January 2013

Stuff I’ve Been Reading: January 2013

1. The Rook – O’Malley, Daniel
2. Quiet – Cain, Susan
3. Drawing Conclusions – Leon, Donna
4. Run – Patchett, Ann*
5. Beastly Things – Leon, Donna
6. Hawkwood – McGee, James
7. Ysabel – Kay, Guy Gavriel
8. The Girl with Glass Feet – Smith, Ali
9. Death of an Englishman – Nabb, Magdalen
10. Invisible Cities – Calvino, Italo
11. Use of Weapons – Banks, Iain M.
12. Ship Breaker – Bacigalupi, Paolo
13. The Unconsoled – Ishiguro, Kazuo
14. The Graveyard Book – Gaiman, Neil*
15. The Name of the Rose – Eco, Umberto
16. Remake – Willis, Connie
17. Speaking from Among the Bones – Bradley, Alan

Asterisks indicate audiobooks. Italics indicate library books. See previous post for this month’s unfinished books.

The best read of the month–and for the foreseeable part of the year–was Speaking from Among the Bones. Upon reflection, I would call it the best Flavia de Luce novel since the first one, and it has a tremendous cliffhanger. Flavia solves the mystery, of course, and with great aplomb, but the story of her family history is yet unfinished. I can hardly wait for the next book!

Three abandoned books

This year I’ve already not finished three books.

1. Hawkwood by James McGee. The titular Bow Street Runner was not the Regency James Bond as advertised. In fact, this mystery was full of stupid. Especially the women.
2. Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino. I hate it when a novel is actually a collection of prose poems, don’t you?
3. The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro. In a series of puzzling encounters, the pianist Ryder is trying to figure out what is expected of him for the Thursday night performance. At least by page 123, he hadn’t figured it out yet. (Why he didn’t stop just someone and say, “Hey, what’s up with Thursday?” is beyond my ken.)

So now I’m rereading The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco for consolation after The Unconsoled.

 

Tuesday Book Talk

Stuff I’ve Been Reading: June 2012

This June was a stupendously prolific month for two reasons: traveling and unfinished books.

1. The Faerie King by C. A. Cole. While in Scotland, I reread and annotated a hard copy of my friend’s excellent first novel in the Pooka series.
2. An Equal Music by Vikram Seth. This fat novel about musicians kept me occupied for the longest of the three legs of my return flight.
3. The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks (40%). While I adore Iain M. Banks books (SF), I did not much care for this first of the Iain Banks books (mainstream fiction).
4. Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal. Home again, I reread the first of the Regency “glamour” novels in preparation for the just-published book two.
5. Glamour in Glass by Mary Robinette Kowal. Book two and a continuation of the above, lots of fun.
6. Swamplandia! by Karen Russell (30%). Despite having won a lot of nominations and awards, and despite my having liked her short story collection St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, I disliked this novel about a family (and gator theme park) falling apart.
7. Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers. In To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis, a character is crazy about Sayers mysteries. This is the third one featuring Lord Peter, though the ones with Harriet Vane in them are said to be better.
8. Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers. Book five of above, and the first novel featuring Harriet Vane. A bit better, but not as good as Agatha Christie.
9. The Shadowed Sun by N. K. Jemisin. The just-published sequel to Jemisin’s first Dreamblood book, The Killing Moon. I liked both of them quite a lot.
10. The Violent Bear It Away by Flannery O’Connor (60%). Now I know why O’Connor is known for her short stories rather than her novels: this is her second and last novel, about a crazed prophet and his great-nephew.
11. Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson. An unusual historical novel by a SFF author set in the Baroque period, about scientists–or, rather, natural philosophers.
12. The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco (20%). For this and the following few, see last week’s book talk.
13. The Case of the Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall. See last week’s book review.
14. Prospero Lost by L. Jagi Lamplighter (20%).
15. The Demi-Monde: Winter by Rod Rees. Loved it: will read all four.
16. Night Flight by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
17. Railsea by China Miéville. See yesterday’s book review.

This month’s books by number: 5 unfinished, 5 fantasy, 3 mystery, 2 literary, 2 science fiction.

Best new read? A tie between Railsea and The Demi-Monde, with Glamour in Glass a close second.

Tuesday Book Talk

I’ve discovered the library.

It’s not an original find by any means, but after a year of living in my current city, I’ve finally renewed my library card. I spent my first trip getting the lay of the land, so to speak, and gave the SFF section a close examination, coming away not altogether displeased.

Since my last library trip, I’ve also perused the library collection online, crossing my Powell’s wishlist with the library catalog. It turns out that the library has quite a lot of books I’ve been wanting to read for a while.

Here’s what I got on my first trip:

• The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco. I read fifty pages and stopped: there is no Eco novel quite like The Name of the Rose.
• The Case of the Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall. See Monday Book Review.
• The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing by Tarquin Hall. The sequel, which I decided not to read.
• Prospero Lost by L. Jagi Lamplighter. I read fifty pages and stopped: this urban fantasy with Shakespeare’s The Tempest characters was fun but wasn’t working for me.
• The Demi-Monde: Winter by Rod Rees. I’m currently reading this one and liking it a lot. The Demi-Monde is (I think) a virtual-reality-gone-real. I’m tempted to call the novel an “urban alternate-future dystopia,” but the premise quite rightly defies description.

And on hold for me, among other books on the shelf, is Night Flight by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, a French pilot best known for The Little Prince but whose memoir of flying for the post, Wind, Sand, and Stars, I quite loved.

Anyway, yes, the library: a bookstore where all the books are free.