Books 3-16
Catching up on reporting on my reading so far this year. I'm well apace to read my 50 books this year, may very well end up closer to 70, depending on what I end up reading. (I'm currently reading Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, which has slowed me down a bit, because it's a long, dense book.)
3. Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland. I've read a number of Susan Vreeland's books and I've enjoyed them all. She does her research, and she makes her characters people, not historical figures. Plus, she writes a good story. I very much enjoyed this book. It's the story of the main designer of Tiffany stained glass lamps, Clara Driscoll, and her at times difficult relationship with Tiffany and the company as head of the Women's Division. She was designing lamps as art, and she had to balance between her art and the mundane needs of running a company, and keeping costs down. She was also not publicly acknowledged as the artist behind many of the iconic designs, and had to deal with difficult relationships with the men of the company who were allowed to unionize (but the women were not). It's also a love story as Clara, widowed at a young age, finds love again, at a time when being married would not have allowed her to keep working for Tiffany.
4. Homer and Langley by E. L. Doctorow. This books is based on a real life pair of reclusive brothers who lived in NY, but is fictionalized. I was unaware of the real brothers, so I wasn't bothered by the inaccuracies. Homer and Langley are the wealthy brothers of a patrician NY family. Homer is a brilliant blind musician who is slowly losing his hearing, Langley is his older brother who seems to have been psychologically damaged in WWI. They live in their family estate, each in their own world. Langley is a hoarder, and much of the story tells of Homer trying to navigate his ever-changing world in his house, becoming more dependent upon Langley, who is less and less able to take care of himself much less his brother. It's start out innocently when Langley gets every day's newspapers, but can't throw them away. Soon he ends up with a Model T in his dining room. This book was hard for me to read. My dad was a hoarder, and I hated being in that kind of environment (something I had to deal with after his death). So descriptions of their house changing over time from that of an elegant 5th Avenue estate to become virtually a desolate ruin, and seeing the inner world of Homer become more and more restricted.
5. and 6. Maisie Dobbs and Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear. The first two books in a series about a woman private detective in London in the 1930s. Maisie comes from humble beginnings, but thanks to the patronage of her former employer, Maisie is able to get an education and eventually open her own private detective firm in London. She seems to have an uncanny ability to tune into her intuition (in part because of her unusual education with an Indian yogi) and solve her cases. These were easy, enjoyable books worth finding and reading.
7. Mayan December by Brenda Cooper. I received this in my freebie bag at World Fantasy this year. The premise is Dr. Alice Cameron, an archeoastronomer, is in the Yucatan with her daughter December 2012, to witness the end of the Mayan calendar. She's a scientist, and doesn't expect anything more than some good star viewing. But she's surprised to discover her daughter has found a way to slip back in time and finds herself in the middle of an odd group of people who are trying to find a way to save a noble Mayan couple from destruction. This was a pretty good book, although for me it got a little tedious. I found Alice to be a bit overbearing, I couldn't understand why she was thought to be such an important scientist, yet she didn't have an academic position (that just seems too implausible to me), and there were a whole lot of characters that at times were hard to keep track of. Not a bad novel, but not great.
8. and 9. Ragamuffin and Sly Mongoose by Tobias Buckell. Continuation from Crystal Rain, which I read and loved years ago. This is old fashioned far-future, big space opera, with big consequences - in this case, the survival of humanity, when the Xenowealth is very much in favor of wiping us out of existence. And of course, our alien overlords have underestimated our tenacity. In some respects, I feel a little bit like humans are the cockroaches of the universe in this universe, but I really enjoyed these books. It's a fight to the death, and we're not going to give up.
10. White Sands, Red Menace, by Ellen Klages. The sequel to Green Glass Sea. 1946, and Suze and Dewey have moved to Alamogordo, NM because Suze's father is working at White Sands Missile Base. The girls try to fit into a new town, make new friends, and there is conflict when Dewey's mother shows up and wants to take Dewey with her to live the life of a wanderer. For a girl who loves science and order, this is almost too much for her to deal with. I loved Green Glass Sea, and I loved this book as well. Klages has such a way of writing evocatively, bringing a place to life, and telling a moving story that, even though written for younger readers, is moving and satisfying for adults as well.
11. The King's Gold by Arturo Perez-Reverte. The continuation of the Captain Alatrist series. This time, Alatrist and Inigo Balboa are hired for a very risky job seizing some contraband gold meant for the black market from a heavily guarded Spanish galleon returning from the West Indies. The commission comes directly from the King, Philip IV, and if Alatriste can pull it off, he may end up with more than gold - he may secure the favor of the king. More swashbuckling fun, I love this series.
12. Galileo's Daughter: A Memoir of Science, Faith and Love by Dava Sobell. A nonfiction book about the relationship between Galileo and his eldest Daughter Maria Celeste, a nun, seen through their correspondence. I didn't enjoy this book quite as much as I had hoped I would. The book seemed more about Galileo than his relationship with his daughter. A lot of time was devoted to Galileo's trial by the Holy Inquisition, the disputation of his books by the Church. Given the anti-science tenor of today's world, where we have Republicans who refuse to believe in global climate or evolution, because they don't trust scientists, it's disturbing to see the parallels between how Galileo was treated (and made to refute Copernicus) and how scientists are viewed by too many today.
