Going Postal by Terry Pratchett

This book is Pratchett at his finest. Moist von Lipvig is the consummate con-man--until he is caught. Then, after a convincing hanging, Lord Vetinari gives him a second chance, but only if he takes over the Postal Service (which has gone into decline with the advent of the clacks to send messages across long distances). As Moist cons his way around the post office, he learns that the clacks are being operated along a different kind of con--and he suddenly realizes, after a life of deceiving people, he must do the right thing--restore the post office and set the clacks to rights too. Full of humor and Discworld characters I came to love, Going Postal is satire with a warm heart.

The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett

This book is the first young adult entry in the Discworld series, and the first with chapters. It starts at the Unseen University when a group of rats (and through the rats, a cat) eat something discarded by the wizards and find they can think and talk. Maurice develops a scam in which he uses the rats and a dopey-looking boy with a pipe to make money on unsuspecting towns. But when they arrive in a mysterious town in the Überwald, they find that the joke may be on them! The book was well-plotted and engaging throughout. I really enjoyed it.

The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett and illustrated by Paul Kirby

This book features Cohen the Barbarian on a final quest--to give the gift of fire back to the Gods. If he succeeds, he will destroy the Disc. And only Rincewind and Leonard of Quirm, using an experimental technology that allows them to travel around the Disc (a spaceship) can save him...but they didn't count on an unexpected passenger. I enjoyed this book--and it's lavishly and beautifully illustrated.

Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett

This novel is Discworld at its best. There's a bit of a Bond spoof, lots of Death (who works to reunite the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, but doesn't count on Ronnie, who left before they hit it big), lots of Susan, and a great storyline involving monks of time and a glass clock that can stop it entirely. It's the sort of story you have to read to fully understand, and reading it is a real pleasure.

The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett

In this book Samuel Vimes, commander of the Watch, is sent as Ankh-Morpork's ambassador to Uberwald where tempers are running high over the latest dwarf election and the ceremonial Scone may be missing. With the help of his sharp wife Sybil, Vimes must negotiate a diplomatic solution in a country full of vampires, werewolves, dwarfs, and Igors but noticeably short on the rule of law. I am enjoying the Watch books more and more.

Looking for Jake by China Miéville

This collection of stories covers a wide range of fantasy; there's one set in Bas-Lag (home of Perdido Street Station, Iron Council, and The Scar), there are a number set in various post-apocalyptic Londons (including The Tain, a novella about vampires and people captured in mirrors), and even an illustrated story. I really enjoyed "'Tis the Season" about a world in which Christmas is so trademarked that you have to buy permission to celebrate. The stories were all good. Once again Miéville shows off his endlessly inventive and entertaining imagination.

Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett

In this book King Verence of Lancre makes the mistake of inviting a family of vampires (or rather vampyres--they're trying very hard to be modern and to train themselves out of weaknesses like their aversions to holy symbols, sunlight, and garlic) to his daughter's christening. To compound the problem, a group of magpies steal Granny Weatherwax's invitation. I really enjoyed this book. It wasn't as laugh-out-loud funny as some of the other entries in the series, but I thought it had a strong plot, I loved reading the witches (especially Granny Weatherwax), and I really liked what Pratchett did with his parody of vampires. All in all a great read.

Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson

This book is pretty funny. As it turns out, we're all living according to the lies the evil librarians have told us; dinosaurs are still alive, and there are three whole new continents (who would believe that 70% of the earth is water anyway? What a waste!). Alcatraz Smedry (the librarians name prisons after the great heroes of the Free Kingdoms, on those three continents) has been living a normal ife, but on his thirteenth birthday his inheritance (a bag of sand) is the beginning of a series of adventures that introduces him to a larger world. Lots of funny, meta-fictional commentary on the role of the narrator and what authors want. Also not shy about poking fun at the Harry Potter series. I really enjoyed this book.

Snow White by Donald Barthelme

I was intrigued by the playfulness of the language in
this book. Certain words are regularly twisted (bath to baff, housewife to horsewife). Of course, the fairy tale itself is a strange amalgamation of Snow White (in the Grimm and Disney versions) and Rapunzel. There are hints (at least to my mind) of the story of Cyrano de Bergerac as well. In this muddle of cultural references there's a lot going on with both gender politics and waste. Definitely one of those books you can't attempt to fully understand in whole: the pieces don't fit together nicely into a neat puzzle.

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

I definitely appreciated the achievements of this book much more this time around than I ever have before. I'm not quite sure what clicked (whether the epic ambitions / ultimate parody of the journey the Bundrens take, Darl's prescient ability to know what's going on, poor Vardaman's inability to process his mother's death, Cora's self-righteous assumptions, or Anse's sly laziness), but I could see how this novel works better than ever.

