It's taken me forever and a day to get around to writing this recap, but I know you're not surprised, so let's just move right along.
When I last posted, I was reading/listening to Anton Strout's "Dead to Me", which is the first novel in his Simon Canderous series. I had been looking forward to this one for quite a while, and I really enjoyed it. It's funny, original, and only slightly sexist. I suspect I wouldn't be as annoyed by the sexism if I had read the novel instead of listening to it, since the narrator did give a slightly irritating read for the female characters, but the sexism was definitely there. It's not bad enough that I wouldn't recommend this novel, and it wasn't bad enough to make me even consider not reading the rest of the series. It's just there. I think Anton Strout is a very funny and kind man, and I really don't think it will be an issue in the rest of the series - it seemed to be a 'first novel' issue more than an actual sexist issue.
While I was on holiday I read the second novel of Mercedes Lackey's Five Hundred Kingdom's series, "One Good Knight", which was a fun, light read. I didn't love it as much as I loved the first book, probably because I had an idea of what to expect from it, and predictable is never great, but it was still a really enjoyable read. I don't read much romance, but romantic fantasy is perfect for vacation.
I followed that up with a binge read of the three most recent novels in Kelly Meding's MetaWars series - "Changeling", "Tempest", and "Chimera". You may remember how much I enjoyed "Trance" - the series just gets better from there! I couldn't stop reading them. We are talking 'stay up past bedtime to finish and then immediately start the next novel' level of addiction here, and I am anxiously waiting for the next novel to be announced. This series is what I had hoped the 'Marvel's Agent's of Shield' TV series would be like, only even better because I'm not nearly as imaginative as Ms Meding is. Each novel is told from the point of view of a different member of the team-formerly-known-as-Rangers, a group of emotionally scarred young superheroes who are just trying to find their place in the world. They are brilliant, heartbreaking, and inspiring - and you should go buy the whole series (also available on Amazon, if that's your bag) because I swear you will not be disappointed. Go. I'll wait here.
Got it? Ok, moving on...
At Christmas I decided to re-read Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol", which is never a mistake. When I was growing up we went to the local stage production every year, but I never get tired of it. If you've never read it (GASP!!) find yourself a copy next December - it's a quick read, but it's lovely.
Maybe it's a comfort thing (I've been feeling a bit down) but a lot of my reading time over the past six months has been devoted to re-reading favourites. In addition to "A Christmas Carol" I've also re-read the first 6 Harry Potter novels and the second Dexter novel - so, it's been a lot of fun. I discover something new every time I read Harry Potter, and the joys and heartaches feel as fresh as they did on the very first read. I'm taking a little break before Deathly Hallows because, let's be honest, the conclusion Half-Blood Prince is emotionally exhausting! As for "Dearly Devoted Dexter" - man, I love that character! For all his darkness, he is a funny guy and one of the most human characters I've ever read. I'm way behind on the series, so hopefully I can catch up (assuming there will be a book 8 - fingers crossed!).
I also started a re-read on audio of Jim Butcher's "Dresden Files" series, which I love so much, you don't even understand. I was really excited about it - one of my favourite series ever, read by James Marsters? Yes please!! Unfortunately, Marsters reading of the story is not quite to my taste. I'll probably try again when the days are a bit longer. I'd like to get caught up on this series this year, too.
I haven't given up on my Man Booker challenge, but I've been stuck on Margaret Atwood's "Blind Assassin" since early November, and I don't know why. This novel is another re-read for me, and although I'm only about a quarter of the way into it, but I just keep putting it down to read other things. I'm disappointed that I'm not enjoying "Blind Assassin" this time around, since it blew me away the first time. It's probably mostly because I haven't forgotten any of it, so the dramatic tension is just not there. Or perhaps I'm just making excuses (see Harry Potter 1-6 and Dexter 2)! I'm going to try to get into it again after I finish reading my current novel, but if it still doesn't grab me I will have to admit defeat and move on to the next title.
