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1InfoQuest
Well, I'll try to update a bit more this time, primarily because once a month takes such a drattedly long time. Again, the categories are a bit dull, but that way the options seem much more open:
Short Story Collections and Graphic Novels (The latter is a late addendum, dating from when I discovered I'd read a graphic novel and had nowhere left to put it. I don't know that I shall necessarily read another though. Yes, I'm a tremendous cheat.)
"Classics" to Read or Finish
New to Me Authors
Translated Books
Unread books by Favorite Authors
2d or 3d Books by Newer Authors Series and Sequels
Non-fiction
Owned, Unread Books
YA/Children's Books
Edit: I've decided that the actual usage of the 2d/3d books category is actually for series or sequels, so that's the new category name.
Short Story Collections and Graphic Novels (The latter is a late addendum, dating from when I discovered I'd read a graphic novel and had nowhere left to put it. I don't know that I shall necessarily read another though. Yes, I'm a tremendous cheat.)
"Classics" to Read or Finish
New to Me Authors
Translated Books
Unread books by Favorite Authors
Non-fiction
Owned, Unread Books
YA/Children's Books
Edit: I've decided that the actual usage of the 2d/3d books category is actually for series or sequels, so that's the new category name.
2InfoQuest
Short Story Collections and Graphic Novels
1. Steampunk edited by Ann VanderMeer & Jeff VanderMeer
2. The Medicine for Melancholy by Ray Bradbury
3. The Sunny Side by A. A. Milne
4. Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link
5. Firebirds Soaring by Sharyn November
6. Hall of Best Knowledge by Ray Fenwick (Okay, it's more a collection of short graphic "items" with a vague overarching storyline, but I'm putting it here anyhow.)
7. The Street of Crocodiles and Other Stories by Bruno Schulz
8. Britten and Brulightly by Hannah Berry
9. M is for Magic by Neil Gaiman
1. Steampunk edited by Ann VanderMeer & Jeff VanderMeer
2. The Medicine for Melancholy by Ray Bradbury
3. The Sunny Side by A. A. Milne
4. Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link
5. Firebirds Soaring by Sharyn November
6. Hall of Best Knowledge by Ray Fenwick (Okay, it's more a collection of short graphic "items" with a vague overarching storyline, but I'm putting it here anyhow.)
7. The Street of Crocodiles and Other Stories by Bruno Schulz
8. Britten and Brulightly by Hannah Berry
9. M is for Magic by Neil Gaiman
3InfoQuest
"Classics" to Read or Finish
1. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
2. The Confession of Saint Augustine by Augustine
3. The Beggars' Opera by John Gay
4.Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
5. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
6. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
7. A Passage to India by E. M. Forster
8. The So Blue Marble by Dorothy B. Hughes (this edition was a "crime classics" reprint, so that works . . . )
9. The Death of a Salesman and The Crucible by Arthur Miller
1. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
2. The Confession of Saint Augustine by Augustine
3. The Beggars' Opera by John Gay
4.Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
5. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
6. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
7. A Passage to India by E. M. Forster
8. The So Blue Marble by Dorothy B. Hughes (this edition was a "crime classics" reprint, so that works . . . )
9. The Death of a Salesman and The Crucible by Arthur Miller
4InfoQuest
New to Me Authors
1. The Nero Wolfe Primer (And Be a Villain, Black Orchids, Champagne for One) by Rex Stout
2. Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
3. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume 1: The Pox Party by M. T. Anderson
4. A Guide to the Birds of North Africa by Nicholas Drayson
5. Some Danger Involved by Will Thomas
6. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
7. The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
8. The Davidian Report by Dorothy B. Hughes
9. Miss Buncle's Book by D. E. Stevenson
1. The Nero Wolfe Primer (And Be a Villain, Black Orchids, Champagne for One) by Rex Stout
2. Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
3. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume 1: The Pox Party by M. T. Anderson
4. A Guide to the Birds of North Africa by Nicholas Drayson
5. Some Danger Involved by Will Thomas
6. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
7. The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
8. The Davidian Report by Dorothy B. Hughes
9. Miss Buncle's Book by D. E. Stevenson
5InfoQuest
Translated Books (though I may try to finish one or two in German)
1. In my Brother's Shadow by Uwe Timm
2. Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Høeg
3. Night Work by Thomas Glavinic
4. The Exception by Christian Jungersen
5. Death and the Penguin by Andrei Kurkov
6. The Alchemaster's Apprentice by Walter Moers
7. The Adventures of Tintin, Vols. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7 by Hergé
8. The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
9. The Invention of Curried Sausage by Uwe Timm
