![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
For once, came out even--I finished a book last night. I may have forgotten something I read early in the month. I read a chapter or two of several books I didn't like well enough to finish, and will probably start listing those as well.
JULY BOOKS
57. Cecelia Hollander, Pillar of the Sky: A Stonehenge story, but very believable—little woo-woo, lots of basis in similar early bronze cultures and even more in psychology. Interesting theories of roles of men and women and how they might have changed in various circumstances. Good picture of how the stones might have been raised (both physically and sociologically). An outcast becomes a leader and changes the way the People live, forever.
58. Terry Pratchett, Lords and Ladies: My first venture into Discworld, and there will be more. I suspect any summary could be a spoiler. But loved the variety of the witches, the view of the Elves (not good), and the romance and humor (occasionally a little too cute for me, but the contrarian witches mostly saved it). What happens when you play with magic….and another way seeing a Midsummer Night’s Dream. What will happen to Magrat if she marries the king? Can Granny Weatherall and Nanny Ogg defend the world against the elves foolishly released by a young girl's fantasies?
59. China Mieville, The City and the City: Hard to read and hard to stop reading. Two cities, separated and yet bound together. Hints of Berln, Jerusalem, and for me, the segregated cities of the American south. And also a Chandler noir murder mystery, a LeCarre spy, a hero isolated and connected in spite of himself. A very adult Un Lun Dun--a detective in one city investigates a murder that leads him into the other, and into the border spaces controlled by Breach, and maybe a mysterious third city.
60. HP Lovecraft, “The Shadow out of Time” and “The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath.” (reread) Playing Arkham Horror and hearing podcasts made rereading necessary. So far, not nearly as creepy as the first time around, but maybe I need to read more. In dreams we find reality… “Dream Quest” especially doesn’t quite have the weirdness of real dreams, to me.
61. Diana Wynne Jones, Fire and Hemlock: (reread by accident) I remembered the story, not the title, duh. Nice Tam Lin retelling, but the best part is not the fantasy but the insights into the child caught between divorcing parents. This Tam Lin’s connected to a rich family living nearby, and for parts of the story, the friendship between the adult Tom and the child could seem either unbelievable or squicky, but Jones makes it work.
62. Alexander Berzin, Wise Teacher, Wise Student: Tibetan approaches to a Healthy Relationship: (not finished) An attempt to bridge the cultural gap between Tibetan Buddhist teachers and their American students, and a very clear explanation of some of the central aspects of the teacher-student relationship in Tibetan Buddhism.
63. Mercedes Lackey, Arrows of the Queen: Lackey’s first book about the Heralds and their super—horse Companions, this is the story of how Talia, about to be forced into a loveless and polygamous marriage at 13, is found by her Companion and brought to train as the most special of Heralds. I loved the very detailed accounts of life in the Herald’s training program, but there’s not a clear and gripping plot for the whole story. Still, I’ll probably read more of these.
64. Robert Stone, Damascus Gate: (just started)
JULY BOOKS
57. Cecelia Hollander, Pillar of the Sky: A Stonehenge story, but very believable—little woo-woo, lots of basis in similar early bronze cultures and even more in psychology. Interesting theories of roles of men and women and how they might have changed in various circumstances. Good picture of how the stones might have been raised (both physically and sociologically). An outcast becomes a leader and changes the way the People live, forever.
58. Terry Pratchett, Lords and Ladies: My first venture into Discworld, and there will be more. I suspect any summary could be a spoiler. But loved the variety of the witches, the view of the Elves (not good), and the romance and humor (occasionally a little too cute for me, but the contrarian witches mostly saved it). What happens when you play with magic….and another way seeing a Midsummer Night’s Dream. What will happen to Magrat if she marries the king? Can Granny Weatherall and Nanny Ogg defend the world against the elves foolishly released by a young girl's fantasies?
59. China Mieville, The City and the City: Hard to read and hard to stop reading. Two cities, separated and yet bound together. Hints of Berln, Jerusalem, and for me, the segregated cities of the American south. And also a Chandler noir murder mystery, a LeCarre spy, a hero isolated and connected in spite of himself. A very adult Un Lun Dun--a detective in one city investigates a murder that leads him into the other, and into the border spaces controlled by Breach, and maybe a mysterious third city.
60. HP Lovecraft, “The Shadow out of Time” and “The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath.” (reread) Playing Arkham Horror and hearing podcasts made rereading necessary. So far, not nearly as creepy as the first time around, but maybe I need to read more. In dreams we find reality… “Dream Quest” especially doesn’t quite have the weirdness of real dreams, to me.
61. Diana Wynne Jones, Fire and Hemlock: (reread by accident) I remembered the story, not the title, duh. Nice Tam Lin retelling, but the best part is not the fantasy but the insights into the child caught between divorcing parents. This Tam Lin’s connected to a rich family living nearby, and for parts of the story, the friendship between the adult Tom and the child could seem either unbelievable or squicky, but Jones makes it work.
62. Alexander Berzin, Wise Teacher, Wise Student: Tibetan approaches to a Healthy Relationship: (not finished) An attempt to bridge the cultural gap between Tibetan Buddhist teachers and their American students, and a very clear explanation of some of the central aspects of the teacher-student relationship in Tibetan Buddhism.
63. Mercedes Lackey, Arrows of the Queen: Lackey’s first book about the Heralds and their super—horse Companions, this is the story of how Talia, about to be forced into a loveless and polygamous marriage at 13, is found by her Companion and brought to train as the most special of Heralds. I loved the very detailed accounts of life in the Herald’s training program, but there’s not a clear and gripping plot for the whole story. Still, I’ll probably read more of these.
64. Robert Stone, Damascus Gate: (just started)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
Fire and Hemlock is my absolute fave DWJ novel. I don't know why the Tom/Polly relationship isn't squicky, but somehow it works. It's just about the only real romance in DWJ, but, yes, so much of the strength of the novel is about all the complexities of relationships, and the way a child is pulled apart by a divorce.
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
[hugs]
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
The first book I ever put down was Le Guin's Dispossessed. Another was Neuromancer. The really odd thing is that I put down each about 75 pages from the end.
The two I tossed the fastest were Sword of Shanarra by Terry Brooks, piece of plagiaristic crap that it was, and The Jesus Incident by Brian Herbert, which was totally awful. Neither one of those made it PAST page 75. Never have read another book by either of them -- or tried.
Why? "Life's too short."
From:
no subject