reading meme
8 May 2014 14:54![[personal profile]](/%20https://www.npmjs.com/package/ocr-https-www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annotated_emI get lazy about posting these things, probably because writing them up does take time and effort.
Nevertheless, things I have read since the last time I posted an update!
Winter Rose, Patricia A. McKillip: Rois is fascinated by Corbet Lynn, grandson of the murdered Niall Lynn, and the curse (or curses) that seem to be attached to him. Reminiscent of Tam Lin, very much in the McKillip vein, and a quick read.
Lavinia, Ursula K. Le Guin: I have no idea why this was shelved in the SFF section, where I came upon it while browsing. But there it was, and so I picked it up to see. Le Guin takes the events of the last six books of the Aeneid and retells them, this time from the perspective of Lavinia, daughter of Latinus, who was promised to Turnus but destined to marry Aeneas. It's a story about telling stories, and those minor characters who must have full lives of their own (whether the author realizes it or not). I enjoyed it, but I still don't know why it wasn't in the historical fiction section.
Shades of Milk and Honey, Mary Robinette Kowal: One part Jane Austen, one part Beauty and the Beast. Jane is a fairly plain-looking woman with a marked talent for glamour-work--creating illusions, which is just one more art that genteel ladies of the Regency period are expected to master. She despairs of finding a suitable husband, especially since her younger sister has all the beauty she lacks, and finds it necessary to use all her skills as a glamourist to save her family's reputation before the end of the story.
I enjoyed this one for the most part; it was a quick read and the world-building was deft. However, one thing that set my teeth on edge was how Jane is clearly set up to be a noble, self-sacrificing, virtuous creature. She reminds me of Elinor Dashwood, with one key difference--Jane is always castigating herself for her perceived selfishness and jealousy and other such failures. Obviously the reader is supposed to be sympathetic to her plight and aware that Jane isn't even a quarter as awful as she thinks she is, but that's not at all how it worked for me. It was too clear that I was supposed to feel bad for her noble suffering, which put my back up, let me tell you.
This one is a first novel, so I hope that this feature of the narrative will be toned down somewhat in the next books.
Sparrow Hill Road, Seanan McGuire: Rose Marshall was killed in 1956, when Bobby Cross ran her car off the road while she was on the way to prom. This unfortunate event did not slow her down very much at all, and the book is about certain episodes from her afterlife.
This one started out as a series of twelve short stories, as I understand it, and it does show--the narrative is episodic, not terribly linear, and the individual chapters can just about be read as stand-alones. There's a through line and Rose's character develops along the way, but I'll confess that I'm a little let down by the ending. What I had assumed would be the obvious denouement wasn't, and the confrontation I was hoping for didn't happen quite the way I expected. All the same, I enjoyed it and wouldn't mind reading more in this universe (which may or may not overlap with the Incryptid universe).
Three for the Chair, Rex Stout: Three Nero Wolfe novellas.
If Death Ever Slept, Rex Stout: A millionaire hires Wolfe and Archie to get his daughter-in-law, whom he suspects of sabotaging his business, out of his house, which requires Archie to go undercover as the new secretary. It's not very long before the old secretary turns up dead, and Archie and Wolfe are off running (metaphorically, in Wolfe's case, of course).
And Four to Go, Rex Stout: Four novellas.
Champagne for One, Rex Stout: Archie gets tapped to take a friend's place at a charity dinner for unwed mothers, where one of the guests drops dead and Archie is the only one insisting that it's murder.
Plot It Yourself, Rex Stout: A group of publishers and writers hire Wolfe to uncover who it is behind a plagiarism scam, which is thorny enough even before the bodies start turning up.
Three at Wolfe's Door, Rex Stout: Three novellas.
Too Many Clients, Rex Stout: A man claiming to be a wealthy industrialist hires Wolfe to have Archie tail him in order to find out whether he's being observed on the way to a rendezvous, but as it turns out, the wealthy industrialist is already dead and the client was an imposter. Complicating matters, the rendezvous point is essentially the dead man's favorite place for meeting his many mistresses. Wacky hijinks ensue.
The Final Deduction, Rex Stout: A wealthy woman hires Wolfe to help her find her kidnapped husband... only things are not what they seem, even before the returned husband ends up dead.
Nevertheless, things I have read since the last time I posted an update!