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks

This book purports to be an oral history of the zombie war. It's a really enjoyable account. The book does a good job of working its way through to cover the war fully despite being set up as a series of interviews. We don't get to know any of the individual characters terribly well (many of them just have one section), but overall it paints a compelling and exciting portrait of humanity in crisis.

Maskerade by Terry Pratchett

This book combines Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax's search for a third witch (after Magrat's defection to become Queen of Lancre) with a spoof of the opera generally and The Phantom of the Opera more specifically. I definitely found myself chortling at this book. The witches are some of my favorite Discworld characters, and they don't disappoint here!

Un Lun Dun by China Miéville

This book was so good, it had me foisting it on people almost before I was done reading it myself. It's the story of two young girls who find themselves drawn to Un Lun Dun, a sort of mirrored version of London, where broken and un-used things often find themselves, and a world menaced by the Smog (a problem which London appears to have solved). In addition to the sheer pleasures of Miéville's inventiveness and imagination, the book manages simultaneously to send its heroine on a quest and mock the conventions of the quest genre. I might not give this to kids who haven't read Harry Potter--it's so good, they might not find Potter quite as satisfying when they get around to him!

Soul Music by Terry Pratchett

In this book Music With Rocks In It hits Discworld in a big way. When Buddy finds a guitar in a strange shop and forms a band with Glod and Cliff, they start making music that drives everyone wild. Even Death's granddaughter Susan (who's filling in for him) finds herself fascinated by the music. This book had  a lot of clever jokes about rock and roll (and I'm sure I missed many of them as well). An enjoyable read.

Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett

In this book Magrat Garlick returns to Lancre to find that King Verence is not only still planning on marrying her, but he's got the wedding planned for Midsummer's. And, with or without Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg's help, the wedding's going on--despite Magrat's opinions on the matter. I enjoyed this one--especially the nice parody of the tradesmen's play in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Lots of good laughs--and a nice parody of fantasy conventions (especially as regards witches, wizards, and elves) along the way.

"There are no delusions for the dead. Dying is like waking up after a really good party, when you have one or two seconds of innocent freedom before you recollect all the things you did last night which seemed so logical and hilarious at the time, and then you remember the really amazing thing you did with a lampshade and two balloons, which had them in stitches, and now you realize you're going to have to look a lot of people in the eye today and you're sober now and so are they but you can both remember" (Pratchett, 28).

Pratchett, Terry. Lords and Ladies: A Novel of Discworld. New York: HarperPrism, 1995.

Bored of the Rings by the Harvard Lampoon, Henry Beard, and Douglas C. Kenney

This book parodies Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy. The parody is smart and accurate, but I didn't think it was actually all that funny. Funny how that works (or doesn't). I guess part of it is, I already appreciate the inherent goofiness of the trilogy, so I didn't need a parody to see that. Also, there were parts that were a bit crude for my tastes.

Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett

In this book Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and Magrat travel to Genua, where Magrat has been sent by the witch who left Magrat her wand and her position as fairy godmother. With moments that spoof The Lord of the Rings, The Wizard of Oz, and countless fairy tales (but most of all Cinderella), this story is hilarious. There's also a lot of travel humor. I can't get over how smart these books are in their parody. All of which is to say, this book is another one smashed out of the park for Pratchett.

Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett

Death confronts his own mortality in this installment of the Discworld series. When the powers that be decide that Death has too much of a personality and must be replaced, Death learns what it's like to be human (temporarily at least), and, in his absence, the wizards of Ankh-Morpork, faced with an over-load of spirits separated from their bodies, deal with the challenges of a high un-dead population--including the threat of a parasite that preys on cities: the shopping mall! In a book both hilarious and touching, Pratchett succeeds again.

Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett

This book parodies the siren call of the silver screen, as the whole Discworld is turned upside down when the last of the Doorkeepers dies, the Alchemists discover octo-cellulose, and enterprising individuals flock to Holy Wood. There are lots of great moments sending up classic Hollywood movies (Gone with the Wind, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and Ben-Hur, among others). Very funny.

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

This book, while beloved by children, is rich for any reader. The satire is sweeping and at times vicious (but what else would you expect from the author of "A Modest Proposal"). I was particularly interested in the changes in Gulliver during the journey. While at first he wanted to return to England, his wife, and children, by the end, he so misses the Houyhnhnms that he can barely stand human contact. This ending reminded me of the quick disposal of Robinson Crusoe's family in his book--but Gulliver seems to change more than Crusoe (who never worried particularly much about human contact). I was also struck by Swift's great imagination--Gulliver finds himself in all sorts of wildly different societies--and in places that could conceivably (just barely) exist within the world of that time. All in all a marvelous book--I'm sorry it took me so long to get around to reading it!