Books 73-84
Hmmmm, this seems like a lot of books for a gal who is concentrating on comps. But 3 of them are outlouds with E (which is our evening TV substitute), and two of them are anthologies that I’ve been reading for probably six months, and finally finished. Another I’d started last year and forgot about, so just finished up the final 20 pages. Still that leaves 6 novels in 3 months - which actually isn’t so bad and now I don’t feel guilty anymore. Yay!
73 Brain Cuttings by Carl Zimmer. This was back in August, and I don’t really remember it, which means it can’t have been that good, since I remember most of Zimmer (outloud with E).
74 The Road to Oz by L. Frank Baum. There are still more Oz books, but we are done with them for now. (outloud with E).
75 The The Brother Gardeners: A generation of gentlemen naturalists and the birth of an obsession by Andrea Wulf (outloud with E).
76 The Plot to Save Socrates by Paul Levinson is the one I started last year. This is a convoluted time travel novel and somehow not as fascinating as the title promises.
77 Falling Star by Diana Dempsey was a fun revenge novel with a middle aged woman protagonist.
78 Thistle Down by Irene Radford is a modern fantasy where pixies are real. Cute but pretty simplistic.
79 Sleeping Helena by Erezebet Yellowboy is a re-telling of Sleeping Beauty but is far more complex that most such re-tellings. To begin with the real protagonists are 9 old women - the 12 fairies have been transformed into 8 Aunties plus a servant (and the servant ends up more or less saving the day) - in all their cranky old lady glory. Helena (the beauty) is almost an anti-hero, and the real sleeping beauty ends up being a man. I read this with bated breath and was disappointed when it ended. Yellowboy has written mostly short stories, and so now I’m on a mission to find them. Very highly recommended -- you know I lurves me a good fairy tell re-telling and this is probably the best I’ve read in years.
80 The way of the Wizard, Adams, ed. I was not too impressed with this - it took me so long to get through it, I don’t even remember most of the stories.
81 A Tale of Two Castles by Gail Carson Levine is a dragon fairy tale. Light weight fun as Levine tends to be.
82 Dragon Lords and Warrior Women, Radford ed. Eh. Hardly even remember it.
83 The Love Talker by Elizabeth Peters is a reprint from the 70’s, and sort of a modern gothic instead of her usual archaeological mystery, but still a fun read.
84 Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George is a East of the Sun, West of the Moon retelling. It is well written, well-paced, good use of language - but somehow a bit flat.
73 Brain Cuttings by Carl Zimmer. This was back in August, and I don’t really remember it, which means it can’t have been that good, since I remember most of Zimmer (outloud with E).
74 The Road to Oz by L. Frank Baum. There are still more Oz books, but we are done with them for now. (outloud with E).
75 The The Brother Gardeners: A generation of gentlemen naturalists and the birth of an obsession by Andrea Wulf (outloud with E).
76 The Plot to Save Socrates by Paul Levinson is the one I started last year. This is a convoluted time travel novel and somehow not as fascinating as the title promises.
77 Falling Star by Diana Dempsey was a fun revenge novel with a middle aged woman protagonist.
78 Thistle Down by Irene Radford is a modern fantasy where pixies are real. Cute but pretty simplistic.
79 Sleeping Helena by Erezebet Yellowboy is a re-telling of Sleeping Beauty but is far more complex that most such re-tellings. To begin with the real protagonists are 9 old women - the 12 fairies have been transformed into 8 Aunties plus a servant (and the servant ends up more or less saving the day) - in all their cranky old lady glory. Helena (the beauty) is almost an anti-hero, and the real sleeping beauty ends up being a man. I read this with bated breath and was disappointed when it ended. Yellowboy has written mostly short stories, and so now I’m on a mission to find them. Very highly recommended -- you know I lurves me a good fairy tell re-telling and this is probably the best I’ve read in years.
80 The way of the Wizard, Adams, ed. I was not too impressed with this - it took me so long to get through it, I don’t even remember most of the stories.
81 A Tale of Two Castles by Gail Carson Levine is a dragon fairy tale. Light weight fun as Levine tends to be.
82 Dragon Lords and Warrior Women, Radford ed. Eh. Hardly even remember it.
83 The Love Talker by Elizabeth Peters is a reprint from the 70’s, and sort of a modern gothic instead of her usual archaeological mystery, but still a fun read.
84 Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George is a East of the Sun, West of the Moon retelling. It is well written, well-paced, good use of language - but somehow a bit flat.