oh so very many books
a ramona quimby movie? how have the kidlit bloggers not posted about this and protested? i hope it stumbles in pre-production. first harriet, then nancy ... i just hope they never option the westing game. oh wait, they already have. but it was for tv and hopefully no one ever saw it. i actually have no problem with subpar tv adaptations - i think that's how i first "experienced" many stories, via abc weekend specials. i recall freckle juice, but i seem to be mistaken because i can't find a listing for it on the episode list ... oh, memory you bastard.
in any case, i've read a lot of books since i last posted. i ambitiously thought that i would get around to writing lengthy reviews of all of them, but it seems that was folly. enjoy a few nuggets instead and hopefully they will suffice. [halfway through, i realize that i'm being really glib here. take that as a warning if you need to.]
[upon completeion, i note that this is a very long offering. as such, i recommend that you skim, if you read it at all, because it gets pretty spotty in places. i go off on tangents and towards the end am barely capable of thought. to save your scrolling, i am going to add a cut. to figure out if you want to click on it or not, here is a list of the books that i talk about.
cold water by gwendolyn riley, luxe by anna godbersen, wicked lovely by melissa marr, the egypt game by zilpha keatley snyder, beige by cecil castellucci, the house of mirth by edith wharton, pretty little liars by sarah shepard, northern lights by nora roberts, the game by diana wynne jones, the guy not taken by jennifer weiner, harnassing peacocks, an imaginative experience, part of the furniture, a sensible life and a dubious legacy all by mary wesley, strong poison by dorothy sayers, the lightning thief, sea of monsters and the titan's curse all by rick riordan, freakonmics by steven levitt and stephen dunbar, the welsh girl by peter ho davis, into the dark by peter abrahams, the mystery of the third lucretia by susan runholt and the moving toyshop by edmund crispin
sorry, i'm knackered and need to figure out dinner. thus, too lazy to put things in italics and do other sort of formatting.
i really need to get some more hobbies.]
cold water by gwendolyn riley - vaguely nilhistic, directionless manchester girl wanders about the city. she's a bartender. had a bad relationship. drinks a lot. maybe in real life i would enjoy hanging out with her, but in literature i find her tedious. i think maybe i'm just too old for this sort of thing. reminds me of alan warner, although perhaps i just think that because he blurbed the book.
luxe by anna todbersen - my impression is that this one is being sold to librarians and booksellers as the-gossip-girls-meets-edith-wharton. okay, i can buy it. and wonder if, assuming it is successful, this launches a whole sub-genre in young adult literature, which can be boiled down to the-gossip-girls-meets-historical-era-x? if so, i would like to get in on that action, as there are a few historical eras i think it would be fun to do. although i am not telling you which ones, because someone might steal the idea and make lots of money.
in terms of the book though ... i quite enjoyed it. better than the gossip girls, not as good as edith wharton (but you probably could've assumed that on your own). you know the beginning from the start but the twists and turns to get there are entertaining. not entirely unsurmisable, but enjoyable nonetheless. i readily admit for being a sucker for old new york though, and if that's not your thing you might not like it. historical fiction is, generally speaking, not my bag and young readers similarly never like it as much as their teachers and parents think they should. so, books that make it fun and relatable, although maybe a tad less accurate, are okay with me. you don't really need a summation do you? oh, okay. turn of the century manhattan, rich teens, societal expectations v. individual desires, money, social standing, sex, etc.
wicked lovely by melissa marr - urban fantasy about a girl who can see faeries. although really, for her own good she must not let the faeries know this, because they don't like that sort of thing. nevertheless, she draws the attention of one who just so happens to be the summer king, looking for a queen who might help him defeat his evil mum, the winter queen. perhaps aislinn will be the one? keenan, the king, seems to think so but she is very, very resistant for all sorts of justifiable reasons.
loved it. totally and completely. all those kids clamoring for stephenie meyer should read this instead, even though i know that faeries and vampires are not the same thing. holly black fans too, because it's very similar territory but overall i think i enjoyed wicked lovely more than i have a black book in ages. aislinn is a kick-ass heroine who totally manages to hold her own against everyone - faeries and humans alike - and doesn't seem at all contrived. it's very well-written and the story is executed with ease and i hope there is a sequel.
the egypt game by zilpha keatley snyder - a classic of children's literature that i always felt i should read. so now i have. i enjoyed it, although i can't say i adored it. although i might have if i had read it at ten. i like that the kids are smart and don't feel the need to pretend otherwise.
