LShelby Tries Again

Okay, I'm going to try this again. I'm not going to do mini reviews or anything, BUT if you are curious about the book or my reaction to it, please feel free to ask. I hate trying to come up with something to say out of the blue, but I love answering questions. :rueful grin:


89/75 Books Read in 2010

Fantasy: 26
Regency Romance: 20
Science Fiction: 13
Mystery: 14
Manga: 2
Humor: 1
Western: 1

Non-fiction: 10

YA: 4
Juvenile: 1

Rereads: 40
Authors New to Me: 25
Books by me: 2

Hi Ishelby! nice to see you here:) I hope you reach your reading goals this year! I'll star you, and maybe (if I'm clever enough) come up with some good questions for you!

Thanks, that's very kind. :)

Welcome! Don't worry, we're not shy...

I'll try to remember to ask ;-)

Glad to see you back with us!

1: The Book of Three, by Lloyd Alexander (reread)

2: Beauty, by Robin McKinley (reread)
3: Retief: Emissary to the Stars, by Keith Laumer (reread)
4: Thank You, Jeeves, by P.G. Wodehouse
5: Beguilement, by Lois McMaster Bujold (reread)

6: Legacy, by Lois McMaster Bujold
7: Passage, by Lois McMaster Bujold
8: Sly Mongoose, by Tobias S. Buckell

Lots of good reading in January. What did you think of Bujold's Sharing Knife series? Have you read her other work? And how about Beauty? I'm a big McKinley fan as well.
I've heard good things about Bucknell. Have you posted to the Group Read for the Prydain Chronicles? (I know, I could go check, but I'm lazy.)

Edited to correct touchstone.

Sharing Knife: I adore pairing people up until death do them part, but the details of their physical intimacy don't interest me. I'm also not fond of having the protagonist's family be the antagonist... which means that after the first third of one, things kind of went downhill a bit as far as I was concerned and didn't get really fun again until the second half of book two. Knowing that the first two were originally supposed to have been one book, I had been hoping book two would circle us back to where book one started, and I was relieved to discover I was right. So I went on to three in a much happier frame of mind, and now I guess I ought to start looking for four, no? :)
Have I read Bujold's other work? Almost everything. Her Vorkosigan saga is a favorite of my husband and son, as well. (They were less interested in her Chalion books than I was though.)

McKinley: Beauty has been one of my very favorite books for forever. I also really, really like The Blue Sword. After that her books seemed to become less and less to my taste, until I hit Deerskin and stopped.
I have been told that I should try some of her later books, and I intend to, but it just hasn't happened yet somehow.

Bucknell: Sly Mongoose has a fast action based plot and I thought it a reasonably fun read (for people who consider fast action based plots fun, of course.) The more character based stuff was less to my taste, but the action dominated the book so I didn't mind much. Sly Mongoose is the third in that set, but I don't think it hurt it much to read it without the others. I'm keeping an eye out for the earlier two.

Prydain: I looked in on the group read, but I didn't know what to say. I thought the Book of Three was fun when I was a kid, and I still think it's fun. As is the case with most things that work for me, I haven't much to say about them other than that I think they work. :(

Also, our copy of The Black Cauldron is missing. I guess this is what I get for having six kids, all of whom read for pleasure. My nice, tidy, everything-arranged-by-author's-last-name-with-series-in-chronological-order collection is but a vanished memory. Now it's books all higglety-piggelty on every flat surface in the house. ::sigh::

Yes, definitely start looking for book 4. I love the Vorkosigan books--love the way that Miles matures, and of course Cordelia. However, probably my very favorite book is Paladin of Souls. I just enjoy Ista's character development so much, along with the story, and the gods' involvement.

The first Beauty was my first McKinley, probably back when it was first written. I've read them all. The Damar books are my favorites, while Deerskin is my least favorite. Not because it wasn't well done, but because the subject matter is so traumatic. Of her more recent ones, Sunshine and Dragonhaven are very atypical of her work, but I really enjoyed the first, and the latter is a very decent YA science fiction novel. The second version of Beauty, Rose Daughter, I approach with substantial prejudice, loving the original so much, but it was done very, very well and from her more mature point of view--I have to recommend it. Her latest, Chalice is much more like her earlier books and I really enjoyed the world building, but felt the conclusion was a little abrupt. Still, I'd recommend it.

