Cameron Smith is dying of Mad Cow disease. Instead of wasting away in the hospital, he heads out on a road trip with his new dwarf friend Gonzo to find the mysterious Dr. X, save the world, and find a cure. This book defies description. Coming-of age, road trip, paranormal fantasy, buddy story, ode to Don Quixote, celebration of life. This book made me both laugh harder and cry harder than any book has done in a long time. I LOVED the characters, loved the writing style – and Erik Davies, the actor who read the audiobook edition, does a perfect job. I could have done with a little less of the main character describing the reactions of “Mr. Happy” to the girls he meets, but I suppose that was realistic for a seventeen-year-old boy. Highly recommended. (Definitely on the upper age spectrum of YA)

Title: Down the Long Hills
Author: Louis L’Amour
Genre: Western fiction, historical fiction
Publisher: Bantam
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Source: Print copy borrowed from my dad.
First line: When Hardy Collins woke up, Big Red was gone.

My dad is a huge Louis L’Amour fan. I mean huge – he owns all of his works in the expensive leather-bound editions. When the boys and I started studying westward expansion, I asked him for a read-aloud idea that would give the boys a good idea of what life was like during the days of the wagon trains. He suggested the absolute perfect book: the story of a seven-year-old boy and four-year-old girl who are the only survivors when their wagon train is attacked by Indians. Hardy and Betty Sue set out on Big Red, Hardy’s father’s stallion, heading toward Fort Bridger, where Hardy’s father is waiting. Relying on the wilderness and survival training he has learned from his father, Hardy must protect Betty Sue from the wildlife and the Indian tracking them. I admit that the western isn’t my favorite genre to read, but any book that keeps the boys engrossed and teaches them a bit about stepping up to responsibility is a positive.

Title: Wives and Daughters
Author: Elizabeth Gaskell
Genre: Classic fiction
Publisher: Various
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: Read online through DailyLit
First line: To begin with the old rigmarole of childhood.

I’ve been wanting to read a Gaskell for a while now, and I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Molly Gibson is perfectly happy being raised by her widowed doctor father, but as she reaches her teens, he is convinced she needs a woman’s touch. He marries the thoroughly selfish and manipulative Widow Kirkpatrick. The new Mrs. Gibson comes with a daughter, Cynthia. The story tells of Molly’s adjustment to her stepmother, her friendship with Cynthia, and the two girls’ experiences with courtship and romance. Gaskell is a bit like a wordier Austen, and I enjoyed the characters in this book. It was not finished before she died, but is only missing a few chapters. Her editor had her notes for how the book would end, and so he wrote an epilogue that filled the rest of us in on her plans, none of which were surprises to me – it ended the way I thought it would, and the way I wanted it to. This will definitely not be my last Gaskell.

Title: The Game
Author: Laurie R. King
Genre: Historical fiction, mystery
Publisher: Bantam
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: Audiobook from the public library
Audiobook reader: Jenny Sterlin
First line: Travel broadens, they say.

This is the seventh novel in Laurie R. King’s Mary Russell-Sherlock Holmes series, and the series shows no signs of slowing down. King is a master of writing not only an intriguing mystery, but is a fantastic painter of setting and character as well. This time the setting is India, as Holmes and Mary head out to find Kimball O’Hara, the famed Kim of Rudyard Kipling’s novel. O’Hara was working as a member of the British Survey in India, which is a polite way of saying he is a spy. When he goes missing, Holmes’ brother Mycroft tasks the couple with locating O’Hara. Along the way, Mary and Holmes pose as itinerant magicians, meet up with an American marxist, and get held captive by a mad Maharaja. This Russell novel is the first one I’ve listened to on audio since the first, The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, and it reminded me how much I loved Jenny Sterlin’s reading. I wish our library had the rest of the series on audio!

