Posted June 16, 2015 by Nicky in General / 14 Comments
This week’s theme from The Broke and the Bookish is all about the summer TBR! Because I type this up in advance, I might have had chance to read some of these already, but even so, here goes a list of books I’m highly anticipating reading sometime this summer, particularly with my long flight to Canada to encourage reading time.
- Simon and the Homo Sapiens Agenda, Becky Albertalli. It sounds like a lot of fun, and I picked it up recently so… why not?
- Dorothy Must Die, Danielle Paige. My sister made me buy this because of Ollie the educated monkey, so I’m going to have to read this soon before she kills me and pries it from my cold dead hands.
- The Lions of Al-Rassan, Guy Gavriel Kay. This is a reread, and I really must get round to it, because I do love GGK’s work, and I’m determined to finish rereading all of it in publication order before I finally get to read River of Stars.
- An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, Chris Hadfield. His videos and stuff on the ISS were really cool, and generally he seems like a pretty fun guy. And I’ve had this for ages.
- Landline, Rainbow Rowell. Whyyy haven’t I got round to this yet?
- Signal to Noise, Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Recommended by someone in the Cardiff SF/F book club, and I just bought it, so hopefully I’ll get to it soon.
- Dreams of Gods and Monsters, Laini Taylor. High time I finished reading this trilogy, I know!
- The Enchantment Emporium, Tanya Huff. Not only have I got this, it’s on a list of books recommended by friends. So high time I got round to it. Which is a theme on this list, it seems…
- Fair Game, Josh Lanyon. Both books in this series, really. They’re fun and I don’t know why I haven’t read them already, especially since I had the second one as an ARC.
- The Bards of Bone Plain, Patricia McKillip. I had to pick at least one of her books. <3
What about everybody else? Are you keeping your list full of current books, or are you trying to catch up?
Tags: books, Top Ten Tuesday
Posted June 9, 2015 by Nicky in Reviews / 8 Comments
This week’s prompt is “Top Ten Most Anticipated Releases For the Rest of 2015”. These ones are always difficult for me, because I don’t always have that clear a view on what’s due out. I’ve been keeping half an eye on it recently, so here’s a bash at it.
- Carry On, Rainbow Rowell. I can’t be the only one excited to see how Rowell will tackle a fantasy novel!
- Thorn of Emberlain, Scott Lynch. Naturally! I hope this is still due to come out later this year…
- The Fifth Season, N.K. Jemisin. Aaaah so excited for this one.
- Half a War, Joe Abercrombie. I still need to read Half the World, but I did enjoy the first book!
- The Dinosaur Lords, Victor Milán. Dinosaurs! Dinosaurs!
- Radiance, Catherynne M. Valente. She writes such beautiful words.
- Manners & Mutiny, Gail Carriger. I still need to read the third book, but I waaant this.
- Our Lady of the Ice, Cassandra Rose Clarke. I don’t even know much about it, but I’ve enjoyed Clarke’s other books.
- Willful Machines, Tim Floreen. Just read about this one and I’m intrigued.
- Ash and Bramble, Sarah Prineas. Ditto!
Looking forward to seeing what other people have their eyes on. And I’m sure I’ve forgotten something…
Tags: books, Top Ten Tuesday
Posted June 2, 2015 by Nicky in General / 15 Comments
This week’s theme is books you’d like to see as movies/tv shows. The proviso here is that I would want appropriate casting, e.g. not a white man for Ged or Patriot.
- A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula Le Guin. Shush. There hasn’t been one. Doesn’t exist.
- Captain Marvel. Sooner than planned, please. And keep in the recent bit about her dating Rhodey!
- Young Avengers. You’ve got all the ingredients ready, Marvel. Dooo iiiiiittttt.
- Throne of Glass, Sarah J. Maas. It could be really epic, and it’d require a female lead who could do stunts and would need a good range of acting skills.
- A Natural History of Dragons, Mary Brennan. I’m not sure how well it’d translate to the big screen, but again, it’d require a female lead and it’d be a little bit like Walking With Dinosaurs, only dragons and fiction.
- The Winter King, Bernard Cornwell. Do Arthur right!
- Tigana, Guy Gavriel Kay. In the right hands, it would be beautiful.
- Sunshine, Robin McKinley. Female lead who is both a reluctant hero type and a baker. Interesting vampire lore, gorgeous imagery. It’d be amazing, right?
- Farthing, Jo Walton. Could serve as a timely warning to a country embracing conservatism right now, too.
- Bloodshot, Cherie Priest. Weird found-family dynamics, kickass female lead, ex-Navy SEAL drag queen? Okay, there’d be so many ways for them to mess it up, but we’re talking an ideal world here, and it would be so very right.
Gaah, gimme them. Nowww.
