Marissa's Books Consumed in 2015

2014 was a good reading year with over 100 books read, and I hope to equal that in 2015 and keep up the brisk exchange of book bullets with other Dragoneers. :)

Starting out with the next book in Lois McMaster Bujold's SF Vorkosigan series, Brother in Arms. I do love having a series to sink into, and am enjoying this one very much.

A happy New Year to you! I wish you a good year of reading and writing.

Wishing you many happy hours of reading in the coming year.

You have my star once again, along with a wish for a happy new year.

I'm investing in a bulletproof vest, but the Vorkosigans are persistent. I think they'll get me in the end.

They are very persistent, but I think you'll enjoy that particular bullet. And besides, it's only fair--you got me last night with Ninety Percent of Everything, which I've already downloaded. :)

>6 Marissa_Doyle: The problem with bulletproof vests is that your arms are still out for reading. Fire at will, you know I love it :)

So you're starting up for 2015. (I can't afford too many bullets this year, so please do keep it down...)

Happy New Reading Year! I look forward to following you and hope I don't take too many hits!

>8 jillmwo:, >9 Sakerfalcon: Aw, you're no fun... :)

First two books of the year: one, a book bullet from imyril, was I Think I Can See Where You're Going Wrong: and Other Wise and Witty Comments from Guardian Readers, which was a fun little confection with some truly (and happily) groan-worthy puns and witty commentary--a pleasant pastime.

Human Voices by Penelope Fitzgerald Based (one assumes) on her own time working at the BBC during the war, this short novel follows several characters at the BBC just after the end of the "phony war" and into the start of the Blitz and was at times very funny and at others rather sad, with a great many wry observations and commentary about life, the universe, and everything that made me itch for a note book to jot them down. This is my first Fitzgerald, and I suspect not my last.

>10 Marissa_Doyle: I'm keeping my eyes closed!

>10 Marissa_Doyle: made me itch for a note book to jot them down

Don't you write in the books you read? I sure do. I underline passages in pencil and make notes in the margins. I also create a little index in the back with key phrases to help me find the passages that especially struck me. (This is a little harder to do with e-books, but I manage.)

I think you might have grazed me with a bullet there, too.

This was an ebook, Meredy...though now that I think of it, I could have highlighted the passages that made me pause and say, "ah, yes." I think I'll have to go back and do that.

Finished Komarr, another solid entry in the Vorkosigan series (and where Miles meets and begins to fall in love with his eventual wife). I skipped a few books in the series, but may return to them at a later date. And I AM enjoying these books! It's so...comfortable to have a nice long series to fall into.

Sexually, I'm more of a Switzerland: More Personal Ads from the London Review of Books was almost as funny as its predecessor They Call me Naughty Lola--one of those books it's a delight to dip into at random, read a page or two, giggle madly to self, and annoy other people in the room by reading selections aloud (of course, a few minutes later someone else has captured the book and is giggling madly to him or herself.) Great fun.

>15 Marissa_Doyle: I think I took a bullet here. Sounds like a great thing to sample between weightier reads.

>16 Jim53: Oh, it's an excellent palate cleanser.

Finished another Vorkosigan novel, A Civil Campaign which is now probably my favorite so far among the series along with Barrayar. The plotting was wonderfully intricate and very, very well done--as well as very funny at times. Also finished the novella Winterfair Gifts in the series.

>17 Marissa_Doyle: A civil campaign was the first of Bujold's novels that I read and, apart from the Chalion books, it's still my favourite. It never fails to make me laugh out loud.

>18 Sakerfalcon: According to my son, Captain Vorpatril's Alliance, a recent addition to the series, is almost as funny. I'm looking forward to it.

Read Falling Free, a prequel-ish book set in the Vorkosigan universe two or three hundred years before the other books in the series, and am now onto Diplomatic Immunity, which follows onto it and IS a Miles book. Very much a mystery story, and I'm enjoying it.

Also sneaked in The Little Book of Pandemics, a sort of quickie guide to pandemic or potentially pandemic diseases in the early twenty-first century, because I'm a bit of an epidemiology junkie. A useful little overview/reference, but nothing terribly in-depth.

Finished Diplomatic Immunity (very good and twisty mystery as well as Miles being Miles) and am setting the next few Vorkosigan books aside for later--it's time for something completely different. That something completely different is Jane's Fame: How Jane Austen Conquered the World, a look at the whole Jane Austen phenomenon (perhaps I should call it hysteria?) and how it developed over the course of two centuries.

Finished Jane's Fame: How Jane Austen Conquered the World and enjoyed it very much--sort of a history of Austen's novels and how they've been regarded by readers and critics since their release. The author has a nicely witty style, without being flippant.

Also read Storm Surge: Hurricane Sandy, Our Changing Climate, and Extreme Weather of the Past and Future, which made a nice companion to an earlier read, Superstorm: Nine Days inside Hurricane Sandy. Storm Surge went into a lot of detail on the physics and history of the development of the mathematics of meteorology, of which I probably only understood ever other word, but between the two books, I learned a lot.

I have Jane's Fame on my dining room table. Good to know you found it worthwhile!

>It was a pleasant read, Jill. I hope you'll like it.

I was interested by the recent group read of Nina Kiriki Hoffman's A Fistful of Sky, but didn't feel drawn to the plot-line...however, I did pick up a later book in the series (?--is it a series? It seems to be a sister of the protag in the earlier book), Fall of Light, because the story-line sounded fun--a horror movie shoot where the monster becomes real. I like the way it went from being a more-or-less straightforward contemporary fantasy into something much more interior for the main character, Opal and tied into her figuring herself out...and I rather liked the strange, abrupt, open-ended ending though I can see why others might not. I'm not sure I'll try A Fistful of Sky though I'd certainly be open to recommendations of her other work.

Funny, the plot-line for A Fistful of Sky appealed to me even though I haven't been reading much new fantasy in the last decade or so, whereas Fall of Light doesn't even faintly interest me. Your comments make it sound more interesting than any of the other reviews I've read, though.

>24 SylviaC: Agreed. I read A fistful of sky, but the next instalment didn't appeal to me. Now I'm wondering if I should try it anyway...

>24 SylviaC:, >25 zjakkelien: I think I was drawn to it partly because I've always been fascinated by the image of the Green Man, and the idea that an exterior can become an interior (if that makes sense). I also enjoyed the tongue-in-cheek humor, though other parts irritated me--characters whose importance seems emphasized at first, only to more or less drop out of the plot later in the book. Real life is messy that way, but it bugs me in fiction--Chekhov's gun on the mantelpiece. :)

Finished Splendors and Glooms, a middle grade historical fantasy that was a pleasant diversion...except for the author's frequent anachronistic slips (a London street urchin being grateful for the "rush of adrenaline" he was feeling... in 1860??)...and the fact that there really was not a single adult character in it who was, for lack of a better term, "nice." Not that I was wanting an adult character to swoop in and make it all better--I know way better than that!--but there really weren't any admirable adults.