13. and 14. Catching Fire and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. The second and third books of The Hunger Games. Katnis' world is turned upside down when she discovers President Snow wants her dead. Instead of living out her life in comfortable obscurity, she is forced back into the Arena for the Quarter Quell, along with Peeta and other winners from the districts. Meanwhile, she discovers she has unwittingly become the voice of the revolution. By the end of the 3rd book, it's a real blood bath (as any revolution is going to be), and I was left shattered. These books are clearly cautionary tales about government over-reach and abuse, and the horrors of war. I didn't find the 3rd book rushed the way some people did, I found it dragged a little too much for me. And I didn't like the ending very much. Maybe because after it's all said and done, you want Katnis to find some happiness, and maybe she does. But at the price of being pretty isolated from almost everyone who was important in her life.
15. Would-be Witch by Kimberly Frost. I wanted to like this book, but found I didn't as much as I had hoped. Tammy lives in a small Texas town and comes from a family of witches, but thinks the magic has overlooked her. Then she finds her family's one heirloom (a locket that is the home of the family ghost, her deceased great Aunt Edie) is stolen, and she needs to turn to Bryn Lyons for help retrieving it. Only, her family legacy says to stay away from Lyons. Meanwhile, Tammy, recently unemployed, finds she can't quite rid herself of her exhusband, and has to deal with her feelings for him as well as Bryn. To be honest, I found Tammy annoying and the book somewhat predictable. I don't necessarily mind the predictability, if I like the characters. But Tammy was irritating, apparently not very bright, and I really didn't like her ex-husband, who is a bit too proprietary toward Tammy. I liked Edie very much, but she wasn't around for much of the book. I also liked Tammy's cat, Mercutio.
16. Viridis by Calista Taylor. I got this as a free download from Amazon. I see these as kind of like the freebie books at WFC - if I like the freebie, hopefully I'll purchase additional books from that author. This book is hailed as a steampunk romance. To be honest, the steampunkery was superfluous and added nothing to the story. This could have just been a straightforward romance set in an alternate 19th c. London. There were a few minor formatting errors, and the author couldn't decide on the spelling of one of the character's names (it flipped between Lily and Lilly at random). But it was fairly well written otherwise, although by the end, I was pretty tired of the main characters, Phoebe and Seth. They both acted foolishly, esp Phoebe, and I wanted to smack her for her actions. I found the book was about as well written as many romances I've purchased before, so if you like romance, it's certainly worth checking out. I just don't know if I'll continue reading in the series of not.
3. Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland. I've read a number of Susan Vreeland's books and I've enjoyed them all. She does her research, and she makes her characters people, not historical figures. Plus, she writes a good story. I very much enjoyed this book. It's the story of the main designer of Tiffany stained glass lamps, Clara Driscoll, and her at times difficult relationship with Tiffany and the company as head of the Women's Division. She was designing lamps as art, and she had to balance between her art and the mundane needs of running a company, and keeping costs down. She was also not publicly acknowledged as the artist behind many of the iconic designs, and had to deal with difficult relationships with the men of the company who were allowed to unionize (but the women were not). It's also a love story as Clara, widowed at a young age, finds love again, at a time when being married would not have allowed her to keep working for Tiffany.
4. Homer and Langley by E. L. Doctorow. This books is based on a real life pair of reclusive brothers who lived in NY, but is fictionalized. I was unaware of the real brothers, so I wasn't bothered by the inaccuracies. Homer and Langley are the wealthy brothers of a patrician NY family. Homer is a brilliant blind musician who is slowly losing his hearing, Langley is his older brother who seems to have been psychologically damaged in WWI. They live in their family estate, each in their own world. Langley is a hoarder, and much of the story tells of Homer trying to navigate his ever-changing world in his house, becoming more dependent upon Langley, who is less and less able to take care of himself much less his brother. It's start out innocently when Langley gets every day's newspapers, but can't throw them away. Soon he ends up with a Model T in his dining room. This book was hard for me to read. My dad was a hoarder, and I hated being in that kind of environment (something I had to deal with after his death). So descriptions of their house changing over time from that of an elegant 5th Avenue estate to become virtually a desolate ruin, and seeing the inner world of Homer become more and more restricted.
5. and 6. Maisie Dobbs and Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear. The first two books in a series about a woman private detective in London in the 1930s. Maisie comes from humble beginnings, but thanks to the patronage of her former employer, Maisie is able to get an education and eventually open her own private detective firm in London. She seems to have an uncanny ability to tune into her intuition (in part because of her unusual education with an Indian yogi) and solve her cases. These were easy, enjoyable books worth finding and reading.
7. Mayan December by Brenda Cooper. I received this in my freebie bag at World Fantasy this year. The premise is Dr. Alice Cameron, an archeoastronomer, is in the Yucatan with her daughter December 2012, to witness the end of the Mayan calendar. She's a scientist, and doesn't expect anything more than some good star viewing. But she's surprised to discover her daughter has found a way to slip back in time and finds herself in the middle of an odd group of people who are trying to find a way to save a noble Mayan couple from destruction. This was a pretty good book, although for me it got a little tedious. I found Alice to be a bit overbearing, I couldn't understand why she was thought to be such an important scientist, yet she didn't have an academic position (that just seems too implausible to me), and there were a whole lot of characters that at times were hard to keep track of. Not a bad novel, but not great.
8. and 9. Ragamuffin and Sly Mongoose by Tobias Buckell. Continuation from Crystal Rain, which I read and loved years ago. This is old fashioned far-future, big space opera, with big consequences - in this case, the survival of humanity, when the Xenowealth is very much in favor of wiping us out of existence. And of course, our alien overlords have underestimated our tenacity. In some respects, I feel a little bit like humans are the cockroaches of the universe in this universe, but I really enjoyed these books. It's a fight to the death, and we're not going to give up.
10. White Sands, Red Menace, by Ellen Klages. The sequel to Green Glass Sea. 1946, and Suze and Dewey have moved to Alamogordo, NM because Suze's father is working at White Sands Missile Base. The girls try to fit into a new town, make new friends, and there is conflict when Dewey's mother shows up and wants to take Dewey with her to live the life of a wanderer. For a girl who loves science and order, this is almost too much for her to deal with. I loved Green Glass Sea, and I loved this book as well. Klages has such a way of writing evocatively, bringing a place to life, and telling a moving story that, even though written for younger readers, is moving and satisfying for adults as well.
11. The King's Gold by Arturo Perez-Reverte. The continuation of the Captain Alatrist series. This time, Alatrist and Inigo Balboa are hired for a very risky job seizing some contraband gold meant for the black market from a heavily guarded Spanish galleon returning from the West Indies. The commission comes directly from the King, Philip IV, and if Alatriste can pull it off, he may end up with more than gold - he may secure the favor of the king. More swashbuckling fun, I love this series.
12. Galileo's Daughter: A Memoir of Science, Faith and Love by Dava Sobell. A nonfiction book about the relationship between Galileo and his eldest Daughter Maria Celeste, a nun, seen through their correspondence. I didn't enjoy this book quite as much as I had hoped I would. The book seemed more about Galileo than his relationship with his daughter. A lot of time was devoted to Galileo's trial by the Holy Inquisition, the disputation of his books by the Church. Given the anti-science tenor of today's world, where we have Republicans who refuse to believe in global climate or evolution, because they don't trust scientists, it's disturbing to see the parallels between how Galileo was treated (and made to refute Copernicus) and how scientists are viewed by too many today.
13. and 14. Catching Fire and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. The second and third books of The Hunger Games. Katnis' world is turned upside down when she discovers President Snow wants her dead. Instead of living out her life in comfortable obscurity, she is forced back into the Arena for the Quarter Quell, along with Peeta and other winners from the districts. Meanwhile, she discovers she has unwittingly become the voice of the revolution. By the end of the 3rd book, it's a real blood bath (as any revolution is going to be), and I was left shattered. These books are clearly cautionary tales about government over-reach and abuse, and the horrors of war. I didn't find the 3rd book rushed the way some people did, I found it dragged a little too much for me. And I didn't like the ending very much. Maybe because after it's all said and done, you want Katnis to find some happiness, and maybe she does. But at the price of being pretty isolated from almost everyone who was important in her life.
15. Would-be Witch by Kimberly Frost. I wanted to like this book, but found I didn't as much as I had hoped. Tammy lives in a small Texas town and comes from a family of witches, but thinks the magic has overlooked her. Then she finds her family's one heirloom (a locket that is the home of the family ghost, her deceased great Aunt Edie) is stolen, and she needs to turn to Bryn Lyons for help retrieving it. Only, her family legacy says to stay away from Lyons. Meanwhile, Tammy, recently unemployed, finds she can't quite rid herself of her exhusband, and has to deal with her feelings for him as well as Bryn. To be honest, I found Tammy annoying and the book somewhat predictable. I don't necessarily mind the predictability, if I like the characters. But Tammy was irritating, apparently not very bright, and I really didn't like her ex-husband, who is a bit too proprietary toward Tammy. I liked Edie very much, but she wasn't around for much of the book. I also liked Tammy's cat, Mercutio.
16. Viridis by Calista Taylor. I got this as a free download from Amazon. I see these as kind of like the freebie books at WFC - if I like the freebie, hopefully I'll purchase additional books from that author. This book is hailed as a steampunk romance. To be honest, the steampunkery was superfluous and added nothing to the story. This could have just been a straightforward romance set in an alternate 19th c. London. There were a few minor formatting errors, and the author couldn't decide on the spelling of one of the character's names (it flipped between Lily and Lilly at random). But it was fairly well written otherwise, although by the end, I was pretty tired of the main characters, Phoebe and Seth. They both acted foolishly, esp Phoebe, and I wanted to smack her for her actions. I found the book was about as well written as many romances I've purchased before, so if you like romance, it's certainly worth checking out. I just don't know if I'll continue reading in the series of not.