Book Reviews
Mar. 10th, 2006 09:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
melwilBook 47: Earthly Delights by Kerry Greenwood
"I kick at the wall with a furious foot, a waste of effort, for when they built this building they built it to survive anything short of an exploding volcano. I swear into the chill grey pre-dawn light. Then I see a figure slumped on my ventilation grate."
Ok. So I have recently overdosed on Kerry Greenwood books. And I have problems with them.
The first one concerns the baking. Corrina, the main character and narrator, is a baker. Ms Greenwood, our author, presumably knows nothing about bakeries apart from the notion that they smell good. She begin baking sometime about 4.30 (seeing that she wakes at 4, has coffee and breakfast and then dresses before baking) and gets all the work done (both for orders and for the shop) in about three and a half hours. And she has a mouse problem which is solved with cats. Which in the first book the health inspector has no problem with.
The second concern is the Ancient History. Greenwood has digusted me before by using the phrase "those hoi polloi" (Translated into english - those the people). Now she has a building built in some 'Roman' style, with apartments given Roman names. Included amongst the inhabitants is a classics Professor who is presumably so into the Romans that he had Roman furniture made. But his life work? Translating Aristophanes. 1. Aristophanes is not that hard - novice greek learners (like me) can translate large amount. 2. Aristophanes was Greek. Writing in Greek. When I learnt Greek, us pro-hellenic types rather looked down on the Romans who stole everything from the Greeks . . . (ok, leave the Greek vs. Roman debate for later). Anyway - it doesn't add up.
Third problem - a problem I'm beginning to notice with Australian crime novels. A cute little habit of making an in-joke about the location.
Fourth problem - these books are going to be terribly dated. Phillip Ruddock jokes and Buffy references.
Fifth problem - 18 year olds who read Girlfriend. They might be ditzes, but they would have given Girlfriend up about 14 or 15 and moved on to Comso/Cleo
Anyway, in the first book Corrina finds a body outside her bakery, meets a tall dark stranger, goes to a goth club, finds a bakery assistant who makes good muffins, and searches for a missing girl. Badly written, badly researched a lot of the time, but strangely addictive. I was looking forward to the second book.
A 3 out of 5
Book 48: Heavenly Pleasures by Kerry Greenwood
My name is Corrina Chapman and I am a baker
This book was better than the first one, possibly because the plots were calmed down a bit. Three main plots - someone spiking expensive chocolates, a mysterious man being target by some toughs, a 'messiah' causing problems in the local remand centre. Same problems as the first - more Buffy references, more bad baking, more screwing with the Greeks and Romans. There was also a bit of discussion about finance which I don't think was written as well as it could have been
But, all in all, an improvement. I was looking forward to the third book
A 3.5 out of 5
Book 49: Devil's Food by Kerry Greenwood
It was one of the most horrible sound-effects I had ever heard. A thud, then a sick, wet crack, as though the victim's skull had been cloven . . .
I was lookinmg forward to Devil's Food - the first book had been bad, but addictive. The second book had been better than the first. I was hoping this was a sign of better things to come.
No suck luck.
Devil's Food has so many flying plot lines that it's really quite impossible to work out where to begin. Monks, missing fathers, corrupt police, fake herbs, smuggling, nerds, goths . . .
Not to mention the shameful fact that Greenwood bought Corinna's mother into the fiction, than barely used her at all.
Greenwood has become terribly lazy with this book. Phrases are used over from other books - her cats are still eating "Endangered Species of the Southern Ocean". Corinna's "need to feed hungry things" has still "met its fulfillment in Jason." And Jason is moved temporarily into the building, putting all of Corinna's people in one place. Oh, and the strange lapse into third person somewhere near the end. And the pages long argument over which character in the OC was cuter.
As part of this book deals with weight, I feel that I need to make mention of something. Corrina (according to the website) weighs 100kg and feels the need to make some disparaging remarks about thin women. This is a surefire way to piss me off, and actually made the characters rather distateful, in a way I had not felt before. I'm not sure if it's a character flaw, or an author flaw, but I wasn't impressed.
The worst book of the three.
A 2.5 out of 5.
Links:
Earthly Delights Website
An Earthly Delights review
Apparently the reviewer from the ABC adored the first two books. I shall never trust the ABC again
Lizbee reviews the third book
Finally! A negative review of Devil's food, proving that Liz and I are not the only ones who didn't like it
Book 50: Twins by Marcy Dermansky
I wanted tattoos for our thirteenth birthday. Chloe didn't. Chloe refused. I told her I did not know what I would do if she kept saying no.
Wow. I found this book when browsing in Borders yesterday, and took it to work with me. My workmate is an identical twin herself, and we chatted a bit about that before I started reading, so I had some real life experiences to think about.
This book is amazing. Told by two narrators - our twins Sue and Chloe - you're never confused about who's point of view you're looking at. The story begins with Sue - the younger and somewhat obsessive twin - convincing Chloe to get a tattoo for their thirteenth birthday. Once they have a tattoo, Sue thinks that they'll never be able to be apart again.
The beginning felt reminiscent to Thirteen (the movie), with Sue the rebellious one, and Chloe following. But as the movie went through a number of years, things change, perfection is challenged and the girls are adopted/challenged by a number of friends. Meanwhile their parents pull away, separate from each other, then get back together - only to separate from their children.
It's difficult to go into the wondrous details of this book - I swallowed it whole and it would probably serve some later readings. I couldn't see it as the black comedy it was billed as - I felt that the 'comedy' was just sad most of the time. There were a few 'first book' quibbles - but all in all an enjoyable read.
