(no subject)
Quick catch up on my December reading which I should have posted on the first (oops). Two rereads but it's December and one was Yuletide related! Also I haven't included all the bits and pieces I tend to reread for Christmas this time because I don't hink I actually read all of any of them. Except Lanterns Across the Snow <3
Shocks for the Chalet School- Elinor Brent Dyer I always love rereading the Chalet School books, mostly as I finally get the full text in GGB versions. Shocks is a little... well hidden wells and tunnels and smugglers *g* It's not one of my favourites but I do like meeting Emerence for the first time :D
The Mote in God's Eye- Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle This was interesting...Dad lent it to me because we were discussing world building and the alien civilisation they meet in this book is absolutely fascinating and, well, alien. It's very satisfying to have aliens whose language we actually can't understand and whose history and legends and culture unfold before you piecemeal. But. This book isn't the easiest of reads for a modern reader. It has a very prominent and strong female character but early on there's a whole paragraph where the hero bemoans the fact that zero g means she can't wear skirts and he can't look at her legs... he also had a tendency to use "rape them" as a swear word which was lovely :-/ For me the story was worth getting through the horrendous misogyny (and it was mostly very much of the type where you can see the author is trying to be equal but failing spectacularly not setting out to be awful) but I can quite see that a lot of people would give up on it.
Venetia- Georgette Heyer Had to reread this for Yuletide but I always Venetia <3.
The Gospel According to Loki- Joanne Harris Nine Worlds booty which seems awfully appropriate!I do love Joanne Harris' style and she's had a lot of fun weaving varying stories about Loki & Asgard together to created this wonderful version. Her Loki is very human and even knowing what's coming you really want him (or the other gods) to actually take a deep breath and work together but then where would the story be *g*
Just In Case- Meg Rosoff Not quite sure how I felt about this book, it's very strange. It's about death and depression and anxiety and being a teenager and it's really interesting but I did find myself a couple of times wondering why there were quite so many strange touches (I loved the baby brother, I loved Fate, I definitely felt the book would have been improved with only one of the two being present). Not quite up to some of her other stuff but still significantly better than a lot of other writers.
The World's Wife- Carol Ann Duffy I do love Carol Ann Duffy's poetry and this is a really interesting collection. The poems are all written from the point of view of the wives of famous historical/mythical men or women famous in their own right. Some were definitely better than others but I liked the book as a whole.
The Bees- Laline Paull I loved this. It won various awards and lots of people told me to read it and they were right because it's basically SFF set in modern day... well I assumed England but I'm not sure the country matters. It's life inside a hive told from the point of view of one of the lowliest workers and it's great fun and maybe the main character is a tiny bit Mary Sue-ish (can a Bee be a Mary Sue?) but she manages to be somewhat alien and yet still likable and when she suffered my heart ached for her.
- Shocks for the Chalet School- Elinor Brent Dyer
- The Mote in God's Eye- Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
- Venetia- Georgette Heyer
- The Gospel According to Loki- Joanne Harris
- Just In Case- Meg Rosoff
- The World's Wife- Carol Ann Duffy
- The Bees- Laline Paull
Shocks for the Chalet School- Elinor Brent Dyer I always love rereading the Chalet School books, mostly as I finally get the full text in GGB versions. Shocks is a little... well hidden wells and tunnels and smugglers *g* It's not one of my favourites but I do like meeting Emerence for the first time :D
The Mote in God's Eye- Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle This was interesting...Dad lent it to me because we were discussing world building and the alien civilisation they meet in this book is absolutely fascinating and, well, alien. It's very satisfying to have aliens whose language we actually can't understand and whose history and legends and culture unfold before you piecemeal. But. This book isn't the easiest of reads for a modern reader. It has a very prominent and strong female character but early on there's a whole paragraph where the hero bemoans the fact that zero g means she can't wear skirts and he can't look at her legs... he also had a tendency to use "rape them" as a swear word which was lovely :-/ For me the story was worth getting through the horrendous misogyny (and it was mostly very much of the type where you can see the author is trying to be equal but failing spectacularly not setting out to be awful) but I can quite see that a lot of people would give up on it.
Venetia- Georgette Heyer Had to reread this for Yuletide but I always Venetia <3.
The Gospel According to Loki- Joanne Harris Nine Worlds booty which seems awfully appropriate!I do love Joanne Harris' style and she's had a lot of fun weaving varying stories about Loki & Asgard together to created this wonderful version. Her Loki is very human and even knowing what's coming you really want him (or the other gods) to actually take a deep breath and work together but then where would the story be *g*
Just In Case- Meg Rosoff Not quite sure how I felt about this book, it's very strange. It's about death and depression and anxiety and being a teenager and it's really interesting but I did find myself a couple of times wondering why there were quite so many strange touches (I loved the baby brother, I loved Fate, I definitely felt the book would have been improved with only one of the two being present). Not quite up to some of her other stuff but still significantly better than a lot of other writers.
The World's Wife- Carol Ann Duffy I do love Carol Ann Duffy's poetry and this is a really interesting collection. The poems are all written from the point of view of the wives of famous historical/mythical men or women famous in their own right. Some were definitely better than others but I liked the book as a whole.
The Bees- Laline Paull I loved this. It won various awards and lots of people told me to read it and they were right because it's basically SFF set in modern day... well I assumed England but I'm not sure the country matters. It's life inside a hive told from the point of view of one of the lowliest workers and it's great fun and maybe the main character is a tiny bit Mary Sue-ish (can a Bee be a Mary Sue?) but she manages to be somewhat alien and yet still likable and when she suffered my heart ached for her.