As of the lastest marathon reading session (over 5 hours and 200 pages to finish the book), I have read a grand total of 26 books this year. Considering my goal was 12 I'm doing pretty good. So I'm going to reward myself and read the Quantum Gravity series all over again!
For the record: I loved this series. Actually, I more than loved this series. I adore this series so much that I contemplated doing something I haven't done since college: staying up until the wee hours to finish a book because I adored it so much. There are very few books I adore so thoroughly. This may in fact be the only series that I would truly list among my favorite books (provided it survies the second read test--said test having killed "The Dark Is Rising" series changes of getting on the illustrious list of truly favorite books), and let me tell you that is a pretty small and select list (i.e. it pretty much contains 2 books: "The Hero and The Crown" and "Tigana", although I've only actually read "Tigana" once so I don't really know why I keep it on the list, but I do, so there must be a reason). Not to mention the fact I tend not to let myself reread books any more (too many to read) and too few I really want to reread. The fact that I can't wait to reread this series is really something. And all this despite the fact that I don't always follow what's going on in the story's big picture (and frankly, I don't think I'm supposed to) and the fact that I counted at least one major plot whole in the last book. I still adore these books. I relate to Lila. I'm completely in love with Zal. Teazle is even starting to grow on me in a irritating but cute little-brother kind of way.
Which is why I was rather concerned after I finished book 4 last night and realized that if this was the last one then there were some seriously loose threads left, and that kind of concerned me, and had me on the verge of pissed off.
Until this morning when I checked Ms. Robson's website to find that book 5 is in the works. Yah, keep 'em coming, I say!
Which totally made my day! Especially as I was not left with any disasterous cliffhangers at the end of book 4 (helloo, book 3, yes I'm talking to you). I could potentially see that book 4 might be the finale, even if not an entirely satisfactory one.
- Books and Book Report: Justina Robson's Quantum Gravity Series
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aplwrite- November 25th, 12:05
- Best Concept Ever
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- aplwrite
- November 19th, 11:20
Elf Rock Star.
Think about it. It's completely diametrically opposed. And that is why it is so cool.
So I happened to read some of the blurbs inside Book 3 of the Quantum Gravity series last night, and I chuckled at the one (which I can't seem to find now) that said something to the effect of appealling to the mentality of a teenage girl.
And I realized this morning that, yes, it is so channelling my inner teenage girl. It is a geeky, teenage girl book with a outwardly strong chic who has very teenage girl issues (body issues, autonomy issues), a hot rock-star elf boyfriend (what geeky teenage girl wouldn't want that), a friend who's faery form is a tiger, and a hot demon assassin. My inner teenage girl adores this book! It's like a dream come true with enough reality thrown in to make it relatable.
I am so in love.
- (no subject)
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- aplwrite
- November 17th, 10:57
Out of boredom and an attempt at work avoidance, I went back and read some of my Word for the Day project.
If I do say so myself, I'm not a bad writer, when I do it.
Now the question is: why the hell can't I get myself to do it?
- Book Report and Reading/Writing in General
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- aplwrite
- November 16th, 8:22
- Some thoughts on writing
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- aplwrite
- November 9th, 7:33
While reading yesterday I decided that I think 800 page fantasy novels, particularly when they are only one book in a series of three 800 page fantasy novels, are the work of lazy authors and indulgent editors. There is absolutely no reason why a story cannot be told in 300-400 pages, and any author who says otherwise is just too lazy to edit and figure out how to tell their story more concisely.
I say this from reading the last in a trilogy of 800 page novels where I find myself questioning where whole swaths of the book could have been cut or condensed. And I think about the previous two books and how slowly they started before they got to the meat of the story (same with this one), and I just feel is lazy writing. And lazy editing to allow the writing to be so lazy (not to mention a multitude of typos, which was also a problem with the first book in the series, but that is more a sign of lazy copy editing).
You see, frankly, I don't really have time to waste on 800 page tomes any more. There are way too many books I want to read, and most of them are 400 pages or less, to read something twice that length, especially when most of the book barely moves the story forward (I'm now on about page 350 and only now are we really getting to the meat of this particular book--everything else was buildup/backstory). So as I read this 800 page tome, I keep questioning whether or not it's really worth my time. The story isn't bad and I like the characters and would sort of like to see what happens (although, I can kind of guess the basic outcome), but it's going to require so much of my time to do so, when I have other cool, and shorter, books I could be reading.
