while she knits: Dear Sounis

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Do you need advice for the book-lorn? *

Ask Dear Sounis!  Someone is bound to know the answer.

For example:

Dear Sounis,

I just finished the Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness, and really liked it.  Parts were a bit violent for me, and I threw the first book across the room, sobbing, at one point, but what a compelling story.

However, has there ever been a stupider main character than Todd?  Kill the damn mayor, already, Todd.

signed,
checkers the dog lover

Ok, so that question really doesn't need an answer.  It's just an example.  Maybe you have a real question?





*yes, sort of like the lovelorn, get it?

Comments

[elle-winters.livejournal.com]

This post made me smile. :)


Oh, chex! You're definitely book-lorn

[bluestalking.livejournal.com]

Checkers! My book related question is, should I read the 2nd and 3rd books of Patrick Ness?

[crowinator.livejournal.com]

I sobbed reading the first one too, and I still have books two and three on my to-read pile, staring at me and daring me to stop being such a wimp and just read them already. The answer is probably "yes" to reading them, but I feel I need to dedicate a block of time to deal with the trauma. Do you feel like that too?

[beth-shulman.livejournal.com]

Dear Sounis,

If a book was published in the late 90s and is (supposedly) very famous, why has it taken me until now to discover it?

LAST DAYS OF SUMMER, Y'ALL. Read it. It's absolutely incredible.

Also (this was a weekend for good reading): Countdown, by Deborah Wiles. Why has no one written a children's book set during the Bay of Pigs/Cold War era? (I know I didn't hear of the Bay of Pigs until eleventh grade. This book should have been part of my childhood.) It's a lovely, lovely book with some documentary parts between chapters. I think I would love it more if I hadn't read Last Days of Summer immediately after - it's so good that it completely overshadowed Countdown.

Any opinions on the Song of Fire and Ice series? Also, many thanks to all the people who persuaded me to read Ursula le Guin. LOVE HER. (Why did I wait so long?)

And I'd love any good book recs! Thanks everyone!

[brandy-painter.livejournal.com]

Speaking of good book recs...

I read The Cardturner today. And LOVED it. Thanks (as always).

[styromgalleries.livejournal.com]

lso, many thanks to all the people who persuaded me to read Ursula le Guin. LOVE HER.
Ooh! So what have you read? Earthsea? Some of the scifi (Left Hand of Darkness?, The Dispossessed?). I still haven't made my way through the latter two yet; they're sitting on my shelf waiting.

So glad you enjoyed her! She's brilliant. :)

[twelfthfantasy.livejournal.com]

I have read Last Days of Summer and I love it! It is one of the books I read again and again (in addition to MWT's books, obviously).

[styromgalleries.livejournal.com]

In regards to the Song of Ice and Fire, I'd like to know too. I've got the first book and I've started it twice, but I can't seem to get even 20 pages in. I believe I've heard that it's slow in the beginning, but I would like more opinions before I try again. XD

[lady-schrapnell.livejournal.com]

My first response was to rush over to Goodreads and check this book out, and then I realised I'd been about to put it onto my to-read shelf thanks to your rec anyway. What it is to be old and forgettful. :/

[asabell.livejournal.com]

Dear Sounis,

Should I read the Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness? Please give me something to read while I await the next MWT book.

yours delurkingly,
asabell ^^

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

I just finished them, and they are very good, though grim. Have you read Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus books?

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Dear Sounis,

Has anyone read Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi? What did you think of it?

[brandy-painter.livejournal.com]

I did. I was actually surprised by how much I liked it. I was expecting a dark and depressing novel (it did win the Printz after all) but that's not what it was at all. The beginning is grim because the life of shipbreaker is not fun but it is not grim all the way through. In fact, it reads more like a traditional fantasy than a dystopian novel. I enjoyed it very much.

[epidural.livejournal.com]

I did. Loved it. Can't wait for the sequel.

[msmcknittington.livejournal.com]

Dear Sounis,

Are there any books about fairies/faeries that aren't immensely silly and/or downright bad? I'm talking like old school, tricksy fairies here, not sparkly, twinkly Victorian fairies. True Thomas, Tamlin fairies.