Winter Rose, Patricia A. McKillip: Rois is fascinated by Corbet Lynn, grandson of the murdered Niall Lynn, and the curse (or curses) that seem to be attached to him. Reminiscent of Tam Lin, very much in the McKillip vein, and a quick read.
Lavinia, Ursula K. Le Guin: I have no idea why this was shelved in the SFF section, where I came upon it while browsing. But there it was, and so I picked it up to see. Le Guin takes the events of the last six books of the Aeneid and retells them, this time from the perspective of Lavinia, daughter of Latinus, who was promised to Turnus but destined to marry Aeneas. It's a story about telling stories, and those minor characters who must have full lives of their own (whether the author realizes it or not). I enjoyed it, but I still don't know why it wasn't in the historical fiction section.
Shades of Milk and Honey, Mary Robinette Kowal: One part Jane Austen, one part Beauty and the Beast. Jane is a fairly plain-looking woman with a marked talent for glamour-work--creating illusions, which is just one more art that genteel ladies of the Regency period are expected to master. She despairs of finding a suitable husband, especially since her younger sister has all the beauty she lacks, and finds it necessary to use all her skills as a glamourist to save her family's reputation before the end of the story.
I enjoyed this one for the most part; it was a quick read and the world-building was deft. However, one thing that set my teeth on edge was how Jane is clearly set up to be a noble, self-sacrificing, virtuous creature. She reminds me of Elinor Dashwood, with one key difference--Jane is always castigating herself for her perceived selfishness and jealousy and other such failures. Obviously the reader is supposed to be sympathetic to her plight and aware that Jane isn't even a quarter as awful as she thinks she is, but that's not at all how it worked for me. It was too clear that I was supposed to feel bad for her noble suffering, which put my back up, let me tell you.
This one is a first novel, so I hope that this feature of the narrative will be toned down somewhat in the next books.
Sparrow Hill Road, Seanan McGuire: Rose Marshall was killed in 1956, when Bobby Cross ran her car off the road while she was on the way to prom. This unfortunate event did not slow her down very much at all, and the book is about certain episodes from her afterlife.
This one started out as a series of twelve short stories, as I understand it, and it does show--the narrative is episodic, not terribly linear, and the individual chapters can just about be read as stand-alones. There's a through line and Rose's character develops along the way, but I'll confess that I'm a little let down by the ending. What I had assumed would be the obvious denouement wasn't, and the confrontation I was hoping for didn't happen quite the way I expected. All the same, I enjoyed it and wouldn't mind reading more in this universe (which may or may not overlap with the Incryptid universe).
Three for the Chair, Rex Stout: Three Nero Wolfe novellas.
If Death Ever Slept, Rex Stout: A millionaire hires Wolfe and Archie to get his daughter-in-law, whom he suspects of sabotaging his business, out of his house, which requires Archie to go undercover as the new secretary. It's not very long before the old secretary turns up dead, and Archie and Wolfe are off running (metaphorically, in Wolfe's case, of course).
And Four to Go, Rex Stout: Four novellas.
Champagne for One, Rex Stout: Archie gets tapped to take a friend's place at a charity dinner for unwed mothers, where one of the guests drops dead and Archie is the only one insisting that it's murder.
Plot It Yourself, Rex Stout: A group of publishers and writers hire Wolfe to uncover who it is behind a plagiarism scam, which is thorny enough even before the bodies start turning up.
Three at Wolfe's Door, Rex Stout: Three novellas.
Too Many Clients, Rex Stout: A man claiming to be a wealthy industrialist hires Wolfe to have Archie tail him in order to find out whether he's being observed on the way to a rendezvous, but as it turns out, the wealthy industrialist is already dead and the client was an imposter. Complicating matters, the rendezvous point is essentially the dead man's favorite place for meeting his many mistresses. Wacky hijinks ensue.
The Final Deduction, Rex Stout: A wealthy woman hires Wolfe to help her find her kidnapped husband... only things are not what they seem, even before the returned husband ends up dead.
(no subject)
Date: 8 May 2014 21:33 (UTC)=) I like your posts about books!
(no subject)
Date: 8 May 2014 21:35 (UTC)(If you're not familiar with McGuire's work, I can generally recommend her writing. It's good stuff. I even like her zombie novels, the ones she wrote under the pseudonym Mira Grant, and I am so not into zombies.)