Karl's Reading List

Published by Bethany House Publishers: Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1992. Book 3 of 'An Emerald Ballad.' Preceded by ' Heart of the Lonely Exile. ' Followed by 'Sons of an Ancient Glory.' Careful readers of this blog will notice that it has been a long time since Elise and I finished any combined book other than a Famous Five entry . That is for a number of reasons, the most prominent of which is that we have been busy with our drawn out move and hunt for a new house. A secondary reason, though, is that we had two physical books on the go at once, both of which were quite long: this one, and a fantasy novel called Dragon Wing (technically, we also have the final few chapters of Rachel's Tears, but that is a book we haven't picked up in a long time, and might still be some time away from revisiting). Anyway, both reasons are finally shifting. As of this post, we have finished this book and we have moved into our new home (hooray!). In fact, the night we finish...

Published as an audiobook by Librivox, read via Fabuly. Narrated by Brenda Dayne. First published 1920. Whoa. This book is intense! And not in the usual way you might think of. The Age of Innocence is the third Pulitzer Prize -winning novel I have read, and is the most unexpected so far. I wasn't expecting a novel written in 1920 and set in the 1870s to be so heavily about the main character considering an affair... but there you go! It is very emotionally charged, with our main character, Newland Archer, growing obsessed with the married-but-separated Madame Ellen Olenska even as he pursues an engagement with the more traditional and (in Newland's eyes) almost ignorantly 'innocence' May Welland. It is apparent from the start that it is not only that Newland finds Ellen 'fascinating', but that he is thrilled and tempted by the very fact that Ellen is unconventional, perhaps a little bit dangerous, and therefore - to him - more 'exciting' than his convent...

Published by Lawrence & Gibson Publishing Collective: Aoetearoa/New Zealand, 2023. Taking a break from looking at potential Level 2 texts, this is a potential Level 1 text instead! At the heart of Turncoat is an extended metaphor, an allegory, in which Māori culture and worldview is represented by the book's portrayal of humanity as a whole, and non-Māori culture - aka, the European-centric worldview - is represented by literal aliens, who invaded in past centuries and have now interbred with humanity to the point that most humans look just like them. Our main character, Daniel, is one such human, who understands and operates in Alien culture (called the Hierarch) all the time, but still seeks to influence the Hierarch to honour the original covenants they signed with humanity all those years ago. The metaphor isn't subtle, and at times it purposefully (often humorously) becomes incredibly obvious, particularly for readers from New Zealand. So, in place of Captain Cook bein...

Published by Marshall Cavendish Ltd: Old Compton St, 1987. A facsimile reproduction of an edition published in 1933. First published 1819. Ivanhoe is an interesting one... I actually thought I'd read it a number of years ago - it appears on my 2018 list as a completed book - and at the time I enjoyed it. However, when I decided to re-read it, I realised that the book I have previously read was an abridged version of the story, and so I made sure that this time around I hunted out the full text. It was a much longer, slower process to read than I remember it being last time... Perhaps an abridgement is actually the right choice for the average reader! In terms of story, Ivanhoe makes the interesting choice on not mainly focussing on the titular character! Getting more 'screentime' than Ivanhoe are characters including the Saxon 'swineherd' Gurth, the jester Wamba, the Saxon thane Cedric, the mysterious 'Black Knight', the Jewish moneylender Isaac, his daughte...

I have officially decided to give up my Bookerworm quest. I still intend to at least try to read the majority of the books, but after truly disliking some of the Booker books, I have also decided not to bother pushing through ones that I begin to get 'funny' feelings about. This is also tied a bit to my faith; I want to grow in my sensitivity to the voice of God, and that does at times meaning walking away from worldly things. I'm sure this will be an ongoing conversation I have with God, but for now, this plot is to acknowledge which books I have begun and subsequently have decided not to finish, along with a (much smaller, as I want to at least give books a chance to surprise me) number I have decided not to bother with in advance. I will also give brief reasons why these books have made this list, rather than my actual 'completed books' list. Ironically, although I felt to give up on the books I'm going to list below, most of them weren't as bad as som...

