Something MARVELOUS has happened.
And in other news, I read Jasper Fforde's The Last Dragonslayer. Good? It's meant to be a young adult novel, I guess, so maybe that's why I wasn't super blown away (not to say that there aren't some great YA novels out there, I suppose), but I wasn't... It's Fforde, so it's funny, but it wasn't hilarious, and a lot of it seemed a bit heavy-handed. Wow, giant corporations are bad, etc. This is the first in a two-book (so far) series, I think, but I probably won't search out the second.
Still can't wait for the Shades of Grey sequel though!!!
Also - I can't say why, but YAY!!!
Monday, October 22, 2012
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
more
Running out the door, but finished Charles Finch's A Burial At Sea the other day (Tuesday night maybe?). Fine.
Monday, October 15, 2012
Random trend?
So, now in 2 books I was reading at the same time I've come across the plot device of old-timey English woman is being blackmailed over, or worried about being blackmailed over, her youthful indiscretions and the resulting nude "postcards" getting out after she's married a socially prominent man. Really? Was this that common? Or just tired?
Anyhow, in the one I finished over the weekend, Lady Emily sets things right in the end in A Crimson Warning by Tasha Alexander. I think I am over this series. I checked it out of the library knowing it would just be light fluff, but also knowing this was a weekend where I was going to be in serious need of some light fluff. But...meh. I was just bored a lot, and the writing isn't anything to write home about, so to speak, and the characters are flat and the plot developments predictable. The dashing husband isn't even that exciting. I think it didn't help that I read this shortly after the Sebastian St. Cyr books, and those are actually much better, I think, although still not exactly great literature. They're similar, though, in featuring ahead-of-their-time women who are intellectually curious and strong-willed, but the whole "yes I wear a corset but I am an independent woman hear me roar!" thing can be so overdone so easily. It just felt old here. Wealthy woman who defies expectations of her society alongside a dashing, slightly dangerous man. Smoldering glances and carriages. YAWN.
Anyhow, in the one I finished over the weekend, Lady Emily sets things right in the end in A Crimson Warning by Tasha Alexander. I think I am over this series. I checked it out of the library knowing it would just be light fluff, but also knowing this was a weekend where I was going to be in serious need of some light fluff. But...meh. I was just bored a lot, and the writing isn't anything to write home about, so to speak, and the characters are flat and the plot developments predictable. The dashing husband isn't even that exciting. I think it didn't help that I read this shortly after the Sebastian St. Cyr books, and those are actually much better, I think, although still not exactly great literature. They're similar, though, in featuring ahead-of-their-time women who are intellectually curious and strong-willed, but the whole "yes I wear a corset but I am an independent woman hear me roar!" thing can be so overdone so easily. It just felt old here. Wealthy woman who defies expectations of her society alongside a dashing, slightly dangerous man. Smoldering glances and carriages. YAWN.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Regency gluttony
In between wanting to die Friday-Saturday (at least Thursday was fun!), I plowed through the three latest Sebastian St. Cyr books, What Remains of Heaven (early July 1812), Where Shadows Dance (later July 1812), and When Maidens Mourn (August 1812).
I also read, at some point a while ago, This Bright River, by Patrick Somerville (2012), which was fantastic. Well- and creatively- written and compelling, with engaging characters.
***
Could say more but I've got to go into Copley to hit CVS & Shaws so I figure I might as well drop off the C.S. Harris books, clear some shelf space.
I also read, at some point a while ago, This Bright River, by Patrick Somerville (2012), which was fantastic. Well- and creatively- written and compelling, with engaging characters.
***
Could say more but I've got to go into Copley to hit CVS & Shaws so I figure I might as well drop off the C.S. Harris books, clear some shelf space.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Cleaning
Clearly losing interest in this blog...
But, The Bellwether Revivals, by Benjamin Wood (2012), had intriguing, memorable, and finely drawn characters (even the supporting players were fleshed out nicely), a captivating plot, and was well written.
The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise, by Julia Stuart (2010), was entirely different, beyond being set in England, but also excellent. I suppose both also deal with loss and regret, too, I guess.
