Book Logging
Aug. 1st, 2016 11:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_rckAiken, Joan. The People in the Castle - I had more trouble getting through this than I expected to. I’m not sure if it’s that I wasn’t in the right mood for short stories or if I wasn’t getting properly into the spirit of the general oddness of Aiken’s work. I recognized some of the stories as things I’d read before. I would have liked a little more commentary on the stories, something to tell me why the editors picked these stories in particular and what the publication history was of each. I don’t think I would suggest this collection as a starting point for Aiken’s short stories. Then again, it might work better for some people because it’s kind of scattershot and covers a lot of different types of Aiken’s stories.
A Great Big Ugly Man Came Up and Tied His Horse to Me - Illustrated by Wallace Tripp. I had read this before, but I hadn’t seen a copy in a couple of decades. I’m very fond of the book of nursery rhymes that Tripp illustrated, Granfa’ Grigg Had a Pig. This was in the same vein, but the poems came from more varied sources even including some attributed to specific authors. I think it’s rather a pity that these books seem to be out of print. I think they’re a nice balance between rhymes that children will enjoy with illustrations that both they and their parents will enjoy.
Wodehouse, P.G. Jeeves Takes Charge - I was a little worried when I saw that the box said that these stories came from Carry On, Jeeves. I thought that meant I’d have heard these already. Fortunately, listening to the first CD let me know that I didn’t know these stories at all. I think I’m never going to fall in love with Wodehouse, but these are a pleasant listen.
Started but not finished:
Bonfiglioli, Kyril. Don’t Point that Thing at Me - This was supposed to be funny, but I didn’t find it so. The book is in first person point of view, and the narrator loathes everyone he encounters because he and everyone else in the book is terrible. It’s catalogued as a mystery at our library, so I assume it is. I didn’t get to that part. It was originally published in the 1970s, and there’s racist, sexist, ablist, homophobic stuff coming out of the narrator’s mouth.
Bragg, Georgia. How They Choked: Failures, Flops, and Flaws of the Awfully Famous - We tried this audiobook on the way down to Chicago and listened to about half an hour of it. We were bored and decided against giving it any more time. The whole thing runs four CDs, so half an hour is a pretty decent sample. The entire part we listened to was talking about Marco Polo. Marco Polo should not be dull.
Brogan, Tracy. Hold My Heart - I only got about five pages into this one. It was supposed to be funny, but I didn’t find it so and didn’t feel like sticking around to see if things improved. I gave up when the heroine was crouched next to a dumpster in order to pee and discovered that she was peeing on her foot. I’m pretty sure that someone (probably the hero) was about to stumble upon her for maximum embarrassment. That’s not my definition of humor and not the sort of meet cute that I want to see.
Foiled - I kept this graphic novel for twelve weeks to see if I’d pick it up and finish reading it. I didn’t. I looked at the ending, and maybe a sequel might interest me, but I’m not sure. I just didn’t bond with the main character. I think part of the problem is that this is, more than anything, an origin story with a lot of layers that the main character doesn’t perceive and that, as a result, aren’t revealed to the reader, just kind of hinted at in the last few pages.
Giant Days 2 - I just… I mostly didn’t want to spend time with Susan and Esther. They irritated me. They might grow up into people I’d enjoy spending time with, but I don’t want to right now.
Lee, Yoon Ha. Ninefox Gambit - I really liked the style, and I’m very intrigued by the setting and by what I’ve heard about the premise, but I couldn’t deal with the level of violence in the first chapter, not right at the moment. I suspect that this may be more Scott’s type of book than mine since he really enjoys mentally chewy military SF. I tend to get bored by fight sequences, so I’m not as big a fan. I may well try this one again, though. I just can’t renew it because someone else wants it.
A Great Big Ugly Man Came Up and Tied His Horse to Me - Illustrated by Wallace Tripp. I had read this before, but I hadn’t seen a copy in a couple of decades. I’m very fond of the book of nursery rhymes that Tripp illustrated, Granfa’ Grigg Had a Pig. This was in the same vein, but the poems came from more varied sources even including some attributed to specific authors. I think it’s rather a pity that these books seem to be out of print. I think they’re a nice balance between rhymes that children will enjoy with illustrations that both they and their parents will enjoy.
