Posted December 17, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 4 Comments
Cleopatra: Last Queen of Egypt, Joyce Tyldesley
This book is a solid biography of Cleopatra, appreciating her cleverness and ability as a politician, and examining how the world at the time reacted to her. It’s perhaps a little drier than people would hope — how could you make Cleopatra so academic, when she’s such a colourful figure? Well, I don’t mind that at all, and I enjoyed the way it contextualised her achievements and dissected the myths surrounding her. It delves into the background of her rule and her city, as well, giving a picture of Egypt under the Ptolemies.
I’ve enjoyed other books by Tyldesley before, and though it’s not one of my areas of expertise, I have found her books well-written, referenced and clear. That’s more than I can say for some other Egyptologists who write for the pop-history crowd. Other than that, I don’t have much basis to make a judgement, but I found this one enjoyable.
Rating: 4/5
Tags: book reviews, books, history, non-fiction
Posted December 17, 2016 by Nicky in General / 12 Comments
Happy Saturday! It was going to be an Unstacking, and then people on Netgalley decided to be generous… Also, I have read a lot this week, and it makes me happy. I might actually end up hitting my yearly goals by accident.
Received to review:
New Scalzi! Kameron Hurley! Excited!
Finished this week:
Quite a few of these (Narnia, Throne of Glass) were rereads, but all the same, what a week! Whew.
Reviews posted this week:
–She-Hulk: The Complete Collection vol 1, by Dan Slott et al. Fun, though I think it lost momentum somewhat. 3/5 stars
–Gut, by Giulia Enders. Irreverent and definitely aimed at the layman, and therefore quite a lot of fun. 3/5 stars
–Emma, by Jane Austen. I hate Emma, as a character. ’nuff said. 2/5 stars
–The Boys from Brazil, by Ira Levin. Not a fan, let’s say. 2/5 stars
–The Man Everybody Was Afraid Of, by Joseph Hansen. There’s a lot of red herrings and such here, but it’s still a solid story. 3/5 stars
–Moon Tiger, by Penelope Lively. This is also a book I wasn’t a fan of. Very consciously literary, and unlikeable characters to boot. 1/5 stars
–Flashback Friday: Cold Night Lullaby, by Colin MacKay. Do you want to make yourself cry in the most undignified way you can imagine? This might help. 5/5 stars
Other posts:
–Top Ten Tuesday: Books in First Half of 2017. Whoa, there’s a lot to look forward to.
–What are you reading Wednesday. The weekly update.
Got something to look forward to in the next week? Share!
Tags: books, Stacking the Shelves, weekly roundup
Posted December 16, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
Cold Night Lullaby, Colin MacKay
Flashback Friday from 25th December, 2009
I asked for Colin Mackay’s Cold Night Lullaby for Christmas 2009 because of Karine Polwart’s song, ‘Waterlily’. It’s a beautiful song, and one that has been known to make me cry — based on Colin Mackay’s writing about his experiences in Bosnia, about the woman he loved, Svetlana. I couldn’t tell you about the really technical merits of the poetry right now, but the images are so vivid, searing. I doubt I can ever, ever listen to ‘Waterlily’ again without crying. Especially when I know what Colin Mackay went on to do — how he killed himself, so very, very methodically.
Reading around a little, I can see that there are some questions about geography/chronology in these poems. I wouldn’t be surprised by some fictionality, or inaccuracy due to how confusing and bewildering living through something like that can be, how destroying, but I think that Colin Mackay probably believed every word he wrote — and that’s what matters.
Rating: 5/5
Tags: book reviews, books, Flashback Friday, poetry
Posted December 15, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
Moon Tiger, Penelope Lively
I don’t know why I originally picked this up: it’s the sort of consciously literary creation that doesn’t normally work for me, and so proved to be the case this time too. The meandering, disconnected narration might’ve been clever, I suppose, but to me, it just got in the way of the story. And the story… well, nothing special as far as my tastes go; full of characters I didn’t really like or root for. Pretty much my nightmare as far as a book goes.
The writing itself is pretty, at times, evocative, though sometimes too consciously so.
Chalk it up to ‘not for me’ and move on…
Rating: 1/5
Tags: book reviews, books
Posted December 14, 2016 by Nicky in General / 0 Comments
What have you recently finished reading?
A bunch of things, actually; it’s been a pretty good week for reading. The most recently finished was my reread of Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas; I still think it’s fun, but I don’t see why anyone ever thought it was the most amazing thing ever. Solidly enjoyable, yes, but… And if you have an OTP in these books, I don’t see how: Celaena goes from being still in love with Sam in the first part to falling for Dorian to toying with Chaol all in the same book. More power to her, but it doesn’t display great constancy.
What are you currently reading?
I’ve started rereading the second of Sarah Zettel’s Paths to Camelot books, Camelot’s Honour. It’s the most Welsh of the bunch, it sometimes seems, particularly since it draws most from the Mabinogion. But also for language stuff, like references to the tylwyth teg. I haven’t got very far with it yet.
I’m also about to start rereading The Silver Chair, which is possibly my least favourite of the Narnia books. Honestly, sometimes I feel like skipping it and The Last Battle entirely.
What are you planning to read next?
I don’t really have a plan, honestly. I might start by rereading The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay… then again, I might wait until I’ve finished at least one of the series I have on the go.