Tags: books, Cherie Priest, comics, Guy Gavriel Kay, Jo Walton, Marvel, Mary Brennan, Robin McKinley, Sarah J. Maas, Top Ten Tuesday, Ursula Le Guin
Posted May 26, 2015 by Nicky in General / 12 Comments
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday theme is “beach books”. Which is not something I really do, so instead I shall pick the kinds of books I like to relax with. Whether that looks like your beach reads or not, I don’t know!
- Shades of Milk and Honey, Mary Robinette Kowal. Or anything in that series, but the first one is the lightest and closest to Austen and the like.
- This Rough Magic, Mary Stewart. Or any of her mysteries — they have an amazing sense of place, it’s like going on holiday without leaving home.
- The Rose Garden, Susanna Kearsley. Another one with a great sense of place, this one in Cornwell. It’s not all happy, but the romance is sweet and it has a happy ending.
- The Grand Sophy, Georgette Heyer. I have a huge soft spot for these romances. I loved Sophy in particular, though I’m also a fan of…
- The Talisman Ring, Georgette Heyer. Which is more of a mystery/adventure than some of the primarily society type ones.
- Magic Bites, Ilona Andrews. Light and compulsively readable.
- Have His Carcase, Dorothy L. Sayers. Okay, I think you need the background of previous books, but I love the first line and the rest doesn’t disappoint: “The best remedy for a bruised heart is not, as so many people seem to think, repose upon a manly bosom. Much more efficacious are honest work, physical activity, and the sudden acquisition of wealth.”
- Gaudy Night, Dorothy L. Sayers. For Harriet Vane in the prime spot, with her final answer to Lord Peter’s proposals at the end of the book… Plus, tons of smart women in academia.
- Jhereg, Steven Brust. It’s a fun first book of the series, it raced past me, and it’s really easy to read.
- Soulless, Gail Carriger. Fluffy fun with werewolves.
I don’t think that’d be a bad selection for the beach, right?
Tags: books, Dorothy L. Sayers, Georgette Heyer, Mary Stewart, Susanna Kearsley, Top Ten Tuesday
Posted May 19, 2015 by in General / 10 Comments
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is a freebie, so I’m going to borrow an idea that came to me via Guy Gavriel Kay:
“My youngest brother had a wonderful schtick from some time in high school, through to graduating medicine. He had a card in his wallet that read, ‘If I am found with amnesia, please give me the following books to read …’ And it listed half a dozen books where he longed to recapture that first glorious sense of needing to find out ‘what happens next’ … the feeling that keeps you up half the night. The feeling that comes before the plot’s been learned.”
So here’s my ten… Consider this an order if I am ever found with amnesia!
- The Dark is Rising, Susan Cooper. Well duh.
- The Earthsea Quartet, Ursula Le Guin. I’m curious as to how I’d feel about The Furthest Shore and Tehanu, reading them for the first time as an adult — originally I read them when I was quite young.
- The Fionavar Tapestry, Guy Gavriel Kay. I was torn between this and Tigana, but this was my first experience of Guy Gavriel Kay’s work, and I’d love to come to it fresh. Especially because it’s so influenced by prior fantasy.
- Whose Body, Dorothy L. Sayers. Well, all of the Peter Wimsey books really.
- Anything non-Arthurian by Mary Stewart. I’m not such a fan of her Arthurian books, but her other books are pure comfort to me. I might need that, if I’ve lost my memory!
- The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien. And Lord of the Rings, obviously.
- Among Others, Jo Walton. My first book by Walton was actually Farthing, but that’s less personal. It’d be interesting how much Among Others would resonate with me if I didn’t have the memories I do. (Mind you, neuroscience probably supports the idea that I’d still feel a sense of recognition, even without conscious memory.)
- I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith. An absolute must — I can’t go without knowing the opening and closing lines.
- Something by Patricia McKillip. Just don’t start me on Winter Rose unless you’re willing to take notes about my experience, compare them to my old reviews, and publish a study on unconscious memories of reading in amnesiacs.
- Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Obviously a whole course of Arthurian literature would be essential — you could start by giving me my own essays on Guinevere and Gawain — including Steinbeck’s unfinished work. But this would make a good starting point, and you could check if I retained my knowledge of Middle English too.
Now I almost want that to happen, so I can study the neuroscience of reading and memory from within! It’d also be interesting to see how I reacted to the Harry Potter books if I couldn’t remember a) reading them as a child and b) the hype surrounding them. And —
Yeah, I’ll stop. Looking forward to seeing what themes other people have gone with this week!
Tags: Arthurian, books, Dorothy L. Sayers, Guy Gavriel Kay, J.R.R. Tolkien, Jo Walton, Mary Stewart, Patricia A. McKillip, Susan Cooper, Top Ten Tuesday, Ursula Le Guin
Posted May 12, 2015 by in General / 4 Comments
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt is “ten authors I really want to meet”. Now, I’ve actually been lucky and met a fair few authors I love — Jo Walton, Robin Hobb, Alastair Reynolds… But I’m sure I can come up with ten more.
