The Scar, China Mieville
Wow. This was a step up from Perdido Street Station, and i thought PSS was fantastic. Set in the same world as New Crozubon, the story centers around a motley crew of a translator-cum-librarian, a scientist, a reMade man, a street kid, and an undercover spy/jack-of-all-trades. Pirates, drama, politics, and more will spin you for a wild ride. As always, Mieville's prose is lyrical and vivid, his vocabulary continues to provoke me to use a dictionary, and he manages to throw me for a loop even when i'm looking out for it. Highly recommended.
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The Reptile Room, Lemony Snicket
Horrible stories about nice children. I liked this (the second in the series) better than the first one - but it's entirely possible that's due to the importance of snakes to the plotlines. I'll continue reading - these are appropriate gifts for the children (or grown-ups with the right sensibilities) with a black sense of humour. And while i rarely recommend a book just by its cover, these are beautifully made and bound hardcovers at reasonable prices. It's nice to see people putting out well-made books.
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Revelation Space, Alastair Reynolds
A talented first novel in the hard SF & space opera genre. Dave loaned this to me months ago, and i finally had the time to sit down and read it. Russell and i have been playing the generate-that-person game a lot lately; if i were to apply it to this book, i'd say it's part the best of Banks' opera, societal, and universe history combined with the characterizations from Greg Bear. There are spots where i feel like it's been written to be a radio play - you swap between perspectives a lot, and when you come back to a particular scenario, there's often a one or two sentence recap that seems a little out of place when you read through in big chunks - like the recaps in radio plays that seem out of place when you listen to the whole series on a CD, in rapid sequence. Nonetheless, compelling characters and plot twists, lyrical use of language, and biology metaphor (instars! homeobox genes) tossed in for spice makes for a good read for meriko. I'm interested in seeing how his second book turned out. Recommended.
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King Rat, China Mieville
Our copy of this book is inscribed with authentic author errors. This book shares elements with Gaiman's Neverwhere - underground culture in London that 'normal's don't particpate in; adventures in the sewer, and parallels drawn on several old folktales, fables, and myths. Mieville throws in the added layer of a Pied Piper retelling, and mixes it all up with the Jungle scene and their music making. Not as thick with slang as you'd think, but with enough to give it the right amount of colour, the story is well-paced and very visual. As a bonus, his descriptions of the music almost make me want to listen to some jungle... but i suspect, as is often the case with Forrest, i'd like his descriptions better than the actual product. Highly recommended.
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Chez Panisse Fruit - Alice Waters
Another lovely contribution to our Chez Panisse library. I still want to be Alice Waters when i grow up. This is organized in the same fashion as Chez Panisse Vegetables - a section for each fruit, with some history and general information, followed by recipes that focus on that item. The end of the book contains a section with some basics, like pie, tart, and galette crusts, pastry cream and other building blocks. I've made the brandied cherries (though they're still soaking), a pie, and a tart - so far the recipes have been fantastic and easy to follow. Especially good for us, as we live in the same region as Chez Panisse - our seasonal food availability is right in line with theirs. Highly recommended.
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California Roll - Roger L. Simon
Truly silly, truly trashy. An early Silicon Valley-based hard-boiled detective novel obviously based around a parody of Apple Computer. PWEI said it best: The Secret Service, the Russians, they're all in this - they'll do it to James like they did it to Elvis. Dad brought this to me, and doesn't want it back. Do you want to take it off of my hands? Good for sick-day or brain-dead reading.
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