Booklog 12: and how to count a year of words?
Holy crap, it is January 4th already and I haven't posted December books. Right. Here we go:
- Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link
I really like Kelly Link! I loved Magic for Beginners, which is also found here and is omg about FANDOM, and this is a really good short story collection. Most of her stuff is recognizable as hers just from the feel, which is something I appreciate, and I like her approach, too. It's fun and very definitely female (although she does have a few stories from a dude's point of view, the women in those stories are always just as important if not more so) and it's sort of... hmm. "Fresh" is a word that gets overused in this kind of discussion, but I mean it, here; she feels like someone who enjoyed writing her stories, someone for whom the writing and discovery of new worlds and characters was marvelous and interesting and wow! Did you know that magic and fantasy can be fun?! And she manages that without losing the sense of someone who knows what they're doing, with a story they want to tell.
The one that didn't work quite as well for me was the one about werewolves, but then it was supposed to feel weird, I think, because it ended up being more about the idea of telling a story about werewolves than actual werewolves. Which is fine, and I quite liked the discussion of how lycanthropy is a very definitely female-gendered trope, but I wanted the end of the actual story/ies!
- The Magicians of Caprona by Diana Wynne Jones
I really and seriously think DWJ is awesome, and this was fun. I love that her kid characters are kids without being stupid or teeny adults, and her adult characters are mostly lolarious. I also also love that it's a Chrestomanci book and he is sort of a superhero, except he's not and he doesn't really 'save the day' at all: people being kind and as unprejudiced as they knew how to be, did.
(Actually, the more I go on the more I think Chrestomanci is basically Gandalf, except younger and swishier and as a role rather than an individual human being. He's there to show that power in and of itself doesn't get you very far at all without wisdom, and kindness, and interacting with the world in a positive way. I kind of love that. ♥)
I also, as usual, read some Rex Stout. OMG.
- Trouble In Triplicate
Archie is genuinely freaked out by the mob! I kind of love that; his fear is so clearly not for their physical safety, but their life together in the brownstone. Archie wants to be safe and domestic with Wolfe and it is ADORABLE. Also, he has random prejudice against people called Eugene, and that is kind of hilarious.
I also really love Wolfe being all Master of the Dramatic here - his little "I am Nero Wolfe." ta-dah! moment is kind of awesome. It ties in with the Sherlock Holmes connection to me: Wolfe is based on Holmes in a lot of ways just as Archie is based on Watson, and the flair for the dramatic is straight from Doyle. It contrasts lolariously with the image of Wolfe being appalled by the joke manufacturer talking about a fake plant saying "Orchids to you!" hahah. The glimpse of their lives during World War II is cool too. Love it.
- Three Doors to Death
My favourite thing about this one was the introduction by Archie explaining that he doesn't want to give readers the erroneous impression that Wolfe does cases for free. The actual stories seem a little off somehow, not quite as sparkly, but Archie's intro seriously made me laugh for like five minutes. I also always like stuff where there are domestic details - Theodore is off for a while, so they have to get a replacement! That's just weirdly charming to me.
- The Red Box
I felt a little cheated by the fact that Wolfe had cheated, I kind of wanted him to have really got it from somewhere. However it kind of went with the main premise being that Wolfe is effectively conned into leaving the house on false pretenses and is really pissed off about it, which is inherently kind of awesome. (It made up for the weird incest sub-plot, which... okay! Thanks, Rex Stout!)
- The Rubber Band
I loved the beginning bit, where Wolfe likes Clara Fox and Archie is searingly jealous! I really liked Clara and I wanted her to stay around being kind of awesome and antagonistic, except - of course - then she died. Eh. The rest of it wasn't as awesome as that beginning, at least for me, but it was quite plotty and fun and I enjoyed it. Yay, Wolfe and Archie.
