Young Man Luther by Erik Erikson

Young Man Luther by Erik Erikson is a book with an interesting premise but littl else. The premise was do to a psychoanalysis of Martin Luther. The big and central problem is that his analysis was with a person who was absent. Luther was so absent that he had been dead for centuries and no one around to even a first hand account of things. Besides this, there was a cultural biased that was not deal with in the book. Erikson was writting this while living in the 1950's America while looking at Martin Luther who was living in the 1500's Germany. This, at least for me, left the book's theories foundationless. I give this one 1 out of 5 Pith helmits and this solely for how much Erikson's biased amused me.

Skulduggery Pleasant, by Derek Landy

This book was actually featured in the Unshelved Book Club Sunday Strip for June 22. When I saw it on the "recommended" table at the library, I remembered the strip and picked the book up. Was I ever glad I did!

The age rating says "ages 10 and up". It really is, too - it's got enough action and wisecracking to make it appeal to kids, teens, and adults, without being overly graphic or resorting to "adult" material.

SYNOPSIS: Stephanie is a normal 12-year-old girl with a rather not-normal uncle. The book starts with his funeral, and the reading of his will - in which he leaves the majority of his vast estate to Stephanie! Also present is an unusual character named "Skullduggery Pleasant", apparently a friend of Stephanie's uncle.
He rapidly becomes a friend of sorts to Stephanie, as well. She stays the night at her uncle's (now her) house, and gets attacked by a man asking for a "key". Skullduggery comes to the rescue and is revealed to be a walking, talking, magic-using skeleton! The rest of the book deals with Stephanie's introduction to the world of magic and sorcery, and of course, the battles against the Bad Guys.
The Bad Guys are after the Scepter of the Ancients, an amazingly powerful (and indestructible) weapon made by (duh) the Ancients. With the Scepter, they plan to take over the world, call up an ancient race of gods, and get the gods to rid the world of humanity. I never quite did figure out how they thought they would be exempt from this purging-of-humanity, but apparently being a Bad Guy necessarily means that you have major holes in your logic. :D

Skullduggery has an impossibly large ego, a healthy sense of self-worth, and is incredibly sarcastic. His interactions with Stephanie, no slouch in those areas herself, are really funny. If you're a devotee of the Dresden Files novels by Jim Butcher, you'll understand when I say that Skullduggery is rather a combination of Harry and Bob when it comes to wisecracking and sarcastic comments.

Overall, it's a fun read, and, dare I say, a "Pleasant" book. Check out the website at http://www.skullduggerypleasant.com/us

4.5 out of 5 bones.

Egyptian Book fo the Dead.

The Edition of the Egyptian Book of the Dead I will be reviewing has been translated by Raymond O. Faulkner and has an introduction by James P. Allen. It was copyrighted in 2003 and published by Barnes and Noble. This edition is a beautiful and well done coffee table edition full of pictures of both original texts but also artifacts from the era. Both text and pictures shed light on the ancient Egyptian culture and religion. It was an enjoyable read and a book i would leave out for people to look through. Due to its vignette nature. This book is best read in short snippets.

5 out of 5 pith helmets

The Black Mountain, a Nero Wolfe novel

By Rex Stout.

Synopsis: Marko Vukcic, Nero Wolfe's oldest friend, is murdered in New York. Wolfe actually leaves not only his brownstone, but the country to go to Montenegro (at the time it was Yugoslavia) and find the murderer.

Review: I normally thoroughly approve of an author trying something new with their characters, and taking them in a new direction. And, while this was definitely in Wolfe's character, I just didn't enjoy this book very much at all. Yes, the mystery was there, but it was more of a MacGuffin than the point of the book. The point seemed to be "get Wolfe completely out of his element. A lot." The mystery was dealt with only tangentially, and the "adventure" of Wolfe and Archie in Montenegro dominated the book. It was "solved" as an afterthought, and required no mental effort whatsoever on Wolfe's part. As a Wolfe novel, it was disappointing. There was none of the usual banter, none of the "Archie hassles Wolfe", and in general, none of their usual behaviours. Since I read, and re-read the books for the people, rather than the MacGuffin / mystery, I wasn't impressed with this one.

It really didn't read like a Wolfe novel at all, but rather like another "adventure" novel in a different series Stout may have been working on - with Wolfe and Archie shoehorned in at the last minute.

1.5 out of 5 bones.

Blood Noir by Laurell K Hamilton

Oh gee. Where do I begin with this travesty of a "book"?

I made it to about page 20 (chapter 7 or so) of Blood Noir. Then something shiny caught my eye and I just couldn't be fussed to pick up BN again to read another 20 chapters (6 pages or so.) Heck, I couldn't even be fussed to pick it up and fling it across the room to bang into the wall.

Yes, I'm being sarcastic (sort of) about the chapter length but really, I'm begining to hate the 2 paragraph chapters. It's irritating beyond belief, especially since the first 5 chapters were about Nathan, Jason and Anita having sex. But it's not about sex. No no really! At least, that's what Anita would have us believe.

Thank goodness in the 20 eye blindingly horrid pages I managed to wade through, Anita never once "screamed [her] pleasure into [his] mouth" as she was pretty much guaranteed to do at least twice for each sexual encounter she's had in the last 3 books.

Ms. Hamilton, I like Anita. I like that she's kick ass and super supernatural. I enjoy the PLOTS of the earlier books. I like the necromancy, the vampire stuff, the Were stuff. Even when it's eyerollingly absurd. It's still fun. This...this...VOMIT that you've spewed onto precious tree pulp is just...well...gorge rising.

Go back to what worked, Ms. Hamilton. Please. Either that or dump Anita for awhile and go on with the other ideas you've had.

0 out of 5 berries for this one. Unless you like badly written graphic sex scenes with no eroticism whatsoever, give this one a miss. Even if you normally check 'em out of the library. Wasn't worth the 20 cents I had in late fees.