Read in the last n months
Jun. 18th, 2014 05:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidVaguely in chronological order.
Survival Lessons (Alice Hoffman), a short nonfiction book about coping in difficult times, ones own or another's. Nothing said was startling, but it is always good to see what other people find helpful.
Alice's Adventures Under Ground (Lewis Carroll), a facsimile of the original handwritten manuscript, which was far shorter than the book published today (no Duchess, no pig, no pepper, among other things), but wonderful to read, seeing how his original sketches informed the Tenniel ones (which remain iconic to me). Something that didn't quite make it into the printed version: different jobs for the cards based on suit (the spades were gardeners, the hearts royalty, the clubs brawns, and the diamonds courtiers).
The Magic Touch (Jody Lynn Nye), a reasonably enjoyable urban sf book about teens becoming fairy godmothers, rather than gang members.
Saving Fish From Drowning (Amy Tan), a novel about a group of people who continue on their plans to visit parts of Asia even after their good friend who was to be their guide dies under unusual circumstances. All sorts of things go wrong, and the narrator, the recently deceased, can see them all so clearly.
The Jews of Cochin (Eliyahu Barmouth), a short bilingual history of the community, though I suspect much was not put in the English part, since the Hebrew part was 60% longer in pages (and Hebrew is definitely more compact than English). Interesting, albeit amateurish in the photos.
Darcy's Story (Janet Aylmer), which is basically a fanfic novel of Pride and Prejudice from Darcy's point of view, starting a bit before that novel and going a bit after the original story ended.
A Woman in Jerusalem (A.B. Yehoshua), a novel about a woman killed in a bomb blast, and unidentified, unclaimed for over a week. When her nominal employer finds out, responsibility is taken. I wanted to like this more than I did, and I'm not sure how much of it is the author's choice to give only the name of the woman killed, the one left unidentified. Everyone else was known as their job title, or spouse of job title, and after a while, it was tiring.
If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name (Heather Lende), nonfiction anecdotes, tales from a remote Alaskan town. I think I would have liked this better in smaller doses (the author writes obituaries, and though she's got a fine ear, somehow these didn't quite come together as a larger whole. Oh, and later on in the book it got very Christian, which was noticeable in contrast with the beginning.
The Probable Future (Alice Hoffman), a novel about generations of one family from a small New England town, in which each girl wakes up on her thirteenth birthday with an unusual gift, like seeing people's dreams, or how they die, or being impervious to pain. Otherwise, it's a tale of family gone awry, and finding their way back to each other. I liked this, but kept being thrown out of the story by geographical issues: the made-up town of Unity was theoretically on the Lowell commuter rail, yet was on the coast. At that point, just make up another rail line...
It's Not About the Tapas (Polly Evans), a travel book written as the English author bicycled around parts of Spain. Enjoyable, though as always, I try to imagine myself as the traveler, and though this time it's a female on a bike (I can do that!), kosher food would mean a very different journey were it me. Which is true everywhere, I suppose, but much more poignant in Spain, with tiny Jewish community even now.
Out to Lunch (Stacey Ballis), enjoyable mind candy novel that turned out to be a romance, with recipes at the end.
Complications (Atul Gawande), nonfiction about being a doctor, and making mistakes, also leaps of intuition, and how much can or should be automated. Thoughtful and interesting.
White Magic (Kelly Easton), a YA novel about a girl new to California finding some unexpected friends and joining a white-magic coven.
Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging (Louise Rennison), a YA novel in the form of a teen-aged girl's diary as she starts to learn about kissing and boys, and prepare for the GCSEs.
Straight Talking (Jane Green), yet another novel of a thirty-something London woman looking for love, ignoring what's right under her nose. In other words, mind candy.
Julie and Romeo (Jeanne Ray), a modern retelling of Shakespeare's story with middle-aged rival florists in Somerville. Spoiler: no one dies in the end.
Un Lun Dun (China Mieville), a wonderful adventure in alt-space, with lots of word-play. Definitely recommended.
Shattered (Dick Francis), a mystery like all his other mysteries, though this one had a glassblower as the protagonist.