So, I think this is going to inform me in two ways: 1. not to write 800 page novels (if I ever manage to write a novel in the first place, which currently is a dubious proposition); and 2. I'm not going to buy or read any more 800 page novels (which means I should probably move Acacia from my reading list, as I'm sure it is at least 800 pages).
- Reading and Writing
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- aplwrite
- October 29th, 19:37
The last two books I've read have been really good, and therefore, thought provoking in the writing sense.
The first of the two was Elizabeth Bear's All the Windwracked Stars. One of the main reasons I liked it was that it's not straight fantasy or straight science fiction, but a little of both--post-apocolyptic world with technology-related magic and a large dose of mythology/Otherworld. Add on to that a cool world that basically uses Norse myth as the foundation, but futurizes it. And ambiguous characters who may be good but have done less than admirable things or may be evil but maybe not as evil as first appears. And salvation and redemption. And battle angles. And talking steeds. And reincarnation. And cat people. Really. Cool.
And what this reminded me of is some of the reason why the current Doctor Who appeals to me, and maybe Torchwood (and I will be oh so very happy if Jack is redeemed in the season finale of Doctor Who). I do like me some anti-hero protagonists who have a past. And I also like me some genre crossing--which leads me to the second book...
Emma Bull's Territory is quite possibly the quintessential "Andrea" book. Consider: Doc Holliday as a POV character. Tombstone, Arizona Territory, 1881. And magic. Throw in the fact that the history in the book really is quite sound, Doc is perfect, Wyatt's unlikable, and Kate is, it's pretty much downright perfect. Plus, I enjoyed how Bull makes the historical characters real--not one dimensional white hats - black hats. And the fictional characters are interesting and have good stories too.
The bottom line, though, is that Bull combines two of the things I really love: The American West and fantasy. Which has got me to thinking, particularly in light of the recent upsurge in Steampunk that is appearing on bookshelves, why I don't try my hand and combining my two favorite things in a story. It's not like I haven't thought about it before--I have story ideas with Puebloan and Southern Plains horse cultures intertwined with Aztec mythology. I'd like to develop a fantasy culture based on the Lakota horse lords-Pawnee farmers dynamic on the Central Plains. I've even toyed with making one of my novels fit the bill more closely as it is already based on Spanish colonial culture and native resistance. There really is a load of inspiration in Western American history. It's just that I want to bring in my outlaws and gunfighters, railroads and cow-towns and mix it up with magic or fantasy in some new and interesting way, and I just can't quite figure out how. Admittedly, my use of magic in my fantasy worlds is usually fairly limited. And most of my current fantasy worlds are based on some place and time in history (I am, after all, a historian).
It is something I realize I need to think about more. I need to think about the elements of both Western American history and fantasy/magic that appeal to me. I think that for me it's not so much about the use of magic in the story but the possibility of the fantastic. Ultimately, it's about the characters, though, regardless of their setting. So maybe that is the key--finding the similarities, playing with themes and situations--just like any other story building, and making it what you love. Of course, you also have to write it, and that still seems to be my biggest stumbling block.
- Yearly Goals
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- aplwrite
- September 26th, 15:41
It being the end of the fiscal year next week, I've been thinking about my goals again, and also my goals for next year.
As previously discussed, I've done really well on my goals this year.
1. Read 12 books, preferably with Lily on my lap: Done as of June. Now at 19 books.
2. Focus on my health: I've lost nearly 30 pounds, so I'd say I'm doing really well there.
3. Take some art classes: Well, this isn't going to happen, but frankly, that's not the end of the world.
4. Get the interior of the house to a general state of "finished" (i.e. walls painted, things on the walls, happy with the furniture, etc.): This was an unrealistic goal. I have done quite a bit around the house this year, though. We finally stained the deck and fence, and I took on and have completed operation troll den to hobbit hole by converting our gray-panelled basement into a nice, bright den/office for myself.
5. Go to Cardiff: Done.
6. Organize a family gathering with my Dad, step-mom, sister and brother (maybe for Dad's 70th birthday in November): Going to my niece's wedding in October, so that's a check too!
