Sakerfalcon is still reading in 2013 ...

It's a new year, and thus time to start another attempt to conquer Mount Tbr. Last year I managed to read 188 books, not including rereads, but as I acquired at least that many new-to-me titles I still have a long way to go before my unread books get down to a manageable number. This year I'd like to try and read more non-fiction, something I attempted and failed at in 2012.

Thanks to everyone who joined me last year and left comments, opinions and recommendations; it was a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to another year of great reading and book-related talk!

I hope your plans go well for you. Happy new year!

Just wanted to add a summary of my 2012 reading by category, to see if I succeeded in my quest to venture out of my comfort genres of SF and F and Children's/YA fiction. (Short answer - not really!)

Biography/Memoir - 6
Books about books - 1
Children's fiction - 28
Classic - 22
Early literature (Mediaeval & before) - 1
Fantasy & SF - 61
General/contemporary fiction - 19
Graphic novels/Manga - 9
Historical fiction - 2
History (NF) - 2
Horror - 2
Mystery/thriller - 6
Nature/travel - 2
Urban fantasy - 6

Of these, only 13 books were not originally written in English, so I shall try and read more non-English literature this year too.

>2 majkia:: Thank you majkia; I'm looking forward to following your thread too!

Impressive totals for 2012. Good luck with your non-English reading for the coming year. I'll be keeping an eye on you. :o)

Starred, of course!

I was looking over some of last year's threads, and I'll definitely be following your new one.

Starred and following...you've given me some great leads to grow my personal TBR mountain.

I'll be following too. I enjoyed your book talk last year and expect to add even more to my wishlist this year courtesy of this thread.

Looking forward to your posts, Sakerfalcon!

Thanks for all your comments; now I suppose I'd better get started!

My first book completed this year is Red country, a typical Joe Abercrombie book in that it features morally grey characters involved in dubious deeds with mud and blood all over the place. What could be unrelentingly bleak is relieved by a streak of black humour, without which I probably wouldn't have kept reading Joe's books. This one is a mash-up of fantasy and Western, which I thought worked really well. We have a strong but not invulnerable female lead, and a varied cast of supporting characters, all of whom have conflicting aims and desires. *** Possible spoiler*** I liked that a few characters were able to redeem their dubious pasts by the end of the book - a nice change! ***end spoiler***

I'm currently reading Lightborn, the sequel to Darkborn which I read and enjoyed last year. This is something of a fantasy of manners, set in a world where light is deadly to some and darkness to others. As a result, two parallel societies have developed. As you'd expect from the title, we start to see events from the point of view of some lightborn characters, which helps answer some of my questions about the worldbuilding. Telmaine is still the protagonist though, and I am enjoying seeing her learn to use her magic and the moral quandaries that result. Ettiquette and manners have always been important to her and she finds it hard to set them aside even though her world is changing, something I thought was realistic.

I love that I've read/am reading two such different novels that are both considered fantasy books, showing how rich and diverse the genre can be. Better yet, neither one conforms to the stereotypical pigboy stories with elves and dwarves etc (which are fine, but it's good to see writers branching away from those tropes).

I'll find something more serious for my next read however, with a view to starting on my self-imposed challenge to diversify my reading this year. I'm not going to list my possible candidates though, because I've killed this message and had to retype it 3 times now while trying to find the correct touchstones for one of them. You'll just have to wait and see ;-)

I have been eyeing Red Country, I think I'll hitch it a few knots up on the list.

I have lurked your reading journal for years, probably should make it official. ;)

I really liked The First Law trilogy and Best Served Cold books but still have to get to The Heroes. Good to know that he's still worth reading with Red Country.

The ideas of "Lightborn" and "Darkborn" are intriguing. I might wishlist that for a try.

Got you starred for 2013!

I finished Lightborn at the weekend, and am looking forward to the final book in the trilogy. The plotting was a little bit awkward in this one, due to switching between the Darkborn and Lightborn perspectives, I think, and often it felt like more time must have passed between events than actually had (I think the whole book takes place over a couple of days, but so much happens that I thought a week or more had gone by). @MrsLee, if you do think of giving these a try, Darkborn wraps up enough plotlines that you don't feel obliged to read the next book if it's not your thing - you're not left on an egregious cliffhanger.

I've started What I talk about when I talk about running, Haruki Murakami's memoir about long distance running and writing. Personally I hate running and only do so to avoid missing trains, buses, etc, but I like Murakami's writing and this was only £1.50 at the charity bookshop. It also meets both my criteria for the year - written in a language other than English, and non-fiction. I'm enjoying it so far; it has an intimate feel, as though the author is talking to me alone rather than writing for an audience.

Alongside that, I'm going to read Margaret Atwood's book of essays on SF, In other worlds. And as I just found a copy of The hydrogen sonata at the library, that will be my next fun read for when I get home from work.

I'd been wondering what sort of book What I talk about when I talk about running is....

I finished What I talk about ... last night; it was a quick read but one I enjoyed a lot. It's a very gentle, introspective book in which Murakami muses on running, writing, aging and solitude. It's very personal, yet never descends into navel-gazing. I really enjoyed this glimpse into the thoughts of one of my favourite writers, and would recommend it as a quick read to anyone who is interested in writing, running or Haruki Murakami.

Hibernator, I hope that helps!

Now I'm onto the third essay in In other worlds. Atwood has been looking at the relationship between myth/religion and SF, and how themes that used to be considered mainstream have been shunted into SF over the centuries. It's very interesting.

#19 Sakerfalcon that was a very interesting post.

Like The_Hibernator I have been wondering about What I talk about when I talk about running. I'm not interested in running, but I am interested in writing and Haruki Murakami. (I loved 1Q84). Would my total disregard for running rule this book out, or is two out of three good enough?

Also, in relation to your description of the essay by Atwood: My son-in-law's sister (yes, I got that right) wrote a paper on religions elements in Dr. Who. It is being published in a book of essays on the topic of relgious elements in science fiction. I will try to find out the publication title.

>20 pgmcc:: I have no desire to take up long distance running, yet I found Murakami's thoughts and descriptions of it to be very worth reading. It is tied into the kind of person he feels himself to be, and he draws parallels with the writing process too. There are a couple of essays included in which he describes some long runs (most interestingly, running from Athens to Marathon) and these had a strangely gripping, hypnotic quality, I thought, perhaps because he is describing a mental journey as well as a physical one. So I would say that if you like Murakami's writing, don't be put off!

The forthcoming essay collection you mention sounds interesting. Atwood points out that works such as The pilgrim's progress, Paradise lost and Beowulf would all be categorised as fantasy if written now, whereas when they were written they were mainstream. She ponders why this is. (I've seen this discussed before, but I like her take on it.)

I'll have to look for that Atwood collection. I remember hearing Gene Wolfe talk about the fact that the straight line, so to speak, goes backwards from F&SF to our oldest stories; it's "realistic" fiction that is the new branch on the tree. I'll be interested to see what Atwood has to say.

#21
I will not let the running put me off. I will be trying more Murakami soon.

The essay collection I referred to is actually limited to religion in Dr. Who and Dr. Who related things. The link is below. It may not be as exciting as I first thought or misled you to think.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/exploringourmatrix/2012/01/cfp-doctor-who-and-relig...

I certainly enjoyed The Pilgrim's Progress. I also enjoyed The Odessy and it is very much fantasy. I also thought it was very Monty Python like. I can see how these stories were told to entertain for an evening and they had to fulfil the role played currently by the TV in many households. They obviously needed a bit of get up and to to keep the story teller in food, wine and a bit of pocketmoney.

>23 pgmcc:: I haven't watched enough Dr Who that that collection would mean much to me, but given how many people I know who are avid viewers of the show, I'd say there's a pretty big potential market for it!

I've put aside the Atwood collection for a bit, as the pieces in the middle section were clearly not meant to be read one after the other. There is some repetition of statements (such as that both Stalin's Russia and Hitler's Germany were conceived as Utopias) which is very noticeable when reading at the pace I was.

Instead I've started Some tame gazelle, by Barbara Pym. The Virago group is going to be reading one of her novels each month this year, in publication order, so I thought I'd join in as Pym is a new author to me. She's usually compared to Austen for the way she accurately captures her characters foibles in a few sentences, but she also reminded me of a gentler E. F. Benson, as all three writers' books take place on a very small canvas and are concerned with the daily lives and social manoeuvering of everyday people. So far I have encountered mismatched couples, clergymen, spinster sisters and a pair of librarians and it is all very entertaining. I'm really enjoying the book so far, and finding it hard to put down when I need to get off the train.

I haven't got very far with The hydrogen sonata, as it's a hardback and I can't read it in bed. So I've started another library book, Alloy of law by Brandon Sanderson. It's good so far, I like the steampunky/Western feel to it.

I never found Pym to be all that similar to Austen, despite the marketing blurbs. I think, perhaps, it's because Pym doesn't always end her books on an positive note. That said, I am particularly partial to Pym's Excellent Women, a title which I have always wanted to do with one of my book groups but could never manage to maneuver it in.

I finished Some tame gazelle at the weekend and loved it. @jillmwo, based on this book alone I see far more similarities to Benson than Austen, especially in terms of the plot. I think people compare them because they both wrote books set on a small stage that deal with everyday events among a close-knit cast of characters. But whereas Austen's plots revolve around the courtships of young people, Gazelle focuses on older characters whose way of life is settled (although they do look back and wonder what might have been), and how they respond to outside elements which offer (or threaten) to change the status quo. It's amusing yet thoughtful, and the insularity of village life, centred around the church, is vividly captured. I'm very much looking forward to reading more of Pym's work this year.

I also finished Alloy of law, another great read. I only read the first of the Mistborn trilogy, so some of the set-up of the world in this book passed me by, but I was able to overlook the odd concepts and enjoy the excellent story. I liked the 1890s urban US - inspired setting, the dynamic between protagonists Wax and Wayne (groan!), and the fast-paced plot. Given that all is not wrapped up neatly at the end, I hope Sanderson is planning to continue the story - I especially want to see more of Ramette (sp?) the brusque gunmaker, and of Steris, Wax's initially unprepossessing fiancee. (I'd compare her and her cousin Marasi to Vivenna and Siri in Warbreaker in terms of their personalities.) Great stuff.

I have another library book to read, Alan Garner's Boneland, an adult novel which is the close to his children's Weirdstone trilogy. The first two books were written back in the '60s; now he's written a final book in which the characters are adults. The weirdstone of Brisingamen contains some incredibly atmospheric writing which still grips me today, and I'm hoping that Boneland will manage to do the same.

I'm also reading The stepsister scheme for something light, before I pick the next book from my "in translation/non fiction" pile.

I credit The Weirdstone of Brisingamen for my love of fantasy. Had a teacher who introduced us to the work and eventually gave me her copy to finish. I've had the sequel on my tbr shelves for a while now but feel a little apprehensive about picking it up in case of affecting fond memories. Didn't know there was a third book.

Alan Garner - writing for adults? Not that is something I'll have to follow up. (another book on the lengthening list!)

As a child I loved Brisingamen, even as I remember the nightmares it gave me. I might check out Boneland when I fulfill my promise (to myself) to revisit that story!

Following your thread.

I finished Boneland last night, as I had a few hours of uninterrupted reading time at work. It was very good, and although I read it fast it is so incredibly rich that even if read slowly it would need rereading. It's totally different in style to the earlier books, more like Red shift (which I've never actually read although I do own a copy). I would call this a companion, rather than a sequel, in fact. There are two alternating narratives, one which follows a middle-aged (?) Colin in the present, and another which tells of a shaman-type man in prehistoric times, who obviously lives in the same place as Colin. Colin has lost all memories from before he was 13, but has perfect, though non-sequential, recall of everything that has happened to him since. He is mentally and emotionally fragile, though a genius. Garner doesn't tell us anything clearly; it is up to the reader to work out what has happened to Colin and Susan from the glimpses we are shown, and to relate the two narratives to each other. The prose is poetic but never flowery, and the sense of place is as strong as you would expect from Garner. I would recommend (re)reading Weirdstone and Moon of Gomrath before this, as events from those books are referenced obliquely and will annoy you if they are not fresh in your mind (ask me how I know this!). A familiarity with Gawain and the green knight would also be useful. After finishing, I read Ursula Le Guin's review (linked to on the LT work page for Boneland), and the comments which follow it - they are very insightful but full of spoilers so don't read them first!

When I got home I finished The stepsister scheme - a totally different animal! It's a fun, though surprisingly dark, take on fairy tales, with Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White teaming up to rescue Cinderella's prince. Kudos to Jim Hines for creating three well-rounded, flawed but awesome heroines and having them be friends and work together, rather than squabbling for male attention. The cover and some humour makes one think this will be a fluffy read, but it gets dark in places - these characters are from Grimm rather than Disney. It's not perfect, but there is so much good stuff in there that I will certainly be looking for others in the series.

Now it's back to The hydrogen sonata as it's due back at the library next week. I've brought it to work with me as it will be easier to read there.

And my next non-fiction book is The time traveller's guide to Medieval England, which I was prompted to take down from the shelf by positive comments on it from @hfglen in another thread.

Well, The hydrogen sonata has the dubious honour of being my first DNF of the year. Banks is one of my favourite SF writers, but for some reason the book just isn't grabbing me. I'm 200 pages in and I just don't care about the plot or the characters. I have too many other books on my Tbr pile to spend more time on one that I am not enjoying.

Fortunately, The time traveller's guide is excellent, both informative and engaging. It tells you all sorts of useful things such as how to tell the time and date, what to expect when you enter a city, how to greet people and what you can and can't find in the shops/markets. Contrary to what you might expect, it is not actually structured as a guidebook, and strikes a balance between the popular and the scholarly in style.

I spent much of the weekend inside watching the snow while reading Black swan rising, a contemporary fantasy set in NYC. I've got about 50 pages left, and have enjoyed the ride so far. It's pretty fluffy and has annoying insta-love, but the romance elements haven't been allowed to take over and there are lots of great secondary characters and New York details. A fun light read.

#32 Sakerfalcon

I didn't think The Hydrogen Sonata had the spark that would bring it above being anything other than just OK! I cannot say you missed too much by not finishing it, which is something coming from me as I love Iain's work. I finished it because I like the universe he has created but like yourself I could not find much feeling for the characters involved. I enjoyed the book, but only in a moderate, comfort reading type of way.

31, 32: The Time Traveller's Guide sounds like one for me. I've read half a dozen books on the period, but this one sounds like it brings the key features of that world to life in an especially vivid way.

I wonder if there is a part of us that, despite what we've learned, still romanticizes that way of life and wonders if we could have done with a good bit less of modernity.

I've had The Time Traveller's Guide on my shelf for a couple of years now, after seeing a bunch of positive comments on LT. I guess I should get around to reading it.

34 - Yes, except for plumbing. Don't take away my modern indoor plumbing. Although, I hear the Romans had a good thing going with their aquaducts and hot baths. Don't know what their toilets were like though.

Toilet paper. Say no more.

The Romans had sponges. Don't know what they used in 14th-century England. Time-traveller's Guide doesn't say.

#32, 33 - I did finish the Hydrogen Sonata and somewhere along the way the characters got at least mildly interesting... But after I finished I felt "so what, was this ALL!?!?"
Somewhat as with Consider Phlebas, but with likeable characters - "however good your intentions are sometimes not the biggest effort will pay off".
Extremely nihilistic.
I will still go on to buy and read his Culture novels. But this one I won't reread, that's for sure.

#34 - I wonder if there is a part of us that, despite what we've learned, still romanticizes that way of life and wonders if we could have done with a good bit less of modernity.

I think that occurs whenever we feel a lack of control?
Back then there were a certain lack of human rights, womens rights, et al; still is in some regions but that's no reason for devolution, imho.
Learning and understanding is important - wishing to live when most humans were not regarded as people? I'm not so sure...
;)

>Peter, @busifer: Your comments reflect others that I've seen regarding The hydrogen sonata and make feel that I made the right decision to stop. It's possible that one day I'll give it another try, but in the meantime I still have some of Banks' backlist unread and I'll get to that first.

ETA: The Antagonistic Unidecastring was my favourite thing in the book, as far as I read, and that seems to say it all for me - that the best "character" is an inanimate object!

I'm still very much enjoying The time traveller's guide. @Meredy, @SylviaC - it is very vivid, describing not only the sights but the sounds and smells that would greet you in the C14th. I've just read the chapter on travelling, which covers the pros and cons of getting around by road and sea, neither of which sound terribly appealing! @sandragon, @MrsLee - toilet facilities have been discussed several times, but Hugh is right, so far the subject of toilet paper or its equivalent has not been mentioned.

Meredy, I think you are right, we do tend to romanticize the past, seeing it as a simpler time with less of the pressure of modern life. But one thing this book does well is debunking that myth, showing the inequalities, danger, discomfort and sheer physical hardship that the majority of people faced in this period. While the author does point out any things that are not as bad as we have been led to believe, it is still clear that for most of us, this is not a time that we would want to live in.

I remember a thread from a few months ago, either here in the GD, or in the FantasyFans group, which asked "Which fantasy land would you like to live in?" Initially people chimed in with their choices, but further down the thread others expressed their doubts about wanting to live in any of the major fantasy worlds as so many of them were based on Mediaeval social and political structures with all of their enshrined inequalities - and lack of hygiene! The points you've all raised here regarding Time traveller's guide reminded me of that conversation.

A propos of #36, 37 and all that. An archaeologist friend and I are developing an idea about a cave she's been excavating for years. So far the place has yielded the world's earliest evidence (Mesolithic, c. 77 000 years old) for the use of bedding, adhesives and insecticides. But we hope we can start to shed light on Iron Age (1000 years ago), er, sanitary arrangements.

I've read too much about medieval medicine and disease to want to live back in the past. Sanitation, antibiotics, clean water, food refrigeration - I like my modern life.

BTW, your thread is proving risky for my TBR pile! Added 3 books already!

Perfume by Patrick Suskind is about an 18th century perfume manufacturer. The book starts with descriptions of the smells of the time and makes the case for the popularity of a perfume maker. The descriptions are very evocative and really made me disgusted with what the smells must have been like.

It made me think about the changes in my own life relating to the smells of the world I live in. (For context, I was born in the late 1950s and my descriptions relate to the 1960s.) The following came to mind:

- Showers were not that common with most people having one bath night
- Body odour on the buses was, consequently, noticeable
- Horses were still used for milk & bread deliveries, rag & bone carts, delivering plate glass, etc...
- In many parts of the city (particularly near my school which was beside a plate glass supplier) the smell of horse dung hung in the air (Does "dung hung" count as alliteration?)
- In Paris as a whole, but particularly in the Metro, the smell of French cigarettes was strong
- Dog litter and control laws were not in place so there was a smell of dog poop in many places, especially if one was a young lad whose nose was closer to the ground than those of adults

Yes, smells would be one of the most significant features of arriving in an earlier time. Perhaps someone should write an article on the smells of Dr Who.

Hugh, the cave excavation sounds fascinating. I guess there may be some information about diet to be obtained from an investigation of the privy or its equivalent as well.

>42 cmbohn:: I haven't even got to the chapter on Health and Hygiene yet! Sorry to be leading you into temptation; many of the books on my own Mount Tbr came to me through people's reading journals too! They are fatal (in a good way!)

>43 pgmcc:: That's a very interesting summary - so many changes in a relatively short period. I'm younger, so I think my main observation would be the reduction in cigarette smoke as more places ban smoking indoors. The time traveller's guide is making me think of Connie Willis's novel Doomsday book in which a modern woman travels back to the 1340s for academic research. Before she goes she is advised to have her nostrils cauterised (or a similar procedure) because the smells will be so overwhelming and repulsive compared to what she is used to.

I finished a short mystery novel last week, The moving toyshop by Edmund Crispin. It was an enjoyable read, but more for the vivid and amusing characters than the plot, which consisted of mad dashing around Oxford following the eccentric lead's leaps of intuition. There is a wonderful scene where the two main characters are trapped in a cupboard, and while waiting for rescue they entertain themselves by listing Unreadable Books. I've passed my copy on to a friend who had enjoyed other books in the series. It's an odd one, but I'd recommend it if you like mysteries by Sayers or Mitchell.

Still enjoying my ride through the 1300s; currently learning about Law and Order.

ETA: My copy of The lathe of heaven has just arrived! I'm going to start it right away so that I can join in with Morphy's February group read before I go away on the 9th.

