It certainly isn’t a good week to be a bookworm in Quebec. Canada’s Globe and Mail is reporting that Quebec’s legislature has opened a hearing on pricing for new books. Being discussed is the question of whether or not to prevent the price of new books being discounted by more than 10% for the first nine months after release. The stated intention behind this is to protect the smaller bookstores, especially smaller Francophone ones, from the big hitters such as Amazon and Walmart. Now, while I can appreciate the sentiment, I’m really not certain that keeping book prices high is really going to help anyone. Smaller bookstores are never going to be able to compete with Amazon on price, so perhaps the government should concentrate on supporting them other ways. For example subsidising author signings in the province, sponsoring book groups, or subsidising the cost of Quebecois francophone books. Most Quebec produced books are still noticeably more expensive than their English counterparts. This week I have been working nightshift. As my job is very reactive – sitting around waiting on servers burping, not many human callers – I find it’s a perfect time to enjoy some audiobooks. The books help to keep…
Once again, dear readers, here is my weekly update in what I’ve been reading. The Land of Stories: The Enchantress Returns is the second in Chris Colfer’s children’s book series. However, it’s not nearly as enjoyable as the first one. The setting and characters are still enchanting, but the plotline seems a little repetitious. Once again our hero twins set off on a quest to gather magical objects that will allow them to cast magic to defeat the evil Enchantress. Additionally, this book suffers from too much of a tendency to show rather than tell; too many stretches where characters explain about something that happened rather than being shown it. Perhaps the novelty of the setting and characters carried the first book much further, and papered over inadequacies in writing style, but in this second installment it is not enough to cover up the recycled plotlines and the somewhat clunky narration. I’m not saying it isn’t a fun read to pass a couple of hours – I do love the world Colfer has built – but I do feel that with better editing and perhaps a different emphasis on story lines it could have been so much better. I gave…
Once again, dear readers, here is my weekly update in what I’ve been reading. The Land of Stories: The Enchantress Returns is the second in Chris Colfer’s children’s book series. However, it’s not nearly as enjoyable as the first one. The setting and characters are still enchanting, but the plotline seems a little repetitious. Once again our hero twins set off on a quest to gather magical objects that will allow them to cast magic to defeat the evil Enchantress. Additionally, this book suffers from too much of a tendency to show rather than tell; too many stretches where characters explain about something that happened rather than being shown it. Perhaps the novelty of the setting and characters carried the first book much further, and papered over inadequacies in writing style, but in this second installment it is not enough to cover up the recycled plotlines and the somewhat clunky narration. I’m not saying it isn’t a fun read to pass a couple of hours – I do love the world Colfer has built – but I do feel that with better editing and perhaps a different emphasis on story lines it could have been so much better. I gave…
Once again, dear readers, here is my weekly update in what I’ve been reading. The Land of Stories: The Enchantress Returns is the second in Chris Colfer’s children’s book series. However, it’s not nearly as enjoyable as the first one. The setting and characters are still enchanting, but the plotline seems a little repetitious. Once again our hero twins set off on a quest to gather magical objects that will allow them to cast magic to defeat the evil Enchantress. Additionally, this book suffers from too much of a tendency to show rather than tell; too many stretches where characters explain about something that happened rather than being shown it. Perhaps the novelty of the setting and characters carried the first book much further, and papered over inadequacies in writing style, but in this second installment it is not enough to cover up the recycled plotlines and the somewhat clunky narration. I’m not saying it isn’t a fun read to pass a couple of hours – I do love the world Colfer has built – but I do feel that with better editing and perhaps a different emphasis on story lines it could have been so much better. I gave…
So far this week I have only finished one book – Republic of Thieves – on which I have already written and posted a review. Short version: I loved it. Added to my library this week: As I mentioned in my last reading roundup, several books were released this week about which I was very excited. Emperor of Thorns, Codex Born and Land of Stories: The Enchantress Returns were added to my library this week in Kindle format. It was disappointing though that Audible didn’t have Emperor of Thorns available on release day. I have been absorbed in the story, and I would have liked the professional narration to help it along. I will, of course, be reviewing these books in due course. I have had Cassandra Clare’s City of Bones, the first book of The Mortal Instruments series, in my Audible library for some time, but I have had difficulty getting into it. However, as soon as I listened to the first few minutes of Jennifer Ehle’s narration of The Clockwork Angel, the first book of the Infernal Devices trilogy, I knew I was hooked. I immediately bought all three books in both Kindle and Audible formats. Sadly, Ms…
