Belated book roundup
Sep. 29th, 2011 12:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
terrikoI apparently wrote up book reviews on August 5th, then only posted two of them... So here's one big post since I can't schedule them and I don't want to keep forgetting.
If you only read one of these reviews, I recommend....
Love in the Time of Dragons by Katie MacAlister may have the funniest scene I've read in years. I have not laughed so hard in forever.
Novels
Goblinquest By Hines, Jim C.
Basically this novel is dungeons and dragons told from the point of view of one of the cannon-fodder goblins, but Jim Hines' excellent sense of humour and the absurd make this an amazingly fun tale, and one I'd be happy to recommend to many of my roleplaying friends.
[Edit: I've since read the second, and also enjoyed it.]
Voices of Dragons By Vaughn, Carrie
A story of friendship across borders... both in the geography sense and in the speciest sense. I'm starting to think that I like Carrie Vaughn's young adult stuff even more than her adult stuff! (Which reminds me... did I ever review After the Golden Age?)
Love in the Time of Dragons By MacAlister, Katie
Just look at that cover. It's the sort of cover I'd be embarrassed to carry on the bus. But since starting The Project, I've been reading more romance an I figured this might fit the bill for our bad romance novel collection. I was totally wrong. Though the plot is an appalling monstrosity of dragons, past lives, and fated loves... the actual telling of this story is hilarious. The demon dog who constantly snarks and leers his way through the book. The son whose passion is taxidermy. The final dinner party scene may be the funniest thing I've read in years, including any famous humour writer you can think of. Seriously, I loved this book and might buy a copy or two as gifts; it's that fun.
Remember Me? By Sophie Kinsella
The premise: heroine has amnesia and wakes up to find that she's suddenly acquired a handsome husband, a beautiful house, and a high-profile job... but has now idea how she got there or what lurks under the surface of her new perfect life. Okay, it strains the bounds of reasonable pretty far, even for the genre of romantic chicklit, but it was *fun* and funny. I got this as an audiobook and it was a great distraction while cleaning or crafting or even playing video games.
Warbreaker By Sanderson, Brandon
Apparently this is by the dude who got hired to finish Robert Jordan's books. If I'd known that, I might have refused to read it on principle, but I'd have missed out -- this is excellent epic fantasy with two amazing female leads and a world where colour = magic.
River Marked By Briggs, Patricia
I like the Mercy series, and I wasn't too sure whether things would start to lose their shine now that she's all coupled up... but given the adventure she gets into on her honeymoon, maybe I don't need to worry. Don't think this would make my top few books in the series, but enjoyable enough!
Monoceros A Novel By Mayr, Suzette
A story about a boy who kills himself... or more to the point, about the people he leaves behind after he commits suicide to avoid bullying over the fact that he was gay. That makes this sound depressing, and I wondered why I'd bothered to request it when it showed up, but it was actually kinda a neat set of fractured portraits. I still wonder if Uncle Suzette shares a name with the author for a deeper reason than it making for a cute stage name, but I feel like I'd rather wonder than look it up.
Rhymes with Cupid By Humphrey, Anna
Cute, funny teenage love story. It's a quick read -- I read most of it actually in the library enjoying the air conditioning -- with fun characters and friendships.
Hard Bitten By Neill, Chloe
This is the nth Chicagoland vampires story, and I don't have much to say about it that wouldn't be spoilerific, but I am awfully curious about what's going to come next...
Comics / Graphic Novels
Hetalia Axis Powers. [Volume 1] By Himaruya, Hidekaz
Meh. I'd heard about this through reading Fandomsecrets, which mostly complains about how insane the fanbase is. I liked the idea of having countries represented as people, and the little random history lessons were cute, but honestly? Scandanavia and the World amused me a lot more with the same basic concept. I can only assume Hetalia either gets better or that fangirls just like cute costumes (and admittedly, the countries are super cute), but I don't think I'll bother reading more.
Astonishing X-Men [Vol. 3-4] By Whedon, Joss
More of the same, and I mean that largely in a good way. I like the xmen, and the stories left me wishing I could go back and start at the beginning. Does anyone sell some ridiculously large "complete xmen" in digital form? I'd buy a tablet just to read that many comics. ;)
Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane [Vol. 1-2] By McKeever, Sean
I'm unclear as to how this fits with the Terry Moore volumes. I still feel like I should be bothered that I liked something that was clearly meant to go in the "comics for girls" pile, but it's actually really cute with believable friendships and high school drama.
Ultimate X-Men Vol. 1, The Tomorrow People By Millar, Mark
I ran out of Amazing X-Men (that the library owns, at least) so I've moved to another series. Still enjoyable, though as I said I'm getting kinda to the point where I want to start at the beginning... if only that weren't so hard!
Ex Machina [Book 10], Term Limits
I don't even know what to say about the end of this series.
Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson Moon Called. Volume 1
I actually kinda enjoyed this as a graphic novel, but as my sister points out, it doesn't quite feel like Mercy Thompson, which is a pity. Bit more superhero-y or something that didn't quite work perfectly, but if you treat it kinda like some sort of alternate universe or fanfiction... Anyhow, I enjoyed it enough and Susan didn't, which is moderately unusual.