1. In my Brother's Shadow by Uwe Timm
2. Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Høeg
3. Night Work by Thomas Glavinic
4. The Exception by Christian Jungersen
5. Death and the Penguin by Andrei Kurkov
6. The Alchemaster's Apprentice by Walter Moers
7. The Adventures of Tintin, Vols. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7 by Hergé
8. The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
9. The Invention of Curried Sausage by Uwe Timm
6InfoQuest
Unread books by Favorite Authors
1. April Lady by Georgette Heyer
2. Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett
3. Dancers in Mourning by Margery Allingham
4. The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie
5. Cygnet by Patricia McKillip
6. Mort by Terry Pratchett
7. Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett
8. God in the Dock by C. S. Lewis
9. In Pious Memory by Margery Sharp
1. April Lady by Georgette Heyer
2. Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett
3. Dancers in Mourning by Margery Allingham
4. The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie
5. Cygnet by Patricia McKillip
6. Mort by Terry Pratchett
7. Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett
8. God in the Dock by C. S. Lewis
9. In Pious Memory by Margery Sharp
7InfoQuest
Series and Sequels
1. A Letter of Mary by Laurie R. King
2. The Moor by Laurie R. King
3. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume 2: The Kingdom on the Waves by M. T. Anderson
4. Curse of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz
5. Revenge of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz
6. Expecting Someone Taller by Tom Holt (okay, not really, but close enough)
7. To Kingdom Come by Will Thomas
8. A Grave Talent by Laurie R. King
9. The Limehouse Text by Will Thomas
1. A Letter of Mary by Laurie R. King
2. The Moor by Laurie R. King
3. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume 2: The Kingdom on the Waves by M. T. Anderson
4. Curse of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz
5. Revenge of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz
6. Expecting Someone Taller by Tom Holt (okay, not really, but close enough)
7. To Kingdom Come by Will Thomas
8. A Grave Talent by Laurie R. King
9. The Limehouse Text by Will Thomas
8InfoQuest
Non-fiction
1. Postmodern Pooh by Frederick Crews
2. 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper
3. By Hook or by Crook by David Crystal
4. The Ig Nobel Prizes by Marc Abrahams
5. The Landscape of History by John Lewis Gaddis
6. The History of Histories: epics, chronicles, romances and inquiries by John Burrow
7. At Large and at Small by Anne Fadiman
8. The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit and Other Plays by Ray Bradbury (it would be shelved with the non-fiction in the library, so . . . )
9. Gertruda's Oath by Ram Oren
1. Postmodern Pooh by Frederick Crews
2. 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper
3. By Hook or by Crook by David Crystal
4. The Ig Nobel Prizes by Marc Abrahams
5. The Landscape of History by John Lewis Gaddis
6. The History of Histories: epics, chronicles, romances and inquiries by John Burrow
7. At Large and at Small by Anne Fadiman
8. The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit and Other Plays by Ray Bradbury (it would be shelved with the non-fiction in the library, so . . . )
9. Gertruda's Oath by Ram Oren
9InfoQuest
Owned, Unread Books
1. Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban
2. The Interloper by E. Phillips Oppenheim
3. Venetia by Georgette Heyer
4. The Pacific and Other Stories by Mark Helprin
5. O Jerusalem by Laurie R. King
6. The Cutters by Bess Streeter Aldrich
7. The Adventures of Tintin, Vol. 1 by Hergé
8. Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott
9. Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
1. Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban
2. The Interloper by E. Phillips Oppenheim
3. Venetia by Georgette Heyer
4. The Pacific and Other Stories by Mark Helprin
5. O Jerusalem by Laurie R. King
6. The Cutters by Bess Streeter Aldrich
7. The Adventures of Tintin, Vol. 1 by Hergé
8. Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott
9. Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
10InfoQuest
YA/Children's Books
1. A City in Winter and The Veil of Snows by Mark Helprin
2. Samuel Blink and the Forbidden Forest by Matt Haig
3. Ten Cents a Dance by Christine Fletcher
4. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula LeGuin
5. The Arrival & Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan
6. Flora's Dare by Ysabeau Wilce
7. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
8. The Explosionist by Jenny Davidson
9. Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
1. A City in Winter and The Veil of Snows by Mark Helprin
2. Samuel Blink and the Forbidden Forest by Matt Haig
3. Ten Cents a Dance by Christine Fletcher
4. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula LeGuin
5. The Arrival & Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan
6. Flora's Dare by Ysabeau Wilce
7. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
8. The Explosionist by Jenny Davidson
9. Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
11InfoQuest
Okay, here goes.
