Urban Shaman - C.E. Murphy

I think I pulled this off of the facebook shelf of a friend who shares my taste in fantasy novels and I wasn't disappointed. While it would be a stretch to call Urban Shaman good literature, it was a good read and I was entertained, which is exactly what I was looking for.

I particularly enjoyed the main character's atypical gender roles, sarcastic wit and quick sense of humor. I plan on looking for more C.E. Murphy to read.

Water for Elephants: a novel - Sara Gruen

I picked this up because it was written by one of the NaNoNovelists who wrote a pep-talk last year. My expectations were not very high but I have changed my tune.

I literally could not put this book down, I read it in one evening and stayed up far too late to finish it. It is now on my book purchase wish list. (Someone remind me to read it again shortly before NaNo this year!)

Essentially it's about a boy who drops out of vet school and joins the circus, but the story is also told from the perspective of that same boy as an old man in a nursing home when the circus comes to town. Main characters include a performer/love interest, a dwarf and his dog, a paranoid schizophrenic and an elephant.

King Rat - James Clavell (USS Book Club)

I have to bear in mind that the point of being in a book club is to read books that you wouldn't ordinarily read. This one definitely falls into that category. Based on what I typically read, can you really picture me reading about prisoners in a Japanese war camp? I thought not.

The guy who picked the book asked me if I like the book and I found I had to make a distinction. I didn't like the book but I thought it was a good book. It was interesting and well written, I didn't get bogged down and have to slog through to the end, and it made me think about things that I usually don't think about. (Apparently those are my measures for a good book).

The focus of the book is a man called 'The King'. While everyone else in camp(including many of the officers and guards) are hungry, dirty, dishevelled and often in need of medical attention, he is well-kept and has resources to spare. His business acumen leads to a power position and of course everyone wants to either suck up to him or topple him from power. Most interesting was what happened to The King and the people around him when the war ended and people stopped believing that resources were scarce (it didn't take the appearance of food to make them change the way they acted, just the belief that it was coming). It was an interesting peek into psychology and sociology of war camps.