(no subject)

[geekchick]

Been a while (January? Eep.) since I took stock of what I'd been reading. Part of that, I admit, is that for several months I was distracted by crochet hooks and yarn and spent less time with my nose in a book.

• Living History, Hillary Rodham Clinton. I admit it, I didn't finish this. I just couldn't get past the utter boredom factor in the first part of the book and put it down. Maybe it gets better later on, but I just couldn't get far enough to find out. And like I said earlier, I like Hillary, so that's not the problem.
  
• Fantastic Voyage, Ray Kurzweil. Um. I'm even reasonably sympathetic to Ray's life extension goals, but I still think that he's way out in the outfield. He's not quite across the "complete crackpot" line yet, but I think he can probably see it from where he's standing. None of this should be interpreted as my not enjoying the book, by the way, although I was hoping for less on the nanobots we're all going to be crawling with in twenty years.
  
• The Master of All Desires, Judith Merkle Riley. Historical fantasy, as it were; you've got Nostradamus, Catherine de Medici, Henri II, and Diane de Poitiers. Catherine is trying to get hold of the Master of All Desires, aka Menander the Undying (who sold his soul in exchange for eternal life, and is now reduced to a talking head in a box), so that she can wish back her husband's affections from his mistress. Menander is currently in the possession of Sibille, who wants to be rid of him but since she won't make a wish, she's stuck with him. (He will grant you whatever you wish, but it's wise to be very careful of what you wish for. Until you make a wish, you can't get rid of him.) It's up to a cranky Nostradamus to try to sort everything out. There are some wonderfully amusing bits in this book, and I actually rather liked the character of Menander (I like snarky, you might've noticed). Fine entertainment.
  
• The Summer Queen, Joan Vinge. I read The Snow Queen long ago, and was pleased to run across this in one on my last trip to McKay's. God, did it take me forever to finish it though. (At almost 700 pages focusing heavily on characters and relationships, I think I can be forgiven for that though.) If you're going to read this, you really do need to start with The Snow Queen first as many (most?) of the major characters are introduced in that book and the web of relationships established there carries over into this book
  
• The Alienist, Caleb Carr. More historical fiction, this time set in New York City in 1896 and focusing on the attempts by our little band of detectives, reporters, and psychiatrists (the "alienist" of the title) to find and stop a serial killer who's murdering and mutilating young male prostitutes. I enjoyed this one a lot and I have the next book, "The Angel of Darkness", already queued up.
  
• Death in Holy Orders, P.D. James. Yeah, I've been on a bit of a murder mystery kick, what of it? No, it probably doesn't mean anything, never fear. This was a good way to spend a couple of evenings curled up on the couch; several deaths, a whole lot of suspects, and the poet-detective. My biggest complaint was that when the motive was revealed, it didn't seem all that compelling; there was a moment or two of "That's it??" I don't think that's spoiling anything for those who haven't read it.
  
• Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair, Pablo Neruda.
  Ya no la quiero, es cierto, pero tal vez la quiero.
  Es tan corto el amor, y es tan largo el olvido.
  

Comments

[crouchback.livejournal.com]

P.D. James is usually quite good.

Have you ever read Martha Grimes at all?

I recently picked up a few books by Lisa See, which feature a member of China's Public Security Bureau (PSB-roughly analogous to the Soviet KGB) as one of the two heroes. I never thought I'd find someone who works for that organization sympathetic, but she pulls it off, IMHO. this (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0061097543/qid=1114731622/sr=8-2/ref=pd_csp_2/103-9586775-6559859?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) is pretty darn good, in particular.

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

It's up to a cranky Nostradamus to try to sort everything out.

Good grief. Must add to overly-long reading list. :-)

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

I've read the Carr and the P.D. James and liked them both. I didn't have the same reaction to the end of Death in Holy Orders that you did - I tend not really to read light fiction that critically.

Were you the person who gave brian1789 A Short History of Nearly Everything? ? If so, I have to thank you. I don't know how much of it he's read, but I am in the middle and it is just wonderful. (Oh and did I tell you how much I adored the Jon Stewart?)

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

Also, as far as fluff goes, have you read any Ian Pearss's ( I think that's how it's spelled) novels? He's written a series of fluffy detective novels, where the detective is an art historian (and a much more interesting and likable guy that that one in The Da Vinci Code). And the plots are more coherent than DVC, too.

[aroraborealis.livejournal.com]

Pablo!

Compré ese libro en enero y poco a poco lo leo. Ahora, necesito más de los libros de Neruda.

[brian1789.livejournal.com]

Puede usted tener amors tan largos y el olvido más corta, mi
querido...

[phinnia.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, Neruda. I just bought an anthology of his. Have you read Rumi? He's wonderful too.
Another one I really loved was 'The God of Small Things' by Andruhati Roy, if you haven't read that.
I've only ever heard of the fable 'The Snow Queen'. *notes that on Powells' wishlist*

[dionysia.livejournal.com]

I love Martha Grimes. I want to marry Richard Jury. ;)

[geekchick]

Have you ever read Martha Grimes at all?

Nope, not yet.

I recently picked up a few books by Lisa See

I went and looked at the one you linked to. Curse you, now I have yet another couple of books to put on my list. =)

[geekchick]

It's not overly challenging, it should at least be a quick read. =)

[geekchick]

Aiiee. And remind me to send you the Witchblade stuff, eh? I'll try to get that packed up this weekend (and I found the extra copy of the DVD I promised you too).

[geekchick]

I tend not really to read light fiction that critically.

I dunno, I don't think I was reading it terribly critically, I just was hoping that when [killer] would've gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddling kids explained the logic it would've been a little more plausible than it was. I can suspend disbelief with the best of them, but I still like it when things make sense. =)

[geekchick]

Have you read Rumi? He's wonderful too.

Yes indeed, I love Rumi.

I can't remember offhand if I read "The God of Small Things" yet, although I think I have it on the shelf at home. (Heh, one of Amazon's SIPs for that one: "inflatable goose".)

[ex-misschili604.livejournal.com]

I haven't yet read Death in Holy Orders, but BBC showed the first part of the film version, but the next week, Pope JPII up and died, so they wouldn't show the conclusion. We haven't gotten to see it yet.

[crouchback.livejournal.com]

Heh.

I'll be posting about some books I read and burdening you further. :)

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

No worries. :-)