March 2011 Pt. 1

Hello.  Here’s the first part of my monthly “Stuff I’ve Been Reading” post.  I’m pleased to see that I’ve done a fairly decent job of writing about the books throughout the month, so for additional details for many of the following, see longer posts. (Links are underlined, but not blue: I’m not savvy enough to figure out how to change that.)

1. Inda by Sherwood Smith (40%).  I was disappointed by the slow pace and enormous cast of characters for this first novel in a four-book series.  It’s a model fantasy epic, but happened not to be what I was in the mood for.
2. The Night Calls by David Pirie.  Apparently I was in the mood for a Holmesesque mystery.  This tale of a fictional Conan Doyle and his mentor Dr. Joseph Bell hits the spot with historical detail and decent plotting.
3. Time and the Other by Johannes Fabian (50%).  I read this critical examination of the theory behind ethnographic literature on the recommendation of a professor to include in my thesis.  It was a dense read, but presented a fascinating view of questions and assumptions behind time, narrative, and form.
4. “The Mind’s Eye” and Other Stories by Kelly Ledbetter.  No, I don’t think it’s too self-absorbed to include my thesis–a collection of five short stories and an article–on my book list.  I did sit down and read it cover to cover, just like a book.
5. One of Our Thursdays Is Missing by Jasper Fforde.  And then I rewarded myself with the long-awaited Thursday Next book six, in which the real-life Thursday is missing and the bookworld Thursday has to search for her.
6. Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie.  Borrowed from a friend, this book was a much better Alexie novel than Flight, his more recent young adult story.  Funny, poignant, well-written, and tragic.
7. We by Yevgeny Zamyatin.  For Spring Break, I went on a “science fiction I should have read by now” binge.  This classic dystopian novel was first on the list.
8. Boneshaker by Cherie Priest.  Steampunk zombies in historical Seattle equals one of the most fun novels of sheer adventure I’ve ever read.

Tune in tomorrow for the rest of the list … and to see whether I can manage to read Alan Bradley’s third Flavia de Luce novel, A Red Herring Without Mustard, (thanks, Mom!) before the clock rolls around to April.