The Buckell I have on my TBR shelf is Crystal Rain--is that first in the series?

Please keep dropping in on the group read--you never know when a comment will inspire a response! And I think the later books especially invite more discussion.

At least you can take comfort in having raised kids who are readers!

Thanks for the rundown on the McKinley's, ronincats. Very helpful. :)

My favorite Bujold is A Civil Campaign. I'm seriously into frothy and romantic. I liked all the Chalion books a lot though.

Crystal Rain is the first of that series, yes.

I love that Bujold dedicated A Civil Campaign to Georgette Heyer, another of my favorite authors! It was hilarious, wasn't it?

9: Dogsbody, by Diana Wynne Jones (reread)
10: Green Rider, by Kristen Britain (reread)
11: First Rider's Call, Kristen Britain
12: Stealing the Elf-King's Roses, by Diane Duane
13: Sprig Muslin, by Georgette Heyer (reread)
14: Gwendolen, by Clare Darcy (reread)
15: The Kissing Bough, by Joan Smith (reread)

As you see, I've been in a regency mood lately. I've got another couple to add, but they're in a double, and I haven't quite finished the second book.

My numbers go up a lot quicker when I'm not trying quite so hard to read new things. I started three other books that I decided I didn't want to finish... all by authors I'd never tried before. ::sigh::

@14 Yes! And Georgette Heyer is one of my favorite authors too. :)

Wow, you've been moving through those books. I loved Dogsbody as a youngster--reread it a bazillion times! Also liked the Duane book, but UPS lost it on the way back from my sister and I haven't replaced it. I've got most of the Darcys--in the 70s thought they were the closest to Heyer, but haven't been able to get through re-reads when I tried last year. Smith is another of the better imitators. I read the first Green Rider but wasn't enamored of it enough to continue--it seemed pretty derivative to me. It wasn't bad, just not that interesting or original.

Sprig Muslin is one of my quiet favorites, as opposed to the more flamboyant ones!

I just realized I missed one. I started reading it because I was (at my daughter's behest) checking to see if it contained the words "tarnation" or "varmits", and then forgot to count it as a read. But I did read it all the way through, (didn't find a single tarnation or varmit, though, my daughter was so disappointed) so...

16: Black Stallion Mesa, by Donald Bayne Hobart (reread)

Edited to add: Oh, wow. Only one other person on LT besides me owns a copy of that one.

17: Mort, by Terry Pratchett (fantasy, reread)
18: Scandal Broth, by Marian Devon (regency, reread)
19: A Question of Class, by Marian Devon (regency, reread)
20: Pavane in Pearl and Emerald, by me (fantasy, reread)
21: Cantata in Coral and Ivory, by me (fantasy, reread)
22: Phantom Victory, Pamela F. Service (mystery, ghosts, YA)
23: The Bad Beginning, Lemony Snicket (juvenile)
24: The Empress of Mars, Kage Baker (sf)
25: Bimbos of the Death Sun, Sharyn McCrumb (mystery, reread)
26: The Temporary Bride, Julie Tetel (regency, reread)

The two by me are unpublished novels. I was going over them again, because I've been writing agent query letters, and I wanted to freshen my memory -- for Cantata, especially. It's still at the publishers I sent it to nearly five years ago, waiting for the senior editor to get around to reading it. So its been a loooong time since I looked at it. :sigh:

But I need to get to the library. I've been searching the house for things I haven't read yet, and so far all I've found are a few kids books picked up at library sales.

That is a very long time to wait Shelby!
I hope you get them published.
Anita

Good luck on the new queries! I'm currently editing an old manuscript with hopes of getting queries out and on the go within a few months... I've had to give myself a personal deadline or else I'll just go in circles revising... the query stage is so hard and such a heartbreaker most of the time though, so here's some virtual *pep cheers!* for you. You can do it! It only takes ONE acceptance to make it all worthwhile!

Thanks for the good wishes, Anita and dk_phoenix.

I've actually gotten acceptances already. I have three pro sales: two short stories and an article. But I tend to procrastinate over submitting, and in January I decided I needed to improve on that, so I made a goal to send off one query and/or other submission every week for at least a year.