So, next some of next year's goals are going to be a continuation of this years goals:
1. Continue to lose weight.
2. Continue to work on projects around the house. Specifically, paint my bathroom. And if we don't have to buy a new fence next year, maybe get the first floor painted.
3. Take more vacations. We're planning on going to Cardiff again in late summer or early fall. I'd kind of like to get in some shorter trips though: maybe out to Denver to visit friends; maybe to New Mexico.
4. Reading. I've put my love of numbers and spreadsheets to work on some reading statistics. So far this year my reading list has grown by 5%. I have read 26% of my old books, and 52% of the new books i have purchased. I think my goal is going to be to read 25% of my old books and 100% of my new books. I intend to reach 100% of new books by not buying so many new books. I purchased 27 fiction books this year to date.
My other prospective goal for next year is to finish the history book I've been working on for a number of years now. It needs to be done. I should be able to write it over the course of next year.
So, although the year isn't over yet, it appears I have already set my course for the next year. I think the key is to set realistic goals.
- Software
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- aplwrite
- August 23rd, 21:39
I finally installed Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac last night, thinking that it might help with some of the weird/annoying issues I've been having with Word. Alas, the software sucks and the weird/annoying issues appear to remain. I really do hate Microsoft software right now. My biggest problem with it is the whole "now we're going to save your documents as xml templates" thing. Maybe I don't want my document saved that way. Maybe I just want it to be a basic .doc document, not a .docx.
So I started looking at Apple's word processing software: Pages (of iWork). I have to say, I am pleased. Not only does it generally appear to be more user friendly (surprise surprise)--and it wouldn't cause the same issues that Word does, as it would be completely compatible with my computer--but it will also open my Office documents (of course, the hubs had to point out that it will do that until Microsoft does something with their software to make it not work anymore). But since this is all part of the larger attempt to write the book, I started looking at other software, which lead me to some semi-free software that so far I like a lot, but it has on major limitation: the only part you can export is the actual book, not all your notes (which go into the software). This may not be a big deal, but is a little concerning.
What I like about the software is that everything is all in one: word processor, outline, database for keeping track of stuff, general notes, and comments/annotations. You can use the outline feature to move things around, too. The problem is that the outline feature seems to require that you chunk everything into sections. I'm not sure exactly how it's going to work in my real world.
Then there is the fact that Pages 2009 has an outline feature and that it appears to work the same, although there doesn't appear to be a need for manually breaking things into sections (I'm not sure how much manual breaking into sections is involved in this other software either--it may not be any different than Pages). And Pages has the comments feature. So really, the only added benefit to this writing software is that it has the ability to capture notes and to have database functionality without opening another application. If I used Pages I could just use the same old notes that I use now (that are either Word or Excel documents). I wouldn't have the same lookup capability, but it wouldn't be all that different. But with Pages I could actually print out my notes if I wanted to. And I'm not sure the comments in the writing software print out, but I'm sure they do in Pages (since Word does it, I assume Pages would).
Hmm. Decisions, decisions. Then there is, of course, cost. iWork is considerably more expensive (although a damn lot cheaper to buy than Microsoft Office!). iWork has more functionality, though, as it would also be used for work and other projects, where the writing software is pretty specific only to writing. Hmm.
But I ramble when I should be playing with software.
- What I've learned about Welsh history so far
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- aplwrite
- June 30th, 17:35
So I started reading John Davies' A History of Wales yesterday. This is what I've learned so far (this is largely a note for myself):
Skipping over totally pre-historic Wales, I will go directly to the period which more interested me: the Roman period. So basically, what happened was that the Romans came to Britain and the Brythonic tribes kind of took exception to this, including the tribes of Wales (but it wasn't Wales yet). Eventually, the tribes backed down (I'm thinking it might have had something to do with the Roman's sacking the Druid stronghold on Angelsey). Over time the aristocratic Britons came to civic leadership and were Romanized. They were also Christianized. Then the Romans left as the empire weakened, leaving the Britons to deal with the Saxons and their kind, many of whom probably first came to Britain as part of the Roman army.