I've left the 1300s now, having thoroughly enjoyed The time traveller's guide to Medieval England. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants a book about everyday life in the Middle Ages that doesn't romanticise the era in any way. And for those who were wondering, a passing reference in the "Where to stay" chapter mentions that "piles of wool or linen" will be provided in the privy of a castle for one to wipe one's nether regions with! Not sure what happens if you are not so lucky to stay in a castle though ...

I've just started reading The mother of dreams, a collection of Japanese short stories about women. Authors are male and female, all post-war, and the stories examine women as they fit (or not) into 5 traditional roles in society - maiden, wife, mistress, mother and working woman.

I'm also flying through The lathe of heaven, finding it hard to put down. It reminds me very much of PKD's work, in the worldbuilding and the uncertain nature of reality.

And I've been dipping into Moranthology, a collection of articles by the British journalist Caitlin Moran, whose Celebrity Watch column I enjoy reading in the Times. Her voice is entertaining and irreverent, very down to earth, and quick to skewer absurdity and hypocrisy. She writes mostly about pop culture, UK politics and society, and her childhood as one of 8 children in a poor family. Here's what she has to say about libraries:

"A library in the middle of a community is a cross between an emergency exit, a life raft and a festival. They are cathedrals of the mind; hospitals of the soul; theme parks of the imagination. On a cold, rainy island, they are the only sheltered public spaces where you are not a consumer, but a citizen instead. A human with a brain and a heart and a desire to be uplifted, rather than a consumer with a credit card and an inchoate "need" for "stuff""

She also adores Sherlock and Dr Who, and her columns reviewing these shows will be loved by her fellow fans. Obviously much of this book will be lost on a non-UK reader, and Moran's tone will not appeal to all, but it's a good one to read a few pieces from in between bigger books.

#46 I am glad to hear you are enjoying The Lathe of Heaven. It is on my shelf and I have been thinking about reading it soon but was holding back because a friend had mentioned that he found it a bit annoying.

Good observation about The Lathe of Heaven--it is rather phildickian. I just started re-reading it this week after many years, and the first thing I noticed was that she was uncharacteristically in a hurry to start spewing ideas around, without giving us much reason to care about the characters.

I finished The lathe of heaven and really enjoyed it. It's one that I'll probably reread more slowly in the future. I'm looking forward to the GD discussion this month and finding out what others think of the book. I did come to care about George, and wanted to shake Haber, and liked the aliens.

The short stories in The mother of dreams are very interesting if not terribly cheerful. Life for Japanese women since the war seems to bring lots of sorrow and angst, even though they may have more rights and freedoms than in previous eras. It's a good book to dip in and out of, but the stories lose impact if you read too many at one time.

To lighten the mood, I read another Gervaise Fen mystery, Buried for pleasure. Set in a small, decidedly non-idyllic English village, I found this more engaging than The moving toyshop. The eccentric cast of characters and suspects were very entertaining and I frequently smiled, if not outright giggled in places. The mystery itself was not quite as silly which helped too. Recommended to fans of golden-age mysteries.

I've been read Elizabeth Hand's millennial novel Glimmering at home. This isn't one of her more popular books but I'm enjoying it.

OK! You sold me on it. The Lathe of Heaven goes on this years reading list.

I haven't been a regular follower of your threads, but whenever I peek in, you're always reading such interesting books! :) I saw a recommendation of The Time Traveller's Guide elsewhere, and I think I shall have to seek it out--sounds like great fun. I've found that I'm much less "nostalgic" for eras past since reading Judith Tarr's Household Gods. It's one of my favorite books, but like Connie Willis's time-travelling books, it does not romanticize daily life in historical times!

I'm also flying through The lathe of heaven, finding it hard to put down. It reminds me very much of PKD's work, in the worldbuilding and the uncertain nature of reality.

Guess I'm going to have to get around to reading that one then. It's on my shelves but I just need to fit it in somewhere.

>Katy, thanks for commenting! Many of the books I've ended up reading in the last couple of years have been gleaned from other LT users recommendations, and I've found some real winners that way. I'll have to look for the Judith Tarr book you mentioned - she's a writer whose name I know but no more than that.

Peter, Wolfy - yes, do read Lathe of heaven, it's only short so if it doesn't work for you then you haven't wasted much reading time. But I think that if you like PKD then you'll enjoy it.

I've been trying to finish some books this week before I go away tomorrow, so I feel like it's been a productive reading week. I went back and read the last few pieces in In other worlds, Margaret Atwood's collection of essays on SF. I enjoyed the first section the most, which contains the texts of three lectures she gave on different aspects of the genre. The second section collected various articles and book introductions on specific works, and this is where I had to take a break as she made certain points in almost every piece which grew repetitive. Her insights into the books were very interesting though. The third section featured some of her own (very short) SF stories which were fun to read. I wouldn't say this was an essential read for either genre or Atwood fans, but it was interesting and enjoyable.

I also finished Glimmering, which was pretty much what I expect from an Elizabeth Hand novel - decadent, hallucinogenic, sometimes confusing, but difficult to look away from. Her vision of a New York City which has broken down physically and socially, and where a new order is evolving is compelling if not pleasant. Her characters, both protagonists and secondary, are well drawn and their personalities and reactions to events seem realistic given the circumstances. I could have done with fewer masturbation descriptions, but then, I know to expect sexual explicitness from this author and wouldn't read her if it bothered me that much. Not my favourite of her books, but still a good read.

Perhaps to offset that very adult book, I also found myself reading some children's books this week - two of Monica Edwards' Punchbowl Farm titles. The Thornton family bought the neglected farm intending only to keep a milk cow and a couple of ponies, but the eldest son, Dion, wants to make it a proper working farm and the books follow his struggles to balance farming with school, while having very little money to invest in equipment and improvements. His sister Lindsay helps out, but her more romantic nature causes clashes when it comes to issues like pest control (ie: shooting deer, rabbits) and modernisation. The author doesn't shy away from the brutal realities of farm life - in Spirit of Punchbowl Farm, the two heifers and a pregnant mare eat yew and are poisoned, one heifer fatally. A fox kills all but one of the laying hens in The wanderer, and a stray colt causes a traffic accident. But there are plenty of bright moments too, and the banter between the family members is realistic and frequently amusing. I didn't read many of this series when I was a child as they were hard to find, but I am thoroughly enjoying them now.

I didn't quite finish The mother of dreams - I've still got one story left for when I get back. The last one I read was actually quite uplifting - definitely not the norm in this anthology!

As I'm off to India for three weeks, I decided to try and find some appropriate reading for the flight. I realised just how few books by Indian authors I own, something I should remedy. Most of what I have read about India is by Rudyard Kipling and Rumer Godden. Anyway, I found Devi: tales of the goddess in our time which is non-fiction about women in modern India, and Cyberabad days, which I suppose is cheating but I've been meaning to read it for a while now and this seems like a good time!

Whew! That's all from me for a while now. Happy reading everyone!

Safe trip. Enjoy India.

I liked Cyberabad days and I think it's a perfect choice, under the circumstances.
Can't remember if you've read River of Gods - I think that one would be even more perfect ;-)
Stay safe, and enjoy!

Did I see you'll be in India looking for snow leopards? Is this for research? Sounds fun! Hope you have a great time!

Thank you all!

Busifer, yes, I read River of gods a year or two ago and liked it, and have had Cyberabad days on the tbr pile ever since.

Sandragon, that's right. We'll be doing presence-absence surveys and if the data we get is good the aim is to set up a long-term project in the region (Zanskar) with involvement from local communities. Our team leader is a friend from that area who is really keen to establish something of this nature.

Sounds wonderful. Hope it works out for the leopards as well as the communities in the area. Keep us informed of the results?

Have a great trip!

Hope your trip goes very well!

I have mixed feelings about Judith Tarr's books, but I do love Household Gods and I think you would too. It's a very compelling and entertaining story. The Hound and the Falcon, The Dagger and the Cross, and Alamut are also excellent, but in a completely different way. Most of her other novels have simply not interested me, for whatever reason.

Your trip sounds wonderfully exciting! I am an inveterate homebody myself, but I love hearing about others going off on adventures--have a fabulous time!

Hope you enjoyed your trip to India. I've been there a couple of times for weddings and loved it. Everything is so colorful and spicy-smelling there. :)

Thank you all for your good wishes for my travels. We had a really good, though exhausting time, and got some good data, although we didn't actually see any snow leopards. We found lots of fresh tracks though, and got some useful information from villagers. The landscape was awe-inspiring, and the people kind and welcoming. However, it is nice to be back somewhere relatively warm that has central heating and running water! I'd love to go back to Ladakh and see what it is like in summer. Delhi was also fascinating, from what we saw in the day we spent there - definitely somewhere else to return to and explore some more.

I found time to finish both my books while travelling. I enjoyed Cyberabad days as much as I had expected, having loved MacDonald's vision of a future India in River of gods. The story about the ex-goddess was probably my favourite, and The djinn's wife the one I liked least. He certainly captured the heat, dust and chaos of India to perfection.

Devi : Tales of the goddess in our time was an interesting, if flawed read, that entwined characters and stories from Hindu mythology with tales of contemporary women, drawing parallels between them. The book was at its best when the author wrote about the women in her own family, especially her strong-willed aunt. But I found the mythology to ramble in places, and the conflicting versions of the stories and interpretations of the characters were confusing. Not surprisingly, it is not a terribly cheerful read, but I would nevertheless recommend it for a multi-faceted look at women in India.

I did of course manage to acquire books on my travels, and started reading City of djinns, which had been recommended to me as a very good book on Delhi. It's a history of the city but told by an Englishman who lives there as he rambles about the city meeting and talking to people. I'm really enjoying it. It seemed perfect to find this book in a shop in Delhi!

I'm still a bit jetlagged and so not yet back into my usual reading schedule. But Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym will be started soon as it is the March Virago group read title, and I will also be rereading some of Rumer Godden's Indian novels when I have acquired the lovely new Virago reprints of them. And of course there will be some SF or fantasy in the mix soon too.

Friend of mine went to India (Valley of Flowers and Ladakh) in August, and came back with a truly Dragonish series of pictures of a book market that happens once or twice a week (she says) in Delhi. Traders set up on the sidewalk with all manner of books at prices almost everybody can afford; the market covers over a mile of sidewalk. Did you see it?

>64 hfglen:: No, we only had a day in Delhi so not much chance to explore. That alone sounds like a reason to go back, aside from all the sights we didn't have time to see! We did notice that books are cheaper in India than the UK by quite a considerable amount, and I think we'd all have bought more if we'd had more space in our luggage.

I finished reading City of Djinns, and am hugely thankful to the friend who recommended this to me. It was a fascinating read and one that makes me want to go back and explore Delhi some more. The author lived in Delhi for 6 years, from which he draws to create this account of a year in the city. He writes bits about his daily life and experiences but only where they lead into his exploration of the history and culture, so it isn't one of those wacky accounts of a Westerner trying to fit into a foreign place (although there are humorous moments of cultural disconnection). I really enjoyed the way he talked with people of all stripes in order to uncover the stories that lie beneath the present-day city and that have formed it. Contrary to some of the reviewers on here, I did not find it to be heavy going or a difficult read, though of course it is tragic in places. Highly recommended if you are interested in or travelling to this part of the world.

This weekend I devoured Jane and Prudence, finding it very hard to put down. The characters and their world are so well-drawn and compelling that I didn't want to leave them. As in Some tame gazelle, there are no world-changing events, yet what does occur is so important to the characters that the reader cares too. A dispute among PCC members, an attempt at matchmaking, the cover of the parish magazine - all is related with humour and affection. The titular Jane is a rather ineffective vicar's wife, failing to perform the social duties required of the role, yet despite this she and her husband have an affectionate, comfortable marriage, as they seem able to accept each other for who they are, rather than trying to change each other. I didn't feel I got to know Prudence so well, as although we are shown the details of her life I couldn't work out what she actually wanted from it - to be married, or not, a better job, what? Perhaps she doesn't know herself. Anyway, a delightful read from start to finish. I can see why so many of my friends are fans of Barbara Pym.

I'm currently reading The fractal prince, having found it at the library. I can't say I understand much more than I did in the first book, but will persevere. I like the Arabian Nights-y storyline with the sisters.

I'm also reading Seraphina, a YA fantasy that seems to have had universally good reviews. So far, I can see why. Seraphina is a strong heroine who manages to be so despite not beating people up all the time :-) She is self-reliant, intelligent, hard-working and sensible and I like her a lot. The worldbuilding is strong, the plot compelling and the supporting characters well rounded and interesting. Can't wait to read more.

I've also started The black prism, feeling the need for a Big Fat Fantasy Novel fix. Not sure I really like the magic, which seems to be based on the ability to make big pieces of plastic of various colours depending on one's gift, but the characters are likeable and I want to see what they do.

And finally I've started Guard your daughters, a novel from the '50s about an unconventional family with five daughters aged early 20s - 15 years old growing up in relative isolation outside London. I like the narrator, the middle daughter Morgan, and the images of their odd life are intriguing me. This book was discovered by Simon of the Virago group and highly recommended by him; other members who've since read it have also enjoyed it, comparing it to I capture the castle, which is enough to get me to pick it up!

I've had Seraphina sitting on my ottoman waiting to be read for forever. Hoping your review will nudge it further to the top of the TBR pile.

Having finished Seraphina, I would say you should move it up the pile now, @jillmwo! Seraphina is a great character, resourceful and strong, yet one who allows others to help her when she needs it. She makes good friends in the book who are fully formed personalities in their own right, rather than just props to support and make the protagonist look good. I also enjoyed the alt-Mediaeval Europe setting, which seemed fresh despite this being the standard fantasy backdrop for so many series. Hartman's take on dragons is unusual and very cool, and the tension which arises from the uneasy alliance between them and the humans builds convincingly from a restless simmer to boiling heat. This is one of the best YA books I've read in recent years and I'm looking forward to the sequel.

I also finished The fractal prince, much of which passed me by in a blur. I enjoyed bits of it, such as Tawaddud's narrative, but felt completely lost at times and the ending didn't make much clear to me. Not sure if I'll finish the trilogy.

Guard your daughters was a wonderful little novel about a very eccentric family of five sisters whose parents won't send them to school and indeed, are reluctant to let them out into the world at all. The oldest sister, Pandora, has managed to escape by marrying and from her new perspective in "normal" society, she can see that there is something not right behind her parents' protectiveness. Interestingly, her attempts to free her sisters are resisted by them, as they don't want their parents upset and can't see anything wrong with their life (except that they don't get to meet many interesting young men!) There are definite similarities to I capture the castle and anyone who enjoyed that book should seek out a copy of this one.

I'm not a big mystery reader, but a friend of mine recently recommended Fred Vargas' books to me and so when I found a couple of them in my local charity shop I picked them up. This weekend, I read Have mercy on us all, which features the detective Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg and is set in a vividly-realised Paris. I very much enjoyed the gradual build-up, which introduces us to the community in which the crimes take place, and to Adamsberg as he attempts to settle into his new job as Commissionaire of the Murder section. His inability to remember the names of anyone in the department is a running joke throughout the book, just one example of the wry humour which seems characteristic of the author. It's not a cosy book, but there is no gore, and the characters are interestingly quirky. As I read, I realised that some of the minor characters appeared in the other title by Vargas that I'd bought, The three evangelists (the characters in question are the evangelists of the title). So upon finishing Have mercy on us all, I went straight on to read the other book. (Obviously I really enjoyed the first one I read!) I think it is the varied and entertaining characters and the Parisian background that made me enjoy these so much. It looks as though others in the Adamsberg series are set elsewhere, but I'm still going to seek them out.

I'm enjoying The black prism despite the occasional clunker of a sentence. I don't have the book with me to give an example, but some that I read last night made me wince! However, I'm enjoying it; it's been a while since I read a fantasy as traditional as this one (pigboy hero, stony-faced guardsmen, lots of magic) and it's fun.

My take-to-work book is Dry store room no. 1, a non-fiction look behind the scenes at London's Natural History Museum written by one of their palaeontologists. I've been meaning to read it for ages and then Robin McKinley praised it recently on her blog which prompted me to borrow my mum's copy and start it. I'm finding it fascinating. Some will get bogged down in the explanation of the taxonomic process that fills chapter 2, but I think it is necessary to read it in order to understand what follows. It really is the root of natural history study, and the author emphasises its importance. However, he also has a dry sense of humour and a stock of stories of eccentric professors, exciting discoveries, and what can be found lurking behind certain closed doors and in subterranean vaults. The book is making me realise just how much of my A level Biology and Geology I've forgotten in the last 20 years, but it's a really good read for anyone with an interest in the study of natural history and/or life at a major museum.

Claire: Re Seraphina, what's the level of teen angst and romance in that book? I"m so leery of YA stuff. It's either too angsty or too wrapped up in silly romance.

Oh, Dry Store Room sounds lovely!

I love the Fred Vargas books too and have read them all (the translated ones anyway!) and am waiting for the next one which is out soon, I hope.
I have a hard time saying why I love them though. Certainly a lot of it is the quirkiness of them. But for me they have that indefinable sth that makes you want to read them all.

The Vargas series sounds like fun. I've reserved the first one at our library.

>69 majkia:: Very little. The romance is low-key and the characters keep it that way, as there are far more important things for them to worry about. (One of my pet peeves with a book is when you have the world about to end in 3 days, yet people spend hours mooning around around gazing at each other ... bleh!) Also, Seraphina's family and friends are at least as important to her as the love interest; she doesn't toss them aside when he appears.

>70 Marissa_Doyle:: It's excellent, but very rambling. I don't mind that but some of the changes of subject in mid-paragraph can be a bit odd.

>71 infjsarah:: I think I saw the newest one in a bookshop the other day. I'm going to the library today and shall look for more of the series.

>72 Jim53:: I'm reading them as I find them, but there were mentions of things from earlier books that seem to make reading them in order worthwhile.

I read Dry Store a couple of years ago on a whim. It is charming and quirky, with more focus on the people than the science or the physical objects.

So far I've read 3 of Fred Vargas' books and really like her characters. I've still got a couple more of the Adamsberg books on the tbr shelves and will definitely get to at least one of those this year.

I finished Dry store room no. 1 and thought it was excellent. Fortey is passionate about the need for traditional taxonomy to be practiced even in our techologically advanced times and this message comes through clearly amid the mixture of anecdotes about people and objects at the museum. He is obviously very worried about the damage we are doing to the world and the threat to its biodiversity, but he never becomes preachy. I found the chapter on insects to be the most fascinating part of the book, but each section contains its fair share of amusing stories and interesting personalities. A generous supply of illustrations help the reader to visualise some of the organisms, fossils and people described in the text. An entertaining and informative read.

I also read another of Fred Vargas's Adamsberg books, The chalk circle man, which I found at the library. It's her first novel, but was not the first to be translated into English. I could see why. While entertaining, it was not as strong as Have mercy on us all, the third in the series. I think the author had yet to hit her stride, and if it had been the first book I'd read by her I might not have wanted to read any more. I didn't feel Adamsberg himself was terribly well defined as a character; that said, his assistant Danglard was wonderfully depicted right from the start, and there are some endearingly odd secondary characters too.

I borrowed Fated by Benedict Jacka in the same batch of library books, and that is my current read. It owes a lot to the Dresden files books, although it is set in London and Alex Verus has different talents to Harry. It's a fast-paced, engaging read which I'm enjoying a lot, in spite of the supposedly (I think) British Alex having a slightly too American way of speaking. I've seen worse though and it's a minor complaint.

Still plowing through The black prism and enjoying it despite many eye rolling moments. I'm not keen on the magic system, and it is the cause of many info dumps, but somehow I find it hard to put the book down; I want to see how things work out for the characters.

I've also been reading We who are about to ... by Joanna Russ, one of many Women's Press SF series titles on Mount Tbr. It's a fascinating and unconventional take on the standard "We've crashed our spaceship on a strange planet - let's get busy and colonise!" trope. I'm enjoying it but it is going to be bleak.

Okay, you've sold me on Dry Store Room No.1 :)

76, 77: Me too. Just added it to my library request list.

>77 Marissa_Doyle:, 78: I hope you both enjoy it!

I managed to start and finish several books over the last few days (the four day Easter weekend helped with that!) so have a lot of catching up to do.