I've made it to week five. :)

What did you think of Empress of Mars? I've read most of Kage Baker's Company series and like her writing. Unfortunately, she died of cancer a couple of weeks ago, so we won't be getting any more of her unique viewpoint. Did you like Empress? Should I put it up on my wishlist?

Good luck on moving your novels along on the publication route!

@22 I thought Empress of Mars had a fun story of a kind that appeals to me very much: Eccentric Frontier individualists using ingenuity to deal with the troubles they face, little guys versus the big company, etc.

The tone felt just slightly off though. As if the prose style didn't match the plot or something. Also there's a revelation at the end that I considered a strong detraction, undermining as it did one of the key things I had liked about the story up to that point.

So generally successful, but not something I would run out and buy.

27: Tatting: Technique and History by Elgiva Nicholls (non-fiction)
28: A Right to Die by Rex Stout (mystery, reread)
29: The Complete Book of Decorative Knots by Geoffrey Budworth (non-fiction)
30: Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers (mystery, reread)
31: Do your own thing with macrame by Lura LaBarge (non-fiction)
32: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Vol. 1 by Nagaru Tanigawa (manga)
33: Blind Justice (Sir John Fielding) by Bruce Alexander (mystery)
34: Please Pass the Guilt: A Nero Wolfe Novel by Rex Stout (mystery, reread)
35: Gypsy Rizka by Lloyd Alexander (YA, reread)

Oh, one of the few mystery series I have read in the past few years, passed on to me by a good friend, was the Blind Justice series. I thought the author did such a good job with accurately recreating the period and, of course as a Georgette Heyer aficionada, was delighted to see more about the creation of the Bow Street Runners from the other side! I hope you liked it too. I'm so sorry there will be no more books in the series with the death of the author, Bruce (Alexander) Cook. However, looking him up in Wikipedia, there are 11 books there, and I'm sure I only read 6 and thought that was all there was! Woohoo! I've got 5 more to read!!

@25 I actually just grabbed that mostly randomly off of the mystery shelves at the library, but it was a fortunate find, wasn't it? I'm sorry to hear the author has passed on, but it's nice to anticipate 10 more books. :)

36: The Element of Fire by Martha Wells (fantasy)
37: Dry Heat by Jon Talton (mystery)
38: The Final Deduction by Rex Stout (mystery)
39: City of Bones by Martha Wells (fantasy)
40: The Duke's Dilemma by Rachelle Edwards (regency, reread)

Plus another one put down in the middle because I wasn't enjoying it.

41: The Perfect Husband by Jeanne Savery (regency, reread)
42: Nip, Tuck, Dead by Lori Avocato (mystery)
43: Fall Guy by Carol Lea Benjamin (mystery)
44: Murder 101 by Maggie Barbieri (mystery)
45: Across the Face of the World by Russell Kirkpatrick (fantasy)
46: D.A. by Connie Willis (YA, sf)

I just checked and the SD library does have ALL 11 of the Sir John Fielding mystery series. So I will put that series on the plans for later this year.

What did you think of D.A. by Connie Willis? I've been trying to mooch that for a couple of years now.

D.A. is a cute, fun story. :)

But it's *very* short: Simple plot, no world depth.

I probably should have marked it as YA. (It's short even for a YA.) That wasn't where I found it, though. Maybe due to ye olde "but she isn't a YA author" stupidity -- as if no author could possibly write books in more than one genre, or for more than one target audience. :rolls eyes:

But now that I'm thinking about it, I think I'm going to go ahead and mark it YA anyway.

Thanks! Maybe I'll try the library route to find it. Have you read other Willis? I don't see her in your library, although you have lots of my other favorites!

I never got around to entering my library in. My personal library is not as large as some people's, but is still far too large to enter on a free account, so I got started by listing a bunch of favorites, which let me identify similar libraries, and people with similar favorite authors (like you!) and stopped there. It was kind of cool, but at that point I just wasn't getting enough use out of LT to want to pay for it.

What I really needed was not a catalog of my own books, but a way to keep track of library books that I had read. So, feeling somewhat guilty, I eventually created a second, private account, and started to track what I was reading on it. I used that account sooo much more often than my real account it wasn't funny.

