This Weeks Reading – 8/29/06

I’ve decided that putting a single entry for each book I decide to write a paragraph or so about is too scattered. I think I’ll just try to make weekly entries on my reading. Where applicable, I’ll do something similar for what I watch as well, though I watch less than I read.

This week I read three very different books, though all were enjoyable. When I rate these for my Energion.com Bookstore I use a scale from 1 to 5. This scale means:

1. I didn’t finish reading it.
   I’m such a determined reader that this only applies to two books that I can remember
2. I don’t plan to look at this author again
3. Normal reading level; I liked it and will read this author again on occasion.
4. I liked it, and will keep my eye open for this author’s work
5. I truly adored it, and will read everything this author writes.

My first item this week was the final book in Timothy Zahn’s Blackcollar trilogy, Zahn, Timothy, Blackcollar: The Judas Solution. Timothy Zahn is one of my favorite writers, and so you should not be surprised that I give this a five; I have to just based on my definition. If Zahn writes, I’ll read. In this case, I find the ending to the trilogy quite interesting and creative, and I enjoyed the background of this series. There’s lots of action and suspense, and a few twists and turns, but it mostly hangs together. There are some interesting logical questions, but they don’t overwhelm the story.

Then I read John Pilkington’s medieval mystery, The Maiden Bell. This was my first book by Pilkington and though I enjoyed it, I must give it a mere 3. I have already visited the library again and completely failed to look for another book by this author. On the other hand, I expect I will read something more by him at some point. I found the story just a little bit slow, and the history was pretty far in the background.

Finally, I read a book by one of my wife’s favorite authors, J. D. Robb (Nora Roberts). The book is Memory in Death, and I truly enjoy reading any of the books in this series featuring Eve Dallas as a detective. Robb concentrates on the human element a great deal, but the mystery is good, and the action and suspense are adequate to keep your attention. Since I read a good deal of Robb, but haven’t set out to read everything she writes (who could?) I’ll call this a 4.

Of course I’m only including fiction and literary reading in this listing. A good use of comments might be to mention good books you’ve read recently. I enjoy updating this blog and its good for me whether anyone’s reading it or not, but it might be fun to have some feedback here.