(no subject)
Day 2 of my 12 blogs (although I am becoming less and less confident that I'll actually manage 12) is about books. I love books. Whenever anyone asks what my hobbies are, reading is the first thing that comes to mind, and it's the main way I've defined who I am for most of my life. I honestly don't understand people who don't enjoy reading, and that escape to other places, and I genuinely think of my favourite books as friends. However, having said all that, this year I have really sucked at reading. Mostly because I've tended to read fanfiction when I've had time rather than actual books, so I've read a ridiculously small number of new books, which makes me kind of sad.
There's been some - I very much enjoyed Curtsies and Conspiracies, the second in Gail Carriger's Finishing School series (which is not as good as her Parasol Protectorate series, but this book was a massive improvement on the first). I thought Untold was Sarah Rees Brennan's best book yet, and I loved both of Neil Gaiman's books. There were three books about supernatural/paranormal London, all of which I thought were brilliant - The City's Son by Tom Pollock was a wonderful debut, and I can't wait to read the sequel, London Falling by Paul Cornell was difficult in the sense the characters weren't terribly likeable, which meant that the fact you cared for them in a startlingly short time was rather surprising, and Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch wasn't quite as good as the previous book in the series, but was excellent nonetheless (which probably gives you some idea of what I thought of Whispers Underground :)). I'm sure there were others, but they're the only ones I can think of off the top of my head (it's probably no coincidence that I read most of those in the last six months :)). Oh, there were a couple of new Ilona Andrews books too. The other problem I've had is that my kindle has been being very temperamental, and I haven't been able to rely on it, which has kind of put me off starting anything new on it. :( I'm getting a new paperwhite for Christmas though, so hopefully that problem will be solved. I'm also going to attempt to be a lot better at organising the books and fanfic on my kindle, so I can actually find what I want when I want it!
What I have been doing is reading old favourites at bedtime. And that really is like meeting an old friend and becoming reacquainted. Some of them are more recent rereads than others - the Thursday Next series for example - and some of them get pulled out at least once every year anyway (The Serial Garden by Joan Aiken, and Harry Potter). Recently though, I've been rereading my teenage favourites. A few months ago I had a sudden urge to read Lion of Macedon by David Gemmell, and it felt like coming home. It helped that my copy is signed, so it feels like it has extra significance, but there's a reason I got that one signed, and that is that it was (and is) one of my absolute favourite books. David Gemmell was my favourite author for a LONG time, and it took Charles de Lint to usurp him, and this is his best book. Set in Ancient Greece, with only a smattering of magic (he wanted to write historical fiction, but his publishers told him he'd have to do it under a different name - or he could add some fantasy elements to his history and publish it as himself, so that's what he did), it tells the story of a Macedonian general called Parmenion. The magic is pretty significant to the story, so who knows what it was like as a piece of historical fiction, but it's not as integral as it is in his more obviously fantasy books. I love it. It definitely influenced my love of Ancient Greece, it helped me with my Ancient Greek GCSE (sort of), and it is definitely the reason I have a model of King Leonidas on top of my bookshelf, which I bought in Sparta in 1996! The sequel, Dark Prince, isn't as good, because the fantasy element is much stronger, but I'm a completist and had to read it once I'd finished Lion of Macedon. I grew up with Parmenion, and Phillip, and Alexander though, and they are almost as important to me as my actual friends. I probably shouldn't actually shout at the books I'm reading though - I don't think Parmenion is actually going to take any notice of me! *g*
I have also been reacquainting myself with Prince Rupert and Princess Julia from Blue Moon Rising by Simon Green, which was also one of my favourite books as a teenager. Unfortunately, again because I'm a completist, I also have to read the Hawk and Fisher stories before I can move on to the sequel, and they're just not as good. Mostly because they're short stories and procedural crime plots. I can see his writing improving as I move through them though, which is strange to me because I read them so late on. I can also see how they influenced his Nightside books, which are also better written, although don't read too many of them in one go. I did that once, and they were so repetitive! Something I have noticed though is that, even though these books were written 20 years ago, Green is still doing a better job at rounded female characters than the majority of male writers in the fantasy genre today *coughjimbutchercough* (I like the Dresden Files, but I'm reading the most recent one with a more feminist eye after seeing some criticism of them and Oh My God, his treatment of female characters is atrocious. I can't believe I didn't notice it earlier. I'm going to finish this one, but I'm not sure I'll be buying any more.). That's quite a horrifying thing to notice though - surely we should be better at that by now?
The one thing I have been successful at this year, books wise, is meeting authors and getting books signed. I have a nice little collection on my bookshelf, and one day I might even get around to reading them! :)
So, my plan for 2014 is to clear some of my backlog of new books, while continuing to reread at bedtime (The Hunger Games is next on that list, having finally bought my own copies of the first two books. I really want to move on to them, but I'm too stubborn to leave the Green books unfinished!). I have a bookshelf full of books waiting to be read, and some of them I really, really want to, and I'm not sure why I haven't yet. I have the last two books in the Chaos Walking trilogy to read, plus More Than This which I bought on Thursday (signed first edition from Foyles! I'd been so tempted by it in September, and regretted not buying it, so when they still had copies I couldn't resist!), as well as three Holly Black books and, well, too many to list here. I definitely need to make more of an effort next year, and also record them somewhere!
