Holy Warrior by Angus Donald

Holy Warrior --4 Stars

This is the second book in the series and yes, you do have to read them in order. I picked up the first book a few years ago and loved it, this was no different. We continue following Alan Dale and his master, Robin Odo (Robin Hood) as they keep a promise that Robin made to go to the Holy Land and recapture Jerusalem from Saladin. There are plots to assassinate Robin, kill Alan, and destroy the King's position, although he can do that all on his own anyway.

While not for the faint of heart, this is a novel that is historically accurate to certain degrees. King Richard the Lionheart did indeed go to the "Holy Land" and fought Saladin, though never face to face. He also burned through massive amounts of gold to accomplish this pilgrimage. While Alan Dale didn't truly exist, there were many like him. Many who fought through Sarasen  hordes did so because they believed it to be a noble quest that would secure their place in heaven, no matter how often they had to deny Christ's law to love your neighbour as yourself.

I love that this is a fast pasted novel of battles, loyalty and betrayal. A story a young boy forced to become a man with a sword and shield. A telling of Robin of the Hood like we've never seen before from an author who knows how to mix fiction and fact in a beautiful way in which you are no longer sure where one starts and the other ends.

Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami

Dance Dance Dance -- 3.5 Stars

I love Murakami and enjoy his prose and his creative word use, yet this was not one of my favourite stories. We pick up where we left our unnamed protagonist from Wild Sheep Chase while he searches for his girl-friend. He starts at the Dolphin Hotel where they're adventure began four years prior.

Unfortunately, the entire story is so disjointed that its hard to make heads or tails of anything. He's in Tokyo, then Sapporo then Hawaii then back to Tokyo and finally Sapporo. Dreams pop into his head that you aren't sure are real or not, but then neither is he.

All in all this novel left me feeling as if I'd wasted my time, as if there should have been something more, but that it was forgotten or edited out. Either way, I'm sorely disappointed in Dance Dance Dance. 

The Reading Goals So far

This post is a little different than most of I've written. So far this year, I've read less then I would have hoped, only twenty-five of the forty books I had as a goal. Puts me a little behind, unfortunately. At the moment, I'm reading Dance, Dance, Dance by Haruki Murakami and his books always seem to take a little bit, since there is so much depth to his tellings. This will be the last book in my "Group Reading Challenge" from Good Reads. It also counts towards my personal goal to read all of Murakami's books available in English, this is number seven out of the eleven that I own.

After Dance, Dance, Dance I'm not sure what I want to read. A mystery? A fantasy? A young adult? A fiction? Oh the choices are endless! I could even be daring and borrow one from the library, though that isn't something I do often. I tend to go to the local book shops see something I may read and say "oh why not buy it". Tends to happen quite often with me, buying yet more books when I've not finished the ones I have already. I really cannot help myself, I'm quite the book junkie.

I find being a book addict to be rather harmless addiction as these things go. If there was such thing as Book-Addicts Anonymous, it would become a book club within about three sessions... if that long. When I meet someone that says they hate to read, I feel very sorry for them. They miss out on all the grand adventures. I'm twenty-eight and have already been on several sea voyages, been under water exploring. I've traveled to Sherwood, Oxford, Paris, Tokyo, Hongkong, Middle Earth and Shangrilah. I've fought dragons, defended kingdoms, saved the universe at least twice, and solved countless murders. All those stories and so many people won't know such grand adventures! Truly, its a depressing thought.

A Wild Sheep Chase By Haruki Murakami

A Wild Sheep Chase-- 4 Stars

We follow an unnamed protagonist as he searches out a sheep with a star on its back. He searches for the sheep while also searching for a long lost friend of his. He leaves Tokyo and heads north into the mountains. There are times when you think that you know exactly what is going on then the author yanks the rug out from under you and leaves you stranded in a vacuum.

I always enjoy the novels, but honestly I find myself at a loss of how to describe them to others. The satirical talent that reigns here defies proper description. All I can say is that I thoroughly enjoyed the novel and have already started on the next one.  

The mix of mystery and pure anarchy makes for a lovely adventure, one that keeps me turning pages long into the night.

Long Way Round by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman

Long Way Round -- 5 stars


All right, this has been sitting on my shelf for several years and I really have been meaning to read it. I'm actually not a huge fan of travel genre because the writers often sound so bloody pretentious when they describe the country side that they view from the spit shined windows of their over priced hotel. This book starts off as a couple of mates act on a dream they've each toyed with since childhood, to ride a motobike around the world.

After months of planning, they start off from London and make their way east to New York City, a trip that will take them four months and 18,887 miles. I laughed with them as they encountered one strange adventure after another. I worried when the rivers they crossed were higher then the engines. With every border crossing, I hoped they would get through it safely and with little hassle. Every day seemed to bring something new to the boys, and therefore to me. By reading the journey they took around the world, I learned that there are still people out there who will stop for a total stranger to help him repair his bike, that will take him into their home, feed him, and offer him a warm bed. The world is full of people who are willing offer a hand in exchange for a smile. I also learned, along with McGregor and Boorman,  that not everything is as it seems and every person deserves the benefit of the doubt.

Most of all, I learned that life isn't about the destination, its all about the journey. Lovingly and honestly written, Long Way Round shows everyone that takes the time to read it that sometimes all you need is a little adventure and fresh air to find what you were looking for, which is often not too far from where you started in the first place. 

Memory and Dream by Charles De Lint

Memory and Dream - 5 stars

All right all right... we already know that I am partial toward De Lint's novels. I just love his stories. I love how he mixes myth, legend and the real to make a beautiful story. You can't help but fall in love with the characters, the story...

Imagine you're an artist, oils are your medium. You are taken under the wing of one of the most celebrated artists of your time. Under his tutelage, you learn that your art can be a gateway to bring across whatever your subject in the painting is, whether its a Native American, a reading woman or a wild girl. You love each one that crosses over, they aren't just figments of your imagination... they are real people.

This is where Izzy finds herself. She's so excited to be learning from one of, if not the best and most celebrated artist of her time. Everything is going just fine until she starts to have nightmares of her work being destroyed, burned. The people she has been bringing over are being killed, they are connected to the paintings. If the paintings are destroyed then the person dies too. But is Izzy just dreaming, or are her dreams real?

I was up late last night reading, I just had to finish the story and see what happened. As always, I wasn't disappointed.

The Associate by John Grisham

The Associate-- 3 stars

I am convinced that every author writes a dud novel, one that doesn't live up to the standards said author usually accomplishes. This happens on average once every ten years, could be more often if the author is rather prolific. In this case, Grisham has disappointed me. I read the novel hoping for the thrilling twists and turns that usually accompany his novels. I was sadly disappointed this time.

The novel starts off with a decent enough twist, a man from some agency blackmails Kyle McAvoy, law school graduate, by using something from his past. His job is to infiltrate a law firm, the largest in the world, and steal documents. But that is where the adventure and twists end, really. Boring and straight forward. Sure we see what happens to every law student after they pass the bar exam. They are over worked, but they get paid well, so there's reason to complain. Unless of course, you have some guy telling to betray everything you've ever known.

Not one of my favourite books by Grisham. I haven't read one of his books in some time and was depressed by how predictable the entire thing was. Most of the time, I have to run to catch up with him, but not this time.