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July Booklog
Aug. 1st, 2012 02:05 pmAh, back in the mists of time (like, last week) when I actually read in my free time and didn't just sit glassy-eyed watching the Olympics. I've been surprised by how interested in the Olympics I've become, especially considering how utterly sick I was of all the fuckery leading up to it.
Seriously, I'm sitting here eating biscuits and watching canoe slalom, this has got to stop. Anyhow, books.
The Purity Myth by Jessica Valenti - Because sometimes there just isn't enough low-level feminist rage in my life.
Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch - I fell in love with this book, slightly. It was like a combination of Moby Dick and something Dickensian, only minus the feeling that you were reading it for some kind of imaginary well-read points. Gorgeous and heartbreaking and the sort of book I just wanted to sink into and swim around. And, while I'm usually bored to death by stories of male friendship... Oh, Jaffy... Oh, Tim...
Talullah Rising by Glen Duncan - Sequel to The Last Werewolf which I read last year, and I'm having trouble working out why this one didn't work as well for me. Because, usually, replacing a male protagonist with a female one is all but guaranteed to raise my level of interest. Maybe it's because the fascination with anal sex in book one has been replaced with an endless fixation on rape in this one. Maybe it's because the gore and violence and brutality of the curse, which sort of worked when Jake was the last werewolf becomes much less sympathetic once Talullah can't move without tripping over the bloody creatures.
Whispers Underground by Ben Aaronovitch - I love the Rivers of London series, absolutely love it, and this was no exception. I mean, I'm not without niggles. The murder mystery wasn't that compelling and the eventual solution was kind of... lame. But that, I think, has been a weakness of all three books, and as I'm in this for the characters and the fantasy elements I care less about that. I do really wish they hadn't skipped over how Lesley taught herself magic and Nightingale's reaction to that, but mostly, when's the next one out?
The Well of Ascension & The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson - There was a period of about two weeks where I hardly had my nose out of these books. Basically, all of you who told me I had to read the Mistborn books were so right. I especially loved the intricate magic system, that it wasn't just some vague non-specific force, it was clearly really well-thought out, the limitations of Allomancy and how it worked.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn - Twisty, turny thriller about the world's least likeable married couple. It was fine, a beach read, all I was missing was the beach.
Seriously, I'm sitting here eating biscuits and watching canoe slalom, this has got to stop. Anyhow, books.
The Purity Myth by Jessica Valenti - Because sometimes there just isn't enough low-level feminist rage in my life.
Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch - I fell in love with this book, slightly. It was like a combination of Moby Dick and something Dickensian, only minus the feeling that you were reading it for some kind of imaginary well-read points. Gorgeous and heartbreaking and the sort of book I just wanted to sink into and swim around. And, while I'm usually bored to death by stories of male friendship... Oh, Jaffy... Oh, Tim...
Talullah Rising by Glen Duncan - Sequel to The Last Werewolf which I read last year, and I'm having trouble working out why this one didn't work as well for me. Because, usually, replacing a male protagonist with a female one is all but guaranteed to raise my level of interest. Maybe it's because the fascination with anal sex in book one has been replaced with an endless fixation on rape in this one. Maybe it's because the gore and violence and brutality of the curse, which sort of worked when Jake was the last werewolf becomes much less sympathetic once Talullah can't move without tripping over the bloody creatures.
Whispers Underground by Ben Aaronovitch - I love the Rivers of London series, absolutely love it, and this was no exception. I mean, I'm not without niggles. The murder mystery wasn't that compelling and the eventual solution was kind of... lame. But that, I think, has been a weakness of all three books, and as I'm in this for the characters and the fantasy elements I care less about that. I do really wish they hadn't skipped over how Lesley taught herself magic and Nightingale's reaction to that, but mostly, when's the next one out?
The Well of Ascension & The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson - There was a period of about two weeks where I hardly had my nose out of these books. Basically, all of you who told me I had to read the Mistborn books were so right. I especially loved the intricate magic system, that it wasn't just some vague non-specific force, it was clearly really well-thought out, the limitations of Allomancy and how it worked.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn - Twisty, turny thriller about the world's least likeable married couple. It was fine, a beach read, all I was missing was the beach.