Summer Reading Round-up
Aug. 23rd, 2012 12:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kmoYesterday I overhauled my CV to make it look more like a grown up's, so I decided to try out a new format round these parts as well. I really liked the look of the magic paper, but the column layout felt awkward to me. Anywho, since it feels like fall is in the air, I thought I'd share what I read on my summer "vacation" (major air quotes). I give you the good, the meh, and the please don't read this.
The Good
Keturah and Lord Death, Martine Leavitt- Wow. This YA fantasy set in pre-industrial Europe was beautifully written, lush and brought me to tears several times. Young Keturah meets Lord Death in the forest and uses a story to bargain for her life. It's sort of a mashup of the Persephone and Hades myth by way of Scheherazade. I am so impressed with the way the author managed to both make it feel as familiar as a fairy tale and yet render the characters all so vividly real. I can't recommend this one enough.
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N.K. Jemisin- Jemisin has been on my radar for awhile, and this story did not disappoint! Yeine, a warrior woman from the provinces learns she has been made heir to her world's evil empire. What follows is a tale of intrigue, murder, and sexy gender-bending fallen gods. It ticked a lot of my women-of-color feminism, post-colonial theory buttons in a good way. I can't wait to read the next two, but I will miss having Yeine as a narrator.
India Black, Carol K. Carr- so this is the first of Carr's Madam of Espionage series. India is a madam and brothel-keeper in Victorian London who gets swept up into spies, the great game, etc, when a customer dies in her establishment. I was thrilled to hear about this and perhaps a little jealous, because I once said I wanted to write a series of mysteries starring an ex-prostitute in antebellum America. The pacing and adventure aspects were only so-so, but India is an absolute hoot- a cynical woman of the world and kind of a bitch. I mean those things as compliments. Will definitely check out the next two books.
If You Follow Me, Malena Waltrous- as someone who spent time studying abroad in Japan, this memoirish tale of one American girl's year as an English teacher in the JET program was right up my alley. At times it was a little precious for me kind of overshary in that "oh my God, I am listening to someone's therapy" kind of way. I originally wanted to read it because when the novel begins, the protagonist is in a closeted relationship with another female teacher.
It doesn't work out for them, they both end up with men. Le sigh. But even so, I bought the protagonist's romantic journey, so it wasn't a dealbreaker for me.
Rec'd to people who like fish out of water stories, travelogues, black comedy.
The Meh
Sevenwaters Series, Juliet Marillier- There were many things I liked about these books. Their setting in pre-Christian Ireland reminded me of The Mists of Avalon, Marillier's use of mythology and story-telling is similar to the Kushiel series and the Queen's Thief books. But overall, I found her heroines a bit on the milquetoasty side, almost borderline Mary Sue-ish. They are all so "good" and self-sacrificing and wonderful...until they meet a male love interest and then suddenly they're Tracy and Hepburn. Liadan, the heroine of the second book, is especially guilty of this. I think the first, Daughter of the Forest, is the best written. And yeah, I'm on the fence about them, yet I managed to read all three pretty quickly, so go fig.
Don't Read This
The Swan Thieves, Elizabeth Kostova- Having really enjoyed The Historian (which is about historians, and vampires and my alma mater, so a winning combination) I was really looking forward to Kostova's new book. I really shouldn't have been. Talk about your pretentious prose. I found the male characters unlikable and the plot altogether boring, saw the big "twist" ending coming a mile away. It was so long and drawn out, but I kept reading thinking it would eventually pick up and become interesting. Alas. I don't often say this, but maybe it needed more vampires? Or more historians? Run, don't walk, away from this book.
The Good
Keturah and Lord Death, Martine Leavitt- Wow. This YA fantasy set in pre-industrial Europe was beautifully written, lush and brought me to tears several times. Young Keturah meets Lord Death in the forest and uses a story to bargain for her life. It's sort of a mashup of the Persephone and Hades myth by way of Scheherazade. I am so impressed with the way the author managed to both make it feel as familiar as a fairy tale and yet render the characters all so vividly real. I can't recommend this one enough.
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N.K. Jemisin- Jemisin has been on my radar for awhile, and this story did not disappoint! Yeine, a warrior woman from the provinces learns she has been made heir to her world's evil empire. What follows is a tale of intrigue, murder, and sexy gender-bending fallen gods. It ticked a lot of my women-of-color feminism, post-colonial theory buttons in a good way. I can't wait to read the next two, but I will miss having Yeine as a narrator.
India Black, Carol K. Carr- so this is the first of Carr's Madam of Espionage series. India is a madam and brothel-keeper in Victorian London who gets swept up into spies, the great game, etc, when a customer dies in her establishment. I was thrilled to hear about this and perhaps a little jealous, because I once said I wanted to write a series of mysteries starring an ex-prostitute in antebellum America. The pacing and adventure aspects were only so-so, but India is an absolute hoot- a cynical woman of the world and kind of a bitch. I mean those things as compliments. Will definitely check out the next two books.
If You Follow Me, Malena Waltrous- as someone who spent time studying abroad in Japan, this memoirish tale of one American girl's year as an English teacher in the JET program was right up my alley. At times it was a little precious for me kind of overshary in that "oh my God, I am listening to someone's therapy" kind of way. I originally wanted to read it because when the novel begins, the protagonist is in a closeted relationship with another female teacher.
It doesn't work out for them, they both end up with men. Le sigh. But even so, I bought the protagonist's romantic journey, so it wasn't a dealbreaker for me.
Rec'd to people who like fish out of water stories, travelogues, black comedy.
The Meh
Sevenwaters Series, Juliet Marillier- There were many things I liked about these books. Their setting in pre-Christian Ireland reminded me of The Mists of Avalon, Marillier's use of mythology and story-telling is similar to the Kushiel series and the Queen's Thief books. But overall, I found her heroines a bit on the milquetoasty side, almost borderline Mary Sue-ish. They are all so "good" and self-sacrificing and wonderful...until they meet a male love interest and then suddenly they're Tracy and Hepburn. Liadan, the heroine of the second book, is especially guilty of this. I think the first, Daughter of the Forest, is the best written. And yeah, I'm on the fence about them, yet I managed to read all three pretty quickly, so go fig.
Don't Read This
The Swan Thieves, Elizabeth Kostova- Having really enjoyed The Historian (which is about historians, and vampires and my alma mater, so a winning combination) I was really looking forward to Kostova's new book. I really shouldn't have been. Talk about your pretentious prose. I found the male characters unlikable and the plot altogether boring, saw the big "twist" ending coming a mile away. It was so long and drawn out, but I kept reading thinking it would eventually pick up and become interesting. Alas. I don't often say this, but maybe it needed more vampires? Or more historians? Run, don't walk, away from this book.