Steampunk was the first book I read for this challenge. Although a number of the stories were rather more "adult" than I'd prefer (I did skip most of "The Steam Man of the Prairie and the Dark Rider Get Down," because it was distinctly unappealing to me), overall the collection was quite interesting. It did remind me that I'd rather enjoyed James Blaylock's All the Bells on Earth and wanted to try another of his.
April Lady is a very nice Heyer novel, though the exact intricacies of the plot escape me at the moment, more because of mystery overload than a comment on the forgettability of this particular novel.
I'd heard that Riddley Walker was a very "interesting" novel, and so I picked up an ex-library copy for 10 cents on Memorial Day. It was well worth the dime, of course, though it's been a long time since I've had to pay such close attention while reading. My mom says I now know how she feels, since I had to read the whole book aloud (albeit silently), which is how she always reads. Nevertheless, I very much appreciated Hoban's careful world-building and thematic explorations in this post-apocalyptic novel: not necessarily a "fun" book, but well worth the effort.
In my Brother's Shadow was the only 840s book in the West Branch of the library, oddly enough, so I checked it out. A surprisingly excellent family memoir coupled with an imaginative retrospective on the German reaction to World War II atrocities. I shall have to try one of Uwe Timm's novels.
I've counted A City in Winter and The Veil of Snows as a single book, since they're quite short, although they're really the last two of a trilogy of illustrated "children's" stories very loosely originated around the Swan Lake legend. Astonishingly lovely. Yes, I was crying by the end of the last one, but that's a fairly common reaction on my part to Mark Helprin's endings. In any event, I'm so glad I found a library with copies. Now I just have to acquire some myself.
I believe I tried one of Rex Stout's mysteries before, but I can't remember which one. Regardless, I'm quite sure I didn't finish it. Well, now I've read three and I'm rather a fan. The narrative voice is grand fun and although the mysteries are solved in a rather interestingly manipulative fashion, it seems mostly fair, though I didn't make much effort to figure it out myself.
And now to feed the crying kittens . . .
Steampunk was the first book I read for this challenge. Although a number of the stories were rather more "adult" than I'd prefer (I did skip most of "The Steam Man of the Prairie and the Dark Rider Get Down," because it was distinctly unappealing to me), overall the collection was quite interesting. It did remind me that I'd rather enjoyed James Blaylock's All the Bells on Earth and wanted to try another of his.
April Lady is a very nice Heyer novel, though the exact intricacies of the plot escape me at the moment, more because of mystery overload than a comment on the forgettability of this particular novel.
I'd heard that Riddley Walker was a very "interesting" novel, and so I picked up an ex-library copy for 10 cents on Memorial Day. It was well worth the dime, of course, though it's been a long time since I've had to pay such close attention while reading. My mom says I now know how she feels, since I had to read the whole book aloud (albeit silently), which is how she always reads. Nevertheless, I very much appreciated Hoban's careful world-building and thematic explorations in this post-apocalyptic novel: not necessarily a "fun" book, but well worth the effort.
In my Brother's Shadow was the only 840s book in the West Branch of the library, oddly enough, so I checked it out. A surprisingly excellent family memoir coupled with an imaginative retrospective on the German reaction to World War II atrocities. I shall have to try one of Uwe Timm's novels.
