Thursday, March 18, 2010

This, That, Etc.

Wyrd Sisters, by Terry Pratchett. Apparently the last pre-bind I read was an anomaly: this copy (and the next book, which I'm currently reading) didn't have any problems with the words being swallowed by the binding space.  I have noticed a few typo-type errors in these editions, but nothing too major.
This book is best (probably) if you know something about Shakespearean plays or at least a little bit about theater in general.

I finally finished Candor; I stand by my review.  The ending was probably the best part of the book: it was the best in terms of evoking emotion, as it was the most wrenching and the most touching.  Definitely a great book to share with teens.  I forgot to mention earlier, when I was saying how lovely and interactive Pam was during the Skype, all the little extras she did.  In addition to providing an engaging, extended talk free of charge, Pam was also gracious enough to set up a practice session with us (since this is the first time our library has used Skype) and remain in constant email contact to allay our worries.  We recommend her highly.

The New Tea Book: A Guide to Black, Green, Herbal, and Chai Tea, by Sara Perry; photography by Alison Miksch. This book could have challenged me a little more, but it was pretty good; it concisely gives information about tea, and it's the only tea-related book in our collection that isn't a) all hippie new-age tea-will-relieve-the-burdens-of-your-soul zen thingy, or b) all about collectible tea pots. 

Pyramids, by Terry Pratchett.    I like some of the underlying ideas in this plot/side story, but, since we have zero reused characters, I often forget about this novel.  It isn't integral to the story of the universe.  It's still good.

The Burning Land, by Bernard Cornwell.    I'm... kind of getting tired of this story.  I can see this dragging on for about 3 or 4 more novels, and I probably won't read them.  By the time the next one comes out, I won't remember half of the important details of this book, and there's no way I can invest the time to re-read the whole series, especially since I'm not super in love with them anyway.  It doesn't suck, and the author's (mostly) cleaned up that little habit of ending each chapter with little fragments that trail down half the page.

Charm Girls Club: Pajama Party, by Electronic Arts, Inc. (EA).   Our Library Arcade is a boy-heavy event, but we do have girls who come by regularly, and some of them had requested this game specifically, and more girly (or at least girl-friendly) games in general, so we gave this a try.  Wow, was that ever crap.  Even though it shows teen- or at least tween-aged girls on the cover, it seemed this would be better for a younger group.  You can play with up to 4 players, but how to choose which game to play wasn't very clear; of course no one wants to read the instructions, and it wasn't inherently obvious what the point was for the games we could find.  We quit after about 15 minutes and went to the regular Wii Fit Board games (still a big winner with my kids).

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