Book Logging
Feb. 5th, 2011 03:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_rckAlexander, Alma. Worldweavers: Cybermage - This is the third and last (so far) book in the series. I found it easier going than Spellspam but still harder than Gift of the Unmage. This one centers on the riddle of an artifact left behind by Tesla, the only known mage in history with power over four elements. I liked the fact that the heroine had to make decisions that would affect her life, decisions she'd been trying to avoid. I wish that the stresses among the group of friends had been more thoroughly explored. The characters have been changing and reacting to each other's changes, but the reactions lacked the depth I wanted. It was as if those changes were window dressing, and I wanted them to be the point.
All My Darling Daughters - This is a collection of linked short manga by Fumi Yoshinaga. I didn't love any of them (but also didn't hate any of them), and I'm fairly sure I've already forgotten at least one of the stories. I'd call them romances except that they aren't all and don't necessarily end happily. This is definitely aimed at adults-- There's some nudity and sex. The frame story involves a woman who marries a young man who's three years younger than the daughter who lives with her.
Andrews, Donna. Stork Raving Mad - Meg is very pregnant, expecting twins. Her house is full to the rafters with students who have nowhere else to go while the furnace system for their dormitory is being repaired (it's been weeks). The mystery centers on the death of an obnoxious and unethical English professor. In the process of telling the story, Andrews never loses track of Meg's physical condition, and the book contains the usual cast of crazy people.
Bishop, Anne. The Shadow Queen - I always feel like I should apologize for reading Bishop's books (I'm not sure to whom I owe the apology or exactly what it's for. I just feel like it's owed). I also can't reliably read Bishop's books. Sometimes she goes too far with the violence for my taste, and I'm bounced right out of the book. This book was relatively gentle for Bishop, and I rather liked the heroine. She's a low powered queen who's neither pretty nor ambitious. Through a chain of circumstance, she's offered the chance to establish a court in a land that's almost entirely lacking in queens. The book follows her struggle to be accepted and to find her balance.
Bujold, Lois McMaster. Cryoburn - I have surprisingly little to say about this book-- I read it. I enjoyed it. It didn't have everything I wanted (It couldn't have, but that doesn't stop wanting). Miles is still very Miles. The planet where the story was set seemed potentially interesting, but it never really developed strongly.
Burke, James. Circles - I didn't finish this. I kept losing track of the essays as Burke followed minor connections rapidly. Everything was potentially fascinating but gone so quickly. A single paragraph might touch on three or four different things, all of which I'd like to know more about. I suspect that I'd like the essays better if I read one a day or one a week. This was a library book, so I didn't have that option.
Cartoon History of the Modern World 1-2 - Gonick manages to maintain a sense of humor even when talking about atrocities, and there are a lot of atrocities as he covers five hundred or so years (Columbus to the Iraq War). He gives most of his attention to Europe and the United States, but he does cover something about a lot of other cultures at certain points. I hesitated to read these volumes because I knew that a lot of the history was going to depress me (I suspect that the only reason that earlier history doesn't depress me is that we know less. The atrocities simply aren't recorded). Still, I recommend these volumes to those interested in historical surveys. Gonick provides a decent bibliography.
Castle, Jayne. Midnight Jewels - I find the Arcane Society less interesting than Castle's more standalone novels. I think some of it is the way the novels in the series cross pseudonyms and blur the lines between Quick/Krentz/Castle's different settings. This book was standard Castle fair with ghost hunters and forays into the ruins on the planet Harmony. I doubt I'll remember the details in another few weeks.
Chase, Loretta. Last Night's Scandal - I liked both lead characters, and I believed in the attraction and affection between them. What I didn't believe in was the happily ever after. The two characters had a fundamental personality conflict that was never resolved. Basically, his vocation is Egyptian archaeology of the slow, meticulous variety. She needs something interesting happening every moment and will make things happen if nothing is. Archaeology will drive her crazy, and she, in turn, will drive him crazy.
Still, if one can put that aside, the book is fun. Chase writes characters who're memorable in situations that let them show off their personalities.