There's been some - I very much enjoyed Curtsies and Conspiracies, the second in Gail Carriger's Finishing School series (which is not as good as her Parasol Protectorate series, but this book was a massive improvement on the first). I thought Untold was Sarah Rees Brennan's best book yet, and I loved both of Neil Gaiman's books. There were three books about supernatural/paranormal London, all of which I thought were brilliant - The City's Son by Tom Pollock was a wonderful debut, and I can't wait to read the sequel, London Falling by Paul Cornell was difficult in the sense the characters weren't terribly likeable, which meant that the fact you cared for them in a startlingly short time was rather surprising, and Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch wasn't quite as good as the previous book in the series, but was excellent nonetheless (which probably gives you some idea of what I thought of Whispers Underground :)). I'm sure there were others, but they're the only ones I can think of off the top of my head (it's probably no coincidence that I read most of those in the last six months :)). Oh, there were a couple of new Ilona Andrews books too. The other problem I've had is that my kindle has been being very temperamental, and I haven't been able to rely on it, which has kind of put me off starting anything new on it. :( I'm getting a new paperwhite for Christmas though, so hopefully that problem will be solved. I'm also going to attempt to be a lot better at organising the books and fanfic on my kindle, so I can actually find what I want when I want it!
What I have been doing is reading old favourites at bedtime. And that really is like meeting an old friend and becoming reacquainted. Some of them are more recent rereads than others - the Thursday Next series for example - and some of them get pulled out at least once every year anyway (The Serial Garden by Joan Aiken, and Harry Potter). Recently though, I've been rereading my teenage favourites. A few months ago I had a sudden urge to read Lion of Macedon by David Gemmell, and it felt like coming home. It helped that my copy is signed, so it feels like it has extra significance, but there's a reason I got that one signed, and that is that it was (and is) one of my absolute favourite books. David Gemmell was my favourite author for a LONG time, and it took Charles de Lint to usurp him, and this is his best book. Set in Ancient Greece, with only a smattering of magic (he wanted to write historical fiction, but his publishers told him he'd have to do it under a different name - or he could add some fantasy elements to his history and publish it as himself, so that's what he did), it tells the story of a Macedonian general called Parmenion. The magic is pretty significant to the story, so who knows what it was like as a piece of historical fiction, but it's not as integral as it is in his more obviously fantasy books. I love it. It definitely influenced my love of Ancient Greece, it helped me with my Ancient Greek GCSE (sort of), and it is definitely the reason I have a model of King Leonidas on top of my bookshelf, which I bought in Sparta in 1996! The sequel, Dark Prince, isn't as good, because the fantasy element is much stronger, but I'm a completist and had to read it once I'd finished Lion of Macedon. I grew up with Parmenion, and Phillip, and Alexander though, and they are almost as important to me as my actual friends. I probably shouldn't actually shout at the books I'm reading though - I don't think Parmenion is actually going to take any notice of me! *g*
I have also been reacquainting myself with Prince Rupert and Princess Julia from Blue Moon Rising by Simon Green, which was also one of my favourite books as a teenager. Unfortunately, again because I'm a completist, I also have to read the Hawk and Fisher stories before I can move on to the sequel, and they're just not as good. Mostly because they're short stories and procedural crime plots. I can see his writing improving as I move through them though, which is strange to me because I read them so late on. I can also see how they influenced his Nightside books, which are also better written, although don't read too many of them in one go. I did that once, and they were so repetitive! Something I have noticed though is that, even though these books were written 20 years ago, Green is still doing a better job at rounded female characters than the majority of male writers in the fantasy genre today *coughjimbutchercough* (I like the Dresden Files, but I'm reading the most recent one with a more feminist eye after seeing some criticism of them and Oh My God, his treatment of female characters is atrocious. I can't believe I didn't notice it earlier. I'm going to finish this one, but I'm not sure I'll be buying any more.). That's quite a horrifying thing to notice though - surely we should be better at that by now?
The one thing I have been successful at this year, books wise, is meeting authors and getting books signed. I have a nice little collection on my bookshelf, and one day I might even get around to reading them! :)
So, my plan for 2014 is to clear some of my backlog of new books, while continuing to reread at bedtime (The Hunger Games is next on that list, having finally bought my own copies of the first two books. I really want to move on to them, but I'm too stubborn to leave the Green books unfinished!). I have a bookshelf full of books waiting to be read, and some of them I really, really want to, and I'm not sure why I haven't yet. I have the last two books in the Chaos Walking trilogy to read, plus More Than This which I bought on Thursday (signed first edition from Foyles! I'd been so tempted by it in September, and regretted not buying it, so when they still had copies I couldn't resist!), as well as three Holly Black books and, well, too many to list here. I definitely need to make more of an effort next year, and also record them somewhere!