Siddhartha

Wow!  Something that I have struggled to express and explain for many years has come together in a simple explanation within just two chapters in this book.  I almost cried from the revelation (I still might).   
Siddhartha was not what I expected.  Just the title and the cover told me everything (or so I thought).  It's not what you think.  This isn't the story of the Buddha, it's a story about a man named Siddhartha.  He still has a spiritual journey and it is quite similar to the Buddha but their enlightenment is achieved in very different ways.

   "When Siddharta listened attentively to this river, to this song of a thousand voices; when he did not listen to the sorrow or laughter, when he did not bind his soul to any one particular voice and absorb in his Self, but heard them all, the whole, the unity; then the great song of a thousand voices consisted of one word: Om-perfection."
                                                                                Siddhartha by Herman Hesse

It is such a beautiful sentence, so deep and sigificant, piercing into my heart. It makes me want to weep with joy. It would take me years, probably my lifetime, to explain everything that is in my heart, how I see the world and everything in it.  Though I have not really tried to reveal that to anyone, that inner Self, just tried to show it by deeds instead.  I have tried to 'be' the world I wish to see, and be true to my beliefs by acting in a certain way.  It's very personal and vitally important for everyone all at the same time, because understanding the nature of myself, is the first step to finding my heart and being able to share what I am.  But that's okay... I don't expect anyone to understand or see the world as I do, which is part of the whole as I see it anyway, it's that infinite diversity thing (no comments from the peanut gallery thanks).  Which impresses me more about Siddhartha because it is so much of what I would like to say, and what I want in an ideal world.  But don't take my word for it, read the book!

Blackout

Silly, silly me, I did not find out first if this was part of a series.  Not that I mind... it just means that it will be a re-read at a later date after I have bought the rest.
I read this because it was a Nebula winner, and you can take it from me that this book has earnt it's laurels.  I have never read Connie Willis before and I enjoyed myself so much that I want to collect the rest of her books and read them in the order intended.  While reading this book there were many references to things that I realise now were from past books and not from further along in this one... right up to almost the very end (the third last page!) I had expected this to conclude, and boy was I surprised that it was not so.  It's my own fault... internet access for me is spotty at best and taking the time to do the research before-hand has not been an appealing prospect. 
What is appealing, however is reading the rest of these stories and whatever else Willis has written. 

American Gods

Ever had a favourite mythology?  When I was a girl it was the Greeks.  I ransacked both the school library and the community library in my search for more about the Greek gods and goddesses, and when I was older, because these books were all in the same aisle, my love for other kinds of literature was born.  I loved to read classical literature (Plato and Aeschylus were amongst my favorites), and other plays of interest (Shakespeares tragedies and comedies).
After I read this I wanted to read some more (mythology that is).  Actually ever since The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul by Douglas Adams I have been meaning to read some Norse mythology, and after reading American Gods I find that there is just so much more out there for me to find out about.  I have heard that there will be a sequel and I will be the first one in line for that.
This is my first grown-up Gaiman book.  I was a little surprised with the colorful language, but reading further into the book, it just couldn't have been any other way.  I loved the god cameos and in particular I was really fond of Mr. Nancy.  The story was intriguing, mysterious, ugly and funny.  I am hoping that this is the literary style for Gaiman's adult books, as I really enjoyed this one and I gleefully look forward to reading the rest.  I can't help but mention (you know me I really can't help it), that I noticed the influence of Ray Bradbury in his style, and I am really impressed.  Oh and I totally knew it was in the klunker!

American Elsewhere

                                                 
I had the tremendous good fortune to win this book from the Librarything Early Reviewers book group.  It was love at first sight!  While it was just an advanced copy (and could have used a bit more glue on the spine publisher chaps!), it was a pleasant handful of book, large, a little heavy and very easy to hold in your hands (nice and bendy). It was also over 660 pages of non-stop suspense, intrigue,mystery and persistent horror (meaning that I was always anxious about what was going to happen next just like watching a horror movie, and the feeling never let up…at all!), it was such a pleasure to read from start to finish.  I really didn’t want the book to end.
 
When I began I was impressed with how it reminded me of my favourite television show Eureka, thougn that impression didn’t last very long as it swiftly turned into something more serious and ominous (you guys remember David Lynch’s
Twin Peaks?  Yeah it was that damn ominous).  Despite getting creeped out (horror has never really been my favourite genre), I didn’t want to put the book down, but forced myself to because I didn’t want the story to end so quickly, so it was my bedside book for the last week (and I always read well past my bedtime!). 

