The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

The Count of Monte Cristo: Edmond Dantes is accused of being a Bonapartist by three jealous friends, and is sent to the eerie Chateau D'If for life. At If there is also an abbe called Faria, who over ten years has dug a tunnel connecting the two cells. Faria mentors Dantes, provides him with the means of escape and puts in him an all-consuming passion for revenge on his betrayers. After fourteen years at If, Dantes resurfaces, now as the rich and enigmatic Count of Monte Cristo.

This is a creepy book, but wonderful because of it. Monte Cristo is mysterious and disgustingly rich and has several pseudonyms all at the same time and is amazingly foresighted in his revenge. He is a hero, but sometimes I was unsure- to want to kill Mercedes's son Albert because he was Fernand's son as well? But he loves Mercedes! And then to want to kill himself because he swore he wouldn't kill Albert? Heroic to eventually refuse to duel, but cowardly to say your honor's gone. Needless to say, Monte Cristo is far more complicated than most protagonists. I vote that we start writing them like that- no victories are clear-cut; no one is exactly who he seems to be; everyone is mad and despairing: yet it ends well and satisfying.

It is not a good idea to read a book that requires lots of special letters in the report- accented Es, arrowed Is- and has its names in a language that is not spelled as it sounds. Someone please tell me if any of this is spelled wrong!

Life As We Knew It by Susan Pfeffer

The report is that an asteroid will hit the moon, making a nice view for sky-watchers. But when the rock hits, it is far larger than expected, and blasts the moon much closer to earth. Things go horribly, drastically wrong. The tides are disrupted, causing tsunamis; the change in pressure causes long-dormant volcanoes to erupt, blocking out the sun. Miranda and her family struggle to survive and find what can save them: hope.

Very good. A great pulling of a horrible, fantastical-yet-possible occurrence and real people. It was so sad. Very few books make me close to crying and thinking so hard like this: what would I do if that happened? Would I be able to give up so much? Would I keep hope and faith in face of death? The questions you don't think about often, and try not to when you do. Good questions. Read this book.

If I'm not mistaken, pfeffer means 'spices'. Susan Spice. :)

Happy Leap Day!

Scoop by Rene Gutteridge

At Channel 7 News, an intriguing news story turns the station upside down. The executive producer takes more Blue Pills- until they disappear and he cracks; cautious Ray returns to the house of the man who attacked him; the anchorwoman disappears mysteriously; and Hayden Hazard prays in public. When disaster threatens, can Channel 7 pull through?

Interesting. It was confusing at first- until the very end it seems like the whole book has been random facts. I thought that Hayden was a little overdone...but perhaps that was the point. Be bold and tell everyone about your faith, what you think. Do things you're not comfortable with.

A good quote from the book: burp the Tupperware = seal the deal.

Ender's Game Revised

Ender Wiggin is the hero the world has been waiting for. He is smart, hurting, a Third, and a leader. And the world needs a hero: the aliens, called buggers, are preparing for the Third Invasion, and to stop them they must be completely annihilated. Ender is sent to the Battle School when he is six, where he trains with other children. They live to fight. When he is twelve, he is sent to Command School. He thinks he is merely playing games on the simulator, but what he is really doing is fighting the buggers.

Ender is a very interesting character. He used to be afraid and lonely, but they turned the fear into hatred. He turned into Peter. But is this good or bad? The world doesn't mind; he killed the buggers, but the buggers were never the enemy. Possible Hypothesis #1- the buggers are simply weak antagonists. #2- Ender is his own enemy. #3- Card didn't like the social system and wanted it to be communist. #2 is most likely in my mind. Perhaps the ending is his trying to redeem himself- he certainly didn't like being tricked into killing the buggers.
Please help me out on this. I'm confused. It seemed like such a simple story.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Ender Wiggin has been destined since birth to go to the Battle School, where an army of children prepares to fight the buggers. Six years old when he arrives, he is quickly moved up with older and older boys, always fighting, training. He becomes a killer machine that will defeat the buggers once and for all.

Very violent, but interesting at the same time. Demosthenes and Locke were amazing, but the buggers weren't good bad guys. It seemed like they were suppposed to be the enemy, but sometimes Ender himself was. His own worst enemy. I couldn't figure it out.

triple play

Murder on Baker Street by various authors
Sherlock Holmes lives! Resurrected by renowned mystery authors, there are eleven new stories, with vampires, mysterious kidnappings, and treasure hunters.