I've counted A City in Winter and The Veil of Snows as a single book, since they're quite short, although they're really the last two of a trilogy of illustrated "children's" stories very loosely originated around the Swan Lake legend. Astonishingly lovely. Yes, I was crying by the end of the last one, but that's a fairly common reaction on my part to Mark Helprin's endings. In any event, I'm so glad I found a library with copies. Now I just have to acquire some myself.
I believe I tried one of Rex Stout's mysteries before, but I can't remember which one. Regardless, I'm quite sure I didn't finish it. Well, now I've read three and I'm rather a fan. The narrative voice is grand fun and although the mysteries are solved in a rather interestingly manipulative fashion, it seems mostly fair, though I didn't make much effort to figure it out myself.
And now to feed the crying kittens . . .
12InfoQuest
I didn't like Postmodern Pooh as much as the The Pooh Perplex, but it was still an amusing read. The proliferation of theories do make for very absurd readings of the story, but they didn't seem as likely to actually be expressed as the earlier ones. Perhaps that's because each "scholar" spent more time haranguing the others than actually presenting his/her own viewpoint--which is unfortunately sometimes the case in actual scholarly writing, though I tend to avoid such diatribes as unnecessary for the research I'm doing. Well, at least the book made me feel happy I'm no longer pursuing graduate work in English . . . hehe.
I was actually hoping to find Something Wicked This Way Comes, but it was checked out, so I picked up The Medicine for Melancholy. Some of those short stories were in The Martian Chronicles, I'm pretty sure (it was the first book by Ray Bradbury I'd ever read), but regardless I was pleased with the collection and if anything only wished it were longer.
I was actually hoping to find Something Wicked This Way Comes, but it was checked out, so I picked up The Medicine for Melancholy. Some of those short stories were in The Martian Chronicles, I'm pretty sure (it was the first book by Ray Bradbury I'd ever read), but regardless I was pleased with the collection and if anything only wished it were longer.
13InfoQuest
Yesterday I spent the afternoon and evening transporting my sister to and from graduation parties, and so I spent quite a bit of the in-between times reading. Just fun books, but it was very nice all the same.
When I read the dustjacket, I was rather afraid A Letter of Mary would be irritating by advocating a revisionist view of early Christianity, but I was pleasantly surprised to find little or nothing to quibble over in that department, and the story itself was quite grand fun--I loved the Lord Peter cameo--and I shall gladly continue with the series.
Equal Rites wasn't quite as good, but I didn't have very high hopes for it, since it's only the third Discworld novel and stars the witches (whose books are only slightly more fun than the Rincewind ones and significantly less so than the Watch or Ankh Morpork emphasis). But it was rather interesting to see where the characters came from, and the storyline wasn't by any means dull or irritating. Quite a fun read, but not one I'm likely to avidly seek a copy of, though if a hardcover copy falls in my lap at a library book sale, I shan't complain.
When I read the dustjacket, I was rather afraid A Letter of Mary would be irritating by advocating a revisionist view of early Christianity, but I was pleasantly surprised to find little or nothing to quibble over in that department, and the story itself was quite grand fun--I loved the Lord Peter cameo--and I shall gladly continue with the series.
Equal Rites wasn't quite as good, but I didn't have very high hopes for it, since it's only the third Discworld novel and stars the witches (whose books are only slightly more fun than the Rincewind ones and significantly less so than the Watch or Ankh Morpork emphasis). But it was rather interesting to see where the characters came from, and the storyline wasn't by any means dull or irritating. Quite a fun read, but not one I'm likely to avidly seek a copy of, though if a hardcover copy falls in my lap at a library book sale, I shan't complain.
14InfoQuest
Still working on that classic, but I did read E.P. Oppenheim's The Interloper today. This particular one smacked slightly of a young The Count of Monte Cristo-without-much-cause and was a good hundred pages longer than it could have been, but it was a nice read and the copy is very nice. I do like the A.L. Burt editions, even though they're cheaply made, because they tend to have fun colors and cover decorations and hold up pretty well considering their advancing age. This particular copy is a brilliant saffron with window-like patterns bookending the title--quite fun, though my copy of Mr. Grex of Monte Carlo is even more fun, with awesome pseudo-heraldric designs. The story was simple: neglected half-Italian son Frederic inherits the dukedom and intentionally wreaks havoc upon the family name as a belated protest to his mother's treatment, though his lovely cousin Monica tosses a decent-sized spanner in the works. Interesting stuff, though these "debt in the upper classes" books always seem to my Wooster-addled mind like the dark side of P. G. Wodehouse and thus rather strange. But fun enough regardless.