The black prism kept me gripped to the end, though the things that annoyed me did not get any less. The description of the workings of magic were very info-dumpy, slowing the action to a crawl. Characters had lengthy internal monologues about things that really wouldn't have been on their minds given what they were doing at the time. One character is persuaded by very flimsy arguments to make a decision that is completely at odds with what we have seen of her in the previous 600 pages. Despite all this, I had a hard time putting the book down; I liked these people and want to know what lies ahead for them. I can't recommend this on literary grounds - the prose is very clunky at times - but if you want a fun fantasy read this hits the spot.

I loved Fated and will be looking for the sequels. Alex and his friends and enemies are great characters and I like the London setting which includes many places I am familiar with.

We who are about to ... was an interesting read, though the first half of the book is the most compelling, I thought. It made me think about books like Freedom's landing by Anne McCaffrey, where a small group of people are stranded on a planet with the barest of resources and yet a few months later they have made a fully-functioning society. Russ demolishes this idealism and optimism in a bleak and thought-provoking book. The narrator is not always likeable or admirable but through her actions and, later, her thoughts and memories, we are led to think about human nature, gender, life and death.

Finally I started and finished another library book, The little shadows by Marina Endicott. This Canadian novel tells of three sisters working in Vaudeville before and during WWI. It's a fascinating and well-researched look into a world that is both colourful and dark. Aurora, Clover and Bella are very young when the book opens and despite their mother's chaperonage, they are vulnerable to sexual and economic exploitation. But there are plenty of people to help them out too and even when things get very bleak their determination and grit keeps them going. I really enjoyed this book; there is plenty of drama and many larger than life characters, but it never goes over the top or wallows in melodrama. The sisters are quite different in personality but all are likeable and easy to empathise with, and the genuine love they share for each other is good to see when so many authors prefer to put women at odds with each other.

Now I'm reading another Fred Vargas from the library, An uncertain place. I haven't decided what my next "bedtime" book will be yet; there are several options all clamouring at me from the Tbr stacks!

Glad to hear you enjoyed Fated. I'm trying to decide whether to go ahead with the third and fourth or pace myself a bit!

More good words for Fated probably means I'm going to have to pick it up at some point.

Joanna Russ isn't always a *pleasant* read, but she is always an interesting one. My favorite of hers is How to Suppress Women's Writing. Chewed on that one for quite a while in my twenties. I may add We Who Are About To to my TBR list.

>80 Stillman:: I've devoured each one as I've found it; they are quite addictive!

>81 AHS-Wolfy:: I'll be interested to read your review if you do pick it up.

>82 jillmwo:: I gave How to suppress ... to a friend for her birthday; I think I'll borrow it back from her.

An uncertain place was another excellent entry in the Inspector Adamsberg series. I liked the jaunts to London and Serbia and the usual mix of odd characters - with bonus cats! If you are like me, you will need to know before reading that all the kittehs are unharmed at the end of the book.

I've also read Fate by L. R. Fredericks, an engaging romp through Georgian-era England and Europe. It follows young Lord Francis Damory on a quest for alchemical knowledge, passing through colleges, brothels, stately homes, monasteries, ships, bookshops and libraries along the way. As you'd expect, he encounters a colourful cast of characters along the way. Francis is an entertaining first-person narrator and his adventures make for compelling reading. His actions aren't always admirable (though they are usually well-intentioned), and he knows this, but one can't help liking him anyway. There is a lot of sex mentioned in the book, but it is never described. It seems that this book is the second in a very loose trilogy set around the house of Farundell, but other than a sort of prologue and a paragraph at the end, the story stands alone. A good read for those who enjoy historical fiction with a touch of alchemy.

Continuing with my self-imposed challenge to read more books from other languages, I'm now reading The Master and Margarita, which I've been meaning to get to for a long time.

And I found The blinding knife, sequel to The black prism at the library, so I'm flying through that too. It's less eyerolling than the first novel and I'm still enjoying the characters and their adventures.

I'm looking forward to your thoughts on M&M. After I finish my ER book, I'll have a free choice for the first time in a while, and that's on the short list.

>84 Jim53:: I'll try and think of something coherent to say about it! It's not a very coherent book so far though ... But I am enjoying it.

I'm also currently reading Less than angels, this month's Barbara Pym, and loving it. Unfortunately my lunch break ended on a cliffhanger, so now I am little distracted at work this afternoon :-/

I read Master and Margarita last year, I think, and while I enjoyed it, I had to nip into Wikipedia fairly often. My review is here if you'd like to compare notes after you finish.

I adored Less than angels, a very funny look at the lives and loves of a group of anthropologists in 1950s London. Pym drew on her own experiences of her job at an institute of anthropology for the novel, and the characters preoccupations with their work "in the field" and with the issue of funding all ring true. There are many quotable lines and some hilarious set-pieces, such as the country house weekend to which the candidates for funding are invited. There are also Pym's usual observations of the details of everyday life, with which she draws parallels to the customs of the tribes studied by the students. An excellent read.

I also finished The blinding knife, which was another fun installment in the Lightbringer series. There were fewer eyerolling moments in this one, but it ends on a horrible cliffhanger with most of the main characters thrown into perilous new situations. Not sure when book 3 is due, and I've also heard that the series is being extended from 3 books to 4, which is not always a good thing. Still, I'll be looking eagerly for book 3 at the library as soon it is released.

I've nearly finished The master and Margarita and have been enjoying the journey, while aware that I am probably missing a whole layer of the book. It's chaotic and crazy and you're never quite sure what is going to happen next. I did have the Wikipedia article at hand (as my copy doesn't have an introduction), but a quite a lot of it I already knew or could have figured out myself. Hopefully my thoughts will become clearer once I've read the last 3 chapters that remain.

Next up will be Excession, the one Iain M. Banks book that I've tried and not been able to get into. Hope this time is the charm.

My copy of The Master and Margarita did have a foreword, but mostly I used Wikipedia to look up phrases and words that were unfamiliar to me (If a book drives me to dictionary or encyclopedia, I consider it has done its job :) ) When I think about it, the construction of the book isn't that different from how Excession starts out -- disparate pieces of the story all seemingly coming from no where, with no visible signs of connection, until as you go along they start to interweave and cross over and suddenly there's a pattern. Sort of like those pictures that are made out of hundreds of little pictures that you must stare at for a while until you see the "big picture" instead of all those little dots of pictures.

Brent Weeks is on my list of 'not sure whetehr to try authors'. I see the books around a lot, and they look like they ought to be the sort of thing I'd enjoy, but somethign keeps putting me off buying them. Maybe I'll library it one day. Is Prism better than Way of Shadows?

>80 Stillman:: I haven't read the Shadows trilogy as it didn't really appeal to me; I've read too many similar fantasy series over the years. I'd definitely say to go the library route; while I found the Lightbringer books extremely compelling this was despite very clunky prose, infodumps, and frequent eyerolling at things that weren't quite as funny/clever as the author thought they were. Definitely a guilty pleasure - the McDonalds of fantasy, perhaps? :-)

I finished The Master and Margarita last night, and am still trying to collect my thoughts. It was a great read, no question about it - wild and anarchic, funny, outrageous and moving too. I expect everyone knows the premise by now - the Devil visits Moscow with his entourage of villainous tricksters and proceeds to cause havoc, especially to the greedy, petty and corrupt. People are beheaded, not always permanently; innocent rouble notes turn out to be contraband foreign currency, or useless pieces of scrap paper, at the most awkward of times; people mysteriously disappear and turn up in the oddest places; embarrassing secrets are revealed at inconvenient moments. All Moscow is in an uproar. While this is going on, we meet the Master, a writer whose work was scorned brutally by the literary authorities which led him to reject the woman he loves and to lose his purpose in life. His lover Margarita seeks vengeance on his behalf, which desire leads her to fall in with the Devil and his minions, and become a witch. The scene where she flies naked over Moscow by night is particularly stunning, as is the surreal ball she then attends (which was based on a real event). We also get to read chapters from the Master's novel, which tells of the events of Holy Week through the eyes of Pontius Pilate. These three strands are drawn together eventually in a satisfying way, though I was always aware of references and layers that I didn't quite get due to not having a detailed knowledge of the time and place. Despite this, I really loved the book and will definitely read it again, and highly recommend it to others. It's a wild ride!

>86 Murphy-Jacobs:, 88: I read your review after I finished the book and thought your comparison to a collage was very apt. It took a long time for the significance of the Pilate chapters to become clear, but I really liked the way Bulgakov resolved that strand. I did enjoy that I couldn't tell what was going to happen next, what further chaos was going to erupt. But all those factors do make it hard to come away with a clear impression of the book and to produce a coherent response to it!

I've now started Excession, and am up to where we meet Fivetide of the Affront for the first time. Banks' aliens are always excellent and these are some of his best. I did find the preceding section from the drone's perspective heavy going, probably because I was tired when reading it.

At home I'm reading Dreams and shadows, a very dark (to me) novel about fairies and changelings set in Austin TX. These are not your cute little flower fairies (although some do appear to be pretty, even they are tricksters) but much more sinister creatures who bear humans no goodwill at all. It's a library book which is just as well because I'm not sure I want to keep a book that is this gory. (Yes, I'm a wimp!)

>90 Sakerfalcon: I wonder if reading a different translation of the book would help at all? I will have to see what is available. I'm willing to guess that the university library to which I have access might produce something.

I'm slow on Excession, mostly because my brain is in butterfly mode and I can't seem to settle down to anything for more than a few minutes. Once I get back into it, though, I expect to read through a good hunk.

I got a bit lost with The Master and Margarita a couple of years ago and never finished. It's sat on my pile of books started but never finished ever since... I think I might dust it off and give it a go very soon on the basis of your review. Thanks!

>92 Stillman:: I hope you have better luck next time! If I hadn't managed to read a bit every day I think I'd have got lost; I needed to keep the characters in my head to remember who each one was and what had happened to him/her.

>91 Murphy-Jacobs:: Not sure the translation was an issue for me, although I might try a different one on a reread just for fun. My friend who read the book a while ago said that the commentaries she read all suggested that there are multiple possible interpretations of the book and no-one is quite sure which Bulgakov intended! I agree that M&M and Excession are similar in that you need to be prepared to concentrate on them when you start reading and again, it would be easy to lose the plot if you have to put it down for too long.

>93 Sakerfalcon: I just dug through library holdings and pulled up a critical companion to the novel and a different translation with notes, so I'm going to give those a try to see what I come up with :) I expect it is a novel -- like any good novel, in my opinion -- subject to a great deal of conflicting and varied interpretation.

Maybe I should give The Master and Margarita another look. I read it many years ago and don't remember a single thing other than that I found it somewhat bewildering. Perhaps I was just too young. By your description, I ought to have loved it.

>95 Meredy:: It certainly is bewildering - but I did love it anyway!

Today I finished Dreams and shadows so that I could return it to the library. I did enjoy it; I liked the two main characters, who meet as 7/8 year old boys caught up in the world of Faerie, and who we then see as 20somethings living in Austin TX. The inhabitants of faerie come from all branches of folklore - Celtic, European, Native American, Arabian and others, something which, if you have read American gods, is not as odd as it may appear. The main problem I had with the book was that it is a bit too gory. If someone is stabbed with a pike, I do not need to be told that his organs then spilled out onto the sidewalk (for example). This and a slightly weak ending led me to rate the book a little lower than I would otherwise have done.

I'm about 2/3 of the way through Excession and really enjoying it.

From the library I have
The red knight
The dirty streets of heaven and
Great north road
lined up to read.

And my next work-in-translation will probably be The good soldier Svejk.

I am glad you are enjoying Excession.

I enjoyed The Good Soldier Svejk. If you like it you might also like The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin.

I finished Excession this weekend. It was a good read, but not my favourite of Banks' SF novels. By the end, I found it hard to keep track of which Minds were allied with whom, and who was doing what at any one time. But the Affront were wonderfully awful; I would never want to encounter one but they are fun to read about. It's probably a book that I will get more from on a reread, so I will keep my copy in hopes of having time to do so one day.

I've just started The good soldier Svejk, but it's too soon to have formed an opinion of it.

And I picked The red knight from my stack of library books and managed to read the first couple of hundred pages at the weekend. It's quite gritty, having much in common with A song of ice and fire, although it's definitely not a copy of it. Most of the characters are mercenaries or knights, fighting to keep the powers of the Wild at bay. The alternate Mediaeval Britain/Europe is very well drawn, clearly based on extensive research into the history of the Middle Ages. It's a good read so far.

#99 I find all Iain Banks' Science Fiction good, but some very good. Excession slotted into the former category in my opinion, enjoyable but not standing out as one of the greats.

The Culture novels I really enjoyed a lot were, Consider Phlebas, The Player of Games, Look to Windward, and Surface Detail. The rest I only enjoyed a lot. :-)

Of his non-Culture Science Fiction novels I think Feersum Endjinn and The Algebraist are the two I would put at the top of the league. Many people didn't like The Algebraist but I thought it was very good and I loved the Dwellers, a species that lives on/in gas giants.

I would suggest The Good Soldier Svejk is another book that people will either love or hate. I took to Svejk's cunning laziness and enjoyed the chaos that ensued.

Enjoy your reading. I look forward to hearing your views.

Hmmm.. I've got Feersum Endjinn staring at me from the shelf. Maybe that should jump up the list.

#101 A word of warning, Jim, Feersum Endjinn has a character whose conversation is written phonetically and it could take a bit of getting used to. I loved it but I know people who didn't take to it.

102: I know that I wouldn't. I wouldn't even get past the title.

I am totally intrigued by that [phonetic reading], and now I want to know if it's as fun as it seems it could be, or is a hideous chore to get through, LOL

#104 I found it great fun. The title is an example of the phonetics used, and it is only one of the characters whose conversation is phonetically spelled. It's one of those things that you can get into and then enjoy. It also provides a feeling of achievement having worked out what was being said, a bit like solving a simple puzzle.

The story is also very intriguing with some clever twists.

heh yeah, that's pretty much how I was thinking; I like puzzles, and linguistic stuff, and sometimes goof around spelling a bit more that way and whatnot, so it sounds fun to me!

Feersum endjinn is one of my favourite of Banks' SF books. I too found the phonetic spelling to be fun, and it's quite easy to figure out once you get into it. My other favourites are Consider Phlebas, The player of games, Matter and Against a dark background. I need to reread The algebraist.

I'm a few chapters into Svejk and really enjoying it so far. I loved the scene where the men are exchanging strategies for avoiding enlistment by faking various ailments (always unsuccessfully). I'm up to where Svejk is serving as batman to the chaplain.

I can see you are someone who would enjoy the Private Chonkin book I mentooned above.

>108 pgmcc:: I suspect I would, based on my continuing enjoyment of Svejk's (mis)adventures. It's one I'll try and track down in the future.

I'm also reading The devil you know, based on praise from @AHS-Wolfy, @Majkia and @Stillman. It's very good so far, more noir than the Alex Verus book I read earlier, but just as compelling.

Finished The devil you know; it was a good read although I think I slightly prefered Fated by Benedict Jacka as a London based, male protag, urban fantasy. I'll certainly look for more of the series. I have to say that so far, Carey writes better female characters than Jacka.

I've also finished The red knight, a faux-Mediaeval based fantasy that follows a mercenary company as they defend a nunnery from attack, and find themselves pitched into all-out war. It's very well researched in terms of the military detail and wider society that would have existed in Britain/Europe in the C13th/14th, but has the addition of magic - although even that relates to hermeneutical and alchemical theories that were practiced and believed. Religion is a strong factor too. Obviously most of the characters are male, and there is a lot of violence, but I never found it as disturbing as ASOIAF. While we are told that the mercenaries are brutish and sadistic, we aren't really shown much of this (which came as a relief - I was rather dreading being shown the obvious consequences of housing soldiers in a convent!) There are a large number of viewpoint characters, but I found it easy to keep track of them all and enjoyed seeing events through different eyes. The book has been compared to both ASOIAF and the Black Company novels; I have yet to read the latter so can't say whether the comparison is fair or not. While The red knight has much in common with GRRM's work, it doesn't feel that similar, mainly because it lacks the politics, the world feels smaller, and the violence is virtually all related to the battles in the war (and far, far less of it is directed against women). I must just add that this is one of the worst proofread books I've seen in a long time. I enjoyed it, and might look for the sequel when it is published, but am glad that the author didn't leave us on a cliffhanger.

Still enjoying the exploits of Svejk and his comrades as they get ever closer to the Front. There are definitely times when he reminds me of Baldrick from Blackadder (though more hygienic!), such as this moment:
"Calm yourself, Svejk!"

"Humbly report sir, if it were not insubordinate of me, I'd like to say I can't calm myself, but as things are I must say that following your instructions I'm already quite calm again."

#110 Sakerfalcon, you are pushing towards a re-read of Svejk.

By the way, I discovered, and have acquired, The Red Commissar: Including further adventures of the good soldier Švejk and other stories and am looking forward to reading it. I think I will have to do the re-read first.

I finished Svejk and thoroughly enjoyed it. It did drag a little in the middle, but picked up again in the last 100 pages. It was highly entertaining to follow Svejk's journey through various encounters with bureaucracy, and to see how his simple manner and self-proclaimed stupidity could leave the most hardened officials dumbfounded. I must mention the illustrations, which are perfectly suited to the mood of the text, with instantly recognisable depictions of the characters. Svejk himself is drawn with a beatific smile on his round face, and reminds me rather of Lofting's drawings of Doctor Dolittle! I'm very glad I chose to read this Czech classic, and will keep it to come back to.

Now I'm reading Tad William's foray into Urban Fantasy, The dirty streets of Heaven. I'm really enjoying it; the hero is interesting and an engaging narrator, and the supporting characters are well drawn.

As I've been reading a lot of books by men lately, I've also picked up Tirra lirra by the river, an Australian novel that won the Miles Franklin award.

And I'm reading Railsea which was a recent find at the library. It took a bit of time to get into but now I'm enjoying it, though PSS and The city and the city are still my favourites of his.

The Red Knight does sound like the Black COmpany novels. I sort of enjoyed them, but there is a dispassionate viewpoint which prevents you getting fully engaged with the characters. Kind of like watching the action from a distance.

I am delighted you enjoyed Svejk.
I must get round to PSS soon. I enjoyed the crime investigation in The City & The City.

>113 reading_fox:: I have the first Black Company omnibus on the tbr pile. Maybe I will get to it in the next year or so ...

>114 pgmcc:: PSS seems to be a bit of a love it or hate it book. Lots of people have been turned off by the grotesqueness and all the description, I think, but I really enjoyed all that.

Finished The dirty streets of Heaven and really liked it. Good (male) characters, interesting take on the supernatural and the afterlife, and a Bay Area setting. Slightly disappointing female characters. Not sure why I'm suddenly into Urban Fantasy at the moment, but it's certainly led me to some fun reads.

Also finished Railsea, which I found a bit disappointing. It was slow to grab my interest, then the second quarter was great, but after that it dropped off again when the characters split up and three plot lines were running simulataneously. That's not something I usually have a problem with - it's the norm in most Big Fat Fantasy Novels, after all - but I think in this case the intrusive omniscent narrator spoiled it for me. "Now it's time to go back to the Shroakes - but no! This story is more important so we're going to stay with it!" That is a paraphrase, but it's not far off the reality. The setting was intriguing, as always with Mieville, although I had a hard time imagining how there was room for the Moldywarpes to break the surface if the ground was so densely covered in rail tracks as was implied. I did like the ending. I'm glad I didn't buy this as I'm not sure I'd go back and reread it.

Another book completed - Tirra lirra by the river. This is a short Australian novel about memory and how we manipulate it to help ourselves deal with difficult events. The protagonist is an older lady in her seventies, who returns to her childhood home in Queensland after having lived in Sydney and London. As she lies in bed recovering from pneumonia she looks back at her childhood, marriage and career, and reassesses her memories of people and places from her past. It's beautifully written and constructed, and is a rare book that uses the present tense to good effect. A quiet but intriguing read.

And finally I read the fourth of Elfrida Vipont's "Lark" books, Flowering Spring, about a large Quaker family in the mid C20th. Brother and sister Christopher and Laura are at the heart of this one, with their struggle to pursue the careers they desire against the expectations of their parents. These are lovely books and should appeal to anyone who enjoys "girlsown" literature.

Now I've embarked upon the epic Great North Road by Peter Hamilton. His books have been recommended to me by a friend whose taste in SF I respect, but other reports have put me off a bit. This one has got off to a good start though, with a weird murder in a C22nd Newcastle-upon Tyne. (And it's supposed to be complete in one volume, which is a good thing as his single books are longer than some authors' trilogies!) This will be my "read at work" book as it is too big to carry around or read in bed, and I have to choose what next for my "commuting" and "home" books.