There was likely a Briton warleader named Arthur, who won a battle against the Saxons at Mount Badon and who died at the battle of Camlann. He may have been the Dux Britannica, and it is likely he lead his army against Saxons all along the borders of the Brythonic kingdoms from north to south, given the predominance of his legend from north to south. The Saxons continued to move into Britain and established their own kingdoms, pushing the Brythonic kingdoms out (some Britons migrated to Brittany). I should also note that the Irish also were a burr in the side of the Britons, and Irish also settled in Wales. Eventually all of the Brythonic kingdoms fell to the Saxons except for what became Wales and Strathclyde (Strathclyde may have eventually fallen, I don't remember).
So, that is basically a synopsis of Welsh (and British) history from about 70 AD to 600 AD. Maybe more to come later.
- Book Reviews in Brief: Jane Eyre by (One of the) Bronte (sisters)*
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- aplwrite
- June 17th, 11:49
*I'm too lazy to look it up. Sorry.
I was kind of surprized by a) how much I wanted to read this book once I got going; and consequently b) how fast I read it.
Despite some minor language issues (early 19th century British does not necessarily always translate to 21st century American and also, I do not read--or speak for that matter--French), I really liked this book. Maybe not as much as Jane Austen though (Mr. Rochester doesn't hold the same appeal as Mr. Darcy or Captain Wentworth or Edward Farris--probably because he doesn't have quite the same moral fortitude). I liked Jane, and more importantly, I liked her voice, which is why I think I read the book so quickly. I also liked the fact that all the people that truly mistreated her got their comeuppance to some degree. We like justice in my family.
Now I am proceeding with a sojourn into Arthurian-based literature. I commence by catching up with the sequels to one of my favorite Arthurian-inspired novels: Grail Prince by Nancy McKenzie (the previous book being Queen of Camelot). So far I am not totally enamored, but then I'm only on page 15.
- Back to the grindstone
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- aplwrite
- June 9th, 20:52
I made an effort tonight to work on a book. Space Pirates, to be exact (not that is the final title, of course). I've winnowed it down to working on either this or my alternate-Elizabethan fantasy, In Her Majesty's Service (aka IHMS). And frankly, it's tiring. I've got about 50 pages of Space Pirates written from a while back. I managed to get through the set-up to the first real disaster only to lose where the story was going. This was largely because I didn't know where it was going. I didn't know why the character should care about what is going on. Since then, I've figured out her flaw and have a better sense of where the story should be going. It's just tiring to work on it. I think in part because I'm still trying to figure out the details of the rest of the book. They're slowing coming to me. It also probably doesn't help that I have a guild conversation blaring from my husband's computer, which is rather distracting.
Anyway. I'm going to continue to poke at these two novel ideas and see where they take me. IHMS is fairly well developed in broad strokes anyway, but it too suffers from a lack of knowing what the middle is. Granted, I haven't written the beginning either, and I really don't have a sense of the voice for the book, unlike Space Pirates. Enough for tonight. Now I have to decide if I want to try to work on my other project, despite being tired, or let it wait for another day.
Maybe I should just go read Jane Eyre.
- Reading Goal
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- aplwrite
- June 9th, 8:10
So I've officially hit my self-imposed reading goal for the year: 12 books! (Actually, I've read 15 books, but three of them were second-time reads.) The latest book to be finished was Neil Gaiman's Stardust. Sadly, I have to admit that I liked the movie better. So many of the good parts of the movie aren't actually in the book, i.e. Captain Shakespeare, the sweetness of Yvaine admitting her affection for Tristan and vice versa, or the big confrontation with Tristan, Septimus, and the Witch-Queen. After the movie, the book is kind of a let down. There is no big climax. There is no Yvaine saving the day by drawing upon her love with Tristan. Worst of all, however, is the epilogue. It reads like the epilogue in The Return of the King telling the tale of Arwen. Talk about a downer (which interestingly, the movie for RofK tries to put a happier outlook on Arwen's future as well). Frankly, I want my happy ending. I want the happy ending from the movie.
So since it's barely June, anything I read at this point is gravy in terms of yearly goals. Right now I'm reading Jane Eyre. Once that's done, I have planned to catch up on some of the Arthurian novels I've had laying around for awhile. Then, maybe some Sherlock Holmes later this fall. I need to focus on reading some of my older books, and frankly, none of the newer ones really appeal to me right now, after the debacles with The Lies of Locke Lamora, Tooth and Claw and Melusine (the latter two of which are still on my reading list, but probably won't be tocuhed until I can stomach more gruesome tales again).
