Comments | vjs2259: Reading 2012

vjs2259

Reading 2012

Jan 18, 2013 20:46

I've notice many people discussing what they wrote and read and watched the past year. I can't give an exhaustive list by any means, but I was thinking about my on-and-off media consumption habits and what it all MEANS. Which is not much, but it's a post, eh? First we'll do books, since that's the longest list.

I re-read the Anne of Green Gables ( Read more... )

update: light, year end, reading

Comments 12

wendelah1 January 19 2013, 01:56:09 UTC

I just finished the new Bujold and found it a fun, romantic comedy.

vjs2259 January 19 2013, 12:48:01 UTC

Thanks for reminding me it existed. I am hoarding it for a time I can focus, or at least focus enough for it to provide a pleasant distraction.

gabolange January 19 2013, 02:46:24 UTC

It has been many, many ages since I read the Anne of Green Gables books, but I remember really enjoying Rilla, which surprised me since I really hadn't enjoyed the books that came before it. But oh, it's been almost 15 years since I read that series . . . perhaps it is time to revisit.

And yes, Little Women and the books that follow it! And I don't have a point except books! Books are awesome!

vjs2259 January 19 2013, 12:57:31 UTC

Rilla got to grow and change, and so she is more interesting than her lightly sketched brothers and sisters (who are not that believable, especially as children.) I think teen girl to young adult was LMM's best metier ( ... )

kungfuwaynewho January 19 2013, 21:48:26 UTC

YOU TAKE BACK THAT BLASPHEMY AGAINST MY DARLING WALTER.

/just kidding

/no not even remotely

vjs2259 January 20 2013, 00:39:01 UTC

OK, Walter is the next best after Rilla. At least he's got a good name. Good lord, Shirley? And Jem should have been Matthew James. Really that annoys me.

nenya_kanadka January 19 2013, 07:20:10 UTC

I agree with you about Rainbow Valley. It was an okay book, and I might even have been drawn into the child-characters, except...it wasn't very Anneish, and I was reading for Anne. I've never tried to write adult versions of characters introduced as children, but it seems like it must be hard; hardly anyone manages to pull it off in a way that I find satisfactory.

An Old-Fashioned Girl! I have that somewhere still, I think, or my mom does. I still haven't decided if (as someone who grew up low-income myself) I find it preachy or not. Certainly I appreciate the plot of the second half of the book more now. But Tom still annoys me.

Just discovered the Vorkosigan saga this year too, and it's fantastic. Finally got around to reading Cryoburn and Captain Vorpatril's Alliance over the new year, and really enjoyed them. Especially CVA--Ivan gets to shine, and I love everyone else there too.

vjs2259 January 19 2013, 13:06:07 UTC

An Old-Fashioned Girl is mainly interesting for the setting and the ideas once Polly gets out into the world. And once the Shaws come down in the world. Tom is just basically annoying though.

Vor books are the best. CPA is the one I just downloaded and I am still hugging it with glee and trying to find the right time to read it. Some books I like to savor, and save up. I read these completely out of order and missing several. Like I started with Warrior's Apprentice I think, then Memory and A Civil Campaign years later. I remember being quite astonished that Miles had a brother appear seeming out of nowhere. It was fun to read them in order last year, and bless Baen books for making them all available online. Cordelia Vorkosigan is one of my favorite characters ever. E-v-e-r.

kungfuwaynewho January 19 2013, 21:53:20 UTC

Ah I love book/media posts! A bunch of people at work were defensive about reading YA, proffering all these reasons and excuses for it (oh, it's easy when I'm busy; I want to be able to knowledgeably recommend to young readers when they ask; I read what my kid wants to read first). And I was like, YA is great. Not all of it, same as everything, Sturgeon's Law, but there is some great fiction out there written for a teen audience. No reasons necessary ( ... )

vjs2259 January 20 2013, 00:40:29 UTC

Accessible to teens doesn't mean restricted to teens, right? I find myself in the YA section all the time. Even the kids section. Where else can I find my Daniel Pinkwater books?

I never want things to end, even when they end well.

kungfuwaynewho January 20 2013, 00:46:17 UTC

Definitely not! I totally read picture books all the time at work, hee.

vjs2259 January 20 2013, 15:45:44 UTC

I love picture books. I have some of my own and some of that my boys have outgrown that I'll never give up reading. Creating picture books must be like writing poetry, words (if any) and images that are distilled simplicity.