>26 Marissa_Doyle: "an exterior can become an interior"

Thinks: I wonder if a really gifted architect could lay a Klein bottle on its side and turn it into a viable house. Then you'd have a place that was both inside and outside at the same time.

Hugh, R.A. Heinlein played with a similar idea in his short story ...And He Built a Crooked House--it's one of my favorites.

Memory jogged by the reviews here on LT. I remember reading that yonks ago, but in that one the house was 4-dimensional. I suspect a Klein bottle would be more stable (being 3-dimensional in a 3-dimensional world), but possibly more confusing and less waterproof.

>26 Marissa_Doyle: I'd seen good reviews for Splendors and glooms but anachronisms of the sort you mention really annoy me. I'm fine with them if the author is claiming it's an alternate history, but not in straight historical fiction.

Marissa, was it you who read The midnight queen last year? If so, I need to credit you with the BB! It's up next on my reading pile.

I think it was just the editor and copy editor being asleep on the job...but, um, making sure things like that get edited out is their job. Maybe it wouldn't have irked me so if the book hadn't been a Newbery Honor book--but I would expect more of a Newbery Honor book.

And yes, I started The Midnight Queen last year but DNF--I really enjoyed the concept and the world-building but found it too predictable. I hope it will work better for you, though.

I've started The Miniaturist and am definitely drawn in.

>31 Marissa_Doyle: ooh, I bought The Miniaturist as a gift at Christmas and am looking forward to borrowing it ;)

Finished The Miniaturist and...was left somewhat underwhelmed and not quite understanding the hype. I enjoyed the setting--late 17th century Amsterdam--and thought the author brought it to life fairly well, though her habit of rattling off the the names of streets to paint a picture of the city didn't particularly work. The characters were hit-and-miss--sometimes they and their actions made sense, sometimes they did not: for one example, I still don't know why Johannes agreed to sell the Meermans' sugar, then didn't--it just wasn't the action of a man who was supposed to be an extremely savvy merchant...and yet this action/inaction drives a huge amount of the plot. And Agnes? Forget it--totally incomprehensible...as was, at times, Marin. The dialogue was at times more opaque and striving to sound more literary than it needed to, and a major strike against it was the present tense usage, which always irks me. Nor was the central figure in the story (not the protagonist, mind you), the Miniaturist, ever explained to my satisfaction, and in the end felt like a contrivance, a macguffin to drive the story. So while I read it, and kind of liked it, it's not a story I'll ever return to or try to put into my book-gun to launch bullets at fellow dragoneers. :)

And as it's the last day of the month, my total is 14 books read for January. February will be commencing with Thieftaker, which I've just started and am pleasantly hooked by.

>33 Marissa_Doyle: hmm, that's disappointing. Thank you - I can keep tending my existing garden of well-nourished book bullets before I rush to borrow this :)

Well, based on its popularity in our local library system, I had added The Miniaturist to the titles for my library book discussion group. I'll be eager to see if they agree with your assessment.

I'd love to hear what they think!

Thieftaker was...okay. The premise was very cool--a proto-private investigator in pre-Revolutionary Boston who also happens to use magic--that right there ticks all the right boxes as far as I'm concerned.

Alas, the execution was somewhat wanting. I like my historical fiction descriptive--paint me a picture of what and where, the sights and colors and smells...and I didn't get that here, which was extra-disappointing as I'm just twenty miles away from Boston and love it and its history. Unfortunately the author saved his descriptive language for the multiple times and ways the protagonist, Ethan, gets beat up by the bad guys (yawn). The magic system was interesting, but again its use was over-described, and both of these slowed the pace of the story. The characters were competently drawn, but maybe not as fully-fleshed as they might have been...and I totally failed to buy into one of the main antagonists, a rival thief-taker who is more mafioso don than crime-fighter...and oh, yes, it's a she, who swans about 1765 Boston wearing trousers. Uh-huh. Riiiight...

From what I gather, this had originally been written as a fantasy, and it might have been fine as one, but the editor James Frenkel (yes, he who no longer works for Tor because of several sexual harassment issues at cons) suggested the author change settings...I'm just not sure it made the transition to an historical setting very credibly.

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

I'm not quite sure what to say about this book. While I was reading it, I thought it was, for the most part, charming. As soon as I finished it, though, all sorts of things started to bother me: Brain cancer? Seriously? Young Harvard student writes incredibly stylistically naive note leaving her baby to a stranger and then (a former athletic swimmer) drowns herself? It has overtones of a LifeTime Channel movie, and all I could think of were the kids who refuse to read a Newbery medalist book because they know that a dog is going to die in it. And the whole incident with the book not being a memoir but fiction a la James Frey, and Amelia not being more disturbed about that--REALLY? So I'm not sure how I would rate or if I would recommend it--I enjoyed some aspects (especially because I'm very familiar with the island on which I assume Alice Island was based), and enjoyed especially any dialogue between A.J. and Amelia...but overall, I'm left grumbly and annoyed. Maybe I'm just getting too curmudgeonly in my middle age.

On to Little, Big which is reminding me here in the early pages of the good bits of Mark Helprin. I'll be interested to see how it goes on.

>38 Marissa_Doyle: I'll take that as conclusive, Marissa. I've been waffling; you swung the balance. Thanks very much.

I wish there were a way to attach a label for our own use to a book title we've considered and decided against, sort of like Netflix's "not interested." I don't want to add the title to my library. I just want to record a code for it that says, in effect, "Considered; no longer a candidate." I've wasted a lot of time looking and then looking again at things I turned out to have already rejected once.

That's a good question, and I don't know how you would do that here apart from adding them to your library with a tag "To Be Avoided." May be a question for the official people.

I think you;d have to add them to a collection - 'anti-wishlist' or something. They'd appear in "all Books" but nothing else. You would have to decide whether to set recommendations on them. By Tim's thinking you'd allow it as it's the sort of book you're probably interested in, only that specific title doesn't appeal. I remain unconvinced. Tag as well wouldn't hurt.

Little, Big is very slow going, although I'm enjoying it...but work is interfering with reading this month, and I'm usually only getting to read much while on the elliptical machine at the gym. And now I've downloaded the latest Mary Russell book, Dreaming Spies, which is taunting me from my Nook...

>42 Marissa_Doyle: I seem to remember finding Little, big something of a chore at times, but it has lingered in my mind ever since and I do want to reread it.

Still plowing through Little, Big and loving it...but yes, it's a labor of love to read. So I took a little break from it to read something completely different: The Immortal Life of Henriette Lacks, which as far as I'm concerned, completely earned all the praise showered on it. Some reviews here disliked the amount of time and detail the author dedicated to Lacks' family and how her "immortal life" has affected them, but I think it worked beautifully and was deeply affecting without ever crossing the line into sentimentality or judgment. An extraordinary book.

I liked The Imortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and thought that the details about her family were an important part of the story. My only quibble was the extent to which the author inserted herself into the story. But that is just a technique that I don't happen to care for.