Crusie, Jennifer. Maybe This Time - I couldn't finish this one. I wasn't interested in the ghosts and found them difficult to get past. I read the beginning and the end with a few bits in the middle (opening the book more or less at random). The romance didn't feel very well integrated with the ghost story. Part of that was having the two romantic leads be geographically separated for most of the book.
Dokey, Cameron. Before Midnight - I find this and the previous Dokey I read interesting because the fairy tales have been tweaked so that the expected villains (the witch from Rapunzel and the step relatives from Cinderella) aren't bad guys. In this case, the step family treats the girl as a servant because her father hasn't told them that she exists and she hasn't told them either. They have no way of knowing that she's anything else. The magic is also very subtle-- It has to do with what will or won't grow where on the estate. I enjoyed the book on the whole though I found the queen's plot with the girl's father difficult to believe for reasons of timing.
Estes, Eleanor. The Curious Adventures of Jimmy McGee - This is sort of a sequel to The Witch Family. I came to this book prepared to like it because The Witch Family was a childhood favorite. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it. The prose had a dated slanginess. The story-- about a tiny, magical plumber and an enchanted doll-- didn't go anywhere interesting. The only connection to The Witch Family was the two little girls, Amy and Clarissa, and they didn't feel very connected to what was going on with Jimmy McGee.
Friesner, Esther. Temping Fate - I enjoyed this book. It was light and funny and just what I needed right then. The main character has been searching for a summer job and ends up at a very odd temp agency. As it turns out, the agency provides temps for gods (most of those in the book are Greek, but there are a couple of mentions of temping for other pantheons). The main character ends up temping for the Fates. It's been long enough since I read this that the details are hazy, but I liked the characters, particularly Arachne.
Hoffman, Alice. Aquamarine - There was less to this book than I expected. I don't think it took me more than half an hour to read it. I'm not sure why I expected more oomph, but I did. Two girls are doing their best to enjoy the last few days of summer. One of them is about to move to Florida, and they know that it may be months or even years before they see each other again. A storm washes a mermaid into an abandoned pool near the equally abandoned beach, and the girls have to help her.
Mantchev, Lisa. Perchance to Dream - I found this book more confusing than its predecessor, Eyes Like Stars. Events seemed to come a bit too fast and in fragments. I couldn't always recall how the characters got from point A to point H. I also find the romantic triangle just a bit creepy-- The two guys are effectively immortal and ancient and have known the heroine since she was quite small. The imagery and characters still work. I'll probably give the sequel a try, should there be one and I encounter it.
Naruto 47-49 - The long fights bore me. I was skimming a lot. Sasuke bores me, too. I'm not sure I like what's being set up here. I'm still hopeful that it will come together okay (and I'll keep reading because Scott looks for the series at the library). I'm not sure what I want from the series. I suppose I'll figure it out as I read and either get it or don't.
Ooku: the Inner Chambers 3-5 - The pseudo-old fashioned language still doesn't work. I'm also not sure about the way the author has chosen to keep so many historical events the same. It does show that Japan hasn't changed even with women running things, but I keep thinking that the people filling these roles are different from the people in real history. Events should fall out differently.
Ouran High School Host Club 13-14 - I've forgotten so much of what went before that these volumes felt disconnected. Maybe I should get back to reading manga regularly. At any rate, it was interesting to see the characters realizing their romantic interests and deciding to (or not to) pursue them.
Peeler, Nicole. Tempest Rising - I keep confusing myself by thinking that the main character's name is Tempest when it's actually Jane. I believe the 'tempest' in the title is a metaphorical reference to the coming war in the supernatural community (I'm guessing, but war seems likely given events in this book). Jane is a small town girl with a tragic past who loves swimming in all sorts of weather. In the course of the book, she discovers that she's half selkie which explains why she doesn't feel cold and can swim in even the stormiest sea. There's a sexy vampire who annoyed me less than I expected him to (even while not interesting me very much). I was most interested in supernatural community in the small town and was rather disappointed when the story moved away from that. I liked the book enough to put a hold on the next volume in the series. We'll see how the balance tips from here.
Peeler, Nicole. Tracking the Tempest - I didn't end up reading all of this. It got too anxiety inducing for me. I still liked Jane and still wanted to know what happens to her. I just wasn't enjoying the journey. I suspect that, for people who aren't me, this is a perfectly good second book. I may still request the third book from the library once they have it.
