Truly retro: posting to Dreamwidth about BOOKS.
Or, a book, anyway.
I just recently finished reading Robert Galbraith/JK Rowling's The Cuckoo's Calling, which I requested from the library as soon as I heard about her identity being revealed, and so I managed to be about #38 of 298 on the hold list by the time I got to work that Monday. I figured I should read it in much the same way I figured I should read The Casual Vacancy, and Gone Girl, and Fifty Shades, because it was about to be in huge demand at the library and I should know about it. Several of my coworkers did the same, though at least one was put off actually reading it by an NPR review that said the only surprise was the author's identity.
For me, I like my cozy mysteries (I'm currently reading my way through Margaret Frazer's Dame Frevisse series, about a 15th century nun who fights crime). Typical mysteries, like police procedural dramas, are mostly about making order of a chaotic situation, and they do so in a comfortingly reliable way. So I was all for a totally unsurprising mystery novel.
So what surprised me, actually, was how much I liked the book and how much I cared about the characters (and then I said to myself, self, this is JK Rowling, she does actually know what she's doing in that particular department, whatever her other failings). In particular, I loved the utterly unromantic relationship between PI Cormoran Strike and his increasingly-less-temporary secretary, Robin.
I MEAN, HER NAME IS ROBIN. SHE IS HIS ROBIN. THERE YOU GO.
The relationship actually wound up reminding me a lot of Elementary's Sherlock and Joan--I mean, okay, no one else is Joan Watson, it's nowhere near that perfect, but the professional detective being actively encouraging to his amateur protege just made me really, really happy. And I really hope that getting outed doesn't stop JKR from writing more books in this series, because I want more Cormoran and Robin adventures!
Possibly I will need to nominate this for Yuletide.
This entry was originally posted at http://dira.dreamwidth.org/666793.html. There are currently
comments there.
I just recently finished reading Robert Galbraith/JK Rowling's The Cuckoo's Calling, which I requested from the library as soon as I heard about her identity being revealed, and so I managed to be about #38 of 298 on the hold list by the time I got to work that Monday. I figured I should read it in much the same way I figured I should read The Casual Vacancy, and Gone Girl, and Fifty Shades, because it was about to be in huge demand at the library and I should know about it. Several of my coworkers did the same, though at least one was put off actually reading it by an NPR review that said the only surprise was the author's identity.
For me, I like my cozy mysteries (I'm currently reading my way through Margaret Frazer's Dame Frevisse series, about a 15th century nun who fights crime). Typical mysteries, like police procedural dramas, are mostly about making order of a chaotic situation, and they do so in a comfortingly reliable way. So I was all for a totally unsurprising mystery novel.
So what surprised me, actually, was how much I liked the book and how much I cared about the characters (and then I said to myself, self, this is JK Rowling, she does actually know what she's doing in that particular department, whatever her other failings). In particular, I loved the utterly unromantic relationship between PI Cormoran Strike and his increasingly-less-temporary secretary, Robin.
I MEAN, HER NAME IS ROBIN. SHE IS HIS ROBIN. THERE YOU GO.
The relationship actually wound up reminding me a lot of Elementary's Sherlock and Joan--I mean, okay, no one else is Joan Watson, it's nowhere near that perfect, but the professional detective being actively encouraging to his amateur protege just made me really, really happy. And I really hope that getting outed doesn't stop JKR from writing more books in this series, because I want more Cormoran and Robin adventures!
Possibly I will need to nominate this for Yuletide.
This entry was originally posted at http://dira.dreamwidth.org/666793.html. There are currently
comments there.