I've gotten entirely confused about which books in the Sebastian St. Cyr series I've read (and the blog is failing me - see, if you can, a bunch of complaints about that here and there in the blog), as is the fact they all kind of blend together. So I ended up picking up from the library (the BPL, not Widener) Where Serpents Sleep (2008), which I had totally already read before. Whoops. But it was good for reading while snuggled under the blankets on a dreary night. And I bet I said it the last time I read this book, but while the titular St. Cyr feels like a very familiar type, Harris has in her "new" (in this book) female lead, Hero Jarvis, a fresher character, although still not a super original one. Hey - set in England too!
And also in England - four for four! - the latest (I think?) Inspector Lynley mystery, Believing the Lie (2012). This one came out right around the time last year I went to California, and I really wanted to get it, because these and the Douglas Preston / Lincoln Child Inspector Pendergast (or whatever the hell his name is) tomes always seem to pop up in airport bookstores and they're so perfect because they'll last even me through a long flight. But they're also so freaking expensive (not for books, I guess, but in general paying $25+ for a book I'll knock off once kind of offends me), so I didn't, and then kept forgetting to track it down. But I eventually got it from the BPL and enjoyed it. No work of great art, but George writes pretty well, at least given what else is out there in the same family. BUT. BUT. I wanted to smack the editor upside the head. While I am sure the phrase "it's just not on" is widely used in the U.K. or whatever, it was used constantly in this book. Like, in one part, it was used at least once on 4 consecutive pages. And coming from the mouths of police and civilians, grandparents and grandchildren, ennobled masters of industry and suicidal teens. Just...no. Someone should have done something about that. But (and in a good way), I appreciate that George does a good job with interweaving and balancing multiple story lines (I was especially happy to see that Havers' continues) and perspectives. She also took the interesting approach of showing us the death at the center of the mystery, and then letting the characters stumble through figuring out what happened (more or less).
But, The Bellwether Revivals, by Benjamin Wood (2012), had intriguing, memorable, and finely drawn characters (even the supporting players were fleshed out nicely), a captivating plot, and was well written.
The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise, by Julia Stuart (2010), was entirely different, beyond being set in England, but also excellent. I suppose both also deal with loss and regret, too, I guess.
I've gotten entirely confused about which books in the Sebastian St. Cyr series I've read (and the blog is failing me - see, if you can, a bunch of complaints about that here and there in the blog), as is the fact they all kind of blend together. So I ended up picking up from the library (the BPL, not Widener) Where Serpents Sleep (2008), which I had totally already read before. Whoops. But it was good for reading while snuggled under the blankets on a dreary night. And I bet I said it the last time I read this book, but while the titular St. Cyr feels like a very familiar type, Harris has in her "new" (in this book) female lead, Hero Jarvis, a fresher character, although still not a super original one. Hey - set in England too!
And also in England - four for four! - the latest (I think?) Inspector Lynley mystery, Believing the Lie (2012). This one came out right around the time last year I went to California, and I really wanted to get it, because these and the Douglas Preston / Lincoln Child Inspector Pendergast (or whatever the hell his name is) tomes always seem to pop up in airport bookstores and they're so perfect because they'll last even me through a long flight. But they're also so freaking expensive (not for books, I guess, but in general paying $25+ for a book I'll knock off once kind of offends me), so I didn't, and then kept forgetting to track it down. But I eventually got it from the BPL and enjoyed it. No work of great art, but George writes pretty well, at least given what else is out there in the same family. BUT. BUT. I wanted to smack the editor upside the head. While I am sure the phrase "it's just not on" is widely used in the U.K. or whatever, it was used constantly in this book. Like, in one part, it was used at least once on 4 consecutive pages. And coming from the mouths of police and civilians, grandparents and grandchildren, ennobled masters of industry and suicidal teens. Just...no. Someone should have done something about that. But (and in a good way), I appreciate that George does a good job with interweaving and balancing multiple story lines (I was especially happy to see that Havers' continues) and perspectives. She also took the interesting approach of showing us the death at the center of the mystery, and then letting the characters stumble through figuring out what happened (more or less).
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