February books

[jinian]

A little late, but I did write them down. (The Hello Kitty datebook is a big help; thanks, dustbath!)

The Mad Scientists' Club, Bertrand R. Brinley. Wim and Eli insisted I read this, and indeed it gives insight into their personalities. I liked the pranks and reasonably well backed-up science in this, but I think what I was most struck by was that I would call the organization not a club but one leading person plus support staff. Having the first-person narrator fade into the background compared to the real protagonist is an interesting variant on the tendency of a lot of console RPGs to have the controlled character say very little as a way of getting the player to identify with him. (I say variant but suspect the book version came first. How to gather more evidence?)

Master and Commander, Patrick O'Brian. This is where the reading list began to be influenced by the BBC top 200 list that was making the rounds. I'd never read any of these, so this one was pressed upon me. I liked it fine, though I wasn't really engrossed at any time. Will persist until they get better, which is, what, two more?

Persuasion, Jane Austen. Pressed this one upon myself. I know I like Austen, so why hadn't I read more? This is excellent, my favorite of hers so far.

Bi Any Other Name, ed. Hutchins/Kaahumanu. A wide variety of essays from bisexual people in the late 1980s. Most of the essays are distinctly dated, but they're still pretty interesting. The long, formal introductions to each section could go away, though.

Shatterglass, Tamora Pierce. Fourth in the murder-mystery quartet "The Circle Opens". Pierce has been sneaking up on more mature themes in this set, and I found this one to be a notably better book than the previous Cold Fire. It's still some fluffy, but the tension and frustration of the main characters, who are trying to find a serial killer while developing new magical techniques, made this interesting. I think I have an exploitable soft spot for characters with a sense of responsibility, and Pierce is definitely getting better at poking it.

Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier. I started Rebecca at a large disadvantage, because I had seen a play called "In Flagrante Gothicto" which contained big, fat spoilers for about every novel in this genre. Regardless, I was sucked in. Just the right level of detail, just the right level of information payout, and an unnerving, building atmosphere combined so effectively that I didn't care a bit that I had a very good idea of what would happen at that costume party. Wow.

Magic Knights Rayearth 1, CLAMP. The Seattle Library system has loads of manga, I have noticed, and I like CLAMP's other work. The first tape of this series was obnoxiously Saturday-morning, and the manga proved to be only slightly less so. Might give the next volume a try at some point, now that they seem to be done with the character intros.

Growing Wings, Laurel Winter. Very good YA about a girl who is the first in her matrilineal, wing-growing line to maybe be able to keep them. Obvious possible symbolism aside, it's a good story. The characters are well drawn, most with secrets and flaws, which are too rare in the good guys in YA lit. Winter uses a wide variety of quotes at the chapter headings, whether just because she's well read or because she wants to encourage readers to look up the sources, I don't know. The latter certainly worked.

Archangel Protocol, Lyda Morehouse. I'm not sure how the treatment of angels in this seemed so cliche to me, since I'm pretty sure I haven't read anything else that had the same premise. It bored me, though, and then the utterly stupid treatment of mutated humans made it approach the flinging point. I finished, but sheesh. It's not necessarily a fault for an AI to be the most interesting character in a book, but this wasn't a very interesting AI.

Emma, Jane Austen. Reading this after Persuasion was a huge mistake. After liking and identifying with Anne, I just wasn't able to get properly interested in Emma. I liked the book, but it suffered horribly from the comparison. Also, she wasn't nearly ready to get married; repenting idiocy isn't the same thing as becoming mature.

Fool's Fate, Robin Hobb. Fitz remains sort of apathetic, the Fool is a huge drama queen, things turn out pretty well anyway. I just don't know about Hobb's books. I like them while reading, most of the time, but they don't bear examination. The magic and world are interesting, though perhaps not entirely internally consistent, but something is lacking.

The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold. Raped and murdered viewpoint character watches from heaven as people learn to deal with her death. Sad, funny, and beautiful. I liked it very much. Warning: this book may induce "Near Wild Heaven" earworms.

Comments

[marzipan-pig.livejournal.com]

A wide variety of essays from bisexual people in the late 1980s. Most of the essays are distinctly dated, but they're still pretty interesting.

heh.

[jinian.livejournal.com]

Is funny?

[marzipan-pig.livejournal.com]

of course when I was reading it as a newly identity politicy biseuxal, it was all new and shiny and cutting edge!

maybe I'll let you borrow some of my ANYTHING THAT MOVES or my collection of OUTLOOK (which actually I think probably aged a little better) sometimes

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

elisem is in bi any other name, fyi. if you didn't know.

[jinian.livejournal.com]

I did notice that. There's at least one other person in there that I know, too. It's neat.

[gwyneira.livejournal.com]

I've never understood why Emma seems to be so much more widely read and known than Persuasion. Emma (the character) is a self-centered dope, although better at the end - and as you say, surely even then she can't be mature enough to get married.

I've never been very fond of the wise teacher/foolish student relationship between her and Knightley anyway. Surely Anne and Captain Wentworth, who are both adults, are likely to be much happier in their marriage than Emma and Knightley.

[jinian.livejournal.com]

I suppose the "wise teacher/foolish student" relationship was a form of marriage that was pretty common for a while, but it completely fails to appeal to me. Now that I think about it, a lot of romance novels today are still focused on the man who is supercompetent and the woman who has never developed a personality of her own, but at least they generally show the part where she becomes reasonably effectual too. I'd like Emma more if it had continued to that point.