© CarrieK for BOOKS AND MOVIES, 2010. | Permalink | 22 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: audiobooks, classics, fantasy, historical fiction, laurie r. king, magical realism, mary russell, mysteries, read-alouds, sherlock holmes, speculative fiction, westerns, YA fiction

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Bendigo Shafter by Louis L’Amour
Blurb: “At what point does a group of strangers become a community? When young Bendigo Shafter and a ragtag bunch of travelers settle in the rugged Wyoming mountains, they quickly come to depend on a toughness and wisdom many of them never knew they possessed. Led by the beautiful and resourceful widow Ruth Macken, the settlers battle harsh winters, renegade opportunists, and the destructive lure of gold. Through these brutally demanding experiences, young Bendigo is forged into a man. But when he travels to New York to reclaim the love of Ninon, his childhood sweetheart, Bendigo is faced with new challenges. Will hard-edged instincts, honed from years in the mountains, serve him in the big city? Does Ninon’s heart belong to the lights and glamour of the theater? And if his destiny deems it so, will he be willing to leave the community he toiled so long and hard to build?”
My thoughts: “I enjoyed this one very much when I read it many years ago – in high school, I think.”

Comstock Lode by Louis L’Amour
Blurb: “It was just a godforsaken mountainside, but no place on earth was richer in silver. For a bustling, enterprising America, this was the great bonanza. The dreamers, the restless, the builders, the vultures—they were lured by the glittering promise of instant riches and survived the brutal hardships of a mining camp to raise a legendary boom town. But some sought more than wealth. Val Trevallion, a loner haunted by a violent past. Grita Redaway, a radiantly beautiful actress driven by an unfulfilled need. Two fiercely independent spirits, together they rose above the challenges of the Comstock to stake a bold claim on the future.”
My thoughts: “Another one I remember enjoying, but it’s been a long time.”

The Conrad Stargard Series by Leo Frankowski
My thoughts: “A boyfriend in college introduced me to the Conrad Stargard series, beginning with The Cross-Time Engineer. Conrad is a Polish engineer who suddenly finds himself transported to Poland in the 13th century. He uses his engineering smarts to build a life – and also to try to build up Poland’s defenses against the upcoming Mongol invasion. These are humorous and inventive – and if you can get past the author’s love of lusty, always-willing women – they are a great ride.”

Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Blurb: “A monster on the loose in New York City’s American Museum of Natural History provides the hook for this high-concept, high-energy thriller. A statue of the mad god Mbwun, a monstrous mix of man and reptile, was discovered by a Museum expedition to South America in 1987. Now, it is about to become part of the new Superstition Exhibition at the museum (here renamed the “New York Museum of Natural History”). But as the exhibition’s opening night approaches, the museum may have to be shut down due to a series of savage murders that seem to be the work of a maniac-or a living version of Mbwun. When the museum’s director pulls strings to ensure that the gala affair takes place, it’s up to a small band of believers, led by graduate student Margo Green, her controversial adviser and an FBI agent who investigated similar killings in New Orleans, to stop the monster-if the culprit is indeed a monster-from going on a rampage. Less horror then action-adventure, the narrative builds to a superbly exciting climax, and then offers a final twist to boot. With its close-up view of museum life and politics, plausible scientific background, sharply drawn characters and a plot line that’s blissfully free of gratuitous romance, this well-crafted novel offers first-rate thrills and chills.”
My thoughts: “I haven’t read this, but I know the entire series is one of Dad’s favorites.”

The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Blurb: “When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade—a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls.

Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they’ve closed tight. And every 30 days a new boy has been delivered in the lift.

Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up—the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers. Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets buried within his mind.”
My thoughts: “I absolutely loved this YA dystopian novel (my review), and passed my ARC on to Dad. He loved it, too – and we’re both waiting impatiently for the sequel.”

Have you read any of these books or other works by these authors?

Recommendations from a non-blogger #1 – Michelle
Recommendations from a non-blogger #2 – Marni
Recommendations from a non-blogger #3 – Teresa (Mom)

© CarrieK for BOOKS AND MOVIES, 2009. | Permalink | 11 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: must reads, science fiction, westerns

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