I've also been reading a bunch of non-fiction book on finance, compassion, history, and evolution. Nothing terribly exciting, but it's been keeping my mind busy. Novel-wise, I finished reading Half-Blood Prince four days ago, and Dearly Devoted Dexter three days ago, took a couple days off trying to decide what to read next, and yesterday I decided to start a new-to-me series that I've been looking forward to - Anthony Bidulka's "Russell Quant" mysteries. The first title is "Amuse Bouche" - a rookie PI based in a small Canadian prairie city - sounds like fun, right? So far, it is! In fact, I think I can fit in a few more chapters before bed...
Happy reading!
Showing posts with label Romance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Romance. Show all posts
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Monday, July 22, 2013
I Swore To Myself I'd Never Review Erotica....
I assume you're all used to me being absent more often than I am present, so I'm going to skip over the apologies and excuses for why this post is 18 days late (it has to do with Internet Explorer, knitting, heat waves, and flooding. It's been a busy month.) and we're going to roll right into the reviews. That's right, plural! I've not been writing but I have been reading! Three whole novels read, so, let's go!
First up, I read "The Inheritance of Loss" by Kiran Desai, Man Booker Prize winner of 2006, which took me a total of 16 days to read. The scope of the novel is massive, an intersecting web of lives from a small Indian village through a lens of immigration, emigration and colonization, from the 1920's to 1986, when the majority of the story takes place. The historic details are interesting - for instance, I'd never heard about Gorkaland and it's turbulent history - and the individual character stories are heart-wrenching. Everyone can relate to a story about migration and the conflicts involved in 'claiming' land, so in that regard it was a fascinating study, and a really well written novel.
I did not enjoy it.
This is definitely a case of, 'It's not you, it's me' because the story was really well-written, in it's style. It's just not a style I like. I'm not a fan of 'theme' driven stories, I much prefer a solid plot line, so it was a real struggle for me to get into it. In fact, I was more than half way through the novel before I even recognized the theme because I kept waiting for the plot to 'click', which of course it never does. I found it meandering, obsessive in it's descriptions of minutia, and disappointing in it's conclusion - but these are all issues that have more to do with Me as the reader, than the Novel itself. I understand why it won the MBP, and I'm sure 'literature' folks will just gobble it up - but it just doesn't do a thing for me!
In the midst of my struggle to read that novel, I picked up and absolutely devoured another one. It wasn't intentional! We had a couple of really quiet weeks at work, mainly due to the aforementioned flooding and heat wave. Now, I hate reading at work - I know I work in a book store, but I think it's rude to be engrossed in a novel when there are customers around, and besides, I'm not being paid to read!! (Also, it's really hard to concentrate when people keep talking to you! I mean, geez, can't you see I'm reading a book?!) However, I really had nothing else to do!
So... long story slightly shorter, I picked up a copy of Megan Hart's "Stranger" and was intrigued by the idea of the heroine, a funeral home director who hires 'escorts' for sexual companionship in order to avoid the mess of emotional attachments. Talk about your kick-ass powerful gender-reversal! I flipped open to the first chapter, and I was hooked! Yes, it's erotica (oh my! oh my! is it ever!!) but it's so much more than that! It's a really great romance, an interesting look at life as a funeral director, and just a great story! Maybe I'm a bit morbid, but I've always thought being a funeral director would be an interesting career (I still don't think I'm wrong!) so that was great, and I love a female character who is in command of her own sexuality. Romance novels and erotica are full of supposedly strong, independent women who are sexual victims - it's nauseating, and it's totally uncool. There is none of that here, and that alone would be enough to make me recommend this novel, but it really is great! I blew through it in 4 days, and I'm definitely going to read Megan Hart again!