beige by cecil castellucci - so finally i outright enjoy a cecil castellucci novel. this makes me happy, i feel like i can, if not join the club, at least make pleasant small talk with the members. although it is a sad testament to my intrest in reality television that as i was reading this, i kept picturing the characters as dick and danielle from this season of big brother. only, the good versions of them (this was near the start of the season when d&d had not revealed themselves to be so loathsome as they have turned out to be, but that's a whole other story i'm not comfortable admitting to having an opinion of here). so: katy comes to los angeles to spend a few weeks with the punk musician father she has never known. it's awkward, but they manage to carve out an experience and everyone learns lots about life and themselves in the process.
the house of mirth by edith wharton - sort of like the gossip girls, but a long time ago. haha, just kidding. oh, lily bart you crazy gal you. loved it. duh. although maybe that's not a duh - justin claims to hate edith wharton. i don't though, i think she's aces.
pretty little liars by sara shepard - hated it. maybe i wouldn't have, if i'd realized that this was the first book in a series. and, as such, there would be no resolution to the story by the last page. but i didn't know that and thus it pissed me off to get there and to be left hanging. so much so that i won't read further. although that urge could also be because i did not like any of the characters. and the cover is kind of creepy. maybe it is/was a good idea, but i did not like the execution and probably would've stopped reading it before the crap ending anyway, if i hadn't been on vacation and didn't feel like starting the other books i'd brought with me.
northern lights by nora roberts - instead, i finished that dumb book and started reading this, the book that my mom brought on vacation with her (although she finished it first). my mom is a huge nora roberts fan, reading everything she writes - no slight feat considering how very, very prolific the bestselling author is. and while i love my mom to bits, our taste in culture products (books, movies, music, the whole nine yards) rarely overlaps. but i was pleasantly surprised by northern lights. i do tend to like things that take place in alaska, of whence i am semi-fascinated. in this one, an old frozen corpse is found on a mountain and the new sheriff, recently arrived from baltimore feeling very shattered from the death of his partner, tenaciously investigates the murder. the people of the small, quirky town are hiding a lot, and nate burke will uncover their secrets. and fall for the spunky young bushpilot.
and this is where i go on to ponder the fact that more often than not, in stories that take place in alaska, there is a spunky, young, female bushpilot. (see also northern exposure, the yiddish policeman's union). i know the terrain makes bushpilots a necessity, but why are they always spunky young women? is that really the case or has it become a small cultural cliche? i'm not pointing fingers because i have enjoyed all these books/tv shows, but i do find it curious. points to that anne heche tv show for originality in this department, since on there the pilot is a semi-crochety black man. i cannot think of other stories-that-take-place-in-alaska to compare. actual alaskans should pipe in to say whether or not this reflects reality as they know it.
the game by diana wynne jones - novella about a girl who discovers, in a roundabout sort of way, that she is related to some mythological characters. and that there is something called the mythosphere which is very fun to venture into. and which she maybe belongs to. fun stuff, especially if you are sort of mythological fan.
the guy not taken: stories by jennifer weiner - a collection of different-but-similar stories featuring all the usual elements that one expects from weiner. saying it that way makes me sound dismissive, which i'm not entirely. i bought this at the airport on a whim and i really enjoyed it. enough that i finally requested good in bed from the library, so i could finally finish it.
harnessing peacocks, an imaginative experience, part of the furniture, a sensible life and a dubious legacy by mary wesley - i discovered mary wesley through the dewey divas and the dudes, a blog by some canadian publishers reps, which is one of my favorite new places to get book recommendations. although sometimes it is frustrating, because things that are available readily in canada are not so easily obtained here. like the reissues of mary wesley's body of work. fortunately, my library system had many of the books in their original editions. it seems she was an amazingly popular british author of which i was frighteningly ignorant, although i have, obviously, taken to her enormously. she writes lots of books that deal with social class (mostly upper class), world war ii, sex and depression. i think she's sort of fantastic. my favorite was - gosh, i don't even know. probably an imaginative experience followed by part of the furniture, although there were bits that i loved in all the book. and i think i probably have to order the chamomile lawn from amazon.ca because that sounds like everything that i go for; in spades.
strong poison by dorothy l. sayers - i figured i should read this to complete the whimsey-vane experience, which you might recall that i adored. and i was in the mood for a little dorothy. it did not disappoint and it was interesting to see the initial interactions between the characters. it is very smart and clever and enjoyable, although i do love the other books more.
