Tag: Books

Blog Hop: Judging by a Cover

On By cherylmahoneyIn Blog Hop3 Comments

book-blogger-hop-finalToday’s Book Blogger Hop question is: Have you ever bought a book because you liked its cover art?

Just once that I can remember.  I bought Aria of the Sea by Dia Calhoun based on its cover–which didn’t even have the title on it, and I seem to recall there wasn’t a plot description anywhere either.  This was a significant departure for me, since I rarely buy a book without reading it first.  But I was at my library’s warehouse sale, and this was a gamble that only cost me a dollar.  It was a good book too–and I think I was intrigued by the art style of the cover, and wondering what that heroine was thinking.

I can’t recall another time I’ve bought a book by cover–but I read books that way often.  My practice when browsing at the library is to find an intriguing title, look at the cover (usually a pretty good hint of genre and style, though not always), and then read about two sentences of the plot description.  At that point a book either has me or not.

Do you look at covers when you buy books?  How heavily do they weigh with you?

Book Review: Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews1 Comment

Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett has been on my radar as a soon-to-read Discworld novel, so when I needed a new audiobook and it was available–perfect!  This turned out to be one of Pratchett’s more overtly satirical novels.  It was still funny, but there were also some darker elements highlighted.

This one takes out of the familiar territories of Ankh-Morpork or Lancre, to Borogravia, a tiny country fighting a war against all its neighbors.  Polly’s brother Paul went away to war some time before, and now Polly has decided to set out in search of him–by joining the army disguised as a boy, of course.  She joins the last party of recruits heading for the front, a motley group including a troll, a vampire and an Igor (pretty much what you’d think).  It become quickly clear that nearly all are girls in disguise, although their commanding lieutenant remains blissfully unaware of that fact.  Meanwhile, Borogravia’s war is disrupting transcontinental communication for Ankh-Morpork, and Commander Vimes of the Night Watch has been sent to handle the situation.

Pratchett is at some of his gender-political satirizing best here.  A thematic issue since the third Discworld book (Equal Rites) he’s fully engaging here.  There’s much discussion of how the world feels different (and regards the girls differently) when they do something as simple as putting on a pair of trousers.  I don’t think (I might be wrong) that Pratchett ever directly states that women are as capable as men (but not necessarily wiser or more interested in peace).  He simply tells a story that shows equality between the genders in no uncertain terms.  It’s far more effective that way. Continue reading “Book Review: Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett” →

Book Review(s): Pastrix and Accidental Saints

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews1 Comment

Appropriately enough, I stumbled accidentally onto Accidental Saints: Finding God in all the wrong people by Nadia Bolz-Weber.  I have a thing I do when I want a type of book but don’t know what specifically–I look up a similar book in the library catalog, find that shelf, and see what else is nearby.  That brought me to Accidental Saints, and after I loved that one, I went backwards and read Nadia’s first book, Pastrix.

Nadia is a Lutheran pastor.  She is also unconventional, heavily tattooed, honest about her flaws and kind of brilliant.  Pastrix tells Nadia’s story, from early days as a sarcastic, alcoholic stand-up comic, to finding her faith in God (with a side-trip into Wiccan goddess worship before becoming Lutheran–she doesn’t find the two in contradiction), to founding her church, the House for All Sinners and Saints.  Accidental Saints tells the story of her church, sharing about some of the individuals there and how she has learned from them.  They’re known as the inclusive church for the people who don’t look churchy–drag queens, prostitutes, former (?) con artists, cynics and alcoholics.

Nadia is funny, insightful, inclusive and somehow both deeply reverent and deeply irreverent at the same time.  (Maybe it’s a question of what’s considered irreverence.)  I think Nadia speaks to me where I live because she, like many authors I gravitate to, is another driven, sometimes self-critical woman.  She also shares a concept of God that really resonated with me, one focused on love, compassion (the core of my personal morality), and acceptance. Continue reading “Book Review(s): Pastrix and Accidental Saints” →

Blog Hop: Other People’s Books…

On By cherylmahoneyIn Blog Hop3 Comments

book-blogger-hop-finalToday’s Book Blogger Hop question is: When you enter an unfamiliar house or apartment for the first time, do you feel disappointed if you don’t see any bookshelves, or books on the coffee table?

I don’t know that I feel disappointed by a lack of books…but I’m happy when I do see books!  I tend to gravitate towards someone else’s bookshelves to see what they have, and if I’m impressed by their collection (which really means they like the same books I do!) I’ll let them know that.  It’s always interesting to see what books someone else owns, because frequently I’ll find out we’ve read the same author, even though that’s never previously come up in conversation.

Do you look around for books when you enter a new living space?  Do you get impressions of people based on their books?

Book Review: The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews2 Comments

Remember when I listened to the audiobook of Cary Elwes reading his memoir of filming The Princess Bride, and it was everything I wanted it to be and one of the best books I read all year?  Well–I did not manage to repeat the magic by listening to the audiobook of Carrie Fisher reading The Princess Diarist, her memoir of filming Star Wars.

It sounded great–I’d been meaning to explore Carrie Fisher’s writing ever since her death (which still makes me sad), and this promised to be reminiscences of filming the first Star Wars movie, plus excerpts from her journals of the time.  Wonderful!  And it was, for about the first quarter.  She talks a little about her life growing up, her very early film career, and how she first was cast as Princess Leia.  I loved the anecdotes of the first time she read the script, and how Leia got her iconic hairstyle.

But then, as she says, she met him.  I vaguely heard some while ago that Fisher had recently revealed her long ago affair with Harrison Ford–and here I stumbled right into the book that must have done it.  A solid half of the book (albeit in the middle) is devoted to “Carrison,” 19 year old Carrie’s affair with the then-married, mid-thirties Harrison Ford during the filming of the first Star Wars.  It was a remarkably unsentimental affair, probably some form of friends with benefits except they didn’t even appear especially friendly, and whole passages are devoted to how little he talked. Continue reading “Book Review: The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher” →