(no subject)
Apparently it's December now which I am not onboard with even a little bit but as the whole year has been like this I suppose I should get used to it. I'm still not feeling brilliant and my wobbling emotions have not been helped by a lovely cold which attacked me over last weekend :-( I am very aware that I owe various emails and texts and probably even letters and I'm hoping this weekend I'm feeling a little more able to respond. Sorry if you're one of the people I've flaked on. My brain has been very much at the level of twitter (and 140 characters at that) with occasional forays into fiction.
So November's books.
I am perilously close to hitting 100 books this year. Depends a lot on how December goes but November ticked off some books that I've wanted to read for a long time plus a couple of really great new books.
November reviews
The War of the Ring: The Histories of Middle Earth - Christopher Tolkien & JRR Tolkien I have been reading this book for so long. I was given the full set of 12 for my 21st birthday (each book with messages at the front & back from my uni friends- best present ever <3) and I've found this middle section working through Lord of the Rings quite difficult because Tolkien DID finish these so I can usually see why he ended up where he did. It's still interesting to see how he got there, the changing geography and history and the details he had to change to make the timelines to match up! Plus I will never quite get over how long Strider was called Trotter...
Hagseed - Margaret Atwood This is one of the Hogarth Shakespeare retellings. In fact it's the first one I knew about because Harriet Walter was reading a copy at the end of the Donmar Tempest which I thought was very clever just knowing it was a Tempest retelling but it's actually even more appropriate because it's about staging The Tempest in a prison which is of course exactly what the Donmar version was. I do love Margaret Atwood but I have to say I'd never have guessed this was by her. I really enjoyed it, it's a play within a book about a play and there's just a touch of magic realism in there, but it didn't feel Atwood to me. Very glad I finally got round to it though.
The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas This books is every bit as good as the reviews (& it's time topping the bestseller lists) suggest. It feels a bit like a kick in the stomach at the same time but the story moves fast and the characters are so interesting that I couldn't put it down even though I did feel sick for a large part of it. I realise that might not sound like a good selling point but I do genuinely think this is a book you both SHOULD read and yet one which you won't be able to put down once you've started. One of the best books I've read this year.
Silvertongue - Charlie Fletcher The final book in the Stoneheart series and more statues for me to look out for when I'm in London. Somewhere during this book I realised how little time has passed since page one of book one, it's one of the "shortest" trilogies I've ever read in that way. And the final book had some lovely details with humanoid statues that you couldn't quite tell if they were spits or taints (good or bad) (or a bit of both). I feel like there's a whole world of more stories that I want to read after this but at the same time it had a satisfying conclusion that paid off a lot of little details.
Agnes Grey - Anne Bronte Having read the other Bronte sisters (and some of their fantasy writing from childhood) I thought I really ought to finally try Anne. It's a sweet little book and an easy read. I know I should try The Tenant of Wildfell Hall really but if I'm honest Agnes Grey perfectly matched my mood this November.
House of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski You know I wasn't sure I'd ever finish this book. I remember a lot of friends reading it... well probably 10 years ago :-/ and I was really interested because it's a book with at least 3 nested narratives and a lot of twisty turny text and foot notes and appendices and it's been sitting on my bedside table for so long but over the last month I've FINALLY read it. And I did really enjoy it. It's the most physical experience I've ever had reading- turning the book over and round and flipping back and forth- and it does do really interesting things to the pace you read and how you take in information. That said I did find the Johnny Truant sections a little tedious after a while (though I loved his mother's letters). The central Navidson Record was fantastic and eerie though. REALLY glad I got around to this in the end :D
Cat Jeoffrey - Christopher Smart This is a re-read but a new book. I read Cat Jeoffrey as part of Smart's Jubilate Agno a few years ago but this summer I picked up an illustrated copy of just this section.
I wish I'd bought several copies because the woodblock prints are gorgeous and it really is such a wonderful evocation of Jeoffrey, Smart's companion during his time in a mental institution, who can spraggle upon waggle at the word of command. I read it this time one evening when I couldn't sleep and I'll be keeping it close at hand.
