Have I mentioned I really love Cherie Priest? People, are you paying attention. YOU MUST READ HER BOOKS. Clementine was a fabulous piece of steampunk – loosely related to Boneshaker (very loosely) – and it was fantastic. Belle Boyd rocked as a strong female lead. Croggin Hainey and his “fellas” (because let’s not use the word “boys”, ok?) rocked just as hard. I want a dirigible! I also want Dreadnaught – like right NOW.
This is another book for my From the Stacks Challenge. And again, I have no idea where we picked this up. Possibly at the old FOLS in Gainesville? Or maybe from the Little City book sale here? Who knows. It’s been on the shelf forever and it’s yellow – that’s all that really matters.
About the book itself, I really liked it. It started slowly and I was worried. A Latina woman in a Mexican jail – I didn’t quite “get it” for the first chapter or two. Once I settled into it, I really enjoyed it. Nice story telling. I loved the women prisoners (and the warden and Nora the guard.) I’d like to know what happened to some of those who were released there at the end – not so much Libertdad, (the main character) – but the others. Her friends. We need a sequel to Gonzalez and Daughter Trucking Company – but I don’t want it to be about Daughter and Gonzalez…
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I am a Pamie fan girl. A big Pamie fan girl. So it’s no surprise that I really loved Going in Circles. (Why Girls are Weird is still my favorite, though.) I loved that Charlotte made miniatures. I loved that she joined Roller Derby. I loved the whole darn thing. (though honestly, I could have done without the John Goodman narrative – but it did feel very Pamie so I get it.)
Remember when RJ was a pirate-aholic? Remember those good ole days? Before vampires? Sigh. I miss pirates. I had really high hopes for The Dust of 100 Dogs because – Girl Pirate! And I did like it – or parts of it – but I didn’t like the whole boy/girl romance crap. It started in Ireland when Emir was a child and it lingered throughout the entire book. ‘A woman without a man is like wearing one shoe?’ BS.
Other than that, it was a fun story. But what happened to the jewels sewn into the capes? Did “he” rip those out and just replace them in the chest? Or what…? That wasn’t clear to me. I’m guessing he did because he’s a jerk, right?
And for those who might be wondering – there’s a wee bit of a gay (male) side story. Not a lot but it is there. And that’s why I’m going to drop this in the Queer topic… for those who might be wondering. 😉
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The problem with a well written novel about a classic author, particularly when the novel is based on facts, is that it makes you want to go back and re-read those old classics. A book like that might spur you to pick up a never-read book by the classic author. Romancing Miss Bronte caused this over and over again. Because not only did I feel compelled to read (and re-read) the works of Charlotte, I realized I’ve never read Agnes Gray… and I was tempted to dig into Elizabeth Gaskell, too. Thankfully, nothing in the story compelled me to re-read Thackeray (shudder – that’s worse than The Moonstone!)
I tried to fight off the urge, but in those last pages, as Charlotte lay dying, I grabbed the iPad and started downloading. Maybe just the act of downloading Agnes Gray and Shirley and Mary Barton will be enough. Maybe I’ll get off easy… unlike any of the Bronte sisters. Or maybe I should download Vanity Fair and read a few pages – that should knock some sense into me, right?
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I am not a Samantha Bee fan. I didn’t have any intention of reading her book, I Know I Am But What Are You. TW picked it up from the “just back” shelf. I rolled my eyes. I rolled my eyes as she read it, too. Even though she was laughing out loud – over and over again. I don’t remember exactly what it was that caused me to change my mind – but something TW said, about one of the stories. I don’t think it was the stolen stockpot – I think it was after that. Whatever it was, it swayed me. I read it. It was funny. I like Samantha Bee a little bit now. But just a little.
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I was trying to backtrack through the Temperance Brennan series to figure out exactly how the Ryan/Tempe break-up happened. So, I grabbed Devil Bones on audio. Turns out TW had already read it in print – and she kept sharing spoilers all the way through it. She’s annoying. Really annoying. I enjoyed the book, though. I’d have enjoyed it more if I’d listened to it without TW – and her spoilers.
Oh, I still didn’t go back far enough. This one was early in the break up, when Tempe first hooks back up with Charlie. I think I need to go back one more…
Once again, Sassymonkey recommended a great book – one that she can’t get at her library, even though she’s Canadian and it’s a book filled with Canadian girls’ voices. I really liked the pieces they selected for the book – nice well-rounded selections. Not all miserable. Not all happy. Just right.
Buy this one for your teen daughter (unless she’s 14 and swears she hates poetry, then just buy it and leave it lying around – she might just read a wee bit if you aren’t watching.)
I wasn’t going to read My Name is Mary Sutter. TW said it was really good but still… my TBR list is long… and I hadn’t really heard anything about the book. But, when I realized I couldn’t extend the checkout period because the book has holds, I thought maybe it was something I should really read – it’s very rare that I can’t extend a checkout period at my library due to holds on a book. So, I started reading it… and could not put it down. I read until after midnight last night and if it had been a Friday or Saturday, I’d have just read it straight through.
I wasn’t thrilled with the Mary/Jenny/Thomas triangle – that felt a little too Little Women-like for me, but it ended up working out just fine. Lots of unhappy endings, which is as it should be about a novel set in the Civil War period. Poor Dorothea Dix gets the shaft in this story, but that works too.
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Holly Black’s faeries are some of the best and Kith was an excellent follow up to Kin. I cannot wait to see what Rue does. I kind of hope she doesn’t save the human world. Wouldn’t that be awesome?
Oh one thing, was her father drawn differently in book 2 than in book 1? It felt like he was but I don’t have book 1 here to compare it with. Anyone out there own them both? Or have them book checked out of the library at the same time?
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