Bookity books
#31: Her Every Wish by Courtney Milan. 3. Like most Milan, this romance is better than most because it skips the obvious answer (also, because while some of the tension is from misunderstanding, they do actually talk it out before they both look like idiots). But in the longer books, she skips on to the third or fourth answer she thinks of. In this novella, we only get what feels like the second answer. I think some of it is that in her longer works, she'll have misunderstanding plots, but they're resolved quickly because the obstacles facing the characters are more significant than misunderstandings. Because this is short, there's really only one obstacle. (Her desire for start up funds get easily enough addressed, by a method which could be predicted from the second chapter.) So it's not bad; it's still better than many. But it didn't really hook me.
#32: War for the Oaks by Emma Bull. 3.5. I devoured Mercedes Lackey's SERRAted Edge series when I was younger. This--with the so very 80s, modern-day fairies/unsuspecting human bards--feels so very much like those books that it's almost comical, which is hardly fair given that this book was written first. The plot still holds up well, even if it feels a little dated after almost 30 years of additional urban fantasy. The details...are a lot more dated. The clothes. Oh my goodness, so much description of clothes that are so very ridiculous. But the musical references are even worse. A major concert given to the fairy court and proving the protagonist's abilities completely unironically features "The Safety Dance." That's right. Everybody look at your hands. The climactic musical duel leads off with Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" which I just cannot take seriously as a dueling song. That's what my mom used to listen to while washing the dishes fifteen years ago. (She's on to newer stuff now, because she's cooler than that.) It's still a fun book. Just be prepared to end up snickering at some inappropriate places.
#33: Digital Domains ed. by Ellen Datlow. 3. This collection of short stories just...didn't stick. I can barely remember which stories were in it, a week or two later. It's not that they were bad. I think perhaps my tastes just don't align with the editor's.
#34: Deerskin by Robin McKinley. 4.5. This retelling of "Donkeyskin" (which is a deeply creepy fairy tale, even as measured by the standards of other non-Bowdlerized fairy tales) manages to give depth without losing the dreaminess that is the hallmark of a fairy tale. The multiple chapters of amnesia following trauma do get a little wearing, but it's not an unreasonable reaction under the circumstances. I loved how well the contrast between the two courts is set up, with her home court's pomp and pompousness offset by the gifts of quilts and jelly jars. You already know where you're going before you get there, which makes it all the more satisfying.
#35: Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris. 4. Sedaris is a master of turning minor life incidents into full blown stories (although I imagine it gets old at dinner parties). His work is relatively even--if you liked other books of his essays, these are more of the same, just about different minor topics. This time, he includes topics such as colonoscopies, buying taxidermy, and the perils of collecting litter of the side of the road in rural England.
#32: War for the Oaks by Emma Bull. 3.5. I devoured Mercedes Lackey's SERRAted Edge series when I was younger. This--with the so very 80s, modern-day fairies/unsuspecting human bards--feels so very much like those books that it's almost comical, which is hardly fair given that this book was written first. The plot still holds up well, even if it feels a little dated after almost 30 years of additional urban fantasy. The details...are a lot more dated. The clothes. Oh my goodness, so much description of clothes that are so very ridiculous. But the musical references are even worse. A major concert given to the fairy court and proving the protagonist's abilities completely unironically features "The Safety Dance." That's right. Everybody look at your hands. The climactic musical duel leads off with Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" which I just cannot take seriously as a dueling song. That's what my mom used to listen to while washing the dishes fifteen years ago. (She's on to newer stuff now, because she's cooler than that.) It's still a fun book. Just be prepared to end up snickering at some inappropriate places.
#33: Digital Domains ed. by Ellen Datlow. 3. This collection of short stories just...didn't stick. I can barely remember which stories were in it, a week or two later. It's not that they were bad. I think perhaps my tastes just don't align with the editor's.
#34: Deerskin by Robin McKinley. 4.5. This retelling of "Donkeyskin" (which is a deeply creepy fairy tale, even as measured by the standards of other non-Bowdlerized fairy tales) manages to give depth without losing the dreaminess that is the hallmark of a fairy tale. The multiple chapters of amnesia following trauma do get a little wearing, but it's not an unreasonable reaction under the circumstances. I loved how well the contrast between the two courts is set up, with her home court's pomp and pompousness offset by the gifts of quilts and jelly jars. You already know where you're going before you get there, which makes it all the more satisfying.
#35: Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris. 4. Sedaris is a master of turning minor life incidents into full blown stories (although I imagine it gets old at dinner parties). His work is relatively even--if you liked other books of his essays, these are more of the same, just about different minor topics. This time, he includes topics such as colonoscopies, buying taxidermy, and the perils of collecting litter of the side of the road in rural England.