Friends & Books
I came back to town today after almost a week's visit with my friends. I always enjoy visiting S and B, because the visits are so relaxing and fun. I think the info that I read 6 books during the visit is a good indication of how relaxing it can be. S and I both enjoy just being together and reading. Sometimes chatting, playing games, etc, but we are both bookaholics and enjoy reading most of all.
Well, I also did cart almost 30 books from my library to her... And will probably send a box of manga later this week, since she got hooked to Her Majesty's Dog, Snow Drop, and Samurai Deeper Kyo (though those were supposed to be on loan to B's nephew) :).
The Turku Book Fair also happened to coincide with my visit, so we went through it on Saturday. My only purchase was Books 1-12, i.e. all of Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira in Finnish translation for 29€. GREAT DEAL, if I do say so! The Helsinki Book Fair is in a couple of weeks and I suspect Like/Rosebud might have the same deal going there as well :). I checked out a couple of other good deals as well, but I thought I'd wait until the Helsinki Book Fair to buy those books - less travelling involved :P...
Since I'm already behind on book comments, I'll do these right away...
(62-63) Holly Black: Valiant & Ironside
Both of these books were a great continuation to Tithe, with some dark and hopeless seeming things happening to the main protagonists, but with them managing to work through their problems somehow, anyway, however hopeless things seemed at the start.
The main characters come across magic and faery, and find their own ways of coping and managing the change in their worldview and situation. Because once you get involved with fay things, there is no way out.
64. P. N. Elrod (ed.): Strange Brew
This was an anthology of new urband fantasy mysteries with stories with several well-known authors. However, all the stories stand on their own even though they might be have characters/situations from various authors' own worlds (I hate anthologies where you need to have all the backstory in order to appreciate one particular short story :P). The them is mysteries and witchcraft in it's various guises. This was quite enjoyable.
65. Charlaine Harris: Dead and Gone
A LOT happens in the latest Sookie Stackhouse book. MAJOR SPOILERS: I'm sad about what happened to Crystal even though she wasn't that likeable. But getting crucified by a couple of fairies thinking it was a fun joke is still yucky. And why did Sookie have to get tortured by the those two?
The sudden marriage took me (and Sookie) by surprise. Well, now there is a real connection between her and Eric. They even spend a night together (without any crises happening around them).
Since Amanda's mentor is gone from the house, I wonder how long she will stay now that Tray is dead as well. Some of the fairy stuff seemed very rushed, like Claudine's passing mentioned in just a tally of the various fairies lost in the battle. I have to say I never really did like the fairy grandfather development.
But however much they are planning on closing all portals, I have no faith in this being the last time the fairies make an appearance. And Dermot is still at large....
66. Bill Willingham, Matthew Sturges, et al.: Jack of Fables 5: Turning Pages (graphic novel)
I'm not too fond of Jack, so I'm not buying his books, I'm only reading the every time I visit friends. It looks like things are gearing towards the crossover between Fables and the Jack books, but things aren't yet quite there.
67. Caroline Stevermer: A Scholar of Magics
This was an enjoyable romp set in an alternate England where magic is possible. It combined mystery and romance in a light Agatha Christiesque manner.
Samuel Lamber is an American sharpshooter who has been asked to participate in a project for the Glasscastle University which is famous for it's research on magic. But he comes across a plot to steal Glasscastle's power when he inquires into the disappearance of his friend and is helped on his search by the younger sister of one of the Fellows who also happens to be a powerful witch of Greenlaw.
68. Sherwood Smith: The Trouble With Kings
Flian wakes up from and accident without any memory of who she is. She is told that she is Flian, a wealthy princess who is betrothed to King Jason, and that her friend Garian is their host. But on the eve of their marriage Jason's brother breaks into the castle and takes her away, telling her it was all a deception.
After she recovers her memory, Flian realizes she is in the middle of various factions all trying to get access to her wealth. She thinks herself plain and dull and is only interested in music. Once she gets back to her brother's court, she tries to resume her old ordinary existance, even though she has always hated court life. But then she is abducted again.
