reading & watching
I am so scattered of late. I had intended to use this holiday weekend to catch up on some lj posting, but instead I slept, dejunked the house a bit, wrote thank you notes, and made waffles. I started to try out mint.com, but one of my credit unions isn't accessible, so I don't know that it would be any use to me.
I had a very good book group discussion on The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia. It was listed as one of the top SF/Fantasy books of the decade and it was quite enjoyable. It's a steampunk fantasy about an emancipated automaton caught up in a people's revolution. I've never read anything quite like it and it provided the book group with much discussion fodder.
Speaking of something different, I'm currently reading Soulless by Gail Carriger. Soulless has an explanation for vampires and werewolves that I have not seen before: only humans with an excess of soul can survive metamorphosis to become supernatural beings. The protagonist is a woman born without a soul, who can nullify the supernatural abilities when she comes into physical contact with such beings. I love it-particularly the language-to little pieces. ("To indiscriminately whack about with one's parasol among such luminaries was social suicide.") It combines the overly mannered language of the Victorian era with paranormal investigation (or the investigation of supernatural shenanigans by a preternatural, in this instance). My one annoyance so far (I'm on page 86) is the handling of the romance, which is presented with all the subtlety of a freight train under full steam heading down a mountain. ("He could not stand Alexia Tarabotti, even if her lovely brown eyes twinkled with whe laughed, and she smelled good, and she had a particularly splendid figure.")
In other entertainment news,
Congratulations to oracne, whose The Moonlight Mistress has been nominated for a Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award under Best Erotic Romance-Historical.
I had a very good book group discussion on The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia. It was listed as one of the top SF/Fantasy books of the decade and it was quite enjoyable. It's a steampunk fantasy about an emancipated automaton caught up in a people's revolution. I've never read anything quite like it and it provided the book group with much discussion fodder.
Speaking of something different, I'm currently reading Soulless by Gail Carriger. Soulless has an explanation for vampires and werewolves that I have not seen before: only humans with an excess of soul can survive metamorphosis to become supernatural beings. The protagonist is a woman born without a soul, who can nullify the supernatural abilities when she comes into physical contact with such beings. I love it-particularly the language-to little pieces. ("To indiscriminately whack about with one's parasol among such luminaries was social suicide.") It combines the overly mannered language of the Victorian era with paranormal investigation (or the investigation of supernatural shenanigans by a preternatural, in this instance). My one annoyance so far (I'm on page 86) is the handling of the romance, which is presented with all the subtlety of a freight train under full steam heading down a mountain. ("He could not stand Alexia Tarabotti, even if her lovely brown eyes twinkled with whe laughed, and she smelled good, and she had a particularly splendid figure.")
In other entertainment news,
- Sherlock Holmes was fun, but I stumbled over too many plotholes to love it thoroughly.
- Misfits is an entertaining, frequently dark, and sneakily thought-provoking British series about juvenile delinquents who gain superpowers.
- Doctor Who: End of Time: I enjoyed the first half but had issues with the second half, mostly consisting of problems with the Doctor becoming as unreliable a narrator as Obi-wan Kenobi (Did I say Vader killed your father the Time Lords are all dead? I meant Vader is your father the Time Lords are stuck outside time.); Ten turning into Batman and crashing through skylights and not having to regenerate to survive the fall, when Four had to regenerate when he fell from a lesser height that didn't include glass; and the 30-minute I'm-dying-regenerating wallow that was stupid because regeneration is not death!!!! No, seriously, the Doctor retains his memories and has the same feelings for people/things from regeneration to regeneration-witness his feelings for Sarah Jane. I am sure it is not a fun experience, but neither is it the end of the personality; the Doctor is always an eccentric who never changes his clothes and has a propensity for dashing madly about. The type of eccentricity may change, but he is still the Doctor, dammit (not to be confused with the goddamn Batman).
- Leverage: The Runway Job was a decent episode, but not one of their best. However, the costume designer should get an award for Nate's outfit. Every time I thought I'd seen it all I discovered yet another bit of over-the-topness-the broach on the tie, the gloves, the pants tucked into knee-high boots-it was a stunning piece of work.
Congratulations to oracne, whose The Moonlight Mistress has been nominated for a Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award under Best Erotic Romance-Historical.