15InfoQuest
Okay, I've not even picked up my Faulkner since the last entry. Oh well. Why did I read 90 Minutes in Heaven? Well, my mom had picked it up at the library, it was within arms' reach, and the kittens lying on my lap didn't want me to move. So there. Actually, it wasn't bad at all: neither tremendously preachy nor tremendously "otherworldly" in focus. It was mostly just the story of Piper's accident, recovery, and the ministry that experience engendered, nothing particularly spooky or weird. And Dancers in Mourning was perhaps not the best Campion mystery ever, but it was certainly up to par, with interesting characters, a decent plot, and some fun parts, though the emphasis on theatre personalities reminded me rather more of Ngaio Marsh, since the stage was her particular area of expertise, both in her fiction and real life. Now to finish some more books, if I can manage to stop play with the lovely new collections . . .
17InfoQuest
They aren't? Hmm, that's too bad--though some paperback mystery reprints are very cheaply made and quite garish (I'm thinking particularly of Dorothy Sayers' and Ngaio Marsh's novels).
Since Malcolm Muggeridge is one of the special collections authors in the Archives where I work during the school year, I felt it was necessary to read something by him. Jesus Rediscovered dealt much more with social and cultural criticism than Christianity proper, which I didn't particularly mind, though it was rather more repetitious than I'd prefer. Of course that's also understandable, since it seems to be more a collection of speeches and essays than a "real" book with a single purpose. I do understand the parallels others have drawn between Muggeridge and Chesterton, but the latter's tone is significantly more optimistic and witty. Muggeridge is a quite talented writer, but when one comes across the same analogies and turns of phrase two or three times in as many chapters, it becomes rather stale. Overall, really, I wasn't particularly displeased, but I shan't go out of my way to find more of his books.
Since Malcolm Muggeridge is one of the special collections authors in the Archives where I work during the school year, I felt it was necessary to read something by him. Jesus Rediscovered dealt much more with social and cultural criticism than Christianity proper, which I didn't particularly mind, though it was rather more repetitious than I'd prefer. Of course that's also understandable, since it seems to be more a collection of speeches and essays than a "real" book with a single purpose. I do understand the parallels others have drawn between Muggeridge and Chesterton, but the latter's tone is significantly more optimistic and witty. Muggeridge is a quite talented writer, but when one comes across the same analogies and turns of phrase two or three times in as many chapters, it becomes rather stale. Overall, really, I wasn't particularly displeased, but I shan't go out of my way to find more of his books.
18InfoQuest
Hurrah! I finished The Sound and the Fury! Okay, so I finished it last night, but the idea remains the same. Actually, I enjoyed the novel much more after I finally finished the stream of consciousness sections, which is not particularly surprising, since I feel the need to literarily analyze more when "fancy" literary techniques are used. The story itself is interesting and absorbing, if somewhat grotesque and implausible, and the characters are well drawn, though certainly not idealized or always easy to sympathize with. Ironically, I had the most trouble sympathizing with the most "sane" character, perhaps because he seemed to have less excuse for behaving badly, although his situation was certainly extenuating. Regardless, I am glad to have finished something by William Faulkner (especially since it's likely one I'll be studying in the fall semester) and it really wasn't as bad as I thought it was, if that makes any sense . . .
19InfoQuest
I don't remember where, but I read a review of Spin a while back and decided to pick it up a few weeks back at the library. It was going to be part of my YA category, since that's where I found in the stacks, but it doesn't seem to actually fit the category (and the other library I frequent shelves it as "adult" Sci Fi), so it'll fit under the new author segment instead.
