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Wednesday book meme
Jan. 7th, 2015 05:48 pmIt's been forever since I've done the weekly reading meme, so this is more like 'the last quarter of 2014' reading meme...
finished
Boy, Snow, Bird, Helen Oyeyemi -- I loved the characters and thought the setting was well and evocatively drawn, and didn't really mind the odd pacing, but the reveal at end left me all head-tilt-y. I see where it fits thematically and all, but then everything just stopped. It didn't make me want to throw the book across the room, though, so there's that.
Fool Moon and Grave Peril, Jim Butcher -- Books 2 & 3 of the Dresden Files (ie, the werewolf and the vampire court ones), which are doing their duty as audiobook diversions on the commute. I find myself wishing for a 2x4 with which to knock some sense into Dresden's head, but the books are entertaining enough and James Marsters does a bang-up job of reading/narration. (And I totally see where the Dresden/Marcone slash comes from--Gentleman Johnny Marcone is definitely introduced with the kind of flair usually reserved for the older, dissolute rake that will steal the heroine's heart.)
10% Happier, Dan Harris -- #2Son had been toying with meditation for his anxiety & this has to be the least woo-woo book on the subject. Easy read & definitely won't scare off the non-mystics of the world. (I will let you know how the actual practice goes, because of course I told him I'd do it with him.)
Dorothy Must Die, Danielle Paige -- You don't know how much I wanted to like this book. The original was the first 'real' book I read myself and I still have so much love for Oz. There were parts I really did love (it's definitely the Oz of the books, not the movie; it's appropriately horrifying (the perma-smile lipstick is *nasty*); the flying monkeys are AWESOME) but holy cow, was this *boring*. I was checking off the steps in the Hero's Journey as I read (Call to Action? check. Assembly of the Company? check. Death of the Mentor? check) and knew we were either skipping a whole bunch of steps (which happens) or there was no way we were getting a resolution. Definitely Door Number Two, but even so, it was a gaping void of an ending and I don't think I can muster any more enthusiasm for yet MORE training and 'adventures.'
City of Jasmine, Deanna Raybourn -- DR is an auto-buy for me, but this one put a crack in that plan. By the end, I honestly didn't care about either main character and was in it totally for the eccentric, elderly aunt. I shall return to a reread of her previous books.
The Governess Affair, The Duchess War, A Kiss for Midwinter, The Heiress Effect, The Countess Conspiracy, Courtney Milan -- This is everything but the last book in her Brothers Sinister series and I ate them up with a spoon. I am saving the final book because I don't really want the series to end (and I can't remember the last time I thought that) and I thought the books got stronger as the series went on. Above all, CM writes interesting people, not just your normal, run-of-the-mill Victorian heiress meeting this Season's Rake, plus, her settings and thoughts and actions don't have that wallpaper-historical feel, where the people are suspiciously modern in their take on life and just have the period-appropriate clothes (and sometimes not even that.) She reminds me of Roberta Gellis in that, not that their styles are even remotely similar otherwise.
The Descendants, Kaui Hart Hemmings -- L & I saw the movie when it came out; I stumbled across the book in a library display right before my winter imploded into hospitals and endless hours in the car. The movie turns out to have been a fairly faithful adaptation of the book; I felt more into the characters in the book, but that was definitely informed by the performances in the movie. Surprisingly, though, the sense of Hawaii was much more muted in the book than I was expecting from the movie (and the reviews of the book--everyone praised the setting in the book, but I never felt it like I did with the movie.)
reading now
Summer Knight, Jim Butcher -- #4 of the Dresden books (ie, the Sidhe one), also an audio book. See above, re: Dresden & my need for a 2x4
In the Bleak Midwinter, Julia Spencer-Fleming -- Just started, but I have high hopes for this, as a cozy/domestic mystery featuring a sheriff & a female Episcopal priest proved impossible for me to pass by.
next
Let's just hope I get through these two now.
finished
Boy, Snow, Bird, Helen Oyeyemi -- I loved the characters and thought the setting was well and evocatively drawn, and didn't really mind the odd pacing, but the reveal at end left me all head-tilt-y. I see where it fits thematically and all, but then everything just stopped. It didn't make me want to throw the book across the room, though, so there's that.
Fool Moon and Grave Peril, Jim Butcher -- Books 2 & 3 of the Dresden Files (ie, the werewolf and the vampire court ones), which are doing their duty as audiobook diversions on the commute. I find myself wishing for a 2x4 with which to knock some sense into Dresden's head, but the books are entertaining enough and James Marsters does a bang-up job of reading/narration. (And I totally see where the Dresden/Marcone slash comes from--Gentleman Johnny Marcone is definitely introduced with the kind of flair usually reserved for the older, dissolute rake that will steal the heroine's heart.)
10% Happier, Dan Harris -- #2Son had been toying with meditation for his anxiety & this has to be the least woo-woo book on the subject. Easy read & definitely won't scare off the non-mystics of the world. (I will let you know how the actual practice goes, because of course I told him I'd do it with him.)
Dorothy Must Die, Danielle Paige -- You don't know how much I wanted to like this book. The original was the first 'real' book I read myself and I still have so much love for Oz. There were parts I really did love (it's definitely the Oz of the books, not the movie; it's appropriately horrifying (the perma-smile lipstick is *nasty*); the flying monkeys are AWESOME) but holy cow, was this *boring*. I was checking off the steps in the Hero's Journey as I read (Call to Action? check. Assembly of the Company? check. Death of the Mentor? check) and knew we were either skipping a whole bunch of steps (which happens) or there was no way we were getting a resolution. Definitely Door Number Two, but even so, it was a gaping void of an ending and I don't think I can muster any more enthusiasm for yet MORE training and 'adventures.'
City of Jasmine, Deanna Raybourn -- DR is an auto-buy for me, but this one put a crack in that plan. By the end, I honestly didn't care about either main character and was in it totally for the eccentric, elderly aunt. I shall return to a reread of her previous books.
The Governess Affair, The Duchess War, A Kiss for Midwinter, The Heiress Effect, The Countess Conspiracy, Courtney Milan -- This is everything but the last book in her Brothers Sinister series and I ate them up with a spoon. I am saving the final book because I don't really want the series to end (and I can't remember the last time I thought that) and I thought the books got stronger as the series went on. Above all, CM writes interesting people, not just your normal, run-of-the-mill Victorian heiress meeting this Season's Rake, plus, her settings and thoughts and actions don't have that wallpaper-historical feel, where the people are suspiciously modern in their take on life and just have the period-appropriate clothes (and sometimes not even that.) She reminds me of Roberta Gellis in that, not that their styles are even remotely similar otherwise.
The Descendants, Kaui Hart Hemmings -- L & I saw the movie when it came out; I stumbled across the book in a library display right before my winter imploded into hospitals and endless hours in the car. The movie turns out to have been a fairly faithful adaptation of the book; I felt more into the characters in the book, but that was definitely informed by the performances in the movie. Surprisingly, though, the sense of Hawaii was much more muted in the book than I was expecting from the movie (and the reviews of the book--everyone praised the setting in the book, but I never felt it like I did with the movie.)
reading now
Summer Knight, Jim Butcher -- #4 of the Dresden books (ie, the Sidhe one), also an audio book. See above, re: Dresden & my need for a 2x4
In the Bleak Midwinter, Julia Spencer-Fleming -- Just started, but I have high hopes for this, as a cozy/domestic mystery featuring a sheriff & a female Episcopal priest proved impossible for me to pass by.
next
Let's just hope I get through these two now.
