Book Logging
Aug. 26th, 2012 09:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_rckAndrews, Donna. Some Like it Hawk - The title of this one is a bit of a stretch as the hawk is just barely in the story (and could be dropped without affecting the main plot in any way). This is an amusing entry in the Meg Lanslow series. Anyone who's liked other books in the series will likely enjoy this one. I don't think it's the place to start. Many characters appear who've been established in other books, and the amusement of them comes from knowing them and their quirks already.
The Cartoon History of the Universe III - I hadn't realized that there was a third volume in this set, so I was thrilled to discover it and bought it immediately. Gonick manages to keep history interesting even as he's speeding through centuries and continents. His style even kept me from getting too depressed as he discussed atrocity after atrocity (history is full of terrible things). I highly recommend all of Gonick's history books.
Dominic, R.B. Murder in High Place - I keep wanting to put an article into this title. I had to check the title page to make sure that the title on the cover (and spine) wasn't a typo. In this one, the fuss centers around an anthropology grad student who had been doing fieldwork in a fictional Latin American country. There was a big scandal, and she got called back home by the foundation sponsoring her grant. She claims she's been framed and has reasonable proof of that fact. Of course, that's an even bigger scandal than the one that got her sent home to begin with. Then people start dying. I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as I have others in the series. The grad student was frustrating to read about, and I didn't buy the romance inserted into the book.
Dominic, R.B. Murder, Sunny Side Up - I'm kind of sad that this is the last R.B. Dominic book that I read. Well, I'd be sad regardless because last means no more, and I enjoy them, but in this case, I had problems with the book. The plot hinged on some science and engineering that even I could spot as iffy. I ran those bits past Scott, and he laughed at them. I still enjoyed the characters and the overall story, but the science left me dissatisfied, and I don't think it's just because the book was written in 1968. This one centers around hearings about a new chemical treatment for eggs, a coating sprayed on them, that keeps them from going bad, even when unrefrigerated, for weeks and weeks.
Grossman, Austin. Soon I Will Be Invincible - This is a superhero novel. In alternating first person points of view, it follows a supervillain, Doctor Impossible, and a cyborg who's just joined the premier superhero team, Fatale. I liked the breadth of the supporting cast. There were a lot of heros and villains mentioned, and they all felt like they had story.
Huff, Tanya. The Wild Ways - This is the second book in a series (there isn't, so far as I know, a third yet). It focuses on different characters than did the first book, and I think that's a strength. The Gales, the family at the center of the series, are still scary enough that I'm just as happy they don't really exist. All the good things their magic brings them have to come at someone else's expense. This book has selkies and music and an evil CEO trying to get an offshore oil well drilled.
Kelly, Carla. The Admiral's Penniless Bride - I liked both the hero and heroine in this one, and I have a weakness for people who marry and then come to love each other. The hero is a retired admiral who wants a wife without all the fuss of searching for one and courting her. The heroine is a widow, supporting herself as a paid companion, who hasn't got enough money to buy a meal. They know very little about each other when they marry, and she's hiding a secret that will drive them apart. This being a romance, of course things work out.
Kennedy, Richard. The Dark Princess - I suspect that this ended up on my to be read list accidentally. That is, I think I was checking the library for a different book titled The Dark Princess and found this one. This one didn't really work for me. It was short, fairy tale-ish and tragic. It's about a princess so beautiful that people, so they won't be blinded, can only view her by looking through a piece of colored glass.
Klimo, Kate. The Dragon in the Sock Drawer - The kids in this book find a thunder egg that resists being cut open and, eventually, hatches a dragon. At first, their main concern is keeping it fed. Then they discover that an evil man wants to take their dragon away in order to drink its blood and extend his own life. The resolution of the story comes rather too easily (though that's largely because it's short and aimed young). There are several sequels. I'll try the next one.
Nesbit, E. The Phoenix and the Carpet - This was a reread, but I'd forgotten so much about the book in the last thirty or so years, that it felt like a first time read. There're some racist bits I'd rather have skipped, and I went through the book more slowly than I expected because I kept wanting the children to react the way I would and kept having to remind myself how young they were and how little experience of the adult world they had. I wonder what I'd have done with a magic carpet when I was their age.
Scalzi, John. Redshirts - This was almost more meta than I could handle. I did like the look at what life on ship carrying out a TV show's missions would be like for the people who weren't main characters. The high body count on away missions makes everybody who can avoid them and those who can't assume they're doomed. Scalzi managed to keep things light even while lots of characters were dying in order to show how the monsters worked (or to prove that the situation was truly dire). I liked the solution the characters chose to pursue.
Springer, Nancy. The Case of the Missing Marquess - I read a later book in this series several years ago, but I never went back to the series. This is the first book in the Enola Holmes series. Enola is Sherlock's fourteen year old sister. In this book, her mother vanishes (willingly, seeking freedom she doesn't have otherwise), leaving Enola to the care of her older brothers. Mycroft arranges for Enola to be sent to a boarding school to learn to be a proper lady. She objects and runs away. She's intelligent and resourceful. I'll probably be reading other books in the series.
