Wednesday reading
• What did you recently finish reading?
Peter S. Beagle, Summerlong: new Beagle! This is lovely and quiet and contemplative, a tale of an old myth wandering into the modern world. Another Goodreads reviewer commented that this might have worked better in a shorter format, and I would agree with that; the pacing was very slow, and I guessed early on who the mystery girl was. But I love Beagle's writing and was happy to sink into it. Then I reread The Rhinoceros Who Quoted Nietzsche and Other Odd Acquaintances. "Come Lady Death" is still such an amazing story, and there are several other gems here, plus some interesting non-fiction pieces.
Lily Anderson, The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You: YA reworking of Much Ado About Nothing. Plot-wise, I thought Anderson did a good job of translating the plot into something that worked in a high school (obvs couldn't use the "I can't marry her because she's a slut!" plot of the play). Character-wise, I was a little less convinced: Trix was a little too mean for me compared to Beatrice, and I spent a lot of the first half of the book disliking her and being unconvinced that Ben could actually be in love with her when she was so unreasonably horrible to him. The second half won me over, though, once their friends pulled the secret love trick and Trix and Ben started working through their feelings.
Nancy Mitford, Pigeon Pie, Wigs on the Green: rereads.
• What are you currently reading?
The new Seanan McGuire, Once Broken Faith, and a Joseph Ellis book called The Quartet, on Washington, Hamilton, Jay, and Madison, and the creation of the Constitution. It's a little too much overview and not enough detail, but Ellis's books are often that way.
• What do you think you’ll read next?
I've decided to try comics/graphic novels again (I have issues with reading the text so fast that I miss the art), so I have Fun Home and the first volume of Ms. Marvel waiting at the library.
This entry was originally posted at http://gwyneira.dreamwidth.org/230795.html. There are
comments on that post. Please comment here or there, your choice.
Peter S. Beagle, Summerlong: new Beagle! This is lovely and quiet and contemplative, a tale of an old myth wandering into the modern world. Another Goodreads reviewer commented that this might have worked better in a shorter format, and I would agree with that; the pacing was very slow, and I guessed early on who the mystery girl was. But I love Beagle's writing and was happy to sink into it. Then I reread The Rhinoceros Who Quoted Nietzsche and Other Odd Acquaintances. "Come Lady Death" is still such an amazing story, and there are several other gems here, plus some interesting non-fiction pieces.
Lily Anderson, The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You: YA reworking of Much Ado About Nothing. Plot-wise, I thought Anderson did a good job of translating the plot into something that worked in a high school (obvs couldn't use the "I can't marry her because she's a slut!" plot of the play). Character-wise, I was a little less convinced: Trix was a little too mean for me compared to Beatrice, and I spent a lot of the first half of the book disliking her and being unconvinced that Ben could actually be in love with her when she was so unreasonably horrible to him. The second half won me over, though, once their friends pulled the secret love trick and Trix and Ben started working through their feelings.
Nancy Mitford, Pigeon Pie, Wigs on the Green: rereads.
• What are you currently reading?
The new Seanan McGuire, Once Broken Faith, and a Joseph Ellis book called The Quartet, on Washington, Hamilton, Jay, and Madison, and the creation of the Constitution. It's a little too much overview and not enough detail, but Ellis's books are often that way.
• What do you think you’ll read next?
I've decided to try comics/graphic novels again (I have issues with reading the text so fast that I miss the art), so I have Fun Home and the first volume of Ms. Marvel waiting at the library.
This entry was originally posted at http://gwyneira.dreamwidth.org/230795.html. There are
comments on that post. Please comment here or there, your choice.