Going back to the discussion on Banks SF I haven't had the guts to try Feersum Enjinn yet.
I really REALLY like the idea but not having any kind of English as my native tongue I am afraid to not getting any of it... I rely too much on spelling, I guess ;-)

It's good to see you back here, Busifer! If you ever do pluck up the courage to try Feersum endjinn, I'll be interested to hear how you get on with it. I'd find that sort of thing daunting in any language but English!

I've started reading A glass of blessings by Barbara Pym as my commuting book. It's this month's group read in the Virago group.

And my "read in bed" book is an odd little timeslip book that I've borrowed from a friend, Still she wished for company. At first I thought the present-day section took place in the 1960s, but I've just found out that the book was written in the 1920s! The characters feel much more modern than that.

Well, having gone and looked up Still She Wished For Company, I am now intrigued by Margaret Irwin. Have you read any of her other work, @Sakerfalcon? I ask because the marketing blurb from Bloomsbury indicates that she wrote a wonderful book about the Earl of Montrose and I am sometimes a real sucker for a good romantic tale of Scotland. Is Company a kind of gentle fiction?

>118 jillmwo:: Jill, both her Elizabeth trilogy and The galliard are on my Tbr pile. Irwin is best known for her straight historical fiction, I think, and Company certainly shows her skill in depicting the past and its people. It also has a strong streak of the supernatural, as Juliana has a kind of second sight that her brother is exploiting. It's a very intriguing book that I am enjoying a lot.

It's been a little while since I updated, and I've finished several books since then.

Still she wished for company was a lovely little book, very haunting and a little sad. Most of the story takes place in the C18th, with just the right sort of historical detail - vivid, but not resorting to info dumps. The life of a young woman at that time is very well described, with its mix of everyday boredom relieved by visits from friends and the anticipation of marriage in the future. The supernatural strand is plausibly woven in and not over-explained, leaving the reader and the characters unsure as to what exactly has occured.

A glass of blessings was another excellent novel by Barbara Pym. Several of us in the Virago group have commented that we really did not like Wilmet, the protagonist and first-person narrator, finding her to be self-centred and blinkered when it comes to those around her. She tends to judge by appearances, being overly concerned with clothes and good looks, and only sees people in terms of their relationship to herself. Fortunately, the supporting characters are wonderful - the three high Anglican priests and their kleptomaniac housekeeper Mr Bason, Wilmet's mother-in-law Sybil, Piers Longridge and his mysterious housemate, and the head server Mr Coleman, among others. Wilmet is redeemed slightly by the end of the book, as she is self aware enough to realise that she has made some wrong assumptions about people, and the whole thing is full of Pym's usual dry humour and sharp observation of human foibles.

I finished Great North Road and really enjoyed it. Hamilton's prose is nothing special and his editor should have fixed the comma splices but the story gripped me so much that I didn't really care. I liked the characters and the two main contrasting story arcs, in Newcastle and on St Libra, and even though the book is huge I found it fast moving. This can probably be classified with Brent Weeks' Lightbringer books as a guilty pleasure - hard to put down despite some obvious flaws.

I've also managed to devour The Kashmir shawl, a novel that was recommended to me by a friend who'd seen my photos from Ladakh. The book is a bit more "chick-litty" (for lack of a better term) than I usually read, but I thought it was very good. The author has travelled in Kashmir and her descriptions of the people and places were excellent. It's one of those books that has 2 parallel storylines, one from the past and the other set in the present. Mair finds a beautiful shawl while clearing out her parents' house, and sets out to investigate where it might have come from and why they owned such a thing. Then we cut to scenes from her grandmother's life as a missionary's wife in 1940s Kashmir. To be honest, the present-day story wasn't really necessary; this could have been a straight-up historical novel, which would have avoided the problem of the reader knowing far more than the present-day characters of the story they are trying to discover. It was hard to remember what Mair did or did not know; she would receive a new piece of information and I'd think "But we already know that" before realising "Oh, but she doesn't!" The 1940s sections are terrific, with three contrasting female characters who are actually friends and who support each other instead of competing for male attention. This is a quick, entertaining read and I'd recommend it to readers who like a good story in an atmospheric setting.

I've also been reading some more Monica Edwards, this time Punchbowl harvest and The Nightbird. Both are well up to the high standards of this series and I will be sorry when I've run out of new-to-me titles.

I haven't decided what I'll read next; I was going to start Telegraph Avenue but it's due back at the library today and I don't know if I'll be able to renew it. I brought Till we have faces as a back-up, so I can reread it for Morphy's monthly book discussion.

The Kashmir Shawl seems interesting. I think I'll look for it.

Sylvia, it's a good read, but does rely rather heavily on coinicidence and convenience. But it is a nice escape from the everyday.

The library let me keep Telegraph Avenue, and I managed to finish it over the weekend. I liked it, but didn't love it. I was not at all keen on the prose style, which managed to be overly detailed and yet rather vague. He picked out lots of detail but didn't fill in the bigger picture so, for example, you know all about the shoes a character is wearing but not what the person actually looks like. Brokeland Records and the people it draws in are interesting enough that I wanted to keep reading, but I didn't find many of the characters especially likeable. *SLIGHT SPOILER*I did like that the characters face major upheavals in their lives, and despite wanting to prevent change and keep things the way they have been, this is not possible; the end of the novel sees them heading out on new courses towards new goals. *END SPOILER*I have The Yiddish Policemen's Union on Mount Tbr so I will give Chabon another shot; I had heard that Telegraph Avenue was not the best place to start with his work, but the Bay Area setting and the music industry connection made me pick it up anyway.

I'm about half-way through my reread of Till we have faces, and enjoying it just as much as I remember. I sympathise with Orual as the plain sister, and find her a compelling narrator - slightly formal but still conveying her emotions.

While looking for another book, I found my copy of Joyce Carol Oates' YA novel Freaky Green Eyes and started reading the first page. Two hours later I closed the book having just read the last page. It was a gripping and powerful story about familial love and how it can be twisted and used to manipulate others. Franky, the narrator, has noticed that things are changing between her parents, that her mother has started making art and finding new friends, and that this makes her father, a charismatic, charming ex-football player and sports broadcaster, angry and tense. As events unfold the tension increases and Franky and her younger sister are caught in the middle. This is a short book but it packs a punch.

One of my favourite books from last year was The family Fang by Kevin Wilson. I recently managed to get hold of his short story collection, Tunneling to the center of the earth and have been reading a story or two a week from it. I read the last two yesterday, and concluded that he is a writer I will keep watching. I enjoy his slightly off-kilter view of the world, in which people work in Scrabble factories or for companies that provide subsititute grandparents, and where a museum houses collections of random everyday objects. Most stories mix humour with pathos and although they may seem whimsical on the surface, there is real emotion and depth to them. My favourites were "Grand stand-in", "The Museum of Whatnot", "Go. Fight. Win" and the title story.

I've just started reading Tove Jansson's short novel Fair play, about two women artists; I'm saving the introduction for last, but I'll be interested to see how autobiographical this is.

And at home I'm reading Raven boys by Maggie Stiefvater. I didn't think much of her Shiver trilogy, which was horrendously angsty, but this sounds more appealing to me and has got off to a good start.

Well, Fair play was short and sweet. It's more a series of vignettes than a novel, showing us scenes from the life of the two artists who have become lifelong companions to each other. This book is definitely more about character and atmosphere than plot, and I found it to be subtle and rather lovely. The things that are not said can be as important as those that are stated outright.

I've just started Bring up the bodies as my commuting book.

Bring up the bodies was excellent, incredibly gripping even though I know how things are going to turn out. I still dislike Mantel's prose - present tense is not my favourite, and her trick of referring to Cromwell as "he" is just silly, especially when she has to clarify who "he" is. You get sentences like "He, Cromwell, looks up" when just saying "Cromwell looks up" would be less fussy. But I love her characterisation of these well-known figures from history, and all the little details of life in Tudor times, which are well integrated and never info-dumpy.

I also finished The raven boys and really liked it. It was remarkably not-angsty for a recent YA book (although this may change in future installments as there is clearly a tragedy being set up). I enjoyed the characters, especially Blue and her quirky psychic family, and also like the rural Virginia setting. I'll be waiting for the next volume to appear.

I borrowed Wintergirls from the library, another YA title. This deals with the trauma of a friend's suicide, and with eating disorders and the devastation they wreak. The first-person narration was very immediate and it was easy to be drawn into the obsession with weight and calorie counting.

Another library read was Jack Glass, the latest novel by Adam Roberts. It's a blend of SF and mystery, set in a far future universe. We know from the start that the title character is the murderer; the interest is in revealing how and why he has committed his crimes, and what the consequences are. I thought it was excellent and found it hard to put down.

I'm currently reading A fire upon the deep for the monthly GD read, and will be starting No fond return of love for the Virago group read. And I'd better pick something from my pile of nonfiction/books in translation that I haven't touched for a while ...

Thanks to some long quiet evenings at work, I finished A fire upon the deep recently. I found it very engaging, and enjoyed all three plot lines. At one point it did feel like Ravna's story was being put into a holding pattern while events on the planet got themselves into the right place for things to intercept, but it was actually all relevent in the end. I loved Vinge's aliens - the wolfpack-like Tines and the treelike Skroderiders, which were fascinating to read about. And Johanna and Jefri were good child characters, with realistic reactions for their age but not getting annoying. I did think that Ravna was too trusting, never even wondering if Jefri might be being manipulated to win her sympathy; I think she should have had a t least a few questions about what she was being asked for. But all in all, a really good read. I'm very glad that Morphy's group reading project bumped this one to the top of the pile!

No fond return of love was another delightful Barbara Pym, containing her usual mix of single women, clergymen, academics and eccentrics. Dulcie was outrageous in her blatant snooping - she would certainly enjoy using and abusing google, facebook, etc were she around in our time - which makes for some hilarious scenes. I didn't think it was quite as good as Some tame gazelle or Jane and Prudence, but it was still highly entertaining.

I've also read Onions in the stew, Betty MacDonald's humorous memoir of life on Vashon Island in the 1940s. This was what I had hoped Shirley Jackson's Life among the savages would be like when I read it last year - funny without being forced, capturing the atmosphere of her location through rounded portraits of people and places. I was enchanted by Onions, whereas Savages just seemed cloying to me. I will definitely be reading more of MacDonald's memoirs.

This weekend I read a YA novel by Midori Snyder, Hannah's garden. It's an urban fantasy in the Charles de Lint vein, where the supernatural manifests in the form of nature and animal spirits rather than werewolves and vampires. Cassie is a good protagonist, capable and not angsty, and her relationship with her mother is strong - not without conflict, but generally positive. It was a quick read and very good.

I found The innocents at the library recently and decided to pick it up, interested as it is a retelling of The age of innocence set in comtemporary North London Jewish society. I thought the setting was very well done (though occasionally info-dump-y), capturing the simulaneously supportive and claustrophobic nature of a very close-knit community, but wasn't terribly keen on the characters. Adam wants to think that he would be able to break out and join Ellie's Bohemian world, but he's kidding himself. We only ever see Ellie through his eyes, and he never sees her as a real person so she doesn't come fully alive to us. Rachel is annoyingly smug, although I appreciated her subtle manipulations which show her inner strength under the cosseted facade. I did very much like the main secondary characters - Adam's mother and sister, Rachel's parents, and her and Ellie's grandmother. But there were too many friends and neighbours introduced in party and synagogue scenes who weren't really important and who it was hard to keep track of. Still, I did read this to the end, eager to see how Segal would handle Wharton's ending. And her descriptions of food throughout the book made me hungry!

Now I'm reading The starboard sea, a novel set in a New England prep school, and This real night, the second book about the Aubrey family by Rebecca West. I'm going on holiday for a few days at the end of this week so I'm hoping I can finish these before I leave, and take completely new books away with me.

I love Betty McDonald's memoirs--The Plague and I was also good.

Jack Glass sounds intriguing. I'll keep an eye out for it. I like genre-blenders.

The Egg and I by Betty MacDonald is one of my all-time favorites which I reread frequently.

Onions in the Stew has been catching my eye the last several times I've looked for Gerald Durrell books in the used book store. But enough hemming and hawing, you've convinced me to grab it the next time I'm there, which'll be next week. (Holding thumbs it's still there.)

I enjoyed The Fountain Overflows by Rebecca West, but don't think I knew there were more titles dealing with the family. The second volume sounded interesting when I looked it up.

Enjoy your holidays!

Sandragon, I hope you are able to snag the copy of Onions in the stew. I really did love it, and have The plague and I and Anybody can do anything on the Tbr pile. I've just spent the last few days holidaying on an island, and many of Betty's observations in Onions sprang into my mind!

Jill, I didn't enjoy This real night quite as much as Fountain, but it is really interesting to see what happens to the characters next. I did find it a bit heavy-going at times though, as much of the narrative is Rose describing events rather than showing them directly.

I didn't have as much time to read as I thought I might while on holiday, as the weather was much better than forecast and we were able to be outside a lot of the time. But I did manage to finish A change in the lighting, an Australian novel about a middle-aged woman whose husband suddenly leaves her for another woman. We see how her relationships with friends and family change and evolve as she responds to this upset in her life. It is neither angsty or artifically uplifting, just a slice of life at a time of crisis. I really enjoyed following the main character's journey as she makes a new life for herself.

Now I'm reading A tale for the time being, part of which is also set on an island. That wasn't a deliberate choice! It's very good so far.

Just finished A tale for the time being, which was an excellent read. It's a dual narrative, one strand being the diary of a teenage Japanese girl who doesn't fit in at school and who finds a connection with her Buddhist grandmother; the other story is of Ruth and her husband Oliver who live on a remote island in British Columbia and find Nao's diary washed up on the shore one day. I found both plotlines compelling and the characters well-drawn and sympathetic. There is a touch of magical realism towards the end as the two narratives are connected mysteriously; this, and a missing cat, reminded me of the work of Haruki Murakami. I really enjoyed this book, and it is one of my favourites of 2013 so far. In fact, when I saw a copy of Ozeki's first novel, My year of meat, in a charity shop this weekend, I just had to buy it as I want to read more from this author.

I'm currently reading The flame trees of Thika, which I started reading on holiday but had to leave behind as it was my friend's copy. I found it in the second hand shop when I returned, and so have picked up from where I left off. It's a fascinating (fictionalised) memoir of growing up as a British child in Kenya in the 1910s. Both white and native people are vividly drawn as are the landscape and nature (although some rather horrible things happen to animals, which is not surprising but still hard to read).

And I couldn't resist reading more Betty MacDonald, this time The plague and I. It's hard to believe now how prevalent TB once was (no wonder the doctors in the Chalet School books were so busy!)

#132 I looked at A tale for the time being and was put off by the first page. Your description has persuaded me that I will give it a try at some stage. Saying that it reminded you of Haruki Murakami was probably the straw that broke the back of my resistance.

Thank you, Sakerfalcon!

>133 pgmcc:: It's a gentler and less disturbing book than anything I've read by Murakami, but the uncertain nature of reality and the treatment of WWII from a Japanese perspective did remind me of The wind-up bird chronicle. The environmental themes are Ozeki's own, though.

#134 I read The wind-up bird chronicle recently. I liked what he did with the issue of identity.

I haven't updated this in a while, have I! I finished Flame trees and thought it was fascinating. While the settlers' views of their presence in Kenya being a "good influence" for the natives are uncomfortable to read, Huxley's portraits of the various tribesmen and women are never condescending. She clearly describes the different peoples, not making the mistake that they are all the same racially and culturally, and the only times (I think) that she refers to them as "Africans" is when making comparisons to "Europeans". The descriptions of the landscape and wildlife are wonderful, though sad when you realise how much has been lost since those times, and the stories of life on the fledgling coffee plantations are frequently moving and/or amusing. I'm hoping to acquire the follow-up volume, The mottled lizard asap.

To compare, I've been reading Wizard of the crow, a magical-realist political satire which is apparently based on the Moi dictatorship in Kenya. It's a fantastic read (in all senses of the word), and reminds me of The master and Margarita in its mix of surreal, frequently hilarious events and the pointed dissection of the corrupt government. Our hero and heroine are lovely characters, not perfect but determined to do what is right and to fight corruption. The self-serving ministers who grovel to the Ruler while seeking to feather their own nests are all too convincing in their scheming. For such a long book (750 pages) it's been a quick read and one I always looked forward to picking up. I've got about 50 pages to go before the end, and I'm saving them for my train journey home.

I finished The plague and I and thorougly enjoyed it. MacDonald's portraits of the staff and patients at the sanatorium to which she is admitted are great, and her humour prevents what is a grim subject from becoming depressing. I can see why so many people love this book, and MacDonald generally.

I've started The daemon prism, which is meeting the high standards of the rest of the trilogy so far.

Up next is Alif the unseen which I found at the library. It's been described as "cyberpunk meets the Arabian nights" - sounds good to me!

Finished Alif the unseen, which I really enjoyed. Alif can be an idiot but the characters call him on it and he does learn and grow. Dina is a great character, and I loved the djinni and how they fit into the modern Middle Eastern setting. At times, the book reminded me of The dervish house, but without the irritating present-tense prose writing.

The daemon prism was a good read, though not quite as good as the first two books in the trilogy. Dante made some really bad decisions in this book that I couldn't quite fathom, and some things seemed to happen just because the plot demanded it, rather than flowing naturally from preceding events. Still, I recommend the series to anyone who likes well-written, unconventional fantasy stories, and I'm looking forward to whatever Berg writes next.

I've also read The sweet dove died, which was another excellent novel by Barbara Pym. This one was quite different to her earlier books which are gentle comedies set around church and village/suburban life. It explores aging and self-delusion and is a short but insightful read.

I'm currently reading World War Z which I picked up on impulse at the library. Not sure what I was expecting, but I'm finding it a really compelling read. Telling of the war through a series of first-person reports on all aspects of the conflict was a really good idea; we're able to see the true extent of the action as well as getting close-up points-of-view - the best of both worlds. I expect to finish it today and then I'm going to start Gorky Park for the GD group read.

I'm also reading Jane and the Chalet School, which is one of the few books in the series that I didn't manage to find when I was younger. It introduces a new character while updating us on what old friends are doing. Good stuff.

Following because our tastes are very very similar!

I'm not a zombie lover at all but I really enjoyed World War Z. It got one of my few 9 out of 10 star ratings. Meanwhile, I should be cracking open Gorky Park in the next few days as well.

I like Jane and the Chalet School. Even though it is one of the later books in a huge series, the author still managed to introduce a very different new character in Jane.

I'm not a zombie lover either, but I also liked World War Z. It wasn't quite what I was expecting, but looking at the global ramifications of a zombie plague was interesting. I was hoping for some zombie natural history, but I'm going to give Feed a try later this year and I understand Feed has more of that.

Yup. Feed is more about conspiracy than about zombies. Be prepared to read all three, though! :)

141 & 142: It's true that it's easy, with the Newsflesh books, to forget about the zombies for long stretches. But at the same time, Mira Grant's love of virology means that how and why the zombie virus works is also a major part of the story. Plus, understanding how the virus--and thus the zombies--works is a matter of survival for the characters, so it does come up a lot. If you're looking for "zombie natural history," you will definitely get that IMO. And also conspiracy.

Feed is sounding more and more like my kind of book/series :oD

I thought Feed was superb. I didn't really care for WWZ though. Mind you other people with similar tastes to me didn't like Feed. They had a point in that the writing isn't technically perfect. But I was too absorbed by the story to care about that. You should certainly try it.

And I've added Alif to my wishlist. It sounds fun. I was intrigued that Fool's War is listed as a recomendation from it. This was a favourite of mine a few years back.

>138 divinenanny:: Welcome! Thanks for following me!

>140 SylviaC:: I really enjoyed Jane and the Chalet School; it's definitely one of the best of the later books. I do prefer the "new girls who want to fit in" like Jane and Flavia, to the "I didn't want to come here and I'm going to make everyone else miserable" types like Theodora and Naomi.

>145 reading_fox:: I'll be interested to see what you think of Alif when you get to it.

Add me to those who enjoyed World War Z. It stayed good right to the end. I've heard both good and bad things about the Newsflesh books, so they will have to be library reads for me. Annoyingly, my branch seems to have vols 2 and 3 but not the first one. I have been enjoying Dana Fredsti's Plague books which look at a zombie outbreak at a local level; even though they are gory, I'd class them as Urban Fantasy rather than horror because of the snark and black humour between the gang of heroes.