Tags: books, reading meme
Posted December 14, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
The Man Everybody Was Afraid Of, Joseph Hansen
This is one of those mysteries where you can’t root for the mystery to be solved for the sake of the victim, a man who was a bully, a racist, and thoroughly unpleasant in almost all his interactions. Instead, the characters surrounding them need to get their hooks into you, and in this case that didn’t really work for me. Much more central was Dave’s sadness over his father’s illness, his disconnection with Doug, and the connection he does form with Cecil — one that rather surprises a reader familiar with Dave, who doesn’t seem like the type to be very appreciative of cheating, and yet does so himself.
It gets a little bit too convoluted in solving the mystery, in order to bring in a bunch of red herrings and implicate several different characters. That made it frustrating, and not quite as smooth a read for me as the earlier books. It’s still enjoyable, but not a favourite.
Rating: 3/5
Tags: book reviews, books, crime, Joseph Hansen, mystery, queer fic
Posted December 13, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
The Boys from Brazil, Ira Levin
The Boys from Brazil is a bit of a classic; I actually remember my Religious Studies teacher telling us the basic plot and asking us about the moral issues at the centre. So for quite a while, I’ve been very interested to read it. It’s a bit odd to read, because it’s written with a sort of affect-less style: ‘the man did this and then the man did that, and turned to the blond man and said…’ I mean, here’s an actual example of the style:
“The blond man, panting, stopped stabbing, and the black-haired man lowered the surprised-eyed young man gently to the floor, laid him down there half on the gray rug and half on varnished wood. The blond man held his bloody knife-hand over the young man and said to the black-haired man, ‘A towel.'”
Aaargghh.
The actual plot and the thriller aspect is interesting, and the moral dilemma is perhaps more relevant/possible now than it was when the book was written, but I do think it’s dated badly and the writing style does it no favours.
Rating: 2/5
Tags: book reviews, books, SF/F
Posted December 13, 2016 by Nicky in General / 10 Comments
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday theme is all about the books upcoming in the first half of 2017. While I’m not always on the ball about this stuff, there are a surprising number of books I’m actually aware of. Here goes…
- City of Miracles, by Robert Jackson Bennett. This is a sequel to City of Stairs and City of Blades and I need it, I need it now.
- Strange the Dreamer, by Laini Taylor. I don’t need to know much about this. I love Laini Taylor’s prose just to begin with!
- Our Dark Duet, by Victoria Schwab. I loved This Savage Song, sooo I’m pretty confident I’m gonna be happy about this one.
- Down Among the Sticks and Bones, by Seanan McGuire. This is a companion/prequel to Every Heart A Doorway, and I’m definitely excited to see what it does with the characters.
- Thick As Thieves, by Megan Whalen Turner. I was so excited when I spotted this! I recently reread the other books, too, so I’m aaaall ready for this one.
- Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman. Between Gaiman’s skill as a writer and my interest in Norse mythology, this book is bound to be awesome.
- Frogkisser, by Garth Nix. Only just found out about this one, but it’s Garth Nix — I’ll read it eventually.
- A Conjuring of Light, by V.E. Schwab. Okay, I actually need to read the second book first, but still…
- The Upside of Unrequited, by Becky Albertalli. I enjoyed Albertalli’s other book, so this one should be fun.
- Traitor to the Throne, by Alwyn Hamilton. The first book didn’t totally knock my socks off the way it did for some people, but it was still a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes.
Aaargh, just gimme them already.
Anything else I should have thought of?
Tags: books, Top Ten Tuesday
Posted December 12, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 4 Comments
Emma, Jane Austen
I came very late to an appreciation of Austen’s work — via a copy of Northanger Abbey some previous student had annotated with rather astute observations, actually. Emma is definitely not my favourite of Austen’s works; it seems to drag, and the whole situation is just embarrassing, with Emma being so stuck up and arrogant, but so naive. I’m not honestly sure why the character she marries in the end actually loves her, since he is a man of taste and discernment. Sure, she realises she’s been an idiot, but I’m not entirely sure she realises why and how not to do it again.
Since I get really bad second-hand embarrassment, then, it’s perhaps not surprising that Emma isn’t my favourite Austen, nor Emma my favourite of her heroines. Austen’s writing is still witty, her eye for character and the ridiculousness of people exacting, but… I just don’t like it. I’m glad I’ve now read it, but I wouldn’t read it again, and I recall enjoying Austen’s other novels rather more than this one, which felt like a chore.
There, Mum, are you happy I’m not a cuckoo in your nest now?
Rating: 2/5
Tags: book reviews, books, classics
Posted December 11, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
Gut: The Inside Story of our Body’s Most Underrated Organ, Giulia Enders
Gut is a fun light read; it’s not in-depth or academic at all — it doesn’t even have an index! — but it is fun and informative for a layperson. There’s no technical stuff here that isn’t explained, and there’s a fairly light tone to all of it, sometimes quite irreverent. Sometimes, however, you can’t really say it’s irreverent because it’s full of an enthusiasm and awe for our digestive system and everything it can do.
My main quibble was that it was too casual, too light, too much for the layperson. This wouldn’t be my chosen field even if I wanted to, but with just a couple of other books covering similar topics under my belt, a lot of it was just boring. (For example, for stuff on microbes, go for Missing Microbes by Martin Blaser, instead. Much more informative and in-depth, albeit not so easy a read.)
It’s fun, and it probably works well for the intended audience; I’m just not that audience, really. I did learn some interesting facts, and the diagrams/illustrations are pretty fun.
Rating: 3/5
Tags: book reviews, books, non-fiction