Published by Scholastic Australia Pty Limited: Gosford, NSW, 2025. Subtitled A Hunger Games Novel, Sunrise on the Reaping is a prequel to the main series - the second Suzanne Collins has written in recent years, actually. I have yet to read The Ballad of Snakes and Songbirds, which tells the story of a young President Snow, but I spotted this one - telling the story of a young Haymitch - at the library, and got it on a whim. Fans of the original Hunger Games series, particularly the first book , will remember that Haymitch was introduced as a perpetually drunk, cynical, checked-out past winner of the Hunger Games, who doesn't see any point in training Katniss or Peeta because they are not going to win anyway! Throughout the book - and the series as a whole - we see him regain his spark of life, and eventually become a true protagonist, working to bring about the downfall of the corrupt Capitol and its evil President. And of course, if you are looking for a subject to write a spin-o...

Published by Harpertorch/HarperCollinsPublishers: New York, NY, 2002. Originally published in 1988 as O Alquimista in Portuguese. English translation by Paulo Coelho and Alan R Clarke, 1993. I've had this book recommended to me in the past, and finally got around to reading it. It is not a long book (167 pages) and is an easy read - in fact, I read it in a single sitting. It is also a simple story, told in a style that is allegorical or "parable-ic." The protagonist of the story is a boy introduced on the first page as Santiago, but from then on only referred to as "the boy." He has taken up the life of a shepherd in order to see the world, after having learned reading and writing when his parents desired for him to become a priest. After having a vivid dream, 'the boy' seeks to learn its meaning, firstly from a gypsy fortune-teller, and then by meeting Melchizedek, the king of Salem - a historical figure found in Genesis 14, and often seen as a metaphor...

Published by HarperTeen/HarperCollins Publishers: New York, NY, 2021. This is the fourth book I have read in the relatively recent subgenre of 'Jane Austen Murder Mysteries', having previously read Death Comes to Pemberley by PD James, and The Murder of Mr Wickham and The Late Mrs Willoughby by Claudia Gray. Each author has brought a different interpretation to what exactly a 'Jane Austen Murder Mystery' is, and as a result each author's books have a slightly different feel.   PD James wrote her novel as a sequel to Pride and Prejudice , but still keeping Elizabeth and Darcy as the main characters with the same personalities, meaning that they weren't really 'detectives.' Claudia Gray - whose take I have enjoyed the most - also makes her books sequels but includes new, younger characters who are driven to solve the crimes - it makes sense! Tirzah Price does something very different; she semi- retells the original Pride and Prejudice story but changes ...

Published by Definitions/Random House Children's Publishers: London, 2014 (2013). This is an odd book. It is a little bit fairy-tale - a label that is made more explicit by the inclusion of Jacob Grimm's ghost as the narrator! It is a little bit horror, but only subtly, particularly to begin with. It is a little bit young adult romantic drama, but with one of the pair possibly under an enchantment. It is a little bit coming-of-age and taking responsibility for the difficulties of life, but this is told through the main boy's father's storyline (a very distant B-Plot), as well as through a Mastermind style TV show. It feels old-fashioned, but also is set in a vaguely contemporary world. It is also a book I almost accidentally got through. I picked it up off my classroom shelf and had finished it in two days.  As mentioned, the narrator is the ghost of Jacob Grimm, a spirit who can only be heard by the main protagonist, Jeremy Johnson Johnson (both his parents had the sam...

Published by Candlewick Press: Somerville, Massachusetts, 2012. The main character in this book, Daniel, is obsessed with death. Ever since his older brother, Eli, was killed in the Iraq War, Daniel has been keeping a 'book of the dead', writing down the cause of death of various historical figures. Although Daniel doesn't recognise it, this is his way of coping with the grief surrounding his brother's loss. His parents are coping far worse. Although the 'book of the dead' is an important feature of After Eli, the plot doesn't focus on it too much, mostly including facts from the book as epigraphs to open each chapter (and tie into the theme of the chapter slightly). Instead, After Eli is far more reminiscent of something like Bridge to Terabithia : a slightly melancholic story about a young boy falling in love with a girl who draws him out of his shell, even though foreshadowing makes us predict they will not end up together. In After Eli, the girl is quest...

