2.21.2011
The Thieves of Ostia
by Caroline Lawrence, 146 pgs, paperback
Series: The Roman Mysteries I
Overall Grade: B
Quick read. Juvenile mystery set during the Roman Empire. Not for the squeamish, dogs are beheaded, one boy has no tongue, and one of the suspects commits suicide. Plot - young Flavia Gemina (daughter of a merchant captain) befriends her neighbor, Jonathan and the two set out to uncover who killed and beheaded Jonathan's dog.
Labels: genre: crime-fighting, genre: fiction, genre: historical, genre: mystery, genre: YA, media: book, series: Roman Mysteries
2.11.2011
Cleopatra: A Life
by Stacy Schiff, 302 pgs, hardcover
Overall Grade: B+
A thoroughly enjoyable biography. Schiff does an excellent job perusing the historical sources, sussing out their biases and summarizing for the reader in an entertaining and readable way. You definitely come out knowing more about Cleopatra than you did before, but also knowing what you knew incorrectly, and also what the scholars still don't know.
Labels: genre: biographical, genre: historical, genre: non-fiction, media: book
2.03.2011
The Red Pyramid
by Rick Riordan, 516 pgs, hardcover
Official Site
Overall Grade: B
Series: The Kane Chronicles #1
A thoroughly enjoyable read, even though it's billed as a "Young Adult" novel. Another new series from the author of the fantastic Percy Jackson series. Instead of Greco-Roman mythology, Riordan weaves a story with Egyptian mythology. Sadie and Carter are two siblings being raised apart, Sadie with their maternal grandparents in London, and Carter travelling around the world with his Egyptologist father. They visit Sadie once a year or so, and this year head to a British museum to see, surprise, surprise, Egyptian artifacts. And like the good teens/tweens that they are, they disobey their father and stumble on to him breaking the Rosetta Stone and unleashing the five main Egyptian gods. Then the rest of the novel is a race against time to learn the Egyptian magic that's in their blood, and figure out a way to prevent Set from destroying the world. And like any Riordan book, you can bet on this only being part of the big picture...
Sequel 'The Throne of Fire' due out this May.
Official Site
Overall Grade: B
Series: The Kane Chronicles #1
A thoroughly enjoyable read, even though it's billed as a "Young Adult" novel. Another new series from the author of the fantastic Percy Jackson series. Instead of Greco-Roman mythology, Riordan weaves a story with Egyptian mythology. Sadie and Carter are two siblings being raised apart, Sadie with their maternal grandparents in London, and Carter travelling around the world with his Egyptologist father. They visit Sadie once a year or so, and this year head to a British museum to see, surprise, surprise, Egyptian artifacts. And like the good teens/tweens that they are, they disobey their father and stumble on to him breaking the Rosetta Stone and unleashing the five main Egyptian gods. Then the rest of the novel is a race against time to learn the Egyptian magic that's in their blood, and figure out a way to prevent Set from destroying the world. And like any Riordan book, you can bet on this only being part of the big picture...
Sequel 'The Throne of Fire' due out this May.
Labels: genre: fantasy, genre: fiction, genre: mythological, genre: YA, media: book, series: Kane Chronicles
