Books I've read this year
Aug. 22nd, 2005 09:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eruthrosContinued from this post.
More BEA books:
51. Chicks With Sticks (It's a Purl Thing), Elizabeth Lenhard. I expected young adult, but it was really, really young and really, really trying to be Cute. Then again, I've almost always found girls-becoming-friends stories irritating.
52. The Highest Tide, Jim Lynch. This one was quite fun -- not as much Giant Squid as you'd expect from the back cover copy, but I really enjoyed it. Miles has a fun voice, and the characters are well-drawn. Maybe trying a little hard to be a Big Novel, but still very well written. Excellent descriptions.
53. The Amphora Project, William Kotzwinkle. Eh. Trying to be referential sci-fi parody, but ends up being not all that funny and not all that pointed. Writing humor doesn't allow you to sidestep writing a decent story. Or characters. It's depressingly one-dimensional.
54. The Shroud of the Thwacker, Chris Elliott. Dear Chris Elliott: toilet humor isn't funny on SNL, and definitely isn't funny in print. Honestly, the whole thing has the feeling of a five-minute sketch he tried to drag out. It even features various real people as characters -- like Teddy Roosevelt. I have Issues with the way Elliott uses said real people for a laugh at the contrast between his characterization and history books and then doesn't build on it and keeps making the same joke for the entire book. Not funny, which is the worst thing you can say about a book like this.
55. Pardonable Lies: A Maisie Dobbs Novel, Jacqueline Winspear. Look, it's a mystery novel rather than a thriller billed as a mystery novel! Maisie Dobbs puts clues together! And then figures things out! Rather than just being attacked by the villain at the end! And there are crimes other than murder! And it even plays with the concept of "villain" -- have any of them done anything morally wrong? Legally wrong? And if so, what should Maisie do? Maisie's a bit of a Mary Sue but ... I'll forgive a lot for period detective stories with actual detecting. (Aside: I do wish someone would have the guts to allow a period character to say "homosexuality? that's wrong." I mean, from reading people like Laurie King and Jacqueline Winspear, one would think that gay men were a-okay in post WWI-England, and could kiss in public and dance in the streets. Yeeesh.)
56. Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, Mary Roach. I enjoyed this while I was reading it -- Mary Roach is always fun to read -- but can't remember much now. I felt the same way about Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, also by Mary Roach -- she talked about many things I didn't know, none of which sunk in at all. I don't know why; might be her light style. Still, fun to read.
57. Peach Cobbler Murder, Joanne Fluke. Eh. Too much melodrama, too little mystery. (I like my genre novels to have punch.)
58. Tyrannosaur Canyon, Douglas Preston. Completely preposterous. I mean, it's a thriller more'n a murder mystery (though there are Clues and Coded Bits and things), and everyone runs around muddling the plot to allow for maximum confusion, and there's a fossil Tyrannosaurus involved, and a Rogue Govenrment Agent, and a Retired CIA Spook, and ... you get the idea. Ridiculous, but fun.
59. Will of the Empress: The Circle Reforged, Tamora Pierce. I enjoyed this new Tamora Pierce quite a bit. Once again, I'm most interested in Daja and Briar. The characters have grown up still more (and seem to be either 16 or 18 -- needs a bit of editing still); they've changed in ways that make their previous friendship seem unpracticable in the present, and have convincing young-adulthood issues.
Which brings me around to the books I had to get from the library before reading Will of the Empress
60. Circle of Magic: Sandry's Book
61. Circle of Magic: Tris's Book
62. Circle of Magic: Daja's Book
63. Circle of Magic: Briar's Book, all by Tamora Pierce. I'd never read the Circle of Magic books, partly because I find Tamora Pierce a little uneven. I adored Alanna when I was eight, but ... it doesn't really hold up to adult re-reading. And I never saw them at the library, and I was reading other things, blahblah excuses blah. When I picked up Will of the Empress as an ARC, I figured I should use it as an excuse to read the first Circle books. And lo, they were pretty good. Probably intended for a younger audience even than Alanna, which is saying something. But fun.
64. Circle Opens: Magic Step
65. Circle Opens: Street Magic
66. Circle Opens: Cold Fire
67. Circle Opens: Shatterglass, all again by Tamora Pierce. These books all have the same plot premise, but are still individually entertaining. I wish Pierce hadn't shown us the villain in Cold Fire so early, because I think it took a lot of the sting out of the story for the reader. I liked Shatterglass best -- best crime, best student.
68. Trickster's Queen, Tamora Pierce. I saw the first book (Trickster's Choice) on sale at Pegasus, so I've read it. I actually quite liked it, though Alianne's relationship with Nawen (a crow turned into a man) was a bit ... creepy, actually. In any case, the second book resolved some of the issues I had with the first, though I'm still not happy with the ending.
69. Harry Potter: HBP, J.K. Rowling. Can't believe I nearly forgot to list this one. Better than OotP, but I won't say anything more.
70. Truckers, Terry Pratchett. I'd read all the Discworld books twice, but never the Bromeliad Trilogy. Fun! Young adult, interesting characters, falling into Terry Pratchett's heroes-who-don't-want-to-hero scheme.
71. Diggers, Terry Pratchett. Second book in the Bromeliad Trilogy, featuring everyone but Masklin.
72. Wings, Terry Pratchett. Third book, featuring rather a lot more Masklin and also a Vice President who is obviously Dan Quayle.