First up, I read "The Inheritance of Loss" by Kiran Desai, Man Booker Prize winner of 2006, which took me a total of 16 days to read. The scope of the novel is massive, an intersecting web of lives from a small Indian village through a lens of immigration, emigration and colonization, from the 1920's to 1986, when the majority of the story takes place. The historic details are interesting - for instance, I'd never heard about Gorkaland and it's turbulent history - and the individual character stories are heart-wrenching. Everyone can relate to a story about migration and the conflicts involved in 'claiming' land, so in that regard it was a fascinating study, and a really well written novel.
I did not enjoy it.
This is definitely a case of, 'It's not you, it's me' because the story was really well-written, in it's style. It's just not a style I like. I'm not a fan of 'theme' driven stories, I much prefer a solid plot line, so it was a real struggle for me to get into it. In fact, I was more than half way through the novel before I even recognized the theme because I kept waiting for the plot to 'click', which of course it never does. I found it meandering, obsessive in it's descriptions of minutia, and disappointing in it's conclusion - but these are all issues that have more to do with Me as the reader, than the Novel itself. I understand why it won the MBP, and I'm sure 'literature' folks will just gobble it up - but it just doesn't do a thing for me!
In the midst of my struggle to read that novel, I picked up and absolutely devoured another one. It wasn't intentional! We had a couple of really quiet weeks at work, mainly due to the aforementioned flooding and heat wave. Now, I hate reading at work - I know I work in a book store, but I think it's rude to be engrossed in a novel when there are customers around, and besides, I'm not being paid to read!! (Also, it's really hard to concentrate when people keep talking to you! I mean, geez, can't you see I'm reading a book?!) However, I really had nothing else to do!
So... long story slightly shorter, I picked up a copy of Megan Hart's "Stranger" and was intrigued by the idea of the heroine, a funeral home director who hires 'escorts' for sexual companionship in order to avoid the mess of emotional attachments. Talk about your kick-ass powerful gender-reversal! I flipped open to the first chapter, and I was hooked! Yes, it's erotica (oh my! oh my! is it ever!!) but it's so much more than that! It's a really great romance, an interesting look at life as a funeral director, and just a great story! Maybe I'm a bit morbid, but I've always thought being a funeral director would be an interesting career (I still don't think I'm wrong!) so that was great, and I love a female character who is in command of her own sexuality. Romance novels and erotica are full of supposedly strong, independent women who are sexual victims - it's nauseating, and it's totally uncool. There is none of that here, and that alone would be enough to make me recommend this novel, but it really is great! I blew through it in 4 days, and I'm definitely going to read Megan Hart again!
So, that's caught us up all the way to July 5th, when I decided to give a book I tried to listen to back in December another shot. Firstly, I love the idea of audio books (knitting and reading at the same time!!) but I've discovered that narrator's are really hit or miss for me. I was spoiled early in life (and as recently as the Harry Potter novels) by having my father read to us. He is a brilliant narrator, and all others suffer in comparison. Except maybe Morgan Freeman... and Tom Selleck.
Anyway, my point was, I listened to the first 9 chapters of the first novel in Caitlin Kittredge's Black London series back in December, but gave up on it because I found the narrator's choices in voicing Pete and Jack too annoying. I could tell the story had really solid bones, but I couldn't get past how whiny Pete sounded. I was really disappointed, too, because I'd been looking forward to the series since I discovered it back near the beginning of my Booker odyssey. I knew when I finished the Iron Codex earlier this year that I had to revisit this series - Aoife was such a strong character, and Kittredge is just too good a storyteller! So I picked myself up a physical copy of "Street Magic", and
Oh.
My.
Goodness.
So fucking good, you guys!! By now you know I love me some Urban Fantasy, and this novel is top-notch! Pete is truly kick-ass, and Jack is...well, he's my new fictional crush. Dark and damaged and punk rock and, um, excuse me while I drool. Seriously, though, it's a high-stakes story with lots of magic, and characters I was really rooting for. I described it to my mother as Dresden Files from Murphy's point of view, only Pete is way cooler and Jack is way more damaged. I literally had to force myself not to binge read this series the same as the last! It has, however, been added to my list of "Palette Cleansers" - books to read after a really bad book to remind me that I love reading!
