January 2007 books
Jun. 4th, 2007 10:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jinianWolf Whistle, Jail Bait, Marilyn Todd. Sibs-out-law move. Very modern and very British for mystery novels set in Augustan Rome, but reasonably amusing due to bitchy gold-digging protagonist and the hot, young, and/or rich men who fling themselves at her.
Paragaea: A Planetary Romance, Chris Roberson. Library shelf. There's a very good reason this is dedicated partly to Edgar Rice Burroughs. Very episodic and wide open for sequels. Travel/quest.
A Princess of Roumania, Paul Park. Free at Wiscon. Enh. Pissed off that it doesn't end. Might read the whole thing once I hear it's out, might not.
American Eyes: New Asian American Short Stories for Young Adults, ed. Lori M. Carlson. Some stories quite good, collection only okay overall.
Mortal Engines, Predator's Gold, Infernal Devices, Philip Reeve. Three of four, damn. Lots of fun, plummy Britishy-future names done far better than Rowling's wizarding ones. Reserving judgment on whether I like the overall story arc until I see what happens with the original protagonists in book 4.
"Orm the Beautiful", Elizabeth Bear.
http://www.clarkesworldmagazine.com/bear_01_07.html Beautiful dragon story. Go read if you haven't.
Spirit of the Cedar People, Chief Lelooska. Children's. Library shelf. Really impressive paintings, great fusion of classic formline with perspective cartooning. Stories oddly male-focused compared to others I've read from the Kwakwaka'wakw, but it's entirely possible my previous exposure had been selected not to be.
Year's Best Fantasy 3, ed. David G. Hartwell. Used bookstore. Lots of very good stuff in here.
Devilish, Maureen Johnson. From Westerblog. Good sticky YA supernatural.
Singing the Dogstar Blues, Alison Goodman. Amusing, fun, and queer in SF; likable human and alien characters. Plot goes mad near the end, with abundant (foreshadowed) implausibility and one absolute howler.
Shadow of the Warmaster, Jo Clayton. Used bookstore; continuing my many-years-long progress through her complete works. A rare stand-alone Clayton, with a couple of plot threads kept up nicely. Has Shadith in, whom I haven't read about before but know is a big deal in other books, but that was all right.
Season of Sacrifice, Mindy L. Klasky. Library shelf. Didn't care about the glassworker books, but this was self-contained (a definite plus) and not a bad quest/ bildungsroman fantasy. It fell down by not talking about the return to normal life, which can't have been easy for the characters who'd basically been brainwashed, and the celibacy plot did one of the several things that seriously annoy me in such plots.
Sylvester, Georgette Heyer. Well, that was frickin' adorable. The entire last quarter had me snickering regularly.
Tales of the City, Armistead Maupin. From Making Light. I went to San Francisco, so I was compelled to read this. Somewhat dated, alas, but some expressive of the kind of alternative family relationships that I love. I don't feel any particular need to read the five related books.
Definitely Dead, Charlaine Harris. Library shelf. Mystery/supernatural with Sookie Stackhouse, who is apparently kind of a big deal in this genre. The mystery and apparent fallout from past books were well plotted, and the were-tiger love interest was pretty sexy, but I don't think I need to read any of the others of these, either.
Monster Island, David Wellington. From![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
rysmiel. How many books take place after the zombie apocalypse? Kind of gory but loads of fun. Sequels exist, but the creepy, unsettling ending works well as is.
The Tale of Genji, Yoshitaka Amano
Sisters of the Raven, Barbara Hambly. Sibs-out-law. Liked it. It's not exactly feminist, in that it suggests an outside reversal of a true inequality between men and women, and I kept wanting it to be something other than what it was. Naming coolness: women are named after other nouns, their names are readily changed by the man in charge of them, and a certain set of suffixes are prescribed.
Food Plants of Coastal First Peoples, Nancy J. Turner. Birthday present from excellent sweetiehattifattener. Interesting overview of the food uses of PNW native plants throughout British Columbia. The best part is Appendix A, which lists the names of introduced foods in native languages, such as the Haida "stink-peel" for oranges. Appendix B, plants native peoples figured were poisonous, leaves out the very important information of whether the plants actually are poisonous or not. (It also leaves out corn-lily, which I'm sure must grow in BC as well as here and is amazingly toxic.)
"Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?": A Psychologist Explains the Development of Racial Identity, Beverly Daniel Tatum. Fromoyceter. Still thinking about this one. Should reread eventually.
Daughter of the Empire, Servant of the Empire, Mistress of the Empire, Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts. Old comfort reads cast in a new light. The treatment of the cod-Asian culture is incredibly annoying, and done poorly -- swiping words from real Asian languages for the mishmash allways ticks me off, possibly as an equanimity-preserving distraction from the way in which the cod-Euro barbarian is always completely right about everything. The part I've always really liked, and still do, is the way Mara breaks her own traditions when necessary and respectfully, before her redheaded sweetheart ever shows up, and her relationship with the insect people throughout. (To what extent are the insects standing in for another foreign culture, though, and how okay is that? The shock of finding out what you thought was a fealty arrangement was actually a mercenary contract makes a good point about preconceptions. Too bad it's undermined by the later strong suggestion that one culture is more moral than another.)