freakonomics: a rogue econmist explores the hidden side of everything by steven d. levitt and stephen j. dunbar - i actually read this in bits and pieces, starting when it first came out and finishing it finally a few weeks ago. which is not to say that it is bad or hard to get through - quite on the contrary - just that i would rarely think to pick it up. it is fascinating and i annoyingly keep dropping things i learned from it in everyday conversation. a fact that i am sure must be getting tiresome to those around me. especially since almost everyone has already read it, and thus know it all already.
the lightning thief, the sea of monsters and the titan's curse by rick riordan - the first three books of the percy jackson and the olympians series. now, like thousands of kids and teens, i anxiously await book four and five. remember what i said about being into mythology? there you go. also, the books are humorous and full of adventure and just good fun all around.
the welsh girl by peter ho davis - lately, i've been feeling wales. and i'm always feeling world war ii. this book mixes the stories of a young welsh barmaid with that of a german pow, held captive at a prison in the welsh countryside. and features an extended appearance by rudolf hess. it is extremely well done and made for great reading, but i am far too tired of talking about books at this point to furnish more details. i am reduced to merely saying thumbs up.
into the dark by peter abrahams - i am a big fan of the echo falls mysteries, as i indicated previously, and was almost giddy to find a new one in the box o'a.r.c.s i recieved the other day. this book is shorter than it's predecessors, but weightier in different ways. i like seeing how the characters and their world develop and i like the mystery solving. it is a worthy offering by abrahams, although i don't quite know where it fits in with the other two. there are elements of it that i simply loved, but overall i found it a little lacking. maybe i just wanted more, because i'm greedy like that.
the mystery of the third lucretia by susan runholt - this was also in the box. the premise is good, although not entirely original. or, you know, remotely plausible. (interpid youngsters discover, investigate and attempt to foil grand art heist, spanning the globe, lying to parents and donning lots of costumes to fool stupid adults in the process.) and the execution is sometimes clumsy. and yet, there is something about it that i dug. so, mediocre overall. points in favor, points against.
the moving toyshop by edmund crispin - is very funny and smart and a winning mystery to boot.
wow, like i said: long. at least now i am caught up. it took me hours to complete, even being pretty half-hearted there towards the end. i pity you, my dear readers, and yet love you enormously. although i can't blame you if you merely skimmed. in fact, i'm going to go right up to the top of the post to add a cut and recommend that you do just that. xoxo.
in any case, i've read a lot of books since i last posted. i ambitiously thought that i would get around to writing lengthy reviews of all of them, but it seems that was folly. enjoy a few nuggets instead and hopefully they will suffice. [halfway through, i realize that i'm being really glib here. take that as a warning if you need to.]
[upon completeion, i note that this is a very long offering. as such, i recommend that you skim, if you read it at all, because it gets pretty spotty in places. i go off on tangents and towards the end am barely capable of thought. to save your scrolling, i am going to add a cut. to figure out if you want to click on it or not, here is a list of the books that i talk about.
cold water by gwendolyn riley, luxe by anna godbersen, wicked lovely by melissa marr, the egypt game by zilpha keatley snyder, beige by cecil castellucci, the house of mirth by edith wharton, pretty little liars by sarah shepard, northern lights by nora roberts, the game by diana wynne jones, the guy not taken by jennifer weiner, harnassing peacocks, an imaginative experience, part of the furniture, a sensible life and a dubious legacy all by mary wesley, strong poison by dorothy sayers, the lightning thief, sea of monsters and the titan's curse all by rick riordan, freakonmics by steven levitt and stephen dunbar, the welsh girl by peter ho davis, into the dark by peter abrahams, the mystery of the third lucretia by susan runholt and the moving toyshop by edmund crispin
sorry, i'm knackered and need to figure out dinner. thus, too lazy to put things in italics and do other sort of formatting.
i really need to get some more hobbies.]
cold water by gwendolyn riley - vaguely nilhistic, directionless manchester girl wanders about the city. she's a bartender. had a bad relationship. drinks a lot. maybe in real life i would enjoy hanging out with her, but in literature i find her tedious. i think maybe i'm just too old for this sort of thing. reminds me of alan warner, although perhaps i just think that because he blurbed the book.