For now, I'm forcing myself back to the Booker list - I figure if I let myself read two genre novels for every Booker title I finish, I'll be able to get through them much faster! I'm reading J.M. Coetzee's "Disgrace" right now, and I am trying my best to reserve judgement.... but I suspect I'm going to be reading one of those Palette Cleansers next!!
Happy Reading!
Friday, June 7, 2013
Fantastic Fantasy!
I finished reading the first novel of Mercedes Lackey's Five Hundred Kingdoms series, "The Fairy Godmother", yesterday, and wow! What a fantastic novel! Breezed through it in 7 days, and even worked out a way that I can knit and read at the same time because I just didn't want to put it down! I've never read any of her novels before, but I've now added four series to my TBR list!
The Five Hundred Kingdoms is a romantic fantasy series which turns traditional fairy tales on their heads. In this novel a Cinderella, whose Prince is entirely unsuitable for her, decides to hire herself out so that she at least gets paid for slaving away all day. Instead, thanks to some magical intervention, she becomes the apprentice of a Fairy Godmother. The story is warm, funny, feminist (that's not a bad word!), and incredibly sweet. Who needs a Prince when there are tragic endings to be subverted, and Tradition to be twisted? This is a fine example of the 'moral' tradition of fantasy stories, something I think we could all use a little more of.
To be completely fair, it wasn't perfect. There are a few needless repetitions of ideas and story background that probably should have been edited out, making me think 'Hey, I just read that x chapters ago!'. Some of the sentences suffer from an archaic structure, which seems to be a part of the overall fairy tale vibe but isn't consistent enough to blend in. Also, I read an e-book edition, and there were a number of glaring errors (like missing words) that ought to have been edited better. But, overall, it wasn't enough to really detract from my enjoyment of the story, so I'm willing to let it slide. More than let it slide, I'm really looking forward to reading the next six stories in the series and having to talk myself out of reading them all right now!
Interestingly, this novel solved my personal mystery of why sometimes, even though I'm thoroughly enjoying a novel, I don't breeze through it, usually stretching the last third of the novel out as long as I can. It's because, even though I know the Good Guys will 'win', I also know I'm not guaranteed a Happy Ending. Sometimes the good guys die in the process of saving the world, sometimes they have to sacrifice their own happiness for the benefit of others, but it's not always Happy. Because this series is romantic fantasy, the consequences are milder. Sure, there is darkness and peril (what good would the story be without that?!) but ultimately there is redemption for the deserving, and Happiness. I'm not gonna lie - I like Happy Endings, they make me... well, happy! If that means it sometimes takes me a little while longer to read a book that has a potentially tragic ending, I'm totally OK with that.
My reader's soul is feeling revived, mostly because I have loved four of the last five novels I've read so much, that I'm feeling strong enough to dip back into the Man Booker winner's list for my next read. I'm still skipping over "Sacred Hunger", "The Ghost Road" and "The God of small Things" (I'm not feeling quite that strong!) so I'm going to give Ian McEwan's "Amsterdam" a try. It's fairly short, and now that I've figured out how to read and knit at the same time, it may not even be too tedious!
Happy reading!
The Five Hundred Kingdoms is a romantic fantasy series which turns traditional fairy tales on their heads. In this novel a Cinderella, whose Prince is entirely unsuitable for her, decides to hire herself out so that she at least gets paid for slaving away all day. Instead, thanks to some magical intervention, she becomes the apprentice of a Fairy Godmother. The story is warm, funny, feminist (that's not a bad word!), and incredibly sweet. Who needs a Prince when there are tragic endings to be subverted, and Tradition to be twisted? This is a fine example of the 'moral' tradition of fantasy stories, something I think we could all use a little more of.
