Tag: books

Top Ten Tuesday

Posted April 26, 2016 by Nicky in General / 10 Comments

This week’s theme from The Broke and The Bookish is “top ten bookworm delights”, and guys, I don’t know how I’m going to narrow it down to ten.

The smell of books. When conditions conspire for that perfect new book smell… apparently it involves vanillin? Which makes sense, since that’s vanilla-like and vanilla is my favourite scent.
When your favourite author has a new book coming out. Extra bonus points if you can get hold of the ARC.
Finding the right book for someone else. My sister is tearing her way through David Weber’s Honor Harrington books, for example. I got her the first couple and it is so exciting to watch her gnawing through the whole series.
The taste of words. The sound and mouth-feel of words triggers my synaesthesia, so yep, I get to taste books. And that tends to come together into an overall impression for me. The Hobbit is Werther’s Originals, for example. Robin Hobb’s Royal Assassin is dark chocolate.
Finding a bookshop with unexpected stock. Whether that’s range or just a shelf with a couple of surprises, I love it. That’s part of why I hit most of the bookshops in Calgary in my rather brief visit there.
Wind and rain outside, me and book inside. Especially if I can curl up in bed or under my patchwork blanket.
Finding a new favourite. That moment when you read a book and know it’s going to stay with you. Most recent for me? Every Heart A Doorway, which I just reviewed yesterday.
Readathons. Official or otherwise. Just that awesome feeling of a stack of books and plenty of time to read them, serially, for as long as you can.
Books that make you stay up past bedtime. Just one more page… just one more page…
“Meeting” a character who is just like you. Mori from Among Others is my first choice, but there are so many out there. Kindred spirits, as Anne Shirley would say…

The lists this week should be fun! And I will probably realise I’ve forgotten a super obvious one.

Tags: books, Top Ten Tuesday

Review – Every Heart A Doorway

Posted April 25, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 12 Comments

Every Heart A Doorway, Seanan McGuire

I should probably have written a review the minute I finished this one, but I felt like I needed time to let things settle, and then life took over. For me, it was a really satisfying read, from the plot and setting to the diversity of characters, and it seemed like the perfect length too. Often I want more from novellas, but to me this told the story it had to tell and stopped — with plenty left to think about and wonder about, but not in an unsatisfying way.

My one issue is that there’s one scene that makes the mystery part absolutely obvious: I don’t know if it’s just the way I think, but that was disappointing, because the characters apparently took no notice and then a little while after, there was the actual reveal.

Still, to me the setting — even just the idea — is the central thing: what happens when the story is over, and fairyland spits you back out? I worried about it when I read Cat Valente’s last Fairyland book: how can you go back to normal after that? Wouldn’t normal life be a huge anticlimax — or even just completely baffling? And Every Heart A Doorway deals with that, and with all the different ways people might leave their fairyland, and how they might feel about it. There’s a gorgeously painful part where one of the returnees was trans, and when that was revealed, their world rejected them. And then there’s the way the various worlds fall somewhere on a spectrum between logic and nonsense; the fact that Nancy is (like me) asexual and how that affects her relationships with people; the different ways everyone relates to each other, despite a common background…

Overall, I found it really satisfying, and it emphasised how very much I need to get round to reading more of Seanan McGuire’s work.

Rating: 4/5

Tags: asexuality, book reviews, books, SF/F

Readathon!

Posted April 23, 2016 by Nicky in General / 4 Comments

Yep, it’s that time again — the 24-hour readathon! Today, there won’t be a review post, to keep down the volume of posts, and this will be the only readathon post — I’ll update it with all my progress, rambling, etc. I’m being joined by my sister, so between us, I have high hopes of a) lots of reading and b) actually staying up the whole time, for the first time in a few years. Still, no pressure; I’ll read as long as it’s fun and healthy and sleep if I have to!

So what’s on my pile? Hmmm…

In Progress:

The Last Argument of Kings, Joe Abercrombie. A reread I’ve been meaning to finish for a while.
Murder on a Midsummer Night, Kerry Greenwood. I love this series to bits.
All the Birds in the Sky, Charlie Jane Anders. I was reading this last weekend, and then moving got in the way!

Monthly TBR:

Demon Road, Derek Landy. A review copy, and one I’ve been meaning to read for a while!
Knight’s Shadow, Sebastien de Castell. Ditto.
Passenger, Alexandra Bracken. Technically this is also in progress, though I haven’t read much yet.

Quick reads:

Rat Queens vol. III: Demons, Kurtis J. Wiebe. This just arrived in the past couple of days, and it should be a quick/fun read.
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Power, Ryan North & Erica Henderson. Ditto. Comics make a good palate cleanser for the readathon, in my experience!
Bryony and Roses, T. Kingfisher. Because I’ve been meaning to read it for a while.

