you just can't do things your body wasn't meant to
Work internet is intermittent, so I've been doing actual work-related work in between trying to get pages to load. My life, so hard.
Since I was off Monday (and on furlough tomorrow), I guess I didn't actually absorb that yesterday was Wednesday, so you get the Wednesday reading meme on Thursday:
What I've just finished
The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson, which was all right, but not great. Too enamored of its own cleverness, I think, though it did have some genuinely funny moments (often involving Sonya the elephant).
The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey, which was a readable but forgettable YA alien invasion novel. I don't think the dual first person narrators were differentiated enough (I often spent a few moments going, is this Ben or Cassie? before someone would say something to clarify) and the plot twists are all telegraphed if you've ever consumed fiction about an alien invasion, and also Evan was fucking creepy and hanging a lampshade on it did not diminish that one bit. I understand why he split narrative duties, but I would have preferred to stay with Cassie the whole time.
The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan, which I enjoyed a lot. Egyptian mythology! Siblings! Obliquely connected to Percy Jackson, but not similar enough that I wished Percy would show up (though, you know, I do like that Percy kid a lot and wouldn't have minded him appearing - I am eagerly anticipating the next book). Carter and Sadie were charming, I liked how the magic worked, and how it was definitely a different system from the Greeks and the Romans, and that our protagonists were all characters of color (and how Carter thought about that). I mean, I find Riordan's books almost compulsively readable, because even though I can often figure out what's going to happen, it usually happens in the most entertaining fashion (the salsa!). I already have the next two books lined up, PLUS the short story where Carter (I think?) meets Percy.
What I'm reading now
The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith, aka, JK Rowling. Funnily enough, it became available the day it was revealed to be by JKR. I'm only 50 pages into it but it's fun so far, if you like detective novels, which I do.
What I'm reading next
I also have Just Listen by Sarah Dessen from the library, so that'll be next I guess, and then the next two Kane Chronicles books, and then I guess we'll see. I still have Cold Steel and The Ocean at the End of the Lane, plus a ton of other stuff.
And comics for the past two weeks - I've had trouble getting my downloads from Comixology, and I'm behind. I plan to catch up this weekend.
***
Last night, L. and I went to see The Heat, which I enjoyed tremendously. I haven't laughed so hard at a movie in a long time. It did so many things right! No romantic rivalry between the women. No condemning them for being really into their jobs and good at them (well, except from the guy textually acknowledged as a misogynistic asshole). Mullins was totally confident in her sexuality and that confidence was shown to be warranted. Ashburn wasn't pining for a boyfriend and a boyfriend was not shown to be the solution to her problems. There were no fat jokes. Okay, the Boston accent joke was pretty cheap and went on a little long, but I still laughed.
I mean, if this had been about two men, I can see why it wouldn't be all that great, because it isn't anything we haven't seen before from a buddy cop comedy, EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT IT STARRED TWO WOMEN AND WAS ABOUT IN PART HOW DIFFICULT IT CAN BE FOR WOMEN TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY IN TRADITIONALLY MALE FIELDS. And it wasn't about them being sexy sexy seductresses (that whole sequence was HILARIOUS), it was about them being good investigators with good instincts and determination to capture bad guys with a large arsenal of weapons.
And now I want fic about Mullins and Ashburn being hetero life mates who fight crime and occasionally get drunk and talk about feelings. Yuletide is probably the only place I'm going to get that. Sigh.
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/584651.html.
people have commented there.
Since I was off Monday (and on furlough tomorrow), I guess I didn't actually absorb that yesterday was Wednesday, so you get the Wednesday reading meme on Thursday:
What I've just finished
The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson, which was all right, but not great. Too enamored of its own cleverness, I think, though it did have some genuinely funny moments (often involving Sonya the elephant).
The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey, which was a readable but forgettable YA alien invasion novel. I don't think the dual first person narrators were differentiated enough (I often spent a few moments going, is this Ben or Cassie? before someone would say something to clarify) and the plot twists are all telegraphed if you've ever consumed fiction about an alien invasion, and also Evan was fucking creepy and hanging a lampshade on it did not diminish that one bit. I understand why he split narrative duties, but I would have preferred to stay with Cassie the whole time.
The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan, which I enjoyed a lot. Egyptian mythology! Siblings! Obliquely connected to Percy Jackson, but not similar enough that I wished Percy would show up (though, you know, I do like that Percy kid a lot and wouldn't have minded him appearing - I am eagerly anticipating the next book). Carter and Sadie were charming, I liked how the magic worked, and how it was definitely a different system from the Greeks and the Romans, and that our protagonists were all characters of color (and how Carter thought about that). I mean, I find Riordan's books almost compulsively readable, because even though I can often figure out what's going to happen, it usually happens in the most entertaining fashion (the salsa!). I already have the next two books lined up, PLUS the short story where Carter (I think?) meets Percy.
What I'm reading now
The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith, aka, JK Rowling. Funnily enough, it became available the day it was revealed to be by JKR. I'm only 50 pages into it but it's fun so far, if you like detective novels, which I do.
What I'm reading next
I also have Just Listen by Sarah Dessen from the library, so that'll be next I guess, and then the next two Kane Chronicles books, and then I guess we'll see. I still have Cold Steel and The Ocean at the End of the Lane, plus a ton of other stuff.
And comics for the past two weeks - I've had trouble getting my downloads from Comixology, and I'm behind. I plan to catch up this weekend.
***
Last night, L. and I went to see The Heat, which I enjoyed tremendously. I haven't laughed so hard at a movie in a long time. It did so many things right! No romantic rivalry between the women. No condemning them for being really into their jobs and good at them (well, except from the guy textually acknowledged as a misogynistic asshole). Mullins was totally confident in her sexuality and that confidence was shown to be warranted. Ashburn wasn't pining for a boyfriend and a boyfriend was not shown to be the solution to her problems. There were no fat jokes. Okay, the Boston accent joke was pretty cheap and went on a little long, but I still laughed.
I mean, if this had been about two men, I can see why it wouldn't be all that great, because it isn't anything we haven't seen before from a buddy cop comedy, EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT IT STARRED TWO WOMEN AND WAS ABOUT IN PART HOW DIFFICULT IT CAN BE FOR WOMEN TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY IN TRADITIONALLY MALE FIELDS. And it wasn't about them being sexy sexy seductresses (that whole sequence was HILARIOUS), it was about them being good investigators with good instincts and determination to capture bad guys with a large arsenal of weapons.
And now I want fic about Mullins and Ashburn being hetero life mates who fight crime and occasionally get drunk and talk about feelings. Yuletide is probably the only place I'm going to get that. Sigh.
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/584651.html.
people have commented there.