I've read books where I loathed the authorial insertion because it was gratuitous and self-indulgent, but I really think it worked here because she became part of the story, in all the time she spent with Deborah Lacks "doin' reportin.'" The scene when she brings Deborah and her brother to visit the researcher at Johns Hopkins was an important one in the story of the Lacks' involvement with their mother's legacy, and it wouldn't have happened without her. I thought she balanced her own role in it all fairly well...and most importantly, she never judged.

37: If that woman wearing trousers in 18th-century Boston were a heroine and not a villainess, Thieftaker would be high in my TBR pile. But my impression is that its author is one of those writers who is perfectly willing to endow his villainess with agency and an overabundance of unorthodox charisma while leaving none at all for his "heroine" (if he even bothers to include a character worthy of that name). I'm just not the kind of reader who enjoys identifying with evil/heartless characters, and I would so much rather latch onto a female character than be expected to content myself with identifying with a male one.

I'm sorry I am late to the party re: discussion of the Vorkosigan Saga.
Can the books be read out of order? I have the omnibus Miles in Love, and that one interests me most because I like the way Bujold handles romance in The Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls. So many writers have very little clue how to write a believable, intelligent romance plot, and while I know Miles enjoys sexual relationships with a number of women during the course of the series, I'm more interested in reading about the One That Lasts. Could I start with Komarr and go back and pick up the others later?

>47 kceccato:
I suggest that you start with Cordelia's Honor to get to know Miles' mother.

48: I've actually read that one. That's another reason I feel pretty sure I'll like Miles in Love.

>47 kceccato: No, she (the trouser-wearing antagonist) was about an inch this side of psychotic...but yes, otherwise preternaturally gorgeous and charismatic and blahblahblah. The MC's love interest is...okay. Nothing truly memorable though she does stand up to Crazy Antagonist Lady at one point.

I've been reading all the Miles books in internal chronological order, and in retrospect am glad I did, rather than jumping ahead because it allowed me to see Miles develop into the man who would eventually woo and win his wife. But that's just me...

Ah, I'm sorry you didn't enjoy A.j. Fikry Marissa. I understand what you mean about its drawbacks, but I liked A.J. so much and the enthusiasm of the policeman and his book club, that I guess I let the other things slide as literary devices. It's still one of my favourite reads so far for this year.

Miles is a delight, without a doubt. And I'm glad to read your comments about The Miniaturist, I've been waffling on that one.

>51 katylit: Literary devices tend to annoy me when they scream "Hi! I'm a literary device!", and that's kind of how I felt about Fikry. I much prefer my literary devices to be sneaky ninjas. ;)

>52 kceccato: Unfortunately no one can quite match Cordelia and her shopping bag. I like Kat, Miles' wife, but she doesn't quite match Cordelia's sheer awesomeness. Oh, there's a secondary character named Taura whom I thought was pretty awesome, but she's--well, a secondary character, though she does feature prominently in one of the novellas. She's one of Miles' earlier love interests.

>47 kceccato: The first Vorkosigan book I read was A civil campaign and even though I didn't have any of the backstory I still loved it. Enough of the important events from previous books was filled in that I didn't feel lost or confused. So I think you'll be okay to start reading Komarr and continue from there.

53: From everything I've read about Taura, she's the character whom I deeply WISH were the heroine, the one who might have the Good Stuff waiting for her in the end. Alas, even a talented writer like Bujold can't find it in her heart to let the wonderfully unorthodox Taura get the ultimate happy ending. Instead she 1) gets rejected in favor of a more conventional woman, and 2) dies young. Her fate is one of the reasons I've caught myself holding back from reading the Miles books once Cordelia is no longer the focus.

As I said before, I like to have a cool female character to get attached to and identify with, as long as she plays an important enough role even if she isn't the protagonist. I'd like to think this series would offer a few.

>55 kceccato: Well, there's also Miles' other lover, Elli Quinn, who kicks a reasonable amount of backside in Ethan of Athos. I think that might be why Miles is so likeable--because he's drawn to strong women. I also wish Taura could have had a bigger story arc because in addition to being strong and courageous, she's genuinely nice, and I'm a sucker for nice (The Goblin Emperor comes to mind...) I haven't read Captain Vorpatril's Alliance yet, in which he marries, so I have no idea if a new wonderful female character gets introduced there. And of course, assuming Ms. Bujold continues to write the series, there are Miles' daughters to look forward to...

56: I agree completely about nice characters. Kindness is a quality sadly undervalued and often taken for weakness in our current "age of grimdark." I always enjoy reading about characters who have a strong capacity for compassion and empathy and will go out of their way to help people in trouble.

Thanks so much for answering my questions about the Vorkosigan Saga.

Ack!! It's my 4th Thingaversary today, and I almost forgot!!

I did order In These Times: Living in Britain Through Napoleon's Wars 1793-1815 for starters...and I think The Buried Giant and A Creature of Moonlight and Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania and a few others will be finding their way onto my Nook...

Happy Thingy! Just as well you remembered in time, or your book indulgence goals might have grown exponentially...

>59 imyril: I know--it was a squeaker. ;)

Well, that's a relief. We wouldn't want to unlock the doors to the dungeon where the LT thugs reside. I was actually reading a review of Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania just the other day so will be interested in whether you find it to be a satisfying read.

I've liked everything else of his that I've read so far, though I haven't read all of them. I'm working on a story set in 1917, though, so this will be informative (I hope)--he's pretty good at giving a snapshot of the zeitgeist in his books.

And I really need to finish Golden Witchbreed so I can move on either to Ancient Light or Middlemarch, but I've been too busy working.

A quick list of what I've finished, since my reading has been erratic over the last month:

Golden Witchbreed by Mary Gentle --Liked it very much, but not sure I'm ready to go on to the sequel just yet.

The Mary Russell Companion by Laurie R. King --more something to dip into at random than sit and read, but a nice way to grab a quick Russell fix.

Censoring Queen Victoria by Yvonne M. Ward--reads like the doctoral thesis it originally was, but still an interesting topic--how so much history was lost in how Queen Victoria's personal papers were handled after her death, often by people with agendas.

Dreaming Spies by Laurie R. King --Enjoyable, but not the usual Russell/Holmes fare--as much travelogue as story, so perhaps a little disappointing.

The Queen of Spells by Dahlov Ipcar --retelling of the Tam Lin story, moved to late 19th century America. Not quite YA, but not quite adult either, yet with some lovely lyrical language in places. My favorite retelling of Tam Lin is still The Perilous Gard, though Fire and Hemlock is up there too.

Pioneer Girl: the Annotated Autobiography by Laura Ingalls Wilder --You have to be something of a LIW aficionado to read this, but if you are, it's fascinating to see how she used her life to create the Little House stories. Lots of photos and illustrations add much to the text; the notes are excellent.