And ... probably other things as well that I can't remember.
More BEA books:
51. Chicks With Sticks (It's a Purl Thing), Elizabeth Lenhard. I expected young adult, but it was really, really young and really, really trying to be Cute. Then again, I've almost always found girls-becoming-friends stories irritating.
52. The Highest Tide, Jim Lynch. This one was quite fun -- not as much Giant Squid as you'd expect from the back cover copy, but I really enjoyed it. Miles has a fun voice, and the characters are well-drawn. Maybe trying a little hard to be a Big Novel, but still very well written. Excellent descriptions.
53. The Amphora Project, William Kotzwinkle. Eh. Trying to be referential sci-fi parody, but ends up being not all that funny and not all that pointed. Writing humor doesn't allow you to sidestep writing a decent story. Or characters. It's depressingly one-dimensional.
54. The Shroud of the Thwacker, Chris Elliott. Dear Chris Elliott: toilet humor isn't funny on SNL, and definitely isn't funny in print. Honestly, the whole thing has the feeling of a five-minute sketch he tried to drag out. It even features various real people as characters -- like Teddy Roosevelt. I have Issues with the way Elliott uses said real people for a laugh at the contrast between his characterization and history books and then doesn't build on it and keeps making the same joke for the entire book. Not funny, which is the worst thing you can say about a book like this.
55. Pardonable Lies: A Maisie Dobbs Novel, Jacqueline Winspear. Look, it's a mystery novel rather than a thriller billed as a mystery novel! Maisie Dobbs puts clues together! And then figures things out! Rather than just being attacked by the villain at the end! And there are crimes other than murder! And it even plays with the concept of "villain" -- have any of them done anything morally wrong? Legally wrong? And if so, what should Maisie do? Maisie's a bit of a Mary Sue but ... I'll forgive a lot for period detective stories with actual detecting. (Aside: I do wish someone would have the guts to allow a period character to say "homosexuality? that's wrong." I mean, from reading people like Laurie King and Jacqueline Winspear, one would think that gay men were a-okay in post WWI-England, and could kiss in public and dance in the streets. Yeeesh.)
56. Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, Mary Roach. I enjoyed this while I was reading it -- Mary Roach is always fun to read -- but can't remember much now. I felt the same way about Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, also by Mary Roach -- she talked about many things I didn't know, none of which sunk in at all. I don't know why; might be her light style. Still, fun to read.
57. Peach Cobbler Murder, Joanne Fluke. Eh. Too much melodrama, too little mystery. (I like my genre novels to have punch.)
58. Tyrannosaur Canyon, Douglas Preston. Completely preposterous. I mean, it's a thriller more'n a murder mystery (though there are Clues and Coded Bits and things), and everyone runs around muddling the plot to allow for maximum confusion, and there's a fossil Tyrannosaurus involved, and a Rogue Govenrment Agent, and a Retired CIA Spook, and ... you get the idea. Ridiculous, but fun.
59. Will of the Empress: The Circle Reforged, Tamora Pierce. I enjoyed this new Tamora Pierce quite a bit. Once again, I'm most interested in Daja and Briar. The characters have grown up still more (and seem to be either 16 or 18 -- needs a bit of editing still); they've changed in ways that make their previous friendship seem unpracticable in the present, and have convincing young-adulthood issues.
Which brings me around to the books I had to get from the library before reading Will of the Empress
60. Circle of Magic: Sandry's Book
61. Circle of Magic: Tris's Book
62. Circle of Magic: Daja's Book
63. Circle of Magic: Briar's Book, all by Tamora Pierce. I'd never read the Circle of Magic books, partly because I find Tamora Pierce a little uneven. I adored Alanna when I was eight, but ... it doesn't really hold up to adult re-reading. And I never saw them at the library, and I was reading other things, blahblah excuses blah. When I picked up Will of the Empress as an ARC, I figured I should use it as an excuse to read the first Circle books. And lo, they were pretty good. Probably intended for a younger audience even than Alanna, which is saying something. But fun.
64. Circle Opens: Magic Step
65. Circle Opens: Street Magic
66. Circle Opens: Cold Fire
67. Circle Opens: Shatterglass, all again by Tamora Pierce. These books all have the same plot premise, but are still individually entertaining. I wish Pierce hadn't shown us the villain in Cold Fire so early, because I think it took a lot of the sting out of the story for the reader. I liked Shatterglass best -- best crime, best student.
68. Trickster's Queen, Tamora Pierce. I saw the first book (Trickster's Choice) on sale at Pegasus, so I've read it. I actually quite liked it, though Alianne's relationship with Nawen (a crow turned into a man) was a bit ... creepy, actually. In any case, the second book resolved some of the issues I had with the first, though I'm still not happy with the ending.
69. Harry Potter: HBP, J.K. Rowling. Can't believe I nearly forgot to list this one. Better than OotP, but I won't say anything more.
70. Truckers, Terry Pratchett. I'd read all the Discworld books twice, but never the Bromeliad Trilogy. Fun! Young adult, interesting characters, falling into Terry Pratchett's heroes-who-don't-want-to-hero scheme.
71. Diggers, Terry Pratchett. Second book in the Bromeliad Trilogy, featuring everyone but Masklin.
72. Wings, Terry Pratchett. Third book, featuring rather a lot more Masklin and also a Vice President who is obviously Dan Quayle.
And ... probably other things as well that I can't remember.
