New friends and current reading
If you're looking to add some more active LJ fandom folk to your friends list, there's a lively friending meme going on over at the_redjay's journal.
{ visit my post } { visit the thread }
Go forth and meet people! (And welcome, new people I've just met. Glad to have you.)
Now, it's time for What I'm Reading Wednesday! It's the pre-DragonCon edition.
What are you currently reading?
I'm rereading Captain Marvel Vol. 1: In Pursuit of Flight, which I've brought with me to Atlanta because I want to get it signed by Kelly Sue Deconnick at DragonCon. I AM SO EXCITED TO MEET KELLY SUE! I adore Captain Marvel. Most of that is due to Kelly Sue's writing. Before I picked up this volume the first time a little over a year ago, I knew pretty much nothing about Carol Danvers aside from the fact that tumblr approved of her and she had a practical costume. By the end of the six issues collected in this trade, I felt like I knew her. More than that, I was ready to kneel at Carol's feet to offer my fealty and sidekick services, except that I knew that Carol would prefer I stand. (Half a step behind her, because she's ridiculously competitive like that, but standing all the same.) In Kelly Sue DeConnick's hands, Carol manages to be both an impressively inspirational hero and a rounded human character with flaws and quirks.
I am also a grand total of two paragraphs into The Neon Court by Kate Griffin. I very much enjoyed the previous two books in this urban fantasy series, so I'm looking forward to the rest of this one. They are wonderfully weird.
What have you recently finished reading?
I just finished The Chimes at Midnight by Seanan McGuire, the most recent of the October Daye novels. This one was another strong entry into a series I love. One thing I think Seanan does well is to put the characters in ridiculous situations, have the characters be perfectly aware of how absurd everything is, and still keep the stakes high and the emotions strong. For example (keeping it a bit vague to avoid major spoilers), while reading The Chimes at Midnight, I got kind of choked up when a character got a pie to the face and the consequences were REALLY UPSETTING. That tension between the silly (pie to the face!) and the deadly serious is tough to pull off convincingly. (I should also note that I was reading this book on the plane, and at one point the flight attendant asked me about beverages when I was utterly absorbed in the plot. I jumped and flailed visibly at the sudden intrusion of the real world. It's that sort of exciting book.)
I am saddened to come to the end of currently available novels in this series. Luckily, Seanan is a crazy-fast writer, so hopefully there will be more before too long. How does she manage to produce regular new books in several series and have them all be so damn good? They're not long books, but they don't have a trace of the sloppiness you often see in writers with this sort of annual wordcount. I suspect Seanan has a portrait in the attic that experiences chronic writer's block and unproductive days on her behalf.
Also, my theory from the last book about Toby's squire Quentin was totally vindicated. I feel like I should get a sticker or something.
What do you think you'll read next?
I'll be reading the rest of The Neon Court, for starters. I love Kate Griffin's version of a magic-infused London. The magic feels integrated with the contemporary urban setting in a way that not a lot of urban fantasies truly manage. After that, Saga vol. 3 is on my agenda. (Saga! ♥ ♥ ♥)
I never escape DragonCon without buying books, so we'll see what surprises lie in store.
(Did I mention that DragonCon is about to start? HUZZAH!)
{ visit my post } { visit the thread }
Go forth and meet people! (And welcome, new people I've just met. Glad to have you.)
Now, it's time for What I'm Reading Wednesday! It's the pre-DragonCon edition.
What are you currently reading?
I'm rereading Captain Marvel Vol. 1: In Pursuit of Flight, which I've brought with me to Atlanta because I want to get it signed by Kelly Sue Deconnick at DragonCon. I AM SO EXCITED TO MEET KELLY SUE! I adore Captain Marvel. Most of that is due to Kelly Sue's writing. Before I picked up this volume the first time a little over a year ago, I knew pretty much nothing about Carol Danvers aside from the fact that tumblr approved of her and she had a practical costume. By the end of the six issues collected in this trade, I felt like I knew her. More than that, I was ready to kneel at Carol's feet to offer my fealty and sidekick services, except that I knew that Carol would prefer I stand. (Half a step behind her, because she's ridiculously competitive like that, but standing all the same.) In Kelly Sue DeConnick's hands, Carol manages to be both an impressively inspirational hero and a rounded human character with flaws and quirks.
I am also a grand total of two paragraphs into The Neon Court by Kate Griffin. I very much enjoyed the previous two books in this urban fantasy series, so I'm looking forward to the rest of this one. They are wonderfully weird.
What have you recently finished reading?
I just finished The Chimes at Midnight by Seanan McGuire, the most recent of the October Daye novels. This one was another strong entry into a series I love. One thing I think Seanan does well is to put the characters in ridiculous situations, have the characters be perfectly aware of how absurd everything is, and still keep the stakes high and the emotions strong. For example (keeping it a bit vague to avoid major spoilers), while reading The Chimes at Midnight, I got kind of choked up when a character got a pie to the face and the consequences were REALLY UPSETTING. That tension between the silly (pie to the face!) and the deadly serious is tough to pull off convincingly. (I should also note that I was reading this book on the plane, and at one point the flight attendant asked me about beverages when I was utterly absorbed in the plot. I jumped and flailed visibly at the sudden intrusion of the real world. It's that sort of exciting book.)
I am saddened to come to the end of currently available novels in this series. Luckily, Seanan is a crazy-fast writer, so hopefully there will be more before too long. How does she manage to produce regular new books in several series and have them all be so damn good? They're not long books, but they don't have a trace of the sloppiness you often see in writers with this sort of annual wordcount. I suspect Seanan has a portrait in the attic that experiences chronic writer's block and unproductive days on her behalf.
Also, my theory from the last book about Toby's squire Quentin was totally vindicated. I feel like I should get a sticker or something.
What do you think you'll read next?
I'll be reading the rest of The Neon Court, for starters. I love Kate Griffin's version of a magic-infused London. The magic feels integrated with the contemporary urban setting in a way that not a lot of urban fantasies truly manage. After that, Saga vol. 3 is on my agenda. (Saga! ♥ ♥ ♥)
I never escape DragonCon without buying books, so we'll see what surprises lie in store.
(Did I mention that DragonCon is about to start? HUZZAH!)