When they introduced collections, I breathed a sigh of relief and went legit. I transfered the "books read" info over from the other account and cancelled it, and not too long afterwards I upgraded my account. Now I finally *can* add all my books, but I've still got no pressing reason to want to do a marathon cataloging session, so I've just been adding them in as I reread them.

As for Connie Willis, I've read Bellwether and To Say Nothing of the Dog both of which I enjoyed, but To Say Nothing of the Dog was by far my favorite of the two. If I had reason to believe that the other one of that set was similar in tone, I would have been after it like a shot, but I kind of got the impression that it was a lot darker.

Isn't the Collections feature wonderful? I use the wishlist feature the most. I started on LT from the opposite direction. I had long wanted my books catalogues, started a couple of times, but it was just TOO much work to input all the information. So LT with its automatic search and fill was just what I wanted. It took me about 9 months before I found the groups and got involved with the challenge threads. Nowadays I still have books I haven't entered yet, but I spend more time on these threads. Of course, I had never before succeeded in tracking what I read either, despite several "book journals" strategically placed in the nightstand. This is now my third year!

The two you've read are probably my favorites, and certainly the lightest hearted of the lot. Although Water Witch, written with Cynthia Felice in 1982, is a charming little fantasy as well. However, I read everything she writes because I like her writing.
Doomsday Book is darker. It features the same time travel apparatus as To Say Nothing of the Dog, but involves a student trapped back in the middle of the plague. I also really like the short Fire Watch set in London during the Blitz, in the same series. That is also the setting of her new book, Blackout, which I haven't read yet because it is only half the story and All Clear is coming out in October. I'll read them both at once then.

Collections are marvelous. Nice and flexible -- I can set them up to be whatever I need them for. :)

I'll probably grab Doomsday Book if I see it. (Any of the ones I haven't read yet, really.) It's not that I have no tolerance at all for dark material, it's just that I don't like it for it's own sake, and so much of the stuff out there seems to be dark nowadays, that I just find it hard to motivate myself to expend any energy looking for yet more dark, when what I'm really feeling short on is stuff I can smile over.

>1 lshelby: I love the way you stated your attitudes toward writing blurbs etc. I'll definitely ask at will... thx.

I adore Doomsday Book, and I guess it's 'darker' but I wouldn't call it dark. TSNofD is comedic. DB treats a more serious subject. Same universe but not the same series is how it's always felt to me. (I know nothing, absolutely nothing about lit, so these are unsupported ramblings...)

Tatting?! Do you tat? That's one thing I'd seriously love to learn...

No, I don't tat.

But the main character in the book I am writing does "knotwork lace". I'm suspecting the author of Tatting: Technique and History would say of her work "this is not an example of *true* tatting because other knots besides the double stitch are used", but it's a fantasy book set on a totally different world, so it that didn't bother me. (And it doesn't seem to bother the author much either -- she just thought her readers should be informed as to what was considered the core techniques and what was seen as additions.)

My great-aunt Lula tatted and gave me a few of her pieces, which is how knew about tatting in order to get the idea to adapt it to the setting in my story. And then I had to read up on it, of course, so that I didn't have my character doing impossible things with her little shuttles. :)

I *would* like to try it myself, though. If I ever see tatting shuttles for sale, I doubt I will be able to resist picking some up and giving it a whirl. It strikes me as being a really cool handcraft, and I would enjoy seeing if I could actually invent some of the designs I plan to describe my heroine using.

As for Doomsday Book, I think I know what you mean about it feeling like the "same universe, but not same series", and am relieved to hear that it's "serious, rather than dark" so thank you for a your "unsupported ramblings". Please feel free to ramble at me anytime! :)

lol Will do :) I *know* I've seen shuttles around... I joined a group near Rouen which does tatting. I hoped to learn despite the serious language barrier, but then we moved to romania... weaving would be a more likely skill to learn here (and boy howdy I'd be all over that one too)

I don't know if I should be more envious or sympathetic about the moving. It's such an inconvenience -- and yet, how fascinating to experience new places!

There will probably be a weaving book or two appearing on my list soon. More research.

