Julie and Julie by Julie Powell

Julie and Julia -- 4 Stars

What do you do if you are about to turn thirty, have a boring job, a syndrome that makes having children difficult, and oh... did I mention you're turning THIRTY? How do you find a purpose in your life? What are you going to do?

If you're Julie Powell, you take down the recipe book you snatched from you mother and make the decision to cook every single thing in it, no matter what. Of course, the cook book is none other than Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. With over five hundred recipes, its a challenge in and of itself, but to say you're going to do this in a year? Yep, Julie is crazy, no doubt about it. She wanted to put some excitement, some meaning into her life and she cooked her way through a year to do it.

You might think that it would be boring to read about a woman cooking for a year. In reality, its a riot! No... its a catastrophe! Between trying to find beef bone with the marrow intact or getting the courage to cook a live lobster, its amazing the woman's apartment was still standing. Heck, I'm surprised her marriage lasted! There really are no words to describe what this book is. Its a biography, a self help, a cook book... kinda. Its such a wonderful mix that it defies definition, which I find completely endearing. Honestly, I love the chutzpah that Julie has, even in the face of aspic!

In the end, its not all about Julie Powell or Julia Child, its about finding the joy in life, grasping it with both hands and enjoying the wild ride... mistakes, disasters, and all.

Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

Fellowship of the Ring  4Stars

This is the second book by Tolkien that I have had the joy of reading. While The Hobbit seemed to fly along, this first installment of the Lord of the Rings saga has moments where it lags a bit. That is to be expected from a book that, in total, is over a thousand pages. The longer the book the more pages I give it to catch my interest.

Having already seen the movies, I know how the story goes, but I want to see how the author intended it to be. I must say that I was not left disappointed. The political intrigue and betrayal is not unlike watching the news today. I think what I enjoy the most is that Tolkien wrote of these places and people and creatures as if they were real, not merely something out of his imagination. "Merely". I shouldn't use such a word, there is nothing minor or simple about this story. It pulls you in, drags you along the journey as you run from Black Riders, follow Frodo, worry with Sam, listen to the songs of old sung by Aragorn and Legolas, and borrow some of the dwarfish strength of Gimli.

If you have not yet read this book, but have seen the movie, you're missing out. There is so much more that you need to know! I regret nothing, reading the tales of Middle Earth. Neither will you.

i am the messenger by Markus Zusak

i am the messenger -- 5stars

So there I was, trolling the library, wondering what would pop out at me this time. What treasure would call to me and beg to be read? What story would make me think, make me curious? Who's words would keep me awake until the wee hours? I found it. Or rather, it found me.

We follow a young man named Ed Kennedy for just one year, one single year in the life of a pathetic kid who won't amount to anything, so says his mother. Then one day everything changes, he receives the Ace of Clubs in the mail with three addresses. He has to deliver a message to each place, but he doesn't have a clue what that is to be. He has to to this not just for one ace, but for all of them. The journey isn't just to deliver a message, but to... well you'll have to read it to find out what happens.

This was one of those rare books that I think everyone should read, not because it was a joy and a great read, but because it has the potential to change lives if you let it. There are other books that I can think of that I can think of, most of which are considered young adult, that have the same potential. Deliver a message to someone, maybe not what they want to hear sometimes, but always what they need. Every thing that we do, every thing we say has a power to effect others and ourselves. The point is that we have to allow the change, fighting it only causes more pain.

So is that what happened to Ed Kennedy? Did he change because of the messages he was sent to deliver? You'll have to read it and find out. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did, I hope the story calls to you in a whisper off the shelves and talks to you until you are wide awake at two in the morning, feeling completely satisfied.

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Hobbit-- 5 Stars

I tried reading The Hobbit once many years ago, but I think I was too young when I made the first attempt. At the time I thought that Tolkien took too long and was far too descriptive with the places he was writing about. Never a great of fan of what I call "straight fantasy", books that are in places completely of the author's imagination, I tend to stay away from them in favour of things more palatable. So here I am, a twenty-eight year old self professed geek, finally completing The Hobbit. "Why?" you may well ask... That's easy, because I want to see the movie and I always read the book first.

Honestly, I was shocked by how much I enjoyed it. It was a fantastic read, full of adventure and strange new places. My edition has a wonderful map on both the front and back in-covers which makes it much easier to see where Bilbo and the dwarfs are in their adventure.

Bilbo is a simple creature, satisfied with simple tastes of good food and good cheer. When he is hired to act as the burglar for Thorin and Company, he's more then a little apprehensive. He'd rather sit in his arm chair in front of the hearth and blow smoke rings then sleep on the cold ground with goblins and trolls about. Sure, there is a vast hoard of treasure to be had, but at what cost? It takes nearly a year for the small hobbit to return home again. By that time, he has changed from a simple creature of simple tastes to one who has seen great things and appreciates the smallest and most simple of all experiences. Good food and good company.

I must admit some regret in having waited so long to read such a novel, though now my interest has been piqued and I must read more, know more. I do believe that the Lord Of The Rings will be among the next books on my reading list.

Long Way Down

Long Way Down -- 4Stars

I give this four starts because I cannot stand some of the language they use. I suppose I should be aware that men on motorbikes curse and swear too much, especially when there are no wives about.

Anyway, I truly did enjoy traveling with them as they made their way from Scotland to the Southern-most tip of Africa. From deserts to rain forests, the two friends made their way south, forever south. They stopped at various points to visit UNICEF centres and talk with the children effected by war. From the sick and dying children of Robin's House in the UK to the victims of the genocide in Rwanda. I must confess that there was more then point in which I cried for those children. No child should go through that, land mines at their front doors or being forced to become a soldier at only eight years old. If you don't feel for them, then you are numb.

The friends traveled through some terrible roads and met every challenge with stubbornness, if not grace. Tumbling off the bike in the sands of the Sudan, getting mucked in the mud after the rains of Ethiopia. No matter what was thrown at them, they continued on and laughed about it later. I suppose that is what true friendship is, dealing with the crap in life and laughing at the end of it. Boil-in-a-bag dinners with elephants walking past your tent, I can't imagine a better way to see Africa. Can you?

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.