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Happy New Year LiveJournal!
Seville was lovely and I am exhausted. I'll post about it (probably) eventually when I've got slightly fewer than 450 photographs *coughs* Here's one from New Year's Eve though- the blurry thing is a tin of seedless, skinned grapes which we had to eat- one for each bong of 12. Apparently I'm getting a year of good luck but N is only getting 11 months as she dropped one!
I have MANY half written year in review type posts (well books, theatre, general and a fandom one I'm not entirely sure about) which I'll try to post over the weekend but before that I need to finish 2013's theatre reviews /o\ and also I need to post my books read in December so here goes:
December Reviews
Summer Term at the Chalet School- Elinor Brent Dyer A Chalet School book I'd never read before! There aren't a lot of those left and I've been longing to read this for years partly because Challenge was one of my first Chalets (and so I'd read the lingering effects of Summer Term plots) and partly because Erica & Marie-Claire's entrance to the Maynard family is so spectacular I had to read it myself. I like Erica though she does seem to be VERY clumsy. Mostly I was enormously amused by EBD's opinions on Beatniks and then also intrigued by how little long-term damage to train crash actually seems to do! I loved Lisa's story at the end too- I can see Erica & Margot having one of those weird sibling relationships where they're so similar they both understand each other entirely and can't deal with each other at all.
Mister October, Volume II - An Anthology in Memory of Rick Hautala* I read the first volume of this in October and I enjoyed the second one just as much- a few duds among the stories and a few that were far too gross for my liking but some amazing stories in between including one where a guy accidentally ends up the immortal lightkeeper for the entrance to the underworld and another one with an interesting take on just who is haunting who oh and an incredibly creepy story about a mining accident which I keep remembering and shivering all over again.
Dracula- Bram Stoker* This is one of those books that you feel like you know because of ALL the other versions but now I'm (sort of) watching the new TV show I thought I should try the original novel and I discovered I actually knew very little of it's plot. Also Mina Harker is my queen but thankfully all the other characters agree so that's fine- if only they didn't forget that she's the best of them every five minutes and decide not telling her anything is best IT'S NEVER FOR THE BEST. It's very old-fashioned to read sometimes but I love the diary/letter format and I'm glad I finally read it!
The Ask and the Answer- Patrick Ness Oh god these books are going to kill me. I mean at least this time I know there's another book not like the shock at the end of The Knife of Never Letting Go but still. It's awful because whichever character's POV we're in you understand their decisions and want so badly for things to be alright but as soon as you switch you see how badly wrong something was and several times I wanted to shout at both Viola and Todd not to be so stupid but then it's not like I had any better suggestions. Patrick Ness does a good job of showing how easy it is to fall into very dangerous situations and how difficult it is to balance the survival of a group against the immoral acts that are supposedly helping them. Everything about the Spackle made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and yet I still didn't see where that plot was going. I'm super sad about some of the characters that didn't survive the book too :-( but I'm also not at all sure how we can get a "happy" ending to the last book but I still hope!
Beastly Things- Donna Leon I do love the Brunetti series, they're really the only detective novels I regularly read, and this was up to standard. It's a little odd seeing him finally manage to actually use a computer but there are sufficient descriptions of walks through Venice & incredible meals to keep me happy. It was an interesting plot too even if the whodunnit was obvious very early on.
A Little Book of Christmas- John Kendrick Bangs This was a sweet little book I dl'd onto my kindle for free and read when somewhat inebriated and VERY tired so I actually really enjoyed it. It was written in 1912 and the stories are terribly moral but very Christmas-y and include "The House of Seven Santa" in which a group of men stuck at a Gentlemen's Club one Christmas adopt a child <3 Plus there are some lovely little poems too.
The Wind in the Willows- Kenneth Grahame My boss is currently reading this with her kids and keeps giving us updates so when I saw it in the free kindle books bit of Amazon I couldn't resist! It's been ages since I read it (rather than watching an adaptation) and it's amazing the parts I'd entirely forgotten like Pan appearing to Mole & Rat or like the other Rat who almost convinces ours to go south for the winter. I just wanted to curl up inside this book forever and also ship Mole/Rat
The Head-Girl of the Chalet School- Elinor Brent Dyer I do love the early days of the Chalet School and Grizel's terms as Head-Girl are good ones I'd entirely forgotten this book has the hotel fire in it as well as the madman- Grizel does a pretty great job considering all of that. Also I love the weddings.
Behemoth- Scott Westerfield It's been a while since I read Leviathan but I fell back into the world very quickly- I do LOVE AUs quite a lot and this steampunk (ish) WW1 is fascinating particularly because it isn't just the technology that's different- the Ottoman situation was changed too. Also I still love Alek & Deryn though I'm a little surprised Alek still hasn't figured her out though he isn't the sharpest tool in the shed bless him. I also rather liked Lilit and her interactions with Alek & Deryn. Now to get hold of Goliath :D
Lanterns Across the Snow- Susan Hill This is an annual reread and I still love it just as much as ever. It IS Christmas to me.
The Song of Achilles- Madeline Miller I LOVED this though I was hugely amused because as I was reading it a friend (nonfannish) announced that she'd quite enjoyed it but didn't know why they'd "made Achilles gay"... yeah. It's really interesting though and I love Patroclus' voice and the little details of their lives together. If you like Greek myths at all and haven't already read this then you should (and then go read Mary Renault!)
Seville was lovely and I am exhausted. I'll post about it (probably) eventually when I've got slightly fewer than 450 photographs *coughs* Here's one from New Year's Eve though- the blurry thing is a tin of seedless, skinned grapes which we had to eat- one for each bong of 12. Apparently I'm getting a year of good luck but N is only getting 11 months as she dropped one!