- Ursula Le Guin. And nobody is at all surprised. Not even a little.
- Patricia McKillip. I know very little about her as a person, but her writing is awesome.
- J.R.R. Tolkien. I mean, not as a zombie or anything, but if I could go back in time. Attend one of his lectures maybe?
- Hazel Edwards. She wrote There’s a Hippopotamus On Our Roof Eating Cake. Obvious.
- Cherie Priest. She seems cool, I want to pet her dog, and I like her on Twitter.
- N.K. Jemisin. Granted, I’d probably just babble quietly, but that’s the same with anyone I admire.
- Robin Hobb. Again. I was fourteen at the time, after all.
- Jacqueline Carey. Sign all my books. All of them.
- Guy Gavriel Kay. Ditto.
- Susan Cooper. The first thing I move into a new house is my copy of The Dark is Rising sequence, and I’m not even kidding about that. It goes in the first box or bag to enter the new place, and gets put on the shelf symbolically before anything else.
So, uh, yeah. I could probably think of more, but I’d better stop daydreaming now…
Tags: books, Cherie Priest, Guy Gavriel Kay, J.R.R. Tolkien, Jacqueline Carey, N.K. Jemisin, Patricia McKillip, Robin Hobb, Susan Cooper, Top Ten Tuesday, Ursula Le Guin
Posted May 5, 2015 by in General / 14 Comments
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt is “ten books I will probably never read”. That’s going to be an interesting one, because as a rule I usually try anything once…
- Anything by Marion Zimmer Bradley. I’ve read The Mists of Avalon because I had to, but especially given the abuse claims made against her, I don’t intend to read The Firebrand anymore — even though it’s about Cassandra of Troy, and I love her story. I didn’t like her Arthuriana, so I don’t think Bradley has a chance in general, even without having abused children.
- Fifty Shades Darker, E.L. James. 900% not interesting to me. I have read 50 Shades of Grey, cringingly, and I have so many problems with the whole thing I can’t even begin to express them.
- All Clear, Connie Willis. I just don’t get on with this author, sorry. I tried Blackout because of a book club read, but that’s as far as I go.
- Anything else by Chuck Palahniuk. I’ve read Fight Club, but the rest of his work really doesn’t appeal.
- Anything by Niall Griffiths. Sheepshagger was disgusting but also powerful, while Dreams of Max and Ronnie was gross in a way I just couldn’t abide.
- Anything by Phillipa Gregory. I’m sorry, I’ve tried.
- The Echo, by James Smythe. Read The Explorer recently and just… nah.
- Anything by Rosalind Miles. I think I struggled through all her Guinevere books, but abandoned the Isolde books. Definitely not my thing.
- The Prodigal Mage, by Karen Miller. There were things I loved about The Innocent Mage, but ultimately the cartoon villain and predictable plotline killed this world for me. I am going to try some of her other books.
- Anything by Virginia Woolf. Dooo noooottt get on with her stuff, I’m afraid.
Anything here you particularly want to kick me for? Anything you agree with? Share away!
Tags: books, Top Ten Tuesday
Posted April 28, 2015 by in General / 10 Comments
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is “Top Ten Books Which Feature Characters Who _____”. So, because I’m predictable like that, let’s have my top ten characters who love books!
- Matilda, from Roald Dahl’s Matilda. I don’t know about anyone else, but I used to sit and stare at things and wish I could have powers like Matilda. But even better would’ve been to read as fast as her.
- Mori, from Jo Walton’s Among Others. I think this one is extra-specially predictable. Shush.
- Hermione Granger, from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter. I’m in the middle of my rereads of these books and remembering just how much I loved Hermione — I was that know-it-all who sucked up to the teachers, though I didn’t have such good and loyal friends as Harry and Ron surrounding me. And unfortunately, I still didn’t have powers.
- Cath, from Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl. Why is this list so populated with people like me…?
- Harriet Vane, from Dorothy L. Sayers’ Wimsey mysteries. Well, she’s more of a writer and we don’t see her reading much, but we do see her engaging with literature, and practically sparring with Peter via quotations from books.
- Beauty, in Robin McKinley’s Beauty. Gimme the Beast’s library, please.
- Alec, from Ellen Kushner’s Swordspoint. I suddenly remembered a scene with Richard bringing Alec a book and the hunger Alec seemed to feel about it…
- Jean, from Scott Lynch’s The Lies of Locke Lamora. Jean!
- Memer, from Ursula Le Guin’s Voices. I need to reread this one now I’ve remembered about it!