To be completely fair, it wasn't perfect. There are a few needless repetitions of ideas and story background that probably should have been edited out, making me think 'Hey, I just read that x chapters ago!'. Some of the sentences suffer from an archaic structure, which seems to be a part of the overall fairy tale vibe but isn't consistent enough to blend in. Also, I read an e-book edition, and there were a number of glaring errors (like missing words) that ought to have been edited better. But, overall, it wasn't enough to really detract from my enjoyment of the story, so I'm willing to let it slide. More than let it slide, I'm really looking forward to reading the next six stories in the series and having to talk myself out of reading them all right now!
Interestingly, this novel solved my personal mystery of why sometimes, even though I'm thoroughly enjoying a novel, I don't breeze through it, usually stretching the last third of the novel out as long as I can. It's because, even though I know the Good Guys will 'win', I also know I'm not guaranteed a Happy Ending. Sometimes the good guys die in the process of saving the world, sometimes they have to sacrifice their own happiness for the benefit of others, but it's not always Happy. Because this series is romantic fantasy, the consequences are milder. Sure, there is darkness and peril (what good would the story be without that?!) but ultimately there is redemption for the deserving, and Happiness. I'm not gonna lie - I like Happy Endings, they make me... well, happy! If that means it sometimes takes me a little while longer to read a book that has a potentially tragic ending, I'm totally OK with that.
My reader's soul is feeling revived, mostly because I have loved four of the last five novels I've read so much, that I'm feeling strong enough to dip back into the Man Booker winner's list for my next read. I'm still skipping over "Sacred Hunger", "The Ghost Road" and "The God of small Things" (I'm not feeling quite that strong!) so I'm going to give Ian McEwan's "Amsterdam" a try. It's fairly short, and now that I've figured out how to read and knit at the same time, it may not even be too tedious!
Happy reading!
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Vampires, Polygamy, Superheroes, and Possession
Since my last post I finished the nonfiction title I was reading, listened to the second audio book of a paranormal spy series, watched a film adaptation of a Man Booker Prize winning title, and also read an urban fantasy novel and a romance short story. Yikes! Lots of catch-up to do today, so I'll try to keep this brief!
Joe, Alina, Vicki and Val Darger, "Love Times Three" - nonfiction
I've been re-watching the HBO series "Big Love" over the past two months, so I was naturally intrigued when this true story of plural marriage came across my desk. In fact, aspects of the Darger's life were the direct inspiration for events in the TV series, specifically the season one finale, so if you are a fan of the show I definitely suggest checking out this book. Polygamy has been in the media a lot in the past few years, from news stories about 'compounds' to the reality TV show "Sister Wives", but this is easily the most humanizing account I've come across. The Darger's story really made me look at my own views of marriage, in particular the legality of a marriage between consenting adults. I'm a big supporter of marriage equality, and it's really difficult to see why their marriage shouldn't be legal. So, absolutely worth a read if you're in the mood the expand your world view!
Christopher Farnsworth, "The President's Vampire" - audio book
I love this series! It's a vampire spy story, dark but hilarious, with lots of conspiracy theory 'quotes' which make it feel more realistic. I listened to the first book last year and I've been really looking forward to listening to this one, and it was everything I could hope for. Terrorist plots and snark abound, and Bronson Pinchot does a fantastic job narrating, really brilliant. His delivery is perfect for secret agent vampire Nathaniel Cade, and just annoying enough to not make me hate sidekick Zach Barrows. I highly recommend this series.
Kelly Meding, "Trance" - urban fantasy
OMG! This novel is fantastic! Set in an alternate near-future, this superhero story has everything! Action, comedy, drama (I cried), suspense, romance - you want it, it's here. I love superhero mythology, but I'm always a bit reluctant to read the Marvel/DC novels because I've never been into comic books, and I'm worried that I'm missing out on part of the story. This is a brand new universe, though, completely unrelated to the established hero lines - and it's delicious! I've had Kelly Meding on my TBR pile for a little over a year now, and she does not disappoint. I can't wait to read more of her books!
