I finally finished it!

Great fun, as Fforde always is. I laughed out loud many, many times. I actually thought this one was better than his first Nursery Crimes book, The Big Over Easy.

I anxiously await The War of the Words, due out next July. (Does this guy know how to write a title or what? I love it…)

I started reading this series, and I think I’m up to volume 11 or so. I actually started with volume 2, and I was hooked right from the beginning. This is wonderful character work, and a great relationship story. Rand’s got up to the most recent volume (18?), so I’m sure I’ll keep going. 🙂

I thought this was a wonderful and thoroughly enjoyable book about love and friendship. There were a few moments that surprised me (wow, didn’t think she’d go there…), but never in a bad way.

Why do the Brits do chick lit so well?

Picked this up off of Rand’s shelf, because I wanted something (for once, haha) that wasn’t chicklit.

I liked it. I have never seen Blade Runner in its entirety, so I wasn’t really comparing it to anything. I’d been warned that Philip K. Dick’s prose style is a bit clunky, which it is…he was writing a lot and doing it very quickly, so it’s not so “polished”. However, the ideas he presents are fascinating…what is it that makes us human? How, in a world where artificial life is nearly indistinguishable from true life, do you tell the difference? (and more importantly, does it matter? if the androids had been allowed to live their lives without interference, without being hunted, would they have been a danger to anyone?)

One idea that I kept expecting to be explored more was the question of whether or not Rick Deckard was actually human or an android with artificial memories. (maybe this was something the movie dealt with?)

A good read. I’m looking forward to reading more.

Over at the places I go.

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Eden loaned me this book, curious as to what my opinion would be. She gave it a lukewarm reveiw on Amazon, which I actually thought was a little too kind.

There were some funny moments…but for me, these usually amounted to a chuckle rather than laugh-out-loud funny. I found Notaro’s prose frequently wandering about, making me wish she’d just get to the point already. I skimmed a lot. I agree with Eden’s assessments that this book needed better editing and that much of it read like blog posts. Well written blog posts, but blog posts nonetheless.

Most of the time, I felt like Notaro was trying too hard to be funny and witty. She’s obviously read a lot of David Sedaris and Dave Barry, but unfortunately her efforts to emulate their style came off as forced to me.

Overall assessment? Meh. I was more bored than amused.

Here’s what I like about Marian Keyes…first, she writes stories with more complexity than typical “chicklit” reads. Second, the way she uses point-of-view…third person, mostly limited omniscient but sometimes shifting into omniscient, rotating between three main characters.

In this story, the first main character we’re introduced to is Lisa. It’s kind of hard getting into, I think, because Lisa is insufferable. She’s mean and hateful and all-around bitchy. But it’s worth it when you get to the end…

The true heroine of the piece is Ashling, who I found to be extremely likeable in her ordinary-ness. She’s an underdog, and you’re rooting for her to find happiness (which, of course, she does…)

If you’re a fan of the genre, I would recommend this one.

I still enjoy MaryJanice Davidson a great deal. (Read my Toasted Cheese interview with her here) However, I’ve felt that the last couple of books have been filler. Like the publisher has said “drag this out as long as possible.” The last two books have been very short and weak on plot. Still fun, just little substance. They’re the kind of books you could skip and not really miss anything, and that’s a little disappointing. Here’s hoping the next one is back on track.