And who knows what else, given my grasshopper-mindedness?

12.49: Almost time to start, and here is the opening meme!

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Britain, and I’m not sure it’s fine.
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? Uhhhhh. Bryony and Roses? I’ve heard good things lately.
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? Lightly salty popcorn from Graze. If I can find it. I can only see the “slightly sweet” variety…
4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I just found my lightly salted popcorn!
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to? I’ve participated a bunch of times. This time, I’m actually doing it with my sister, so we might be able to keep each other awake properly. Normally, I end up needing to sleep because I’m cold and ick. But with my sister to compete with… I mean, support…

13.40: Started with Murder on a Midsummer Night, by Kerry Greenwood. Love Phryne. <3

14.47: Finished my first book! Onto Rat Queens now, I think…

15.31: And now I’ve finished Rat Queens. Bit of a mess of a volume, though. Not sure what next — maybe something not from my list…

17.02: Read Bryony and Roses. I loved it! People do such a good job with the Beast’s character.

18.02: Now reading a book not on my original list, Lady of Mallow, by Dorothy Eden. I’m enjoying it! Very Heyer/Stewart-ish.

19.43: Just finished Lady of Mallow. Not sure what next — maybe a little break?

20.53: And now I’ve finished All the Birds in the Sky! This readathon is going better than I expected, really.

22.07: Yikes, it’s been ages since I finished my last book, and I haven’t even picked my next one yet. I think I’m going to go and lie in bed and read for a bit, and then sleep when I’m tired. I always talk about maybe staying up for the whole thing, but apparently I’m just not 22 any more! (I’m 26, so clearly past it.)

12.05: While I was offline, I read Forensics by Val McDermid and The Farthest Shore by Ursula Le Guin. Seven books total now! Almost my record.

Tags: books, readathon

Stacking the Shelves

Posted April 23, 2016 by Nicky in General / 12 Comments

Despite the busy week, I did find time to get to a bookshop — aided and abetted somewhat by Robert @ Bastian’s Book Reviews, of course. I haven’t had time for much reading — you wouldn’t believe how many random clothes I seem to have acquired to sort through — but I have squeezed in a few minutes here and there. Soon, of course, I shall be off to stay with my partner for a few months, and I intend to start out by luxuriously flopping on the floor with our bunny and a book.

Anyway!

Books bought this week:

These have all been on my wishlist for a while, so I was happy enough to finally pick them up! I was very good and resisted other books which haven’t been on my wishlist.

Books read this week:

Reviews posted this week:

–Voyage of the Basilisk, by Marie Brennan. Predictably, loved this reread. Yay for plots and intrigue and deranged practicality! 5/5 stars
–Forest of Memory, by Mary Robinette Kowal. I got more into this than I expected, and wanted to know more. 4/5 stars
–Fated, by Benedict Jacka. Solid urban fantasy, which handles a complex power surprisingly easily (the protagonist can see potential futures). I want to read more. 3/5 stars
–The Skeleton Cupboard, by Tanya Byron. Avoid. Horrible disrespect/dismissal of trans people in the very first chapter. 1/5 stars
–In the Labyrinth of Drakes, by Marie Brennan. Last book for now in this series. I loved it to bits, and it’s really important in the development of Isabella and answers so many questions. 5/5 stars
–SPQR, by Mary Beard. A good survey of Roman history, focusing on the rise of the Empire rather than its decline. 4/5 stars
–Flashback Friday: Liar, by Justine Larbalestier. This is a book I devoured and still find myself pondering at times. 5/5 stars

Other posts:
–Top Ten Tuesday: This week was meant to be funny books, but I’m bad at humour, so instead I did ‘books that made me make delighted noises’.

How’s everyone doing? Lots more reading than me, I hope!

Tags: books, Stacking the Shelves, weekly roundup

Review – Liar

Posted April 22, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Liar, Justine Larbalestier

Originally reviewed 6th January 2011

I first heard of Liar when everyone was talking about the controversy surrounding the original cover. I filed it away in the back of my mind, thinking of picking the book up when it came out. I was reminded of it recently when friends started to talk about it again — through having read it, now — and put it on my last minute Christmas list. Cue me getting it in the mail yesterday, and being almost unable to resist the lure of the first page, which starts with the hook, “I was born with a light covering of fur.”

If you don’t enjoy unreliable narrators, step away right now. Micah is as unreliable as you can get, and the whole book peels back — or layers on — more of her lies.