Penman, Sharon Kay. Dragon's Lair - This library book reeked of cigarette smoke, and that rather diminished my enjoyment of it. Of course, after I finished it, I discovered that I owned a copy. That's what I get for not paying attention.
This is another of Penman's medieval mysteries. The main character works as a personal agent for Eleanor of Aquitaine, and he's tasked with finding part of the ransom for King Richard that's been stolen. I didn't feel that the mystery part of the story really worked. There weren't many clues to follow. Still, I enjoyed the characters and the setting. The main character moves between the aristocracy and the lower classes in the course of his work.
Stead, Rebecca. First Light - Under the ice in Greenland, there's a hidden community. They've been in hiding for seven generations after fleeing from those who wanted to kill them for their unusual abilities. They're running out of space, but their traditions forbid going up to the surface. Meanwhile, a boy from New York comes to Greenland so his father can study the effects of global warming on the ice sheet. Naturally, he encounters kids from the hidden community when they emerge for illicit exploration.
The book's better than it sounds and more complicated. The hidden community has a definite and unique culture, and the boy's parents have a part to play in the story, too, their own secrets.
Stevermer, Caroline. Magic Below Stairs - This is set in Stevermer and Wrede's Sorcery and Cecelia universe. It's about a boy who is a very junior servant in a mage's (I can't remember the word this universe uses for a user of magic. It's been a while) household and his encounters with magic, both through the mage and through a (if I remember correctly) brownie. I found the book slight. I was hoping for more from it. Still completists for the setting will want it because the mage in question is one of the characters from Sorcery and Cecelia.
Zama, Farahad. The Marriage Bureau for Rich People - I liked the first half of this book better than the second. I liked the book overall, so I wouldn't say I disliked the second half. I just found it a trifle less engaging than the first half. The first half of the book follows a recently retired man who has gotten bored and decided to start a business helping arrange marriages. He finds clients, hires an assistant and grows the business. The second half focuses on the man's troubles with his grown son, a political activist, and on a romance for the man's assistant.
I suspect that my preference for the first half comes from the fact that, in the first half, many characters and situations are briefly introduced. I liked the mix of different people all looking to marry. The second half focused strongly on a few characters, characters I liked but still only a few characters.
I found the book funny in an understated way. I recommend it.
All My Darling Daughters - This is a collection of linked short manga by Fumi Yoshinaga. I didn't love any of them (but also didn't hate any of them), and I'm fairly sure I've already forgotten at least one of the stories. I'd call them romances except that they aren't all and don't necessarily end happily. This is definitely aimed at adults-- There's some nudity and sex. The frame story involves a woman who marries a young man who's three years younger than the daughter who lives with her.
Andrews, Donna. Stork Raving Mad - Meg is very pregnant, expecting twins. Her house is full to the rafters with students who have nowhere else to go while the furnace system for their dormitory is being repaired (it's been weeks). The mystery centers on the death of an obnoxious and unethical English professor. In the process of telling the story, Andrews never loses track of Meg's physical condition, and the book contains the usual cast of crazy people.
Bishop, Anne. The Shadow Queen - I always feel like I should apologize for reading Bishop's books (I'm not sure to whom I owe the apology or exactly what it's for. I just feel like it's owed). I also can't reliably read Bishop's books. Sometimes she goes too far with the violence for my taste, and I'm bounced right out of the book. This book was relatively gentle for Bishop, and I rather liked the heroine. She's a low powered queen who's neither pretty nor ambitious. Through a chain of circumstance, she's offered the chance to establish a court in a land that's almost entirely lacking in queens. The book follows her struggle to be accepted and to find her balance.
Bujold, Lois McMaster. Cryoburn - I have surprisingly little to say about this book-- I read it. I enjoyed it. It didn't have everything I wanted (It couldn't have, but that doesn't stop wanting). Miles is still very Miles. The planet where the story was set seemed potentially interesting, but it never really developed strongly.