The Visitor (Sheri Tepper), a post-apocalyptic sf novel of religious fanaticism and minds yearning towards scientific freedom. Beautiful language, though the end felt a bit too quickly done.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Steig Larsson), a well-written adventure novel in Sweden, with a bit more Swedish politics and culture than I'm familiar with, but interesting and complete, with two intertwined plots.
The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon (Alexander McCall Smith),
the latest in the adventures of Mma Ramotswe, this time dealing with the question of a an impostor nephew and an anonymous hate campaign against a new business.
You'll Like It Here (Everybody Does) (Ruth White), a story of aliens, an alternate Earth, and glowing blue hair of maturity. Plus Elvis.
Lady of Mazes (Karl Schroeder), an sf story that started in a world, then kept getting bigger frames for the story. That sounds odd, but it was interesting, sometimes hard to follow the challenges.
Never Have I Ever (Katie Heaney), a novel about a woman who at 25 has not had a 'real' romantic relationship.
The Hairstons (Henry Wiencek), subtitled "An American Family in Black and White", a history of a slave-owning white family that lived mostly in Virginia and North Carolina, along with the history of their slaves, who sometimes were relatives as well. Interesting stuff, especially the conversations with current people about their forebears and how they see parts of the family that may not be so acknowledged.
The Other Woman's House (Sophie Hannah), a psychological thriller, about a woman who becomes convinced that her husband is cheating on her, and a series of improbable events that happens to her. It's told mostly from her point of view, and the question continues through the book: is she a reliable narrator, or warped by her convictions? I found the narrator easy to commiserate with, so this was interesting.
With Love from Karen (Marie Killilea), apparently a sequel to a best-seller I never heard of, about a girl with severe physical challenges, back in the 1950s when there weren't as many medical options. This talks about her continuing challenges, along with the rest of the family. Not particularly well-written, but interesting as an artifact of a time no longer here.
Constance (Patricia Clapp), a YA novel about a girl arriving on the Mayflower, and the first years of the settlement, surviving harsh weather and epidemic, as well as politics.
He's Just Not That Into You (Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo), a reminder to not sit around.
Sea Glass (Anita Shreve), a story of the Depression, told from many points of view, about a couple moving to a town, and the husband having to change from salesman to factory worker, then joining the union. Some strong women characters, but this left me not quite satisfied, somehow.
One Perfect Day (Rebecca Mead), subtitled "The Selling of the American Wedding", looking at the wedding industry and how it's grown, with the event rather overshadowing the idea of starting a marriage, in so many cases. Interesting and appalling.
Are You Somebody? (Nuala O'Faolain), an Irish woman "of a certain age," not married, a writer for newspapers, showing her love for Ireland as she shares her memoirs.
Lost Gate (Orson Scott Card), about a boy growing up in rural Appalachia, part of one of the old pantheon families that came to our world ages ago via gates that no one now can make. Except that Danny North finds out that he can.... and gate mages are to be killed upon discovery. An interesting story, frustratingly the first of a series (I should have known better).
Jane and the Man of the Cloth (Stephanie Barron), a second mystery with Jane Austen as the detective, purportedly from her recently-discovered diary. Enjoyable in a period way.
The Court of the Air (Stephen Hunt), a steampunk sf story, of Molly Templar, an orphan, who becomes the center of a manhunt by assassins, though she has no idea why. Gritty and enjoyable.
Grave Mistake and Overture to Death (Ngaio Marsh), two mysteries featuring Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn. There were three in the book, one of which I'd read before. Oddly enough, they were in reverse chronological order for the characters, the DI moving from having a fairly grown son to a young boy to being engaged. Not sure why that would be.
The Question of Miracles (Elana K. Arnold), YA about a girl whose family has moved to Oregon in the wake of her best friend's death, trying to make a new life, and understand what happened in the old one.
Three Parts Dead (Max Gladstone), an sf/mystery/legal book, with Tara, a student put out of the Hidden Schools when she graduated in Craft, becoming an associate in a well-known Craft firm brought in to find out why Lord Kos Everburning, god of Alt Coulumb, has died, and what can be done about it. Fast-paced, fabulous, plus the author is local.
