All posts by Superfast Reader

Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King

American Literature December 10, 2010 Superfast Reader

Synopsis: 4 new stories that probe what ordinary people might do when faced with evil. Review: There were times when I considered putting down Full Dark, No Stars because it went so deep into the blackness. I know that sounds odd, because of who the author is, but for some reason these stories felt compressed in an unpleasant way. When King takes more time to develop his stories and let them breathe, you get some relief from the evil. That’s not the case with these…

Game of Thrones by George RR Martin (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1)

American Literature December 7, 2010 Superfast Reader 2 Comments

Synopsis: Political powers battle for control of the Iron Throne, while to the north supernatural powers threaten, and in the south a dispossessed royal begins to raise an army. Review: I wanted to reread Game of Thrones before the HBO series launches in April, and decided I’d give the audiobook a try. I am so glad I did. The narrator, Roy Dotrice, not only has a magnificent voice but sets all of the characters apart from each other. He’s just amazing. As for the story,…

The House at Riverton by Kate Morton

British Literature December 4, 2010 Superfast Reader

Synopsis: As she dies, a former lady’s maid reflects on the scandal that ended the family she served and reveals the truth that only she knew. Review: Kate Morton is rapidly becoming my latest favorite author. With her thrilling blend of Gothic melodrama and intricate plotting, she hits all my favorite buttons, much like her self-proclaimed influences Daphne DuMaurier and Barbara Vine. In The House at Riverton, Morton presents Grace, a lady’s maid who spent her youth in service with a titled family haunted by…

Rescue by Anita Shreve

On Reading November 30, 2010 Superfast Reader

Synopsis: An EMT falls in love with a reckless patient, who then abandons him and their daughter, and he struggles with whether he should let her back in. Review: I blazed through Rescue, which doesn’t have the strongest of plots but offers an emotionally compelling story nonetheless. Though it takes a turn for the melodramatic near the end, I stayed with the characters because I found them to be so real. It didn’t offer any grand revelations, nor did it make my toes tingle, but…

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

British Literature November 24, 2010 Superfast Reader 1 Comment

Synopsis: The lives of a prior, an earl, a master builder, two vengeful orphans, a “witch,” and the bastard son of a jongleur intertwine during the building of a cathedral. Review: I had several people recommend The Pillars of the Earth to me, and since I’m loving my Kindle I thought I’d see if I liked reading a long book on it. (I did.) The story is sweeping but the character journeys make it intimate. It really was an engrossing read. However, I grew a…

The Adventures of Rusty and Ginger Fox by Tim Ostermeyer

American Literature November 23, 2010 Superfast Reader 2 Comments

Synopsis: A children’s book about the adventures of two foxes, illustrated with real photographs of foxes and including facts about foxes. Review: The Adventures of Rusty and Ginger Fox is a really sweet book. I loved the pictures of the foxes as they move through their habitat, as well as all the other animals like bobcats and bears and wolves and even some little girls. However, the writing was a little off the mark–it seems written for younger children, but I think it’s a bit…

Microcosmos by Brandon Broll

American Literature November 10, 2010 Superfast Reader

Synopsis: Subtitled: Discovering The World Through Microscopic Images From 20 X to Over 22 Million X Magnification. Review: I read Microcosmos as part of Eco Libris’s Green Books campaign, which aims to showcase books that are published with eco-friendly methods. The book says that it is from a “product group from well-managed forests and other controlled sources.” I don’t really know what that means, but it looks gorgeous! The photos are really amazing, everything from bones to chocolate ice cream to mushroom spores. It’s great…

Tapestry of Love by Rosy Thornton

British Literature November 9, 2010 Superfast Reader 1 Comment

Synopsis: After a divorce, Englishwoman Catherine moves to a cottage in the rural Cevennes mountains in France, facing challenges as an outsider at a crossroads in her life. Review: Tapestry of Love is a charming novel that makes you ache to visit the Cevennes mountains. The descriptions of the landscapes and the food and the culture are just so evocative. It’s a near-perfect example of this kind of book. Rosy Thornton’s storytelling is languid and endearing, making this a most relaxing read of the best…

Foxybaby and The Sugar Mother by Elizabeth Jolley

Australian Literature November 9, 2010 Superfast Reader

With reading time at a premium due to an active 3-year-old and a high needs 4-month-old, I’m not able to dive into all the worthy books that are sent my way for review. So this will be a bit out of form for the Superfast Reader, more of an endorsement than a review, since I was only able to give these books a perusal instead of a read. But they are absolutely worth recommending, for their literary merit and sheer originality. Foxybaby follows a writer…

Bad Science by Ben Goldacre

American Literature November 8, 2010 Superfast Reader 1 Comment

Synopsis: Subtitled, Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks, it’s an exposÃ© of the way that misunderstanding science allows people to profit off of ignorance and fear. Review: Ben Goldacre’s mission in Bad Science is to expose the way that the unscrupulous exploit the public’s misunderstanding of science in order to make big money. He shines a light on homeopathy, nutritionism, AIDS denialists, and more. Along the way he takes the time to educate the reader on how to understand evidence-based medicine, peer review, and scientific…

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