I'm about 100 pages into Gorky Park and liking the story and the Moscow setting despite the uninspiring writing.

Upon finishing Gorky Park, I have mixed feelings about the book. As a depiction of life in Soviet-era Moscow, it is superb. Scenes such as the one with Natasha and her washing machine and descriptions of the bleak winter streets are amazing and really drew me in. I also liked Renko, for the most part. The first 150 pages or so were compelling plot-wise, but around the middle of the book it really started to drag for me. There were too many scenes of Renko and various officials talking at each other elliptically, which I think I was supposed to be gleaning clues from, but I was obviously too dim to get them. The scene where Kirwill is telling Renko all about his Irish-American family background and childhood almost made me put the book down in frustration. The plot did pick up again a bit later, and I liked the section with Priblyuda at the dacha. I wish there had been some way to resolve the plot without moving the story to New York, as that section felt clumsily tacked-on, to me. I wasn't too keen on the few female characters either, I felt they were objectified male-fantasy types. I gave the book 3 stars for setting and atmosphere. I really had hoped to enjoy this more, but it was a bit of a disappointment in the end.

Staying in Russia, I then read Deathless by Catherynne Valente, which I found at the library. This was excellent, a fantastical story based on Russian folk tales and set against C20th history. Like a fairy tale, the characters often act for illogical reasons, or because of Fate, but despite this they are well-rounded and interesting. Descriptions, especially of food and mythical creatures, are brilliant, and the interaction between the realms of the everyday and the fantastic is very done. I particularly liked Marya Morevna's friends Zemlehyed, Naganya and Lebedeva, and Kseniya the rusalka. Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in folk tales and Russian history/culture.

I've just started reading Hotel du lac for the Virago group's Anita Brookner challenge. It is my first book by this author, and so far I am enjoying it. Her prose is rather like a more readable Henry James in its careful structure and choice of words. It seems to be a quiet book so far, more about character than plot, which suits me fine in this hot spell we're having.

I'm also reading the beautiful copy of Keeper of the bees that I found in my local Oxfam bookshop. The first four chapters were lovely, but a precocious and supposedly endearing child has just entered the scene and I hope it leaves again soon ...

And my next non-fiction book will be Otter country, which I hope will be lots about otters and not too much of the author's feeeeeliiings, a problem I find with a lot of contemporary nature writing.

I had the same feelings about Deathless, it really reads like a folk tale, not only in content but also in style.

Sakerfalcon, I too felt the shift to the US damaged the book (Gorky Park). I still enjoyed the overall book but did think the switch to New York was not handled well. It is quite a while since I read the book but I recall thinking the shift to the US was used to make the story longer. I thought it could have finished a lot sooner.

I went on to read Red Square and Polar Star and enjoyed them both. I did not find any discontinuities like the shift to the US in Gorky Park.

>148 divinenanny:: Now I need to tackle Valente's Orphan's Tales duology, which do the same thing for the Arabian Nights stories. Maybe I can try them for "off your shelves August".

>149 pgmcc:: We have Polar Star in the library where I work, so I may read it at some point. The Siberian setting appeals to me.

Here are my rambling thoughts upon finishing Hotel du lac:
I really enjoyed the book. Brookner wonderfully evoked the sense of being in a liminal, transitional space where people perhaps behave more - or less - like their "real" selves. If we don't get a sense of who Edith is as a person, it is because she doesn't know herself, I believe. Perhaps by the end of the novel she is beginning to know herself, as evidenced by her sudden decisiveness. I liked that her vagueness as a character seems reflected in the misty landscape around her. The portraits of the other guests were fascinating, as their stories and characters are slowly revealed to us from behind Edith's initial (usually incorrect) assumptions. I especially liked Monica and would like to have followed her into the future. I did find it strange that Edith was such an appalling reader of people - one does expect writers to be more perceptive - but this could have been a joke on Brookner's part. In addition to the atmosphere and characters, I also enjoyed Brookner's prose; it put me in mind of a more readable Henry James in its careful construction and word choices.

Otter country was a wonderful read; my fears of too much authorial navel-gazing were unfounded. It chronicles the year that Darlington spent travelling around the UK in search of otters, using poetic (but never flowery) prose, with references made throughout to otters in literature. The landscapes and waters are evocatively described, as are the wildlife and plants which live alongside the otters. Though everything is filtered through the author's gaze, she never puts herself in the foreground, and she manages not to romanticise or anthropomorphise the animals. There is a lot of factual information contained in the book, but the way it is structured means that it is not a straightforward primer on otter lore; you would need to look elsewhere for that. I strongly recommend this for nature lovers and as a gift for those who need to be converted. (It's never preachy, but makes it clear that we have a long way to go before otter populations can truly be said to have recovered.)

I've just started Desolation Road, a fun "science fantasy" by Ian McDonald. The small-town Mars setting has something of the feel of an Australian outback town, or the Wild West.

Desolation Road was a fun read, although I think it was at its best in the first 2/3, when it was almost a series of interlinked stories, than in the final 1/3 when a plotline formed and we had some ridiculous action sequences. Still, I loved McDonald's worldbuilding and his fantastic vision of Mars in the future. A motley collection of characters illuminated different aspects of the world and provided varying viewpoints of the small town's short history and of the larger planet.

I'm about to finish reading Nervous conditions, the coming-of-age story of a girl growing up in 1960s Rhodesia. Her immediate family are grindingly poor thanks largely to her father's lethargy, but her uncle provides assistance and support to them as a result of his Western education and links with the white-run Mission. Our narrator Tambu is forced to consider the nature of colonialism and patriarchy as she goes through adolesence, and her story is paralleled by that of her restless cousin Nyasha, who lived in England for 5 years and has a different viewpoint. This is a vivid picture of a society and country that are very foreign to me, and it is fascinating, disturbing and compelling.

I love otters. WIll add otter country to the list. I didn't really like desolation road. It kept feeling like farce, which never quite mingles well in SF.

>152 reading_fox:: I remember you tried a couple of McDonalds and didn't get on with them. Some authors just don't click with a reader. I think you'll like Otter country, but it is one of those books that makes you think how lucky the author is to have the kind of lifestyle and support network that allow her to take a year off to bimble around the country looking for wildlife. Grrr ;-)

Nervous conditions was excellent, a fascinating look at the problems of growing up as a colonised subject, doubly disadvantaged by race and gender. Yet I didn't find it depressing, and Tambu is an engaging narrator with her eagerness to learn and to expand her horizons. Highly recommended.

I've managed to get one book off my shelf for the August GD group project already! One of the older ladies at church pressed a cozy mystery onto me over the bookstall a while ago, and I decided that now was the time to read it. Mysteries are not my favourite genre and most of the cozy ones seem too cutesy for my taste. This one, Stitch me deadly was entertaining enough, with a nice Pacific Northwest small-town setting and some good characters, but I won't be rereading it. Back to the bookstall it goes.

However ...

I also read Moon called, the first Mercy Thompson novel. It's been sitting on Mount Tbr for a while, and every time I saw it there I'd think "Why did I pick that up? I don't like Urban Fantasy!" So I started reading it, fully expecting it to join Stitch me deadly on the discard pile. By the end of chapter 1 I was hooked, finished the book in a weekend, and had to buy books 2 and 3 from the charity shop! (This was actually last week, so I still haven't broken my book-buying fast!) I loved Mercy - she is strong but not unrealistically kick-ass and her narrative voice is not gratingly sarcastic. The world building is interesting in how the supernatural races co-exist with the human world, and I like the individuals we've met so far. My only complaint would be that Mercy conforms to the "lone woman surrounded by males" trope, but the author gives some fairly plausible reasons for this and implies that Mercy does enjoy female company when she gets a chance. *sigh* so much for reducing the Tbr pile!

My current reads are Wool which has had so much praise here, and The lying days, a Virago novel about a white girl growing up in a mining town in South Africa. I've just finished the third section of Wool and am hooked. The lying days is an especially interesting read having just finished Nervous conditions.

I finished and enjoyed The lying days, though perhaps it suffered slightly from being read straight after Nervous conditions, whose narrator had genuine obstacles to overcome as she grew up; Helen by comparison seemed a bit of a whiner with first-world grievances at times. It also dragged in places, and sometimes the prose became bogged down in its own weight. The best scenes were those with Helen's parents at the Mine, and among the university students and the liberal crowd of friends she falls in with. It was compelling when showing the great divides in South Africa at that time, and I can imagine it being quite shocking to the rest of the world when it was published.

My next Virago read was The people with the dogs but unfortunately I've had to put it aside for a bit. I spent all last night reading it and am half way through, but am finding it very boring. The characters are a big family and most of the book is told in their dialogue, which is rather like listening to a group of people who all know each other very well and who are making in-jokes and references to things and people that you don't know, in frequent non-sequiters. Everyone is concerned with trivialities and rambles on and on. Ironically, The lying days could have used more dialogue; this book needed less. Letty Fox, which I read last year, was the same, but Letty herself was such an engaging narrator that it was entertaining and amusing to read - I loved it. Sadly, I can't say the same about this. I will keep the book and try to go back to it when I'm more in the mood for that sort of thing. For now I think I need something with a bit more plot and more interesting characters.

I did finish The keeper of the bees which was a charming, if dated, read. There is a rather preachy Christian tone that gets a bit much in places, but the characters are nice and the descriptions of the California coast and its flora are lovely. It was a gentle read, not something I could take very often but a pleasant diversion into a past way of life.

I've taken Dragon keeper off my shelf and started reading it for the August challenge. It's been a while since I visited Bingtown, the Rain Wilds and the Six Duchies universe and it is so good to be back. No problems staying interested in this one - the trouble comes when I need to stop reading and go to work!

I've brought Wool to work with me today, and plan to spend the evening reading it :-)

I finished Wool and enjoyed it, although I prefered the sections before the silo broke into revolt. It seemed ridiculous that seemingly careful, thoughtful people would suddenly get out guns and bombs are charge up to the upper levels to - what? slaughter everyone? They need information, the truth, and they won't get that from dead bodies. They also don't have the know-how to take on the duties of those they intend to kill. So that turn of events was rather disappointing. But overall I enjoyed the saga and liked the characters and would like to know what happens to them next.

I managed to complete another Virago read, A particular place by Mary Hocking. Comparisons to Barbara Pym are inevitable, revolving as the story does around a vicar, his wife and parishioners. As a portrayal of life in a small town where everyone can see into each other's business, it is excellent. The characters are mostly sympathetic, and one can empathise with them in their dilemmas and the choices they must make.

I spent most of Sunday finishing Dragon keeper and carrying right on to Dragon haven. These really are one book split into two, and I was gripped by the story. While the character interactions did get a bit soap opera-y at times,especially with all the repressed feelings and mis-communication, I felt caught up in their fates and wanted things to turn out well for them. There was rather a lot of exposition that felt unnecessary, especially as we the reader often knew more than the characters, but it managed not to drag. The Assassin trilogy is still my favourite of Hobbs' works, but this was a hugely enjoyable read. My only problem is that I don't own the next two books, and I can't acquire or borrow them until September!

I also had time to read Greywalker, the first in Kat Richardson's urban fantasy series. The lead character, Harper, is a PI who dies for a couple of minutes when an arrest goes wrong. As a result, she can see into "the Grey", a layer between our world and the other. It's good to have a competent heroine who has understandable reservations about this new "talent" and the discovery of a paranormal world. She spends a fair amount of time in denial, but events force her to accept the changes and to make new friends and acquaintances with people who can help her deal with them. I'm looking forward to further entries in the series. It's nice that, so far, romance is not a huge part of the story.

I've just started Green by Jay Lake, which is very good so far. And my next Virago read is Mad Puppetstown, a "big house" story set in Ireland in the early C20th.

I'm glad you enjoyed Wool. I've got it in transit from the library. We'll see what I think!

>156 Morphidae:: I look forward to seeing what you think of Wool!

Mad Puppetstown was a good read, very similar to other books by the author but none the worse for that. It tells of a family and their servants who live in a grand house in Ireland in the early C20th. Events are seen through the eyes of young Easter and her cousins Evelyn and Basil as they live through WWI and the Anglo-Irish "Troubles". Although they are taken away to spend their teenage years in England being groomed for high society, two of them never escape the spell of their childhood home, which is a character in its own right. Lots of hunting, riding and fishing as well as gorgeous descriptions of the landscape and the decaying old house.

Green took quite a long time for me to read even though it is relatively short for a fantasy novel (under 400 pages). The pace slackens in some places, but I found the world intriguing enough that I kept wanting to pick up the book for more. The first person narration by Green is rather formal, but suits the context. She has an eventful life, being sold by her poor father and taken overseas to be trained as a courtesan, then committing murder to escape the cruelty of that to travel back to her dimly-remembered homeland where she ends up joining an order of assassin priestesses. Intervention from the gods drives her back to her adopted country and into more intrigues. Because Green is telling her story as she looks back on her life, events happen at a distance so it is not always as gripping as the plot description indicates that it should be. Also I found Green's obsession with her homeland and the customs she remembers from it quite annoying at times when she returns to them again and again in her thoughts. I can understand why the book has had a rather lukewarm reception, even while I personally enjoyed it for the most part.

I had to spend some time on the the train on Friday, so I took another Virago novel with me to read, Trooper to the southern cross. The author is best known for her gentle comedies of genteel English small town life, but this book is totally different. The protagonist is an Australian army doctor returning home from WWI with his wife on a converted ship taken from the Germans. All does not run smoothly: the plumbing has been sabotaged by its previous owners; a bunch of convicted criminals are being housed on the lower decks; accomodation is overcrowded leading to some interesting sleeping arrangements. It's a voyage from hell, but described with good humour and vivid colour. It was an excellent read. The introduction to the edition I read tells of Thirkell's own experiences upon which much of this tale was based.

I'm currently reading Cold fire, the second in Kate Elliott's Spiritwalker trilogy. I adored the first volume with its imaginative alternate-historical setting and endearing characters, and the follow-up is just as good so far.

And All Virago-All August contines apace as I read The Misses Mallett, which tells of the four Mallett ladies, some of whom have a Past and others who are looking to the future.

Hmm, two mentions of Green on one day. Is it a sign? It's been on my wishlist for quite a while. Sounds like there's an awful lot happening!

>158 zjakkelien:: It does sound action-packed, but the pacing is slow which I think has turned a lot of people off the book. I liked the meticulous detail with which Lake builds his world and its cultures, and even when Green didn't seem to be moving her story along I still wanted to explore the setting so I kept reading. The review at fantasyliterature.com is good at highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the book in more detail.

Hmm. This is the second time I've seen Green floating around. First at my face-to-face book club and now here. I think if I see it a third time I'll add it to Mount TBR.

160: Green !!!

*smile*

It amuses me that the default touchstone for Green goes to Anne of Green Gables! A very different novel!

I tried to edit it, but the only other touchstones I got were Treasure Island and A Christmas Carol. As a matter of fact, Anne of Green gables doesn't come up. It might have something to do with the fact that site search is down?

Hmm, that is weird. I got Anne as the default, and the Jay Lake novel was the 2nd or 3rd option. But touchstones are often screwy.

I really think it's because of the site search being down. Some other touchstones I just tried to make weren't working either...

I finished The Misses Mallett on the train yesterday, and was sorry to see it come to an end. I very much enjoyed this peek into the lives of four women - two sisters looking back to their "wild" youth, their younger half-sister with whom the local squire is in love, and their even younger niece who comes to live with them after her rakish father and poor mother die. Secondary characters are as vivid as the protagonists, and the picture of life in a small English town in the early 20th century is very interesting. The author also had a keen eye for landscape and nature, as evidenced by her descriptions of Rose's rides in the countryside. Ultimately I was disappointed by Rose's final decision and her reasons for it, but this didn't lessen the pleasure I got from the book. Luckily I have a few more titles by this author on my shelves to look forward to.

I've now returned to The people with the dogs as I am determined not to let it beat me! The third and fourth sections that I've just read are a lot better than the first two, perhaps because Edward's obnoxious family are less prominent.

Cold fire (by Kate Elliott, not the one listed here) continues to be excellent.

>165 zjakkelien:: I think you're right. Some of them are still off this morning. The correct touchstone for Cold fire is no longer listed among the options, but a couple of days ago I found it with no problem. Hope this is fixed soon.

And another book goes onto my Nook... (The Misses Mallett, that is.) :)

Oh good, I do think you will enjoy it!

I finished The people with the dogs. The second half was better than the first half, but I still found it hard to care about the characters or connect with the book. It's a realistic-feeling depiction of life in NY post-WWII, described through an accumulation of little details and fragments of conversation. I felt completely detached from the events and people, even from the dogs (apart from the whippet who has a brief part to play). I've given the book 3 stars, which is a bit generous considering how little pleasure I got from it, but I think the problem was me, rather than the author. I wanted to enjoy it as much as I did Letty Fox, which uses the same storytelling techniques, but Letty herself brings that book to life, whereas the characters in Dogs couldn't do the same. At least Letty has a goal and some determination, whereas Edward and his family seem to drift, with too much time and not enough to fill it. I do think, however, that this book is likely to linger in my mind for a while, and it is one I may find myself rereading in the future.

Also finished Cold fire which was a good solid sequel to Cold magic, though not quite as good as that first book. Cold fire started and ended very well, but slowed and sagged badly in the middle, when not a lot seemed to be happening in terms of plot or character growth. Lots of urgent things needed to be dealt with but the characters seemed struck by inertia. Fortunately events picked up again and the ending has set things up for what should be a good close to the trilogy.

I read two more VMCs this weekend, The lifted veil and Poor cow. I had expected to fly through Veil and then discard it, which is exactly what happened. I doubt I will ever need to return to this rather silly story, which does not live up to what one expects from George Eliot. Poor cow was very good, vignettes from the life of a young single mother in '60s London. It seemed to me to capture the flavour of what I imagine the '60s to have been like, with lots of contemporary references and the emerging acceptance of a woman's enjoyment of sex. I probably won't read it again though.

I also read Altered carbon, which has been on Mount Tbr for a couple of years now. Why did I wait so long? I was put off by reports of the extreme violence in the book, and not being a fan of thrillers, even SF ones. But it was a great read, one I found hard to put down. The violence was no worse than you'd find in many (non-cosy) crime novels of recent years, although something very nasty happens to a dog; it's not described but enough is shown that you can tell what exactly happened and it is horrible. The future setting is dark, with an extreme gulf between the haves and have-nots, and raises questions of identity and mortality. It was confusing at times as our narrator doesn't tell us everything he does or discovers, so some plot developments seem to come out of nowhere. There are also a lot of characters with small but important roles to play who it is hard to keep track of. But overall, I loved this; a nice surprise in my reading year!

Now I'm reading The group, which will probably be my final All Virago-All August read (unless I slip in a couple more short ones). It's good so far, but the explicit yet clinical sex scene and discussion in chapter two reminds me rather of Judy Blume's Forever!

I'm also reading Every which way but dead, the third book in Kim Harrison's Hollows series. I started this a while ago and then mislaid the book, and unfortunately have forgotten much of what happened at the beginning. I may have to start it again.

I haven't read anything by Kate Elliot. Have you read anything else by her other than Cold Magic and Cold Fire? What would you recommend if you have?

Morphy, I really liked Jaran, a sort of SF/romance with a good heroine and an interesting nomadic horse-based tribal culture. There are three sequels but the first book stands alone. I've also read the Crown of Stars series (first book : King's Dragon), which I enjoyed but which sprawled and sagged in the middle books; it would have been a stronger series if Elliott had edited it down to about 4 books instead of 7. It's a fantasy series set in a vivid faux-Mediaeval Europe with the addition of some non-human races and an interesting theology. Elliott also wrote 1/3 of The golden key (with Melanie Rawn and Jennifer Roberson), an excellent stand-alone set in a Renaissance Spain/Italy type world in which the magic is based around painting. I'd recommend either this or Jaran as a way in to Elliott's books. Hope this is helpful!

I finished reading The group, and mostly enjoyed this slice of life about the lives of 8 Vassar graduates in 1930s New York. Some of the characters are more sympathetic than others, but none are wholly likeable or dislikeable. Polly was my favourite, then Priss. In places, it does read rather like a novelised book of advice for women, as it debates important life-issues such as sex, contraception, marriage, childbearing, domestic violence, mental illness, and careers. Due to the large number of characters followed, some major events happen off-screen and we only learn about them through passing comments from other characters, which is a bit frustrating at times. But it's a very interesting look into the social and political scene as it applied to a certain class of women at the time.