Dead Wake by Eric Larson --I was a tad disappointed by this, and I can't help wondering if the author did so much research and had so much he could have used, that he choked a little. It lacked a certain something that his earlier Isaac's Storm had in spades, but don't ask me to define what I mean--a certain sympathy, perhaps? I think he tried to follow a similar structure/way of examining the event with it, but the personalities involved didn't want to lend themselves to it. Still, as I'm working on something set just a couple of years after the sinking of the Lusitania, I enjoyed the period detail/social history aspect and would have been happier with more of that.

Currently reading: Vision in Silver by Anne Bishop --total candy read, but I do like this series.

>63 Marissa_Doyle: Glad you enjoyed Golden witchbreed, it's a very good book. The sequel is flawed in many ways but still a good read when you are ready for it.

I have a copy of The queen of spells and really should get around to reading it. Ipcar's A dark horn blowing was one of my favourite books growing up and it wasn't until I joined LT that I learned she'd written and illustrated so many other books!

And Pioneer girl is on my wishlist ...

>64 Sakerfalcon: I waited a long time for Pioneer Girl to arrive--evidently they had to go to a much larger third printing because there was much, much more interest in it than expected.

I took a bullet from tardis with a historical fantasy series by an author named Karen Dudley--a (so far) two book series about a celebrity chef in ancient Athens that sounds hilarious. It starts with Food for the Gods, which I've downloaded from B&N.

>63 Marissa_Doyle: I'm glad you liked Golden Witchbreed! Ancient Light is as @Sakerfalcon says a very flawed book, but it's an interesting read as well. (It feels more like deconstructionist fan-fiction sequel written by somebody else than a true sequel to me, because of some of the author's choices that seem to deliberately distance the book from Golden Witchbreed.)

Finished Vision in Silver...and...I don't know. Maybe I'm being persnickety and reading with my writer brain a little too much, but to me it read more like a draft than the lovely finished piece that Written in Red was with its well-developed world. It also felt very rushed in places while dragging in others, leaving many plot points sort of resolved but not really. I can't help wondering if Bishop had been contracted for three books, and wasn't sure if there would be a contract forthcoming for more in the series--hence the semi-resolution of matters like Meg and Simon's relationship and the state of things between humanity and the terre indigene. The Humans First and Last aspect, while interesting, also felt clunky re Monty's ex Elayne's involvement. I dislike when books have antagonists that never appear on camera--it's just too convenient--and I don't even recall Leo Borden being mentioned before this book. Nor do we get any further explanation for just who Nicholas Scratch is. I also felt that Meg's sudden inability to deal with change after all the change she'd been through in books 1 and 2 was contrived, an "oops, need to find a way to explain a new plot point" moment. Simon also seemed to regress in some ways, from being fairly human-savvy in book one to suddenly not seeming to understand a lot of things about the human world--somehow not convincing for a being who's chosen to run a bookstore stocked with mostly human books. So while I continue to enjoy the world of these stories, I'm disappointed in this installment and will be curious to see if a fourth volume appears.

Life rather got in the way for a while in terms of work and then of semi-unexpected travel in the form of a trip to England, and reading took a bit of a hit. Nothing I've read of late has really wowed me, unfortunately, with a lot of DNFs. :( Either I'm getting really curmudgeonly and demanding in my mature years, or I'm on a bad luck streak when it comes to choosing reading material. I may indulge in some comfort re-reads to recalibrate me...plus I came home from England with a lot of books...

Food for the Gods: DNF, though I'll probably try again. I just wasn't in the mood for this type of humor at the time.

A Royal Experiment: More or less a biography of King George III's family and how, despite his efforts, it turned out nearly as dysfunctional as the earlier Hanoverians' families. The writing was utilitarian but the subject was interesting...still, I would recommend Flora Fraser's Princesses: the Six Daughters of George III over this.

Ambition and Desire: the Dangerous Life of Josephine Bonaparte: DNF. Very poor writing...on a fifth grade level, and I'm being generous. Painful. Blech ptui. Try The Rose of Martinique for a good Josephine bio.

The Bride of Pendorric, The Shivering Sands, and On the Night of the Seventh Moon: A few rereads, to see if the Suck Fairy had visited these favorites from my teens years. Yup, she had, though The Shivering Sands still had a good creepy factor going for it. Despite the Fairy, it was fun to remember how enthralled 15-year-old me was by Victoria Holt.

Emilie and the Hollow World: DNF. Interesting plot premise and world building, but the main character was enough of a cipher and did things because she needed to for the plot's sake, not from any natural progression of character. More MG than YA.

The Mercy of the Sky: An account of the extreme tornado(s) that have afflicted Moore, OK. It was uneven: the author's portraits of some of the main players (meteorologists and town officials) in the first half of the book were interesting and well done, as was the discussion of the history or tornado prediction. But her account of the tornado itself in the second half of the book needed serious editing--her repetition of images and adjectives (it's rough when you see an adjective used four times on one page) were clumsy and distancing from the terror of the event she was trying to depict.

Bruno, Chief of Police DNF. I so wanted to like this, but as soon as the old man's body was found with the swastika, I knew who the murderer(s) were...and then it seemed kind of pointless to go on. So I'm letting this one go.

>68 Marissa_Doyle: Thanks for the warnings. It doesn't make you a curmudgeon to find that a lot of published work doesn't merit your attention. We aren't culpable if we can't be nice about something that has taken our precious, irretrievable time and given us nothing in return.

The downside of self-publishing is the loss of standards and editorial gatekeepers. I hope the pendulum swings back in my lifetime.

I sure hope you find something more satisfying coming up next on your list.

>68 Marissa_Doyle: On the Bruno, Chief of Police, I can always tag the murderer too. For me, the story of the characters and what they are eating is enough. :)

>68 Marissa_Doyle: I have been feeling like this about films recently (less so books; I'm on a decent run). I helped run the student cinema whilst at university, so was in the habit of going to the movies several times a week and even after graduating would often go several times a month. I'll be surprised if I make half a dozen trips this year, I'm so underwhelmed by most of what hits the big screen. I've been so glad I could sample a lot on small seat-back screens on flights so I didn't have to feel bad about turning things off half an hour in.

I don't think it makes us curmudgeonly, just demanding. And I don't have a problem with that ;)

>71 imyril: >68 Marissa_Doyle: not demanding - discerning. Our time is valuable, we want to spend it wisely.

>72 Peace2: Much better choice of word, thank you. Yes, absolutely.

...although I may sometimes be demanding too ;)

>72 Peace2: Discerning. Exactly. And having some standards. All my life I've been criticized for that, and I still don't think it's wrong. If you're hard to please in some matters (such as books and movies), then when you are pleased, you're really, really pleased. Isn't that a good thing?

>74 Meredy: I like 'discerning.' :) And it's probably a side result of being in the word profession. But it does get frustrating when you hit a streak of them.

Just finished Silent in the Grave, and liked it for a good bit of entertainment literature. Not perfect (in particular the rushed and slightly improbable climax after a decidedly meandering pace earlier on) but promising enough to try the next in the series--and no glaring historical gaffes, thank heavens.

>75 Marissa_Doyle: Thanks. Credit for the right word choice goes to peace2, though. I just seconded it.