Rachael Herron, "Honeymooning" - short story
I adore Rachael Herron's writing, she's brilliant, warm, funny and pretty much everything I'd want in a best friend. This one is a novella in her romance/knitting series 'Cypress Hollow Yarn', taking us along on an unexpected Hawaiian honeymoon, and it's so funny I was giggling out loud on the bus. The driver thinks I'm crazy, but it's totally worth it!
"Possession" - film adaptation
I wasn't entirely enamoured with A.S. Byatt's "Possession" when I read it the first time last year, but it has been on my mind quite a lot recently. I didn't want to take the time to re-read it right now, so I decided to check out the 2002 film adaptation. It didn't suck. Obviously it's not possible to faithfully recreate such a massive and detailed story in a film, much less a film that isn't even two hours long, but they did an O.K. job. It did deepen my overall understanding of the story, but the novel was (of course) much better. I guess I'm going to have to give in and find time to re-read it anyway....
But, for now, my next novel is going to be the first of Mercedes Lackey's 'Five Hundred Kingdoms' series, "The Fairy Godmother". Looks like it'll be a fun one!
Happy reading!
Joe, Alina, Vicki and Val Darger, "Love Times Three" - nonfiction
I've been re-watching the HBO series "Big Love" over the past two months, so I was naturally intrigued when this true story of plural marriage came across my desk. In fact, aspects of the Darger's life were the direct inspiration for events in the TV series, specifically the season one finale, so if you are a fan of the show I definitely suggest checking out this book. Polygamy has been in the media a lot in the past few years, from news stories about 'compounds' to the reality TV show "Sister Wives", but this is easily the most humanizing account I've come across. The Darger's story really made me look at my own views of marriage, in particular the legality of a marriage between consenting adults. I'm a big supporter of marriage equality, and it's really difficult to see why their marriage shouldn't be legal. So, absolutely worth a read if you're in the mood the expand your world view!
Christopher Farnsworth, "The President's Vampire" - audio book
I love this series! It's a vampire spy story, dark but hilarious, with lots of conspiracy theory 'quotes' which make it feel more realistic. I listened to the first book last year and I've been really looking forward to listening to this one, and it was everything I could hope for. Terrorist plots and snark abound, and Bronson Pinchot does a fantastic job narrating, really brilliant. His delivery is perfect for secret agent vampire Nathaniel Cade, and just annoying enough to not make me hate sidekick Zach Barrows. I highly recommend this series.
Kelly Meding, "Trance" - urban fantasy
OMG! This novel is fantastic! Set in an alternate near-future, this superhero story has everything! Action, comedy, drama (I cried), suspense, romance - you want it, it's here. I love superhero mythology, but I'm always a bit reluctant to read the Marvel/DC novels because I've never been into comic books, and I'm worried that I'm missing out on part of the story. This is a brand new universe, though, completely unrelated to the established hero lines - and it's delicious! I've had Kelly Meding on my TBR pile for a little over a year now, and she does not disappoint. I can't wait to read more of her books!
Rachael Herron, "Honeymooning" - short story
I adore Rachael Herron's writing, she's brilliant, warm, funny and pretty much everything I'd want in a best friend. This one is a novella in her romance/knitting series 'Cypress Hollow Yarn', taking us along on an unexpected Hawaiian honeymoon, and it's so funny I was giggling out loud on the bus. The driver thinks I'm crazy, but it's totally worth it!
"Possession" - film adaptation
I wasn't entirely enamoured with A.S. Byatt's "Possession" when I read it the first time last year, but it has been on my mind quite a lot recently. I didn't want to take the time to re-read it right now, so I decided to check out the 2002 film adaptation. It didn't suck. Obviously it's not possible to faithfully recreate such a massive and detailed story in a film, much less a film that isn't even two hours long, but they did an O.K. job. It did deepen my overall understanding of the story, but the novel was (of course) much better. I guess I'm going to have to give in and find time to re-read it anyway....
But, for now, my next novel is going to be the first of Mercedes Lackey's 'Five Hundred Kingdoms' series, "The Fairy Godmother". Looks like it'll be a fun one!
Happy reading!
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