Published by Voyager/HarperCollinsPublishers: Hammersmith, London, 1996 (1995). Book 1 of 'The Farseer Trilogy.' Followed by 'Royal Assassin.' Hey writers. Have you ever had trouble coming up with a name for your protagonist? It is possible that Robin Hobb did, as the main character in Assassin's Apprentice is a nameless boy, whose father happened to be the heir-in-waiting to the Seven Duchies. As a bastard (a term that gets flung his way often throughout the book) the boy is mistreated by many of the people in his life, with the main result being that it takes a long time for anyone to get around to giving him an actual name, and even longer for him to be given a name that everyone accepts as his name. It's quite an interesting element in a fairly interesting story, one that I got through a lot quicker than the much shorter Jungle Books.  Our protagonist - generally called 'Fitz' (which, if you know your etymology, means bastard) - is adopted into the r...

Published by Gollancz/Hachette UK: London, UK, 2024 (2023). The back cover promises a story that will appeal to fans of The Princess Bride, and that - along with being a stand-alone book that isn't over 500 pages - was enough to sell this as Elise's first exposure to Brandon Sanderson. Tress (whose real name is Glorf, but who prefers to be known as Tress due to her unruly hair) lives on a planet where the 'oceans' are made up of spores dropped from the various moons, each one a different colour and having a different (usually deadly) reaction to water. When her true love gets captured by the evil Sorceress of the Midnight Sea, Tress must sneak off her island home and set sail to rescue him. Along the way she encounters numerous characters to aid or hind her, from the talking rat Huck, to the chronically-poor-aim assistant cannonsmaster Ann, to Fort, a huge mute who can only communicate via a magical writing board. In true Sanderson fashion, each of these characters has ...

Published by Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd: Edinburgh, date unknown. First published 1823. Sir Walter Scott was an author who lived and wrote in the 18th and 19th century, and was one of the most popular authors of his day. He also was an author of predominantly "historical fiction," meaning that many of his books (this one included) were set in a far earlier time period than he was writing.  This makes reading his works doubly fascinating for me, because we aren't just getting a glimpse into the time period of the novel; we are getting a glimpse into the time period of the novel as interpreted by the time period that Scott lived in. Both are different from our modern culture, and they are individually different from each other as well. So, in Quentin Durward we get a tale of chivalry and honour set in 1468, with the norms of that time explained and justified by the norms of Scott's time - a setting and culture  doubly  removed from ours. What about the story, though? We...

Published by Bethany House Publishers: Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1991. Book 2 in 'An Emerald Ballad.' Preceded by ' Song of the Silent Harp. ' Followed by 'Land of a Thousand Dreams.' Last year, Elise and I read Song of the Silent Harp , the first book in this series, and we blown away by how sad it was. Heart of the Lonely Exile still has some sad moments, but these are more spread out, and now the characters even get to have some good experiences!! We pick up where we left off: Nora and Daniel Kavanagh are living in New York, where Nora is being wooed by her old friend Michael Burke. Meanwhile, Evan Whittaker - the one-armed and stuttering Englishman - is also harbouring feelings for Nora, and Sara Farmington may have some feelings towards Michael.  A class love-square situation. Yes, the word 'heart' in the title of this book does have some significance, as much of the book is filled with angst, pining, and sweet declarations of love. And, having walked...

Published as an audiobook by Recorded Books, 2000. Narrated by Barbara Caruso. First published 1886. The sequel to ' Little Men. ' This is the last book in the series that began with Little Women , and, like the book before this one , focuses more on the next generation, particularly the boys who attended the school run by Mr and Mrs Bhaer (that latter of whom began life as Jo March). Now those boys have grown up, and as such this book has the distinction of being the only book in the series to almost exclusively focus on adult characters (unless you count Good Wives as its own entry, rather than part 2 of Little Women ). This really changes the feel of Jo's Boys, and unfortunately it is not always for the better. Good Wives at least had the ongoing relationship issues and tight family unit of the Marches to focus on. Jo's Boys, on the other hand, has a number of boys, now young adults, who have gone their own way and don't have much interaction with each other. Thi...