The longer the drought, the greater the relief at a saving rainfall.

After Silent in the Grave I went on to Silent in the Sanctuary and Silent on the Moor, and I think that's enough of the series for me. It reminded me of the Amelia Peabody series in that the first book was well done, but subsequent books were not--the characters became caricatures of themselves, and did things because the plot dictated they do them, not from any true inner motivation. Ah well.

On to Notes from a Small Island which was great fun considering we just returned from travel in England last month. Bryson can always make me laugh even as he illuminates, and a reference to "haggis vindaloo" made me giggle out loud. It appears that he recreated his journey and is releasing a follow-up next year, which I shall definitely be reading.

On to a middle-grade novel, The Apothecary, a historical-ish (it's set in 1952 England) fantasy which I am enjoying enormously.

>77 Marissa_Doyle:, Yes, I think I found that series went downhill as it went on. I wasn't crazy about it for myself at the best of times, but I tried it because some of the ladies in the township book group wanted mysteries that had love stories in them. Personally, I found the "woo-woo" element of the male lead got old very quickly.

(On the other hand, I rather liked Bruno, Chief of Police but just as @MrsLee noted, at least in part the charm arises from the lovely French countryside and food.)

>78 jillmwo: Personally, I found the "woo-woo" element of the male lead got old very quickly.

Yes, I think that was an unnecessary addition and didn't really enhance the story line.

On to a YA fantasy/fairy tale that I'm about 1/3 of the way through and enjoying greatly, A Creature of Moonlight. Some lovely writing here--I'm not always a fan of high fantasy settings, but this is staying beautifully grounded.

Did a quick re-read of a Georgette Heyer, The Reluctant Widow, for a GR group read (not her best effort; I'm tired of her heroines who get indignant over not very much and allow the ever-so-cool and collected heroes to goad them) and then finished the very enjoyable The Rabbit Back Literature Society, which I think I'd label magical realism that maybe occasionally extends a toe over into fantasy. It's a translation from the original Finnish so it's a little hard to address how much of the style is the author's and how much the translator's, but I thought the language was very effective. Definitely recommended.

>80 Marissa_Doyle: I enjoyed Rabbit Back - although I was a bit iffy on the romance, the rest of the package was quirky and delightful.

>80 Marissa_Doyle: Whoops, I think you grazed me there. I'll have to take a look at The Rabbit Back Literature Society.

Mwa ha ha...I mean, I hope you'll give it a try, Meredy. :)

Needed a comfort re-read today, which tunred out to be Dianna Wynne-Jones' Archer's Goon. Darn, but I enjoy that book.

Having cheerfully taken a bullet from jillmwo, I downloaded The Murder at Sissingham Hall, which was very enjoyable in a quiet way--and I admit to being fascinated by the history of these stories.

On to A Tale of Time City, which somehow eluded my monumental DWJ binge of a few years back. Then probably onto another Clara Benson.

A look at the year in reading so far: 47 books started since January 1. Alas, 6 were DNFs; 4 were re-reads.

I had always thought my book bullets needed time to take effect on passing victims. I'd no idea one could have an impact on purchasing behaviors in less than 24 hours!!!

Well, right book bullet at the right time, and there you go. :) The Bensons are indeed pleasant, non-demanding reads, which is just what I need right now.

>85 jillmwo: I'd no idea one could have an impact on purchasing behaviors in less than 24 hours

Some of them are what you might call silent but deadly, acting in seconds, not hours. Uh, not that I'd know. I just happened to hear that somewhere.

>84 Marissa_Doyle: I really like A tale of Time City. I've always wanted to try a butter pie!

Catching up on the firing range that is these threads, I definitely felt a little something as I passed by entry >80 Marissa_Doyle:.

Delayed-effect book bullets! Or maybe they're more like book land-mines, left for the unwary traveler wandering through threads. ;)

A very large conference and a visit from a friend have kept me away, but there's not much to report--I've still been in comfort read mode and have been galloping through Georgette Heyers at an alarming rate. I need to find some new light-hearted, all's-well-that-ends-well reads--so I'm issuing a challenge: hit me with your best book bullets for fun, charming, non-harrowing novels. While I wait, I might try more D.E. Stevenson... any recommendations?

>90 Marissa_Doyle: Have you read The Four Graces yet? Light, funny, warm, and recently republished in paper and ebook, so it's easy to find. One of my all-time favourites.

My go-to for happy, funny and charming is Anything Can Happen, but it can be hard to find.

>90 Marissa_Doyle: I recently found Rhys Bowen's Her Royal Spyness quite easygoing and fun.

>91 SylviaC: Thank you, SylviaC--I downloaded it, then decided I'd better go back and re-read Miss Buncle's Book and reacquaint myself with her world before diving into it.

>93 Jim53: I tried those last year and found they weren't quite right for me. But thank you for the suggestion!

>92 MrsLee: Thank you, MrsLee...I love hunting for hard-to-find books!

>94 Marissa_Doyle: George Papashvily has several other books which are sweet, but that one is my favorite. He was a sculptor among many other pursuits.

>83 Marissa_Doyle: That's a notch for your keyboard. I'm reading it now. Ordinarily I avoid books whose focal characters are writers (or writer stand-ins, such as painters), much as I avoid movies about actors and moviemakers. But this one promises to be different.

>96 Meredy: I hope you'll review it when you're done, Meredy. I would like to know what you thought of it.

A great deal of comfort reading lately: several Georgette Heyer rereads (The Grand Sophy, Black Sheep, Lady of Quality, Arabella, Frederica, The Nonesuch, and then D.E Stevenson with Miss Buncle's Book, Miss Buncle Married, and a new read, The Two Mrs. Abbotts. The Four Graces will be next, but a thought occurred to me about these books. The latter titles don't "work" as well for me as the first, because they lack the overarching plot that was so wonderful in Miss Buncle's Book. They're rather like Angela Thirkell's Barsetshire novels, but not quite as good, I don't think.

The second two Miss Buncle books are much weaker than the first, and Barbara herself fades right away. I really have no urge to revisit either of them. The Four Graces is really not part of that series, except for having some overlapping characters. It has a more cohesive storyline than the later Buncle books, and a tighter-knit circle of characters. I've read it many, many times.

My own preference is for Stevenson over Thirkell, because Stevenson seems to like her characters better. But I've read far more Stevenson than Thirkell, so I don't have a huge basis for comparison.

>97 Marissa_Doyle: Well, I liked it, but in the end I wanted far more of an explanation than I got.

Sometimes I wish novels came with an optional afterword that you could peek at only if you really wanted to know, maybe by wearing special glasses or holding the page up to a candle flame, what just happened there and why things turned out as they did. In my opinion, the practice of "leaving it up to the reader to decide" is an author's abdication of the agreement we implicitly make at the outset: I trust you as my guide and informant, and you show me a complete story, including all I need to know to make sense of it. Everything doesn't have to be spelled out, but I don't want whole puzzle pieces left missing.

