Big Announcement - "Song of Fire and Ice Series"

As discussed on the author's page below, HBO has picked up an option to do multiple series based on the "Song of Fire and Ice" books by George R. R. Martin.


http://www.georgerrmartin.com/news.html


To me - this is the biggest news of its kind since the announcement that they were making the three Lord of the Rings movies!! It is huge and I am very excited!

What am I reading now?

I am currently reading "The Devil Wears Prada."

Is this a little outside my normal reading zone? Yes - but I was actually inspired to read the book by seeing the movie.

This was very rare for me - normally I always, always try and read the book first if I have any interest at all - because the book is always better (see the discussion below).

But in this case I thought the book would be an interesting case study of a terrible boss - and it is....

Review "Eldest" by Christopher Paolini

"Eldest" is the sequel to "Eragon" by Chrisopher Paolini. (which I reviewed below.)

"Eldest" continues the story of Eragon and his dragon as they attempt to save the world from the evil King Gallbatorix. In this book Eragon and Saphira travel to the elven lands to continue their training. This book also introduces a new major character in Eragaon's half brother, Roran, who must lead their village to safety after the kind begins searching for anyone who knows of Eragon.

The target audience for this book is probably middle school students who enjoy basic fantasy. Mr. Paolini wrote this book as a teenager and he was heavily influenced by the Lord of the Rings series, Star Wars, George R.R. Martin's "Song of Fire and Ice" series and Anne McCaffrey's books. Very few (if any) plot elements are surprising or new to someone familiar with these works. Also, the way Mr. Paolini describes the magic in his world doesn't seem very well done to me - again as compared to other books. (See Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" series.)

Overall, it was not a bad book. My ten year old daughter enjoyed it immensely - but of course she has not read the Hobbit yet either....

What am I reading now?

I am currently reading "Eldest" by Christopher Paolini. It is the sequel to "Eragon", which I read a few months ago.

Review "A Spot of Bother" by Mark Haddon

"A Spot of Bother" is Mr. Haddon's follow up to "The Curious Incident of the Dog at Night Time", which was an excellent book.

"A Spot of Bother" is the story of an extremely neurotic English family whose lives all go off the deep end when the daughter announces she is getting remarried. The central character is the father of the bride and follows him as he slowly goes insane in the days leading up the wedding. When combined with the problems of every other family member and put under the pressure of planning and carrying off a big wedding, the story is well done.

Mr. Haddon has real insight into human lives and families and writes about them in an entertaining and thought provoking way. The plot isn't deep or complicated (family plans wedding, stuff goes wrong....) but it is enjoyable. In fact, I would recommend this book to couples planning a wedding - there are some good lessons about dealing with stuff that does go wrong with the big day.

Overall, an enjoyable read.

Thought for the Day

"I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book."


Groucho Marx, 1890-1977