July 2007 books
May. 12th, 2008 09:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jinianI'm less than a year behind. Um, go me?
Blood Bound, Patricia Briggs. Mechanic girl protagonist, yay. Vampires, enh. Overall pretty good. [Later: I find my recollections of this overshadowed by the ugly sexual dynamics of the third one, so be warned.]
A Door Into Ocean, Joan Slonczewski.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
whileaway rec. Really great, with abundant gender interest.
Bell, Book, and Scandal, Jill Churchill. Boring writing, boring characters, I really could not continue reading this past about page three. I even skipped later -- still bad. Fling!
A Free Man of Color & Graveyard Dust, Barbara Hambly. From Making Light. Pretty great. The protagonist is a free black man in New Orleans in the 1830s, where there's a whole social stratum of free people of color.
Kung Fu Princess 2-3 (all), Pamela Walker. Granted the premise is a little lame, these are not-bad YA, and it's nice to have a half-Chinese protagonist. (Though, as![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
marzipan_pig will attest, I do complain about the "only half" part at the slightest provocation.)
Titans of Chaos, John C. Wright. Incredibly fun pulpy adventure with expected moments of feminist rage.
Fire Logic and Earth Logic, Laurie Marks. I liked these the first time I read them, but I think I had too much of a "What Happens In Fantasy Novels" filter up -- I didn't really listen to what was happening or why. With another reading and some discussion under my belt, I am incredibly impressed. (Though I still think the names may be reversed: earth logic ought to be Karis' major working in the first book, and the entire second book is run by fire logic.)
Water Logic! Yay! May have coherent thoughts upon reread, though likely not.
Earthseed, Pamela Sargent. Good YA generation-ship SF with interesting twistiness and adventure.
The Skewed Throne, Joshua Palmatier. Preeeeee diiiiiict aaaa blllllle.
The Outback Stars, Sandra McDonald. Fromgwyneira. Competent mil-SF with Mary Sue and ObLoveInterest takes a sudden left turn about halfway in and becomes delightfully unpredictable in several ways (while remaining average in others). Worth a read for the alien-tech geekery.
Passion, Jude Morgan. Depressing but wonderfully written story about the women romantically involved with the famous Romantic poets.
Tales from the Crib, Jennifer Coburn. Library shelf. I looked for a popcorn book that didn't seem inimical to me, and this was actually really cute and great. Having a nonstandard marriage didn't mean anyone was the devil, which was awesome, and I thought realistic as well as sympathetic. Also I was fooled about the ending, and I always have a great fondness for books that do that. (There were class issues, and the emotional relationships felt off, but overall good therapy.)
Breath of Magic, Teresa Medeiros. Cheese! Who recommended this utter cheese? Fun, though.
Daughter of the Blood, Anne Bishop. (Quasi-)rec by therachelmanija-oyceter-coffeeandink crack continuum. Vampires! Dark magic! Whores who are assassins! And lurid child sexual abuse! This hits the id vortex pretty good. I left for the library to get the next one within an hour of finishing the first. (What? I may mock, but I am not immune.)
Heir to the Shadows: more of the same.
A Civil Campaign, Lois McMaster Bujold. Comfort reading.
Un Lun Dun, China Mieville. Quest of Chosen One trope subversion! Woo hoo! Really excellent.
Son of the Shadows, Juliet Marillier. Good epic fantasy.
Who needs to read the actual Harry Potter book when it's possible to read the snark version?
[Which, damn, now it's not. Journal suspended at http://mightygodking.livejournal.com/345287.html.]
Or the Lolcat-influenced?
http://diogenes-sinope.blogspot.com/2007/07/potterdammerung-mega-spoilers.html
The Intuitionist, Colson Whitehead. Fromcoffeeandink. Wow. Really amazing atmospheric mystery with black woman protagonist.
Casanegra; Blair Underwood, Steven Barnes, Tananarive Due. Fromdeadbrowalking, I think. Murder mystery with former sex worker protagonist guy. The writing didn't do much for me, but overall this was pretty fun.
Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl. Rec by therapist. Interesting. I think I could have benefited more from this back when I wasn't willing to read therapy-type books.
Absolute Uncertainty, Lucy Sussex. Aqueduct Conversation Pieces. Fine, odd short stories.
Doppelganger and Witch and Warrior, Marie Brennan. Fromgwyneira. Such good fun. Magic-geeking yay.
A Darkling Plain, Philip Reeve. 4 of 4 Hungry City Chronicles. I was reserving judgment on these until I saw what happened to Hester. I am impressed and happy! These started out as charming adventures and became charming, exciting, touching adventures, and I love the ending. Go read!
Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons. A combination ofgwyneira and "didn't I mean to read that?". I was annoyed through about the first third of the book, because it seemed to be lampooning only the rustics. It got better, or my mood did.
The Dress Lodger, Sheri Holman. The decisive rec was byrushthatspeaks. Weird, sad story about the poor people living near an England pottery factory in 1831, with beautiful writing.
FMA 1-33, Hiromu Arakawa. Mostly the same as the anime, but getting more interesting now.
Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai 24-26, Ai Yazawa .
Tsubasa 156-160, CLAMP. Confusing long twinstuff is over, and I think I even know what they're on about now.