Survival Lessons (Alice Hoffman), a short nonfiction book about coping in difficult times, ones own or another's. Nothing said was startling, but it is always good to see what other people find helpful.
Alice's Adventures Under Ground (Lewis Carroll), a facsimile of the original handwritten manuscript, which was far shorter than the book published today (no Duchess, no pig, no pepper, among other things), but wonderful to read, seeing how his original sketches informed the Tenniel ones (which remain iconic to me). Something that didn't quite make it into the printed version: different jobs for the cards based on suit (the spades were gardeners, the hearts royalty, the clubs brawns, and the diamonds courtiers).
The Magic Touch (Jody Lynn Nye), a reasonably enjoyable urban sf book about teens becoming fairy godmothers, rather than gang members.
Saving Fish From Drowning (Amy Tan), a novel about a group of people who continue on their plans to visit parts of Asia even after their good friend who was to be their guide dies under unusual circumstances. All sorts of things go wrong, and the narrator, the recently deceased, can see them all so clearly.
The Jews of Cochin (Eliyahu Barmouth), a short bilingual history of the community, though I suspect much was not put in the English part, since the Hebrew part was 60% longer in pages (and Hebrew is definitely more compact than English). Interesting, albeit amateurish in the photos.
Darcy's Story (Janet Aylmer), which is basically a fanfic novel of Pride and Prejudice from Darcy's point of view, starting a bit before that novel and going a bit after the original story ended.
A Woman in Jerusalem (A.B. Yehoshua), a novel about a woman killed in a bomb blast, and unidentified, unclaimed for over a week. When her nominal employer finds out, responsibility is taken. I wanted to like this more than I did, and I'm not sure how much of it is the author's choice to give only the name of the woman killed, the one left unidentified. Everyone else was known as their job title, or spouse of job title, and after a while, it was tiring.
If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name (Heather Lende), nonfiction anecdotes, tales from a remote Alaskan town. I think I would have liked this better in smaller doses (the author writes obituaries, and though she's got a fine ear, somehow these didn't quite come together as a larger whole. Oh, and later on in the book it got very Christian, which was noticeable in contrast with the beginning.
The Probable Future (Alice Hoffman), a novel about generations of one family from a small New England town, in which each girl wakes up on her thirteenth birthday with an unusual gift, like seeing people's dreams, or how they die, or being impervious to pain. Otherwise, it's a tale of family gone awry, and finding their way back to each other. I liked this, but kept being thrown out of the story by geographical issues: the made-up town of Unity was theoretically on the Lowell commuter rail, yet was on the coast. At that point, just make up another rail line...
It's Not About the Tapas (Polly Evans), a travel book written as the English author bicycled around parts of Spain. Enjoyable, though as always, I try to imagine myself as the traveler, and though this time it's a female on a bike (I can do that!), kosher food would mean a very different journey were it me. Which is true everywhere, I suppose, but much more poignant in Spain, with tiny Jewish community even now.
Out to Lunch (Stacey Ballis), enjoyable mind candy novel that turned out to be a romance, with recipes at the end.
Complications (Atul Gawande), nonfiction about being a doctor, and making mistakes, also leaps of intuition, and how much can or should be automated. Thoughtful and interesting.
White Magic (Kelly Easton), a YA novel about a girl new to California finding some unexpected friends and joining a white-magic coven.
Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging (Louise Rennison), a YA novel in the form of a teen-aged girl's diary as she starts to learn about kissing and boys, and prepare for the GCSEs.
Straight Talking (Jane Green), yet another novel of a thirty-something London woman looking for love, ignoring what's right under her nose. In other words, mind candy.
Julie and Romeo (Jeanne Ray), a modern retelling of Shakespeare's story with middle-aged rival florists in Somerville. Spoiler: no one dies in the end.
Un Lun Dun (China Mieville), a wonderful adventure in alt-space, with lots of word-play. Definitely recommended.
Shattered (Dick Francis), a mystery like all his other mysteries, though this one had a glassblower as the protagonist.