Burke, James. Circles - I didn't finish this. I kept losing track of the essays as Burke followed minor connections rapidly. Everything was potentially fascinating but gone so quickly. A single paragraph might touch on three or four different things, all of which I'd like to know more about. I suspect that I'd like the essays better if I read one a day or one a week. This was a library book, so I didn't have that option.
Cartoon History of the Modern World 1-2 - Gonick manages to maintain a sense of humor even when talking about atrocities, and there are a lot of atrocities as he covers five hundred or so years (Columbus to the Iraq War). He gives most of his attention to Europe and the United States, but he does cover something about a lot of other cultures at certain points. I hesitated to read these volumes because I knew that a lot of the history was going to depress me (I suspect that the only reason that earlier history doesn't depress me is that we know less. The atrocities simply aren't recorded). Still, I recommend these volumes to those interested in historical surveys. Gonick provides a decent bibliography.
Castle, Jayne. Midnight Jewels - I find the Arcane Society less interesting than Castle's more standalone novels. I think some of it is the way the novels in the series cross pseudonyms and blur the lines between Quick/Krentz/Castle's different settings. This book was standard Castle fair with ghost hunters and forays into the ruins on the planet Harmony. I doubt I'll remember the details in another few weeks.
Chase, Loretta. Last Night's Scandal - I liked both lead characters, and I believed in the attraction and affection between them. What I didn't believe in was the happily ever after. The two characters had a fundamental personality conflict that was never resolved. Basically, his vocation is Egyptian archaeology of the slow, meticulous variety. She needs something interesting happening every moment and will make things happen if nothing is. Archaeology will drive her crazy, and she, in turn, will drive him crazy.
Still, if one can put that aside, the book is fun. Chase writes characters who're memorable in situations that let them show off their personalities.
Crusie, Jennifer. Maybe This Time - I couldn't finish this one. I wasn't interested in the ghosts and found them difficult to get past. I read the beginning and the end with a few bits in the middle (opening the book more or less at random). The romance didn't feel very well integrated with the ghost story. Part of that was having the two romantic leads be geographically separated for most of the book.
Dokey, Cameron. Before Midnight - I find this and the previous Dokey I read interesting because the fairy tales have been tweaked so that the expected villains (the witch from Rapunzel and the step relatives from Cinderella) aren't bad guys. In this case, the step family treats the girl as a servant because her father hasn't told them that she exists and she hasn't told them either. They have no way of knowing that she's anything else. The magic is also very subtle-- It has to do with what will or won't grow where on the estate. I enjoyed the book on the whole though I found the queen's plot with the girl's father difficult to believe for reasons of timing.
Estes, Eleanor. The Curious Adventures of Jimmy McGee - This is sort of a sequel to The Witch Family. I came to this book prepared to like it because The Witch Family was a childhood favorite. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it. The prose had a dated slanginess. The story-- about a tiny, magical plumber and an enchanted doll-- didn't go anywhere interesting. The only connection to The Witch Family was the two little girls, Amy and Clarissa, and they didn't feel very connected to what was going on with Jimmy McGee.
Friesner, Esther. Temping Fate - I enjoyed this book. It was light and funny and just what I needed right then. The main character has been searching for a summer job and ends up at a very odd temp agency. As it turns out, the agency provides temps for gods (most of those in the book are Greek, but there are a couple of mentions of temping for other pantheons). The main character ends up temping for the Fates. It's been long enough since I read this that the details are hazy, but I liked the characters, particularly Arachne.
Hoffman, Alice. Aquamarine - There was less to this book than I expected. I don't think it took me more than half an hour to read it. I'm not sure why I expected more oomph, but I did. Two girls are doing their best to enjoy the last few days of summer. One of them is about to move to Florida, and they know that it may be months or even years before they see each other again. A storm washes a mermaid into an abandoned pool near the equally abandoned beach, and the girls have to help her.
Mantchev, Lisa. Perchance to Dream - I found this book more confusing than its predecessor, Eyes Like Stars. Events seemed to come a bit too fast and in fragments. I couldn't always recall how the characters got from point A to point H. I also find the romantic triangle just a bit creepy-- The two guys are effectively immortal and ancient and have known the heroine since she was quite small. The imagery and characters still work. I'll probably give the sequel a try, should there be one and I encounter it.