So far this week I have only finished one book – Republic of Thieves – on which I have already written and posted a review. Short version: I loved it. Added to my library this week: As I mentioned in my last reading roundup, several books were released this week about which I was very excited. Emperor of Thorns, Codex Born and Land of Stories: The Enchantress Returns were added to my library this week in Kindle format. It was disappointing though that Audible didn’t have Emperor of Thorns available on release day. I have been absorbed in the story, and I would have liked the professional narration to help it along. I will, of course, be reviewing these books in due course. I have had Cassandra Clare’s City of Bones, the first book of The Mortal Instruments series, in my Audible library for some time, but I have had difficulty getting into it. However, as soon as I listened to the first few minutes of Jennifer Ehle’s narration of The Clockwork Angel, the first book of the Infernal Devices trilogy, I knew I was hooked. I immediately bought all three books in both Kindle and Audible formats. Sadly, Ms…
In my reading roundup for 2nd August I read Mark Lawrence’s King of Thorns, which I read on Kindle and listened to on Audible. As I mentioned last week, I’d been convinced to give this series another try despite not really being engaged in the first book, and I’m very glad I did. I think it helped that I both read and listened to it. James Clamp is competent as a narrator (check out a sample), but I suspect I perhaps missed a lot in the first book (which I only listened to on Audible) due to my dislike of the main character. Yes, Jorg is still a bloodthirsty, vengeful character, but he is maturing and is capable of thinking of others from time to time. The concept of the “memory box” and what I means for Jorg as well as the part it plays in the story is very well done. I gave King of Thorns four stars out of five. This is an improvement on the three stars I gave the first book Prince of Thorns. Perhaps Emperor of Thorns will make five stars. I also was fascinated by the references to our own world. I’m not…
In my reading roundup for 2nd August I read Mark Lawrence’s King of Thorns, which I read on Kindle and listened to on Audible. As I mentioned last week, I’d been convinced to give this series another try despite not really being engaged in the first book, and I’m very glad I did. I think it helped that I both read and listened to it. James Clamp is competent as a narrator (check out a sample), but I suspect I perhaps missed a lot in the first book (which I only listened to on Audible) due to my dislike of the main character. Yes, Jorg is still a bloodthirsty, vengeful character, but he is maturing and is capable of thinking of others from time to time. The concept of the “memory box” and what I means for Jorg as well as the part it plays in the story is very well done. I gave King of Thorns four stars out of five. This is an improvement on the three stars I gave the first book Prince of Thorns. Perhaps Emperor of Thorns will make five stars. I also was fascinated by the references to our own world. I’m not…
After the frantic reading of BookTubeAThon 2013 I don’t have many books to discuss for this week’s reading roundup. The first book I read was Switched at Birth by “Kathryn Kennish”. The quotes are around the author’s name as this book was written in the universe of ABC Family’s drama Switched at Birth about two families who discover their daughters were involved in a hospital mixup. This show has been my recent guilty pleasure when not reading. Other than the character drama the merging of two families causes, I’ve found it a fascinating insight into the world of the deaf – one of the young women concerned is deaf. Many of the scenes involve, or are wholly in, American Sign Language. The writing and acting on the show are of excellent quality, so perhaps my expectations of the novelisation were too high. I found the novel uninteresting and lacking the depth that comes across in the show. It was written from the point of view of the hearing mother and barely touched on one of the most interesting aspects of the book, her learning about the deaf language and culture. I would suggest you skip the book and watch the show,…
After the frantic reading of BookTubeAThon 2013 I don’t have many books to discuss for this week’s reading roundup. The first book I read was Switched at Birth by “Kathryn Kennish”. The quotes are around the author’s name as this book was written in the universe of ABC Family’s drama Switched at Birth about two families who discover their daughters were involved in a hospital mixup. This show has been my recent guilty pleasure when not reading. Other than the character drama the merging of two families causes, I’ve found it a fascinating insight into the world of the deaf – one of the young women concerned is deaf. Many of the scenes involve, or are wholly in, American Sign Language. The writing and acting on the show are of excellent quality, so perhaps my expectations of the novelisation were too high. I found the novel uninteresting and lacking the depth that comes across in the show. It was written from the point of view of the hearing mother and barely touched on one of the most interesting aspects of the book, her learning about the deaf language and culture. I would suggest you skip the book and watch the show,…