Favorites

The Woman Who Died A Lot

2013, Books in Bed, Favorites, Sci Fi and Fantasy /

I really loved the first few Thursday Next books  and then they got a little old, possibly because I also read the Nursery Crimes books, which I didn’t like nearly as much as Thursday Next and it all just ended up being a little too much Fforde-fun for me. But, I did keep reading the Thursday Next books – just not as quickly as I had in those early days.

When I noticed Fforde had a kids fantasy novel, I knew I’d be reading that and when I went to reserve it, I noticed the new Thursday Next: The Woman Who Died A Lot, and figured what the heck. I’ll get it and at the very least it will be another book to keep TW reading (there are not enough books in the entire Book World to keep her in books. She probably needs to head to the DRM…. which will make no sense unless you read The Woman Who Died A Lot.)

Anyway, I read it and I’m glad. It was the best Thursday Next book since… I don’t know since when. The Well of Lost Plots? The fake Thursday thing did get a little old (ok a lot old) and I hope to goodness we’ve seen the end of that (except the next book will probably rif off of the very last duplicate Thursday… last that we know about. Sigh. But it will be ok because it just will. Trust me. )  

I’m not sure I like what happens to Tuesday in this book. Or what happens to her for the rest of her life. This is where I get annoyed with Fforde, just in general. His characters live with crappy people and put up with it, like that’s how it should be. The bad relationships are get easy laughs, except I never really laugh.  Oops. I’d better stop analyzing it or I’ll find myself liking this book less than I did before I sat down to type this.

Let’s leave it at… best book in the series in a very long time and I do have hope for the next book. DRM and DoDos… at least I hope that’s what Thursday finds…. Next.

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Libriomancer

2012, Books in Bed, Favorites, Sci Fi and Fantasy /

I ran into the library really quickly a couple of weeks ago, to return almost late books and pick up some holds that had been waiting for me for ages. TW had also complained that she was running out of books to read so I made a quick run through the new releases stacks. One of the books I grabbed was Libriomancer – books,  librarians and magic, first in a series, seemed like it could be a winner.

 

It’s definitely a winner. I can’t wait for the next book. (Also a great book to finish 2012.)

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Lois Lenz, Lesbian Secretary

2012, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, Queer, Women /

I  saw these on some  book blog, or maybe on some gay blog, or may be on some gay book blog and was thrilled to see our library system had Lois Lenz, Lesbian Secretary.  Lesbian pulp fiction – there’s NOTHING better. Really.

Our library doesn’t have Bobbie Blanchard, Lesbian Gym Teacher so I’m gonna have to buy it, lol.

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Perry’s Killer Playlist

1 Comment / 2012, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, Young Adult /

Perry’s Killer Playlist is Killer… the actual playlist (which I think I’m going to have to create on my iPhone and on Spotify) and the book.  If you haven’t read Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick, read  that first – and then read Perry’s Killer Playlist. Read before the movie comes out.

The Santa Claus convention, nice touch. Lol

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Two Fun Children’s Books

2012, Audiobooks, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Favorites /

We love the Ladies #1 Detective Agency (and we prefer it on audio) so I thought it would be  fun to grab  The Great Cake Mystery: Precious Ramotswe’s First Case on audio. And,  it was fun. The voices weren’t  “right” and it tries a little too hard to be a “teaching” book – re-pronouncing  “hard” names,  stuff like that. I’m guessing Alexander McCall Smith may not really know any 8-10 year olds? But it was fun.  A lot of fun for fans of Precious Ramotswe (and the great Obed Ramotswe).

Riordan’s The Mark of Athena was excellent. I’ve had some trouble really getting into the Greeks vs Romans or Greeks + Romans series but book three has helped a good bit with that. I’m falling into the flow of it and getting comfortable with the Romans. Poor Annabeth. Poor Leo. Poor everyone, pretty much. No happy ending quest in this book, which is a big change and now we have to wait how long for the next one? (Well maybe not that long since this book has been out for awhile and I’ve just now gotten around to reading it, lol. October 2013… I can wait that long and read it at this time next year!)

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Jane: The Woman Who Loved Tarzan

2012, Books in Bed, Favorites, Feminism, Fiction, Women /

I kind of loved Jane: The Woman Who Loved Tarzan. I loved that it’s the first book about Tarzan written by a woman and authorized by the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate.

I’m not a huge Tarzan fan but this one – work of art.

Look at this quote:

““My Dad, John Coleman Burroughs, and my Grandad, Edgar Rice Burroughs, would often discuss Tarzan’s relation to Jane. `Now there is an idea for a good book….one that really brings Jane into focus,’ Grandad would say. Robin Maxwell’s book does this brilliantly. Not only do Tarzan and Jane transform into a living, breathing couple who bring the Tarzan saga to new life, but the thrills and adventure leap off the page in the grand tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs himself.”  —John R. Burroughs, Grandson of Edgar Rice Burroughs”

That should be enough for you to decide to read this one.

