Cid
I can't even come up with words for how much I loved this collection of stories. I must now read everything Ivan Coyote has ever written...
I originally read this years ago and was just reminded of it recently, prompting a reread. I probably would have given it 4 or 5 stars then, I remember that I loved the Harriet Vane books more than the others in the series.
This time around... kinda boring. Very expositiony, no emotional growth. I did like some of the minor characters like Miss Climpston and Bill Rum, but Peter seemed rather static. I may just have to reread more of the series!
I have to admit that I kept expecting to be disappointed by the ending, just because it was Lackey. But I wasn't! In fact, I enjoyed it a lot. I love the details of medieval Celtic life and quite liked Gwenhwyfar.
Liulevicious is the best Great Courses lecturer that I've come across. I've listened to everything by him that I can get my hands on, even courses that I was uninterested in the subject of (like this one!) He just makes it all interesting, and he has such an enthusiasm for his subject matter!
I highly recommend his A History of Eastern Europe.
I really, really wanted to like this book, so I kept reading past where I probably would have given up normally. Unfortunately, the last few chapters that tied up both storylines actually made it even more disappointing.
I found Tayeb a fascinating character and really wanted more details about his past in Yemen and his experiences in England. I found him a more sympathetic (and interesting) character than Freida.
As for the 1923 timeline... I don't know why I found it boring, since I'm pretty interested in Central Asian history. Usually I like the whole epistological conceit, but I think in this case seeing everything only through Eva's eyes made the focus too small. Now I want to find a good history of the area to find out what exactly was going on and why.
I also have a lot of thoughts about the portrayal of queer characters in the book, but I'm finding it too hard to organize them enough to be coherent. Basically, just a mishmash of negative stereotypes employed that left me coming away from the book feeling slightly greasy.
The writing itself was beautiful and I think it was very well researched, so I hope other people enjoyed it more than I did!
A really fun, short read. Basically a female, Northern, small town version of the Screech Owls books, so right up my alley! It felt very true-to-life in its details about small town, Northern life – I would definitely read more about the team.
I absolutely loved this book. The characters all felt incredibly real, which doesn't happen all that often for me.
I love Rosaline's bisexuality and the very realistic and varied ways people respond to it. I love Rosaline and Harry's friendship. I love Harry's ability to take criticism, go “yeah, that makes sense”, and change. I love Rosaline and Lauren's friendship. I love Amelie and her love for anglerfish.
I have never seen an episode of GBBO and I still love this book. Do yourself a gavor and read it.
Really enjoyed this. Weir fleshed out the small amount known about Anna von Kleve with some very interesting what-ifs and made her come to life. The most interesting portion to me was the beginning, about Anna growing up in Kleve — so few books are set at the smaller German courts in this time period.
The best way to describe this book would probably be as a historical mystery romp. I found myself comparing it to early Anne Perry novels (before they got all same-y), but maybe a better comparison would be one of Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody novels. Well researched in the historical details, but the characters have pretty modern sensibilities — I know that annoys a lot of people, but I love it.
The novel opens with the death of Lady Julia Grey's husband, presumably of natural causes, but quickly jumps to a year later when evidence comes to light that maybe it wasn't quite as natural as all that. With the help of Nicholas Brisbane, a “private inquiry agent”, she investigates the murder.
It's the first in a series and I'll definitely read more. There's a hint of paranormal-ish goings-on (not vampires or werewolves, more like Gypsy highjinks) in this one, so I'll be interested to see if she digs deeper into that aspect.
Quote that I read to everyone in close proximity: [First line] To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor.
I bought this on Audible years ago, but just finally got around to listening to it. I think it would have been a completely different book to me pre-Covid...
Excellently written, with the perfect combination of wit and scientific knowledge. It covered one plague I knew absolutely nothing about (Encephalitis Lethargica) and a couple I knew less about (crazy lobotomy dude! Typhoid Mary! I mean, I knew the name but not much more.)
Very US-centric for the last half of the book, what a shock. Despite that, I highly recommend!
This one has been on my tbr shelf since 2013, so I finally interlibrary-loaned it for 2 challenges: Cleaning Out the TBR and Read the World. It was very good travel lit for a history buff like me, since he spent a lot of time on the history of Uzbekistan, Central Asia, and the Soviet Union.