This book is very similar to Smith's Crown & Court Duet in that a young girl who has lived a fairly secluded life is thrust in the middle of various intrigues and has to find her way of coping and surviving through them while finding love and friendship in the process.
Well, I also did cart almost 30 books from my library to her... And will probably send a box of manga later this week, since she got hooked to Her Majesty's Dog, Snow Drop, and Samurai Deeper Kyo (though those were supposed to be on loan to B's nephew) :).
The Turku Book Fair also happened to coincide with my visit, so we went through it on Saturday. My only purchase was Books 1-12, i.e. all of Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira in Finnish translation for 29€. GREAT DEAL, if I do say so! The Helsinki Book Fair is in a couple of weeks and I suspect Like/Rosebud might have the same deal going there as well :). I checked out a couple of other good deals as well, but I thought I'd wait until the Helsinki Book Fair to buy those books - less travelling involved :P...
Since I'm already behind on book comments, I'll do these right away...
(62-63) Holly Black: Valiant & Ironside
Both of these books were a great continuation to Tithe, with some dark and hopeless seeming things happening to the main protagonists, but with them managing to work through their problems somehow, anyway, however hopeless things seemed at the start.
The main characters come across magic and faery, and find their own ways of coping and managing the change in their worldview and situation. Because once you get involved with fay things, there is no way out.
64. P. N. Elrod (ed.): Strange Brew
This was an anthology of new urband fantasy mysteries with stories with several well-known authors. However, all the stories stand on their own even though they might be have characters/situations from various authors' own worlds (I hate anthologies where you need to have all the backstory in order to appreciate one particular short story :P). The them is mysteries and witchcraft in it's various guises. This was quite enjoyable.
65. Charlaine Harris: Dead and Gone
A LOT happens in the latest Sookie Stackhouse book. MAJOR SPOILERS: I'm sad about what happened to Crystal even though she wasn't that likeable. But getting crucified by a couple of fairies thinking it was a fun joke is still yucky. And why did Sookie have to get tortured by the those two?
The sudden marriage took me (and Sookie) by surprise. Well, now there is a real connection between her and Eric. They even spend a night together (without any crises happening around them).
Since Amanda's mentor is gone from the house, I wonder how long she will stay now that Tray is dead as well. Some of the fairy stuff seemed very rushed, like Claudine's passing mentioned in just a tally of the various fairies lost in the battle. I have to say I never really did like the fairy grandfather development.
But however much they are planning on closing all portals, I have no faith in this being the last time the fairies make an appearance. And Dermot is still at large....
66. Bill Willingham, Matthew Sturges, et al.: Jack of Fables 5: Turning Pages (graphic novel)
I'm not too fond of Jack, so I'm not buying his books, I'm only reading the every time I visit friends. It looks like things are gearing towards the crossover between Fables and the Jack books, but things aren't yet quite there.
67. Caroline Stevermer: A Scholar of Magics
This was an enjoyable romp set in an alternate England where magic is possible. It combined mystery and romance in a light Agatha Christiesque manner.
Samuel Lamber is an American sharpshooter who has been asked to participate in a project for the Glasscastle University which is famous for it's research on magic. But he comes across a plot to steal Glasscastle's power when he inquires into the disappearance of his friend and is helped on his search by the younger sister of one of the Fellows who also happens to be a powerful witch of Greenlaw.
68. Sherwood Smith: The Trouble With Kings
Flian wakes up from and accident without any memory of who she is. She is told that she is Flian, a wealthy princess who is betrothed to King Jason, and that her friend Garian is their host. But on the eve of their marriage Jason's brother breaks into the castle and takes her away, telling her it was all a deception.
After she recovers her memory, Flian realizes she is in the middle of various factions all trying to get access to her wealth. She thinks herself plain and dull and is only interested in music. Once she gets back to her brother's court, she tries to resume her old ordinary existance, even though she has always hated court life. But then she is abducted again.
This book is very similar to Smith's Crown & Court Duet in that a young girl who has lived a fairly secluded life is thrust in the middle of various intrigues and has to find her way of coping and surviving through them while finding love and friendship in the process.