I have MANY half written year in review type posts (well books, theatre, general and a fandom one I'm not entirely sure about) which I'll try to post over the weekend but before that I need to finish 2013's theatre reviews /o\ and also I need to post my books read in December so here goes:
- Summer Term at the Chalet School- Elinor Brent Dyer
- Mister October, Volume II - An Anthology in Memory of Rick Hautala*
- Dracula- Bram Stoker*
- The Ask and the Answer- Patrick Ness
- Beastly Things- Donna Leon
- A Little Book of Christmas- John Kendrick Bangs*
- The Wind in the Willows- Kenneth Grahame*
- The Head-Girl of the Chalet School- Elinor Brent Dyer
- Behemoth- Scott Westerfield
- Lanterns Across the Snow- Susan Hill
- The Song of Achilles- Madeline Miller
December Reviews
Summer Term at the Chalet School- Elinor Brent Dyer A Chalet School book I'd never read before! There aren't a lot of those left and I've been longing to read this for years partly because Challenge was one of my first Chalets (and so I'd read the lingering effects of Summer Term plots) and partly because Erica & Marie-Claire's entrance to the Maynard family is so spectacular I had to read it myself. I like Erica though she does seem to be VERY clumsy. Mostly I was enormously amused by EBD's opinions on Beatniks and then also intrigued by how little long-term damage to train crash actually seems to do! I loved Lisa's story at the end too- I can see Erica & Margot having one of those weird sibling relationships where they're so similar they both understand each other entirely and can't deal with each other at all.
Mister October, Volume II - An Anthology in Memory of Rick Hautala* I read the first volume of this in October and I enjoyed the second one just as much- a few duds among the stories and a few that were far too gross for my liking but some amazing stories in between including one where a guy accidentally ends up the immortal lightkeeper for the entrance to the underworld and another one with an interesting take on just who is haunting who oh and an incredibly creepy story about a mining accident which I keep remembering and shivering all over again.
Dracula- Bram Stoker* This is one of those books that you feel like you know because of ALL the other versions but now I'm (sort of) watching the new TV show I thought I should try the original novel and I discovered I actually knew very little of it's plot. Also Mina Harker is my queen but thankfully all the other characters agree so that's fine- if only they didn't forget that she's the best of them every five minutes and decide not telling her anything is best IT'S NEVER FOR THE BEST. It's very old-fashioned to read sometimes but I love the diary/letter format and I'm glad I finally read it!
The Ask and the Answer- Patrick Ness Oh god these books are going to kill me. I mean at least this time I know there's another book not like the shock at the end of The Knife of Never Letting Go but still. It's awful because whichever character's POV we're in you understand their decisions and want so badly for things to be alright but as soon as you switch you see how badly wrong something was and several times I wanted to shout at both Viola and Todd not to be so stupid but then it's not like I had any better suggestions. Patrick Ness does a good job of showing how easy it is to fall into very dangerous situations and how difficult it is to balance the survival of a group against the immoral acts that are supposedly helping them. Everything about the Spackle made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and yet I still didn't see where that plot was going. I'm super sad about some of the characters that didn't survive the book too :-( but I'm also not at all sure how we can get a "happy" ending to the last book but I still hope!
Beastly Things- Donna Leon I do love the Brunetti series, they're really the only detective novels I regularly read, and this was up to standard. It's a little odd seeing him finally manage to actually use a computer but there are sufficient descriptions of walks through Venice & incredible meals to keep me happy. It was an interesting plot too even if the whodunnit was obvious very early on.
A Little Book of Christmas- John Kendrick Bangs This was a sweet little book I dl'd onto my kindle for free and read when somewhat inebriated and VERY tired so I actually really enjoyed it. It was written in 1912 and the stories are terribly moral but very Christmas-y and include "The House of Seven Santa" in which a group of men stuck at a Gentlemen's Club one Christmas adopt a child <3 Plus there are some lovely little poems too.
The Wind in the Willows- Kenneth Grahame My boss is currently reading this with her kids and keeps giving us updates so when I saw it in the free kindle books bit of Amazon I couldn't resist! It's been ages since I read it (rather than watching an adaptation) and it's amazing the parts I'd entirely forgotten like Pan appearing to Mole & Rat or like the other Rat who almost convinces ours to go south for the winter. I just wanted to curl up inside this book forever and also ship Mole/Rat
The Head-Girl of the Chalet School- Elinor Brent Dyer I do love the early days of the Chalet School and Grizel's terms as Head-Girl are good ones I'd entirely forgotten this book has the hotel fire in it as well as the madman- Grizel does a pretty great job considering all of that. Also I love the weddings.
Behemoth- Scott Westerfield It's been a while since I read Leviathan but I fell back into the world very quickly- I do LOVE AUs quite a lot and this steampunk (ish) WW1 is fascinating particularly because it isn't just the technology that's different- the Ottoman situation was changed too. Also I still love Alek & Deryn though I'm a little surprised Alek still hasn't figured her out though he isn't the sharpest tool in the shed bless him. I also rather liked Lilit and her interactions with Alek & Deryn. Now to get hold of Goliath :D
Lanterns Across the Snow- Susan Hill This is an annual reread and I still love it just as much as ever. It IS Christmas to me.
The Song of Achilles- Madeline Miller I LOVED this though I was hugely amused because as I was reading it a friend (nonfannish) announced that she'd quite enjoyed it but didn't know why they'd "made Achilles gay"... yeah. It's really interesting though and I love Patroclus' voice and the little details of their lives together. If you like Greek myths at all and haven't already read this then you should (and then go read Mary Renault!)