For the first part of the book, it could be the story of a normal teenager — one who has had bad things happen to her, and who is a loner, yes, but one who is essentially like those around her. It doesn’t stay like that, though: if you’re not a fan of fantastical elements, you probably want to step back now.

The thing with this book is that there are at least two ways of reading it. It’s a delicate balance to walk, but Larbalestier does, in my opinion, walk it well. It wasn’t wholly unpredictable, but I have been spoiled a little by reading other people’s reviews. If you can, and this book sounds interesting to you, then try to go into it knowing as little as possible — just knowing that Micah is a liar (not a spoiler: it’s in the title).

The other thing that pleased me was the fact that the book has non-white characters — chiefly non-white characters, in fact — and LGBT content, plus a generally sex-positive attitude. There’s totally non-explicit sexual references, there’s an understanding of teenagers feeling and dealing with desire, and I didn’t get a ‘sex is bad, hush, we don’t talk about sex’ vibe from it.

(It irks me that there are likely people reading this review thinking, ‘I’d better not give this to my teenage daughter.’ There’s nothing in this that would have damaged my fragile fourteen year old psyche. It’s just people.)

I realise this doesn’t tell you much about how I, personally, felt about this book: I read it within the space of an afternoon, and kept stopping myself after every fifty pages so I could drag it out more and enjoy it for that bit longer. When I put it down, I already had a list of people I want to recommend it to.

Rating: 5/5

Tags: book reviews, books, Flashback Friday, mystery, SF/F

Review – SPQR

Posted April 21, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

SPQR, Mary Beard

There’s so much out there about the “Decline and Fall” of the Roman Empire, it’s kind of refreshing to have a book about the very origins. Most of it isn’t new to me, though the boundaries between fact and imperial fiction can be; I have a GCSE and an A Level in Classics, so I was aware of the foundation myths of Rome, the rape of the Sabine Women, the seven kings, etc. It was nice to get more context for that, to know more about the actual grounding in fact — and to learn about Rome as a Republic, before the emperors, and to what extent it was ever democratic.

And of course, instead of focusing on why the Roman Empire fell, Beard focuses here on why it became great (while never glossing over the defeats and setbacks they suffered, which people can be prone to do). It was a hugely successful empire, beginning even before it was an empire, and Beard goes into a great deal of detail on why, how, who. Sometimes the details might be overwhelming, if you’re not that interested; it’s hard for me to judge, since I am interested.

The layout of the book is perhaps not intuitive, and people will wonder why Beard stops at Caracalla, when there was still life in the Roman Empire. But really, Beard isn’t writing just about the Empire, but about the Roman people, and what Rome meant to the world. What it still means; there are things we can learn even now about getting along. (Like absorbing each others’ religious beliefs, self-governance, becoming a citizen of the wider world as well as of our own countries…) Beard chooses to examine how Rome grew, how it became an empire; she stops before the decline, at the moment when Roman citizenship spreads across the empire.

Which is not to say that Beard thinks or states that the Romans were amazing or unproblematic or anything like that. There’s plenty of examination of the downsides and the faultlines; it’s just that Beard chooses to approach it differently to the typical post-Gibbon understanding, and is more interested in why it worked for so long than how it failed in the end.

Rating: 4/5

Tags: book reviews, books, non-fiction

Review – In the Labyrinth of Drakes

Posted April 20, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

In the Labyrinth of Drakes, Marie Brennan

I was dying for this book ever since I finished Voyage of the Basilisk, and I made sure to get hold of it the very first chance I got, and reread the other books in preparation. I’ve loved this series more and more with each book, and this one is no exception: there’s so much awesome stuff — more biology, more anthropology, more archaeology, more Isabella, and of course, more politics. It’s lovely to follow Isabella and Tom and see them finally getting the recognition they deserve, even if they still have bullshit to navigate as well.

For those following the series, this is so satisfying: we get the solutions to various riddles about dragons, and we also get developments in Isabella’s personal life. If you’ve been wanting to know how she becomes Lady Trent, or who her second husband is — well, here you finally find out.

The only disappointments are not seeing much of Natalie or Jake, in my view. I love the way Isabella supports and promotes other women, and I want more of it, and Natalie was such a big part of how that got started. And she’s asexual and an engineer and just… gimme more! Gimme more of all of them. But I do adore how much we get of Tom Wilker and how much he’s developed: how he’s come to trust Isabella and support her, and how he’s not going anywhere without her as his partner. I really, really love that aspect; the way they stick together, and use their respective strengths for the other’s benefit.

