Dragonshadow

by Barbara Hambly (1999)
ISBN 0-345-42187-6

Sequel to Dragonsbane, this book adds demons to the fantasy mix. I love the concept of dragons being rainbow coloured when young and growing into their particular colouring as they develop the music that describes them and is their name. The drama and battle with evil continues with the addition of fabulous machinery invented and constructed by one of the main characters. The story does not end yet - I have requested the next volume, The Knight of the Demon Queen.

Amazing Disgrace

by James Hamilton-Paterson (2006)
ISBN 0-571-22939-5

A crazy book with recipes, medical "experimentation"; musical references and poetic quotes/inventions. The hero is a writer who works with sports people to "write other people's books for them" and sees his work as "the personal toad beneath which I have suffered for years", referring to Philip Larkin's Toads.

The recipes are incredible, probably inedible, and explained in detail. One can imagine them but they don't exactly set the saliva flowing!

The Daily Telegraph is quoted as saying that the author has "a genius for comic witticisms". Here is one I particularly enjoyed:
"... here we all, drowning in food and goodies as though to the manna born."
Another clever use of language that kept me on my mental toes was the character named Christ - to rhyme with wrist - I found it impossible to make my brain see Christ and think anything other than the obvious/religious one!


I finished reading this book over the weekend of my 50th birthday, and wondered if there was an omen in the tragic ending - but you will have to read the book yourself to express an opinion as I do not want to spoil the tale. (There is a hint in the picture on the front cover of the book!)

Endeavour's Children

by R.J. Tinsley (1992)
ISBN 1-86948-090-2

Found on my bookshelf when out of library books, I started this from desperation for something to read.
To start with I found it irritating, as the descriptions of nautical terminology used so many of what I assume to be the correct words, that I felt like I was being lectured without having taken the prerequisite beginners course. There continues to be a didactic tone to the writing style, but I found it less annoying as I became more attached to the main character. Set in the early days of the European exploitation and settlement of New Zealand and Australia, and based on a true story, this is a jolly good yarn. If the original heroine had a fraction of the spirit of Lisla (with a silent s) in the book, she would have been an amazing woman.
I would really have appreciated a map to go with the story - set mostly in the South Island of New Zealand, and using place names that were known around 1800, i should have done some research to get the geography straight in my head.
I can't find a picture of the cover and don't have a flat bed scanner at home, hence no picture this time.

SQ-EQ Test results

While researching programming aptitude tests I found a paper that showed a correlation with SQ-EQ test results. I then took these two tests online and got the following results.
EQ: 44
SQ: 94
Brain Type: Systemizing

These results show a fairly extreme systemizing tendency, while my empathizing tendency is lower than average for women.

If you want to take the tests yourself you can use this website.

2nd Chance

by James Patterson with Andrew Cross
2002
ISBN 1 876590 80 7

Following on from 1st to Die, this is another tale of the Women's Murder Club. More drama for Lindsay, Cindy, Jill and Claire, and new threats to life and well-being. The killer gets personal and Lindsay's father turns up from the distant past - what is the connection? Again, a good beach/airplane/sick bed story.

1st to Die

By James Patterson
2001
ISBN 0446610038

A great read for holiday or sickbed - I read it when suffering a nasty cold that kept be off work for a few days. Four strong women form a club to track a vicious killer of newlyweds. Also Negli's aplastic anemia and a new and promising relationship for Lindsay, the homicide inspector and heroine.

Next

Michael Crichton (2006)
ISBN 978 0 7322 8363 6

Another Rotorua purchase, this one is a thriller with a basis in genetics. It has some characters with surprising characteristics and poses questions about ethical practice in the field of genetic science. An author's note at the end gives Crichton's opinion on some of the core issues. I am not a genetics expert but it seemed to me that this book could be a useful starter for discussion around the issues for Biology students and I will offer it to my colleagues who teach Biology. The novel also talks about "wet art" so may be of interest to Art teachers as well! A section on Internet Sources at the end points to articles about

• the Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi whose fat was removed by liposuction and then made into soap.
• the Chilean artist who cooked meatballs in his own fat and served them for dinner.
• the New Zealand boatie who powered his speedboat with fuel made of fat from his backside.

An interesting side issue to ponder is that the IT professional in the book invented a syndrome to explain the oddities of her stepson and embedded it in the Internet so that it looked real.
Overall a stimulating book and a great read.

The Lovely Bones

By Alice Sebold
2002
ISBN 978-0-330-48538-8

I bought this in Rotorua, the first in the display of Whitcoulls Top 100 List that I had not yet read.
I had heard about the movie-in-the making, and was not sure that I would like the book but did thoroughly enjoy it. The characters made sense, as did the concept of life-after-death that is central to the plot. The idea of an "intake counselor" in heaven took me by surprise, and I loved the way that the younger brother grew up after the early loss of his big sister. Now that I love the book, I don't know whether I will ever want to see the movie!

Beach Road

James Patterson with Peter de Jonge (2006, ISBN 9780755323135)

Different from my normal choice of reading and not part of my progression through writers starting with H, I picked this up to bring to Rotorua with me. Small enough to fit in my laptop bag and not too heavy either physically or mentally it has been good for those in between moments presented by the hectic programme of keynotes, breakouts, eating and socialising. The story of a black teenager wrongfully accused of several cold-blooded murders and his defense, it is not as straight forward as it first seems. I did not find it ‘unputdownable’ as The Times is quoted as saying on the back cover, and I did find it hard to get inside the head of the actual murderer. I guess it is written to be read in a hurry and not analysed to death, but I prefer more meat to my reading.