I looked at Robert Jackson Bennett’s website yesterday after I had finished American Elsewhere and I was blown away by a picture he had posted of the rabbit suit and mask, because that was almost exactly how I had pictured it, which just cranks up my admiration for Bennett’s ability to paint pictures and evoke feelings with his words.  I also discovered that he has written a few other books that I will be buying as soon as I possibly can, and of course I will be keeping an eye out for whatever else this writer will produce in the future.

Dead Ever After (possible spoilers!)

It has been more than a week since I finished Dead Ever After and I took some time to mull it over before I decided what to write about it.  After four months of the excitement and build up to the end of this series, I don't know what I was expecting.  I was a little deflated and even a little bit disappointed after finishing it and I think that was because I had built myself up into such a froth that I was full of too much anticipation for the end.   After a few days I could see that there was no other way this could possibly have ended, it all makes sense (and we don't need to have a whole bunch of bells and whistles to show that). 
To be really clear, I loved this ending.  All of my wishes came true.  I don't think there could possibly be a book out there by Charlaine Harris that I couldn't like and I wasn't disappointed by how she polished off the Southern Vampire series.  Polished (until it sparkled) is what she did indeed do.  Everything that you can imagine as a loose end was tied off (in neat little bows), and this story is definitely over.  I do hope that from time to time when one of Harris's anthologies comes out, we will hear about how Sookie is doing, but I'm pretty happy with how it all ended, and don't feel the need to know what happens next with any kind of urgency.
I know I have remarked on it before but I think that Charlaine Harris's ability to write a series which did not flag in any way throughout all thirteen books, proves her to have a special talent for planning, perception and execution of a well made story, and when it was all over, I realised that she really knows how to wrap it up beautifully too.
I was saving the fan fiction for the very end for after I had read all of the books because I didn't want it to bias what was canon, but today when I looked at the website I just couldn't do it.  I saw just from the summaries that there was a few that had decided to rewrite their own versions of book thirteen because they were unhappy with the ending.  I don't wish to be insulting (and hopefully I won't be!), but I don't understand their disappointment.  Well...actually I do.  I think that those people are perhaps what I would lable the True Bloods.  The ones that care more about the vampires and probably the television show rather than what I think is the whole point of the books.  This is Sookie's story, it always has been, and everything else has just been a means to an end for that story.  It's too bad that they couldn't see that, and I have absolutely no interest in reading their fan fiction.
Thanks Charlaine...and I look forward to seeing what you do next.

Deadlocked

       After the last puzzling and depressing instalment, Deadlocked was a breath of fresh air.  We swung back again to what I know and love about the Sookie Stackhouse universe.  I laughed quite a bit, and it was such a relief to have good old Sookie back to her spunky, sarcastic old self.  I had really missed her, and was worried she wouldn’t spring back.  There was so much emotional turmoil involved in everything that happened ( I am amazed at how much was stuffed into one book) so at the very end of Deadlocked I was very close to tears.  Naturally, Sookie can never really go back to what she used to be, and I am really very impressed with how over the years Charlaine Harris has developed this wonderful, intricate character.  I have always enjoyed reading about the journey that a character struggles through until they reach their true self, and I really love how Sookie has grown.
While it seemed like some storylines were being tied off, there is still just a little bit more to be told, and I am aquiver in anticipation for the grand finale.  I still have absolutely no idea how it will end even after what Sookie did in the final chapter.  We all know by now what I hope for and I will find out in just a few short days...can't wait!

Ghost Knight

There's nothing I love more than a Cornelia Funke book.  Not only is the story original and captivating, but the actual book itself is a pleasure to behold.  We are not talking over-embellishments or really expensive bindings etc., just plain, simple beauty.  Each book I have ever owned of hers has looked and felt just lovely in my hands, and with the ability of the story to enthrall me too I am always a little overwhelmed and a little grateful that such a writer has taken such pains to make something that is truly worthy of being treasured.  I don't care that I am an adult and that her stories are for children...I must have them all!  These are the exception to my usual buying practices...I always buy them in the hardcover because they are just so beautiful.
Being a King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table fan, Ghost Knight just tickled my hunger for another knightly tale, and if you have never read the Arthurian legends, you will want to have a closer look at them after reading this.  Of course, Funke is also an equal opportunist, so if you like Ghost Knight you will also like Igraine the Brave, another knightly adventure.  On the whole Funke protagonists are children, exceptional children (male and female) who do exceptional things in magical surroundings.  Magical because Funke has a gift for transporting the reader to another place or another time, if it's in Venice, Italy or in a fantasy world of her own imagining, she will make you believe that you were really there.