I did finish Every which way but dead without going back to the start; this book had less of an overarching plot and was more focused on character and relationship growth as Rachel works out her priorities. I hope Jenks is back in the next book as he was sorely missed in this one. I'm getting a bit fed up of all the scenes where Ivy almost loses control and there is a stand-off between her and Rachel; this is getting repetitive. I like both characters and I want to see them work this out and move on. I still love the worldbuilding, and want to know more about Trent and what he is up to, and to learn more about the different species and how they co-exist.

My last read for All Virago-All August was the wonderful Our spoons came from Woolworths by Barbara Comyns. This author is one of my favourites; her books can often be classed as magical realism as she makes even everyday life seem somehow unreal. This book is narrated by Sophia and tells of her marriage to Charles and their life in desperate poverty in 1940s(?) London. Sophia goes through some terrible times, but her narrative is always matter-of-fact and never depressing and you feel that she really deserves a change of fortune. It's a fantastic little book, and one I gave 5 stars to.

I needed a small book to read on the train this weekend, and so took Foundation off my shelves. I really enjoyed the first 3/4 of it, despite the lack of women and the dated technology, but the final section, Merchant Princes, bored me. This was actually a relief, as it means I am not tempted to add the rest of the series to Mount Tbr! I will however give Asimov another try in the future.

I also read The adjacent, Christopher Priest's new novel, which I needed to return to the library. It contains many of his usual themes and elements and connects to last year's The islanders which was one of my top reads. I didn't enjoy this quite so much, but it was a fascinating book as all the different pieces gradually connected and the ending came together. I can't really describe the book very well, but it deals with several possible realities/futures/pasts, and is very very clever.

I'm currently reading Blood bound, the second Mercy Thompson book, and Frenchman's secret, one of Monica Edwards' Punchbowl Farm books. I was at the Devil's Punchbowl on Saturday, where the book is set, and so had to read the next book in the series after that!

#172
also read The adjacent, Christopher Priest's new novel, which I needed to return to the library. It contains many of his usual themes and elements and connects to last year's The islanders

I recently bought The Adjacent and was thinking of starting it soon. Will I be missing much if I have not yet read The Islanders?

I think you'll be fine. One section is set on an island that is part of the archipelago, but the events don't connect to the other book, just the setting.

#174
Thank you for that. I had heard The Islanders was connected to Dream Archipelago and I was getting worried that would have to read two books before getting to The Adjacent.

I read the first chapter on Amazon and that convinced me to get the book. The Pretige is the only other Priest book I've read. I enjoyed it a lot. Having attended some of his panel sessions at WorldCon in 2005 (Glasgow) I became interested in his work.

Thank you again for reassuring me that the book reading sequence is not critical.

I'll try Jaran, thanks! Yes, Jenks comes back and Ivy eventually gains control. Though Rachel never really seems to become less angsty.

Oh, I haven't reread The Group in years--first read it while I was in college (at a different Seven Sister school than Vassar). I may need to pick it up again.

Asimov is rather challenged when it comes to women, but the next two Foundation books Foundation and Empire and Second Foundation include female protagonists. They're also less episodic. I enjoyed them, but not the later Foundation books he wrote later, which got a bit strained, IMO.

Like pgmcc, I thoroughly enjoyed Christopher Priest's The Prestige, although I saw the movie before I read the book. I have not however read The Group so now I'm wondering if I wouldn't enjoy that one too.

#178
I bought The Prestige after hearing Christopher Priest talk about the making of the film at Worldcon and read it before seeing the film. Priest was pleased with wht the film makers did with his story.

I was pleased too, because, as with most dramatisations of books, the story in the film is sufficiently different from the book to make watching the film a totally different experience from reading the book. Significant chunks of the book were excluded, and the ending was different.

It is always my preference to read the book before seeing its film adaptation.

>175 pgmcc:, 178, 179: The prestige is on Mount Tbr. I can see that I need to move it nearer the top.

>176 Morphidae:: I look forward to your thoughts on Jaran when you get to it! And thanks for the good word about the Hollows books.

>177 Marissa_Doyle:: I'm sure there is more Asimov in my future, and it's good to hear that the next two Foundation books improve. I'll try and get them from the library though.

I'm really enjoying Blood bound; I do like Mercy as a protagonist, and her relations with the various other supernatural beings around her get ever more interesting.

I also managed to read a short YA fantasy novel that has been on Mount Tbr for quite a long time - Skin hunger by Kathleen Duey. It has two separate story lines set about 200 years apart, one following a girl with a magic gift at a time when magic workers are regarded as frauds and swindlers (often not without cause), the other told by a boy sent to a horrible, abusive "school" of magic where he and his classmates are basically starved until they can learn the spells they need to feed themselves. It's fast moving and gripping, and luckily I have the sequel on hand because I am eager to read on.

Hello! I just found your thread, hope you don't mind me popping in.

Skin Hunger sounds fascinating, but ah, cliffhangers. I saw on the author's website that she is revising the first draft of the final book in the trilogy after comments from her editor, so hopefully it will be published soon. I've put it on my wishlist so I remember to check back.

>181 sandstone78:: Welcome! I always enjoy your comments on the Fantasy group threads, and have got more than a few book bullets from you!
I put off reading the Duey for a long time when I realised (after buying the first two volumes) that the trilogy wasn't complete. It was a relief to see that she is finishing it up at last.

Finished Blood bound which was a great read. Not great literature, but fun, with likeable characters and an exciting plot. I have the next volume on hand, but will be actively seeking the more recent books too.

I also finished Frenchman's secret, another solid installment in the Punchbowl Farm series. These are excellent family stories, combining adventure with everyday life on a farm, dealing with the ups and downs of coping with animals prone to escape and managing on a shoestring.

I found the installment of the Dresden books that I'd missed at the library last week, so read it while on the train this weekend. I have to agree with all those who consider Fool moon to be the low point of the series. Harry, Susan and Murphy all irritated me, and if I hadn't read books 3 and 4 already I'd probably have given up the series at that point. The different kinds of werewolves were interesting though.

Now I'm reading A singer's notebook from my Non-fiction Tbr pile. It's a collection of short essays and journalism written by the English tenor Ian Bostridge, one of the best Lieder singers of our day. He's fiercely intelligent and the articles, while short, are not necessarily light reading. They are all interesting though, and I'm especially looking forward to the pieces dealing with Benjamin Britten and his music.

I've also started A favourite of the gods, a novel about mothers and daughters, and the clash of the Old World with the New in the early C20th. It's more modern feeling than Edith Wharton's works, but is obviously comparable to them in many ways. It's a good read so far.

At home I'm reading The demon's lexicon, a YA supernatural title that is (so far) refreshingly non-angsty and lacking in unhealthy romantic attachments - hooray!

And finally I've started Migration, the second part of Julie Czerneda's Species Imperative trilogy. I loved Survival when I read it last year, and have been eager to find out what happens next to Mac and to the universe.

Glad you are enjoying Briggs' Mercy books. It's a solidly good series.

I really enjoyed Czerneda's Web Shifter trilogy. I'm so happy I've only just 'discovered' her and have lots of her books to look forward to.

>184 Morphidae:: I'm having to resist the temptation to blow through the series as fast as I can! I really like Mercy; she thinks before she acts and listens to the advice of others before making decisions.

>185 sandragon:: I'm really looking forward to getting to the Web Shifters books, but am planning to finish the Species Imperative trilogy first. I also have In the company of others on the Tbr mountain, which is a stand-alone.

I'm just past half-way through Migration and have really enjoyed catching up with Mac and seeing how she is adjusting to the return to "normal" life after the traumas she faced in Survival. I've read a lot of complaints at the slow start to the book, but I like the depth this gives the series, and the chance to spend more time at Base and then in Northern Ontario (?) before the interstellar storyline takes off again.

I finished A singer's notebook and really enjoyed Bostridges thoughts and musings on the composers and repertoire with which he is most closely associated - the Lieder of Schubert, Schumann and Wolf, the operas of Handel and Mozart, and newer music by Britten, Henze and Ades. He is very erudite and literate, and tends to assume that his reader is too, which means that these essays, while short, are not light reading.

A favourite of the gods was very good, with characters that were sympathetic at times but also stubborn and selfish - in other words, realistically flawed. The setting of late C19th/early C20th Roman and London society was vivid and the relationships and motivations of the characters always fascinating. Recommended if you enjoy the works of Edith Wharton and wonder where she'd have gone if she'd lived into the later C20th.

The demon's lexicon was fun, but not a keeper. I figured out the twist quite early on - maybe it wouldn't be so obvious to the teen audience the book is meant for - which meant that I could mostly see where things were going. However, the snarky male pov, British setting and lack of an angsty romance set this apart from the run-of-the-mill YA supernatural novels that clutter the bookshops.

I've also read Jo Walton's short novel Lifelode, which I need to return to a friend. It's an odd little domestic fantasy that reminded me strongly of Pamela Dean's The dubious hills (a link also noted in the introduction) and John Crowley's Little, big. I loved the details of the rural household and their way of life which is in harmony with the seasons and the natural world, and found the concept of time running faster or slower depending how far west or east one travels to be quite unique. However, the downside of this temporal uncertainty is that the author chose to write the whole book in the present tense - even when a character is thinking about an event from the past, they think about it in the present tense. I appreciate why she did this, but it grated on me. The characters are very well-rounded and they really got under my skin, both the nice ones who I was rooting for, and the ones who made me want to shake them in frustration. I've a feeling that this book will stay in my mind for a long time.

I also read Crampton Hodnet, this month's Barbara Pym group read. It's a comical story of relationships in North Oxford, a location that mixes village life with academic society and intrigue. We have dons and their wives, students, vicars and curates, and spinsters who are watching what everyone else is up to. Delightful.

I've started reading Maddaddam and am looking forward to seeing how Atwood concludes her dystopian trilogy.

I'm also reading Bitter greens, a rich historical novel with a retelling of the Rapunzel story at its heart.

186: Where did you find Bitter Greens? I just discovered Kate Forsyth this year through the Rhiannon's Ride trilogy, and when I read about Bitter Greens on Goodreads, I thought, "Ooh, this looks cool," and clicked To-Read. But I have not been able to find it! I would dearly love to lay hands on it.

Does Mercy Thompson find a female friend later in the series? This series is one of the few from Urban Fantasy that peaks my interest, but I'm afraid the lack of interaction between female characters may be typical of Patricia Briggs. The female protagonists in both Masques and The Hob's Bargain were also surrounded exclusively by men (at least as far as I can remember the latter; it's been a while).

Lifelode sounds like something I'd love, but it seems pretty hard to get a hold of... Too bad!

I've read everything Briggs had written and the Mercy series really is her best. Glad you are enjoying them!

>187 kceccato:: Bitter greens has been published in the UK, where I live. So it wasn't hard for me to acquire it. Have you tried ordering it through the book depository, which offers free shipping worldwide? It's a great read so far, and without the irritating faux-Scots dialect that made her earlier books unreadable for me.

I've only read the first two Mercy Thompson books, but I've heard that she doesn't make any close female friends later on. We are told (and shown a little) that she is friends with the pack leader's human daughter, but that female werewolves tend to be too jealous to want to befriend her, and that being a mechanic means she doesn't meet other women through work. In the second book, she judges one of the female werewolves negatively based on her girly appearance, but is forced to look beyond this and acknowledge her good qualities along the way. One of the things I like about Mercy is that she does seem to admit her mistakes, and isn't one of those characters who needs to be superior to all other females.

>188 divinenanny:: I think it was a limited-edition publication by the New England SF Society; I was lucky that my friend is a big Jo Walton fan and ordered a copy while it was available.

Does anyone know why it is so difficult to get Lifelode?

>191 zjakkelien:: It was a limited edition of about 800 copies, all of which have sold out. You can get a copy second hand but be prepared to spend a LOT of money!

You're not kidding. The prices I just looked at ranged between $150.00 and $2,000.00!

192: But... why?!? Only 800, that's just plain mean! *shocked*

>186 Sakerfalcon:-187 If you use an ereader, Bitter Greens is available as a UK region ebook; I've had success buying ebooks out of region through ebooks.com. I use two accounts, one with a US region that I use to buy gift vouchers, and one with a UK region that redeems them- no UK address or credit card required. (I also use a UK VPN through Tunnelbear, but I believe I forgot it one time and I was still able to redeem the gift card fine.) This website is epub format only though, so if you have a Kindle you would have to convert the format using Calibre- Book Depository may be the more practical option.

>186 Sakerfalcon:,188,191-194 I got Lifelode through interlibrary loan earlier this year, but wasn't able to finish it before it had to go back. I do want to read it, though, the society is fascinating. It keeps tripping me up that the cover illustration is the same illustration as the US edition of Elantris, though. (I knew I'd seen the picture before, and I thought it was Jim Grimsley's The Ordinary, but nope, that's a different woman with spherical streetlights.)

Lifelode is available in a non-numbered second edition as well, with ISBN 978-1610373005. This edition is still in print and is available through Amazon US for $22.50 USD in hardcover. Also, Walton has said it's coming out in ebook from Tor as well, but I can't find anything more recent than December 2012 on that, so I have no idea on the status.

195: thanks for the info, @sandstone78, it's good to know that there may still be hope...

Good to know that Lifelode isn't completely unobtainable. Thanks, sandstone78!

I finished Migration on my lunch break today, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm sure there are people who will find it too slow, but I personally loved the way that events built slowly rather than exploding out of nowhere, and enjoyed the many scenes of interactions between characters of different backgrounds and species. The various aliens were plausible and well thought out, and often provided humour in their views of the human race. I also enjoyed seeing Mudge in a new light, and watching Mac deal with the trauma caused by events from the previous book. Also, this is a science fiction book that actually contains ... scientists! ... who do science! Now I'm eager to continue to the conclusion in Regeneration, which fortunately is ready and waiting for me at home. I've only read three of her books so far, but I think Julie Czerneda is on her way to becoming a favourite author of mine.

I have another borrowed book to read on my way home - Star gazing by Linda Gillard. It seems to be classed as a romance, but it doesn't feel cliched in any way yet. Plus, Scottish setting!

I really like how weird and alien Czerneda's extraterrestrial life forms are. I also like the occasional bits of ironical humor in her books. I haven't read her Species Imperative series, but I've really enjoyed several of her other SF books/series. Webshifters may just be my favorite so far.

I like Julie's books too, but they've proven difficult to get hold of as ebooks here in the UK. I believe the publisher is slowly working through the serieses adding them. but it's annoying that they don't do a complete series in one pass.

>198 ludmillalotaria:: I'm really looking forward to the Webshifters trilogy, when I get my hands on them. There is excellent alien/human banter between characters in the SI books which has me smiling as I read!

>199 reading_fox:: That is annoying, and odd being that all her work is published by the same company. You'd think they'd release the ebooks more systematically.

Finished a few more books over the weekend.
Star gazing was a lovely little romance, not something I usually read but the author was highly recommended to me by friends. The characters are real and complex, not perfect people but always interesting. Marianne is a blind middle-aged widow who lives with her older sister in Edinburgh, and who begins a tentative relationship with Keir after they meet on the street. The author makes you care about her characters without resorting to cheap devices and plot twists to generate angst; when Marianne and Keir are separated, there are very good reasons for it based on what we have been shown of their characters and circumstances. The Scottish settings are beautifully described in terms of classical music and textures as Keir seeks to share the places he loves with Marianne. Even though parts of the story are told in present-tense narration, something I tend to loathe, it is well done here - perhaps because most of these sections are actually reported dialogue so you don't notice the tense. Marianne's sister has a story of her own and is a lovely character in her own right. I highly recommend this to anyone wanting a satisfying, honestly-written story of relationships.

Bitter greens was a very good read, vivid in its portrayal of Baroque-era France and Renaissance Italy which surround the central Rapunzel story. The framing story stars the real-life storyteller Charlotte-Rose de la Force, after she is expelled from the court of Louis XIV and sent to a convent. She reflects on her former life, friendships and loves, while gradually becoming accustomed to the convent with the help of the nun Seraphina. It is Seraphina who tells the story of Rapunzel (or Petrosinella in this version), and of the witch who imprisons her. Despite the pretty cover, this is quite a dark book with a lot of violence against women (including rape); these periods of history were not good ones in which to be a woman, or poor, or non-conformist, and this novel makes that quite clear.

I thoroughly enjoyed Maddaddam, which was a good conclusion to Atwood's dystopian trilogy. It brought together the various strands and characters from the previous volumes and took them into the future, while also giving us another view of the end of civilization as we know it through Zeb's story, told in flashbacks. I loved the stories told by Toby to the Crakers, complete with her responses to their (non reported) interjections which provide humour in what could easily have been a very dark book. Although there are brief summaries of the other books at the beginning, I would not recommend reading this on its own; you really do need all of what came before. Can't wait to see what Atwood will do next.

I'm about 100 pages into Regeneration and looking forward to seeing how the trilogy will end.

And I'm about to start an Australian novel, Autumn Laing, based on the life of the painter Sidney Nolan and his lover. There's a big exhibition on in London at the moment of Australian art, including some of Nolan's works, so I'm reading this as a complement to that.

200: present-tense narration, something I tend to loathe

If I may ask, why do you dislike present-tense narration? I've never paid much attention to it, so I don't know if I have a preference, which is why I am curious about your reasons.

>201 zjakkelien:: Usually I find it clumsy and it feels artificial to me. I think it is supposed to generate suspense and make you feel that you're experiencing events in real time along with the characters, rather than after they have happened, (e.g. I'm sure this is why The hunger games was written in present tense) but I actually find that the style distances me from the action. Maybe it is just because I am more accustomed to past-tense narratives that I find present tense ones jarring and even unpleasant to read. There are exceptions; for example, Margaret Atwood writes well in the present tense, and uses it to distinguish between time frames in her novels (with events from the past being told in past tense). But all too often I read a book that has been written in present tense and am left thinking "Now why did you choose to do that? How did that serve the story?" I think it is a technique that has become fashionable and is seen as "literary", so some authors have adopted it without asking themselves why.

However, I do know many readers who either don't notice it, or don't mind it, or who even enjoy it. And that's fine! I usually mention in my comments when a book is written in present tense, and whether I think it worked or not, because it is something that matters to me when choosing to read (or not) a book.

I hope this answered your question. I'm aware that on some level my dislike may be irrational, hence the rather rambling nature of my response!

In other news, I've been reading some C19th American short stories by Mary Wilkins Freeman, in the collection A New England nun. These are absolute gems, and ahead of their time in their treatment of women and their roles. I think they are at least as good the better-known Country of the pointed firs and deserve to be more widely read.

>202 Sakerfalcon:
I agree with you about present tense narrative. Although a few authors do it well enough that I feel comfortable reading it, usually it comes across as artificial and pretentious. One place that I don't mind it is when a book is written in diary format. Of course, I would never write in a diary in first person format, but it seems to work as a literary device—I guess because it emphasises that the events happened on the day they were written.

201: Rambling answers are fine, @Sakerfalcon, I think I understand your meaning. I have no idea how many of the books I read are in present tense, but I'll try to pay a bit more attention to it. See if I have a preference as well...

I find that an author's use of present tense calls attention to itself, so I ask myself what the author is trying to accomplish with it, sometimes at the expense of paying attention to the characters and the story. It tends to be a distraction simply because it's unusual. I can't recall ever coming up with a reason why it was effective.

I too have a hearty dislike of the present tense in narrative fiction. I've put down a number of highly touted novels because I couldn't face hundreds of pages of present-tense narrative.

Noticing a seemingly sharp recent increase in its use, I've wondered if publishers were calling for it, perhaps thinking of a broader audience that doesn't want to deal with conjugations of English verbs. But that wouldn't explain its occurrence in nontraditionally published fiction. Is it perhaps a fad promoted in writing classes?

I know I put down Walter Jon Williams' Metropolitan and L.E. Modesitt's Towers of the Sunset because I got irritated by the present-tense narration- it just sticks out and keeps reminding me that I'm reading a book, the way that, say, clumsy use of alternatives to the word "said" do.

I think it can be done well and unobtrusively, though, maybe better in short forms than novel-length- I enjoyed Anna Caro's novella in Winter Well, and didn't even notice until I was halfway through that it was in present-tense. It added to the atmosphere of the story.

>205 Jim53:: I have the same problem as you, that present-tense narration comes between me and the story and is a distraction.

