thanks for all the fish

I completed transitioning to GoodReads last  year, and no one has complained.  If you miss me, find me there.

I found more pre-this blog handwritten reviews on my bookshelf, so I'll keep tossing them up here, just so I have them saved somewhere.  They are not at all new.

A lady raised high by Laurien Gardener.  I really enjoyed this book.  i might even say that I couldn't put it down.  I cannot say for certain what it is about this book that makes it so entertaining.  One certainly feels a great deal of sympathy for the characters, and the writing is very good.
Although I love historical fiction, knowing that the character will die is a bit of a downer for the whole thing.

Lamia: A witch by Georgia Taylor.  I enjoyed the story, but it wasn't written very well.  It always felt to me that the author was rushing-- all the time, not just when appropriate to manage pacing, and when there was nothing to rush to.  There were a lot of good subplots or histories that could have been more detailed and added to the characters.  I thought it ended at an awkward time, too.

The last continent by Terry Pratchett.  This one wasn't anything to write home about.  Typical writing style and funny in places, but this one really didn't give one much to think about, as others by this author have done.

The last Jew by Noah Gordon.  This author paints very real pictures: authentic, correct (historically), personal; both emotional and informative.  His plots and characters progress realistically and believably.
After reading three of his books, it seems he knows only two topics, but he knows them thoroughly.  Because of this, it is difficult to separate the different stories in my mind: they meld together, being very close in subject matter.

The last unicorn by Peter S. Beagle.  While I absolutely loved the language in this book, I found the story dull.  The phrases, language patterns, new similes, and various other word usages were completely new to me, things I'd never heard before.  And while I love that, the story threw icy water on my passion for reading.  For about 2 weeks.  It wasn't difficult to get through, as in too much thinking required, nor was it insanely boring.  It was just mediocre, and its redeeming qualities did not outshine that. 

Le morte d'Arthur by Malory.  Of all the King Arthur stories Ive read, I will say I liked this one the least.  Sorry.  It was boring.  The pages and pages of "The Duke unhorsed Sir Bleobris.  Then Sir Lyonel unhorsed The High Prince and gave his horse to Sir Bleobris..."  On and on for ever and ever, amen.  Everyone all got their heads chopped off and/or their guts spilled on the ground.  There was nothing endearing about the language or the story, just a bunch of guys fighting for the sake of fighting ("I will champion your cause, be it right or wrong!").  Men.

The legacy by R.A. Salvatore.  The story, as always, was exciting, although not as pressing as the previous books.  We are upset about the loss of Wulfgar, as it was completely unnecessary.  We are more upset, however, about the totally uncharacteristic changes in him before his death.  It's like the author tried to make the reader stop liking him so his death wouldn't be so bad.  He failed.  I don't know where the real Wulfgar went, but he certainly was not in this book.
The writing style is easy to read but not the best way of presenting.  It still leaves much to be desired.  You'd think after so many books, he'd get the hang of this writing stuff.

Lethal harvest by Willliam Cutrer and Samaha Glahn.  The second book written by this pair that I've read (False positive), this is also a medical mystery written for a Christian Fiction audience.  I wouldn't describe it as gripping, but the pace was good and the plot wound itself along.  I really enjoyed the character developments.  The terminology and medical aspects of the bok were just about perfect for me: not dumbed down to an embarrassing leve, but easy enough to understand.

A letter of Mary by Laurie R. King.  This book, third in the series, remained on par with the second book, which, although not quite up to the first, is still a good step higher than most current reading material. 
The problem of humanizing Holmes is that, given the context, one expects a little romance out of him.  The author stays mostly true to the original in that, however.  This leaves the reader feeling somewhat unfulfilled on that front.
One thing I do very much appreciate is that the novels generally stand up on their own.  They could be read individually or not sequentially, and the reader would not generally suffer for it.

The light fantastic by Terry Pratchett.  This can be tossed into the category of "usual Pratchett-ness."  There wasn't anything about this book that was extraordinary from his other work.  That isn't bad: this one was just a story.  Read for entertainment purposes only, that kind of thing.  Still great fun.