Bout of Books is such a fantastic way to interact with and support other bloggers, I thought it would be nice to share that love with our favorite authors too. As described on the Bout of Books site, you can tweet about an author you love using the hashtag #showauthorlove. You can also share in the comments one thing you have done to show an author some love today, whether that’s writing a blog post about an suthor you love or following an author on social media. I will then use a random number generator to pick one winner from Twitter and one winner from the comments to each win a ten dollar gift card to Amazon or a book worth up to ten dollars from the book depository. Again thanks for your patience with the late post!

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Non-Fiction News and Resources

• Searching for nonfiction news each week, I often come across sites like Brevity which public nonfiction essays and I was curious… do any of you read non-fiction essays online? Personally, my love of reading non-fiction doesn’t extend beyond books, but maybe someday it will
• I love books about books, even when they’re books about books in the crime fiction genre, which hasn’t been my genre of choice lately
• I’m also loving this list which combines two great genres – LGBT books and non-fiction
• If you’re trying to buy fewer books, I’m afraid I’m not going to help because I’m going to point out this great Nonfiction Addiction sale
• And some interesting new titles coming out this week include:
  • Embryos Under the Microscope: The Diverging Meanings of Life
  • Good Catholics: The Battle over Abortion in the Catholic Church
  • The Art of Neil Gaiman
  • The Third Plate: Field Notes on the Future of Food

The post Non-Fiction Friday appeared first on Doing Dewey.

Title: 

I’ve been hearing fantastic things about Neil Gaiman’s books since I started blogging, so I’m excited to have finally gotten to reading some of his books and to have gotten to hear him speak. I thought it would be nice to open with a brief review of his talk since it made me want to read and listen to more of his books, even more so than the books of his which I’ve read. Looking at a list of Gaiman’s published works and hearing him speak solidified my impression that he is an author who writes at least as eclectically as I read. His talk was very thought-provoking and often hilarious and I felt as though every word was chosen with care. His dynamic readings convinced me that I should read some his books as audiobooks and his mastery of language convinced me that I should read more of his books in general. If you get a chance to see him talk, I’d highly recommend it

Title: The Graveyard Book
Author: Neil Gaiman
Source: library for book club
Rating: ★★★★☆

I read this with my book club, so for my review, I’ll share some of our observations. Many of us, myself included, enjoyed the references to popular mythology, although some people didn’t notice all of them. I think we all generally felt that the book read like a bunch of short stories which had been pasted together but were a bit disjointed and the ending was quite abrupt. On the other hand, we all loved the writing and drawings, both of which I thought worked well together to capture the emotion of different scenes. Like in Gaiman’s talk, I felt as though every word was carefully chosen. I was struck by the creepiness of these scenes he described, but even that was overshadowed by the beauty of the writing. This was a very cool, unique middle grade book.

Title: American Gods
Author: Neil Gaiman
Source: borrowed from a friend
Rating: ★★★★☆

The writing in this book was also really enjoyable, writing that made me want to read it out loud. I did eventually notice that the vocabulary used in this book was less exciting than I expected, lacking in beautiful words despite the beautiful sentences. The plot of the book reminded me of a thriller, with lots of action and lots of sex. I was a bit disappointed by how much this book resembled the archetypal thriller, since I’ve not been in the mood for thrillers lately. However, the writing was far above average, as was the creativity of the plot. The integration of mythology into a book that otherwise would fit neatly into the thriller genre was an exciting twist. And the plot twists at the end caught me completely off guard in the best of ways. Overall, I think this was probably Gaiman’s version of a thriller; I think I liked it far better than I would have a more stereotypical book in that genre; and I think there are probably other books of Gaiman’s that I would be blown away by. I’ll definitely be looking to read more of his work.

Related articles

• Mini-Reviews of Short Non-Fiction
• The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry
• The Word Exchange

The post Neil Gaiman Mini-Reviews appeared first on Doing Dewey.

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Title: 

The Serpent of Venice draws on a number of classics, including The Merchant of Venice, Othello, and The Cask of Amontillado, and then adds a large helping of irreverent humor. The fool Pocket has made enemies of the merchant Antonio, senator Brabantio, and soldier Iago by opposing a war which would make them rich. In order to get Pocket out of the way, these three men invite him to a party with an assassination attempt in mind. However, Pocket is not as easy to kill as they might think and he’ll be back with revenge in mind.