The Keladry books, Tamora Pierce. See above for language-swiping; Pierce goes farther, borrowing weapons, name formation rules, and basically Japanese culture as a whole. I like Kel, but these books annoy me too much to really be comfort reading. (I keep forgetting that, though, and rereading them.)
The Lady's Code, Samantha Saxon. I saw this on the library shelf, and my brain went "cryptography!" Then I said eh, it must be some code of conduct or something. But no! It really does have cryptography in it! Sadly it's kind of lame cryptography, and the book is largely about how the smart, hot hero CANNOT CONCENTRATE when this hot CHICK is in the room, especially if she talks about her advanced mathematical theories and reads Chinese. (Okay, I liked that part.) Mildly amusing.
Snipped in the Bud, Kate Collins. Library shelf. Not sure what's up with me and all the mystery/romance novels lately; maybe I'm overusing my fevered brain at school and want something without worldbuilding, but how the hell does that follow? Anyway, this one is only somewhat entertaining, with mediocre flower porn.
An Abundance of Katherines, John Green. Good coming of age with mathgeeking. Repellent to actual math lovers because of the faux-math on the outside (and, as I recall, the chapter headings).
To the Resurrection Station, Eleanor Arnason. At Twice Sold Tales in Capitol Hill I found two Arnasons I had never heard of, and then I found out why. This is kind of awful -- human/alien crossbreeding, pattern-rewriting luck, RAT MEN -- but kind of Arnason too. Fun to read for a big fan, which I am.
Summer King, Winter Fool, Lisa Goldstein. Frompapersky. I loved this! Courtly intrigue, dual cyclical deity concept, library and librarian. I have nothing adequate to say about it, but you should all read it straightaway.
Absolute Boyfriend 1, Yuu Watase. Makes more sense than just reading the later ones!
Azumanga Daioh 1. Reread. Azuma is love. The utter weirdness of so many of these characters combined in little four-panel slices of life is just great. It's not the usual manga style at all, but I actually think Azuma is best in this format; Yotsuba& is sweet and funny, but it doesn't kill me the same way.
Ex Machina 1-2, Brian K. Vaughan et al. Very interesting. More plot, please.
Naruto (didn't note chapters). NOTE TO KISHIMOTO: SOMETIMES GIRLS ARE DIFFERENT FROM EACH OTHER. New awesome strong medic Sakura is great, and clearly her mentor has similar specialties, but Ino needs to be cool in SOME OTHER WAY, okay? Sheesh.
Paragaea: A Planetary Romance, Chris Roberson. Library shelf. There's a very good reason this is dedicated partly to Edgar Rice Burroughs. Very episodic and wide open for sequels. Travel/quest.
A Princess of Roumania, Paul Park. Free at Wiscon. Enh. Pissed off that it doesn't end. Might read the whole thing once I hear it's out, might not.
American Eyes: New Asian American Short Stories for Young Adults, ed. Lori M. Carlson. Some stories quite good, collection only okay overall.
Mortal Engines, Predator's Gold, Infernal Devices, Philip Reeve. Three of four, damn. Lots of fun, plummy Britishy-future names done far better than Rowling's wizarding ones. Reserving judgment on whether I like the overall story arc until I see what happens with the original protagonists in book 4.
"Orm the Beautiful", Elizabeth Bear.
http://www.clarkesworldmagazine.com/bear_01_07.html Beautiful dragon story. Go read if you haven't.
Spirit of the Cedar People, Chief Lelooska. Children's. Library shelf. Really impressive paintings, great fusion of classic formline with perspective cartooning. Stories oddly male-focused compared to others I've read from the Kwakwaka'wakw, but it's entirely possible my previous exposure had been selected not to be.
Year's Best Fantasy 3, ed. David G. Hartwell. Used bookstore. Lots of very good stuff in here.
Devilish, Maureen Johnson. From Westerblog. Good sticky YA supernatural.
Singing the Dogstar Blues, Alison Goodman. Amusing, fun, and queer in SF; likable human and alien characters. Plot goes mad near the end, with abundant (foreshadowed) implausibility and one absolute howler.
Shadow of the Warmaster, Jo Clayton. Used bookstore; continuing my many-years-long progress through her complete works. A rare stand-alone Clayton, with a couple of plot threads kept up nicely. Has Shadith in, whom I haven't read about before but know is a big deal in other books, but that was all right.
Season of Sacrifice, Mindy L. Klasky. Library shelf. Didn't care about the glassworker books, but this was self-contained (a definite plus) and not a bad quest/ bildungsroman fantasy. It fell down by not talking about the return to normal life, which can't have been easy for the characters who'd basically been brainwashed, and the celibacy plot did one of the several things that seriously annoy me in such plots.
Sylvester, Georgette Heyer. Well, that was frickin' adorable. The entire last quarter had me snickering regularly.