luxe by anna todbersen - my impression is that this one is being sold to librarians and booksellers as the-gossip-girls-meets-edith-wharton. okay, i can buy it. and wonder if, assuming it is successful, this launches a whole sub-genre in young adult literature, which can be boiled down to the-gossip-girls-meets-historical-era-x? if so, i would like to get in on that action, as there are a few historical eras i think it would be fun to do. although i am not telling you which ones, because someone might steal the idea and make lots of money.
in terms of the book though ... i quite enjoyed it. better than the gossip girls, not as good as edith wharton (but you probably could've assumed that on your own). you know the beginning from the start but the twists and turns to get there are entertaining. not entirely unsurmisable, but enjoyable nonetheless. i readily admit for being a sucker for old new york though, and if that's not your thing you might not like it. historical fiction is, generally speaking, not my bag and young readers similarly never like it as much as their teachers and parents think they should. so, books that make it fun and relatable, although maybe a tad less accurate, are okay with me. you don't really need a summation do you? oh, okay. turn of the century manhattan, rich teens, societal expectations v. individual desires, money, social standing, sex, etc.
wicked lovely by melissa marr - urban fantasy about a girl who can see faeries. although really, for her own good she must not let the faeries know this, because they don't like that sort of thing. nevertheless, she draws the attention of one who just so happens to be the summer king, looking for a queen who might help him defeat his evil mum, the winter queen. perhaps aislinn will be the one? keenan, the king, seems to think so but she is very, very resistant for all sorts of justifiable reasons.
loved it. totally and completely. all those kids clamoring for stephenie meyer should read this instead, even though i know that faeries and vampires are not the same thing. holly black fans too, because it's very similar territory but overall i think i enjoyed wicked lovely more than i have a black book in ages. aislinn is a kick-ass heroine who totally manages to hold her own against everyone - faeries and humans alike - and doesn't seem at all contrived. it's very well-written and the story is executed with ease and i hope there is a sequel.
the egypt game by zilpha keatley snyder - a classic of children's literature that i always felt i should read. so now i have. i enjoyed it, although i can't say i adored it. although i might have if i had read it at ten. i like that the kids are smart and don't feel the need to pretend otherwise.
beige by cecil castellucci - so finally i outright enjoy a cecil castellucci novel. this makes me happy, i feel like i can, if not join the club, at least make pleasant small talk with the members. although it is a sad testament to my intrest in reality television that as i was reading this, i kept picturing the characters as dick and danielle from this season of big brother. only, the good versions of them (this was near the start of the season when d&d had not revealed themselves to be so loathsome as they have turned out to be, but that's a whole other story i'm not comfortable admitting to having an opinion of here). so: katy comes to los angeles to spend a few weeks with the punk musician father she has never known. it's awkward, but they manage to carve out an experience and everyone learns lots about life and themselves in the process.
the house of mirth by edith wharton - sort of like the gossip girls, but a long time ago. haha, just kidding. oh, lily bart you crazy gal you. loved it. duh. although maybe that's not a duh - justin claims to hate edith wharton. i don't though, i think she's aces.
pretty little liars by sara shepard - hated it. maybe i wouldn't have, if i'd realized that this was the first book in a series. and, as such, there would be no resolution to the story by the last page. but i didn't know that and thus it pissed me off to get there and to be left hanging. so much so that i won't read further. although that urge could also be because i did not like any of the characters. and the cover is kind of creepy. maybe it is/was a good idea, but i did not like the execution and probably would've stopped reading it before the crap ending anyway, if i hadn't been on vacation and didn't feel like starting the other books i'd brought with me.
northern lights by nora roberts - instead, i finished that dumb book and started reading this, the book that my mom brought on vacation with her (although she finished it first). my mom is a huge nora roberts fan, reading everything she writes - no slight feat considering how very, very prolific the bestselling author is. and while i love my mom to bits, our taste in culture products (books, movies, music, the whole nine yards) rarely overlaps. but i was pleasantly surprised by northern lights. i do tend to like things that take place in alaska, of whence i am semi-fascinated. in this one, an old frozen corpse is found on a mountain and the new sheriff, recently arrived from baltimore feeling very shattered from the death of his partner, tenaciously investigates the murder. the people of the small, quirky town are hiding a lot, and nate burke will uncover their secrets. and fall for the spunky young bushpilot.