- The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, or the Murder at Road Hill House by Kate Summerscale
Yay, true crime! I found this interesting - Whicher himself is a totally fascinating character, and I found myself wishing for more on him rather than the murder. It... also kind of seemed like Summerscale would have rather written about him, too, because she went on for way longer than the murder took to resolve. I kind of felt like she should either have stopped just after the confession, or just written a book about Whicher and his life and role in the investigation.
It was totally an interesting read, though! I love all the random little dorky details - like that a policeman's uniform then included a thick leather collar so that they wouldn't get garotted! WTF! It's also really cool as a look at one of first modern-style media sensations, and as look at how society then saw horrific crime. As an actual murder mystery... not so much.>
- The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex
I got this off Amazon thanks to a rec by
thefourthvine. Anyone thinking a rave review of this was too much? DON'T. It's absolutely one of the best books I've read in years. This is a giddy, ridiculous, charming, pun-tastic, illustrated romp with aliens called J.Lo and comic-strip interludes - some of them penned by J.Lo! It's all cats and flying cars and an awesome young multi-racial heroine called Gratuity whose friends call her Tip... except it's also a discussion of colonialism and cultural divides and what it means to be From Somewhere. I love it.
Is it perfect? Nope. But it is WAY fun and such a refreshing take on a difficult topic, and I love Gratuity a lot, and. Well. Once you've read it - AND YOU BETTER - you should check out this handy informational video from the Boov. Hee.
Hmm... I guess I should try to analyse a bit or something. I don't have much to say, though. I read 108 books in 2009, and I'd like to do better this year. (So far: uh, no. Though it is only January 4th so maybe I should give myself a break.) A whole lot of those were either sci-fi or crime procedurals; I didn't manage as much non-fiction as I wanted, particularly, and I need to up my game on that this year.
I haven't decided whether or not to keep up with the bookposts (although I have decided I very much like having a record of what I read, so I'm sticking with the dorky notebook for sure): what do you lot think?
And because I am someone who managed to pour boiling water on her own hand today (verdict: ow) I will leave you with this absolutely stunningly gorgeous (and Mandlebrot-tastic) link. I could stare for hours, seriously.
This entry was originally posted at http://soupytwist.dreamwidth.org/21083.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
- Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link
I really like Kelly Link! I loved Magic for Beginners, which is also found here and is omg about FANDOM, and this is a really good short story collection. Most of her stuff is recognizable as hers just from the feel, which is something I appreciate, and I like her approach, too. It's fun and very definitely female (although she does have a few stories from a dude's point of view, the women in those stories are always just as important if not more so) and it's sort of... hmm. "Fresh" is a word that gets overused in this kind of discussion, but I mean it, here; she feels like someone who enjoyed writing her stories, someone for whom the writing and discovery of new worlds and characters was marvelous and interesting and wow! Did you know that magic and fantasy can be fun?! And she manages that without losing the sense of someone who knows what they're doing, with a story they want to tell.
The one that didn't work quite as well for me was the one about werewolves, but then it was supposed to feel weird, I think, because it ended up being more about the idea of telling a story about werewolves than actual werewolves. Which is fine, and I quite liked the discussion of how lycanthropy is a very definitely female-gendered trope, but I wanted the end of the actual story/ies!
- The Magicians of Caprona by Diana Wynne Jones
I really and seriously think DWJ is awesome, and this was fun. I love that her kid characters are kids without being stupid or teeny adults, and her adult characters are mostly lolarious. I also also love that it's a Chrestomanci book and he is sort of a superhero, except he's not and he doesn't really 'save the day' at all: people being kind and as unprejudiced as they knew how to be, did.
(Actually, the more I go on the more I think Chrestomanci is basically Gandalf, except younger and swishier and as a role rather than an individual human being. He's there to show that power in and of itself doesn't get you very far at all without wisdom, and kindness, and interacting with the world in a positive way. I kind of love that. ♥)
I also, as usual, read some Rex Stout. OMG.
- Trouble In Triplicate
Archie is genuinely freaked out by the mob! I kind of love that; his fear is so clearly not for their physical safety, but their life together in the brownstone. Archie wants to be safe and domestic with Wolfe and it is ADORABLE. Also, he has random prejudice against people called Eugene, and that is kind of hilarious.