Published by Simon and Schuster UK Ltd: London, 2014. This is a weird book that's been on my classroom library shelf for quite a while. The main character, Travis, had terminal cancer five years ago, and agreed to have his head cryogenically frozen, in the hope that in the future it would be possible to attach it to a donor body. Now, he has woken up, only the second patient to successfully have the procedure complete, to find that everyone in his world, including his parents, his best friend and his girlfriend, have lived five extra years of life. Travis is sixteen, and the difference between a sixteen-year-old and a twenty-one-year-old is a much bigger difference than it would have been had Travis been an adult. Also, his girlfriend Cate is now engaged to someone else. The difference between a sixteen-year-old and a twenty-one-year-old is also small enough that it is conceivable that Cate and Kyle (his former best friend) would also still be keen to in-some-way have Travis back i...

Published as an audiobook by Orion Publishing Group, 2012. Originally published 2007. Narrated by Rupert Degas. Book 1 of 'The Kingkiller Chronicle.' This audiobook was a mixed bag for me. It takes a little while to get going, but eventually becomes a very interesting look at the development of a hero, told from the perspective of the now-jaded-and-retired hero narrating his story to a famous chronicler (who calls himself Chronicler). Kvothe (pronounced Quoth), begins life as part of a travelling troupe of entertainers. He is also trained in mystical arcanist arts by his mentor-figure Abenthy, who Kvothe witnessed harnessing the name of the wind, and calls him 'Ben' - like a certain other famous mystical-mentor figure. When tragedy strikes, Kvothe flees and undertakes a number of journeys and adventures as he grows: he lives a beggar for a few years, he learns to play the lute beautifully even with missing strings, he joins the arcanist university at a young age, he sav...

Published by Naxos Audiobooks, 2006. Narrated by Juliet Stevenson. First published 1815/1816. Emma is the final work published by Jane Austen during her lifetime, and is very well written. Apparently Austen spoke about creating a protagonist that no one but herself would much like, and in one sense she accomplishes this: Emma Woodhouse is spoiled, has a high opinion of herself, and is quite ready to meddle in other peoples' affairs whether they want her to or not. And yet, in another way, Austen fails, because Emma is somehow immediately likeable, despite her obvious flaws. We groan when she makes an obviously bad decision, and yet we still understand her rationale, and wait for her to start learning the error of her ways. The plot, in true Austen style, is all about relationships, but the foreground relationships in Emma are not even 'real' relationships at all! Rather, Emma is trying to be a matchmaker, and is convinced that her choice of a husband for Harriet Smith (her ...

Published by Futura Publications/Macdonald & Co (Publishers) Ltd: Hampstead Road, London, 1986 (1984). First published 1980. Brother Cadfael is a monk in an English monastery in the 1100s. He tends to his garden, makes poultices and various other medical concoctions, and honours his vow of obedience to the abbot. He also, apparently, solves murders. This is the first Cadfael book I have read, but there are apparently about 20 of them (I think this is book 3). Having read this one and liked it, I imagine I'll hunt out some of the others before too long. In this particular book, Cadfael is horrified when a particular oil he has made, with one ingredient being the poisonous Monks-Hood plant, is used to commit a murder. Because of this connection he is keen to find the culprit, and more so because the widow of Gervase Bonel, the man murdered, turns out to be Richildis, the woman Cadfael considered marrying years earlier before taking his vows. Richildis's young son, Edwin, is t...

Published by Allen & Unwin: Crows Nest, NSW, Australia, 2008. Book snobs, block your ears. *whispers* I think the movie was better. Okay, book snobs, you can unblock your ears now. *waves to get the attention of book snobs* To be honest, a huge reason why I read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society at this moment in time was that I thought it would be funny to have two books with ridiculously long titles appear back-to-back in my list. For anyone who thought that there were super-deep reasons why I picked the books that I did, I hope this helps you see the error of your ways. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (which I am refusing to shorten for the rest of this review) still tells the same story as that in the movie adaptation (also called  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society ), but does so in a less gripping (though still interesting) manner. This is for a few reasons: firstly,  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society ...