Naruto 47-49 - The long fights bore me. I was skimming a lot. Sasuke bores me, too. I'm not sure I like what's being set up here. I'm still hopeful that it will come together okay (and I'll keep reading because Scott looks for the series at the library). I'm not sure what I want from the series. I suppose I'll figure it out as I read and either get it or don't.
Ooku: the Inner Chambers 3-5 - The pseudo-old fashioned language still doesn't work. I'm also not sure about the way the author has chosen to keep so many historical events the same. It does show that Japan hasn't changed even with women running things, but I keep thinking that the people filling these roles are different from the people in real history. Events should fall out differently.
Ouran High School Host Club 13-14 - I've forgotten so much of what went before that these volumes felt disconnected. Maybe I should get back to reading manga regularly. At any rate, it was interesting to see the characters realizing their romantic interests and deciding to (or not to) pursue them.
Peeler, Nicole. Tempest Rising - I keep confusing myself by thinking that the main character's name is Tempest when it's actually Jane. I believe the 'tempest' in the title is a metaphorical reference to the coming war in the supernatural community (I'm guessing, but war seems likely given events in this book). Jane is a small town girl with a tragic past who loves swimming in all sorts of weather. In the course of the book, she discovers that she's half selkie which explains why she doesn't feel cold and can swim in even the stormiest sea. There's a sexy vampire who annoyed me less than I expected him to (even while not interesting me very much). I was most interested in supernatural community in the small town and was rather disappointed when the story moved away from that. I liked the book enough to put a hold on the next volume in the series. We'll see how the balance tips from here.
Peeler, Nicole. Tracking the Tempest - I didn't end up reading all of this. It got too anxiety inducing for me. I still liked Jane and still wanted to know what happens to her. I just wasn't enjoying the journey. I suspect that, for people who aren't me, this is a perfectly good second book. I may still request the third book from the library once they have it.
Penman, Sharon Kay. Dragon's Lair - This library book reeked of cigarette smoke, and that rather diminished my enjoyment of it. Of course, after I finished it, I discovered that I owned a copy. That's what I get for not paying attention.
This is another of Penman's medieval mysteries. The main character works as a personal agent for Eleanor of Aquitaine, and he's tasked with finding part of the ransom for King Richard that's been stolen. I didn't feel that the mystery part of the story really worked. There weren't many clues to follow. Still, I enjoyed the characters and the setting. The main character moves between the aristocracy and the lower classes in the course of his work.
Stead, Rebecca. First Light - Under the ice in Greenland, there's a hidden community. They've been in hiding for seven generations after fleeing from those who wanted to kill them for their unusual abilities. They're running out of space, but their traditions forbid going up to the surface. Meanwhile, a boy from New York comes to Greenland so his father can study the effects of global warming on the ice sheet. Naturally, he encounters kids from the hidden community when they emerge for illicit exploration.
The book's better than it sounds and more complicated. The hidden community has a definite and unique culture, and the boy's parents have a part to play in the story, too, their own secrets.
Stevermer, Caroline. Magic Below Stairs - This is set in Stevermer and Wrede's Sorcery and Cecelia universe. It's about a boy who is a very junior servant in a mage's (I can't remember the word this universe uses for a user of magic. It's been a while) household and his encounters with magic, both through the mage and through a (if I remember correctly) brownie. I found the book slight. I was hoping for more from it. Still completists for the setting will want it because the mage in question is one of the characters from Sorcery and Cecelia.
Zama, Farahad. The Marriage Bureau for Rich People - I liked the first half of this book better than the second. I liked the book overall, so I wouldn't say I disliked the second half. I just found it a trifle less engaging than the first half. The first half of the book follows a recently retired man who has gotten bored and decided to start a business helping arrange marriages. He finds clients, hires an assistant and grows the business. The second half focuses on the man's troubles with his grown son, a political activist, and on a romance for the man's assistant.
I suspect that my preference for the first half comes from the fact that, in the first half, many characters and situations are briefly introduced. I liked the mix of different people all looking to marry. The second half focused strongly on a few characters, characters I liked but still only a few characters.
I found the book funny in an understated way. I recommend it.