The premise intrigued me and even though the blurb on the cover gave away nearly the whole story (argh!), the story was very interesting and engaging. My appreciation of sci fi tends to be touch-and-go, but this particular one worked well as a "human" story, so that helped. The characters seemed like something more than just figureheads or place-fillers, and the suspense and world-building (or perhaps "re-building") kept my attention. I just found out there's a sequel, and I'll probably pick it up the next time I'm at that branch.
The premise intrigued me and even though the blurb on the cover gave away nearly the whole story (argh!), the story was very interesting and engaging. My appreciation of sci fi tends to be touch-and-go, but this particular one worked well as a "human" story, so that helped. The characters seemed like something more than just figureheads or place-fillers, and the suspense and world-building (or perhaps "re-building") kept my attention. I just found out there's a sequel, and I'll probably pick it up the next time I'm at that branch.
20InfoQuest
Well, my sister liked Matt Haig's The Dead Fathers Club, so I picked up Samuel Blink and the Forbidden Forest. The blurb sounded amusing and vaguely interesting, and my reaction to the book after reading is about the same as my initial feeling. It's definitely middle-grade fiction, with the quickly drawn character portrayals and readily solved "impossible" problems, but the characters aren't all interchangeable or utterly implausible and the plot isn't so dreadfully obvious as some others I've tried. And I really ought to give a plot summary or something, because I run out of things to say far too rapidly and then remember something important the next day. Bother.
21InfoQuest
I heard of Smilla's Sense of Snow from a variety of sources, though none particularly compelling, but I picked it up at the library last week because I noticed it and recognized the title. While I don't consider the time I spent reading it wasted, it really wasn't quite as marvelous as possible. Smilla, the strange protagonist, has been lauded as quite the character, but it was odd that I felt more sympathetic towards her thought-life than her active one; it almost seemed as if her interior and exterior worlds were improperly aligned--if this were a very literary text, I suppose one might postulate that the character is inherently untrustworthy and exhibits some odd mental health issue, but I doubt that's what the author intended. Not that author intention has ever daunted a literary scholar, but still . . .
Anyway, the story is fairly well known, at least here on LibraryThing: Smilla, an almost middle-aged half-Inuit, half-Danish glacial scientist investigates the mysterious death of a young boy, confronting the social issues surrounding Greenland's (and its people's) relationship to Denmark. The strange shift about 2/3ds of the way through the book--from literary mystery to nautical thriller--is also well-documented; and yes, it annoyed me as much as it seems to have annoyed a number of others. Overall, I felt like I was supposed to care more than I did, though the characters were intriguing (if not particularly realistic or sympathetic) and the mystery compelling enough to be worth reading this once.
Anyway, the story is fairly well known, at least here on LibraryThing: Smilla, an almost middle-aged half-Inuit, half-Danish glacial scientist investigates the mysterious death of a young boy, confronting the social issues surrounding Greenland's (and its people's) relationship to Denmark. The strange shift about 2/3ds of the way through the book--from literary mystery to nautical thriller--is also well-documented; and yes, it annoyed me as much as it seems to have annoyed a number of others. Overall, I felt like I was supposed to care more than I did, though the characters were intriguing (if not particularly realistic or sympathetic) and the mystery compelling enough to be worth reading this once.
22InfoQuest
I read a rave review of Ten Cents a Dance last year and was pleased to find a copy at one of the libraries around here after having forgotten the title. The 1940s were a fascinating period, and Christine Fletcher manages to capture the sense of the period without overly modernizing her heroine. Just months before the invasion of Pearl Harbor, Ruby Jacinski leaves school at 15 to work in the Chicago slaughteryards, before finding an exciting boyfriend and a more glamorous occupation as a taxi-dancer, all the while pretending to be the "respectable" girl her widowed mother wants. The bare structure of the story is the traditional female coming-of-age one, but the period elements are particularly vivid, and Ruby herself transcends the "strong, rebellious teenager" cliche mainly through adhering to 1940s slang and mental outlook. Really quite a good book.
23InfoQuest
I'd better update before I get entirely out of the habit; already I'm afraid I've forgotten a few. Argh.