This is one of those three star ratings which is really me wanting to give two stars to some parts of the story and four stars to other parts. The idea for the plot was definitely a four start bit and my favorite part of the book. The author does a great job merging the plots from the classics he references. He preserves some lines and scenes to give exciting flashes of recognition but also creates something very unique. After I got used to the author’s writing style, I also was very absorbed in the plot and felt like something exciting was always happening. The two star part of the plot was the introduction of the titular character, a mythical beast who showed up to rescue the good guys every time things were looking hopeless. I would have preferred to see the characters find solutions to more of their problems themselves.

The humor was another part of the story which was hit or miss for me. The humor involves some strong language, which I expected, but was also very focused on sex. In some cases this felt very forced and I thought it detracted from the story. Initially the swearing also pulled me out of the story, because, even knowing about it going in, it just wasn’t what I expected from a story set in historical Venice. However, as I got further into the story, I became more accustomed to the author’s writing style and sense of humor. This made the swearing much less distracting. The good part of the humor is that some if it was really funny. My favorite parts where were characters broke the fourth wall and interacted with the narrating chorus. At the end of the day,I had a lot of fun reading this and would definitely try another book by the author, especially now that I’ve gotten used to the writing style. I would recommend this to fans of creative retellings, especially those with a high tolerance for swearing and sexual innuendo.

For some other perspectives, check out the other stops on the tour, Amazon, or Goodreads.

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Title: 

Killing fairies is hard enough even when you don’t have to look like a proper lady at the same time. After Aileana’s mother is killed by a fairy, she has very few friends to turn to as she navigates balls and teas. Fortunately, she does have a fae mentor to help with fairy killing as she seeks revenge for her mother’s death. As the fairies Aileana battles become more dangerous, she has a tough decision to make. Is she willing to give up appearances and the proper, married life she dreamed of in order to exact her revenge?

I was having fun with this book from the very first page, in part because I was excited about doing an informal read-along with Anya from On Starships and Dragonwings, but also because the world building was so well done. The author did a great job describing what was currently happening in a way that hinted at the big picture. The constant action and intriguing hints of more world building to come kept me quickly turning pages through the whole book. Especially cool elements of the world building included the Scottish mythology, the awesome steampunk inventions, and the somewhat unusual choice to have the fairies be the bad guys.

The characters were another part of this book I enjoyed. Aileana is a somewhat complex character, trying to balance her social obligations and her desire for revenge. She loves inventing weapons and gets a thrill from hunting fairies which makes her question her own morality. The secondary characters were also interesting and well developed. I particularly liked seeing the friendships Aileana had, since I feel friendship is an overlooked relationship in many books. At the same time, romance is often overdone for my taste. That meant that I was very happy to see hints of a love triangle fizzle out and to see the romance in general take a back seat to the adventure. There were a few instances where I thought the heroine was being stupid about boys and the ending was such a cliff-hanger I felt like the author just stopped writing, but other than those two small gripes, I loved everything about this book. Perfect for fans of Gail Carriger and for anyone looking for a fun adventure with a great setting and not too much romance.

Amazon|Goodreads

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Non-Fiction News and Resources

• Some interesting discussions about creative non-fiction this week! This article talks about the power of creative non-fiction
• But this article points out the danger of authors being tempted to distort the facts for a good story
• I was really hoping this article about choosing a good non-fiction title would include a joke about always having a ridiculously long subtitle
• And some great books coming out this week include:
  • Virtual Economies: Design and Analysis
  • Queerly Beloved: A Love Story Across Genders
  • Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation (found via Kim at Sophisticated Dorkiness)
  • The Duchess’s Shells: Natural History Collecting in the Age of Cook’s Voyages

Related articles

• Non-Fiction Friday
• Non-Fiction Friday
• Mini-Reviews of Short Non-Fiction

The post Non-Fiction Friday appeared first on Doing Dewey.

Title: 

Things are not going well for Kitty Logan. The story that was supposed to make her career has turned into a scandal and her beloved mentor is dying. When her friend passes away, she leaves Kitty with a mission: to write the story she always wanted to write. Unfortunately, all Kitty has to go on is a list of one hundred names. She’s on a tight deadline and isn’t sure she’ll even be able to find the right people, much less meet all of them and find out what connects them. Solving this puzzle for her mentor is a challenge, but one which might just help Kitty solve some problems of her own.

Before reading One Hundred Names, I already knew I loved Cecelia Ahern, having had wonderful experiences with both The Book of Tomorrow and The Time of My Life. This book lived up to all the expectations those books had created. What gets me started reading each book by Ahern is the fascinating premise. It’s hard not to get excited about a book with a great hook! Although in this case the big reveal hinted at by the description was a bit predictable, I didn’t feel like that took away from the novelty and beauty of the idea. It was a great way to start a fun, madcap adventure I was swept away by. More importantly, it introduced the reason I keep reading each book by Ahern – the brilliant characters.

