From the Stacks Challenge

Here Be Dragons

3 Comments / 2008, Books in Bed, Fiction, From the Stacks Challenge /

Darn it. There are no dragons in Here Be Dragons. That ended up being ok but for a few moments, I was disappointed. And now that I think about it again, I think a book about Kings Richard and John and Llewelyn the Great that had dragons in it would have been pretty cool. But no, no dragons.

Historical fiction, really long Welsh/English/Norman/French historical fiction. Surprisingly interesting except when it was really slow and dull – luckily that slow dull stuff was easily skimmed so once I got past the first 50 pages, it was pretty smooth sailing. I even stayed up until midnight a couple of nights ago because I couldn’t put the book down.

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Queenmaker

3 Comments / 2008, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Fiction, From the Stacks Challenge, Women /

I have a love hate with Biiblical fiction. Nothing is as a good as The Red Tent, which is to be expected, but they all sound like they’re trying to be The Red Tent. Weird. I don’t compare vampire fiction to Anne Rice, how come I do that with Biblical fiction? Whatever.

Queenmaker wasn’t great but it wasn’t bad, either. King David = jerk. Queen Michal = awesome, mostly. No surprises.

Taking a break from the “FtS” Challenge – Breaking Dawn and The Seduction of the Crimson Rose are up next. Yay!

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Rosemary and Juliet

2 Comments / 2008, Books in Bed, Feminism, Fiction, From the Stacks Challenge, Queer, Women, Young Adult /

I should have known what I was getting into with a book called Rosemary and Juliet but I didn’t pay enough attention. Ah well, I’m a fan of YA and I don’t mind a YA problem book from time to time, either.

Regardless of what the title might lead you to believe this book is about – it isn’t that at all. It’s a basic YA lesbian problem book with more problems than most YA straight problem books.

Two kids die and neither were our star crossed lovers. (oops I guess that’s a spoiler, sorry.)
Electric shock therapy was tossed in there for good measure.
And of course, the predictable unhappy ending because in the end teens are required to do what their parents tell them to do – even if their parents are idiots.

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Things Fall Apart

6 Comments / 2008, Books in Bed, Fiction, From the Stacks Challenge /

The first question I have about Things Fall Apart is why was this on our shelf to start with? Who bought it and why? Or did we lift it from my mother’s bookshelf a long long time ago?

The next question I have is… why, why, why do we get so excited by books like this. And when I say we, I mean the people who decide what’s a classic, what’s a must read, what’s a prize winner, what should be in a high schooler’s curriculum? I don’t get it. OK so it was written in the late ’50s, before Nigerian independence. I can see why it might have received acclaim way back then – but now? I feel like there are better books, better stories and better characters.

It was interesting. But I don’t understand the rave reviews or why it’s on all sorts of great book lists.

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Hood

1 Comment / 2008, Books in Bed, Favorites, Feminism, Fiction, From the Stacks Challenge, Queer, Women /

When I started reading Hood I felt like I’d read it before but quickly realized that all of Emma Donoghue’s books feel that way to me. Her characters seem familiar, like I’ve read more of their stories in some other book. I can’t decide if that’s a good thing or if it means she’s recycling characters and I should be annoyed.

I lean toward not being annoyed but that might be due to my willingness to give authors who write good lesbian fiction a break – there are so few good lesbian fiction writers, Donoghue is one of them.

Seems sort of kharmic or something that I finished Hood on the day Del Martin died, doesn’t it?

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The Magic Toyshop

1 Comment / 2008, Books in Bed, Fiction, From the Stacks Challenge, Women, Young Adult /

There I was, happily enjoying The Magic Toyshop when suddenly, I wasn’t. That suddenly part happened in the last three pages of the damn book. I really hate that. I think I’d rather read a bad book all the way through than read a good book only to have it disappoint me in the end.

I just don’t think that ending was necessary. I didn’t need a happy ending, but I did need SOME kind of ending. Wait, there isn’t a sequel right? Surely not… I’ve read The Bloody Chamber and it is not related to this. Is there something else I’m missing? Nah. The author just wanted to annoy me at the end. Gee thanks. By looking at the Amazon reviews, I see that I am not alone. Someone should re-write the ending, 50 pages should do it. Get busy with that, and let me know when you’ve finished. Thanks!

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Murder Most Crafty

1 Comment / 2008, Books in Bed, Fiction, From the Stacks Challenge, short stories /

Darn it. I enjoyed the Murder Most Crafty short stories quite a bit but I’m disappointed because I’m dumb.

When I put the book on my From the Stacks challenge list, for some reason I thought it was one of the Maggody Murder Mysteries. Boo! TW has been enjoying that series for ages and I’ve never read one – I was looking forward to FINALLY getting a crack at one of them. Oh well, another time maybe.

Anyway, about these short stories, most of them were pretty good. Some were dumb. Some were good but felt rushed but that’s what happens with some short stories, isn’t it? I had some weird dream about candles last night after finishing the book – probably related to the one about wax being poured down the chick’s nose and throat. Yuk, not a good way to die, ya know?

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First Among Sequels

1 Comment / 2008, Books in Bed, Fiction, From the Stacks Challenge, Sci Fi and Fantasy, Women /

Who knew it would take me so long to get around to reading Thursday Next: First Among Sequels? And who knew it would take me so long to finish, once I started.

I enjoyed it considerably more than the last one, but not as much as the first one and I can only barely remember the second one. Or maybe I’ve gotten them all confused, I think that probably happens – all of that time travel or time travel that wasn’t invented, all of those characters. It’s a bit muddled. Probably mindworms. Fun, but muddled.

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Dancing with Elvis

3 Comments / 2008, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Favorites, Fiction, From the Stacks Challenge, Women, Young Adult /

We bought Dancing with Elvis ages ago, maybe years ago, at the Gainesville FOLS. (sniff, I miss the Gainesville FOLS. It’s coming again. Soon. In October. sniff. ) TW read it ages ago, maybe years ago, and I never did.

Turns out, it’s a YA book and if I had known that, I might have read it earlier. I thought it was just some fluffy southern chick lit and I am pretty anti-Elvis. (don’t hate me, oh go ahead, hate me – I don’t care.)

It’s a great YA book, only a wee bit of Elvis and an awful lot of good stuff about race and family relationships and, well, just go read it.

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Queer

1 Comment / 2008, Books in Bed, Don't Read This, From the Stacks Challenge, Queer /

Queer is a book that’s on my From the Stacks Challenge list and I really wish I’d just left it on the stacks, unread.

I thought about putting it down, but I kept thinking it would get better or at least slightly less weird. Why I would have thought that, since I have read The Naked Lunch (which I liked) I dunno. But this is the kind of thing that usually prevents me from quitting a book, especially a short book.

Maybe I should have read Junky first? Oh well, too late now.

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