In any event, I read The Moor some time ago and found it quite delightful, as usual. I suppose I shall have to add Laurie R. King to my favorites at some point, since I've quite thoroughly enjoyed the four of hers read so far. Of course, the details are rather fuzzier than I'd prefer by now, but I really loved what she did to the figure of Sabine Baring-Gould--I'm fairly certain I've read excerpts of his work (perhaps for Victorian Lit?), but now I should like to try some. Quite fun.
A Wizard of Earthsea was rather more vague than I'd prefer; it has that quality of "skimming" over events that one finds in much older fantasy lit (I'm thinking particularly of Lord Dunsany and William Morris at the moment, though I feel I'm wrong). It can be both annoying and captivating, which I certainly found it to be; occasionally a phrase seemed strained or jarringly--for instance, I know "a couple of" in the sense of "a few" is not a particularly modern usage, but it always feels cheap and flippant to me, especially in more "flowing" and "poetic" styles. In any event, I did like the book well enough to check out the next two from the library, and perhaps I'll count them all together as one (since they are rather short).
Venetia was a delightful and sometimes bothersome novel: the tone was lovely and the characterizations quite adorable, but the idea of a middle-aged man known for his earlier promiscuity and wild lifestyle coexisting happily (for the remainder of his life) with a bright young woman in her twenties, all the while accepting and acknowledging the incongruity of the match, rather baffles me. I think of ten years after the close of the book, as Venetia is reaching 35 (pretty much her "full maturity" as a woman) and Damerel is nearly fifty, likely becoming stiff, sore, and irritable after almost three decades of high living. Perhaps three or four children ranging from 8 to infancy. Dwindling finances. The aggravation of negative emotions and the decline of romantic ardour due to close association over time. I should hate to be one of their children--definitely a bad atmosphere. But I suppose one isn't supposed to extrapolate like that, but it's a proof of Heyer's marvelous characterization that I felt compelled to do so. As much as I wanted Venetia to be happy, I couldn't help but think it would be better for her to be a lovely spinster, happy with her scholarly brother. Oh well. Modern sensibilities, I suppose. And I'd better stop rambling.
The Mystery of the Blue Train wasn't the most absorbing Christie ever, and although I'm almost positive I never read it before, it's rather eminently forgetable, in any event. The characters are mostly decent and a bit dull, and Poroit's strong point--his ability to wade through a complicated morass of red herrings and emerge triumphant--is wasted by the plot, which while not straightforward, is certainly not fraught with suspenseful twists. Rather disappointing.
Now I'm almost absolutely sure I've forgotten something, but I guess whatever it was can wait.
In any event, I read The Moor some time ago and found it quite delightful, as usual. I suppose I shall have to add Laurie R. King to my favorites at some point, since I've quite thoroughly enjoyed the four of hers read so far. Of course, the details are rather fuzzier than I'd prefer by now, but I really loved what she did to the figure of Sabine Baring-Gould--I'm fairly certain I've read excerpts of his work (perhaps for Victorian Lit?), but now I should like to try some. Quite fun.
A Wizard of Earthsea was rather more vague than I'd prefer; it has that quality of "skimming" over events that one finds in much older fantasy lit (I'm thinking particularly of Lord Dunsany and William Morris at the moment, though I feel I'm wrong). It can be both annoying and captivating, which I certainly found it to be; occasionally a phrase seemed strained or jarringly--for instance, I know "a couple of" in the sense of "a few" is not a particularly modern usage, but it always feels cheap and flippant to me, especially in more "flowing" and "poetic" styles. In any event, I did like the book well enough to check out the next two from the library, and perhaps I'll count them all together as one (since they are rather short).
Venetia was a delightful and sometimes bothersome novel: the tone was lovely and the characterizations quite adorable, but the idea of a middle-aged man known for his earlier promiscuity and wild lifestyle coexisting happily (for the remainder of his life) with a bright young woman in her twenties, all the while accepting and acknowledging the incongruity of the match, rather baffles me. I think of ten years after the close of the book, as Venetia is reaching 35 (pretty much her "full maturity" as a woman) and Damerel is nearly fifty, likely becoming stiff, sore, and irritable after almost three decades of high living. Perhaps three or four children ranging from 8 to infancy. Dwindling finances. The aggravation of negative emotions and the decline of romantic ardour due to close association over time. I should hate to be one of their children--definitely a bad atmosphere. But I suppose one isn't supposed to extrapolate like that, but it's a proof of Heyer's marvelous characterization that I felt compelled to do so. As much as I wanted Venetia to be happy, I couldn't help but think it would be better for her to be a lovely spinster, happy with her scholarly brother. Oh well. Modern sensibilities, I suppose. And I'd better stop rambling.
