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Who gave permission for August to start?! I definitely do not approve /o\ This weekend is an ALL the theatre weekend and so I am inevitably slipping behind on reviews again BUT instead of catching up I've been listening to the new Aurora Orchestra album and making Courgette Cake and staring in horror at the various piles of things that need sorting in my room. Yay? Globe tonight <333
July reviews
Nimona- Noelle Stevenson Perhaps this should count as a reread given I read the webcomic as it was posted but there's something very different about reading it straight through in book form. I love it just as much as the first time too- sometimes you lose that awful tension of waiting a week but often you gain from reading straight through a plotline. If you like fantasy and/or comics definitely give this ago <3
How to Create the Perfect Wife- Wendy Moore You know the first time you ever really stop and think about Pygmalion or My Fair Lady and how awful it would be in real life? This book is about the man who sort of inspired Pygmalion and a LOT of similar novels. Or rather it's about Sabrina who is one of the two foundlings he decides to mould into his perfect wife and it's exactly as awful as you're imagining although possibly in different ways. This is fascinating reminder of how famous/rich people can sometimes get away with terrible things but also how individuals can be incredbly hypocritical internally without ever realising it. It's really well written and very interesting but also... "the Perfect Wife". Yeah.
The Finkler Question- Howard Jacobson Hmmmm I quite like the way that Howard Jacobson writes but it turns out a whole book of it might be too much for me. This is the sort of book that you say things like "it was very thoughtprovoking" about and "it ourlined some interesting problems" but I don't think I'd ever say I enjoyed it. I usually adore introspective books but for some reason I really didn't warm to this one and whilst individual scenes engaged me as a whole I found reading it to be quite an effort :-/ I might stick to his columns in future.
Hawkeye, Vol. 1: My Life as a Weapon- Matt Fraction I really enjoyed this but... I think I've well and truly established in my own mind that I'm not made to be a comic book reader, at least not a Marvel or DC or any of those big worlds because I resent not understanding what's going on in the background of each title and I don't have the time/money/energy to read EVERYTHING so I'm just vaguely dissatisfied even when I really enjoy everything about the title. This was kind of true of Ms Marvel but it's very much true of Hawkeye. I think I'll probably give volume 2 a try because I do like Clint & Kate & Lucky but... well it might not quite be for me.
Station Eleven- Emily St. John Mandel I can't remember who rec'd this book to me, I think maybe several people, it certainly came up after I saw Mr Burns and I'm SO glad someone told me about it because I loved it so much I finished it less than 48 hours (during the working week). It's post-apocalyptic (and a bit pre- ) and it's about survival and relationships and culture and how interconnected all our lives are and it has Shakespeare and it has Star Trek quotes and I love it very very much. I desperately want a copy of the Station Eleven comic that stars and I also kind of want to sit down and read it straight through again. "Survival is insufficient."
The Long Mars- Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter I'm never entirely sure what I feel about these, I guess because it's the weird fantasy & scifi mix? And there was surprisingly little Lobsang in this which was weird but I loved the concept of the Long Mars as it intercepts the Long Earth and I was intrigued by The Next and whether there was ever any chance that they could live happily alongside humanity in general. I don't love this series but I am really interested in it.
The Friendly Young Ladies- Mary Renault I really need to read 1) more of Mary Renault's contemporary fiction and 2) about Mary Renault's own life. I really enjoyed this book, Leo & Helen are fascinating and I want so much to know everything about their relationship and using Elsie as a way in is really good but also really frustrating because she's so oblivious. Also the ending is awful and stupid but, to be fair, Mary Renault wrote a special afterword saying pretty much that so *shrugs* I love that she set out to write this because she'd read The Well of Loneliness and it's so depressing and awful (though worth a read too I'd say) and I think as an antidote to that it works very well. But Helen and Leo *draws little hearts forever*
Shakespeare to Sheridan- Alwin Thaler This is subtitled "A book about the theatre of yesterday and today" but it was written in the 1920s so not quite today! It gives a great overview of all aspects of theatre from Shakespeare, through the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries though including ticket prices, advertising, management, costumes, props, how actors made a living, how sets changed and developed... I've been reading it slowly for a few months and it's been a fascinating journey (if somewhat geeky *g*)
The Secret History of Fantasy- Peter S. Beagle (ed) I'd already read a couple of these stories (the stories from Neil Gaiman, Gregory Maguire, Francesca Lia Block & Susanna Clark to be specific) but a lot of them I didn't know and a couple were even new authors to me. It's a fabulous snapshot of the fantasy genre from real magic and supernatural characters to strange dream worlds to alternate realities with only slight differences and every step in between including a truly spooky Stephen King story. I particularly enjoyed Yann Martel's story about mirrors, rediscovering Susanna Clarke's short stories (need a Grace Adieu reread) and Michael Swanwick's Edge of the World but I don't think there were any stories I disliked.
Spitfire Girl- Lily Baxter I think this was from dozydormouse? I haven't read any Lily Baxter before but I really enjoyed it. I think what I liked best was that there were a whole range of interesting women in it all of whom (well almost all) were actually sympathetic to the point where a married man was having an affair and I liked both his wife and mistress (he was a wet dishrag though). I also liked Susan's determination to live her life, and try for her dreams, on her own terms whatever that took.