- Jo March, from Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. I think I actually came across Jo and Matilda not that far apart in time. Both of them lived in a world of books that only encouraged me to read more!
That was actually harder than I anticipated. Huh. Looking forward to seeing what themes other people are going with!
Tags: books, Dorothy L. Sayers, Jo Walton, Rainbow Rowell, Robin McKinley, Scott Lynch, Top Ten Tuesday, Ursula Le Guin
Posted April 21, 2015 by in General / 22 Comments
This Top Ten Tuesday prompt is just evil — to list my top ten favourite authors of all time. How can I do that!? Well, let’s have a go.
- Jo Walton. Needless to say.
- Ursula Le Guin. I might not read and reread her work as much now as I did, but she certainly had a hand in forming my brain.
- N.K. Jemisin. She’s relatively new to my shelves, but nonetheless awesome.
- Guy Gavriel Kay. Only one or two of his books have failed to make me cry. He writes powerful relationships between complex people so well.
- Robin McKinley. I don’t know why Chalice of all her books lives in my mind so strongly, but that and Sunshine are going to be favourites for a long time to come.
- Patricia McKillip. Also relatively new to my shelves, but she writes a kind of enchantment I can’t get enough of.
- Jacqueline Carey. She can make Sauron sympathetic. How can you not be in awe?
- Mary Stewart. My comfort reading of choice. <3
- Dorothy L. Sayers. A love shared with my mum and which saved me from severe panic after my cholecystectomy!
- Scott Lynch. I’ve loved everything he’s put out so far. (Even if I haven’t finished Republic of Thieves.)
Tags: books, Top Ten Tuesday
Posted April 14, 2015 by in General / 16 Comments
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt is “Top Ten Inspiring Quotes from Books”. Which is a little bit hard, because I don’t really keep track of quotes. But there are some that stick with me — maybe not inspiring, so much, but defining.
- “Only the margin left to write on now. I love you, I love you, I love you.” (I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith.)
- “If you marry a man like that and live his life, then I agree. You may not really want to hurt people, but you will.”
“That is hateful. Hateful! To say it that way. That I haven’t any choice, that I have to hurt people, that it doesn’t even matter what I want.”
“Of course it matters, what you want.”
“It doesn’t. That’s the whole point.”
“It does. And that’s the whole point. You choose. You choose whether or not to make choices.”
(The Eye of the Heron, Ursula Le Guin.)
- Only in silence the word,
Only in dark the light,
Only in dying life:
Bright the hawk’s flight
On the empty sky.
(A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula Le Guin.)
- “For Drake is no longer in his hammock, children, nor is Arthur somewhere sleeping, and you may not lie idly expecting the second coming of anybody now, because the world is yours and it is up to you.” (Silver on the Tree, Susan Cooper.)
- “The Jewish sages also tell us that God dances when His children defeat Him in argument, when they stand on their feet and use their minds. So questions like Anne’s are worth asking. To ask them is a very fine kind of human behavior. If we keep demanding that God yield up His answers, perhaps some day we will understand them. And then we will be something more than clever apes, and we shall dance with God.” (The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell.)
- “Lord, if I thought you were listening, I’d pray for this above all: that any church set up in your name should remain poor, and powerless, and modest. That it should wield no authority except that of love. That it should never cast anyone out. That it should own no property and make no laws. That it should not condemn, but only forgive. That it should be not like a palace with marble walls and polished floors, and guards standing at the door, but like a tree with its roots deep in the soil, that shelters every kind of bird and beast and gives blossom in the spring and shade in the hot sun and fruit in the season, and in time gives up its good sound wood for the carpenter; but that sheds many thousands of seeds so that new trees can grow in its place. Does the tree say to the sparrow, ‘Get out, you don’t belong here?’ Does the tree say to the hungry man, ‘This fruit is not for you?’ Does the tree test the loyalty of the beasts before it allows them into the shade?” (The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ, Philip Pullman.)
- “the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.” (On the Road, Jack Kerouac.)
- “It doesn’t matter. I have books, new books, and I can bear anything as long as there are books.” (Among Others, Jo Walton.)
- “Scars are not injuries, Tanner Sack. A scar is a healing. After injury, a scar is what makes you whole.” (The Scar, China Miéville.)
- “That’s how you get deathless, volchitsa. Walk the same tale over and over, until you wear a groove in the world, until even if you vanished, the tale would keep turning, keep playing, like a phonograph, and you’d have to get up again, even with a bullet through your eye, to play your part and say your lines.” (Deathless, Catherynne M. Valente.)
That was… surprisingly hard to choose. On the Road makes it only because of something else I once read that quoted that line; I’m afraid I don’t like the book itself.
Tags: books, China Miéville, Dodie Smith, Jo Walton, Mary Doria Russell, Susan Cooper, Top Ten Tuesday, Ursula Le Guin