I also really love Wolfe being all Master of the Dramatic here - his little "I am Nero Wolfe." ta-dah! moment is kind of awesome. It ties in with the Sherlock Holmes connection to me: Wolfe is based on Holmes in a lot of ways just as Archie is based on Watson, and the flair for the dramatic is straight from Doyle. It contrasts lolariously with the image of Wolfe being appalled by the joke manufacturer talking about a fake plant saying "Orchids to you!" hahah. The glimpse of their lives during World War II is cool too. Love it.
- Three Doors to Death
My favourite thing about this one was the introduction by Archie explaining that he doesn't want to give readers the erroneous impression that Wolfe does cases for free. The actual stories seem a little off somehow, not quite as sparkly, but Archie's intro seriously made me laugh for like five minutes. I also always like stuff where there are domestic details - Theodore is off for a while, so they have to get a replacement! That's just weirdly charming to me.
- The Red Box
I felt a little cheated by the fact that Wolfe had cheated, I kind of wanted him to have really got it from somewhere. However it kind of went with the main premise being that Wolfe is effectively conned into leaving the house on false pretenses and is really pissed off about it, which is inherently kind of awesome. (It made up for the weird incest sub-plot, which... okay! Thanks, Rex Stout!)
- The Rubber Band
I loved the beginning bit, where Wolfe likes Clara Fox and Archie is searingly jealous! I really liked Clara and I wanted her to stay around being kind of awesome and antagonistic, except - of course - then she died. Eh. The rest of it wasn't as awesome as that beginning, at least for me, but it was quite plotty and fun and I enjoyed it. Yay, Wolfe and Archie.
- The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, or the Murder at Road Hill House by Kate Summerscale
Yay, true crime! I found this interesting - Whicher himself is a totally fascinating character, and I found myself wishing for more on him rather than the murder. It... also kind of seemed like Summerscale would have rather written about him, too, because she went on for way longer than the murder took to resolve. I kind of felt like she should either have stopped just after the confession, or just written a book about Whicher and his life and role in the investigation.
It was totally an interesting read, though! I love all the random little dorky details - like that a policeman's uniform then included a thick leather collar so that they wouldn't get garotted! WTF! It's also really cool as a look at one of first modern-style media sensations, and as look at how society then saw horrific crime. As an actual murder mystery... not so much.>
- The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex
I got this off Amazon thanks to a rec by
thefourthvine. Anyone thinking a rave review of this was too much? DON'T. It's absolutely one of the best books I've read in years. This is a giddy, ridiculous, charming, pun-tastic, illustrated romp with aliens called J.Lo and comic-strip interludes - some of them penned by J.Lo! It's all cats and flying cars and an awesome young multi-racial heroine called Gratuity whose friends call her Tip... except it's also a discussion of colonialism and cultural divides and what it means to be From Somewhere. I love it.
Is it perfect? Nope. But it is WAY fun and such a refreshing take on a difficult topic, and I love Gratuity a lot, and. Well. Once you've read it - AND YOU BETTER - you should check out this handy informational video from the Boov. Hee.
Hmm... I guess I should try to analyse a bit or something. I don't have much to say, though. I read 108 books in 2009, and I'd like to do better this year. (So far: uh, no. Though it is only January 4th so maybe I should give myself a break.) A whole lot of those were either sci-fi or crime procedurals; I didn't manage as much non-fiction as I wanted, particularly, and I need to up my game on that this year.
I haven't decided whether or not to keep up with the bookposts (although I have decided I very much like having a record of what I read, so I'm sticking with the dorky notebook for sure): what do you lot think?
And because I am someone who managed to pour boiling water on her own hand today (verdict: ow) I will leave you with this absolutely stunningly gorgeous (and Mandlebrot-tastic) link. I could stare for hours, seriously.
This entry was originally posted at http://soupytwist.dreamwidth.org/21083.html. Please comment there using OpenID.