August 2007 books

[jinian]

I have a bunch of dead time today, since I had to be in early for exam grading and will be here late for student meeting. In the interests of actually catching up slightly during this time, this is a very short bookpost. As always, I am only too happy to dispense opinions on individual books on request.

The Color of Distance, Amy Thomson. Okay, I officially love Amy Thomson.

Magic Cock Rings 3. (Yes I did read them all. Shut up.)

Vegan Virgin Valentine, Carolyn Mackler. From notyourmothers. Fun YA. Vegans may be annoyed.

Girl at Sea, Maureen Johnson. Johnson is always great.

So This is How it Ends (Avatars 1), Tui T. Sutherland. Interesting magical apocalypse, limp characterization.

Companions of the Night, Vivian Vande Velde. From vampire recs chez Oyce, by penmage. Recommended by me too.

Daylight, Elizabeth Knox. As above, from snarp. Nifty literary vampire novel.

Shelter, Susan Palwick. From papersky. Really excellent.

The Brief History of the Dead, Kevin Brockmeier. From neile. Also really excellent.

The Changeling Plague, Syne Mitchell. Library shelf. Stupid rich dude sets loose gene-therapy Andromeda Strain; millions suffer; consequences ensue.

Grey, Jon Armstrong. From yswilce. Bizarre and over-the-top cyberpunk awesomeness.

Hattie Big Sky, Kirby Larson. From notyourmothers. Sweet and cry-worthy!

40 Signs of Rain, Kim Stanley Robinson. Reminded by rysmiel. Good, though depressingly realistic, novel on climate change.

Through Alien Eyes, Amy Thomson. OMG sequel! I am rarely happy to find a sequel, but dude, Amy Thomson. (Wim says Virtual Girl wasn't that great, but I may ILL it anyway.)

Year's Best Fantasy 2, ed. David G. Hartwell. I love the Hartwell anthologies. It's so nice to find an editor whose taste agrees with mine.

Adverbs, Daniel Handler. Library shelf. Handler still has a lot of credit with me for The Basic Eight, though that other novel was less impressive. This was an aggregate of stories about an aggregate of people, all titled with adverbs, all about and usually explicitly stating connections with love. I liked it but had to read in small doses. (Tiny spoiler: And for "Soundly", all I can say is DRIVE AROUND! Have you ever been to Bainbridge Island? If there's no ferry running, you are not doomed, I promise!)

New Amsterdam, Elizabeth Bear. Vampire detective stories by Bear? Yes please.

Some of my Best Friends: Writings on Interracial Friendships, ed. Emily Bernard. From oyceter.
http://community.livejournal.com/50books_poc/4434.html

The Parrot Who Owns Me, Joanna Burger. Funny and wonderful psittacine details, plus some research.

The Stars Dispose, Michaela Roessner. From rachelmanija. Brilliant idea: write about cooks who happen to consort with Michelangelo et al. You get delicious food, some intrigue, and some magic as well.

Hellsing 1, Kohta Hirano. From rushthatspeaks. Fun! And I finally see where rayechu's icon is from. (But last time I checked Anglicans didn't call themselves Protestant.)

Comments

[rayechu.livejournal.com]

Lol. Yes I have to love my Seras icon. I am curious if you plan to continue reading Hellsing. What were your thoughts on volume one? Did you like the darkhorse translation and how do you feel about the price?

[arvedui.livejournal.com]

Anyone want to tell me why the Anne Bishop gets a subtitle?

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

yup, amy thomson rocks. she does not write enough.

[jinian.livejournal.com]

Well, part of my posting book reports half a year old is that I have since read five more volumes of Hellsing. :) I really knew nothing about it going in, so I'm not sure I can evaluate the translation. It's not obviously intolerable or anything. And luckily, library books are free! What are your more-informed opinions?

[jinian.livejournal.com]

Anyone want to tell me why comments addressed to "anyone" rather than a post's obvious singular author should be answered at all?

[rayechu.livejournal.com]

I believe this is one that I borrowed for a friend so it was also free for me. Though I am really not happy with some of the companies and the more extreme pricing. I don't understand how one company can sell manga between 8.99 (Shonen Jump and Shoujo Beat) and 9.99 (Viz Signature) While Dark Horse charges $13.95. I do not expect the budget prices of the larger companies, but I would appreciate a price closer to that of Del Rey.
And while 99% of the time I like having a real book to hold and read, Hellsing is one of the few things that I disliked in translation. I found Pip's French accent and the German accents and Anderson's speech like visual nails on a chalkboard. But then maybe it is just me as I admittedly have a hard time with accents to begin with. I just think they were handled better in scanlations.

[arvedui.livejournal.com]

Cuz something that sounds like an obvious in-joke assumes audience knowledge, and thus more than one possible author of answer?

[marzipan-pig.livejournal.com]

I've had it summarized in fewer words than this, but here's a long and lovingly detailed explanation (http://oyceter.livejournal.com/577632.html).

[jinian.livejournal.com]

And you're not actually wrong about that; I just don't like you talking past me as if this space weren't all about me me me. I wouldn't mind if this were a community or even a really-truly blog with a large pool of commenters, but I am at most an appendix.

[brrad8283.livejournal.com]

It sucks now!