A Peruvian diary : rescuing the spectacled bear – Stephen Fry

I thought I'd continue on my Stephen Fry kick, since I had quite enjoyed "The Stars' Tennis Balls" (which, by the way, also goes by the title "Revenge: A novel" so don't take the same book out from the library twice like I did).

I'm not sure what I was expecting but this was not it. It was his journal while making a documentary. While I did enjoy some of the facts about Peru (contains two canyons which are more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon which is really fracking deep), I did not enjoy his lengthy descriptions of diarrhea. Not my deal at all.

Island of the sequined love nun – Christopher Moore

More Moore. A bit better than the last Moore. I'm still not entirely clear on who was the sequined love nun after reading the correct book but it was definitely entertaining. Really, what book that contains a cross-dressing broken-english-speaking navigator wouldn't be?

Practical Demonkeeping - Christopher Moore

The first tip on reading this book is to recall the title. I took out two Moore novels from the library and I was at the end of the book before I realized that the reason I couldn't figure out who the "sequined love nun" was is that the title belonged to the other book.

In general, not bad as Moore goes but not his best. I needed something mindless to break up the heavy non-fiction reading that I'm currently doing.

The Stars' Tennis Balls - Stephen Fry

I picked up this book on Devin's recommendation, having read The Count of Monte Cristo. I was pleasantly surprised by the modern twist on the classic story. I found that having read "The Count" added to my enjoyment, rather than detracting from it. I could enjoy the comparisons between the two and the creative ways that Fry incorporated the Monte Cristo characters while staying true to modern locations and character motives.

I noticed that Fry changed several of the secondary characters from male to female, but I'm not sure whether this added to the story or not as all the secondary characters were less developed. I also found that the ending felt rushed (although 'The Count' is 1200 pages of fine print, so he had a lot more space to draw things out). The end result was much less uplifting and left less room for introspection on the consequences of his actions than the original had.

While I think I still prefer the original tale, this interpretation led me to better understand portions of the original. I will definitely be picking up more Stephen Fry.

The River Why - David James Duncan

It's nice, every so often, to search out other books by a favorite author. Since reading "The Brothers K" and loving it, I have meant to pick up "The River Why" and I finally did. Boy was I disappointed. I can see how writing it eventually led to "The Brothers K", but it was certainly nowhere in the same realm. If you like fishing, you would probably like this book. If you don't, you likely won't. 'Nuff said.

My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Piccoult

With the continued insomnia, I found this a fast read. The subject matter was interesting and gave quite a bit of ethical/moral food for thought. The characters and plot were both engaging. I found a few of the writer's quirks, a tendency to over-dramatize and overuse of simile, a bit off-putting, but overall it was well written.

A Dirty Job - Christopher Moore

I actually would say that this is one of his better novels. I enjoyed all the characters and their quirks without any of them feeling forced or that he was trying to hard to be funny or outlanding. I enjoyed this one enought to think about purchasing it. A good read!