And if you were wondering, yes: we see more of Suhail. Not surprisingly, perhaps, since this book is set in Akhia, and Suhail was Akhian — that detail was, of course, no coincidence. And Suhail gets his Howard Carter-esque “wonderful things” moment, which is also a delight.

Rating: 5/5

Tags: book reviews, books, Marie Brennan, SF/F

Review – The Skeleton Cupboard

Posted April 19, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 9 Comments

The Skeleton Cupboard, Tanya Byron

I’m generally fascinated about anything to do with psychology, so when I grabbed this book in a sale, I was very hopeful. That quickly died on reading just the very first chapter: she refers to trans people as “boys who want to be girls” and “ladyboys”, and remarks on that stupid cliché that oh, these men are prettier than her. She’s shaky on the correct pronouns, too — which always drives me crazy: even if you don’t “believe” in the existence of trans people (what?), what’s the point in hurting someone and disrespecting their wishes?

She’s meant to be a psychologist. And okay, at that time, there’s some leeway: trans people weren’t as well-accepted and understood, and she was just beginning her career as a psychologist. But she didn’t write the book at the beginning of her career, although goodness knows the naivete sometimes makes it seem like it. She should’ve known better.

The one thing I can commend her for is that despite all appearances in the actual narrative, she does explain beforehand that the people and cases described are composites, not any one single patient she had. Yay for some vestiges of respect for her patients and their confidentiality!

Overall, I rate this avoid avoid avoid.

Rating: 1/5

Tags: book reviews, books, non-fiction

Top Ten Tuesday

Posted April 19, 2016 by Nicky in General / 18 Comments

This week’s theme is books that make you laugh, and I am… notoriously humour-challenged. I have a sense of humour, but sometimes it goes AWOL or hides up a tree or something, and I’m very particular about my humour. All in all, books generally do not make me laugh.

So instead, here are books which elicited a “khee!” sound from me, which is known to be my noise of utter delight.

Carry On, Rainbow Rowell. Probably not a surprise, considering how much I’ve been talking about this lately. And the narration is often clever and funny.
In the Labyrinth of Drakes, Marie Brennan. Fans of Isabella have plenty to love about this book… and, you know, we get to find out about certain things that have been hinted at for ages.
Clean Sweep, Ilona Andrews. I don’t know why Ilona Andrews’ writing so reliably pushes my buttons, but yep.
The Girl Who Raced Fairyland All the Way Home, Catherynne M. Valente. Blunderbuss. <3
City of Blades, Robert Jackson Bennett. These books are just so stunningly awesomely crammed with worldbuilding, of course I make fannish noises.
The Midnight Queen, Sylvia Izzo Hunter. Must get round to the second book soon!
This Savage Song, Victoria Schwab. Lots of awesome. No romance.
The Masked City, Genevieve Cogman. A great follow-up to The Invisible Library.
Ancillary Mercy, Ann Leckie. I have not the words. But cuddles!
The Seventh Bride, T. Kingfisher. HEDGEHOG! Fairytale retelling, also.

I just got back from moving, so I can’t be more coherent, but hey, luckily these are all recent reads and I’ve linked to my reviews! Except for In the Labyrinth of Drakes, which is so recent I haven’t reviewed it yet. Oops.

Tags: books, Top Ten Tuesday

Review – Fated

Posted April 18, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Fated, Benedict Jacka

Looking for a less sexist, more British Harry Dresden? Or a less police officer-y Peter Grant? Tahdah, basically. Except with the interesting note that the protagonist of Fated is a seer: at any given moment, he can sort through all the possible futures and figure out what he needs to do to select the future he wants. I was wondering how well that could be pulled off in narration, but actually, Jacka handles it pretty well, and it never gets confusing or tedious.

Oh, and if you’re wondering why Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden leapt to mind, it’s because there’s a sly reference to him in an early chapter; just enough to make you smile, if you’re aware of the context, or ignore if not.

In a way, I guess it’s fairly standard urban fantasy: a dark past, good and bad wizards opposing each other (and sometimes being morally a few shades of grey), a magical object to obtain, etc. Some things seemed very obvious to me, for example when a particular character’s behaviour changed, it seemed obvious why. I mean, I think you’re meant to get that something is off, but I think I got there a bit faster than the narrative really intended.

There are some cool powers and characters that could get very interesting with more development. Personally, I’d like to see more of Arachne. Which is odd, because normally things with too many legs freak me out…

Some of the supporting characters, like Helikaon, just seemed… superfluous. They added little except a broader view of the magical world, and didn’t really do much emotionally. But maybe there’ll be more about that in future books, which I think I will pick up — if only from the library, which seems to have the lot (so far).

Rating: 3/5

Tags: book reviews, books, SF/F