This entry was originally posted at https://morganmuffle.dreamwidth.org/1405629.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
So November's books.
- The War of the Ring: The Histories of Middle Earth - Christopher Tolkien & JRR Tolkien
- Hagseed - Margaret Atwood
- The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas
- Silvertongue - Charlie Fletcher
- Agnes Grey - Anne Bronte
- House of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski
- Cat Jeoffrey - Christopher Smart
I am perilously close to hitting 100 books this year. Depends a lot on how December goes but November ticked off some books that I've wanted to read for a long time plus a couple of really great new books.
November reviews
The War of the Ring: The Histories of Middle Earth - Christopher Tolkien & JRR Tolkien I have been reading this book for so long. I was given the full set of 12 for my 21st birthday (each book with messages at the front & back from my uni friends- best present ever <3) and I've found this middle section working through Lord of the Rings quite difficult because Tolkien DID finish these so I can usually see why he ended up where he did. It's still interesting to see how he got there, the changing geography and history and the details he had to change to make the timelines to match up! Plus I will never quite get over how long Strider was called Trotter...
Hagseed - Margaret Atwood This is one of the Hogarth Shakespeare retellings. In fact it's the first one I knew about because Harriet Walter was reading a copy at the end of the Donmar Tempest which I thought was very clever just knowing it was a Tempest retelling but it's actually even more appropriate because it's about staging The Tempest in a prison which is of course exactly what the Donmar version was. I do love Margaret Atwood but I have to say I'd never have guessed this was by her. I really enjoyed it, it's a play within a book about a play and there's just a touch of magic realism in there, but it didn't feel Atwood to me. Very glad I finally got round to it though.
The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas This books is every bit as good as the reviews (& it's time topping the bestseller lists) suggest. It feels a bit like a kick in the stomach at the same time but the story moves fast and the characters are so interesting that I couldn't put it down even though I did feel sick for a large part of it. I realise that might not sound like a good selling point but I do genuinely think this is a book you both SHOULD read and yet one which you won't be able to put down once you've started. One of the best books I've read this year.
Silvertongue - Charlie Fletcher The final book in the Stoneheart series and more statues for me to look out for when I'm in London. Somewhere during this book I realised how little time has passed since page one of book one, it's one of the "shortest" trilogies I've ever read in that way. And the final book had some lovely details with humanoid statues that you couldn't quite tell if they were spits or taints (good or bad) (or a bit of both). I feel like there's a whole world of more stories that I want to read after this but at the same time it had a satisfying conclusion that paid off a lot of little details.
Agnes Grey - Anne Bronte Having read the other Bronte sisters (and some of their fantasy writing from childhood) I thought I really ought to finally try Anne. It's a sweet little book and an easy read. I know I should try The Tenant of Wildfell Hall really but if I'm honest Agnes Grey perfectly matched my mood this November.
House of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski You know I wasn't sure I'd ever finish this book. I remember a lot of friends reading it... well probably 10 years ago :-/ and I was really interested because it's a book with at least 3 nested narratives and a lot of twisty turny text and foot notes and appendices and it's been sitting on my bedside table for so long but over the last month I've FINALLY read it. And I did really enjoy it. It's the most physical experience I've ever had reading- turning the book over and round and flipping back and forth- and it does do really interesting things to the pace you read and how you take in information. That said I did find the Johnny Truant sections a little tedious after a while (though I loved his mother's letters). The central Navidson Record was fantastic and eerie though. REALLY glad I got around to this in the end :D
Cat Jeoffrey - Christopher Smart This is a re-read but a new book. I read Cat Jeoffrey as part of Smart's Jubilate Agno a few years ago but this summer I picked up an illustrated copy of just this section.
I wish I'd bought several copies because the woodblock prints are gorgeous and it really is such a wonderful evocation of Jeoffrey, Smart's companion during his time in a mental institution, who can spraggle upon waggle at the word of command. I read it this time one evening when I couldn't sleep and I'll be keeping it close at hand.
This entry was originally posted at https://morganmuffle.dreamwidth.org/1405629.html. Please comment there using OpenID.