![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tellitslantThe trouble with the Kindle is (she says, looking up from its screen with difficulty) - the trouble with the Kindle is, well, aside from the fact that the right-hand button seems to use the same muscles that handwriting and typing (and playing iPod solitare but we don't talk about that) stress out in my arm, which makes for an unfortunate choice between reading and work - aside from that, the trouble with the Kindle is it makes it so easy to read.
I know, what the hell is wrong with it being easy to read, but I remind you that I am theoretically trying to finish a thesis over here, you know. It doesn't help to have dozens of excellent books right there at my fingertips in a tiny little slimline volume I can fit in any bag no matter how full it is. (It's also rather dangerous to be able to download fic to it, as I get a little twitchy about who might be looking over my shoulder on the bus.)
Anyways, I have been reading so many good books in the last couple of weeks - well, in between the bouts of old Nancy Drews and swings of novel-length fics in fandoms I don't even follow, wtf - that I thought it was time to write about a few of them before I forgot them all.
Note: this has extreme spoilers for the Shocking Plot Twist of the book, as well as almost-negligible spoilers for Elizabeth Kostova's The Swan Thieves. If you like books I read, you should go read this one and then come back and see what I have to say about it. You have been warned. Gentlemen and Players, by Joanne Harris
So I loved Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian, which is first-person female protagonist narrative, and when I picked up her The Swan Thieves I assumed that the first-person protag was also female. Which was kind of delightful, with several references to wives and lusting inappropriately over female coworkers, and made a somewhat ordinary narrative more interesting. And then I figured out that the protag was male, and actually was so bored by the way that re-aligned the plot that I didn't bother finishing the book. Gentlemen and Players does the reverse, letting you believe you're reading the first-person narrative of a male protag who might be queer, until revealing in the denouement that he is a she. I'm not sure whether this was necessary, but it was well done, and I didn't suspect until quite near the reveal. It does make me shake my head a bit, trying to realign the queer boy I thought I was reading with the grasping girl she turned out to be: I'm not sure whether that makes me like her more or not. I think more: what she does is a greater leap for a girl, and though she turns out to be quite possibly sociopathic, I do end up with a great amount of respect for her. It's also brilliantly written - no surprise - and completely captivating. I think I am going to go on a Joanne Harris binge for a while now.
Note: this also has spoilers for a couple of the not-so-shocking plot twists of this book. I read this one for the world, not the plot, so if you like that you might be willing to read the spoilers first and then see whether you want to read the book. A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness
When I was reading this (actually a couple of months ago, but I kept meaning to say something about it and didn't), I tweeted that I felt like I was reading the published academic AU of Twilight, only with less Mormon and slightly less Mary Sue. That didn't change once I finished the book to discover that it's the first in a duology/trilogy/series (I can't remember which). The plotline is remarkably similar to Twilight: first-person heroine meets vampire she really shouldn't fall in love with; but she smells so good to him!; they get together despite objections on the parts of both their families; allusions to the importance of having kids; blah blah freakin' blah. However, what you should take away from this is that despite the above, I enjoyed the book enough not only to finish it, but to post about it! For one thing, the protagonist is interesting on her own merits: she's a witch, and though she is a Super-Special Witch, at least she has an identity. Anyways, I didn't read this for the plot or the love story (reeeeally not the love story), but for the setup of the universe, with witches, demons, vampires, time-travel, academia, ancient brotherhoods, interesting things about heritage, and vivid travelogues. I will definitely pick up the next one or two, but I wouldn't pay hardcover prices, let's put it that way.
The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield
I had read this before, but I didn't realize until I was partway through the first chapter and by then it had grabbed me enough that I kept going. It's one of those books about books, both a metanarrative and a mythologization, that I love because in reading it I am reading about how lovely reading and stories and words are. Yes, I know, very modern. Too, it's one of those where the experience of reading is so good that Iw asn't thinking about how the plot was unravelling, and so I didn't remember a lot of the plot twists until I encountered them again, at which point I did remember that I had remembered them. Anyways, it's about stories and living fairytales and the power of writing biographies, and the fact that I hadn't remembered it shouldn't make you think it isn't memorable.
Juliet, by Anne Fortier
This is not, actually, the same kind of really good book as the others are, although many of the plot twists did surprise me. It sucked me in because it is one of those crops of books that I keep eddying around of late, all written by recent female PhDs around the area of their research and layered with that academic's love of book-knowledge. If you know what I mean. This one adds on the extra personal-kryptonite layer of tying in Shakespeare history (not academic Shakespeare-ness, though) and travel. It's not superb, and I probably wouldn't read it again, but it is unique, and it makes me want to travel to Italy. It's kind of like an (incredibly) upmarket Dan Brown, with ancient mysteries and romance and such, only with a female protagonist and an editor who knows what grammar is. This is very much my 'thing,' but it might not be yours!
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, by Aimee Bender
I read this one this morning. I think I originally picked it up on the basis of the title mentally reminding me of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, hilariously. Anyways, it is quite fascinating: it's a modern urban fantasy masquerading as a kitchen-sink drama. The protagonist, who starts off as a young girl and ages throughout the book, discovers on her ninth birthday that when she eats, she can taste the mood of whoever prepared the food. The plot deals with the things she learns about her family, whether or not her family have any similar skills, and how this talent informs and changes her relationships with family and friends and lovers. It is lavishly written, in the way where if I had synaesthesia I would probably taste in the words the same sorts of things the protagonist can taste in cooking. Definitely recommended.
Currently reading: Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen. So far so good, though a) I am only 9% of the way into it and b) I have a sneaking feeling I've read it before.