Vernon, Ursula. Nurk: the Strange, Surprising Adventures of a (Somewhat) Brave Shrew - I liked Nurk. He had the right mix of caution and courage. He wanted an adventure, but he also wanted clean socks and fresh food. He planned his trip as well as he could and then ventured into the complete unknown. There were points when he could have turned back in the face of the creepy, strange and dangerous things he encountered, but he persevered. I enjoyed this one.
These are the books I started but didn't finish.
Dare, Tessa. A Week to Be Wicked - I bounce off a lot of romances. In this case, there didn't seem to be anything wrong with the book. I just didn't get into it, and opening it here and there to see if something would catch me didn't help. I may try it again later or may try one of Dare's other books. My mood might be different enough to change the outcome.
Jeapes, Ben. The New World Order - I read a little of this, and it looked grim. I simply wasn't feeling up to grim. This one is about alien intervention in the English civil war, early on.
McKay, Hilary. Dolphin Luck - I just couldn't. Events in this book touch on a particular anxiety of mine-- accidentally getting off at the wrong stop. The kids do it twice, and I just couldn't cope (even though they seemed to be doing fine). The library's remaining McKay books are also about this particular family. I don't know if I'll dare them or not.
Nix, Garth. A Confusion of Princes - I had this from the library for eight weeks and made only minimal progress. I didn't feel much sympathy for the main character, and I wasn't intrigued enough by the world to persevere. I'm not sure why. The setting had the potential to be fascinating in a dystopic way.
Regan, Dian Curtis. Princess Nevermore - I don't recall how this got on my books to try list. It's not my usual sort of thing, and I ended up not caring for it much. Quinn, the princess in the title, is curious about the world above-- our everyday world-- and manages to travel to it. The book follows her discovering what people her age do in our world. I'm just not that interested in teenagers.
Selznick, Brian. The Invention of Hugo Cabret - I feel a bit bad not finishing this one. It's a quick read. Half the pages are pictures, and often there's only a small amount of text on the text only pages. I simply wasn't enjoying Hugo's obsession with the automaton, and I found the precariousness of his position anxiety inducing rather than interesting. I'm not sorry I tried the book.
Weber, David. War Maid's Choice - Every so often, I have to try a Weber book to see if it's readable. He has written some books that I enjoyed, and I keep hoping he'll do it again. He divides the story up among so many characters that I don't care about what any of them are doing. I don't really feel a great need to follow all of the villains' schemes. Weber also doesn't let his characters grow. They face bigger challenges in every book, but those challenges don't alter the characters. That's okay for a book or two before it gets old. I can't remember, at this point, whether or not I actually read the previous book in this series. It's a pity. I liked the first two books.
The Cartoon History of the Universe III - I hadn't realized that there was a third volume in this set, so I was thrilled to discover it and bought it immediately. Gonick manages to keep history interesting even as he's speeding through centuries and continents. His style even kept me from getting too depressed as he discussed atrocity after atrocity (history is full of terrible things). I highly recommend all of Gonick's history books.
Dominic, R.B. Murder in High Place - I keep wanting to put an article into this title. I had to check the title page to make sure that the title on the cover (and spine) wasn't a typo. In this one, the fuss centers around an anthropology grad student who had been doing fieldwork in a fictional Latin American country. There was a big scandal, and she got called back home by the foundation sponsoring her grant. She claims she's been framed and has reasonable proof of that fact. Of course, that's an even bigger scandal than the one that got her sent home to begin with. Then people start dying. I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as I have others in the series. The grad student was frustrating to read about, and I didn't buy the romance inserted into the book.
Dominic, R.B. Murder, Sunny Side Up - I'm kind of sad that this is the last R.B. Dominic book that I read. Well, I'd be sad regardless because last means no more, and I enjoy them, but in this case, I had problems with the book. The plot hinged on some science and engineering that even I could spot as iffy. I ran those bits past Scott, and he laughed at them. I still enjoyed the characters and the overall story, but the science left me dissatisfied, and I don't think it's just because the book was written in 1968. This one centers around hearings about a new chemical treatment for eggs, a coating sprayed on them, that keeps them from going bad, even when unrefrigerated, for weeks and weeks.
Grossman, Austin. Soon I Will Be Invincible - This is a superhero novel. In alternating first person points of view, it follows a supervillain, Doctor Impossible, and a cyborg who's just joined the premier superhero team, Fatale. I liked the breadth of the supporting cast. There were a lot of heros and villains mentioned, and they all felt like they had story.
Huff, Tanya. The Wild Ways - This is the second book in a series (there isn't, so far as I know, a third yet). It focuses on different characters than did the first book, and I think that's a strength. The Gales, the family at the center of the series, are still scary enough that I'm just as happy they don't really exist. All the good things their magic brings them have to come at someone else's expense. This book has selkies and music and an evil CEO trying to get an offshore oil well drilled.