Blood Bound, Patricia Briggs. Mechanic girl protagonist, yay. Vampires, enh. Overall pretty good. [Later: I find my recollections of this overshadowed by the ugly sexual dynamics of the third one, so be warned.]
A Door Into Ocean, Joan Slonczewski.
whileaway rec. Really great, with abundant gender interest.A Free Man of Color & Graveyard Dust, Barbara Hambly. From Making Light. Pretty great. The protagonist is a free black man in New Orleans in the 1830s, where there's a whole social stratum of free people of color.
Kung Fu Princess 2-3 (all), Pamela Walker. Granted the premise is a little lame, these are not-bad YA, and it's nice to have a half-Chinese protagonist. (Though, as
marzipan_pig will attest, I do complain about the "only half" part at the slightest provocation.)Titans of Chaos, John C. Wright. Incredibly fun pulpy adventure with expected moments of feminist rage.
Fire Logic and Earth Logic, Laurie Marks. I liked these the first time I read them, but I think I had too much of a "What Happens In Fantasy Novels" filter up -- I didn't really listen to what was happening or why. With another reading and some discussion under my belt, I am incredibly impressed. (Though I still think the names may be reversed: earth logic ought to be Karis' major working in the first book, and the entire second book is run by fire logic.)
Water Logic! Yay! May have coherent thoughts upon reread, though likely not.
Earthseed, Pamela Sargent. Good YA generation-ship SF with interesting twistiness and adventure.
The Skewed Throne, Joshua Palmatier. Preeeeee diiiiiict aaaa blllllle.
The Outback Stars, Sandra McDonald. From
gwyneira. Competent mil-SF with Mary Sue and ObLoveInterest takes a sudden left turn about halfway in and becomes delightfully unpredictable in several ways (while remaining average in others). Worth a read for the alien-tech geekery.Passion, Jude Morgan. Depressing but wonderfully written story about the women romantically involved with the famous Romantic poets.
Tales from the Crib, Jennifer Coburn. Library shelf. I looked for a popcorn book that didn't seem inimical to me, and this was actually really cute and great. Having a nonstandard marriage didn't mean anyone was the devil, which was awesome, and I thought realistic as well as sympathetic. Also I was fooled about the ending, and I always have a great fondness for books that do that. (There were class issues, and the emotional relationships felt off, but overall good therapy.)
Breath of Magic, Teresa Medeiros. Cheese! Who recommended this utter cheese? Fun, though.
Daughter of the Blood, Anne Bishop. (Quasi-)rec by the
rachelmanija-oyceter-coffeeandink crack continuum. Vampires! Dark magic! Whores who are assassins! And lurid child sexual abuse! This hits the id vortex pretty good. I left for the library to get the next one within an hour of finishing the first. (What? I may mock, but I am not immune.)Heir to the Shadows: more of the same.
A Civil Campaign, Lois McMaster Bujold. Comfort reading.
Un Lun Dun, China Mieville. Quest of Chosen One trope subversion! Woo hoo! Really excellent.
Son of the Shadows, Juliet Marillier. Good epic fantasy.
Who needs to read the actual Harry Potter book when it's possible to read the snark version?
[Which, damn, now it's not. Journal suspended at http://mightygodking.livejournal.com/345287.html.]
Or the Lolcat-influenced?
http://diogenes-sinope.blogspot.com/2007/07/potterdammerung-mega-spoilers.html
The Intuitionist, Colson Whitehead. From
coffeeandink. Wow. Really amazing atmospheric mystery with black woman protagonist.Casanegra; Blair Underwood, Steven Barnes, Tananarive Due. From
deadbrowalking, I think. Murder mystery with former sex worker protagonist guy. The writing didn't do much for me, but overall this was pretty fun.Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl. Rec by therapist. Interesting. I think I could have benefited more from this back when I wasn't willing to read therapy-type books.
Absolute Uncertainty, Lucy Sussex. Aqueduct Conversation Pieces. Fine, odd short stories.
Doppelganger and Witch and Warrior, Marie Brennan. From
gwyneira. Such good fun. Magic-geeking yay.A Darkling Plain, Philip Reeve. 4 of 4 Hungry City Chronicles. I was reserving judgment on these until I saw what happened to Hester. I am impressed and happy! These started out as charming adventures and became charming, exciting, touching adventures, and I love the ending. Go read!
Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons. A combination of
gwyneira and "didn't I mean to read that?". I was annoyed through about the first third of the book, because it seemed to be lampooning only the rustics. It got better, or my mood did.The Dress Lodger, Sheri Holman. The decisive rec was by
rushthatspeaks. Weird, sad story about the poor people living near an England pottery factory in 1831, with beautiful writing.FMA 1-33, Hiromu Arakawa. Mostly the same as the anime, but getting more interesting now.
Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai 24-26, Ai Yazawa .
Tsubasa 156-160, CLAMP. Confusing long twinstuff is over, and I think I even know what they're on about now.
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no subject
Date: 2008-05-12 05:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-12 05:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-13 12:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-12 11:12 pm (UTC)Ooh, that sounds right up my alley.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-12 11:35 pm (UTC)Also, bwahahahaha, magic cock ring books FOR THE WIN!
no subject
Date: 2008-05-12 11:43 pm (UTC)Especially since my student doesn't appear to be showing up for her appointment...