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maribouIrish Crystal, by Andrew Greeley
Latest in the Nuala Ann McGrail mystery series. Was good. Some of it could've stood with some editing, but if had Greeley's publishing schedule, full life, and was his age, I'd be more concerned with getting the stories down than fussing around with my natural style, too. The parts that were supposed to be in a more formal educated voice were very much in character so I didn't feel like it was just sloppiness in the other parts. But his VERY BAD efforts at Appalachian dialect are terribly painful. Does he know any Appalachians? Because the character in question sounds a lot more like southern-influenced Cleveland than like Tennessee. (Unless Tennessee Appalachians are nothing at all like Kentucky Appalachians, the verb usage is ALL wrong, just for starters.)
(155/250)
Adverbs: A Novel, by Daniel Handler
This is less weird-creepy and more weird-experimental than his previous two novels (and more of a collection of short stories to boot - and I don't even like short stories that much). That makes it more accessible to the literary fiction mainstream but not as satisfying to me. Oh well. Anyway, once I got past the first 3 or 4 stories I sort of warmed to the groove and started to love the book despite our poor fit. And I finished up by being really happy with it although it wouldn't have made me miss a Greyhound the way Watch Your Mouth did.
(156/250)
Newjack, by Ted Conover (unabridged audiobook), read by the author
Ted Conover wanted to write about prisons and the prisons wouldn't let him in, except in Very Structured Media Tour type situations. So he applied for and got entrance to correction officer school in New York State and then ended up guarding in Sing Sing for a year. This is a really amazing book, fascinating and compassionate and decidedly lacking in that grating elite liberal bias you sometimes come across that assumes that working class = mainly Stupid and Subhuman. Also, Conover did an excellent job reading his own work, which is what I'm always hoping for when I see 'read by the author' but don't always get.
(157/250)
After the Armistice Ball, by Catriona McPherson
A refreshing 20s mystery with a Scottish society sleuth who is actually constrained by the limitations of her time and position and has to work around them. And the emotional bits are captivating without being melodramatic. I am looking forward to reading the sequel.
(158/250)
The Inner Circle, by T. C. Boyle
Novel whose protagonist is one of Alfred Kinsey's inner circle - so sex research in the 40s and 50s, mostly. This was extremely readable but I was left a touch underimpressed. Underimpressed only in comparison to the other work of his I read, and I will keep trying other books by him - it's hard to say what the matter was, really.
(159/250)
Paragaea, by Chris Roberson
Oh, man, this book was just perfect. It's an old-school pulp novel with a modern education and none of the stuff that I have to hold my nose about when I'm reading old pulp novels. Love love love for this book, which does exactly what it set out to do. It isn't some big brilliant amazing tour de force blah blah blah, but just a good straightforward ripping yarn with everything right. Harder to do than a person might think.
(160/250)
Latest in the Nuala Ann McGrail mystery series. Was good. Some of it could've stood with some editing, but if had Greeley's publishing schedule, full life, and was his age, I'd be more concerned with getting the stories down than fussing around with my natural style, too. The parts that were supposed to be in a more formal educated voice were very much in character so I didn't feel like it was just sloppiness in the other parts. But his VERY BAD efforts at Appalachian dialect are terribly painful. Does he know any Appalachians? Because the character in question sounds a lot more like southern-influenced Cleveland than like Tennessee. (Unless Tennessee Appalachians are nothing at all like Kentucky Appalachians, the verb usage is ALL wrong, just for starters.)
(155/250)
Adverbs: A Novel, by Daniel Handler
This is less weird-creepy and more weird-experimental than his previous two novels (and more of a collection of short stories to boot - and I don't even like short stories that much). That makes it more accessible to the literary fiction mainstream but not as satisfying to me. Oh well. Anyway, once I got past the first 3 or 4 stories I sort of warmed to the groove and started to love the book despite our poor fit. And I finished up by being really happy with it although it wouldn't have made me miss a Greyhound the way Watch Your Mouth did.
(156/250)
Newjack, by Ted Conover (unabridged audiobook), read by the author
Ted Conover wanted to write about prisons and the prisons wouldn't let him in, except in Very Structured Media Tour type situations. So he applied for and got entrance to correction officer school in New York State and then ended up guarding in Sing Sing for a year. This is a really amazing book, fascinating and compassionate and decidedly lacking in that grating elite liberal bias you sometimes come across that assumes that working class = mainly Stupid and Subhuman. Also, Conover did an excellent job reading his own work, which is what I'm always hoping for when I see 'read by the author' but don't always get.
(157/250)
After the Armistice Ball, by Catriona McPherson
A refreshing 20s mystery with a Scottish society sleuth who is actually constrained by the limitations of her time and position and has to work around them. And the emotional bits are captivating without being melodramatic. I am looking forward to reading the sequel.
(158/250)
The Inner Circle, by T. C. Boyle
Novel whose protagonist is one of Alfred Kinsey's inner circle - so sex research in the 40s and 50s, mostly. This was extremely readable but I was left a touch underimpressed. Underimpressed only in comparison to the other work of his I read, and I will keep trying other books by him - it's hard to say what the matter was, really.
(159/250)
Paragaea, by Chris Roberson
Oh, man, this book was just perfect. It's an old-school pulp novel with a modern education and none of the stuff that I have to hold my nose about when I'm reading old pulp novels. Love love love for this book, which does exactly what it set out to do. It isn't some big brilliant amazing tour de force blah blah blah, but just a good straightforward ripping yarn with everything right. Harder to do than a person might think.
(160/250)