I picked this one up thinking it was the new one in the series (Courtship) but it was still fun to re-read. I like that they're such gentle books - no huge drama, just daily life in a small village.
My absolute favourite Star Trek book so far! Star Trek and The West Wing had a baby snd it is the cutest little ball of snark in the universe. I would watch seven seasons of this!
Also, gratuitous Sports Night references for the win.
I started reading one of the Voyager Relaunch books and was confused by spoilery thing that had apparently happened since the previous relaunch book, so I went looking and found out that there was a multi-series trilogy dealing with spoilery thing. But many people suggested that I should read this other book first, or this other book, etc etc.
And now I have 20 YEARS of Star Trek books to catch up on!
Anyway, this was the first TNG book I've read and I quite enjoyed it. I'm not a huge Section 31 fan, but that part of the storyline didn't really detract from the TNG-ness. Plus, a gay POV character in Star Trek... in 2001!?! I would guess this was a first.
I knew I had read this book when it first came out, but I saw it at the library today and couldn't for the life of me remember what happened in it. It was another light and fluffy read, just what I was in the mood for.
I really enjoyed watching Lizzie grow up over the course of these three books. I remember being completely and utterly annoyed with her at the beginning of book one, though Cabot's charm can always suck me into the story despite that. Not the best book I've ever read, but lots of fun.
This has been on my “someday I will get around to it” to-read list for almost 20 years, and I'm really not sure why. It was strange and disturbing, and I am now even more worried about the world we live in than I was before I read it. Also, the audiobook was read by the author himself and he just seemed gleeful about all this weird shit. I think I'll go back to books about plagues and mosquitoes killing mankind instead.
I decided to re-read some L'Engle because someone whose opinion I admire was recently talking about how disappointed she was when she re-read them as an adult...
As a kid/teen I adored this book and would have given it 6 stars if that was possible. As an adult, I am more aware of its faults but still loved it. I still adore Meg (in this book... I'll leave the debate about adult!Meg for if I ever review The Arm of the Starfish) and this time around I found myself really really enjoying Mrs Murry. I'm intrigued by her story and wish there was more. I still think Meg&Calvin are one of my favourite literary couples (up there with Anne&Gilbert) and I'm still ambivalent about Charles Wallace.
A really lovely retelling of a lesser-known fairy tale. I enjoyed a lot of aspects of this (interesting characters, good plot, etc.) but my absolute favourite was that it had a fantasy setting not based on medieval Europe! What a shock! The Mongolian basis for the world was perfect and DIFFERENT.
I think I possibly love Shannon Hale's worldbuilding... it was good in Princess Academy as well. I really must get my hands on more of her books!
Light and fluffy - just what I needed!
Lackey tends to excel at world-building and I really enjoyed this new universe. Take a couple of interesting characters, throw in subverted fairy tales and some romance, and stir!
I do see why a lot of bookstores have trouble deciding where to shelve it. It is definitely fantasy, but it has the feel and structure of a romance novel. Luckily, I enjoy both!
Another light and fun read, though I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as The Fairy Godmother. The final third of the book was too rushed and left at least one massive question unanswered. I did like the resolution to the romance subplot, but... well... I saw a completely different way that the fairy tale could have been subverted...
I would have loved it if Andie had ended up falling for her Champion after all. Lackey certainly isn't averse to same-sex romances and it would have gone against the tradition of girl falls for boy, boy reveals himself to be girl-in-disguise, both girls happily marry other boys. I was pretty sure that it wasn't going to happen, given that it was a Luna book and trying to appeal to the romance market, but it didn't stop me from hoping.
I do enjoy the fact that The Tradition isn't completely hetero-centric – Andie and Gina both still feel the pressure of The Tradition building until they take the blood oath, not just until Gina is outed by the unicorns.
In the end, though, I really did like that Andie ended up with Periapt. A nerdy dragon, how much better can you get? Since I'm one of the readers who did like the sex scenes in The Fairy Godmother, I wish there had been at least a little something about the physical side of their relationship in this one. I mean, Periapt has a whole new body to explore now...