Fiction in nontraditional formats doesn't promise this kind of resolution, but if an author invokes the conventions of traditional novel writing, I think he or she should live up to them. That's my opinion.

>99 Meredy: I pretty much agree with you--I do see the implied agreement, and always try to deliver on it in my own work...but I am intrigued by books that manage to get away with leaving stuff out. In this case, I was okay with it--in others, I haven't been. I'm not sure why this book worked and others have not--I'll have to think about it.

On to more inscrutabilities...after dragging myself, battered and ridden with bullets courtesy of Sakerfalcon, to my computer to download several books, I jumped into The Just City by Jo Walton. The basic conceit of the story is that the goddess Athene has decided to try to create the Just City of Plato...with expected and unexpected results ('cause, really, did Plato have the least clue about human nature?) I just finished it and I need to process it, except I've already downloaded the second book The Philosopher Kings in what is planned to be a trilogy. I've been hit-or-miss with this author; I loved Tooth and Claw but was notably underwhelmed by Among Others, and respected but did not love Farthing (I hope you understand what I mean by that.) The Just City has many faults--most notably in that the storytelling style is very much telling rather than showing and tends to be emotionally distant--but this is speculative fiction at its best: holding up fantasy as a mirror in which to examine reality's reflection. I hope someone else will take a bullet here--I would love to discuss it further.

>100 Marissa_Doyle: *ducks and weaves* it's been on my wishlist for aaaaaaages but I'm stubbornly resisting buying until I've finally read Lifelode (up next on my bedside table).

>101 imyril: A time-delayed bullet, maybe? :)

Took time out to read Fastnet, Force 10 which I'd been meaning to do for a while--it's an account of the 1979 Fastnet sailing race (from Cowes to Fastnet Rock off the coast of Ireland then back to Plymouth) during which a nasty summer storm brought 40 foot seas and hurricane-force gusts. Fifteen competitors died (not to mention others sailing in the area, but not as part of that particular race.) I'm reasonably well-versed in sailing jargon so I found it perfectly readable, but a non-sailor might find it jibberishy in parts. The author was in the race and experienced the storm first hand, then did extensive interviewing, but I found the narrative structure clumsy at times. Still, a good, solid account, which was what I was looking for.

Making my way through a stack of books purchased at Mystic Seaport in CT...

Sail Away Ladies: Stories of Cape Cod Women in the Age of Sail was an above average local history effort about 19th century Cape Cod women who accompanied their husbands to sea, either aboard whaling ships or merchant vessels. A short biography highlights each woman and her experiences, plus summaries of their lives before and after their journeys (a few children's accounts are included as well); their stories are drawn from their journals kept on ship. An interesting mix of women, some more broad-minded and resilient than others. Evidently, captains bringing their wives and children along was more common than formerly thought. Some wives reveled in it, enduring the monotonous bits (a great deal of sewing was done, it seems) and dealing bravely with shipwreck; one saw her husband shot before her eyes by Chinese pirates. Others, like one poor woman forced to spend several winters in a row ice-bound in the arctic whaling grounds with no other white woman within a thousand miles, eventually succumbed to what we now recognize as serious clinical depression and was never "quite right" again even after returning to Cape Cod. Overall, a nice overview.

Finished Jo Walton's The Philosopher Kings...and about all I can say is that it has the damned weirdest deus ex machina ending ever--Zeus moving everyone to outer space. I will be very curious about where this goes in the final book, 'cause honestly, I have absolutely no idea. In general, it shares its predecessor's faults, perhaps in a more exaggerated fashion: characters feel like they're there as plot pawns, not as people, if that makes any sense. I think my overall view of Walton's books are that she is so enamored of ideas that character in general suffers.

Read a bunch of creepy crawlie books about ghosts in my locale, just for fun: Haunted Cape Cod & the Islands, Cape Encounters, Nantucket Hauntings, The Ghosts of Nantucket, and New England Ghosts, and am now onto a YA, Love by the Morning Star, while I wait for a book bullet courtesy of Imyril to download tomorrow. :)

I'm glad that The just city was a good read for you. I agree that it was a fascinating concept, even if Walton's execution had some flaws. Despite that, I'm sure Plato might appreciate the debate it engenders, although maybe he wouldn't like the exposure of the weaknesses in his vision! I'm going to have to wait for The philosopher kings to be released in paperback here before I can read it, but I'm really looking forward to it.

>105 Sakerfalcon: I will be interested to hear what you think of it, Claire.

Love by the Morning Star turned out to be a DNF. I think the story was trying to channel of Eva Ibbotson's YA romances, all of which are quite delicious, but failed. I can accept farcical, Shakespeare-comedy-type plot elements if they are managed properly, but not forced ones...and there were just too many forced ones here. My suspension of disbelief got sproinged a little too hard and snapped. Ah well.

On to a reread of Georgette Heyer's False Colors for a group read and then to Sorcerer to the Crown.

Just a brief heads-up --> your link there to False Colors doesn't go to the book by Georgette Heyer.

Yikes! Thanks for that, Jill. My Georgette Heyer group would be, um, a little confused.

Exactly. Because I know I did a double-take. (Don't sweat it. Everyone's done an "odd" link at least once!)

>106 Marissa_Doyle: ooooh Sorcerer to the Crown! It comes out here tomorrow. I'm wrestling with myself over whether to treat myself to the gorgeous hardback...

>110 imyril: You might hold off a bit--it's not quite as wonderful so far (page 63) as I had hoped. The world building is underwhelming--it feels like any generic fantasy world, not a very specific place (England) and time (the Napoleonic Wars). I suppose after Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell anything else would feel sparse, but it's also lacking the sly (and occasionally not so sly) humor of Susanna Clarke and Georgette Heyer, to which it has been likened.

However, I did download something that looks wonderfully amusing: Maplecroft. I mean, Lizzy Borden vs. Cthulhu? How awesome is that? (I've always been interested in Lizzy--I was born in her city, for one thing.)

>111 Marissa_Doyle: oh that's a shame. However, as I've just been allocated an Early Reviewer title, I guess it keeps me honest!

...but Maplecroft sounds diverting :)

Sorcerer to the Crown is alas a DNF at page 132. I was forcing myself to read it, which isn't much fun. It reads on the bi-polar side--very serious and kind of dark, then suddenly, something silly occurs (the wheels of a carriage being turned into squashes) and it feels completely out of the blue--there's really been hardly a breath of humor to that point. Between that and the sparse world-building, I lost interest, which is a pity as I was really hoping to love this book.

On to Maplecroft next...

Oooh, yeah, Maplecroft DOES sound intriguing!

>113 Marissa_Doyle: What a pity about Sorcerer being such a disappointment. Still, I'm looking forward to reading Cho's short story collection on kindle. Hope Maplecroft is a better read for you.

>115 Sakerfalcon: Maybe she's better in short story format--I will be interested to hear what you say. Are they fantasy as well?

