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maribouWomen of the Silk, by Gail Tsukiyama
A lovely and moving story about a young women working in a Chinese silk factory in the 20s/30s. Simultaneously realistic and dreamlike.
(50/275)
Barking, by Tom Holt
All the blurbs on the back of this book were saying it is screamingly funny. Which I really didn't get. What I did get was a fun lad-lit lawyerly spin on werewolves with a heavy dose of ironic wit. Which, you know, I like better anyway. I did snort or chuckle a few times, and my sister the lawyer cackled at some bits I didn't notice. I really really really liked this book.
(51/275)
The Art of Detection, by Laurie R. King
A Sherlock Holmes pastiche enfolded in a lesbian police detective novel! What more can one ask for in one's vacation reading, eh? Very tasty. Somewhat scratched the need for more Russell novels, but not quite. However, I'm encouraged to think I will like the whole Martinelli series.
(52/275, 2/75)
The Spiderwick Chronicles, by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlezzi
For some reason when these came out I found their packaging too package-y and avoided them. But my sis had the complete edition hanging around in a box so I read it. And wow! Totally charming and fun. If I were 8 years old I would think these were the best books ever.
(53/275)
Asterix and the Golden Sickle, by Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo (reread)
When I was 8 years old, I DID think the Asterix series were the best books ever. And this was still quite entertaining, as much for the memories as for the book itself.
(54/275)
Godmother, by Carolyn Turgeon
Interesting short novel. The voice/protagonist were particularly compelling, though I admit I felt a bit dissatisfied when I was done. I may like my fairy-tale retellings either harsher or fluffier. But that's not the book's fault; it was a good book and kept me up very late finishing it.
(55/275)
The Terror, by Dan Simmons (complimentary copy)
This was a really odd book. A historical adventure novel with horror-y bits for the first 3/4 or more of its almost 1000 pages, and then a dark fantasy for the last part. I did really like it but the "how odd" sticks more than the "how nifty" - even though they are both relevant. I spent a lot of time thinking the monster was a distraction, because the non-monster historical adventure was so horrific that the monster couldn't be anything but icing on the icebound cake of awfulness, and thus wasn't really *scary*, if you see what I'm saying ... but then by the end everything fit together nicely.
(56/275)
Thinking Outside the Book, edited by Carol Smallwood
Some of these essays were really good. But the format bugged me - all the essays were really really short and so a lot of them felt too compacted.
(57/275)
Hornswoggled, by Donis Casey
This series is everything a 20th-century-historical mystery series should be, and if the rest of it is as awesome as the first two books, I will be so very happy. (small-town Oklahoma, this one was set in the early teens)
(58/275)
New Mary Russell novel coming next month...
Date: 2009-03-22 05:25 pm (UTC)--Vicki
Re: New Mary Russell novel coming next month...
Date: 2009-03-22 08:39 pm (UTC)Re: New Mary Russell novel coming next month...
Date: 2009-03-22 08:59 pm (UTC)Oh, and sorry for posting anon--my openID doesn't seem to be working *scratches head* But I'm admin for Laurie's Virtual Book Club, FTR. *Waves*
--Vicki