2008 Booklist ; (part I)
2 0 0 8 - B O O K L I S T ; (part I)
Here's a list of books I've read and rated so far in 2008, with four stars being a Sistine Chapel among literary works, and one star being a book I could have easily lived my whole life without reading. My taste runes heavily to the fantasy and YA fantasy genre, so expect to see a lot of those showing up on my list. For a short defense on reading fantasy as opposed to say--every other type pf book in the world--please read the intro to this post by mistful (who also does wonderful book reviews, might I add!) Oh, and this definitely will not be in chronological order (because my memory just isn't that skilled).
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& Dragonhaven by Robin McKinley ; ☆☆½
So Robin McKinley is one of those authors for whom I will read anything they publish without question, because I already know it's going to be awesome. This book, however, would probably have failed in a horrible way if it HADN'T been written by someone so amazing. Reading Dragonhaven was exactly like reading a 340 page novel written entirely in stream-of-consciousness by a teenage boy (which it was meant to be, and it's very realistic--but that doesn't make it very easy to read.) The story itself had an intriguing premise (raising a hideous blobby baby dragon, oh the horrors!); but like I said, the mind of a teenage boy isn't exactly the most coherent of places. Approach this book with your own open mind.
& Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale ; ☆☆☆☆
Shannon Hale has quickly become one of my absolute favorite authors in the universe for her wonderfully vivacious and lyrical writing style. (I sound like a magazine article, huh?) Her prose is just so... so... soooooooo... GUH. She has such a unique and refreshing way of invoking imagery. I have read everything she's written so far and if she doesn't publish another novel soon I shall become verklempt. D:
& Beauty Sleep by Cameron Dokey ; ☆☆☆
The "re-told" fairy tale story has been done a million-and-one times before, and we all may be bored of it--but if you have to read ONE more book of that trope, read this book. I don't want to reveal too much of the plot, (you can already guess from the title that it's Sleeping Beauty redone, right?) but suffice to say, the writing was excellent and the romance was exactly my cup of tea.
& Golden by Cameron Dokey ; ☆☆
This re-telling of the Rapunzel tale I picked up simply because I'd loved the previous book so much; but for me, this installment in Dokey's Once Upon a Time series lacked the same verve as Beauty Sleep. The premise was initially interesting--but once it got to ending, everything fizzled out somewhat. Still, it's certainly worth a read if you're bored sometime.
& Mystic & Rider by Sharon Shinn ; ☆☆☆½
I don't know exactly what term to use, but in my world of reading, I call books like these "D&D" fantasy. ^-^ Not because they're based off the famous roleplaying games (which many series are); but because they feature an "ensemble" of characters--characters who represent different jobs, races, classes, etc. And then these diverse people form an intimate little unit and have adventures together. Mystic & Rider stands out from the crowd for one main reason: it's done by Sharon Shinn, and she's an amazing author. :) All-in-all, this is definitely a fun, engaging read.
& The Thirteenth House by Sharon Shinn ; ☆☆½
The 2nd book in her Twelve Houses series, it features one of the secondary characters from the 1st novel now as lead and narrator. Everyone from the old "gang" is still around and included in the new adventure (actually it's a continuation of the original), so that made me happy. But I spent at least half the book absolutely convinced that Shinn was going to kill off a person I really loved, so I had that hanging over my head like a stormy little cloud as I read. Maybe with a re-read sometime in the future, I won't be so upset. Also, I wanted to bitch-smack the narrator a few times, so that didn't help.
& Cast in Shadow by Michelle Sagara ; ☆☆
I have to admit, this book has a lot of problems. Mainly in the form of Sagara's writing style. I had to force myself to turn off the invisible red pen in my brain, because there is definitely a need for a good strong editing throughout. But if you can get past the myriad of incomplete sentences and cliched turns-of-phrase, Sagara really has built an interesting world here. Her realm has five races (more like five species), some immortal and some mortal, and the parts of the book highlighting the dynamics amongst these groups are the most engaging to read. Conclusion: I've read better prose, but I'm still invested enough in the story to buy the rest of the books and find out what happens.
& Cast in Courtlight by Michelle Sagara ; ☆½
My reaction throughout the majority of the 2nd book was "Enh, elf politics." (Excuse me, Barrani politics.) This whole book came off as one big "digression" from the real plot of the series (at least as it was introduced in the 1st book), and I actually ended up skimming through a lot of sections. There were some interesting parts, but overall it was pretty trite.
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