>206 Meredy:: I did manage to read and enjoy Wolf Hall and the sequel, but generally present tense is enough to make me put a book back on the shelf unless I have a really compelling reason to read it.

>207 sandstone78:: I agree that the technique works better in short stories.
I finished Towers of the sunset, and so can assure you that you didn't miss anything. The relationship between the protagonist and his wife-to-be was very childish and irritating.

This weekend I finished Regeneration, the conclusion to Czerneda's Species Imperative trilogy, and will be very sorry not to spend more time with this cast of characters. I loved the interactions between humans and aliens and between the different alien species. The banter was funny, but not unrealistically so (sometimes I think characters must spend all their off-page time thinking up brilliantly witty responses for every situation!) and the dialogue was a joy to read. I was a bit disappointed when the action at the climax moved to a different location and so we lost touch with some of my favourite characters, but overall this was a good end to an excellent story.

I also read Indiscretion, a Regency romance written just a few years ago but very much in the vein of Georgette Heyer. The author (a man) gets the tone of his prose and dialogue just right - not quite as wordy as Heyer but with the right balance of formality and slang. The plot is quite predictable and it is very clear who will end up with whom, but the pleasure is in following the characters to get to that end. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and recommend it to anyone who has run out of Austen and Heyer and wants another fix.

I've just started reading The day of the triffids on the train for the Green Dragon October read, and found the first chapter wonderfully eerie and compelling.

At home I'm reading a YA novel, Skinned, which looks at issues of identity and the nature of humanity in a near-future world. It's very good so far.

I was going to say I don't remember reading anything in present tense but looked it up and it ends up the entire Hunger Games trilogy is written in present tense. So was The Night Circus and The Crimson Petal and the White. So I guess it doesn't bother me to the point that I don't even notice it being used!

Morphy, it's so interesting to me what different people notice about the books they read! I've had conversations with friends where doesn't seem possible that we read the same title, as our reactions to it were so different. I did love The night circus, but wasn't so keen on The crimson petal and the white (more due to the unrelenting bleakness than the prose though).

I finished Day of the triffids in a very short time, as I found it hard to put down. The first chapter was a great opening and then the sections that followed which brought us up to date with the world of the book provided a fascinating background. I enjoyed the narrator's calm report of events, which managed to convey emotion without milking it - there was enough tension without needing to manipulate the reader's feelings. The female characters were more varied and rounded than one generally finds in SF from this period. It definitely felt very British, with everyone mostly keeping a stiff upper lip and carrying on, and having to overcome their gentlemanly instincts! I'm really glad to have finally got around to reading this.

I also finished Skinned a YA novel by Robin Wasserman. It was very good, raising questions of identity and what makes one human. The protagonist and narrator, Lia, awakes after a terrible accident to find that she has been "downloaded" into an artificial body to save her life. But is she still human? Most people, including her friends, boyfriend, sister and religious groups, don't seem so sure. Lia is an interesting character in that she was formerly the super-popular mean girl type who now has to deal with being a social pariah. She doesn't suddenly transform into a nice, likeable person because of her ordeal but remains scratchy and stubborn throughout. I was never really convinced by Lia's sister's reasons for her actions, and also I didn't see why this world needed to be post-apocalyptic because that surely would have had an adverse effect on the kind of advanced medical research (wouldn't immediate survival have been more of a priority?) that is at the core of the plot. Still it was certainly a gripping read and I'm glad I have the sequel on hand.

I found time to get another couple of books off the Tbr pile this weekend - Kitchen and The heretic's daughter. They couldn't really be more different! Kitchen is a tiny volume which contains two novellas by the young Japanese writer Banana Yoshimoto. Both stories deal with the effect of grief on a young person who has lost someone close to them. The phrase "still waters run deep" perfectly sums up both stories; they are quiet yet convey great emotion. It only took me an hour or two to read the whole book, but it is one I will return to in the future.

The heretic's daughter is a historical novel set during the Salem witch trials, and is based on the experiences and testimony of one of the real-life victims. The story is told by the "witch's" 10 year old daughter, who we know survives because the novel starts with a letter from her written many years later. The novel is mostly very black-and-white in its portrayal of character; there are one or two ambiguous figures but mostly it is very easy to see who is or will be a villain. I'm not sure if the author intended this, or if it's just because I've read a fair amount about this part of history, but every time I read about a supposedly innocuous incident between the heroine and her neighbours I could see exactly how it would be twisted and used against her in the future. So I spent a lot of the early part of the book thinking, "No, don't say that!" It was a good read although I would have preferred a bit more subtlety in the characterisation.

I've returned to Autumn Laing after a hiatus spent reading the above titles, having seen the art exhibition that inspired me to pick the book up from the shelf. It's not hugely compelling yet, but I'll keep going with it.

And my fun book is The sleeping god, a fantasy novel starring a pair of Mercenary "Brothers" (actually a male-female partnership). I'm really, really loving it so far - the worldbuilding, characters and plot are all terrific. One thing I especially like is that the author doesn't feel compelled to describe every single little thing along the way; in one chapter the mercenaries set off on a journey, and the next chapter begins, "After 5 days on the road ..." Thank you - if the journey isn't relevant to the plot, I don't need it described!

I'm impressed with how well The Day of the Triffids has aged. A great deal of mid 20th century science fiction is very obviously of its time, but this could have taken place today, except for the absence of computers.

I'm reading The Day of the Triffids next so I'm so glad people are enjoying it!

I read The Day of the Triffids about ten years ago and loved it. I am glad to hear others are enjoying it.

While on the subject of John Wyndham I would add that The Midwich Cuckoos is another great book. The absence of modern technology will date it a bit but it is another great story.

I agree with pgmcc, The Midwich Cuckoos is great too.

>210 Sakerfalcon: Hmm, what a coincidence that Kitchen should come up on both your thread and @lohengrin's- I've been eying her collection Lizard on my shelf and thinking I should pick it up for a re-read- I remember enjoying it, but I can't actually remember if I read my way all the way through it or not. I never have come across a copy of Kitchen or NP in the library or used bookstore, though. One of the LT reviews of Kitchen mentions some particularly noxious transphobia around a character named Eriko though, so it may not be the one for me.

Wasserman is also on my radar after reading that William Sleator is one of her influences, so I may need to keep an eye out for Skinned. I tend to read "post-apocalyptic" as a sort of hand-wavy shorthand for "don't think too hard about how this fairly implausible social situation came about" these days, for better or worse.

>215 sandstone78:: That's a good point about Eriko. I don't think the author had ever met a transperson before writing the book. It's one of those cases where you wish she hadn't even tried to include a minority character because it was so badly done.
The thing about Skinned is that the social situations in it aren't implausible or even very different to our society today; the differences are in the technology. Perhaps the post-apocalypticness becomes relevant in the sequels.

I managed to finish Autumn Laing, but skimmed a large part of it. Pages and pages went by where I read the words but could not tell you what had happened - because nothing was happening. The short section near the end where they travel to rural Queensland was the only bit where the Australian setting really came alive for me. This is one of those books narrated by an elderly person (the title character) who is looking back on her life and re-evaluating it from the distance gained by time. Unfortunately, in this case she is pretty unlikeable throughout and (as you may have gathered) a very dull narrator, who rambles on and on about minutiae while failing to build up a bigger picture. Tirra lirra by the river or The stone angel are far better portrayals of elderly women looking back. For one thing, they are about 200 pages shorter and for another, although the character has made mistakes in her past and been selfish, the author still managed to make me care about her. That did not happen with Autumn Laing. I think I'd rather have read a biography about the real-life people who inspired the novel - the artist Sidney Nolan and his supporters John and Sunday Reed.

In good news, I also finished The sleeping god and LOVED it. The main characters, Dhulyn and Parno are great - they have a mature relationship based on absolute trust, and talk to each other so as to prevent misunderstandings when they disagree. Although they are mercenaries by trade, they are far more than just fighters and use their other gifts just as often as their swords. As I said in >210 Sakerfalcon: above, the author doesn't tell us every little thing that they do, only what is needed to show character development and advance the plot. This is a world where women are found in a wide variety of roles, and it is the norm rather than something to be commented upon. Supporting characters were also interesting and Malan manages to make us care for even those who only appear briefly. @kceccato says that the next book is even better than this one, so I'm very glad that I already have a copy on hand!

I've started reading Poltergeist, the second Greywalker urban fantasy novel. It's started well; I like the heroine and her ferret, and the Seattle setting.

My next "serious" read is TBD. But I might just sneak The Midwich cuckoos in there while I make up my mind ... ;-)

#216
I might just sneak The Midwich cuckoos in there while I make up my mind

Just you do that. It is a good idea. :-)

216: So glad you loved The Sleeping God! I need to renew my acquaintance with Dhulyn and Parno soon in The Storm Witch.

The Soldier King has a theater subplot, which appealed to me because that's always been an interest of mine.

I have to admit to being transphobic in the past. I though they were really messed up in the head. But then I met a very nice trans lady (M to F) and realized my feelings were because the only trans person I had known up until that point has been very whacked out. It colored my entire perspective. I was all, "Whoa, wait a minute. This person is... normal!" I wouldn't have minded her as a friend at all. Whereas before, I didn't even want one of "them" in my house. It didn't make a lot of sense because I'm a very easy going person when it comes to sex, race, class, orientation, etc. I was in tears of joy when my gay friend was finally able to marry. I just had this one thing. I thought transpeople were mentally unstable. Damn, was I wrong. It was just because the only transperson I had ever known *was* mentally unstable!

>219 Morphidae:: I think the author was trying to make the trans character sympathetic; she comes across as a lovely person, kind and funny and generous, but the author seemed not to know why someone identifies as trans. And the way the other characters talk about her is messed up; they are very condescending and treat her as rather a joke. You are right in that you can't judge a group of people based on one individual, and it's why some book bloggers get annoyed when a book is touted as being "diverse" for including minority characters when they've only written one of each type - that's tokenism not diversity.

I finished Poltergeist yesterday and really enjoyed it. It's not great literature but it is fun and doesn't contain the most egregious tropes of urban fantasy. We have a heroine who is smart and good at her job, who doesn't resort to violence to solve problems. She doesn't seem to have a traumatic past (although her father is dead and she doesn't get along with her mother) and she is not subjected to sexual violence. The romance is low-key enough to be almost non-existant, and she has female friends (although we don't see much of her friendships except as they affect the plot). This story involved a very dubious parapsychology experiment and the chaos that results when a group of conflicting personalities conjure up something very nasty indeed. There may not be enough action (fighting or sex) for some readers, but I'm enjoying this series a lot so far.

I've got about half way through The Midwich cuckoos thanks to the enablers above, and have to thank them for the encouragement. It's an excellent, and very creepy, read so far. I don't think the narrative is quite as successful as it was in Triffids, due to the first person narrator not being present for all of the events; these sections get told in third person as if reported to him later. But other than that it's really good.

I've started Under the banner of heaven as my "serious" read, and so far it is gripping and very disturbing.

I put the sleeping god on my wishlist... And glad to hear you like The Midwich cuckoos!

It's been a little while since I updated this thread ... sometimes life gets in the way of more important things!

Finished The Midwich cuckoos and enjoyed it, although not as much as Triffids. The premise was super-creepy (especially as a female reader of the right age ...), but later parts of the book spent too much time reporting the sociological/philosophical discussions between the main male characters. I guess the problem is that although this is a really scary situation with ominous implications for the future there is not actually much action to describe. However, I found the ending to be genuinely moving and would definitely recommend the book to others.

In previous years I know we've had October/Hallowe'en themed reads at this time of year, and so I decided to pick out a few books for myself to suit the season. First up was The monstrumologist, which is a very highly-rated YA novel of the supernatural. I'm sorry to say that it was a DNF for me. Which word would you use to sum up a novel set in C19th New England with an orphan boy hero who is the semi-willing assistant to a "doctor" with a penchant for studying monstrous creatures; the first scene of which takes place in a graveyard at night? Spooky? Chilling? Perhaps gross? Surely not ... boring? But five chapters in and I couldn't care what happened to the characters, I was not curious about the horrid creatures which had infested the peaceful town, and the doctor's obsessive nature and constant repetition of the phrase "Snap to, Will Henry, snap to!" made me want to shake him. Add to that the fact that in over 100 pages the only women are a dead girl and a dead mother, and it was easy to put this one on the pile to go to the charity shop. I'm sure I'm in the minority on this one, as it has had all kind of acclaim from critics and bloggers.

Instead, I moved onto The graveyard book, which has been languishing on my shelves for far too long. This was an absolute delight to read; I loved the community of ghosts who between them raise a human boy to protect him from the killer who murdered his family. We have an excellent female werewolf among the supporting cast, as well as a varied cast of ghosts, ghouls and other things that go bump in the night. The ending is bittersweet but perfect. A lovely little book that blends darkness and light to great effect.

Now I'm reading Happy hour in Hell, the second of Tad Williams' urban fantasies. While I still find the big picture he has established to be fascinating, overall I'm far less enthusiastic about this volume. I'm finding the main character and first-person narrator less likeable this time round, and the whole novel feels like an unneccessary diversion from the situation set up in the first book.
***SPOILERS*** It doesn't help that the entire reason for the story is the angel protag's mission to rescue his demon lover from hell. I was not a fan of this "love story" in book one (by love story, I mean that the hero falls instantly in lust with the sexy female demon who is trying to kill him, they hook up for about 48 hours of sex during which time she reveals her tragic backstory and he decides that he is totally in love and she is the only one, blah blah blah) and it's deteriorated further into a "white knight must rescue secretly vulnerable damsel in distress" scenario that makes the Harry Dresden books look like enlightened feminism.
***END SPOILERS*** Why am I still reading? Because despite all that, the worldbuilding is still interesting, and I want to be ready to read the final book to see how that original plot will conclude. I'm really glad I found my copy at the second hand shop for £1 though.

I'm also reading, in total contrast, Moonwise, which I would describe as "mythic fantasy". It is about two friends, one of whom disappears into a wintry, wooded parallel world formed from stories the two created together as girls. The book is full of folkloric characters and references, with snatches of ballad punctuating thoughts and dialogue similar to the way Pamela Dean uses Shakespeare and poetry in her novels. The prose is rich and full of colourful dialect and archaic words, weaving a web that casts a spell but also confuses; much is unclear, hinted at and suggested rather than told outright. If you disliked the style of Riddle Master of Hed, for example, avoid this book. However, if you are patient and prepared to read closely, this book is full of strange and lovely images that perfectly capture the landscape as autumn turns to winter.

And I'm still reading Under the banner of heaven, which is excellent.

Moonwise sounds lovely *turns on NOOK* ...and yes, Under the Banner of Heaven was excellent and a look into a very different world.

I'm with you on The Monstrumologist. I gave it 4 out of 10 stars. I finished it though. Why? Who knows.

My mini-review: No, just no. I was not expecting horror, or at least this level of horror in what is supposed to be a YA book. Also, I despised the doctor and didn't like the boy. There wasn't one likeable character in the entire book. The interesting plot is the only thing that held this together.

Have you read Moonheart by Charles de Lint? I just finished it and it's a delight!

>224 Morphidae:: I'm glad it wasn't just me who didn't get on with The monstrumologist. Moonheart was the first book by CDL that I read, and it is still one of my favourites. Moonwise uses a similar premise but it concentrates far more on building atmosphere than on plot and characters and is comparitively slow and heavy-going at times. It's beautiful though.

>223 Marissa_Doyle:: Yes, the society in Banner of heaven is every bit as bizarre to me as those in a fantasy or SF novel.

This weekend I finished Happy hour in hell, and stand by my original comments. I hope the third part of the trilogy is more like the first than this installment.

Haven't been reading as fast recently because I've had to concentrate on writing job applications. Any good thoughts would be appreciated!

I managed to polish off three books this weekend, so I feel like I am making progress again after a slow period.

Moonwise was a lovely but difficult read due to its dense, allusive prose style. At times discerning the story through the rich language can be like peering through mist, or hacking through a thorn hedge - which is appropriate and maybe deliberate as the characters spend a lot of time doing just that. The book builds up a magical, mysterious atmosphere of parallel worlds governed by strange rituals which must be performed or a deathly stasis will occur. The odd old English custom of the Hunting of the Wren is a key part of the plot and I'm sure there are other real-life references that I missed. This is a perfect book to read in the autumn/winter time as it is all about the turning of the year and the change of seasons. I probably shouldn't have tried to read it on the train though; it requires your full attention.

I also read Shadowborn, the final book in Alison Sinclair's trilogy about a cursed people who can either live solely in darkness or in light. The events of the previous books are brought to a head in this book, with several plot strands following different groups of characters in both the capital city and on the Borders. It's an interesting and unusual fantasy whose well-rounded characters are probably its strongest feature. It took me a little while to get into the book as I had forgotten how the previous one ended so I'd recommend not leaving too long a time between installments if anyone fancies reading it.

My third book was another Jude Morgan Regency novel, An accomplished woman. While I enjoyed this and it made me laugh out loud in places, I didn't think it was quite as good as Indiscretion. It was a little bit too long and unevenly paced. That said, the cynical view of Bath was refreshing and amusing and the characters were mostly pleasant people to spend one's time with. Morgan has a good ear for the language of the period and he's clearly done plenty of research, which the book wears lightly. A delightful trifle!

I'm still reading Under the banner of heaven, which is taking me a while as the time I would spend reading it at work has had to be devoted to writing job applications. But I'm nearly done with them so I shall get stuck into the book again soon.

I'm also reading An unsuitable attachment, this month's Barbara Pym group read, and am enjoying it a lot. It has a wonderful, very spoiled cat and the usual cast of odd characters.

And at home I'm reading A night in the lonesome October as my last Hallowe'en themed book. I'm half way through and I love it so far; the animal characters are great and I'm intrigued as to what is actually going on.

226: I recently read Darkborn. I suppose I shouldn't wait too long with Lightborn, then!

>227 zjakkelien:: I didn't have too much of a problem catching up at the start of Lightborn, so you might be okay too!

I finished all three of the books I was reading in the above post this week.
Under the banner of heaven was excellent, a disturbing look at fanaticism and the ends to which it leads people. It was interesting both as a history of Mormonism, of which I knew a little from a university Religion course, and as a true crime examination. Near the end of the book, Krakauer speculates that Ron Lafferty will surely meet his end within a year or so (2004 -5) but having done a quick internet search I see that the appeals are still dragging on.

An unsuitable attachment was a fun read, though not one of Pym's best. I liked the main character, Ianthe, but the supporting cast were all rather troubling people, who you sensed had some unresolved issues. The trip to Rome was good though, with the vet's sister packing her bags full of cat food for the poor stray cats, then being disappointed that the first cat they see is a fat healthy specimen skulking around the restaurant!

A night in the lonesome October was wonderful, a book in which the tension slowly builds as more and more is revealed of the mysterious "Game" that all the characters are engaged in. The novel is narrated by Snuff, a watchdog, as he liaises with the animal familiars of the motley group of humans, most recognisable from Gothic novels and horror movies. There are some dark moments, but the edge is taken off by Snuff's pragmatic voice. I think this is the only book I've read that has a snake in it that I can like; on the other hand, I wanted to wring the albino raven's neck! I can see myself rereading this in future Octobers, perhaps a chapter a day as the book is told in diary form. I highly recommend this to fans of the supernatural, especially if you also like animals.

I've also read The ocean at the end of the lane, which I found at the library. I did enjoy this, although not quite as much as The graveyard book. Ocean handicapped itself by including a traumatic animal incident near the beginning, which it took me a while to recover from. But the Hempstocks were awesome and I loved the ocean of the title and its role in the plot.

I'm currently reading another library book, The dream thieves which is the second in Maggie Stiefvater's latest YA series. I really like the small-town Virginia setting and the non-angsty relationship between Blue the heroine and the group of boys from the local private school as they search for the remains of an ancient Welsh hero that are linked to a powerful leyline. The characters are well drawn and engaging and we see events from a variety of (third person) viewpoints. So, so much better than the Shiver trilogy.

228: In The Raven Boys et. seq., does the heroine simply come from a family of psychics, or does she have some ability of her own? I've had it recommended to me in other threads, but I'm not generally keen on "Magical Guy/ Mundane Girl" stories -- unless that girl has some specific talent or accomplishment, like musician Eddi in War for the Oaks.

