PC Reading List

One of the things I really like about the story is that the reader's sympathies don't necessarily lie with the titular protagonist.  In fact, one is more likely to sympathize with just nearly everyone else in the story more than with Artemis.  Somehow, that makes the read more fun, for me.

I will be giving a copy of the book to my 8 1/2 year old goddaughter today.  I haven't heard any of the kids I know talking about the book, so I am eager to see how she likes it.  I have a feeling she'll get a good laugh at it.

David Wolverton's The Golden Queen is the book that I most recently finished.  I ended up finding it a pleasant enough read, though it isn't something I am particularly interested in revisting.

In my reading of the novel, I found myself growing in sympathy for Gallen, Orick, and Maggie, and feeling a mix of sympathy and disguist for Veriasse and Everynne.  It seems to me that this is by design.  In addition, I found the dronons to be a pretty disgusting evil race for our friends to face, which made the overall story pretty effective.

I came across a copy of  a later book that continues this story when I recently visited a library book sale.  I had another 150 or so pages to read, meaning I'd read over 2/3 of it.  That seems like about the spot in my reading where I'll have a pretty good idea if it is a story I want to continue to pursue when I finish my reading.  Well, I didn't buy the book, even though it would cost me less than $1.  I am not really interested in investing the time in continuing along with the story.  

That said, the last little bit did make me smile, and I would count The Golden Queen as an enjoyable enough read in itself.

Perhaps the best deals I've managed to find have been at library book sales.  I love when these things happen.  In Singapore, it's about once a year, and it is a national event held in a very large convention center.  You can imagine the crowds.  Here, in my hometown, there are several smaller libraries, and each has its own method of selling off old books.  This past weekend, the one nearest my parents' place had their sale (I think it might be annual).  It was in a little back room, and I managed to find a number of good deals.  I ended up bringing out 10 paperbacks all for $5, and all in good condition.

This morning, my best friend and I popped into a library in a neighboring town.  They used to have a book sale every Saturday, but have in recent years opened a little shop in the front of the library to sell off old books.  Paperbacks start as low as 25¢, and some of the nicer books can be several dollars.  I really love that shop.  The only problem with it is that I usually end up with a whole lot of books to carry to the other side of the world.