Reading Spree

After buying tons of books early this year, i decided to buck up and start seriously reading them!
if not, the stack will just grow higher and higher. @_@

1) China Mieville - Kraken
first knew about this author from the recommendation for his latest novel "Embassytown" in straits times.
review mentioned him to be a sorta pulp fiction author - meaning his novels are typically a mis-mash of genres.
sound rather interesting to me.
so i bought 3 of his books at 1 go and decided to start with "kraken".
the premise sounds interesting:
a giant squid was stolen from a natural history museum in london without a trace.
a body was found @ the crime scene.
the theft may mean the end of the world.

but well, once the plot takes a dip into an urban fantasy world of london, i was pretty lost.
fantasy genre is never really my cup of tea.
and it was rather hard keeping up with the many strange characters and sects introduced in the book.
though i must admit, the book did kept me turning the pages to find out the bloody truth of what the hell is going on!
so i finished it reading.
it was not an easy read and definitely not one you can easily rehash to others what it is really about.
but it does open my eyes to a new genre - or rather various genres in a novel. which is a novelty by itself.

2) Tea Obreht - The tiger's wife
i do think this book is a brillant debut novel for such a young writer.
the author painted a surreal balkan country from a not so distant past.
though the plot doesnt follow the typical climax model, it made me flip the pages fast and furious.
the characters were all fascinating and as the author weaves in the background stories for them, you can't help but got sweeped along by it.
there can be so much pain and joy in life. sometimes, its really a matter of choice.

3) China Mieville - King rat
Mieville's debut novel in 1998.
ooh, this book is different from kraken and i like it so much more.
a man found out he is son of king rat (which made him price rat by the way) and set out to save himself and his kind from an ancient evil in drum & bass london.
the way he factored in well-known fairytale and technicalities of drum"n" bass in the novel is fascinating!
and it helps that the book is rather lean and fast paced. cool!

4) Carol Birch - Jamrach's Menagerie
i picked the book thinking its a young boy adventure on sea in search of exotic land and animals.
but its not. :(
the book is a good one with the author dealing out good prose and captivating us with the events of the male protagonist - young Jaf who decided to sail with his long-time friend with a crew in search of exotic animal to bring back.
but the story is deeply unsettling. :(
i totally dont see it coming but when it came - the cannibalism - was dealt out efficiently.
alternating between matter-of-factly and outright shocking.

and now, i decided to take a break from swimming in words.
all the above in 2 weeks is no joke. @_@

time to embrace the other love in my life - movies - before moving on to the other love (yes, im very loving) - travel.
its really time for me to start coming up with a detailed and plausible itinerary for june!