August 2010

Stuff I’ve Been Reading

1. Locked Rooms by Laurie R. King.  This is Mary Russell Mystery number eight, which I reread one sleepless night to prepare for book nine.
2. The Art of Detection by Laurie R. King (45%).  After a bit of confusion with a footnote, I learned that Laurie R. King wrote a crossover novel between her two series, so I read that part that was relevant, though it turned out not to be.
3. The Language of Bees by Laurie R King.  And this is Mary Russell Mystery number nine…which ended with a cliffhanger, the first novel in the series to do that so far.  I am angry and disappointed.  I am off Mary Russel for the moment.
4. The Darling by Russell Banks.  I read this book in preparation for my McCarthy/Banks class.  It reminded me of “How to Write about Africa.”
5. Kraken by China Miéville.  There’s a giant squid.  And people worship it.  And the world is ending.  How can you get more awesome than that?
6. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin.  A first in a fantasy trilogy that I bought on a whim.  I enjoyed it enough to be anticipating the second one.
7. The Road by Cormac McCarthy.  In the words of a colleague, “Either the best Father’s Day present or the worst Father’s Day present.”
8. Chalice by Robin McKinley.  A light, fun young adult fantasy novel.  It isn’t The Hero and the Crown, but what is?
9. Gil’s All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez (30%).  Unfortunately, this book was not nearly as funny as I expected.
10. Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett.  But this one was exactly as funny as I remembered.
11. A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner.  Whenever I don’t know what to read, I usually reach for the tried-and-true.
12. Blackout by Connie Willis.  This is the first half of the Blackout/All Clear novel.  I would very much like to know what happens next, please.
13. Gazelle by Rikki Ducornet.  A thirteen-year-old girl growing up in Cairo with her father deals with abandonment by her mother and her crush on a perfumer.  It was not bad.
14. The Orchard Keeper by Cormac McCarthy.  Now that class has actually started, you’ll be seeing a lot more McCarthy on my list.  This was his first novel.  It’s not my new favorite or anything.

Best book of the month:  Kraken.

Worst book of the month:  The Art of Detection.

Book that didn’t even make the list:  Tam Lin by Pamela Dean.  I opened it, I closed it, what else can I say?

Most anticipated book of next month:  Best American Short Stories 2010!

Most anticipated book of the month after that:  All Clear.