>114 mrgrooism: It's definitely got the Lovecraftian buttons all hit, without ever getting purple (which is so refreshing). Also, she hasn't yet used the words 'cyclopean', 'eldritch', or 'rugose'. ;)

>116 Marissa_Doyle: How about "blasphemous"? I don't think HPL got through a single story without using that.

>117 Meredy: Nope, haven't seen that one yet, either. My son and I once came up with a whole list of Lovecraftian adjectives. I'll have to see if he still has it.

It's also nice to read a story set in the Cthulhu mythos that isn't horribly racist or misogynistic.

>116 Marissa_Doyle: This reminds me of a great essay by UKL in which she goes on about "eldritch" and other words. She concludes: "And then comes the final test, the infallible touchstone of the seventh-rate: ichor. You know ichor. It oozes out of severed tentacles, and beslimes tessellated pavements, and bespatters bejewelled courtiers, and bores the bejesus out of everybody."

>119 Jim53: Well, we've had some severed ickiness (don't forget Miss Borden's trusty axe) but while there were some unpleasant liquids involved, none of them were ichorous, as I recall.

I just bought UKL's newly revised Steering the Craft--I wonder if it's in there?

>120 Marissa_Doyle: Ooh, that looks interesting. I definitely just took a bullet on Steering the Craft. The essay from which I quoted is in The Language of the Night.

>119 Jim53: That's a great quote. It seems to me that several of the stories of Poe involved ichor. It's been years since I read them, but I think I first met the word in "The Strange Case of M. Valdemar" when I was about 11 or 12. I imagine that Poe was at the front of the wave, though: it wasn't tired out when he used it.

>116 Marissa_Doyle: Yes, the collection is called Spirits abroad and it looks as though the stories are all fantasy and/or supernatural. imyril enjoyed it a lot and has reviewed it.

>123 Sakerfalcon: I'll have to look into it, Claire--thanks!

Well, Maplecroft fizzled after a very promising start. I was annoyed at the poor world-building: H.P.Lovecraft had numerous (!) faults, but overall he was pretty good at painting a picture of wherever he was setting a story. This book, set in a very specific time and place, could have taken place anywhere. I almost have the feeling no research was done on the city of Fall River, which is too bad--using bits and pieces from its history as a merchant and whaling port could have enhanced the story, which centered around an eerie invasion from the sea. Lizzie Borden as a character started out one way, but with the inexplicable introduction of a love interest, suddenly began to be very unlike the person that she was at the story's opening. And overall, the epistolatory/journal entry method of story-telling slowed the pace. The "science" that was introduced into the supernatural goings-on was muddled. I'm not sure I'll go on to the next book in the series.

Partway through The Man Who Wasn't There: Investigations into the Strange New Science of the Self and enjoying it, though not as much as I enjoyed Oliver Sacks's forays into similar territory. This book is more focused on the science; case histories are used to introduce the subject matter being explored in each chapter, but there isn't the same regard for the people behind the cases that Sacks always brought to his work. Still, the subject is sufficiently interesting that I'm enjoying the read, even as I mourn the loss of another author.

>123 Sakerfalcon: I loved it - there's plenty of whimsy, but it's up front and centre (rather than parachuted in late to the party).

Much busy-ness IRL and reading of non-fiction:
The Riddle of the Labyrinth - excellent account of the translation of Linear B
The Storm of the Century: Tragedy, Heroism, and the Epic True Story of America's Deadliest Natural Disaster: The Great Gulf Hurricane of 1900 - Yes, there are indeed two colons in that title. Nowhere near as good as Isaac's Storm as an account of the 1900 storm that all but destroyed Galveston, Texas--in fact, it relied heavily on the Larson book--but I did like the fact that Roker brought in voices and accounts from the black citizens of Galveston as well.
Isaac's Storm A reread after the above.
Current read: The Weather Experiment: The Pioneers Who Sought to See the Future - A history of the evolution of meteorology as a science. Quite good so far.

What got you on this kick of reading about weather phenomena? Just curious.

I'm a bit of a science geek on a lot of topics. Meteorology is one of them, and so are geology and anthropology and epidemiology/medicine. So I like to keep an eye out for what's new in those topics written for a lay audience and picked up the Roker book, and then had to read some better books on the topic. :) I also tend to go on non-fiction reading streaks when I'm disappointed by too many meh fiction reads.

*stagger* books on weather phenomena and a book on Linear B?? I'd forgotten how dangerous it is to check in on your thread...

...I too am struggling to engage with Sorcerer to the Crown, although I can't quite put my finger on why. I think the tone (light, whimsical) is at odds with the subject matter (racism, politics) - I haven't got to the squashed wheels yet.

>123 Sakerfalcon: Having read Spirits abroad, I second imyril's enthusiastic recommendation. I will put off Sorcerer to the crown, though, based on both your experiences, unless by some miracle the library has a copy.

>129 imyril: Oddly, I didn't find the tone at all whimsical until the female lead becomes the POV character...and even then it was heavy-handed and...well, just not funny. I think I would have liked the story more if it had stuck to the more serious tone and subject of the earlier chapters and not tried for whimsy.

I will look for Spirits Abroad, though.

Oh, and I almost forgot--(rubs hands gleefully together and prepares to inscribe another notch in her book gun.) Of course, fair is fair--you got me with The Road to Vindaloo. ;)

Completed:

The Road to Vindaloo: Curry Cooks and Curry Books: Thanks to @imyril for this tasty book bullet.
A Glove Shop in Vienna & Other Stories: A collection of Eva Ibbotson's short fiction for adults (she's much better known for her excellent children's books) which led to a set of comfort re-reads: Magic Flutes, A Song for Summer, and A Company of Swans. Eva Ibbotson's adult stories are flawed, but still delightfully written and engaging.
The Night Villa: Alas, not so delightful and engaging; an updated Mary Stewart-ish romantic suspense novel trying to pretend to be literary. Didn't particularly work for me, most likely because I've been such a crabbity old bat lately when it comes to fiction (and because she played waaay too fast and loose with the reality of archaeological digs); YMMV.
Couching at the Door: A collection of eerie short stories in honor of Halloween; I'd read the title story eons ago and wanted to explore her other work. Nicely, subtly spooky.

Just started: Black Diamonds: the Rise and Fall of an English Dynasty, which I expect will be good; I definitely enjoyed Bailey's previous book, The Secret Rooms about Belvoir Castle.

>132 Marissa_Doyle: yay, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Finished Black Diamonds and went on to another book about an extremely dysfunctional English family, Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France, which I also enjoyed greatly--except that 'enjoyed' is perhaps not the right word. Priscilla Mais was the product of a disastrous marriage between two supremely selfish people (one of who was a very well known figure in British radio, SPB Mais) who went on to, probably inevitably, make a sow's ear of her own life...but had the bad luck to do it in the context of World War II. Separated and semi-estranged from her much older French husband, Priscilla found herself stuck in France as Hitler's forces marched in. What followed was something she managed to keep secret for years, until her journalist nephew began to dig after her death to find out just what happened to his aunt between 1939 and 1945. After spending some months at an internment camp for British women (where conditions were appalling) she took a series of lovers, most of whom were involved with the black market or were otherwise collaborating...and ultimately, became the mistress of the man known as Goring's banker, who also served as an art scout for him and Hitler and was responsible for collecting hundreds of Old Masters, some of which were never recovered. She managed to get repatriated shortly after Paris was liberated, which was a good thing, as women who had had "friendly" relations with the Germans were horribly vilified.

