly care about the characters, I was interested to read what happened next, but not pulled to. The lessons of the book resonated with me, but I don't seem to be able to articulate how or why. It's a quick read, and I imagine it will keep me thinking for a number of days.

6/10

Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Reading by Nina Sankovitch

I really liked the idea behind this book, but think that it went on for much much longer than it needed to. The author's eldest sister died from cancer at 46, and after four years the author found that she was still grieving. Having shared a love of books with her sister (and the rest of her family), she sets out to read one book per day for an entire year - the year that she is 46 - and write a review of each of those books.

Each chapter mentions some of the books that she read, loosely tied together chronologically and by some theme. Quotes are sprinkled throughout the book. Unfortunately, you can tell that while the author is an avid reader, she's not a great writer. Lots of ideas are mentioned repeatedly, and the structure of the book feels forced sometimes.

I'd suggest skipping reading the book, and instead going to the website where the author wrote all of her reviews to see her booklist: www.ReadAllDay.org

Great idea, but I wish the writing were better. At least now I have a source of books to pick from.

4/10

<i>The Years of Rice and Salt</i> by Kim Stanley Robinson

I was about 2/3rds of the way through this book when I thought to myself: 'Man, this really reminds me of the scene in the Mars trilogy where they were working on the constitution.' Then I thought about it again. And, of course it does. It is the same author!

One thing that Robinson does well, very well, is show the scope and sweep of time. In the Mars trilogy, he did it (spoiler?) by making people live functionally forever. Here he was a little more clever, by working through reincarnations. This also gave him the opportunity to work with a larger cast of characters, who, though they had to fit in a broad category, could have very different personalities, backgrounds, etc. from one reincarnation to the next, with only the first letter of their name staying the same.

The journeys that Robinson makes through the bardo---the land where you go between incarnations---reminded me a bit of the 'behind the scenes' piece from American Gods (possibly one of the few parts of that book I really liked), though the bardo is a necessary stop between lives and often includes much pain and Gaiman's 'behind the scenes' is more a short-cut from one place and time to another. Sort of a worm-hole of alternate dimensions.

Another interesting aspect of the bardo---and the real world, for that matter---was the concept of a group of souls that are connected in some respect and end up together in the bardo and often have interececting and intertwined stories in the real world as well. I was reminded of the concept of a karass from Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle, which is a group of people brought together to do God's will. In both cases, no one in the group knows they were meant to be together in real life, but are somehow all striving for the same thing.

Though there are many interesting aspects of the story, the point of seeing the large sweep of history is to extend what would have happened if all the white people died due to the Black Death and, as a result, Christiantiy did not have a large stake in the world. And the answer that Robinson proposes is fascinating, with New World natives actually surviving and creating a modern society in the middle of our North America.

Overall, a fantastic read. Thick, but so very worth it.

9/10