and this is where i go on to ponder the fact that more often than not, in stories that take place in alaska, there is a spunky, young, female bushpilot. (see also northern exposure, the yiddish policeman's union). i know the terrain makes bushpilots a necessity, but why are they always spunky young women? is that really the case or has it become a small cultural cliche? i'm not pointing fingers because i have enjoyed all these books/tv shows, but i do find it curious. points to that anne heche tv show for originality in this department, since on there the pilot is a semi-crochety black man. i cannot think of other stories-that-take-place-in-alaska to compare. actual alaskans should pipe in to say whether or not this reflects reality as they know it.
the game by diana wynne jones - novella about a girl who discovers, in a roundabout sort of way, that she is related to some mythological characters. and that there is something called the mythosphere which is very fun to venture into. and which she maybe belongs to. fun stuff, especially if you are sort of mythological fan.
the guy not taken: stories by jennifer weiner - a collection of different-but-similar stories featuring all the usual elements that one expects from weiner. saying it that way makes me sound dismissive, which i'm not entirely. i bought this at the airport on a whim and i really enjoyed it. enough that i finally requested good in bed from the library, so i could finally finish it.
harnessing peacocks, an imaginative experience, part of the furniture, a sensible life and a dubious legacy by mary wesley - i discovered mary wesley through the dewey divas and the dudes, a blog by some canadian publishers reps, which is one of my favorite new places to get book recommendations. although sometimes it is frustrating, because things that are available readily in canada are not so easily obtained here. like the reissues of mary wesley's body of work. fortunately, my library system had many of the books in their original editions. it seems she was an amazingly popular british author of which i was frighteningly ignorant, although i have, obviously, taken to her enormously. she writes lots of books that deal with social class (mostly upper class), world war ii, sex and depression. i think she's sort of fantastic. my favorite was - gosh, i don't even know. probably an imaginative experience followed by part of the furniture, although there were bits that i loved in all the book. and i think i probably have to order the chamomile lawn from amazon.ca because that sounds like everything that i go for; in spades.
strong poison by dorothy l. sayers - i figured i should read this to complete the whimsey-vane experience, which you might recall that i adored. and i was in the mood for a little dorothy. it did not disappoint and it was interesting to see the initial interactions between the characters. it is very smart and clever and enjoyable, although i do love the other books more.
freakonomics: a rogue econmist explores the hidden side of everything by steven d. levitt and stephen j. dunbar - i actually read this in bits and pieces, starting when it first came out and finishing it finally a few weeks ago. which is not to say that it is bad or hard to get through - quite on the contrary - just that i would rarely think to pick it up. it is fascinating and i annoyingly keep dropping things i learned from it in everyday conversation. a fact that i am sure must be getting tiresome to those around me. especially since almost everyone has already read it, and thus know it all already.
the lightning thief, the sea of monsters and the titan's curse by rick riordan - the first three books of the percy jackson and the olympians series. now, like thousands of kids and teens, i anxiously await book four and five. remember what i said about being into mythology? there you go. also, the books are humorous and full of adventure and just good fun all around.
the welsh girl by peter ho davis - lately, i've been feeling wales. and i'm always feeling world war ii. this book mixes the stories of a young welsh barmaid with that of a german pow, held captive at a prison in the welsh countryside. and features an extended appearance by rudolf hess. it is extremely well done and made for great reading, but i am far too tired of talking about books at this point to furnish more details. i am reduced to merely saying thumbs up.
into the dark by peter abrahams - i am a big fan of the echo falls mysteries, as i indicated previously, and was almost giddy to find a new one in the box o'a.r.c.s i recieved the other day. this book is shorter than it's predecessors, but weightier in different ways. i like seeing how the characters and their world develop and i like the mystery solving. it is a worthy offering by abrahams, although i don't quite know where it fits in with the other two. there are elements of it that i simply loved, but overall i found it a little lacking. maybe i just wanted more, because i'm greedy like that.
the mystery of the third lucretia by susan runholt - this was also in the box. the premise is good, although not entirely original. or, you know, remotely plausible. (interpid youngsters discover, investigate and attempt to foil grand art heist, spanning the globe, lying to parents and donning lots of costumes to fool stupid adults in the process.) and the execution is sometimes clumsy. and yet, there is something about it that i dug. so, mediocre overall. points in favor, points against.
the moving toyshop by edmund crispin - is very funny and smart and a winning mystery to boot.
wow, like i said: long. at least now i am caught up. it took me hours to complete, even being pretty half-hearted there towards the end. i pity you, my dear readers, and yet love you enormously. although i can't blame you if you merely skimmed. in fact, i'm going to go right up to the top of the post to add a cut and recommend that you do just that. xoxo.