By total luck and timing, I came into possession of an advance reader’s copy of Neal Stephenson’s new book Anathem, due out in early September. I smiled the rest of my way through work on the fourth with the book by my side. What a great prize for working on the holiday.

I have tough choices as I head into my week of vacation. How do I split my time between knitting my highly addictive red cardigan and reading the, not even released, book of one of my favorite authors? Plus all the boating, berry picking and general hanging-out to be done with good friends.

Isn’t vacation wonderful?

I did have a chance to read a couple books and bake a couple cakes in August.

You can see my book reviews for Voyager, Harry Potter 7, and Maida Heatter’s Great Desserts in my Library section.

While I have some great recommendations on my pending list, I’m not sure what to read next. I want something incredible, something inspiring. Any suggestions?

I’ve caught up with my book reviews. Instead of milking these posts over the next few days, I’m giving you all my reviews at once. Most recommended of the books below are Shielding Her Modesty and Bel Canto.

• Shielding Her Modesty by Sita Bhaskar
• Hardboiled and Hard Luck by Banana Yoshimoto
• Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
• Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon
• Thud!: A Novel of Discworld (Discworld Novels) by Terry Pratchett
• Bel Canto (P.S.) by Ann Patchett

Announcing my very own “Books I’m reading” sidebar. I know that everyone else has one, but being me I couldn’t just drop in whatever, I had to make it difficult. I’m proud that, after upgrading my whole blogging system, now I too can catalog my books.* Check it out under “Paper” in the side bar. I’ve even put some books into my library.

They represent the backlog of books I’ve read since my last book review. I’m planning to write reviews of them during the rest of this month. There are some gems on the list that I want to share.

*Ofcourse, this little project has brought into question what the whole point of this blog thing is. Who cares what I’m reading? Who cares about any of this? The answer I keep coming back to is that I care. I like writing, I like organizing my photos and I like the idea of having a place to record my thoughts on books. This whole November writing month thing has brought out a certain anxiety that feels a hell of a lot like competitiveness. My on-line notebook doesn’t need to be popular, it doesn’t need to make money, it just needs to make me feel good, just like eating avocados with salt.

by Susanna Clarke

“Yay! I finally finished it!” That was my first thought as my eyes took in the last words of this tome. “Whew!” was my next reaction.

This is the story of two magicians who attempt to bring magic back to England during the 1800s. It is firmly a fantasy book, taking place in an alternate reality of England. The prose are written in Jane Austen style.

Through and through, the author is true to Austen’s removed style, to the detriment of the story. I felt the same frustrations as I’ve experienced in the past with this style. The reader knows more than the characters and the characters take FOREVER to figure out what is going on and they never really understand it. All interactions are obtuse.

The book, while dragging on in length and style was still very immersive. I read much of this book while waiting for the train and I would often look up, expecting some magical event to occur just down the platform from me. I wanted the characters to figure things out. I cared what happened to them. I was uhappy when they didn’t live up to my epxpectations. And maybe that is my true problem with this book. The male characters all fall into the “evil” role and the femle characters are all under developed. There was no one to love and admire without question.

Would I recommend this book? Yes, to certain people but no to most. Because of the length, style and character traits of the “heros” this book is not for everyone. The portrayal of magic and mysticism would make it enjoyable for those who are already fantasy fans but it is not a conversion book.

I was surprised to learn, on the books own site, they are making it into a movie. It is a movie I would see.

I’m now ready for something ligther, something I don’t have to fight against. But first I plan to catch up with my back issues of Metropolis Magazine. That’s fun reading!