Runaways (Rock Zombies, Homeschooling)
Secret Invasion Runaways/Young Avengers
I enjoyed the last few Runaways books I could get my hands on, but not so much the Runaways/Young Avengers crossover, which felt a bit too forced.
Storm By Dickey, Eric Jerome
I'm not exactly sure why, but this one just didn't do it for me. I think I'd have enjoyed the story if it weren't about Storm, but it just didn't fit for me as her backstory.
Non-fiction
Drive The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us By Pink, Daniel H.
I want to say I loved this book, but like many similar books of pop sociology, I found that I loved the first few chapters and then started to feel like the whole thing was repeating itself, probably because the conclusions weren't all that stunning to me as someone who lives his supposedly modern view of motivation which includes open source developers and people who turn down lucrative jobs to work with people who are cool. Basically, the book is good if you like such things, but if you've got limited time just watch the RSA Animate video for Drive and you can get the whole premise in 10 minutes with lovely visuals to go with.
The Great Typo Hunt Two Friends Changing the World, One Correction at A Time By Deck, Jeff and Herson, Benjamin D.
I hadn't heard of this while it was happening, but it's the story of a guy who decides to drive across America fixing typos on signs with whatever friends he can convince to join him. The editor in me though it'd be a fun read, and it was not only an interesting road trip tale, but a lot of thought about what it really means to be right.
Sensual Crochet Luxurious Yarns, Alluring Designs By Swenson, Amy
When you go into the library, you can quickly see that knitting greatly eclipses crochet in popularity just from the number of books on the shelf and from the ages of said books. Crochet wallows in 70s designs filled with orange and brown at the best of times (and don't ask about the creepy clowns that adorn the worst) so this book was a bit of a breath of fresh air to find at the library. Unfortunately, while the designs were nicer and more modern, none of them grabbed me enough to try them out and the book got returned without use.
If you only read one of these reviews, I recommend....
Love in the Time of Dragons by Katie MacAlister may have the funniest scene I've read in years. I have not laughed so hard in forever.
Novels
Goblinquest By Hines, Jim C.
Basically this novel is dungeons and dragons told from the point of view of one of the cannon-fodder goblins, but Jim Hines' excellent sense of humour and the absurd make this an amazingly fun tale, and one I'd be happy to recommend to many of my roleplaying friends.
[Edit: I've since read the second, and also enjoyed it.]
Voices of Dragons By Vaughn, Carrie
A story of friendship across borders... both in the geography sense and in the speciest sense. I'm starting to think that I like Carrie Vaughn's young adult stuff even more than her adult stuff! (Which reminds me... did I ever review After the Golden Age?)
Love in the Time of Dragons By MacAlister, Katie
Just look at that cover. It's the sort of cover I'd be embarrassed to carry on the bus. But since starting The Project, I've been reading more romance an I figured this might fit the bill for our bad romance novel collection. I was totally wrong. Though the plot is an appalling monstrosity of dragons, past lives, and fated loves... the actual telling of this story is hilarious. The demon dog who constantly snarks and leers his way through the book. The son whose passion is taxidermy. The final dinner party scene may be the funniest thing I've read in years, including any famous humour writer you can think of. Seriously, I loved this book and might buy a copy or two as gifts; it's that fun.
Remember Me? By Sophie Kinsella
The premise: heroine has amnesia and wakes up to find that she's suddenly acquired a handsome husband, a beautiful house, and a high-profile job... but has now idea how she got there or what lurks under the surface of her new perfect life. Okay, it strains the bounds of reasonable pretty far, even for the genre of romantic chicklit, but it was *fun* and funny. I got this as an audiobook and it was a great distraction while cleaning or crafting or even playing video games.
Warbreaker By Sanderson, Brandon
Apparently this is by the dude who got hired to finish Robert Jordan's books. If I'd known that, I might have refused to read it on principle, but I'd have missed out -- this is excellent epic fantasy with two amazing female leads and a world where colour = magic.
River Marked By Briggs, Patricia
I like the Mercy series, and I wasn't too sure whether things would start to lose their shine now that she's all coupled up... but given the adventure she gets into on her honeymoon, maybe I don't need to worry. Don't think this would make my top few books in the series, but enjoyable enough!
Monoceros A Novel By Mayr, Suzette
A story about a boy who kills himself... or more to the point, about the people he leaves behind after he commits suicide to avoid bullying over the fact that he was gay. That makes this sound depressing, and I wondered why I'd bothered to request it when it showed up, but it was actually kinda a neat set of fractured portraits. I still wonder if Uncle Suzette shares a name with the author for a deeper reason than it making for a cute stage name, but I feel like I'd rather wonder than look it up.
Rhymes with Cupid By Humphrey, Anna
Cute, funny teenage love story. It's a quick read -- I read most of it actually in the library enjoying the air conditioning -- with fun characters and friendships.
Hard Bitten By Neill, Chloe
This is the nth Chicagoland vampires story, and I don't have much to say about it that wouldn't be spoilerific, but I am awfully curious about what's going to come next...
