Third Monkey, Hear Evil
Monday, February 09, 2004
  Well, it's been a while since I've had time to post anything - I blame summer school holidays, which seem to have left me with no time to get near a computer, no energy to do anything, but lots of reading seems to have been done! The pile of books that needs to be reshelved is getting dangerously tall - probably going to fall and land on one of the kids, given that it is balanced on top of some of their books, in particular our set of the Sesame Street Libary, which is very popular with the elder kid...

Things I recommend that I've read in the last nearly two months:
- 'Dreamsnake' by Vonda McIntyre - fantasy at the length it should be. Doesn't explain anything, doesn't leave anything hanging for a sequel. Tightly written, good dialogue, wonderful characters. There's a reason it won Hugo/Nebula awards.
- Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine - several issues. Can't think which ones. Must have been in a bad mood last time I was reading, as I hated the ending of every story I read. Or maybe I was just unlucky with the ones that I was picking.
- 'See You Thursday' by Jean Ure - Young Adult fiction. Marianne is a fairly typical 16-year-old, whose mother takes in a blind man as a lodger. Ure spends a lot of the novel very gently ramming home the message that people with disabilities are just ordinary people. I've really liked all of the stuff of hers that I've read, and would recommend her as an author. Very gentle, easy to read stuff that packs a wallop. In particular, I've been fond of 'Supermouse' for about 20 years...
- Borderlands Magazine - okay, so this is one I'm involved in the editorial committee of, and it's the issue that is due to come out that I've been putting together, so I've read it over and over again. I'd say that half the stories survive being read five times in a week, which is a pretty good run, at least in my experience.
- 'Anvil of Stars' by Greg Bear - This one has taken about 3 months to read, in between other books. Not because it is dull, or slow (although at times it does go somewhat slowly), but because it is just densely written. This is not a complaint - I thought it was great. But I really struggled to keep reading it for long periods of time, as it became completely overwhelming. An epic story that doesn't seem too long, even though it feels like a doorstop...
- 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'Through the Looking Glass' by Lewis Carroll - Okay, I've been reading these for bookclub, but I still enjoy reading them again. What I've been most surprised by this time is the quality of the poetry - so many of the people who can write wonderful stories end up with really bland poems in them. I'm also looking forward to reading some of the rest of Carroll's stuff - I've a complete works, and I remember enjoying the rest of the stuff last time I read it, although I find myself not remembering much about it at all!
- 'Moreta' by Anne McCaffrey - okay, so I had a go at McCaffrey a while ago, and I don't see that this book contradicts much of what I said then. It's a good book, I enjoy rereading it, but it's not earth-shatteringly fantastic. Its a good read when I'm just not up to anything challenging, although it has the tear-jerk moments that McCaffrey seems to put in all her books.

And with that, I'll follow up a comment made previously - I commented that the cookbook I've lost is probably the only one that I would notice missing. I've since discovered, that that isn't true. I'm now down three cookbooks, and a couple of loose recipes. Wish I knew where the black hole in the kitchen is!
 
Life and times of someone who should know better....

ARCHIVES
September 2003 / October 2003 / November 2003 / December 2003 / February 2004 / March 2004 / June 2004 / July 2004 / October 2004 / December 2004 / January 2005 / April 2005 / July 2005 / September 2005 / January 2006 / March 2006 / April 2006 / May 2006 / June 2006 / April 2012 /


Powered by Blogger