- Reading
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- aplwrite
- May 31st, 10:17
I'm sick of dark books with ugly things going on in them. I'm tired of fascist societies, Victorian dragons fighting over eating their fathers, and magic rites involving brutal sex. And yes, I did like the Jo Walton series, although it did often agitate me. And there is nothing wrong with Tooth and Claw and Melusine, but I simply can't take any more dark and ugly stuff right now. I want something lighter, maybe with some humor and definitely some romance. So, I've put those other books on hold and started reading Stardust and Jane Eyre yesterday. Now Stardust is exactly what I'm looking for right now. Relatively light-hearted fantasy with adventure, humor, and romance. Jane Eyre was chosen just to read something a little different. Plus, it's been on my reading list for awhile. It may be a little dark, but at least there's some romance (at least that is my understanding) and hopefully nothing as dark and ugly as the other books. I do, however, find it a little harder to read than contemporary books because of some of the language, but, it's okay.
I haven't given up on the other books, but they're going to just have to sit for awhile. I'm not far enough into either for it to be a hardship to have to restart the books if I need to in the future. Part of me is beginning to wonder if I'm just getting tired of reading. I've read 14 books in the past five months. That's twice what I normally read. Maybe it's time to take a break from reading and start working on my own projects. We'll see. If I can't find books I'm in the mood to read, then I'll just have to find something else to do.
- More on Books I'm Reading
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- aplwrite
- May 26th, 13:24
So I started Tooth & Claw and I'm just not sure how I feel about it. It's not about the writing, it's about the content. I like dragons. I tend to like books about dragons (although, now that I think on it, I haven't really read that many books about dragons--and even fewer that I ended up truly liking). I'm just afraid that the dragon society in this book may be more than I want to stomach right now. Maybe it's because I just came off of the alternate reality fascist society in the other Walton series I just finished. So I may just let Tooth & Claw sit for awhile. I'm not ready to give up on it, but I'm not ready to read it either.
Instead I've started reading Melusine by Sarah Monette. Monette co-wrote another book I recently read and liked--A Companion to Wolves-- with Elizabeth Bear. The other Bear book I read was hard to get in to, which was not the case with A Companion to Wolves, so I thought that might be Monette's doing. Based on that logic, I figured that I would probably like Monette's work, and lo and behold, I was correct! I've probably only read about 30 pages, but already this book stands in stark comparison to my previous reading experience (The Lies of Locke Lamora). While I'm still not sure what the big conflict is going to be, I can definitely feel the characters moving towards it (it is only 30-some pages in after all). More importantly, however, I already have good sense of the characters and their flaws. Things are just getting set up, but you can see they're heading somewhere. I'm not just reading background for the sake of background. Anyway, I shouldn't dwell on the past. My main point is that the characters have good, distinct voices. And yes, it's written in first person, alternating between the two main characters (and yes, it's clear when POV changes), and first person POV always tends to allow more for character voice.... But really, I shouldn't have to be defending anything. Although I am rather peeved that the local Barnes and Noble did not have any of Monette's other books. I supposed that would be why I don't normally shop there. The local Borders has a better selection of fantasy/scifi.
I also picked up some other books (and a cookbook) to add to my endless reading list (which seems to hover around 50 books): Stardust by Neil Gaiman, because I liked the movie, wanted something maybe a little lighter, and felt that I really had to read some Gaiman; The Three Musketeers, because I've been thinking about reading the whole series since watching The Man in the Iron Mask the other night; and C.E. Murphy's latest, The Pretender's Crown (?), only because I read the first book in the series, and although I had some issues with it, it wasn't a bad book, and it takes place in a world inspired by Elizabethan England, and I'm trying to work on my own book inspired by Elizabethan England.
