Close to Work
Book time!
The Serpent's Garden by Judith Merkle Riley
I had already read The Oracle Glass by her and loved it. She writes very good period/romance/supernatural stories (I completely admit to liking well written bodice rippers). This one is no exception to that rule, with a story set in the time of Henry VIII and very involved with court and politics and in this case, angels and demons. I liked it for the same reason I like Oracle, the well written characters, the interwoven plot, and of course the setting. However, this is only me second favorite so far because the whole angels/demons thing is not as interesting to me as the seeing the future in Oracle. And the main character was different (which is good because it shows that the writer can do more than one type of strong heroine) in a way that did not interest me as much either. That being said, if you like period pieces with a bit of supernatural (only a little really, the humans are the stars of the story) and romance and in this case, some neat art history, you would enjoy The Serpent's Garden.
Waiter Rant by The Waiter
This book comes from a blog kept by an anonymous New York waiter about his customers and coworkers. It is interesting to me in that I work in the industry, but overall, only an ok book. Of course there is the regular topic of nutsy customers, believe me there are more than enough horror stories in any waiter's brain to fill a book of just customer stories. The nice thing is that this anonymous guy also includes the really nice stories. He also includes a section on his coworkers and the different reasons one might be a waiter. That is the one that drove me nuts because throughout the rest of the book, he repeats himself on how he really ought to get out of the job (it is not a career folks). Yeah, yeah, I wanted to say, we know already so do it. Obviously he is now working as a writer. Heh.
The Ginseng Hunter by Jeff Talarigo
To look up the author's name I came across a review and it said something I think really fits, that the main character of this story is a "quiet hero". It is the tale of a Chinese man living in his rural family home along a river that makes some of the border between North Korea and China. OVer the course of the book, he comes to understand how hard and terrible life is across the river. It is not a big epiphany such as a western hero would have but a slow and simple process of understanding in a very eastern way. I liked the book very much but admit that if I had not been listening to it on audiobook during the flights to and from Stellarcon I might not have gotten through it. It is very quiet and soft and slow. However, I must say that I found the ending to be very very satisfying and fitting. Since I often have problems with the endings of stories, even ones I really like, this is a wonderful compliment on my part.
For those of you less interested in books and more interested in smut, check out the politics from Australia. She didn't want one?
The Serpent's Garden by Judith Merkle Riley
I had already read The Oracle Glass by her and loved it. She writes very good period/romance/supernatural stories (I completely admit to liking well written bodice rippers). This one is no exception to that rule, with a story set in the time of Henry VIII and very involved with court and politics and in this case, angels and demons. I liked it for the same reason I like Oracle, the well written characters, the interwoven plot, and of course the setting. However, this is only me second favorite so far because the whole angels/demons thing is not as interesting to me as the seeing the future in Oracle. And the main character was different (which is good because it shows that the writer can do more than one type of strong heroine) in a way that did not interest me as much either. That being said, if you like period pieces with a bit of supernatural (only a little really, the humans are the stars of the story) and romance and in this case, some neat art history, you would enjoy The Serpent's Garden.
Waiter Rant by The Waiter
This book comes from a blog kept by an anonymous New York waiter about his customers and coworkers. It is interesting to me in that I work in the industry, but overall, only an ok book. Of course there is the regular topic of nutsy customers, believe me there are more than enough horror stories in any waiter's brain to fill a book of just customer stories. The nice thing is that this anonymous guy also includes the really nice stories. He also includes a section on his coworkers and the different reasons one might be a waiter. That is the one that drove me nuts because throughout the rest of the book, he repeats himself on how he really ought to get out of the job (it is not a career folks). Yeah, yeah, I wanted to say, we know already so do it. Obviously he is now working as a writer. Heh.
The Ginseng Hunter by Jeff Talarigo
To look up the author's name I came across a review and it said something I think really fits, that the main character of this story is a "quiet hero". It is the tale of a Chinese man living in his rural family home along a river that makes some of the border between North Korea and China. OVer the course of the book, he comes to understand how hard and terrible life is across the river. It is not a big epiphany such as a western hero would have but a slow and simple process of understanding in a very eastern way. I liked the book very much but admit that if I had not been listening to it on audiobook during the flights to and from Stellarcon I might not have gotten through it. It is very quiet and soft and slow. However, I must say that I found the ending to be very very satisfying and fitting. Since I often have problems with the endings of stories, even ones I really like, this is a wonderful compliment on my part.
For those of you less interested in books and more interested in smut, check out the politics from Australia. She didn't want one?