by Gaston Leroux, translated by Lowell Bair
I had almost forgotten what a great book this is. Written to look like it's full of historical fact, it's really well done. Bravo! The translation was great, too - fluid, easy-to-read, and fairly witty as well. Hooray!
Of course, reading it again reminds me of all the ways in which Andrew Lloyd Weber's musical is a travesty of the original tale, but Oh Well.
(Book 14 in 2005)
Man. This book is hilarious. Not terribly well researched and no doubt highly offensive to devout Christians, but a ton of fun. Basically, Ken got curious about the Bible, a book which makes the people who read it and believe it do and say some really weird things. So he read it himself, in several different versions. This book is made up of his observations along the way. He discusses the things he found that don't match up (for example, one contradiction he found suggests that Satan and God are the same person!), the oodles of sex/violence he found, and all that. It is a good handbook for someone out to find things to quote at annoying fundies, but not an academic book by any means.
(Book 13 in 2005)
by Gillian Bradshaw
This trilogy is a fascinating take on the Arthurian legend! The first book is from Gawain's point of view, the second from Gawain's servant's, and the third from Guinevere's. The names have been altered to more locally correct ones (Gawain is Gwalchmai, for example), and the first book is the only one with much magic. There's no Merlin, either.
But it's fascinating nonetheless. Set not long after the ROmans retreated from Britain, these books tell the story of a desperate attempt to rebuild a version of the Empire in Britain. Bradshaw also managed to make Guinevere (someone I've never much liked as adultery is a nigh-unforgivable deed in my opinion) sympathetic and likeable. I actually felt sorry for her. Good writing!
(Sorry I haven't been updating - I have a list of all the books I have been reading and will get them all up here, I promise!)
(books 10-12 in 2005)