- Comments on The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
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- aplwrite
- May 23rd, 21:34
Well, I gave up on The Lies of Locke Lamora. I was going to give it until page 100, but I only made it to 90 before I'd had it. I've already expressed my problems with this book, and things hadn't improved by page 90. The final straw, however, was that after going through this whole con job set up, the narrative jumped back to when the MC was a boy explaining why his master wanted him dead. First, it took me a bit to realize that we had jumped back (not much to indicate we were jumping back in time other than a chapter heading that wasn't all that clear). More importantly, however, was that it didn't explain anything really, just part, then jumped back to the con job. I do not appreciate books that attempt to keep you reading by leaving cliffhangers everywhere. I especially didn't appreciate the cliffhangers in the con job part because in the end nothing really bad happened. Talk about build up for nothing. I suppose my biggest pet peeve with this book, however, is that by page 90 you still don't know what the point of the book is. What is the conflict? Why should I care about this character? Where is this story going? It's impossible to have any expectations of this novel because it is completely unclear what the plot/story is. As far as I'm concerned, there's too much set up and not enough getting into the real story. The only hint of a larger conflict are mentions of this mysterious shadowy figure jumping across the rooftops. Blah! I was not impressed. There are too many other books out there I want to read to waste my time of 700 pages of this.
Now, off to Jo Walton's Tooth and Claw.
- Yearly Goals Update
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- aplwrite
- May 21st, 14:23
Okay, so it's not quite June, and I just posted, but eh...
These are my goals for 2009, along with there current status:
1. Read 12 books, preferably with Lily on my lap: I'm at 14, 11 of which I count towards this goal (3 were re-reads), and it's only been 5 months! Alas, not enough reading has been done with Lily on my lap. That's my fault though.
2. Focus on my health: I've been half-heartedly trying for 5 months with little success (although I actually lost a 1.5 lbs on vacation! Yay walking around South Wales!). Now we've brought out the big guns: a 9 week commitment to Weight Watchers.
3. Take some art classes: I was planning on putting this off until summer because of not wanting to go to classes in the dark. Unfortunately, I'm not sure there are any art classes I want to take over the summer (What's up with that?). Don't know if I'll make this one.
4. Get the interior of the house to a general state of "finished" (i.e. walls painted, things on the walls, happy with the furniture, etc.): Feh. I still need to paint the bathroom. We did get a new couch finally, though, and I've found a new dining set and bedframe I like. I also took lovely pictures in Wales that I want to put on the walls.
5. Go to Cardiff: Done! Yay!
6. Organize a family gathering with my Dad, step-mom, sister and brother (maybe for Dad's 70th birthday in November): It would appear that I don't have to organize a family gathering after all. My neice is taking care of it in the form of her wedding in October. We will be there, my brother and his wife (her parents) and their other two kids will likely be there, Dad and my step-mom will likely be there. It's just up to my sister now if we'll all be together.
So actually, it looks like I'm doing pretty good. Plus, the wedding in October gives me more incentive to work on my weight. I'd like to at least be the weight I was when I got married, as it was only a little more than I weighed the last time most of these people will have seen me!
- Random Thoughts on a Slow Day
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- aplwrite
- May 21st, 13:39
A SLOW DAY! What's that!
So it's been awhile since I've posted. All I can say is that the past month has been busy. I mean, we did go to Cardiff for 11 days! And work has been positively nuts (with no end in sight to that). And really, other than the trip and finishing a couple books, not a whole lot has been going on.
As to the books--I've kind of grown tired of book reviews, unless I have something particularly interesting to say. I've now read 14 books this year (11 of which I'm counting towards my goal--WOOT! One more and I'm there!). I recently finished a series by Jo Walton (Farthing, Ha'Penny, and Half a Crown), which I highly recommend as long as you don't mind getting worked up by fascism and injustice. They were really good books, written in an interesting way*, but they did tend to get me a little agitated. Oh, then there was the fact that I accidentally started with Ha'penny and realized about a third of the way in that it was actually the second book. Fortunately, this didn't entirely ruin things. My only beef with the series was that I felt that the third book ended too abruptly. Really, it's a denoument (sp?) issue, or a lack thereof issue. I think it happened in all the books, but it was most notable in the third. Now, I don't need my endings drawn out, mind you, but I'd like enough to be able to come down from the climax with the characters and know that everything is going to basically be okay. Didn't get that here.