I ask because I read the first and second books in the Iron Fae series by Julie Kagawa, realizing they were very silly and not all that good, and started on the third one, because I found the concept of an establishment of a new type of supernatural creature very interesting, but the third just got too bad for me to continue reading for a whole host of reasons.

I've already read the Discworld books about this and Little, Big by John Crowley (which I found pretty dated prose-wise) and The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope (which is one of my favorite books). I have tried to read Tam Lin by Pamela Dean, but never manage to remember I want to read it when I'm at the library.

So, any suggestions? Or is this a topic that's limited to very silly YA books?

[elvenjaneite.livejournal.com]

The Replacement, by Brenna Yovanoff. Fantastic book.

Also, RJ Anderson's series.

[styromgalleries.livejournal.com]

Have you read Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke? It's not strictly about fairies, but one features prominently in the story...and boy is he tricksy! And downright mean.

It's a huge book, but so worth it. Set around the time of and during the Napoleonic Wars, it focuses on the friendship and rivalry of two magicians determined to restore English magic. It's gloriously detailed. I absolutely love it!

[twelfthfantasy.livejournal.com]

Holly Black's Modern Faerie books are really good. They are YA, but I wouldn't call them silly. I personally think they manage to blend old school faerie and the modern world really well.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

I liked Wonderous Strange by Lesley Livingston and the sequels. Urban fantasy, though, not old fashioned.

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

Have you read The Folk Keeper by Franny Billingsley? Love that book. It vaguely reminds me of The Perilous Gard but on the other hand not really at all.

[readingisgoodforyou.wordpress.com (from livejournal.com)]

You might try Maggie Stiefvater's Lament and Ballad -- her faeries are anything but sweet and Stiefvater's writing is very poetic.

[tiegirl.livejournal.com]

Dear Sounis,
I have a sieve-like memory, and though dear Jade told me which LeGuin novels to start with (I wanted to read the Earthsea ones first, but don't know the order), I have already forgotten. How's it go again? As always, thanks for your help, and any other recommendations.

Love, Kristin (oops, Tiegirl)

[beth-shulman.livejournal.com]

Start with A Wizard of Earthsea. It's AMAZING.

[elvenjaneite.livejournal.com]

Dear Sounis:

Any suggestions for light, fluffy books that won't make me want to hurl them across the room? I'm a big Georgette Heyer fan, but I can be ticklish about historical fiction if it's not done right.

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

Eva Ibbotson seems the obvious suggestion, but so obvious you've probably read her. Or there's always Leave It To Psmith by P.G. Wodehouse. Doesn't get much fluffier than that.

[hazelwillow.livejournal.com]

Dear Sounis,

Has anyone read the overly famous Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and what did you think? Also, any thoughts on the movie?
I just finished the first book (I believe our discussion on anti-heroines a while ago was what inspired me to read it...), and thought it was good-ish. But was kind of shocked by the violence of the movie.

Are the others worth reading?

Yours happily ever after (or something like that),
hazelwillow

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

The second book was my favorite, actually. The first book had the worst violence, I thought.

[katecoombs.livejournal.com]

I've probably suggested these before, but Hilary McKay's Casson family books are sooooo good! (Not fantasy, but really great.) The first one is Saffy's Angel, a book that won a big award in Britain, but I think they get even better from there. [Oh! Just re-scanned the comments and discovered that Read_Marie recommended these. So I second what she said!] Her Exiles books are good, as well, but I prefer the Casson ones. Esp. Rose.

For urban fantasy, Will Shetterly wrote a couple of YAs inspired by Terri Windling's Borderlands, Elsewhere and Nevernever. Plus there's Delia Sherman and Charles de Lint with books for adults and some YA/MG...

Has anyone else read The China Garden by Liz Berry? Weirdly cool book.

Your talk of Ursula La Guin reminds me how much I loved The Tombs of Atuan when I was a kid!

[katecoombs.livejournal.com]

Oops. Le Guin. Sorry, Ursula!