Wodehouse, P.G. Jeeves Takes Charge - I was a little worried when I saw that the box said that these stories came from Carry On, Jeeves. I thought that meant I’d have heard these already. Fortunately, listening to the first CD let me know that I didn’t know these stories at all. I think I’m never going to fall in love with Wodehouse, but these are a pleasant listen.
Started but not finished:
Bonfiglioli, Kyril. Don’t Point that Thing at Me - This was supposed to be funny, but I didn’t find it so. The book is in first person point of view, and the narrator loathes everyone he encounters because he and everyone else in the book is terrible. It’s catalogued as a mystery at our library, so I assume it is. I didn’t get to that part. It was originally published in the 1970s, and there’s racist, sexist, ablist, homophobic stuff coming out of the narrator’s mouth.
Bragg, Georgia. How They Choked: Failures, Flops, and Flaws of the Awfully Famous - We tried this audiobook on the way down to Chicago and listened to about half an hour of it. We were bored and decided against giving it any more time. The whole thing runs four CDs, so half an hour is a pretty decent sample. The entire part we listened to was talking about Marco Polo. Marco Polo should not be dull.
Brogan, Tracy. Hold My Heart - I only got about five pages into this one. It was supposed to be funny, but I didn’t find it so and didn’t feel like sticking around to see if things improved. I gave up when the heroine was crouched next to a dumpster in order to pee and discovered that she was peeing on her foot. I’m pretty sure that someone (probably the hero) was about to stumble upon her for maximum embarrassment. That’s not my definition of humor and not the sort of meet cute that I want to see.
Foiled - I kept this graphic novel for twelve weeks to see if I’d pick it up and finish reading it. I didn’t. I looked at the ending, and maybe a sequel might interest me, but I’m not sure. I just didn’t bond with the main character. I think part of the problem is that this is, more than anything, an origin story with a lot of layers that the main character doesn’t perceive and that, as a result, aren’t revealed to the reader, just kind of hinted at in the last few pages.
Giant Days 2 - I just… I mostly didn’t want to spend time with Susan and Esther. They irritated me. They might grow up into people I’d enjoy spending time with, but I don’t want to right now.
Lee, Yoon Ha. Ninefox Gambit - I really liked the style, and I’m very intrigued by the setting and by what I’ve heard about the premise, but I couldn’t deal with the level of violence in the first chapter, not right at the moment. I suspect that this may be more Scott’s type of book than mine since he really enjoys mentally chewy military SF. I tend to get bored by fight sequences, so I’m not as big a fan. I may well try this one again, though. I just can’t renew it because someone else wants it.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2016-08-02 03:37 am (UTC)I gave up when the heroine was crouched next to a dumpster in order to pee and discovered that she was peeing on her foot.
*eyeroll* Wow, that sounds like great literature...
no subject
Date: 2016-08-03 01:42 am (UTC)The romance was supposed to be funny. Maybe some people would think that was? It sounds like something you'd get in a crappy sitcom.
no subject
Date: 2016-08-02 03:21 pm (UTC)Ninefox Gambit has been recommended before but I have to be in the right mood for meaty, violent science fiction.
no subject
Date: 2016-08-03 01:36 am (UTC)I remember trying to read Nightbirds on Nantucket when I was young enough that I couldn't actually follow the plot. I understood the first few chapters but got utterly lost after that.
no subject
Date: 2016-08-02 03:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-08-03 01:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-08-04 02:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-08-04 08:19 pm (UTC)I prefer Granfa Grigg Had a Pig because it's a bit longer and because it has more rhymes I already knew, but I liked A Great Big Ugly Man enough to order another Tripp illustrated book, Rose's Are Red, Violet's Are Blue.
I thought there was another book he illustrated called something like Mister Lister Sassed His Sister, but I haven't been able to find any trace of it. I remember it from first or second grade (early 1970s), so me being utterly wrong about the title isn't out of the question. I just remember the rhyme:
Mister Lister sassed his sister,
Married his wife 'cause he couldn't resist her.
Two time two times two he kissed her.
How many times is that, dear sister?
I don't think I made that up.