Tag: keeper

The Deluxe Transitive Vampire

This, believe it or not, is a book on English grammar.  (It’s subtitled The Ultimate Handbook of Grammar for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed.)  As such, it’s a lucid explanation of parts of speech and basic syntax, with entertaining examples, whimsical illustrations, and a vivid (if somewhat bossy) voice.

Even so, I found my interest flagging  about two-thirds of the way through.  I guess that even for a grammar nerd like me, the topic is more of something I look up when I have questions than something I want to read about.   Still, this book is a valiant effort to make a dry subject live, and I may keep the book around for those times when I get asked grammar questions and can’t think of any examples at all, let alone ones that might shed light on the subject.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

My kids and I have been reading through the Harry Potters together for several months, and have just finished number five.  We started this set because the kids are getting pressure from classmates to read and discuss the books, but I don’t want my two reading them on their own yet.  This is the compromise we came up with.

Reading these aloud, I notice things I didn’t when reading them to myself–unfortunate things like awkward dialogue tags and the overuse of adverbs. But the story is just as brilliant, the world just as rich, the characters just as complex and finely drawn, and the humor just as delightful.  And the experience is more meaningful when I read with my kids.

I love the way we get to the end of a section and they beg for more.  I love the conversations that get started around the dinner table about what good families are like and who to trust and how to make good choices and how the world isn’t divided into good people and Death Eaters–that evil can take many forms and faces, some of which initially appear to be good.  I love the way the kids get inspired to create their own worlds as they emerge from this one.

I’ve always loved these books.  I love them even more now that my family is experiencing them together.

Career of Evil

This is the third Cormoran Strike novel, a deliciously complicated psychological mystery by Robert Galbraith (otherwise known as J.K. Rowling).  I first picked up the Galbraith novels because I love Rowling’s work, but I keep reading them because they’re wonderful.

I love Cormoran Strike, Robin Ellacott, and the way the relationship between them sparks with chemistry and confusion, even more than if they were romantically involved.  I love the complexity of the other characters and the richness of the world.  I love the insight the work gives into the everyday struggles of living in modern London.

I also like the mystery itself.  There’s plenty of suspense and enough red herrings to keep me guessing until fairly late in the story.  Altogether, an excellent book of its type.  Galbraith has become one of my favorite mystery authors, one of the very few whose works I keep around on my shelves for re-reading.