The Mystery of the Blue Train wasn't the most absorbing Christie ever, and although I'm almost positive I never read it before, it's rather eminently forgetable, in any event. The characters are mostly decent and a bit dull, and Poroit's strong point--his ability to wade through a complicated morass of red herrings and emerge triumphant--is wasted by the plot, which while not straightforward, is certainly not fraught with suspenseful twists. Rather disappointing.
Now I'm almost absolutely sure I've forgotten something, but I guess whatever it was can wait.
24InfoQuest
And it waited a long time. And it'll wait longer, because I'm not going back and discussing all the books I've read since July. Oh well.
Yesterday I read The Death of a Salesman and The Crucible, because I wanted to finish this challenge and they were plays, which are the shortest and simplest form of "classic" I could think of. I've heard that these two plays are tremendously important as well as quite good, but I didn't think I'd like them, anyways. Then I read All My Sons and found that Arthur Miller was really quite an interesting poet, and I intended to read these two other famous ones but forgot until yesterday. There's probably very little I could add to the critical discussion on either, but I did prefer The Crucible to Death of a Salesman personally, at least in part because characters named "Biff" and "Happy" were rather jarring; how can you take someone seriously when he's called either of those?
Then I finished Margery Sharp's In Pious Memory which was quite as funny, in parts, as I'd hoped, though as always with her books, slightly odd. I can't describe exactly what it is about hers (I've really enjoyed all of the ones I've read, so it's not a bad thing, per se), but they're really odd. In this particular one, a wealthy businessman is killed in an airplane crash, survived by his wife (who always sat in the tail of planes) and his three children. The older two are all right, but the youngest girl picks up on her mother's mild concern regarding identification of the body and sets out with her male cousin to scour France for her amnesiac father, if he's alive. Their misadventures are interspersed with the various romantic entanglements of the newly widowed mother, her son, and her older daughter, as well as the cousins' parents' vacation. It'd really be a mess to sort through in a synopsis, so I won't make it any more of a muddle than I already have, but suffice it to say that the ends are (mostly) tied up nicely and everyone seems satisfied in the end. Fluffy reading, but I felt I rather needed it.
So now I'm done. Ta-da.
Yesterday I read The Death of a Salesman and The Crucible, because I wanted to finish this challenge and they were plays, which are the shortest and simplest form of "classic" I could think of. I've heard that these two plays are tremendously important as well as quite good, but I didn't think I'd like them, anyways. Then I read All My Sons and found that Arthur Miller was really quite an interesting poet, and I intended to read these two other famous ones but forgot until yesterday. There's probably very little I could add to the critical discussion on either, but I did prefer The Crucible to Death of a Salesman personally, at least in part because characters named "Biff" and "Happy" were rather jarring; how can you take someone seriously when he's called either of those?
Then I finished Margery Sharp's In Pious Memory which was quite as funny, in parts, as I'd hoped, though as always with her books, slightly odd. I can't describe exactly what it is about hers (I've really enjoyed all of the ones I've read, so it's not a bad thing, per se), but they're really odd. In this particular one, a wealthy businessman is killed in an airplane crash, survived by his wife (who always sat in the tail of planes) and his three children. The older two are all right, but the youngest girl picks up on her mother's mild concern regarding identification of the body and sets out with her male cousin to scour France for her amnesiac father, if he's alive. Their misadventures are interspersed with the various romantic entanglements of the newly widowed mother, her son, and her older daughter, as well as the cousins' parents' vacation. It'd really be a mess to sort through in a synopsis, so I won't make it any more of a muddle than I already have, but suffice it to say that the ends are (mostly) tied up nicely and everyone seems satisfied in the end. Fluffy reading, but I felt I rather needed it.
So now I'm done. Ta-da.