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Black Heart (and the Problem with Audiobooks)

2012, Audiobooks, Books in Bed, Favorites, Sci Fi and Fantasy, Young Adult /

When we finished Leverage, on audio, TW asked for a new audio book but made me promise we would never listen to another book like “THAT” again. I laughed and told her not to worry because I knew the perfect book to listen to next. A book that had come in for us at exactly the same time Leverage came in. A book I had to take back to the library because it took us so long to listen to Leverage and because it couldn’t be renewed (others had it reserved, too.) 

Black Heart, the latest book in the Curse Worker series arrived last weekend. I picked it up on Wednesday. We started listening to it on Thursday afternoon. We finished listening to it today, just after noon. That’s not even three days! Which tells you two things – first, it’s not long. A bit more than six hours on audio, I think. But that also tells you that we spend an ass ton of time in the car. Worse yet because there are times when we don’t listen to the audiobook while we are in the car – when TW’s mom is riding with us, for instance. Or when we’re chatting up the girls.

That’s the only thing I don’t like about books on audio. They can remind me of just how much of my life is spent shuttling around, from here to there. No wonder I never have time to lay on the couch and watch Dawson’s Creek. Poop.

Anyway, back to Black Heart.

I loved the ending. Not just the Cassel/Lila part – but the part about Danica and Barron. The only problem is… Black writes trilogies. Gah. Are we really never going to know what happens next? Or is this the lead up to a new trilogy?

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The Shoemaker’s Wife

2012, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Favorites, Fiction /

If you’re an Adriana Trigiani fan, you won’t need any encouragement to read The Shoemaker’s Wife. It will be exactly what you expected and you won’t want to put it down. Probably.

I am a fan but I had a hard time getting into the book, at first – once the brothers settled into the convent, I settled in and I enjoyed every page. I think my problem was that I expected Catarina to be a lead character, I didn’t expect the boys (or just Ciro, really) to be the lead so the beginning threw me.

The ending came a little fast for me, too. I didn’t need to be “surprised” like Enza was. I knew it was coming and would have liked to see it happen, ya know? More of Laura would have been nice and it would have fit with the theme of best friends/replacement mothers.

Like she needs me to re-write her ending, right?

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The Cutting Season

2012, Books in Bed, Favorites, Women /

Nordette mentioned The Cutting Season and I’ll admit that I didn’t really pay a lot of attention to what she actually said about it – maybe that she saw the author speak at a signing? Or she heard an interview? I’m not sure, I was busy and tired – all I know is that there are some folks whose book mentions/recommendations I pay attention to. Nordette is one of those folks.

So, I reserved it right away and when it came, the author looked really familiar. I thought I must have read her first book – but nope, I didn’t. I still don’t know why she looks familiar but I’m going back to grab her first book because I enjoyed The Cutting Season so much.

I read some of the reviews for The Cutting Season and some folks were hard on the author and on the main character. I don’t get it. Maybe they aren’t from the south? It all made perfect sense to me. I will admit to being frustrated by Caren at the end – whether she wanted it or not, it was hers. Her great-great-great grandfather wanted it. Worked for it. Died for it. Gah. I know, it’s complicated.

Do you know who I didn’t like? I didn’t like Morgan. Odd character for me to have strong, negative feelings about, isn’t it? But there you go. A child character that just didn’t work for me.

Whatever – the book was good. I’m glad I read it. I’m thankful that Nordette mentioned it. I’m looking forward to Dark Water Rising.

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Soulless: The Manga

2012, Books in Bed, Comics & Graphic Novels, Favorites, Sci Fi and Fantasy, Women /

Last week, or maybe earlier this week (I dunno, time flies and I can’t keep track anymore), Sassymonkey asked some folks what the best book they read this year was. I refused to answer because I can’t do “favorites” – there are lots of different kinds of “best” and “favorite” and how do you pick just one?

Whatever, right?

One of my favorite series was The Parasol Protectorate. I loved those books and I’m dying to read the next series – I mean really dying to read them. I introduced them to Michelle Belle and she ripped through the whole series, too.

I’d been meaning to check out the manga versions and when Michelle read the series last week, I was inspired to grab one from the library. Soulless: The Manga was just as fun as Soulless (the not manga).  The color frames in the beginning are GORGEOUS and I really wish the entire book was color. It’s not that the black and whites aren’t good, they are – but the color really did justice to all of the characters and I didn’t think I’d feel that way having loved the non-manga series so much.

The only tiny little complaint I have about the first book is Lord Maccon’s accent…. It’s supposed to get stronger and revert to the Scottish brogue when he’s wound up by Alexia and that didn’t really happen.  There’s one bubble where he starts to slip into it but that was it. I’m not sure what the thinking was behind that change but it disappointed me.

Otherwise, bring on Volume 2!

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