Comics / Graphic Novels
Hetalia Axis Powers. [Volume 1] By Himaruya, Hidekaz
Meh. I'd heard about this through reading Fandomsecrets, which mostly complains about how insane the fanbase is. I liked the idea of having countries represented as people, and the little random history lessons were cute, but honestly? Scandanavia and the World amused me a lot more with the same basic concept. I can only assume Hetalia either gets better or that fangirls just like cute costumes (and admittedly, the countries are super cute), but I don't think I'll bother reading more.
Astonishing X-Men [Vol. 3-4] By Whedon, Joss
More of the same, and I mean that largely in a good way. I like the xmen, and the stories left me wishing I could go back and start at the beginning. Does anyone sell some ridiculously large "complete xmen" in digital form? I'd buy a tablet just to read that many comics. ;)
Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane [Vol. 1-2] By McKeever, Sean
I'm unclear as to how this fits with the Terry Moore volumes. I still feel like I should be bothered that I liked something that was clearly meant to go in the "comics for girls" pile, but it's actually really cute with believable friendships and high school drama.
Ultimate X-Men Vol. 1, The Tomorrow People By Millar, Mark
I ran out of Amazing X-Men (that the library owns, at least) so I've moved to another series. Still enjoyable, though as I said I'm getting kinda to the point where I want to start at the beginning... if only that weren't so hard!
Ex Machina [Book 10], Term Limits
I don't even know what to say about the end of this series.
Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson Moon Called. Volume 1
I actually kinda enjoyed this as a graphic novel, but as my sister points out, it doesn't quite feel like Mercy Thompson, which is a pity. Bit more superhero-y or something that didn't quite work perfectly, but if you treat it kinda like some sort of alternate universe or fanfiction... Anyhow, I enjoyed it enough and Susan didn't, which is moderately unusual.
Runaways (Rock Zombies, Homeschooling)
Secret Invasion Runaways/Young Avengers
I enjoyed the last few Runaways books I could get my hands on, but not so much the Runaways/Young Avengers crossover, which felt a bit too forced.
Storm By Dickey, Eric Jerome
I'm not exactly sure why, but this one just didn't do it for me. I think I'd have enjoyed the story if it weren't about Storm, but it just didn't fit for me as her backstory.
Non-fiction
Drive The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us By Pink, Daniel H.
I want to say I loved this book, but like many similar books of pop sociology, I found that I loved the first few chapters and then started to feel like the whole thing was repeating itself, probably because the conclusions weren't all that stunning to me as someone who lives his supposedly modern view of motivation which includes open source developers and people who turn down lucrative jobs to work with people who are cool. Basically, the book is good if you like such things, but if you've got limited time just watch the RSA Animate video for Drive and you can get the whole premise in 10 minutes with lovely visuals to go with.
The Great Typo Hunt Two Friends Changing the World, One Correction at A Time By Deck, Jeff and Herson, Benjamin D.
I hadn't heard of this while it was happening, but it's the story of a guy who decides to drive across America fixing typos on signs with whatever friends he can convince to join him. The editor in me though it'd be a fun read, and it was not only an interesting road trip tale, but a lot of thought about what it really means to be right.
Sensual Crochet Luxurious Yarns, Alluring Designs By Swenson, Amy
When you go into the library, you can quickly see that knitting greatly eclipses crochet in popularity just from the number of books on the shelf and from the ages of said books. Crochet wallows in 70s designs filled with orange and brown at the best of times (and don't ask about the creepy clowns that adorn the worst) so this book was a bit of a breath of fresh air to find at the library. Unfortunately, while the designs were nicer and more modern, none of them grabbed me enough to try them out and the book got returned without use.
no subject
Date: October 3rd, 2011 03:26 pm (UTC)As a fun side-effect to clicking your LITTOD amazon link, this week's e-mailed amazon recommendations to me all have covers featuring burly-chested loin-cloth lads embracing flowy-gowned ladies with stony spires and flames in the backgrounds. ;) Cheeky recommendation engine! Show an interest in one book and you get five-starred romance fantasy full-on. ;)
-Jay
The City and The City
Date: October 4th, 2011 12:38 pm (UTC)Michael Swanwick's pair of steam dragon novels, The Iron Dragon's Daughter and The Dragons of Babel are also excellent examples of weird fantasy, though the first one was a little bit too grim---the second one is MUCH warmer, and makes a very good audiobook. Can be read in either order as they are set in the same world but not connected, recommend reading the latter first.
I also read Stross' Rule 34---I'm a big Stross fan but I thought this one was alas fairly weak, especially compared to its prequel Halting State or any of the Laundry books.
Re: The City and The City
Date: October 4th, 2011 04:14 pm (UTC)I'm sorry to hear that Rule 43 isn't as awesome as it could have been. I'll no doubt read it anyhow. :) I'll have to see about the dragon audiobook based on how my experience with the one I've *finally* got on my mp3 player pans out! (Here's to hoping it doesn't expire while I'm listening or corrupt my device...)