I have to admit that I personally find tatting more appealing, though, because I love how compact and self-contained it is. You can just tuck your current project in a pocket or purse, and take it with you. Hauling a loom about sounds much less practical. :(

LOL

You just might have a point there :)

47: A Debt to Delia, by Barbara Metzger (regency, reread)
48: A Country Affair, by Patricia Wynn (regency, reread)
49: Ware Hawk, by Andre Norton (fantasy, reread)
50: The Pearls, by Deborah Chester (fantasy)
52: Unto Zeor, Forever, by Jacqueline Lichtenberg (sf, reread)
53: Art of The Loom, by Ann Hecht (non-fiction)
54: Elephants: A Cultural and Natural History, by Karl Groning (non-fiction)

I enjoyed Ware Hawk I'm not certain I've read The Pearls, but I really loved the first trilogy.

I say if this is your 'try' at 75 you're definitely going to break the barrier ... by mid-april? congrats.

As far as I know I had never run into Deborah Chester before. But The Pearls reads more like a sequel than a first in a series, so it was kind of obvious that some of the other books in the "also by this author" list came first.

And I had purposely checked to made sure it said "Book One"! ::sigh::

Now I guess I'll have to find the "first trilogy" to read. :)

Although it's actually not the best thing in the world that I'm reading quite this much. Family stuff has had me running around so much that I've been too busy and tired to attend to my creative projects as much as I'd like. But at least it hasn't been so bad that I haven't been able to make it to the library. Reading a bit too much sure beats reading too little.

Well I couldn't find that The Pearls was directly connnected to one of her previous works. The first I read by her were The Sword, The Ring and The Chalice, a trilogy which has some sequels to it. The description I read sounds like it could be the same universe though.

They weren't great writing, but I did feel there was a good story. (and not all of the characters irritated me LOL)

I did a bit of poking about, and I'm thinking that it is the The Ruby Throne Trilogy that contains the events that were so clearly a previous story to The Pearls.

Now I'm a bit worried that if I start on the Ruby Throne, it will feel very obviously a sequel to something else. ::rueful chuckle:: Maybe my best bet would be to go all the way back to the beginning, if I can find them.

LOL I'll be here to see what you decide.

55: Spindle's End, by Robin McKinley (fantasy)
56: The Elephant's Secret Sense: The Hidden Life of the Wild Herds of Africa, by Caitlin O'Connell (non-fiction)
57: Phobos, by Ty Drago (sf)
58: Murder by the Book, by Rex Stout (mystery, reread)
59: Rose Daughter, by Robin Mckinley (fantasy)
60: Way to Glory, by David Drake (sf)
61: Textiles: 5000 Years, by Jennifer Harris (non-fiction)

Thank you Roni for encouraging me to actually request the McKinley's. Beauty and The Blue Sword are still my favorites, but I did enjoy these two also. :)

You are welcome. Isn't it interesting the way she changed how she conceptualized the story between Beauty and Rose Daughter?

62: The Game by Diana Wynne Jones (ya, fantasy)
63: Trading in Danger by Elizabeth Moon (sf, reread)
64: Soulless by Gail Carriger (fantasy/romance)
65: Marque and Reprisal by Elizabeth Moon (sf, reread)
66: Engaging the Enemy by Elizabeth Moon (sf)
67: Elephants on the Edge: What Animals Teach Us about Humanity by G. A. Bradshaw (non-fiction)
68: Command Decision by Elizabeth Moon (sf)
69: Victory Conditions by Elizabeth Moon (sf)

@47 Yes, I do find the differences between the two stories fascinating, but when I tried earlier to say anything about it, it came out sounding like I really didn't like Rose Daughter (which isn't true), and that I was whining that it wasn't Beauty all over again (which might possibly have been true, but it wasn't my intent). So I erased that message and ended up not posting anything. ::rueful::

I think I still like Beauty best, but thought it very thought-provoking that she would try to find a way to tell the story that didn't require the Beast to become a generic handsome prince.

Good reading--I've read all but #67 of your latest batch. The Vatta series isn't my favorite of Moon's but still quite enjoyable. I need to go reread her Paksenarrion series so I can read her brand new book. Enjoyed Soulless quite a bit.

Is that the Vatta series by Moon? I rather liked the Vatta books

@50 Yes, the Moon books on the list were the Vatta's War series, 1 through 5, in order. :)
I had already read the first two books, but it had been so long I figured that I'd better read them again before reading the last three.