Good. Some stories were definately better-written than others, and some picked up Doyle's style better than others. Such as A Hansom for Mr. Holmes, which is told from a cabbie's point of view and is never clear on what the actual problem is. This, of course, is not good. But that was only one story; all the rest were clear and kept me guessing!
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The Book of the Dun Cow by Walter Wangerin, Jr.
Chauntecleer the Rooster rules over a Coop in a small corner of the world. Unbeknownst to him, he is a keeper of Wyrm, a gigantic, oozing serpent locked in the middle of the earth. But Wyrm has a plan, and he creates thousands of basilisks and a Cockatrice, and Chauntecleer and his kingdom must fight for the world.

I know the story sounds stupid, but it was really a very good book. Chauntecleer was very nice to read about; he was a very full-formed character and didn't contradict himself.
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God's Messengers: the Making of the King James Bible by Adam Nicolson
When King James succeeds Queen Elizabeth as ruler of England, he comes into a country torn by religion. There are the Catholics, who attempt to return the country to Rome; and Anglicans, who are the favorites; and the Separatists, whom no one likes and eventually flee the country. James' dream was peace, and so he commissioned a peace-making Bible that would shape the world and be the standard for the rest to come.

Good. It was really interesting, how all those really different men- Puritan and Anglican and atheist- were really determined to make peace, and they made a beautiful book. It's really almost like poetry. It made me compare it to my NIV, and despite the easiness of the NIV, it seems like something was lost in the translating. The words don't mean quite as much to me.

The Paradoxes of Mr. Pond by G.K. Chesterton

Mr. Pond is an odd man who says things called paradoxes, without even realizing it. Such as: How did a general fail to complete his mission by his subordinates' complete obedience? Or, How are there difficulties in deporting a desirable alien? Such are the paradoxes. At first, they seem utterly at odds and complete nonsense, but as Mr. Pond tells the story behind each, you see that they make perfect sense.

Very good. Chesterton writes very well, thinking up riddles and solving them with impeccable English and good adjectives. I like his description of Mr. Pond- Mr. Pond looks like a fish with a beard, and the description is so well-done that Mr. Pond is in your head, clear as day.

Merry Christmas!
And- dare I say it?- Happy Birthday, Jesus!

O Pioneers! by Willa Cather

Alexandra Bergson has lived on the land and worked it since her father's death. Sixteen years later, she is the most prosperous landowner on the Divide, a valley that stretches across the Nebraska prairie. She has three brothers, a childhood friend, and a beautiful friend. Her love of the land keeps her through the hardships that come.

So sad! Cather makes everyone so real, and it is much worse when trouble comes to them than in average books. I spent a good fifteen minutes after I finished it staring at the wall, because I could see it in my head. Alexandra is the feminist, the woman who can stand on her own and prospers, but she is still human. Even Cather, who was a civil rights activist, could not say that when women were independent they were perfectly happy.

Zero: the History of a Dangerous Idea by Charles Seife

Zero- cultures have feared it, banned it, revered it, and finally accepted it. It is infinity's twin. The Church believed it first to be heresy, then to prove God's existence. It is the number that is needed for calculus, the math of nature, but also is the center of black holes. Seife explores the number's history, from Aristotle to Albert Einstein and beyond.

Very good. It was very interesting- the Greeks didn't like zero because it didn't fit in with their philosophies; Christians didn't like it because they thought it was contradicting God's nature; but the Mayans' first day of each month was the zero-eth day. It was all about religion. The Hindus worshipped it as part of a god, Shiva. It's like Copernicus- when we think something messes with our doctrine, we try to ignore it and call everyone who believes in it heretics.
Believe in zero.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett

Something is wrong in the city of Ankh-Morpork. Two old men are found dead, the city's ruler is poisoned every night, and golems, the city's clay slaves, are smashing themselves to bits. Sir Samuel Vimes, Commander of the City Watch, is in charge of the investigation, but even he is having a hard time....

Good. Terry Pratchett has a lot of imagination, but I think that sometimes it gets in the way of his writing. This is one of his more articulate books. It made me think: the city likes its golems because they can't talk, they work without pay, food, or board, and they work fast. Definitely slavery. And so they get extremely worked up when Dorfl is given words. Maybe we have a lesson to learn on slavery, folks.