The Visitor (Sheri Tepper), a post-apocalyptic sf novel of religious fanaticism and minds yearning towards scientific freedom. Beautiful language, though the end felt a bit too quickly done.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Steig Larsson), a well-written adventure novel in Sweden, with a bit more Swedish politics and culture than I'm familiar with, but interesting and complete, with two intertwined plots.
The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon (Alexander McCall Smith),
the latest in the adventures of Mma Ramotswe, this time dealing with the question of a an impostor nephew and an anonymous hate campaign against a new business.
You'll Like It Here (Everybody Does) (Ruth White), a story of aliens, an alternate Earth, and glowing blue hair of maturity. Plus Elvis.
Lady of Mazes (Karl Schroeder), an sf story that started in a world, then kept getting bigger frames for the story. That sounds odd, but it was interesting, sometimes hard to follow the challenges.
Never Have I Ever (Katie Heaney), a novel about a woman who at 25 has not had a 'real' romantic relationship.
The Hairstons (Henry Wiencek), subtitled "An American Family in Black and White", a history of a slave-owning white family that lived mostly in Virginia and North Carolina, along with the history of their slaves, who sometimes were relatives as well. Interesting stuff, especially the conversations with current people about their forebears and how they see parts of the family that may not be so acknowledged.
The Other Woman's House (Sophie Hannah), a psychological thriller, about a woman who becomes convinced that her husband is cheating on her, and a series of improbable events that happens to her. It's told mostly from her point of view, and the question continues through the book: is she a reliable narrator, or warped by her convictions? I found the narrator easy to commiserate with, so this was interesting.
With Love from Karen (Marie Killilea), apparently a sequel to a best-seller I never heard of, about a girl with severe physical challenges, back in the 1950s when there weren't as many medical options. This talks about her continuing challenges, along with the rest of the family. Not particularly well-written, but interesting as an artifact of a time no longer here.
Constance (Patricia Clapp), a YA novel about a girl arriving on the Mayflower, and the first years of the settlement, surviving harsh weather and epidemic, as well as politics.
He's Just Not That Into You (Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo), a reminder to not sit around.
Sea Glass (Anita Shreve), a story of the Depression, told from many points of view, about a couple moving to a town, and the husband having to change from salesman to factory worker, then joining the union. Some strong women characters, but this left me not quite satisfied, somehow.
One Perfect Day (Rebecca Mead), subtitled "The Selling of the American Wedding", looking at the wedding industry and how it's grown, with the event rather overshadowing the idea of starting a marriage, in so many cases. Interesting and appalling.
Are You Somebody? (Nuala O'Faolain), an Irish woman "of a certain age," not married, a writer for newspapers, showing her love for Ireland as she shares her memoirs.
Lost Gate (Orson Scott Card), about a boy growing up in rural Appalachia, part of one of the old pantheon families that came to our world ages ago via gates that no one now can make. Except that Danny North finds out that he can.... and gate mages are to be killed upon discovery. An interesting story, frustratingly the first of a series (I should have known better).
Jane and the Man of the Cloth (Stephanie Barron), a second mystery with Jane Austen as the detective, purportedly from her recently-discovered diary. Enjoyable in a period way.
The Court of the Air (Stephen Hunt), a steampunk sf story, of Molly Templar, an orphan, who becomes the center of a manhunt by assassins, though she has no idea why. Gritty and enjoyable.
Grave Mistake and Overture to Death (Ngaio Marsh), two mysteries featuring Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn. There were three in the book, one of which I'd read before. Oddly enough, they were in reverse chronological order for the characters, the DI moving from having a fairly grown son to a young boy to being engaged. Not sure why that would be.
The Question of Miracles (Elana K. Arnold), YA about a girl whose family has moved to Oregon in the wake of her best friend's death, trying to make a new life, and understand what happened in the old one.
Three Parts Dead (Max Gladstone), an sf/mystery/legal book, with Tara, a student put out of the Hidden Schools when she graduated in Craft, becoming an associate in a well-known Craft firm brought in to find out why Lord Kos Everburning, god of Alt Coulumb, has died, and what can be done about it. Fast-paced, fabulous, plus the author is local.