In each book I’ve read, the main character grows as a person. This is something I really enjoy in a book. In fact, I think this is the reason a slightly predictable plot can be completely wonderful. Although I can relax, knowing the Ahern is going to leave me with warm fuzzy feelings, the main character still has to work for it. I also fell in love with the many secondary characters, learning just enough about their inner workings to be invested in their stories too. Aside from the starting point of each of Ahern’s books, much of what is portrayed within is simply ordinary life. This could be boring, but Ahern uses her exciting premises and touching writing to highlight the beauty and wonder that lurk in ordinary events. Her books could also easily be too predictable, too cliched, too orchestrated. However, the unique premise of each book saves them from cliche and the character growth allows the predictability to turn her books into comfort reads, without taking away from the plot. All of this makes Ahern’s books some of my favorite examples of a happy story done right.
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Amazon|Goodreads

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Title: 

Signs of the impending collapse of the Soviet Union are everywhere, but fear of the regime is equally widespread. Piano playing prodigy Yevgeni faces violence daily as he travels the city. His aunt and mother struggle to make ends meet while staying under the radar. Everyone knows something has gone terribly wrong, from farm boy Artyom who notices that the cows’ ears are bleeding to Grigory, a doctor who sees how peoples’ lives are valued less than keeping up appearances. All of these characters will struggle to not only survive, but to make a difference.

I like to think that as I’ve been writing reviews, I’ve gotten better at describing the writing techniques which I like and dislike. Nevertheless, I still sometimes stumble across a gem like this, where the writing is simply perfect for reasons which surpass my understanding. Part of it is that the author uses somber adjectives and short, sharp descriptions, like a flash lighting up bits of the scene he’s describing. Part of it is that he’s clearly done his research. Reading about every character, from the farm boy to the doctor, I felt immersed in the captivating details of their daily life. Part of it is the minimalism of his writing and part of it is the insightfulness of his comments on human nature. And part of it was his ability to surprise me with new metaphors and descriptions that never would occur to me, but which were always apropos. But for all of those things I can define, I still feel like there’s something intangible which made the writing so perfect.

Something I disliked about the book, but which I don’t think will be a negative for everyone, is how dark and depressing it was. There’s some violence, including violence towards animals and children, which added to the plot. There was also some violence I didn’t think was necessary. Perhaps it was historically accurate, but even so, I would have been happier without it. I also wasn’t entirely happy with the ending because when I finished I felt uncertain what the point of the story was. We didn’t get to observe much character growth. None of the characters are able to significantly alter the state of the country. There’s some build up to large confrontation which never occurs. However, I think enjoyment and education I found while reading are point enough, so I would still recommend this very highly.

For some other perspectives, check out the other stops on the tour, Amazon, or Goodreads.

Related articles

• The Word Exchange
• The Shadow Queen – Review and Giveaway
• The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry

The post All That Is Solid Melts Into Air appeared first on Doing Dewey.

Title: 

Parts of this book really worked for me. Other parts, not so much. Many of the jokes were punny and ridiculous and over-the-top, but I enjoyed them because of the love of cats underlying the jokes. Some of the jokes were truly hilarious, regardless of context, and made me laugh out loud as I read. I was a bit disappointed with the focus on making fun of celebrity culture though. This isn’t because those parts weren’t funny to me. I just hoped for more of a focus on cats, which interest me far more than celebrities. There were a few suggestions for things to do with your cat that could be harmful to your cat. While to me it was obvious this suggestions weren’t meant to be taken seriously, I personally wouldn’t ever bet against human stupidity. The responsible choice, I think, would have been to leave those suggestions out. However, those small complaints aside, I definitely got enough amusement out of this book to justify the time spent on it. The funny cat pictures alone are enough reason to pick this up, if you love cats and are looking for a fun, short read.

Title: Fictitious Dishes
Author: Dinah Fried
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: ★★★★☆

Although I loved the idea of taking photographs of recreations of meals from classic books, I was concerned the resulting book would be too insubstantial to be enjoyable. I was wrong. Each two page spread includes a picture by Dinah, a quote from the book, and some fun facts. The pictures are beautifully done, with incredible attention to detail. Since I’m not used to reading coffee table books, I initially had to make myself slow down to appreciate the pictures. I quickly became engaged enough by the pictures that I lingered over them naturally. The passages from the books complemented the pictures perfectly and the fun facts gave me a little something extra to think about. All in all, an enjoyable and beautiful book. The final product was just as cool as the premise, making this a great gift for the classic lover in your life (even if that means gifting this to yourself).

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