Belated reading roundup and book meme
I remembered that I had some books written up for over a month that didn't fit in my last reading roundup post, and I might as well post those because I keep reading more but not writing them up for some reason. But there's no sense in waiting until these fade from my mind even further.
33. Dhonielle Clayton, The Belles -- I actually wasn't going ( Read more... )
33. Dhonielle Clayton, The Belles -- I actually wasn't going ( Read more... )
Heh, I feel the same about "Dune". I didn't really enjoy the first part and never cared about the rest.
Every time I tried Artur C. Clarke it felt like objectively good - mostly in ideas - but not realy engaging. His style is rather dry, matter-of-fact. Heinlein, Niven and some others felt like "OK, checked off, next one".
Burnett's "Secret garden" used to be one of important to me (recluse-minded protagonist, focus on the nature, mystery plot; so many hooks for little Aletheia). Wait, "Anne of Green Gables" wasn't a thing in USSR? Here it had the "every girl loves it" status. Except little Aletheia, of course. XD But I read the whole series - and today it's clear to me it was not because "girly thing" but because "19th c.-ish novel thing". :)
(Both "Secret garden" and Anne are mandatory readings in Polish schools, too.)
You missed on Nesbit, I think. Especially in the right age, but chances are it'd work even now. She's not the Burnett-Montgomery-Alcott thing; she's C.S.Lewis thing, and her imagination and worldbuilding was giving him run for his money, and sometimes left him far behind, eating dust, I'd say.
I never told you, but I actually read "In the Land of Invented Languages" because you mentioned it, and I found it good, indeed. Also, in recent years I've been more and more into non-fiction, at the cost of fiction though.
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True! I guess their end goal is not enjoyment, but it certainly doesn't contribute to it...
I do want to catch up on some of the "classic sci-fi" I've missed -- my current sync read of CJ Cherryh's Cyteen is part of that, and it's been a good thing so far. Maybe Heinlein at some point, and possibly Clarke, too.
Wait, "Anne of Green Gables" wasn't a thing in USSR? Here it had the "every girl loves it" status.
I don't think so... The titles never rang a bell for me, so I don't think it's even a case where the books were popular at an older age than when I left. There were a lot homegrown books about young people, some of them very good, so I guess that's what people enjoyed?
she's C.S.Lewis thing, and her imagination and worldbuilding was giving him run for his money, and sometimes left him far behind, eating dust, I'd say.
Never read any CS Lewis either, until a collection of uncharacteristic poems just a few months ago. In general I'm not a huge fan of portal fantasies, so I've read very little in this genre.
I never told you, but I actually read "In the Land of Invented Languages" because you mentioned it, and I found it good, indeed.
I'm very glad to hear that you enjoyed it! It seems to be pretty obscure, in that I've never come across it on, like, lists, but a LJ friend mentioned it to me, an I recced it to a couple of other people, who all ended up enjoying it.
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Technically true, but since one of their declared goals is cultivating the habit of reading, they're effectively counterproductive...
@Montgomery
Huh... TIL
There were a lot homegrown books about young people, some of them very good, so I guess that's what people enjoyed?
So were here, many of them with a cult status of their own, but Montgomery still was/is big in cultural terms, on the Winnie the Pooh level.
(Any examples of those USSR books/authors? :) I mostly recall the kid lit, not so much for teens...)
Never read any CS Lewis either, until a collection of uncharacteristic poems just a few months ago.
...Oh. Yeah, she was good, but admittedly used portals a lot.
I've never come across it on, like, lists, but a LJ friend mentioned it to me, an I recced it to a couple of other people, who all ended up enjoying it.
Hehe, that's what I call a properly working friendlist. ;)
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Yep, unfortunately.
(Any examples of those USSR books/authors? :)
The ones I recall, with the caveat that as I never got to the YA lit level while living there, these may well be the classics of my parents' generation, and not what my peers were reading. Though... by the time my peers got to be teens, there was no USSR anymore, I guess, and I think what they were reading was an influx of Western books in translation.
- Lev Kassil's "Konduit i Shwambrania, about a pair of brothers who invent an imaginary country as kids, and then the book follows their lives through the lead-up to the Revolution. This was my father's favorite book as a kid, and I loved it for I think obvious reasons :)
- Respublika ShKID (the movie entry has more detail in English), about a group of boys in a reform school in the 1920s.
- "Doroga uhodit vdal'" by Alexandra Brushtein -- autographical books about pre-revolutionary life (which I think continue into the Revolutionary period; I may not have read all of them).
There's another author I read a lot of I'm forgetting, but it's not coming to me right now... maybe it will once I hit "post" :P
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maybe it will once I hit "post" :P
It always does. XD
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