- Nimona- Noelle Stevenson
- How to Create the Perfect Wife- Wendy Moore
- The Finkler Question- Howard Jacobson
- Hawkeye, Vol. 1: My Life as a Weapon- Matt Fraction
- Station Eleven- Emily St. John Mandel
- The Long Mars- Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter
- The Friendly Young Ladies- Mary Renault
- Shakespeare to Sheridan- Alwin Thaler
- The Secret History of Fantasy- Peter S. Beagle (ed)
- Spitfire Girl- Lily Baxter
July reviews
Nimona- Noelle Stevenson Perhaps this should count as a reread given I read the webcomic as it was posted but there's something very different about reading it straight through in book form. I love it just as much as the first time too- sometimes you lose that awful tension of waiting a week but often you gain from reading straight through a plotline. If you like fantasy and/or comics definitely give this ago <3
How to Create the Perfect Wife- Wendy Moore You know the first time you ever really stop and think about Pygmalion or My Fair Lady and how awful it would be in real life? This book is about the man who sort of inspired Pygmalion and a LOT of similar novels. Or rather it's about Sabrina who is one of the two foundlings he decides to mould into his perfect wife and it's exactly as awful as you're imagining although possibly in different ways. This is fascinating reminder of how famous/rich people can sometimes get away with terrible things but also how individuals can be incredbly hypocritical internally without ever realising it. It's really well written and very interesting but also... "the Perfect Wife". Yeah.
The Finkler Question- Howard Jacobson Hmmmm I quite like the way that Howard Jacobson writes but it turns out a whole book of it might be too much for me. This is the sort of book that you say things like "it was very thoughtprovoking" about and "it ourlined some interesting problems" but I don't think I'd ever say I enjoyed it. I usually adore introspective books but for some reason I really didn't warm to this one and whilst individual scenes engaged me as a whole I found reading it to be quite an effort :-/ I might stick to his columns in future.
Hawkeye, Vol. 1: My Life as a Weapon- Matt Fraction I really enjoyed this but... I think I've well and truly established in my own mind that I'm not made to be a comic book reader, at least not a Marvel or DC or any of those big worlds because I resent not understanding what's going on in the background of each title and I don't have the time/money/energy to read EVERYTHING so I'm just vaguely dissatisfied even when I really enjoy everything about the title. This was kind of true of Ms Marvel but it's very much true of Hawkeye. I think I'll probably give volume 2 a try because I do like Clint & Kate & Lucky but... well it might not quite be for me.
Station Eleven- Emily St. John Mandel I can't remember who rec'd this book to me, I think maybe several people, it certainly came up after I saw Mr Burns and I'm SO glad someone told me about it because I loved it so much I finished it less than 48 hours (during the working week). It's post-apocalyptic (and a bit pre- ) and it's about survival and relationships and culture and how interconnected all our lives are and it has Shakespeare and it has Star Trek quotes and I love it very very much. I desperately want a copy of the Station Eleven comic that stars and I also kind of want to sit down and read it straight through again. "Survival is insufficient."
The Long Mars- Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter I'm never entirely sure what I feel about these, I guess because it's the weird fantasy & scifi mix? And there was surprisingly little Lobsang in this which was weird but I loved the concept of the Long Mars as it intercepts the Long Earth and I was intrigued by The Next and whether there was ever any chance that they could live happily alongside humanity in general. I don't love this series but I am really interested in it.
The Friendly Young Ladies- Mary Renault I really need to read 1) more of Mary Renault's contemporary fiction and 2) about Mary Renault's own life. I really enjoyed this book, Leo & Helen are fascinating and I want so much to know everything about their relationship and using Elsie as a way in is really good but also really frustrating because she's so oblivious. Also the ending is awful and stupid but, to be fair, Mary Renault wrote a special afterword saying pretty much that so *shrugs* I love that she set out to write this because she'd read The Well of Loneliness and it's so depressing and awful (though worth a read too I'd say) and I think as an antidote to that it works very well. But Helen and Leo *draws little hearts forever*
Shakespeare to Sheridan- Alwin Thaler This is subtitled "A book about the theatre of yesterday and today" but it was written in the 1920s so not quite today! It gives a great overview of all aspects of theatre from Shakespeare, through the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries though including ticket prices, advertising, management, costumes, props, how actors made a living, how sets changed and developed... I've been reading it slowly for a few months and it's been a fascinating journey (if somewhat geeky *g*)
The Secret History of Fantasy- Peter S. Beagle (ed) I'd already read a couple of these stories (the stories from Neil Gaiman, Gregory Maguire, Francesca Lia Block & Susanna Clark to be specific) but a lot of them I didn't know and a couple were even new authors to me. It's a fabulous snapshot of the fantasy genre from real magic and supernatural characters to strange dream worlds to alternate realities with only slight differences and every step in between including a truly spooky Stephen King story. I particularly enjoyed Yann Martel's story about mirrors, rediscovering Susanna Clarke's short stories (need a Grace Adieu reread) and Michael Swanwick's Edge of the World but I don't think there were any stories I disliked.
Spitfire Girl- Lily Baxter I think this was from dozydormouse? I haven't read any Lily Baxter before but I really enjoyed it. I think what I liked best was that there were a whole range of interesting women in it all of whom (well almost all) were actually sympathetic to the point where a married man was having an affair and I liked both his wife and mistress (he was a wet dishrag though). I also liked Susan's determination to live her life, and try for her dreams, on her own terms whatever that took.