Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy (3 of 5 Short-Sighted Maidens)

Well...looks like I forgot again.

Tess, Tess, Tess...poor girl was doomed from the get go.  Don't let Thomas Hardy fool you into thinking that it's going to turn out well.  Be ready for one downer after another.  But that doesn't mean that you can't enjoy the book for what it is.  It's depressing, but lots of the great novels are depressing.  

Thomas Hardy is in fine form.  The descriptions of the landscape add several layers of depth to the novel.  I wrote a whole paper about how the city of Sandbourne mirrors Tess's predicament but I won't bore you with that here.  Just be satisfied that the depth is there if you're looking for it.

The Golden Compass - Philip Pullman (4.5 of 5 Hydrogen Balloons)

With all the negative comments I've heard about this book and the movie, I was somewhat concerned about reading The Golden Compass.  However, after finishing the book, I'm still trying to figure out what everybody was talking about.  Yes, there were a couple of discussions about the negative aspects of the Roman Catholic Church, but I don't see those comments extending to religion in general.

One of the most interesting elements of the novel is that every human character has a daemon that follows them wherever they go.  It is a shape-shifting representation of their soul.  The form of the daemons shifts constantly based on the mood of their humans' during their childhood and adolescence.  In their early adulthood their daemon takes on a permanent animal form.  The nature of animal reflects the personality of its human companion.  New aspects of this relationship between human and soul appear throughout the novel.  

Lyra Belacqua is a twelve-year-old girl living in at Jordan College.  When her friend Roger is taken by the Gobblers, a mysterious group that steals children, she and her daemon Pantalaimon set off the North to rescue him.  During her travels she meets the nomadic Gypians, an armoured bear named Lorek Byrnison, hydrogen balloon flying Lee Scoresby and the conniving Mrs. Coulter.

If you're like me and have heard the same rumors, I'd encourage you to give the book a chance.  I really enjoyed it and look forward to reading the sequel.  

The Master of Ballantrae - 2.75/5 Scottish Lords

So, everybody knows the book Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, I think this is largely due to the Muppets, but when I was eight years old I read it for the first time, and I really liked it, I also have always loved the poem The Land of Counterpane by the same author as well as the story Kidnapped . I was looking for some light reading recently and I came across another of R.L.S.'s works The Master of Ballantrae. About 70 pages in I officially hated all of the characters, they are despicable people, every one. And if they all didn't get exactly what they deserved in this book it would get 0/5 Scottish Lords. There is a lot of neat stuff in this book like Indians, Pirates and people being buried alive, but it doesn't really go into enough depth, descriptions are vague and sometimes unsatifactory. I think this is one of those books where they could make a movie that surpasses the book.

The Book of Investing Wisdom - Peter Krass (4 of 5 Horror Films)

Wisdom is a compilation of short essays by accomplished stock investors.  Each provides interesting ideas about how he or she became successful.  Biographical notes about each character were enlightening.  Two essays were particularly interesting.

The first was about shorting stocks.  Most people think that you can only make money when the market goes up.  This isn't true.  Shorting stocks is the process of making an agreement to buy a stock at a future time when the price is lower.  This difference between the price now and when you'll buy it later is your profit margin.  As this essay points out, in an unstable economic environment it is often much easier to predict a fall in prices than a rise.  The essay outlines the actions of a few of the investing greats during the Great Depression who walked away with millions of dollars on Black Thursday.

The second is about how one can predict the movement of stocks based on cultural shifts.  The author cites such things as the number of horror films in the theater to the length of skirts and hair styles.  The number of horror films reflects the general level of pessimism in the market.  Short skirts and absurd hair styles correlate with more speculative investing activity. 

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

I picked up Ender's Game at the library after my little brother--who doesn't have much good to say about books--strongly recommended it. Its a book I've heard lots of people talk about, but I actually didn't know anything about the storyline, characters, etc. I was in for quite a surprise--and a treat!

Ender's Game takes place in a future time when desks are mini-computers, space colonization is possible, and the world has become a truly international society. Earth is in danger, however, from an alien world known only as The Buggers. Humankind has beaten them twice in the past, but a third attack is imminent. To combat the Buggers, the government breeds military genius kids to train in combat. Ender Wiggins is the genius--and hero--needed to lead the attack on The Buggers one last time.

I personally loved the story. Its science fiction--not usually a favorite--but I thought Card did a great job describing and explaining scienc-y things in a way I could picture and understand. And the story is gripping and got me reading and reading and not wanting to put my book down. And the end?! I totally didn't see that coming. Want to know what I'm talking about? Read it yourself.

A

Stock Investing for Dummies - Paul Mladjenovic (4 of 5 Shorted Stocks)

I've read a few books from the Dummy series in the last few years.  This one seems to be pretty standard: a lot of basic information, but not much depth.  It gives you a lot of information about what stocks are and provides some basic investment strategies.  That's about all I can remember.  I listened to it while moving 20-pound bags of hot chocolate at Welfare Square.  Oh well.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

I don't think I've ever approached the writing of a book review with such a sense of ineptitude. But I honestly don't know how to begin to explain the brilliance of Cormac McCarthy's The Road. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and I can't deny its one of the most incredible books I've ever read. Forgive my pathetic attempts at a review right now and go out and get yourself a copy.

In a nutshell, The Road is about the journey a father and son take in a postapocalyptic world. The world is bleak, basically destroyed, and seemingly hopeless. But the love between the father and his son offers a small glimmer of hope in the dark nothingness. The story really suggests there is always hope as long as humanity endures. At least...that's one theme I got out of it.

The true mastery of this book is in the language. McCarthy uses words that would be prententious in any other situation or used by a less-skilled writer. I was seriously swept away by the beauty of the writing. And now I realize I'm gushing. But I am truly floored by this novel and I think everyone should read it. So...there you go.

My highest recommendation. A++

The Island of Dr. Moreau - H. G. Wells (4 of 5 Vivisections Gone Wrong)

Island is yet another book from my Darwin class.  And don't think that's all of them...there are two or three more still coming.  This short novel is the story of a man who ends up on a strange island in the Pacific Ocean.  Dr. Moreau and his assistant have been living there for several years doing experiments on animals.  These experiments consist of surgically changing the body and mind of animals, attempting to speed up evolution.  While coming close, Dr. Moreau has never been able to change an animal into a human.  Consequently, several of these mutant animals roam the island.  Dr. Moreau seems to be able to control them until one day when the puma escapes...dun...dun...dun.  Dun.

If by chance you're feeling an overwhelming urge to celebrate Darwin's 200th birthday by studying natural selection, but aren't quite up for hundreds of boring pages of descriptions of finches, Island is the book for you.  I enjoyed this novel.  You might too.  Check it out.