@49 I thought that Soulless was fun. I approve of fun.

In the McKinley books, one of the differences that really stood out to me was the worldbuilding. Beauty is set in what is almost a dream version of our world, whereas the world in Rose Daughter is much more clearly a construct. The plot background was also much more complicated in the second book. I suspect that those two differences are not coincidental.

70: Changeless, by Gail Carriger (fantasy/romance)
71: Chalice, by Robin McKinley (fantasy)
72: The Improper Governess by Carola Dunn (regency, reread)
73: Language of the Robe: American Indian Trade Blankets, by Robert W. Kapoun (non-fiction)
74: Dragonhaven, by Robin McKinley (fantasy/sf)
75: Lavender Lady, by Carola Dunn (regency, reread)
76: The Corinthian, by Georgette Heyer (regency, reread)

...
Last year my count was something like 49.
This year, I've made the challenge by mid-April? Woah!

Awwwww, that's *so* *CUTE*!
Thanks alcottacre!

You are welcome, Shelby. Great job on the challenge!

Congrats! There's nothing like meeting a goal :)

Congrats on reaching 75 already!!

What did you think of your last batch, most of which I've read. (all but the blanket one and one of the Dunns)

Congrats!

Thanks everyone!

@ ronincats

The blanket book is intended for collectors, and since I'm not one, I thought it got a bit boring when it started defining the pattern terms, and setting out the vital statistics of the various production lines. Maybe even collectors find those bits dry? My favorite parts were where it described the cultural aspects of the blankets (wonderful!), and the histories of the various companies that made them (interesting).

But I'm sure what you really wanted to hear is what I thought of the other books. :)

Heyer is, of course, the queen, and The Corinthian is, as always, charming. The Dunn's are old friends... excellent comfort reading for those times when I haven't been feeling too chipper.

Putting oneself into Dragonhaven was exhausting -- human babies are tiring enough! The structure fascinated me. I have a thing for first person. (Possibly mostly because as a writer I keep getting told never to do first person, and when I start pointing out successful first person stories, I get told 'but those authors are experts, and you are not' and so forth. Grr! ) Chalice was a very good fantasy book -- although I thought the romance kind of got short-changed, especially at the end. Again, however, I discover that of McKinley's worlds, some feel more "constructed magic" to me (Chalice, Rose Daughter), and others more like they just grew (Beauty, Dragonhaven), and it is second type I find more compelling -- which isn't what I *expect* to find... it seems, in fact, to reverse my usual tastes.

Changeless... The response of the protagonist to the french inventor seemed out of character to me, and it is not the sort of thing that causes any sort of pleasurable vibe for me personally. The combination of those two factors made it hard for me not to feel irritation whenever it happened, and therefore, although the rest of the book was still fun for me, I ended up enjoying this one less than the first.

77: InuYasha, Vol. 29, by Rumiko Takahashi (manga)
78: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, by Susanna Clarke (fantasy)
79: Fall of a Kingdom, by Hilari Bell (fantasy)
80: Arabella, by Georgette Heyer (regency, reread)
81: Knit One, Kill Two, by Maggie Sefton (mystery)
82: Scone Cold Dead, by Kaitlyn Dunnett (mystery)
83: Very Dutiful Daughter, by Elizabeth Mansfield (regency, reread)
84: On the Way to Gretna Green, by Marian Devon (regency, reread)
85: Wagered Hearts, by Mary Kruger (regency, reread)
86: A Suitable Marriage, by Marlaine Kyle (regency, reread)
87: Philadelphia Folly, by Nancy Richards-Akers (regency, reread)
88: A Bride For Lord Brasleigh, by Debbie Raleigh (regency, reread)
89: The Blue Devil by Melynda Beth Skinner (regency, reread)

You have been busy! Okay, I've got Fall of a Kingdom in myTBR pile--it's one of the YA books I should get read in the next month so I can donate it to the school library and see if I want to pick up the other two books. What do you think?

And what did you think of JS & Mr. N? Let me know, and I'll share my reaction.

Arabella is vintage Heyer, but not one of my top favorites. I get a little irritated with Arabella, even as I grant her good heart.

Any of the other regencies outstanding?