Apparently I deleted my books icons! I must get a new one or two. Possibly one with River's diary. Or, you know, not.
(Of course, the things I haven't been reading are the eight zillion tabs I have open, but, you know. Something's gotta give.)
I know, what the hell is wrong with it being easy to read, but I remind you that I am theoretically trying to finish a thesis over here, you know. It doesn't help to have dozens of excellent books right there at my fingertips in a tiny little slimline volume I can fit in any bag no matter how full it is. (It's also rather dangerous to be able to download fic to it, as I get a little twitchy about who might be looking over my shoulder on the bus.)
Anyways, I have been reading so many good books in the last couple of weeks - well, in between the bouts of old Nancy Drews and swings of novel-length fics in fandoms I don't even follow, wtf - that I thought it was time to write about a few of them before I forgot them all.
Note: this has extreme spoilers for the Shocking Plot Twist of the book, as well as almost-negligible spoilers for Elizabeth Kostova's The Swan Thieves. If you like books I read, you should go read this one and then come back and see what I have to say about it. You have been warned. Gentlemen and Players, by Joanne Harris
So I loved Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian, which is first-person female protagonist narrative, and when I picked up her The Swan Thieves I assumed that the first-person protag was also female. Which was kind of delightful, with several references to wives and lusting inappropriately over female coworkers, and made a somewhat ordinary narrative more interesting. And then I figured out that the protag was male, and actually was so bored by the way that re-aligned the plot that I didn't bother finishing the book. Gentlemen and Players does the reverse, letting you believe you're reading the first-person narrative of a male protag who might be queer, until revealing in the denouement that he is a she. I'm not sure whether this was necessary, but it was well done, and I didn't suspect until quite near the reveal. It does make me shake my head a bit, trying to realign the queer boy I thought I was reading with the grasping girl she turned out to be: I'm not sure whether that makes me like her more or not. I think more: what she does is a greater leap for a girl, and though she turns out to be quite possibly sociopathic, I do end up with a great amount of respect for her. It's also brilliantly written - no surprise - and completely captivating. I think I am going to go on a Joanne Harris binge for a while now.
Note: this also has spoilers for a couple of the not-so-shocking plot twists of this book. I read this one for the world, not the plot, so if you like that you might be willing to read the spoilers first and then see whether you want to read the book. A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness
When I was reading this (actually a couple of months ago, but I kept meaning to say something about it and didn't), I tweeted that I felt like I was reading the published academic AU of Twilight, only with less Mormon and slightly less Mary Sue. That didn't change once I finished the book to discover that it's the first in a duology/trilogy/series (I can't remember which). The plotline is remarkably similar to Twilight: first-person heroine meets vampire she really shouldn't fall in love with; but she smells so good to him!; they get together despite objections on the parts of both their families; allusions to the importance of having kids; blah blah freakin' blah. However, what you should take away from this is that despite the above, I enjoyed the book enough not only to finish it, but to post about it! For one thing, the protagonist is interesting on her own merits: she's a witch, and though she is a Super-Special Witch, at least she has an identity. Anyways, I didn't read this for the plot or the love story (reeeeally not the love story), but for the setup of the universe, with witches, demons, vampires, time-travel, academia, ancient brotherhoods, interesting things about heritage, and vivid travelogues. I will definitely pick up the next one or two, but I wouldn't pay hardcover prices, let's put it that way.
The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield
I had read this before, but I didn't realize until I was partway through the first chapter and by then it had grabbed me enough that I kept going. It's one of those books about books, both a metanarrative and a mythologization, that I love because in reading it I am reading about how lovely reading and stories and words are. Yes, I know, very modern. Too, it's one of those where the experience of reading is so good that Iw asn't thinking about how the plot was unravelling, and so I didn't remember a lot of the plot twists until I encountered them again, at which point I did remember that I had remembered them. Anyways, it's about stories and living fairytales and the power of writing biographies, and the fact that I hadn't remembered it shouldn't make you think it isn't memorable.
Juliet, by Anne Fortier
This is not, actually, the same kind of really good book as the others are, although many of the plot twists did surprise me. It sucked me in because it is one of those crops of books that I keep eddying around of late, all written by recent female PhDs around the area of their research and layered with that academic's love of book-knowledge. If you know what I mean. This one adds on the extra personal-kryptonite layer of tying in Shakespeare history (not academic Shakespeare-ness, though) and travel. It's not superb, and I probably wouldn't read it again, but it is unique, and it makes me want to travel to Italy. It's kind of like an (incredibly) upmarket Dan Brown, with ancient mysteries and romance and such, only with a female protagonist and an editor who knows what grammar is. This is very much my 'thing,' but it might not be yours!
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, by Aimee Bender
I read this one this morning. I think I originally picked it up on the basis of the title mentally reminding me of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, hilariously. Anyways, it is quite fascinating: it's a modern urban fantasy masquerading as a kitchen-sink drama. The protagonist, who starts off as a young girl and ages throughout the book, discovers on her ninth birthday that when she eats, she can taste the mood of whoever prepared the food. The plot deals with the things she learns about her family, whether or not her family have any similar skills, and how this talent informs and changes her relationships with family and friends and lovers. It is lavishly written, in the way where if I had synaesthesia I would probably taste in the words the same sorts of things the protagonist can taste in cooking. Definitely recommended.
Currently reading: Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen. So far so good, though a) I am only 9% of the way into it and b) I have a sneaking feeling I've read it before.
Apparently I deleted my books icons! I must get a new one or two. Possibly one with River's diary. Or, you know, not.
(Of course, the things I haven't been reading are the eight zillion tabs I have open, but, you know. Something's gotta give.)