At one point the author quotes (and I paraphrase), "It is honorable to be a hero; it is not dishonorable not to be." Priscilla used what resources she had--her looks and charm--to survive, and paid the price thereafter, eventually becoming an alcoholic and more or less destroying herself. Hers is a fascinating--and very sad--story.

Next up is something completely different, thanks to a book bullet from @Sakerfalcon--The Secrets of Drearcliff Grange School.

Catching up on this thread and am overwhelmed by the bullets, even of a few titles you didn't like.

>135 LibraryPerilous: Well, as I said, I've been kind of crabby about fiction lately...

A while back there was a thread somewhere in the GD about things we'd found in old books--photos, lettesr, ticket stubs, pressed flowers. I just ran across a book about this--Handwritten Recipes is a compilation of recipes found in old books, put together by a used bookseller from volumes in his family's store. I have no idea if they're any good, but I had to order it just from the premise alone. Will report back.

The Secrets of Drearcliff Grange School was absolutely delightful, a sort of "Belles of St. Trinian's" meets H.P. Lovecraft. Thumping good plot, great characters, lots of tongue-in-cheek references to other books and films, but never edging over into camp. I do hope he writes more in this world (and brings in one of the characters from his Anno Dracula books, a young Japanese girl who also happens to be a centuries-old vampire Ninja with an obsession for the books of Angela Brazil. She'd fit right in. ;) Thank you very much for this bullet, @Sakerfalcon!

On to an oldie, Mary Stewart's The Ivy Tree. I need books that are well-written but undemanding, and Stewart definitely fits that need. And as there are several of hers I haven't yet read, I'm good for a couple of weeks.

>137 Marissa_Doyle: I tanked on the one Stewart I tried, Airs Above the Ground, but her plots always sound intriguing. I may have to give her another go soon.

The Ivy Tree used to be one of my favourites. The plot is a little more complex than some of her others. The only reason I say "used to be" is because I haven't read anything by Mary Stewart in years, except for The Wind Off the Small Isles (which has no plot at all). I should reread some of them, if only to see whether the suck fairy got to them.

>137 Marissa_Doyle: So glad you enjoyed Drearcliff Grange! It was so much fun, and I too hope he writes more. I'm now intrigued about the Angela Brazil-obsessed vampire ...

I finally got hit by the Drearcliff Grange book bullet, but my library doesn't have it yet, so I had to put in a suggestion for purchase. The good news, is that they usually purchase the things I suggest :) I put Anno Dracula on hold, too. Not sure how I missed out on that one before.

>141 tardis: I hope they get it in for you--it was great fun!

The Ivy Tree was a so-so read, mostly because I'm not fond of plots involving unreliable narrators or narrators keeping secrets from the reader. That being said, I still love her vivid descriptions and settings, and I especially liked one of the supporting characters, Donald Seton. Next up is Madam, Will You talk? which I gather is her first novel.

Madam, Will You talk was also a so-so read, but a pleasant enough diversion...followed up by a wonderful contemporary fantasy novella, Witches of Lychford by Paul Cornell which I loved. I hope he decides to write more set in this world with these characters; the plot set up is that a large chain wants to build a superstore in the small village of Lychford--which will have unfortunate results as Lychford is a place where the walls between the worlds meet. A crusty hedge-witch, an atheist owner of a New Age magic shop, and a C of E vicar who has lost her faith must combine forces to defeat the chain's rep, who is much more than he appears to be. Not a cozy read, particularly, but very evocative--as I said, I fervently hope he'll write more in this setting.

>143 Marissa_Doyle: Hmm, I had problems with Cornell's London Falling, but Witches of Lychford does sound like an appealing world.

Madam, Will You Talk is one of Mary Stewart's books that hasn't aged well at all. I used to like it a lot, and reread it many times when I was in my teens and twenties. Now when I look back on it, my main thoughts are that: a) Richard has very few redeeming qualities; and b) Charity's presence complicated things, but really had no effect on the outcome.

>143 Marissa_Doyle: Witches of Lychford has caught my eye while browsing on amazon. With an endorsement from you I suspect it will find its way onto my kindle soon!

>146 Sakerfalcon: I think you'll enjoy it. I liked it for its complete lack of sugar coating, and for the hints of so, so much else that had gone on previous to the story's events.

On to another Mary Stewart, Wildfire at Midnight. This was a reread (last read it maybe 8 years ago?) and again, while there are admirable aspects (the description, the laying down of clues amongst the red herrings, the suspense), the romantic aspects were hamfisted and the plot device of Marcia Maling conveniently being there to help introduce the characters and add some tension between Gianetta and Nicholas then conveniently disappearing from the rest of the book was amateurish. Ah well.

On to a Barbara Hambly series I hadn't previously known about, beginning with Those Who Hunt the Night. Liking the main character, James Asher, very much, though the first three chapters have moved a little slowly and think the writing could have been tightened a little (noticing some repetitious description.)

edited to fix punctuation :(

>147 Marissa_Doyle: Hambly's vampire series is one of my favourites. Just finished the latest in the series.

I've got Witches of Lychford on my hold list at the library. Hope it arrives soon!

>148 tardis: It may have been your thread that led me to the Hambly, in which case you ought to carve another notch in your gun. ;)

>144 LibraryPerilous: I'd been dodging Witches of Lychford as the Shadow Police left me a bit cold, but you've made it irresistible.

...*stagger* and then you mentioned Hambly and vampires. I must drop in more often to space out the bullets better ;)

>150 imyril: I'm sorry. No, really. Ahem. :)

Finished both Those Who Hunt the Night and Traveling with the Dead and don't think I'll continue the series. While I liked ex-spy James Asher and 400 year old vampire Ysidro, I found other characters annoying (Lydia, I'm looking right at you) and a lot of the plotting rather lacking...and while I love me some good description in fiction, it often got carried to repetitious, monotonous extremes, especially in the second book. I've enjoyed some of her other work much more. My husband's damning faint praise for her books is that he likes them because he can put them down whenever he wants because he isn't driven to keep reading, so, for example, doesn't stay up till two in the morning because he's so absorbed. Ouch.

On to John Crowley's Lord Byron's Novel which is quite spectacular so far--the book opens with a chapter from a "lost novel" by Byron, supposedly written when sojourning with the Shelleys in Switzerland at Mary Shelley's famous challenge to write a ghost story. It's pitch perfect.

>151 Marissa_Doyle: I really enjoyed Lord Byron's novel when I read it some years ago. Crowley managed the very different styles and voices extremely well, I thought.