Book

Review written for ClubReading.com by Barbara I’m reviewing this book just in case people exist who haven’t read it, and if that’s the case, we all know they’re in for a wonderful read. It’s a tale written with several layers, the first being a tangible one involving a community of rabbits whose warren is about to be destroyed and who must venture forth to find a new Eden. Huge adventures filled with danger and bravery and humor ensue, and they’re all told from a rabbit point of view without ever dropping below an adult reading level. The book’s second layer is allegorical. It’s where you’ll find notions of freedom, heroism, myth, and more, but you need not even recognize this part because the book is written by a master storyteller. ...

Review written for ClubReading.com by Tony A wild and wonderful fantasy unleashed by Erica Jong’s poetic and deliciously sensual imagination. In this romp through time, Jessica, a judge at the Venice Film Festival, mysteriously receives a series of sonnets, written in beautiful calligraphy and enclosed in parchment envelopes. Magically, Jessica finds herself transformed into a Venetian Jewess of Shakespeare’s time. A delightful tale, in which I learned that the Venetians have a word for the shimmering light reflected from water onto ceilings, and was inspired to peruse “The Merchant of Venice,” which is woven into the plot. This was one of those rare stories that I willingly allowed to suspend my disbelief and draw me into another world. ...

Review written for ClubReading.com by Susan Old wizard pals Roger Bacon and Prospero are being threatened by a monstrous evil, and they must use their wizardly wits to escape and stay alive. With this deceptively simple premise, and without a trace of blood and gore, Bellairs takes his readers on a journey into pure nightmare. His tale is filled with slithering menace, and yet it is written with humor and charm. This book is one of those rarities that sucks you in with the first sentence and keeps its claws around your neck until the very end. Meant for young adults, though it can be enjoyed by any age group that doesn’t mind sleeping with the lights on. ...

Review written for ClubReading.com by Barbara If you have preschoolers, you must read these two books to them. Don’t get them out of the library; instead, buy them because you’re going to have to read them over and over and over again. This will give you the opportunity for a future filled with a wonderful sloppy sentimentality whenever you even think about these books. (Nearly twenty years later, a tear still forms in my eye.) Oh, and by the way, little people love Brown’s books for the way her words weave a security blanket around their small, vulnerable souls. ...

Review written for ClubReading.com by Susan Irene and Hugh meet in the parallel world they have separately discovered, and each of them holds a unique key: Irene often finds the entrance closed to her but can always get out; for Hugh, the opposite is true. Neither understands why they have found the cobbled streets and eternal cold twilight of Tembreabrezi, the town on the mountain, where Irene has been visiting since childhood, always compelled to return to the enigmatic people she has grown to love there. But now the refuge is horror, and the two are asked to go on a quest or perhaps they are being sacrificed; there is no explanation or help, and the accumulating dread will not end with the deed’s accomplishment. Thus the contemporary world with all its trash and garishness becomes the place of safety and hope. Nonetheless, you will find yourself yearning with all your heart for that twilight world in the high, cold mountains, however monstrous its people might have become. ...

Review written for ClubReading.com by Barbara Though there are many post-apocolytic novels, this one has an interesting twist. Near the beginning of it, we meet Gordon who has survived the war to become a wanderer, a teller of tales in exchange for food and shelter. When he happens upon a post office jeep, he sees that it’s not quite abandoned because it still contains the mailman, albeit quite skeletal. Gordon “borrows” the dead man’s jacket, then hefts his sack of letters. It’s time to deliver the mail. We then walk with Gordon through a ravaged land, meeting other survivors who fight far smaller wars but who are also fighting to recover their spirit and their home. ...

Review written for ClubReading.com by Linda I always thought cyberpunk would be hard to read, and tedious. But this book was recommended, and I needed some new reading, so I picked it up. I cannot remember the last time a book sucked me in as quickly as this one did. By the time I was on page 30, I had lost track of where I was and what I was doing (lucky for me, my laundromat is a fairly safe one!). ...

Review written for ClubReading.com by Gary This novel is set almost entirely upon the moon. The moon after having been used as a penal colony for many years has a population that has no freedoms, except for those few that are granted by the overseers. Any place without basic freedoms is ripe for revolution, and the moon is no exception. Life on the moon is described and is understandably difficult, but the residents of the moon do not seem to mind the limitations that life there imposes, and in fact create a society based upon these constraints that is quite different than the society on earth. ...

Review written for ClubReading.com by Linda This is the first in a series concerning Discworld by Pratchett. I had never read the Discworld series, but picked this up because I liked Good Omens so much. In fact, the sense of humor is the same, but not as obvious in Good Omens. The story is set on Discworld, which is really flat and it is possible to fall off the edge. The gods on Discworld are interesting creatures, and literally play games with the inhabitants, much as the ancient Greek tales tell about the gods playing with the humans. Except here, the gods literally play chess with the inhabitants. ...

Review written for ClubReading.com by Gary In Time Enough For Love, Heinlein spins the tale of Lazarus Long, a man born in 1912 who is still very much alive 2000+ years later. This book is mostly concerned with the life history of this man, who has experienced a little bit of everything over the course of his long life. Several tales are told throughout the book that can teach you the meaning and evolution of love in each person’s life. ...