Now I'm reading Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora, and I'm just not too sure about it. I'm not ready to give up, but it's getting close, because some of the problems I just don't foresee getting any better. The possibly surmountable problem is that I'm just not engaging with the main character. Somehow he feels too removed from the reader for me. I don't know if it's just because I'm in the beginning of the book or if it's the writing style (I fear it's the writing style). I like to be a little more intimate with the characters I'm reading. The other problem, which is more problematic because I think it probably is this particular writers style is that it's not exactly an easy book to read. The story jumps around. You get glimpses of background info, not all of which makes particular sense, and then your into the first job (these guys are con men) and it's almost written like a movie or TV show--you see a little of what's going on here, then it jumps to a little of what's going on here. Personally, I don't really like reading that way. So we'll see how much further I go with this book. There's way too much else out there I want to read to waste time on a 700+ page book that I don't really care for (especially when I just looked at my reading list and realized I had actually planned to start reading one of Jo Walton's other books next).
In other news, I am slowly working back into writing. I had been brainstorming about my paranormal-Regency mix story idea until I made the mistake of trying to brainstorm about it with my husband and he poo-pooed all over part of the worldbuilding because it was "icky" (I paraphrase). That kind of put me in the dumps, so instead I've been trying to focus on the fantasy adventure I started to work on a few years ago for a writing class. I'm now starting to realize it may end up being a heaftier book than I originally thought. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, just unexpected. It's actually got a pretty solid story line. I just have to work out some details.
I've also begun to have niggling thoughts about maybe starting back on my history book project. I've probably been bored with that project for a year now. I'm still not sure how I feel about it, but I am starting to think about it again.
And finally, it being nearly 6 months into the year and one of my goals being to focus on my health (which hasn't really happened so far), I joined Weight Watchers with one of my work buddies this week. Conveniently, they do this at our place of employment. There have been quite a few major success stories here. I really hope I might be one of them. We'll see. So far so good. I also have the husband unofficially doing it for himself.So that's the current state of affairs. I suppose I should consider doing a state of the yearly goals exercise here in June (although, I've kind of done it here). We'll see about that too.
*They were almost two books in one going on simultaneously. One character, the inspector, carries through all three books, and his parts are written in third person. Each book also has a female character telling her story in first person. The two stories mesh together with alternating chapters. Unlike other books (namely, the Queen's Bastard) that do changing POVs based on characters, I really didn't pick up on what she was doing until I was quite a ways in. The writing was that fluid and seamless.
- Learn something new every day
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- aplwrite
- March 12th, 15:17
- Some thoughts on reading
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- aplwrite
- March 2nd, 14:27
So I read fantasy. The main problem with reading fantasy is that almost EVERY book is part of a series. And usually, you end up waiting at least a year if not more between books. Which means that if you don't have a particularly good memory (like me), you end up having to reread the previous books before you can read the new one.
The solution to this problem, of course, is to just wait until all the books in a series are out, but sometimes (most of the time, actually) it just doesn't work like that.
The greater problem is that I frankly don't always want to take the time to reread all the other books when I'm trying to work through my reading list.
I recently realized that I am facing this problem with one of the books I planned on reading soon. It is the fourth and final book in the series. I read the first three books about two years ago (I had to reread the first two before reading the third). I remember the first book sufficiently (it was largely set up anyway), so I don't think I need to reread that one. But the rest? No so fortunate. So the final book has been pushed to the end of the list to read.
This is all problem number one.
Problem number two is that a number of books on my reading list are the first in a series. Now these aren't new books, mind you, so I don't have to wait for the follow-ups (well, not all of the follow-ups because I don't think either series is completed). The problem here is that if the books are good and I want to read the rest of the series I have to stop the list progression, buy new books, and spend months devoted to the same series. Now this may not really be a problem, but it is a time commitment. And meanwhile I have all these other books that I've only read part of the series because I'm waiting on the others.
There needs to be a way of combatting these problems (1: forgetting previous books before the next one comes out; and 2: being committed to reading all the books in a series at once). So, my plan is to start writing myself a summary of the book as soon as I'm done. That way, if I go off to read something else, for whatever reason, I can easily refresh my memory.
I don't expect this will be an easy activity. This isn't my usual type of book review (and those are pretty bad as it is) that analyzes what I liked and didn't like about the book. This is breaking out all the plot lines and summarizing what happened over the course of the book. My hope is that not only will it help me remember what I've read, but it might help me understand better how stories are constructed. (At least this is what I'm telling myself to make it more appealing).