I think I like Arabella best when she is telling whoppers. :)

Fall of a Kingdom is a YA? I didn't realize that. One of my kids brought it home from the library, but I had thought it was my eldest, and he usually pulls his picks from the SF shelves. I don't remember there being a YA sticker on it, but I guess all three of the main characters are young enough to fit the bill. Unfortunately, I found them immature in ways I found it difficult to sympathize with, and that made it very hard for me to get any enjoyment out of the story. Other readers with a little more empathy might not have that problem. :rueful:

I thought JS & Mr. N was slow. And I didn't much like any of the main characters in that one either. I think I got to the end because of the worldbuilding, that absolutely amazingly wonderful sense of time and place, and because I wanted the elf to get what he'd earned.

I'd call the regencies solid rather than outstanding. (How often do I find *anything* outstanding? I'm such a grumpus. :sigh: ) I've got some library books left, but I've been wanting "gosh where did my brain go?" type reads, so I've been hunting my regency shelves for stuff I haven't read for a long time.

I missed the moment earlier, but I'd still like to say CONGRATS on meeting the 75 goal! Do you have a new goal to meet or just making a run for the end of the year? :)

I also found JS & Mr. N slow and didn't empathize with the characters. From the promos (I read it shortly after it came out), it looked like it had everything I would love in a fantasy, and I was really disappointed to find it somewhat of a slog, especially when lots of people seemed to love it. Like you, I finished it and thought the world-building was well done.

The only books I KEEP on my regency shelf are all the Heyers and Clare Darcy. I tried to reread a Darcy last summer and couldn't get through it, although back in the time (70s) I thought she was the closest to Heyer. Oh, and my Christmas collections of short stories, I also keep them. Also from that period I have a whole collection of Glenna Finley romances (not regencies)--I need to pull one out and see if maybe I should trade them away--it's probably been 25 years since I've read any of them.

ETA but if you DO find something outstanding, I'm definitely going to hunt it up!!

@ dk_pheonix - I'm still a bit in shock at how much easier it was to make the challenge this year than last year. I hadn't got around to thinking about new goals yet.

@ roni - I will be sure to let you know if I find any outstanding regencies. :)

I just read my first Raleigh and enjoyed it. Congrats on 75!! Way different than last year. Dracy, huh? I haven't read her or Finley... so much to explore :)

@ Suslyn - I haven't seen anything new out by Clare Darcy um... *ever*, actually. I have five of her books in hardcover published by Walker, and two paperbacks put out by Signet, and I think the most recent date on the lot is 1980 -- I didn't actually start reading regencies until 1984 or so. As Roni said, her books have a mood that is very similar to Heyer's, but they're more "light-weight" somehow. I'm not sure exactly how to explain that. I still enjoy reading them. Back when I was finding Darcy's stuff in the library (in the form of those Walker hardbacks) Joan Smith (also published by Walker at the time) was the author I considered most similar to Darcy.

Edited to add:
I heard that it was possible to get the LT staff to change usernames now, so I asked them to capitalize my username for me, so that people would be able to tell that it's an L not an i. Looks to me like the change has shown up for this message. Coolness! I hope nobody gets confused over who I am, though. Y'all are good with it, right? I did use the same capitalization on the thread name.

I must be great with it, because I didn't notice AND it's always been an "L" for me...

ETA Sorry.... thought but didn't say, "thx for the info" :)

Name change looks great! I didn't notice, actually, but now that you mention it, it does look better this way!

Angela (formerly amwmsw04)

90: A Pair of Rogues by Patricia Wynn (regency, reread)
91: An Early Engagement by Barbara Metzger (regency, reread)
92: Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (science fiction)
93: Escape to Witch Mountain by Alexander Key (YA, reread)
94: Class Dis-Mythed by Robert Asprin and Jody Lynn Nye (fantasy)
95: Refining Felicity by Marion Chesney (regency)
96: A Most Unsuitable Duchess by Gail Mallin (regency)
97: A Heavenly Houseguest by Emily Dalton (regency)
98: Wolf Tower by Tanith Lee (Fantasy, YA)

Hmm... The name change appears to mean I can't update my first message to keep track of my totals any more. Oops!

Maybe I should start a new thread?

#71: If you want to keep track of your totals, I think you are going to have to start a new thread.

New thread at:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/93689