Kelly, Carla. The Admiral's Penniless Bride - I liked both the hero and heroine in this one, and I have a weakness for people who marry and then come to love each other. The hero is a retired admiral who wants a wife without all the fuss of searching for one and courting her. The heroine is a widow, supporting herself as a paid companion, who hasn't got enough money to buy a meal. They know very little about each other when they marry, and she's hiding a secret that will drive them apart. This being a romance, of course things work out.
Kennedy, Richard. The Dark Princess - I suspect that this ended up on my to be read list accidentally. That is, I think I was checking the library for a different book titled The Dark Princess and found this one. This one didn't really work for me. It was short, fairy tale-ish and tragic. It's about a princess so beautiful that people, so they won't be blinded, can only view her by looking through a piece of colored glass.
Klimo, Kate. The Dragon in the Sock Drawer - The kids in this book find a thunder egg that resists being cut open and, eventually, hatches a dragon. At first, their main concern is keeping it fed. Then they discover that an evil man wants to take their dragon away in order to drink its blood and extend his own life. The resolution of the story comes rather too easily (though that's largely because it's short and aimed young). There are several sequels. I'll try the next one.
Nesbit, E. The Phoenix and the Carpet - This was a reread, but I'd forgotten so much about the book in the last thirty or so years, that it felt like a first time read. There're some racist bits I'd rather have skipped, and I went through the book more slowly than I expected because I kept wanting the children to react the way I would and kept having to remind myself how young they were and how little experience of the adult world they had. I wonder what I'd have done with a magic carpet when I was their age.
Scalzi, John. Redshirts - This was almost more meta than I could handle. I did like the look at what life on ship carrying out a TV show's missions would be like for the people who weren't main characters. The high body count on away missions makes everybody who can avoid them and those who can't assume they're doomed. Scalzi managed to keep things light even while lots of characters were dying in order to show how the monsters worked (or to prove that the situation was truly dire). I liked the solution the characters chose to pursue.
Springer, Nancy. The Case of the Missing Marquess - I read a later book in this series several years ago, but I never went back to the series. This is the first book in the Enola Holmes series. Enola is Sherlock's fourteen year old sister. In this book, her mother vanishes (willingly, seeking freedom she doesn't have otherwise), leaving Enola to the care of her older brothers. Mycroft arranges for Enola to be sent to a boarding school to learn to be a proper lady. She objects and runs away. She's intelligent and resourceful. I'll probably be reading other books in the series.
Vernon, Ursula. Nurk: the Strange, Surprising Adventures of a (Somewhat) Brave Shrew - I liked Nurk. He had the right mix of caution and courage. He wanted an adventure, but he also wanted clean socks and fresh food. He planned his trip as well as he could and then ventured into the complete unknown. There were points when he could have turned back in the face of the creepy, strange and dangerous things he encountered, but he persevered. I enjoyed this one.
These are the books I started but didn't finish.
Dare, Tessa. A Week to Be Wicked - I bounce off a lot of romances. In this case, there didn't seem to be anything wrong with the book. I just didn't get into it, and opening it here and there to see if something would catch me didn't help. I may try it again later or may try one of Dare's other books. My mood might be different enough to change the outcome.
Jeapes, Ben. The New World Order - I read a little of this, and it looked grim. I simply wasn't feeling up to grim. This one is about alien intervention in the English civil war, early on.
McKay, Hilary. Dolphin Luck - I just couldn't. Events in this book touch on a particular anxiety of mine-- accidentally getting off at the wrong stop. The kids do it twice, and I just couldn't cope (even though they seemed to be doing fine). The library's remaining McKay books are also about this particular family. I don't know if I'll dare them or not.
Nix, Garth. A Confusion of Princes - I had this from the library for eight weeks and made only minimal progress. I didn't feel much sympathy for the main character, and I wasn't intrigued enough by the world to persevere. I'm not sure why. The setting had the potential to be fascinating in a dystopic way.
Regan, Dian Curtis. Princess Nevermore - I don't recall how this got on my books to try list. It's not my usual sort of thing, and I ended up not caring for it much. Quinn, the princess in the title, is curious about the world above-- our everyday world-- and manages to travel to it. The book follows her discovering what people her age do in our world. I'm just not that interested in teenagers.
Selznick, Brian. The Invention of Hugo Cabret - I feel a bit bad not finishing this one. It's a quick read. Half the pages are pictures, and often there's only a small amount of text on the text only pages. I simply wasn't enjoying Hugo's obsession with the automaton, and I found the precariousness of his position anxiety inducing rather than interesting. I'm not sorry I tried the book.
Weber, David. War Maid's Choice - Every so often, I have to try a Weber book to see if it's readable. He has written some books that I enjoyed, and I keep hoping he'll do it again. He divides the story up among so many characters that I don't care about what any of them are doing. I don't really feel a great need to follow all of the villains' schemes. Weber also doesn't let his characters grow. They face bigger challenges in every book, but those challenges don't alter the characters. That's okay for a book or two before it gets old. I can't remember, at this point, whether or not I actually read the previous book in this series. It's a pity. I liked the first two books.
