Bibliomusings: July 2009

Sunday, July 5, 2009

The House of the Scorpion--Nancy Farmer

Genre: Dystopian/Young Adult Fiction
Published: 2002
Pages: 380
Rating: 5/5

This is one of the best books I've read all year. I admit, I'm a sucker for some good dystopian fiction, but this book is extremely well-written. It takes place in a fictional land along the American/Mexican border, which is run by drug lords who own huge plantations farmed by human "ijits"--people who have had been surgically adapted to do nothing except their job. Enter Matteo, the main character, a clone who has been bred to further the life of the plantation's owner, El Patron. As Matteo grows up and begins to realize what El Patron has in store for him, he must decide if he will escape into a world that is even more frightening than the plantation itself.

This book is moving, chilling, suspenseful and riveting. Excellent reading for young adults and grown-ups alike.

Book a week #: 30
Date read: 5/9/09
Challenge/s: Young Adult

Life, the Universe, and Everything--Douglas Adams

Genre: Humor/Science Fiction
Published: 1982
Pages: 227
Rating: 5/5

"The regular early morning yell of horror was the sound of Arthur Dent waking up and suddenly remembering where he was."

Review coming soon!

Date Read: 5/2/09
Book a Week # 29

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe--Douglas Adams

Genre: Humor/Science Fiction
Published: 1980
Pages: 256
Rating: 5/5

Review coming soon!

Out For More Blood: Tales of Malice and Retaliation by Women--

Genre: Short Fiction Compilation
Published: 1996
Pages: 240
Rating: 3/5

This is a compilation of stories about women who don't lie down quietly when bad things happen to them and theirs. Some stories are better than others, but all in all it is an interesting read.

Date Read: 4/17/09
Book a week # 27

Destined for Destiny: The Unauthorized Autobiography of George W. Bush--Scott Dikkers and Peter Hilleran

Genre: Humor
Published: 2006
Pages: 192
Rating: 3/5

"Like 'Roots' Only White."

Written by the creators of The Onion, a parody of a newspaper, this book pokes fun at our former president by creating his unauthorized autobiography. If you are a Bush supporter you will probably hate this book, but if you are like most of the population you'll find it amusing. The picture section, which shows Jesus in every great moment in Bush's life, is particularly funny.

Book-a-week #: 26
Date Read: 4/15/09

Great Quotes

"The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience." (Atticus, To Kill a Mockingbird; Harper Lee)

"But maybe the last part of the symphony was the music she loved the best--glad and like the greatest people in the world running and springing up in a hard, free way. Wonderful music like this was the worst hurt there could be. The whole world was this symphony, and there was not enough of her to listen." (The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers)

"Dark of the invisible moon. The nights now only slightly less black. By day the banished sun circles the earth like a grieving mother with a lamp." (The Road; Cormac McCarthy)

"There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened." (The Restaurant at the End of the Universe; Douglas Adams)

"I ought not to have listened to her," he confided to me one day. "One never ought to listen to the flowers. One should simply look at them and breathe their fragrance. Mine perfumed all my planet. But I did not know how to take pleasure in all her grace. This tale of claws, which disturbed me so much, should only have filled my heart with tenderness and pity."

And he continued his confidences: "The fact is that I did not know how to understand anything! I ought to have judged by deeds and not by words. She cast her fragrance and her radiance over me. I ought never to have run away from her... I ought to have guessed all the affection that lay behind her poor little strategems. Flowers are so inconsistent! But I was too young to know how to love her..." (The Little Prince; Anton de Saint-Exupery)

Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead. (Betting on the Muse; Charles Bukowski)

Disbelief in magic can force a poor soul into believing in government and business. (Tom Robbins)

But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears. (The Prophet; Kahlil Gibran)

You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body. (C.S. Lewis)

"For in a swift radiance of illumination he saw a glimpse of human struggle and of valor. Of the endless fluid passage of humanity through endless time. And of those who labor and of those who--one word--love." (The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers)