May readings
I've gotten behind in posting my readings. Here's May
Crisis Economics by Nouriel Roubini. Nonfiction, economics. 368 pages. Library. Read for Futurist book club. Written by one of the few economists to predict the economic crisis, this book claims that crises are fairly common and was the result of defects in our financial system. It was not a unique event an can happen again as some of the fixes actually made things worse.
Selected stories by Capclave authors (count as magazine)
Cold Magic by Kate Elliott. Fantasy. 544 pages. Book one in the Spiritwalker series. I liked her Jaren series a lot. This was not as good but still readable. Cold Magic is set in an alternate Victorian era, with some steampunk traits. The heroine, Catherine, is surprised to find out that the aunt and uncle who raised her had a deal with the Cold Mages that forces her to marry one of them. Part of the problem is that the Cold Mage is a fairly unlikeable character at first (we later find out he’s trying to play a part as he wasn’t born into the Cold Mages). But I liked the direction the book was going before he appears and wrenches it off into a different direction.
Circle of Magic (four book series) by Tamora Pierce. Fantasy. These are short books on the border between children’s and YA about four young mages each of whom has a different power. Sandra, a noble, has thread magic; Tris, a merchant, has weather power; Daja, a trader, has smithing powers; Briar, a thief, has plant powers. These are light but fun. I’m always looking for books to give to my nieces, so I’ll add these to the pile.
Grave Surprise by Charlaine Harris. Mystery. Library. Another in the series of mysteries about a woman who can sense bodies.
The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester. SF Classic. 256 pages. Re-read. A classic about a murderer in a society of telepaths. This still reads remarkably fresh even though it was written in the 1950s (a couple people in my book group said they felt women’s roles were very limited in the book and had to be reminded about when it was written.)
Unshapely Things by Mark Del Franco 320 pages- Urban fantasy. I think this might have been read in a previous month
After the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn. Science Fiction. Nook. 304 pages. This is essentially a comic book in novel form. It is narrated by the daughter of two super-powered heroes who feels she has disappointed them because she doesn’t have powers and is an accountant. So, she doesn’t have a good relationship with her parents, and, when going through teenage rebellion, actually joined their archenemy. But when bad guys keep kidnapping her to distract the heroes, she starts investigating what is going on and the mayor’s secret connections to the archenemy. It’s lots of fun for those who remember comic books.
Blackveil by Kristin Britain - Fourth book in the Green Rider series. Epic Fantasy. Hardback 663 pages. I don’t know why, but I love this series, but this book didn’t seem as good as the others. The main character, Karigan, is a Green Rider, part of a troop of King’s messengers/problem solvers each of whom has a brooch that activates a magical power. This book is about a expedition into the mysterious Blackveil forest to try to find the lost city of he Eletians (a mystical race, several of whose descendents are on the expedition). But there is traitor on the mission with secret orders to eliminate Karigan.
The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth by Alexandra Robbins. Nonfiction. 448 pages. Author investigates high school popularity and cliques by looking at several non-populars and one cheerleader type. Robbins focuses on what she calls quirk theory that the very same characteristics that make these people outsiders are those that make them succeed later in life, complete with quotes from many creative types about how they were outsiders in school. (Except that this is all anecdotal, one could probably find many cheerleader/football players who were just as successful). But looking at students while still in school as this volume does cannot prove in theory. Still, this is a fascinating look at outsiders in school culture and even the populars don’t have real friends they can trust. There are actually a couple of twists here. For the first couple of chapters, Robbins hides the fact that the character labeled the Weird Girl is actually a teacher, not a student, which lets her make comments about how the teachers are as cliquish as the students. Also, in the second half of the book, Robbins breaks her observer role and change one thing about their lives. Curiously, it is the popular girl who is most successful at breaking down the clique boundaries and becoming friendlier.
The World Wide Mind: The Coming Integration of Humanity, Machines, and the Internet by Michael Chorost. Nonfiction. 256 pages. Nook This is an interesting mix of science, speculation and memoir, written by a cyborg (sort of, he’s deaf and has implants he uses to hear).
Asimov’s Double issue. I read most of it.
Total for May - 4 Fantasy (including four YA that I’m counting as one), 3 nonfiction, 2 SF (including one classic reread), 1 mystery and 1.5 magazine so 11.5 books for May and 72 for the year
Crisis Economics by Nouriel Roubini. Nonfiction, economics. 368 pages. Library. Read for Futurist book club. Written by one of the few economists to predict the economic crisis, this book claims that crises are fairly common and was the result of defects in our financial system. It was not a unique event an can happen again as some of the fixes actually made things worse.
Selected stories by Capclave authors (count as magazine)
Cold Magic by Kate Elliott. Fantasy. 544 pages. Book one in the Spiritwalker series. I liked her Jaren series a lot. This was not as good but still readable. Cold Magic is set in an alternate Victorian era, with some steampunk traits. The heroine, Catherine, is surprised to find out that the aunt and uncle who raised her had a deal with the Cold Mages that forces her to marry one of them. Part of the problem is that the Cold Mage is a fairly unlikeable character at first (we later find out he’s trying to play a part as he wasn’t born into the Cold Mages). But I liked the direction the book was going before he appears and wrenches it off into a different direction.
Circle of Magic (four book series) by Tamora Pierce. Fantasy. These are short books on the border between children’s and YA about four young mages each of whom has a different power. Sandra, a noble, has thread magic; Tris, a merchant, has weather power; Daja, a trader, has smithing powers; Briar, a thief, has plant powers. These are light but fun. I’m always looking for books to give to my nieces, so I’ll add these to the pile.
Grave Surprise by Charlaine Harris. Mystery. Library. Another in the series of mysteries about a woman who can sense bodies.
The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester. SF Classic. 256 pages. Re-read. A classic about a murderer in a society of telepaths. This still reads remarkably fresh even though it was written in the 1950s (a couple people in my book group said they felt women’s roles were very limited in the book and had to be reminded about when it was written.)
Unshapely Things by Mark Del Franco 320 pages- Urban fantasy. I think this might have been read in a previous month
After the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn. Science Fiction. Nook. 304 pages. This is essentially a comic book in novel form. It is narrated by the daughter of two super-powered heroes who feels she has disappointed them because she doesn’t have powers and is an accountant. So, she doesn’t have a good relationship with her parents, and, when going through teenage rebellion, actually joined their archenemy. But when bad guys keep kidnapping her to distract the heroes, she starts investigating what is going on and the mayor’s secret connections to the archenemy. It’s lots of fun for those who remember comic books.
Blackveil by Kristin Britain - Fourth book in the Green Rider series. Epic Fantasy. Hardback 663 pages. I don’t know why, but I love this series, but this book didn’t seem as good as the others. The main character, Karigan, is a Green Rider, part of a troop of King’s messengers/problem solvers each of whom has a brooch that activates a magical power. This book is about a expedition into the mysterious Blackveil forest to try to find the lost city of he Eletians (a mystical race, several of whose descendents are on the expedition). But there is traitor on the mission with secret orders to eliminate Karigan.
The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth by Alexandra Robbins. Nonfiction. 448 pages. Author investigates high school popularity and cliques by looking at several non-populars and one cheerleader type. Robbins focuses on what she calls quirk theory that the very same characteristics that make these people outsiders are those that make them succeed later in life, complete with quotes from many creative types about how they were outsiders in school. (Except that this is all anecdotal, one could probably find many cheerleader/football players who were just as successful). But looking at students while still in school as this volume does cannot prove in theory. Still, this is a fascinating look at outsiders in school culture and even the populars don’t have real friends they can trust. There are actually a couple of twists here. For the first couple of chapters, Robbins hides the fact that the character labeled the Weird Girl is actually a teacher, not a student, which lets her make comments about how the teachers are as cliquish as the students. Also, in the second half of the book, Robbins breaks her observer role and change one thing about their lives. Curiously, it is the popular girl who is most successful at breaking down the clique boundaries and becoming friendlier.
The World Wide Mind: The Coming Integration of Humanity, Machines, and the Internet by Michael Chorost. Nonfiction. 256 pages. Nook This is an interesting mix of science, speculation and memoir, written by a cyborg (sort of, he’s deaf and has implants he uses to hear).
Asimov’s Double issue. I read most of it.
Total for May - 4 Fantasy (including four YA that I’m counting as one), 3 nonfiction, 2 SF (including one classic reread), 1 mystery and 1.5 magazine so 11.5 books for May and 72 for the year