Blue herself is not psychic, but her presence strengthens the readings received by those with the ability (so far, all women - her family). None of the guys is magical, although one (who will almost certainly not be the love interest) has the interesting ability to take objects from his dreams into the real world. The guy who will probably be the love interest is driven by his obssession with finding the remains and Blue and the others get sucked into helping him, brainstorming and throwing ideas around. Blue is a really grounded, level-headed character who I like a lot.

I've got The Ocean at the End of the Lane from the library and will be reading it in the next week. I'm looking forward to it. I didn't care that much for The Graveyard Book but that doesn't concern me much. People's opinions of Gaiman's books are all over the place. My favorite is Stardust.

231: I didn't like The graveyard book that much either, @Morphidae, but I did like The ocean at the end of the lane. I'm not as enthusiastic as some people, but I liked it well enough.

I liked both The Graveyard Book and The Ocean At The End of the Lane but liked The Graveyard Book better.

Interesting to see how opinions very. I still think my favourite of Gaiman's novels is American gods - there are aspects of it that I don't like, but the things I love far outweigh those I don't.

I finished The dream thieves which was a good read though I felt it dragged a little in the middle. It wasn't quite as enjoyable overall as The raven boys, but I did enjoy seeing the characters develop and finding out some of their secrets. I'll be looking forward to the third book when it is released, as this one ends on something of a cliffhanger.

Also this week I read a totally fluffy book, 666 Park Avenue. It's not my usual fare, being chick-lit with a dose of magic (not even paranormal romance, it was too fluffy for that), but I haven't been concentrating too well lately and my brain was drawn to this. It was very silly and a lot of fun. The heroine wasn't quite TSTL, although she probably should have been a bit more suspicious of her "too good to be true" whirlwind romance, and for the most part I liked her. Unlike a lot of this sort of books the heroine realises how much she needs a female friend and goes out of her way to make some which I really liked. I could have done with fewer brand names being thrown around, but it did feel true to the upper-crust Manhattan setting.

I'm currently reading Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson which is a really interesting novel about a college freshman for whom the line between reality and the imagination frequently blurs.

I'm also reading an old fashioned school story, Exile for Annis about a girl sent from her big urban High School to a tiny school on a farm in the country. At first she is disdainful of her new surroundings but of course she soon comes to appreciate it and make friends. It's quite lovely and less cliched than it sounds.

And I'm part way through The egg and I (reading these memoirs in the wrong order!) and loving it as I have MacDonald's other books.

The Egg and I is one of the books my husband and I read together, that is when we could stop laughing to read it. Love that book.

Not sure if this has come up on GD before but Neil Gaiman has recently lectured for the Reading Agency on the value of reading and libraries. It's on YouTube and the Reading Agency website.
I'm not a big fan of his books but I'm with him all the way on what he says here.

I read American Gods and enjoyed it, but I haven't managed to bring myself to read another Gaiman novel yet. If you had to recommend one other, any suggestions?

Stardust is my favorite Gaiman. Opinions vary widely, however, on which is "the best" Gaiman.

Thanks for the recommendation, I'll put Stardust on my list. I've never heard about a bad Gaiman novel, so it won't be time wasted.

Stardust is lovely, a Victorian-style story. Anansi boys is about one of the minor characters from American gods, but I haven't actually read it myself. I really liked Coraline and The graveyard book which are both YA.

Finished Hangsaman which was very good and rather unsettling, though in a less "horror" way than We have always lived in the castle or The haunting of Hill House. It's not quite as good as those novels, but worth reading if you are a fan of Jackson's work.

Exile for Annis was a nice read, strongest in its portrayal of friendship between girls. The "farm school" at which it is set sounds idyllic to me and I'm looking forward to acquiring the sequels when they are republished.

I'm savouring The egg and I, reading a chapter or two a night to make it last. It is a wonderful memoir that could easily have been turned into exaggerated slapstick humour but is far stronger for the author's restraint. The chapter entitled "I learn to hate even baby chickens" had me laughing to myself as I read in bed. After I finish I will only have Anybody can do anything left to discover and then I will have to start rereading.

My other book is also a memoir - I'm reading an omnibus edition of Gerald Durrell's books about his childhood, The Corfu trilogy, which includes the wonderful My family and other animals. I've read that one before, years ago, but had forgotten just how funny it is, and am looking forward to discovering the other two books.

And I have a library book to finish, Tourmaline by James Brogden, which is an interesting fantasy that moves between our world and a parallel one. Exactly how the two are related is unclear as yet, but things are slowly being revealed through the characters we follow in each world. I like the worldbuilding and the characters, and the writing is decent though nothing fancy. I need to add this to my library so that the touchstone will work; apparently no-one else is reading it yet.

Exile for Annis looks interesting. Something else to look for, I guess.

May I recommend Anything Can Happen, by George Papashvily? It is another wonderful humorous memoir about a Georgian who comes to America in the early 1900s. It is my go-to for comfort rereads. He wrote a couple of other books which are lovely too, but that is his best.

#240 - there is somethign special about Durrell's writing. He manages to capture a spirit of curiosity and fun so well, and simply. Just little sketched incidents but they work so well at portraying what most of been a totally fascinating life. Not always politically correct as per modern values, but extremely good fun. I've read My Family a few times, and some of the later collecting trip ones, but haven't yet managed to get the full story of how he initially set up his zoo.

#243 I also love all the digs he gets in at Lawrence over the course of the books.

>241 SylviaC:: Sylvia, Girls Gone By have just reprinted Annis, and are planning to do the rest of the trilogy as well. Old copies of the Children's Press edition do turn up used as well, which can be quite reasonably priced.

>242 MrsLee:: Recommendations are always welcome! That does look like a good read.

>243 reading_fox:. 244: The family banter is hilarious, the dialogue so well done that even when he doesn't attribute it you can still tell who has spoken. And of course, the animals are wonderful. To this day, magpies are always Magenpies to me. And maybe I am rather juvenile but I can never refrain from giggling at Widdle and Puke, the puppies.

I finished The egg and I and thoroughly enjoyed it right to the end. Of course, the way she writes about the Native peoples is not PC, but neither does she paint them as mystical noble savages in touch with nature. This book does not tempt me to take up chicken farming, but I shall certainly be rereading it in the future.

I also finished Tourmaline, which was very good, if a little confusing towards the end. The idea of our world being linked to another through people's dreams is not new, but it was done well in this case. Dreamers in each world can have negative effects in the other, even dragging others into the parallel world with strange consequences. There are sinister types in both worlds who use brutal methods to try and control these effects without care for collateral damange. I liked the Tourmaline archipelago of the title, which reminded me a bit of Christopher Priest's The islanders, although that is a far more sophisticated and original book. But this was an excellent effort by a relatively new British author and I shall look for more of his work.

Now I'm reading The good fairies of New York, which has been on Mount Tbr for ages. It's good fun but not a patch on the same author's outstanding Lonely werewolf girl. I'm enjoying the exploits of the drunken, perpetually feuding fairies, but YMMV - if I came across them in the flesh I suspect I'd be knocking their heads together before long.

I'm also reading An academic question with the Virago group. It's not reckoned to be one of Pym's best, but I'm enjoying it so far. University settings always make for interesting character interactions.

And I'm still engaged in Durrell's tales of his childhood, into the second autobiographical volume now.

I am a chicken farmer, so I'll have to read The Egg and I. I bet I'll end up appreciating all our modern conveniences.

I read Menagerie Manor (6/10) but didn't like it as much as My Family and Other Animals (8/10). My micro-review: "Amusing essays on the trials and triumphs of setting up a zoo. Sometimes a little tedious when he lists off animals and their characteristics rather than tell stories about them but in general a pleasant read."

>246 SylviaC:: Sylvia, you certainly will! I look forward to reading your reaction to the book when you manage to get hold of a copy.

I've read quite a lot since I last updated, thanks to some quiet time at work.

My opinion of The good fairies of New York remains the same as above having finished the book. It was quite good fun but not a keeper. I really did want to strangle Morag and Heather at times; thank goodness Millar cut to other characters at frequent intervals and gave me some respite from their idiocy.

An academic question was enjoyable, certainly more so than the last couple of Pym's novels I read. Her attempts to create a plausible '60s setting didn't quite ring true though, despite references to multiculturalism, abortion and extra-marital sex - her main characters still felt rather stuck in 40s or 50s mode. The protagonist Caro was especially dated in her passivity. That said, it was an amusing romp with some excellent supporting characters and a satirically-drawn university setting.

I adored Gerald Durrell's three novels about his childhood on Corfu, collected in The Corfu trilogy. I had to overcome some squeamishness about his penchant for taking animals from the wild (often from their mother) in order to keep them as pets, but I reminded myself of all the good that was to come from this passion in his later life. The combination of his larger-than-life family and the often unruly creatures he collected makes for fascinating and hilarious reading that had me stifling snorts of amusement when I read this at work. Most of the stories in the later two books are just as entertaining as those in My family and other animals. The visit of Prince Jeejee is particularly good. I've put the DVD of the BBC TV series from the '80s(?) on my wishlist; I remember watching it as a child but want to go back and see it again now my memory of the book is fresher.

The news of Doris Lessing's death prompted me to take Martha Quest off the shelf where it has been residing for many years and read it. It reminded me very strongly of Nadine Gordimer's The lying days, which I read earlier this year. Both books are about a teenage girl growing up in South Africa, stifled by their respectable family and trying to rebel but not really knowing how. Martha believes in the equality of the races and sexes - at least in her mind; we see her struggle to overcome her instinctive negative reactions in some instances. But when she is put in touch with some similarly-minded types upon moving to the city, she feels uncomfortable with them and joins instead with the sports club crowd who are preoccupied with drinking and partying. Her actions and behaviour do not match her inner life, and Martha is aware of this but can't overcome the divide. She's not a very nice character, and knowing what we do about the troubles of the black South Africans and the Jewish community (who are focused on more closely), I can't help feeling that her problems are first-world grievances. That's probably not fair, and I know she develops as a person in the following four books. I may try and get the next one from the library. Anyway, at least I can now say I have managed to finish a book by Lessing!

I'm currently reading Advent, an English fantasy novel that has echoes of the work of Susan Cooper, Alan Garner, et al in its use of mythology that invades the modern world. I'm half-way through and enjoying it so far.

I've just started reading The marrying of Chani Kaufman as my "going to work" book and that is very good so far. I'm certainly liking the characters better than those in The innocents, which is also set in a North London Jewish community.

And I've just begun The demi-monde : winter, in order to see if I want to get the series on kindle while it is cheap.

Reading anything lately?

Of course! :-) My work hours have changed this week, so I'm still getting used to that and haven't been online as much. My shifts are now shorter (hooray!) so I don't have quite as much time to read at work either.

I finished Chani Kaufman and enjoyed it. I've seen some negative feedback from Ultra-Orthodox readers who felt that it portrayed their community in a poor light, but I didn't think it was unsympathetic. It showed that theirs is a strict and difficult lifestyle to follow, but most of the characters still chose to remain within the community and found value in its rules and customs. The book focuses on the dilemmas and choices of female characters, but did give us some male viewpoints too; this approach was especially successful at showing the courtship between Chani and Baruch. The descriptions of the food are wonderful. I'm surprised the book made the Booker Prize longlist as there is nothing special about the prose (in fact it seems rather poorly edited in a few places) but it was a good read that I found hard to put down.

I also finished Advent, which happened to be a very good read for the time of year. It's set in Cornwall (far SW of England) in December so the descriptions of the wintry landscape and weather were especially atmospheric. It's a fairly typical set-up - teenage boy discovers that he is not who he thinks he is, and strange events occur around him. But it's well-written, the characters are interesting, and the author makes good use of English folklore and other mythology as well as the Faust legend to create a vivid tale. It's not quite as powerful to me as Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising series, or Alan Garner's Alderley books, but perhaps if I had been able to read Advent at the same young age as I read those it would resonate as strongly as them. I will be trying to acquire the sequel soon.

I'm still reading Demi-monde : Winter which is entertaining but requires enormous suspension of disbelief. The set up is ridiculous - a fully immersive computer game that was designed for the Army to train its soldiers in Asymmetrical Warfare Environments, with some characters based on real-life psychopaths, dictators, etc. imported for good measure. Somehow the President's daughter has ended up trapped in this sim and a young female jazz singer is the only person who can go in and rescue her (because Reasons). It's fun so far, but totally silly.

My commuting book has been Microserfs which I am loving. The characters are adorable, the riffs on 80s and 90s pop culture are fun and the dialogue is funny but not unrealistically so. I'll be sorry to finish the book and no longer be able to hang out with these people.

And on my new-to-me kindle I'm reading Pantomime, a fantasy novel set in a circus featuring an intersex protagonist. It's really good so far.

LOL, I'd say you are! Nothing I've really heard of, but I'm glad you are enjoying yourself!

I certainly am! I've finished Microserfs and loved it, rating it 4.5 stars. I gather that the picture it paints of the tech scene at that time isn't entirely accurate, but for me the book was all about the characters. I liked them all, and cared about them as they struggle to achieve a work/life balance, to discover who they are and what they want, and as they become a family, drawing others into their group. It was warm and funny, and also a good book to read on the train as it falls into short sections (diary entries).

I also read The willful princess and the piebald prince, a Farseer novella by Robin Hobb. It fills out the story of an event from history that is mentioned in the Assassin trilogy, and explains the origins of the hatred for Witted folk. It's okay, a nice aside to the main novels but not really an essential read. What is remarkable about it is the beautiful illustration, both colour plates and black-and-white pictures within the text. The animals are especially well-drawn, their motion brought to life by sinuous lines. I'm glad this was a library read though and that I resisted the temptation to buy it.

Now I'm reading Tooth and claw by Jo Walton, which I need to finish to give back to a friend tomorrow. That won't be a problem; I love it and am finding it hard to put down when I need to get off the train, start work, etc. For those who don't know, the plot is that of a Victorian novel (specifically similar to Framley Parsonage by Trollope) only all the characters are dragons. It is absolutely wonderful and I am eagerly waiting for my lunch break so I can get back to it. I'll have to see if I can get the Trollope novel on kindle, though I bet it won't be as much fun with human characters.

I loved Tooth and Claw! Dragons with hats: what else needs be said?

Aaaaand another ka-ching! for Barnes & Noble as I download Tooth and Claw...

I gave Tooth and claw 5 stars. It's a perfect little book.

I also finished Pantomime, the first novel I've read on the kindle. It's a good read, set in a Victorian-type society in a world that was once populated by the mysterious Alder, whose legacy exists in the form of odd glass structures amid the newer buildings. It has to be said that the cover blurb for this book is completely misleading; I won't say why although the real situation is obvious from about chapter 3 onwards so it wouldn't exactly be a spoiler. There isn't a big reveal, you just realise, "Oh, so they are actually ..." This is definitely an interesting and unusual book and one that I'd recommend. The back story and the present scenes (which are set in a circus) are interleaved and both kept me absorbed, wanting to return to the book as soon as I'd put it down.

I found Cold steel, the third book in Kate Elliott's latest trilogy, at the library, so that is my current commuting book. It's considerably larger than the previous volumes and I'm hoping this isn't due to unnecessary padding, which I find is a weakness of Elliott's. So far the trilogy contains wonderful characters and a diverse, fascinating world, but the story feels as though it is having to fight in order not to be smothered.

Demi monde : winter continues to be both fun and utterly ridiculous. Pure popcorn, and just as difficult to resist!

I wasn't that impressed with Among Others by Jo Walton. Should I give her another try with Tooth and Claw?

I liked Tooth and Claw much better than Among Others, Morphy--it was a lot of fun, though the end felt rather rushed. Rather dark fun at times, but fun nonetheless.

Okay, added to Mount TBR.

>256 Morphidae:, 257: Tooth and claw is totally different to Among others, so you might well enjoy it more. I love that Walton chose to use dragons to explore and skewer the conventions of Victorian novels. At times you forget the characters are dragons until mention is made of a claw, tail or cave. It's really clever, and warm too.

I finished Cold steel and am pleased to say that it was a great improvement on the middle book of the trilogy. It was packed with plot and never dragged, and brought back many characters who had been neglected in the 2nd book. Cat remained a strong heroine (even if she was too easily distracted by the sight of her husband with his shirt off), and although her actions could often be impulsive and heedless her motives were always good and she usually managed to get herself out of trouble. Her rashness is also perhaps a sign of her relative youth and previously sheltered life. The plot gets quite complicated, and references are made to events from the first two books, so I'd recommend not waiting too long between installments if you choose to read this trilogy. I do recommend it, despite the slow 2nd book.

Nearly at the end of Demi monde : Winter. It's exciting and fast paced, but I have to make an effort not to think too hard about the logistics of it all.

On my kindle I'm reading The emperor's knife. The worldbuilding is strong; it's a vaguely Arabian Nights-y world, but the author has resisted the temptation to create a fantasy Middle East. The setting brings freshness to the tropes of the bride travelling to an arranged marriage, the secret heir to an empire, and the scheming courtiers plotting the downfall of the current ruler. I'm enjoying it so far.

259: I need to acquire Cold Fire and Cold Steel, fast; I'm eager to read the rest of this trilogy. Disappointed to hear that the second book of the trilogy is not as strong and may need to be "slogged through," but Cat Barahal will make it worth the struggle. I warmed to her when I read the first book, despite my reservations about the romantic plot.

Among Others is on my Want-to-Read list; is it worth a go? I know Walton's works can vary a great deal in style, as Tooth and Claw was miles apart from The King's Peace in voice and in feel; I liked both, but would never have been able to guess the same woman wrote them.

>260 kceccato:: I enjoyed Among others and would recommend it. It blurs the line between fantasy and realism, as well as being a sympathetic portrayal of a young girl beginning to find herself as a person. It's also a fun trip down memory lane for lovers of classic SF.

Yes, Cat is a great character. For all that her mooning over Vai's gorgeousness and his sumptuous clothes can get old, she never once that I can remember worries about whether she is good enough or pretty enough for him. She eats huge meals without shame when she is hungry, without worrying "What will people think?" or "Will I get fat"? Slight spoiler*** she enjoys sex and is not shy about initiating proceedings***End spoiler. And while she worries for Vai's safety and he occupies most of her thoughts, she still manages to care for others around her - her cousin, her husband's relatives, the friends she has made along the way. And perhaps best of all, Cat is just one in a large cast of interesting, diverse female characters. For all its faults, this series does a lot of things right.

I started reading Never cry wolf on the train today, for the December GD group read. So far I'm really enjoying the self-deprecatory tone and humour, while being made angry at the stupid bureaucrats who pander to the hunting lobby and who know exactly what evidence they want Mowat to return with from the field.

Time for another update, before the year ends ...

Demi Monde : Winter was okay, but I doubt I'll read the sequels. Kind of fun but a bit too long and the logistics just don't add up.

The emperor's knife was just okay too. Good worldbuilding with unusual societies and magic, but the characters were the usual types and the plot, while not predictable, was also not really anything out-of-the-ordinary. I may look for the sequel, but most of the loose ends were tied up in the first book so it's not urgent.

Never cry wolf was a quick and very interesting read, and I've shared my thoughts on the group read page for the book. Basically, the author was a little too ingenuous to be believable, but his descriptions of the wolves and their behaviour were excellent and moving.

I've also read Parasite on my kindle and very much enjoyed it. It was gripping and fast paced and kept you guessing as to people's motives and ultimate goals. I'll be eagerly awaiting the sequel.

I'm currently rereading Inda by Sherwood Smith, hoping this time to carry on to the 3 sequels which I've owned for a while now. It's a very good book but the prose and plot are rich and detail-heavy, making these rather slow reads.

And as I'm heading up to London on the train today, I will need to start something new on my kindle ... so many good things to choose from :-)

Were you visiting someone for the holidays?

Yes, Morphy; I spent the week of Christmas (Sunday to Sunday) at my parents' house, with them and my sister. Then I went to stay with a friend for New Year's (Tuesday to Thursday). My reading rate always slows when other people are around, but of course their company brings its own rewards.

My last book completed for 2013 was Fangirl, read on my kindle. This was a lovely YA novel, set in the freshman year of college and following a shy twin as she struggles to find her feet in what seems an alien and hostile setting for her. Her more confident twin sister has struck out on her own leaving Cath adrift. But gradually Cath is drawn out of her solitude (and her obsession with writing fan fiction) and builds friendships and lets go of some of her fears. It was funny, touching and completely charming. Perhaps it ended a bit too quickly and neatly, but that didn't really affect my enjoyment of the book. I will certainly be snapping up Eleanor and Park when I can.

Now I guess it is time to start my journal for 2014 ...