4.5 out of 5
Powell's Staff Picks
Another review
And one more
"I kick at the wall with a furious foot, a waste of effort, for when they built this building they built it to survive anything short of an exploding volcano. I swear into the chill grey pre-dawn light. Then I see a figure slumped on my ventilation grate."
Ok. So I have recently overdosed on Kerry Greenwood books. And I have problems with them.
The first one concerns the baking. Corrina, the main character and narrator, is a baker. Ms Greenwood, our author, presumably knows nothing about bakeries apart from the notion that they smell good. She begin baking sometime about 4.30 (seeing that she wakes at 4, has coffee and breakfast and then dresses before baking) and gets all the work done (both for orders and for the shop) in about three and a half hours. And she has a mouse problem which is solved with cats. Which in the first book the health inspector has no problem with.
The second concern is the Ancient History. Greenwood has digusted me before by using the phrase "those hoi polloi" (Translated into english - those the people). Now she has a building built in some 'Roman' style, with apartments given Roman names. Included amongst the inhabitants is a classics Professor who is presumably so into the Romans that he had Roman furniture made. But his life work? Translating Aristophanes. 1. Aristophanes is not that hard - novice greek learners (like me) can translate large amount. 2. Aristophanes was Greek. Writing in Greek. When I learnt Greek, us pro-hellenic types rather looked down on the Romans who stole everything from the Greeks . . . (ok, leave the Greek vs. Roman debate for later). Anyway - it doesn't add up.
Third problem - a problem I'm beginning to notice with Australian crime novels. A cute little habit of making an in-joke about the location.
Fourth problem - these books are going to be terribly dated. Phillip Ruddock jokes and Buffy references.
Fifth problem - 18 year olds who read Girlfriend. They might be ditzes, but they would have given Girlfriend up about 14 or 15 and moved on to Comso/Cleo
Anyway, in the first book Corrina finds a body outside her bakery, meets a tall dark stranger, goes to a goth club, finds a bakery assistant who makes good muffins, and searches for a missing girl. Badly written, badly researched a lot of the time, but strangely addictive. I was looking forward to the second book.
A 3 out of 5
Book 48: Heavenly Pleasures by Kerry Greenwood
My name is Corrina Chapman and I am a baker
This book was better than the first one, possibly because the plots were calmed down a bit. Three main plots - someone spiking expensive chocolates, a mysterious man being target by some toughs, a 'messiah' causing problems in the local remand centre. Same problems as the first - more Buffy references, more bad baking, more screwing with the Greeks and Romans. There was also a bit of discussion about finance which I don't think was written as well as it could have been
But, all in all, an improvement. I was looking forward to the third book
A 3.5 out of 5
Book 49: Devil's Food by Kerry Greenwood
It was one of the most horrible sound-effects I had ever heard. A thud, then a sick, wet crack, as though the victim's skull had been cloven . . .
I was lookinmg forward to Devil's Food - the first book had been bad, but addictive. The second book had been better than the first. I was hoping this was a sign of better things to come.
No suck luck.
Devil's Food has so many flying plot lines that it's really quite impossible to work out where to begin. Monks, missing fathers, corrupt police, fake herbs, smuggling, nerds, goths . . .
Not to mention the shameful fact that Greenwood bought Corinna's mother into the fiction, than barely used her at all.
Greenwood has become terribly lazy with this book. Phrases are used over from other books - her cats are still eating "Endangered Species of the Southern Ocean". Corinna's "need to feed hungry things" has still "met its fulfillment in Jason." And Jason is moved temporarily into the building, putting all of Corinna's people in one place. Oh, and the strange lapse into third person somewhere near the end. And the pages long argument over which character in the OC was cuter.
As part of this book deals with weight, I feel that I need to make mention of something. Corrina (according to the website) weighs 100kg and feels the need to make some disparaging remarks about thin women. This is a surefire way to piss me off, and actually made the characters rather distateful, in a way I had not felt before. I'm not sure if it's a character flaw, or an author flaw, but I wasn't impressed.
The worst book of the three.
A 2.5 out of 5.
Links:
Earthly Delights Website
An Earthly Delights review
Apparently the reviewer from the ABC adored the first two books. I shall never trust the ABC again
Lizbee reviews the third book
Finally! A negative review of Devil's food, proving that Liz and I are not the only ones who didn't like it
Book 50: Twins by Marcy Dermansky
I wanted tattoos for our thirteenth birthday. Chloe didn't. Chloe refused. I told her I did not know what I would do if she kept saying no.
Wow. I found this book when browsing in Borders yesterday, and took it to work with me. My workmate is an identical twin herself, and we chatted a bit about that before I started reading, so I had some real life experiences to think about.
This book is amazing. Told by two narrators - our twins Sue and Chloe - you're never confused about who's point of view you're looking at. The story begins with Sue - the younger and somewhat obsessive twin - convincing Chloe to get a tattoo for their thirteenth birthday. Once they have a tattoo, Sue thinks that they'll never be able to be apart again.
The beginning felt reminiscent to Thirteen (the movie), with Sue the rebellious one, and Chloe following. But as the movie went through a number of years, things change, perfection is challenged and the girls are adopted/challenged by a number of friends. Meanwhile their parents pull away, separate from each other, then get back together - only to separate from their children.
It's difficult to go into the wondrous details of this book - I swallowed it whole and it would probably serve some later readings. I couldn't see it as the black comedy it was billed as - I felt that the 'comedy' was just sad most of the time. There were a few 'first book' quibbles - but all in all an enjoyable read.
4.5 out of 5
Powell's Staff Picks
Another review
And one more
