Book Review Backlog
May. 25th, 2013 12:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kmoLife post-defense continues to be a thing of wonder. (yes i still have those pesky revisions, but dissertation revisions feel so much lighter than an actual dissertation) I had this revelation around 11pm the other night where it suddenly dawned on me that the 800 lb gorilla that had been sitting on my chest for the past three years if not since the very moment I entered grad school in 2007 was suddenly no longer there. It felt amazing. And yes, I realize it will be another uphill slog to getting the book out and tenure, etc, but I am going to enjoy these feelings of peace and happiness while they last. Because happiness really is the highest form of wisdom.
Not having the dissertation hanging over me has also freed me up to do lots of other things- like taking better care of myself. I've started a very basic running program and I'm hoping I can stick with it. So far it feels pretty manageable. I used to run pretty regularly in my first year of grad school. You can tell how long it's been since regular exercise has been an important part of my life-- my workout mix consists of all the hot summer jams circa 2006-2008. (Nelly Fertado's Maneater, anyone?)
I also haven't done a book review post since...uh...March. I have been reading, just not posting.
The Mirador, Sarah Monette- 3rd in the Doctrine of Labyrinths series. i think this one might actually be my favorite. There's some character growth all around and a lot less non-consensual sex. Oh and we get a lady's POV- loved Mehitable. Y'know how I always say that I could read a book that is just the first third of Kushiel's Dart? This is essentially that book, except with ghost-hunting. Corambis, the next book, seems very different- any strong feelings flist?
Code Name Verity, Elizabeth Wein- Ok, so there has been a lot of hype on my flist about this one and I have to say it definitely met and exceeded expectations. Absolutely gorgeous and heart-breaking. I totally understand why it is the darling of literary femslash fandom right now- though it is not explicitly femslashy in the same way Once Upon a Time is not explicitly femslashy. I kind of guessed the twist halfway through the first section- but I enjoyed it all the same. A powerful story of female friendship, I can't recommend it enough. When do we get our BBC costume drama? :D
Cordelia's Honor and Young Miles, Bujold- So first I tried to read the Lies of Locke Lamora. That was a giant mistake. Lots of men. lots of paint by numbers fantasy fiction- unclear if I will ever try again. Then I decided to try to read some Bujold and boy am I happy I did. I am never happier than when I am getting immersed in a new fictional world. Love, love, love Cordelia and her honor to pieces. She and Aral are the best- a marriage of equals, why does this still feel so rare? And then I read the first Miles omnibus and Miles is still very good, but I'd rather read about his mom. Anyway, with the Vorkosigan saga I can get my space opera fix and my costume drama fix in the same place, so I will probably continue reading.
The Magician King, Lev Grossman- I really connected with The Magicians on like a meta-level, despite it being very male-centric and Quentin being an absolute shit most of the time. There was a lot about its depiction of Wizard Harvard that resonated a lot with my own college experience- that feeling of being in a pressure cooker environment in which you intensely bonded with and yet were always in competition with your peers. And then that experience ends and you are left in a void of "Now what?" In some ways, I enjoyed Magician King better- there's still the post-modern deconstruction of fantasy as a genre, but this time Quentin is forced to share the spotlight with Julia, his friend who failed the wizard exam in the first book. The knowledge that Quentin is handed on a silver platter, Julia is forced to scheme and sweat and bleed for. I don't know if I completely buy her transformation from straight-A student to broken hedge witch, but she is much more compelling than douchey Quentin. And its like Grossman knows that Quentin is a douche but still expects readers to care about his whiny white boy angst anyway? Like he gets to have it both ways? That just reminds me of too many d00ds I went to grad school with.
Not having the dissertation hanging over me has also freed me up to do lots of other things- like taking better care of myself. I've started a very basic running program and I'm hoping I can stick with it. So far it feels pretty manageable. I used to run pretty regularly in my first year of grad school. You can tell how long it's been since regular exercise has been an important part of my life-- my workout mix consists of all the hot summer jams circa 2006-2008. (Nelly Fertado's Maneater, anyone?)
I also haven't done a book review post since...uh...March. I have been reading, just not posting.
The Mirador, Sarah Monette- 3rd in the Doctrine of Labyrinths series. i think this one might actually be my favorite. There's some character growth all around and a lot less non-consensual sex. Oh and we get a lady's POV- loved Mehitable. Y'know how I always say that I could read a book that is just the first third of Kushiel's Dart? This is essentially that book, except with ghost-hunting. Corambis, the next book, seems very different- any strong feelings flist?
Code Name Verity, Elizabeth Wein- Ok, so there has been a lot of hype on my flist about this one and I have to say it definitely met and exceeded expectations. Absolutely gorgeous and heart-breaking. I totally understand why it is the darling of literary femslash fandom right now- though it is not explicitly femslashy in the same way Once Upon a Time is not explicitly femslashy. I kind of guessed the twist halfway through the first section- but I enjoyed it all the same. A powerful story of female friendship, I can't recommend it enough. When do we get our BBC costume drama? :D
Cordelia's Honor and Young Miles, Bujold- So first I tried to read the Lies of Locke Lamora. That was a giant mistake. Lots of men. lots of paint by numbers fantasy fiction- unclear if I will ever try again. Then I decided to try to read some Bujold and boy am I happy I did. I am never happier than when I am getting immersed in a new fictional world. Love, love, love Cordelia and her honor to pieces. She and Aral are the best- a marriage of equals, why does this still feel so rare? And then I read the first Miles omnibus and Miles is still very good, but I'd rather read about his mom. Anyway, with the Vorkosigan saga I can get my space opera fix and my costume drama fix in the same place, so I will probably continue reading.
The Magician King, Lev Grossman- I really connected with The Magicians on like a meta-level, despite it being very male-centric and Quentin being an absolute shit most of the time. There was a lot about its depiction of Wizard Harvard that resonated a lot with my own college experience- that feeling of being in a pressure cooker environment in which you intensely bonded with and yet were always in competition with your peers. And then that experience ends and you are left in a void of "Now what?" In some ways, I enjoyed Magician King better- there's still the post-modern deconstruction of fantasy as a genre, but this time Quentin is forced to share the spotlight with Julia, his friend who failed the wizard exam in the first book. The knowledge that Quentin is handed on a silver platter, Julia is forced to scheme and sweat and bleed for. I don't know if I completely buy her transformation from straight-A student to broken hedge witch, but she is much more compelling than douchey Quentin. And its like Grossman knows that Quentin is a douche but still expects readers to care about his whiny white boy angst anyway? Like he gets to have it both ways? That just reminds me of too many d00ds I went to grad school with.
no subject
Date: 2013-05-25 10:00 pm (UTC)With the Vorkosigan books, I came to love Miles, really I did, but I also spent his first few outings going: Where's Cordelia gone? Bring her back, I loved her.
I have to admit, any virtues of The Magicians were lost for me behind the epic douchenozzle-ness of Quentin. But it is always really cool when a book just hits you somewhere right in the meta-feelings, isn't it?
no subject
Date: 2013-05-26 01:50 am (UTC)Cordelia's just fascinating. i do enjoy reading about Miles, but I really wish Bujold had just made her the protagonist.
I actually think The Magicians is one of the best post-college, quarter-life crisis books I've ever read. I think in the first one, I identified a lot with Quentin's desire to prove himself and his ambition. But without that kind of coming of age story, I found him so much more insufferable in the second book. Julia's story redeemed it for me but it made him all that much worse in comparison.
no subject
Date: 2013-05-26 04:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-05-26 08:24 pm (UTC)