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Ghost Brigades, by John Scalzi
1) This was really really really good. 2) It was for some not quite certain reasons not quite as good as its prequel, Old Man's War. 3) It was still really really good and the best parts of it were AWESOME. Awesome enough that I don't want to go into detail and spoil them for anyone.
(75/250)
Maximum City, by Suketu Mehta
A brilliantly written and compelling narrative about Bombay that really wore me out with its unending descriptions of moral ambiguity. It's not that it was too long, as some have complained - I wouldn't cut any of it. I was just expecting maybe 25 percent underworld and 75 percent everything else, instead of 85 percent underworld and 15 percent everything else. Oof.
(76/250)
Close Her Eyes, by Dorothy Simpson
A perfectly competent British police procedural that left me quite unsatisfied. It had strong plot and characterization - I just found it too emotionally distant/clinical even in its descriptions of emotional states. I think. To be honest, I'm not a hundred percent sure what my issue was, but I know I'm not very interested in reading more of the same.
(77/250)
Gorillas in the Mist, by Diane Fossey
So good! I somehow managed to avoid reading this before now even though I've read like 6 other books about gorillas by people who were very much influenced by Diane Fossey. She comes across as so thoughtfully intrepid, and truly in love with her subject animals. I really liked this book.
(78/250)
Smoke and Mirrors, by Jane Lindskold
Fluffy space thriller about a psychic whore. Which deepens and complicates very satisfactorily in the latter half of the novel. Not as amazing as Changer and Legends Walking, but quite tasty.
(79/250)
Talk to the Hand, by Lynne Truss
Silly fun rant about how people act rotten these days and why one's righteous fury at the shockingly impolite is in fact justified. Doesn't hold up to fierce scrutiny, but isn't meant to.
(80/250)
Other People's Dirt, by Louise Rafkin
I very much enjoyed this book, but it was sort of a weird read because the other book I read by the author was largely about sexual identity stuff and in this one she kind of seemed to be trying to smooth her sexuality into the expected norms except for one casual reference to having been dumped by a girlfriend. I realize the point of the book was about what it's like to be a housecleaner, and it succeeds very well on that level, and I was glad to read it, I just kept being weirded out by what felt like an effort to prove how Hottttt she thought men were. Which probably isn't what was going on at all. I'm just saying.
(81/250)
Carpe Demon, by Julie Kenner
Smart funny chicklit about a character who is basically Buffy forced out of retirement after having lost her first husband, had 2 kids, and become a stay-at-home mom. But with the world-building different enough to be secure from any accusations of plagiarism - and different in some quite interesting ways. I was pleasantly surprised by this book.
(82/250)
Numbers Don't Lie, by Terry Bisson
Fun set of three stories about a lawyer with a strange talent for stumbling on bizarre physics anomalies and his brilliant Renaissance man of a friend. These had a very 'tall tale' feel to them which was cool.
(83/250)
1) This was really really really good. 2) It was for some not quite certain reasons not quite as good as its prequel, Old Man's War. 3) It was still really really good and the best parts of it were AWESOME. Awesome enough that I don't want to go into detail and spoil them for anyone.
(75/250)
Maximum City, by Suketu Mehta
A brilliantly written and compelling narrative about Bombay that really wore me out with its unending descriptions of moral ambiguity. It's not that it was too long, as some have complained - I wouldn't cut any of it. I was just expecting maybe 25 percent underworld and 75 percent everything else, instead of 85 percent underworld and 15 percent everything else. Oof.
(76/250)
Close Her Eyes, by Dorothy Simpson
A perfectly competent British police procedural that left me quite unsatisfied. It had strong plot and characterization - I just found it too emotionally distant/clinical even in its descriptions of emotional states. I think. To be honest, I'm not a hundred percent sure what my issue was, but I know I'm not very interested in reading more of the same.
(77/250)
Gorillas in the Mist, by Diane Fossey
So good! I somehow managed to avoid reading this before now even though I've read like 6 other books about gorillas by people who were very much influenced by Diane Fossey. She comes across as so thoughtfully intrepid, and truly in love with her subject animals. I really liked this book.
(78/250)
Smoke and Mirrors, by Jane Lindskold
Fluffy space thriller about a psychic whore. Which deepens and complicates very satisfactorily in the latter half of the novel. Not as amazing as Changer and Legends Walking, but quite tasty.
(79/250)
Talk to the Hand, by Lynne Truss
Silly fun rant about how people act rotten these days and why one's righteous fury at the shockingly impolite is in fact justified. Doesn't hold up to fierce scrutiny, but isn't meant to.
(80/250)
Other People's Dirt, by Louise Rafkin
I very much enjoyed this book, but it was sort of a weird read because the other book I read by the author was largely about sexual identity stuff and in this one she kind of seemed to be trying to smooth her sexuality into the expected norms except for one casual reference to having been dumped by a girlfriend. I realize the point of the book was about what it's like to be a housecleaner, and it succeeds very well on that level, and I was glad to read it, I just kept being weirded out by what felt like an effort to prove how Hottttt she thought men were. Which probably isn't what was going on at all. I'm just saying.
(81/250)
Carpe Demon, by Julie Kenner
Smart funny chicklit about a character who is basically Buffy forced out of retirement after having lost her first husband, had 2 kids, and become a stay-at-home mom. But with the world-building different enough to be secure from any accusations of plagiarism - and different in some quite interesting ways. I was pleasantly surprised by this book.
(82/250)
Numbers Don't Lie, by Terry Bisson
Fun set of three stories about a lawyer with a strange talent for stumbling on bizarre physics anomalies and his brilliant Renaissance man of a friend. These had a very 'tall tale' feel to them which was cool.
(83/250)