Tales of the City, Armistead Maupin. From Making Light. I went to San Francisco, so I was compelled to read this. Somewhat dated, alas, but some expressive of the kind of alternative family relationships that I love. I don't feel any particular need to read the five related books.
Definitely Dead, Charlaine Harris. Library shelf. Mystery/supernatural with Sookie Stackhouse, who is apparently kind of a big deal in this genre. The mystery and apparent fallout from past books were well plotted, and the were-tiger love interest was pretty sexy, but I don't think I need to read any of the others of these, either.
Monster Island, David Wellington. From
rysmiel. How many books take place after the zombie apocalypse? Kind of gory but loads of fun. Sequels exist, but the creepy, unsettling ending works well as is.The Tale of Genji, Yoshitaka Amano
Sisters of the Raven, Barbara Hambly. Sibs-out-law. Liked it. It's not exactly feminist, in that it suggests an outside reversal of a true inequality between men and women, and I kept wanting it to be something other than what it was. Naming coolness: women are named after other nouns, their names are readily changed by the man in charge of them, and a certain set of suffixes are prescribed.
Food Plants of Coastal First Peoples, Nancy J. Turner. Birthday present from excellent sweetie
hattifattener. Interesting overview of the food uses of PNW native plants throughout British Columbia. The best part is Appendix A, which lists the names of introduced foods in native languages, such as the Haida "stink-peel" for oranges. Appendix B, plants native peoples figured were poisonous, leaves out the very important information of whether the plants actually are poisonous or not. (It also leaves out corn-lily, which I'm sure must grow in BC as well as here and is amazingly toxic.)"Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?": A Psychologist Explains the Development of Racial Identity, Beverly Daniel Tatum. From
oyceter. Still thinking about this one. Should reread eventually.Daughter of the Empire, Servant of the Empire, Mistress of the Empire, Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts. Old comfort reads cast in a new light. The treatment of the cod-Asian culture is incredibly annoying, and done poorly -- swiping words from real Asian languages for the mishmash allways ticks me off, possibly as an equanimity-preserving distraction from the way in which the cod-Euro barbarian is always completely right about everything. The part I've always really liked, and still do, is the way Mara breaks her own traditions when necessary and respectfully, before her redheaded sweetheart ever shows up, and her relationship with the insect people throughout. (To what extent are the insects standing in for another foreign culture, though, and how okay is that? The shock of finding out what you thought was a fealty arrangement was actually a mercenary contract makes a good point about preconceptions. Too bad it's undermined by the later strong suggestion that one culture is more moral than another.)
The Keladry books, Tamora Pierce. See above for language-swiping; Pierce goes farther, borrowing weapons, name formation rules, and basically Japanese culture as a whole. I like Kel, but these books annoy me too much to really be comfort reading. (I keep forgetting that, though, and rereading them.)
The Lady's Code, Samantha Saxon. I saw this on the library shelf, and my brain went "cryptography!" Then I said eh, it must be some code of conduct or something. But no! It really does have cryptography in it! Sadly it's kind of lame cryptography, and the book is largely about how the smart, hot hero CANNOT CONCENTRATE when this hot CHICK is in the room, especially if she talks about her advanced mathematical theories and reads Chinese. (Okay, I liked that part.) Mildly amusing.
Snipped in the Bud, Kate Collins. Library shelf. Not sure what's up with me and all the mystery/romance novels lately; maybe I'm overusing my fevered brain at school and want something without worldbuilding, but how the hell does that follow? Anyway, this one is only somewhat entertaining, with mediocre flower porn.
An Abundance of Katherines, John Green. Good coming of age with mathgeeking. Repellent to actual math lovers because of the faux-math on the outside (and, as I recall, the chapter headings).
To the Resurrection Station, Eleanor Arnason. At Twice Sold Tales in Capitol Hill I found two Arnasons I had never heard of, and then I found out why. This is kind of awful -- human/alien crossbreeding, pattern-rewriting luck, RAT MEN -- but kind of Arnason too. Fun to read for a big fan, which I am.
Summer King, Winter Fool, Lisa Goldstein. From
papersky. I loved this! Courtly intrigue, dual cyclical deity concept, library and librarian. I have nothing adequate to say about it, but you should all read it straightaway.Absolute Boyfriend 1, Yuu Watase. Makes more sense than just reading the later ones!
Azumanga Daioh 1. Reread. Azuma is love. The utter weirdness of so many of these characters combined in little four-panel slices of life is just great. It's not the usual manga style at all, but I actually think Azuma is best in this format; Yotsuba& is sweet and funny, but it doesn't kill me the same way.
Ex Machina 1-2, Brian K. Vaughan et al. Very interesting. More plot, please.
Naruto (didn't note chapters). NOTE TO KISHIMOTO: SOMETIMES GIRLS ARE DIFFERENT FROM EACH OTHER. New awesome strong medic Sakura is great, and clearly her mentor has similar specialties, but Ino needs to be cool in SOME OTHER WAY, okay? Sheesh.