Fortunately, I don't have to do this yet, just for the new series that I start. I thankfully won't even have to do it for the series I now have to go back and read because I don't remember the previous two books well enough. It does make me contemplate, however, giving up on this series I loved. So far there are seven books, maybe eight (but the eighth was only available in Britain). I've read six of them, I think. And they are tomes (I've determined that the author needs to learn some self-editing, and not be so verbose, and not use so many words that I have to look up because I've never heard them before--but that's another matter). I would have to make a serious commitment to catch up with these books, and I'm not sure the series is ever going to be completed (what concerns me is really that it's never going to be published--I mean, they're no longer published in the U.S., so that strikes me as a bad sign). I hate to abandon the series because I really did like it, but there's just too much other stuff out there to read!
Anyway, I seem to have digressed. The point is, I guess, I'm going to have to learn how to put text behind cuts because my book reviews are going to have to start including spoilers. Or I just need to keep my summaries somewhere else (that might be the better idea--easier to find stuff).
Anyway. I'm rambling.
- Book Review: Torchwood-The Twilight Streets by Gary Russell
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- aplwrite
- March 1st, 22:14
Another book down (Number 9 for the year--it's amazing how much reading I seem to get done when I'm not fretting about my writing).
Okay, so I'm a little embarrassed about admitting that I read a TV tie-in. Not that I haven't done it before (I read at least a couple Highlander tie-ins when I was in college). But I'm not a college anymore. Nevertheless, I couldn't resists trying at least one, since the local bookstore had some in stock. And I did some research first to find out which ones other people thought were best.
I'm not sure I'd want to read the ones that weren't considered best.
Not that this book was bad, per se. It had some issues though. The minor ones being at least one typo (and no, I don't know why I've turned into the typo police in my book reviews, but they do stand out) and a really weird contraction ("it'd"--I mean, who says it'd? Worse, though, you have to sit their and figure out what it's a contraction of-- it would? it should? it had? This would be why nobody uses "it'd" in actual speech). Oh, and what's up with "cos" instead of "because". Not everyone says "cos" instead of "because." I'm almost positive that not every single person on the Torchwood team talks like that. Just a minor pet peeve.
The bigger issues I had with this book include the characters not quite being true to form (at least in my opinion) at the beginning of the book. This did seem to get better, though. The other issue was that even after having finished the book, I'm not really sure what happened. Oh, and I know it's good to have a twist at the end, but I'm somewhat resentful of the one at the end of this book. Too much mystery is a bad thing, as far as I'm concerned. Things just didn't seem all that wrapped up.
Now, the good things: I learned some stuff about Cardiff. Well, I learned one important piece of info if the author really knows Cardiff (which I'm guessing he does): don't expect to be impressed when I step out of Cardiff Central station. Also, there were some genuinely laugh-out-loud moments. Multiple ones in fact. Can't say that about many books I've read recently (in their defense, they were not meant to be humorous). However, while funny, sometimes the funny wasn't really appropriately placed in the story--and the story even acknowledges it.
Other things I liked: the thing I like about tie-ins is that the writers have more of an opportunity to delve into the characters, and when there are multiple characters, this includes delving into their relationships. Now admittedly, I think anyone who watches Torchwood has a clue about the relationships between Jack and Gwen, Jack and Ianto, and Tosh and Owen. This book touched upon the relationship between Ianto and Gwen, which I admittedly never really thought about. Not that this book gets into it all that much, but it starts to touch upon it. And really, in season 3, I imagine understanding that relationship might be more important.
I also have to say, despite his relatively small part, I loved Rhys. Now, I like Rhys--he seems like a really great, sweet, normal guy. But deep down I am a Jack-Gwen shipper and deep down Rhys is just sort of in the way. So, the guy doesn't necessarily get the love from me that he really deserves. But I did really love him in this story.
Anyway, I fully realize I'm a total geek. But I do love me some Torchwood, so much that I will read tie-in novels. Well, at least one. And maybe some more. We'll see. I might not admit it next time though.
Anyway, now I have to decide the next "fluff" novel (aka the "secondary" novel). I still have to finish That Hideous Strength, and I'm contemplating just not starting a second novel until that is done (once I get to the final installment of the Karen Miller tomology I'll probably need a secondary novel). The likely candidate is the first book of Jim Butcher's Dreseden Files series.
