While She Knits: Summer days driftin' away, to uh-oh those summer nights

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Dare we think that LJ is working again???

What have you read this summer that you are dying to talk to someone else about?  Good or bad. 

Tell me more, tell me more!  Was it love at first sight?

Comments

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Gee, I would love to go first! A good, and a...not sure yet.

First the good. I picked an advance copy of The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson (who happens to live in Columbus, OH, my hometown). I really liked it. It didn't necessarily surprise me at all, and it was very Tamora Pierce-like (I mean that in a good way), but I thought she did an excellent job with the characters and the world-building. It's the first in a trilogy. When I went to the author's website (http://www.raecarson.com/) to check it out, guess who I saw has written a blurb about the book? Yes, MWT.

"Rae Carson's heroine is a perfect blend of the ordinary and the extraordinary. I loved her."
— Megan Whalen Turner, author of Newbery Honor book, THE THIEF

Anyone who likes Tamora Pierce will like this, too. Looks like it will be published in September.

[elvenjaneite.livejournal.com]

You're kidding! I grew up in Columbus!

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

The Not-Sure-Yet. Pegasus by Robin McKinley.

I like many of McKinley's books, especially the retold fairy tales. And if only I had known up front that this book is not a stand-alone, but instead is the first of two books, I would not feel so cheated here. Like many of her books, the story is slow and steady, with much of the action told through reports about what was happening outside the castle, or ancient diary entries. But the descriptions are exquisite and I liked the characters, though I told Jade the ending sort of went like this:

Stuff
Stuff
Angsting for 50 pages
Very Bad Stuff
The end

Has anyone else read it? What did you think?

[gauroth.livejournal.com]

I really like her earlier books but I think her latest are a bit... mm... 'turgid' isn't quite right. Basically, I can put them down halfway through and not be bothered. Unlike Diana Wynne Jones or Patricia McKillip, who I trust enough to carry me over the very few longeures in their books.

[ballerina-222.livejournal.com]

I read Pegasus and I liked it, which was surprising because it was so slow like most of McKinley's other books. I really liked the description and the world-building. I was really disappointed when I finished it though, because I didn't know it was really two books. I felt that it ended mid-scene almost, and I think it ended at a terrible part. It just felt like a book had been cut in two randomly.
Robin McKinley is usually a hit-and-miss for me. I love some of her books, and others (like Sunshine), I just do not like.

[gauroth.livejournal.com]

Sherwood Smith, 'Inda' books followed by 'A Stranger to Command.' My, she's good! her worldbuilding is impeccable, and very deep. Also 'Coronets and Steel' which is a modern-day romance/thriller with a wee touch of magic. And if you like that, try 'The Prisoner of Zenda' by Anthony Hope.

I'm now reading the superb 'Chronicles of the Kencyrath' by P C Hodgell. Odd, funny epic fantasy. Nobody I know has read Hodgell, who is brilliant, so if anyone wants to talk about her, please do so on my LJ or Facebook. I am Maggie Brinkley on Fb.

Just as good is Martha Wells. Wonderful prose, fantastic stories, gripping plots.

I'm also re-re-reading Mary Stewart's romantic thrillers, which now seem more like historical thrillers, because they are set in the 50s

Talk to me, guys, I would love to hear your opinions!

[gauroth.livejournal.com]

I apologise if mentioning my lj or fb is not appropriate in this forum.

[ninedaysaqueen.livejournal.com]

I've been enjoying and have not quite finished yet, a book called The Puppeteer's Apprentice by Anne D. Love. I'm greatly impressed by the writing and word choice. It's simple while still keeping a beautiful cadence. Characters could be a little stronger, but I'm not done yet, so what do I know!

I've also been caught up in some non-fic. The Good, the Bad, and the Barbie by Tanya Lee Stone is awesome. Who knew one could write such a fascinating biography that throughly and objectively explores the sociology and phycology of a child's toy? I was very impressed the massive amounts of material and opinions she managed to document.

[ninedaysaqueen.livejournal.com]

Make that D. Anne Love, and I can't even use the not wearing my glasses excuse!

[elvenjaneite.livejournal.com]

Well, I read Sarah Rees Brennan's Demon's Surrender twice in one month, but I was super excited about it, and I ended up with a UK and a US edition, so naturally I had to read BOTH.

Other books enjoyed: The Dead Beat by Marilyn Johnson, which is--gasp--non-fiction. Nightspell by Leah Cypress I liked a lot, though I suspect I might have enjoyed it even more if it hadn't been connected to Mistwood.

Lots of other books I didn't enjoy as much, and some old standby re-reads.

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

I still haven't read Demon's Surrender but I was able to borrow a copy of the UK edition so I'm planning to read that soon. I also borrowed a copy of Nightspell from the same person! LOL I hope I get to read both within the month.

[drashizu.livejournal.com]

I discovered the Vlad Taltos books by Steven Brust, which remind me of QT in a number of ways. The series revolves around a human ("Easterner") named Vlad, an assassin/mafioso/sorcerer/witch living in an unusual sort of fantasy realm, with an Awesome of nearly Gen caliber.

My gosh, he has such a great sense of humor! Both the author and the narrator, actually, who was described in one review I read as narrating in "first-person smartass."

But I also love the artistry of the books; later on, especially, Brust does wonderful things with point of view, non-linear timelines, and epistolary or retold-anecdote types of narrative structure. Sort of reminds me of MWT both for the creative approach he takes toward conveying the events of the story to the reader, and for the way he can create such a wonderful and sympathetic character out of somebody with so many faults.

I can't believe I have to wait five days for the next set to arrive in the mail...

I honestly can't remember if this has been rec'd here before, but if it has, and you haven't read the books yet, take this as an extra reminder.

[agh-4.livejournal.com]

Those sound like great books, and I think I'll give them a look, but mostly...

I LOVE YOUR ICON.

[qwentoozla]

I've been reading the Miles Vorkosigan books, but I know I don't need to recommend them to you guys, because it was you and MWT that got me to read them in the first place! I'm so into these books now! I'm on Mirror Dance right now.

[styromgalleries.livejournal.com]

I'm reading them too! Admittedly all out of order and sporadically when I can find them at used bookstores, but I will work my way through all, I'm determined!

Miles is such an excellent character. ♥

[willow-41z.livejournal.com]

CHECKERS. I already had that song stuck in my head BEFORE I read this post. *angry face*

I haven't been reading much, but I read Vanity Fair, which was good; Sunshine by Robin McKinley, which I couldn't put down; Dragonhaven by same, which mostly same; the first 300 pages of Bleak House, which has very good prose but no real hints of a plot yet (only Dickens could get away with doing that!). I just read The Foundling by Georgette Heyer, and am in the middle of Portrait of a Lady and Nun in the Closet, the latter of which is by Dorothy Gilman.

Foundling was a LOT of fun. Think of the Grandfather's speech in Princess Bride, and you'll about have it. No fencing, giants, or torture, but highwaymen-- FAKE highwaymen-- and foundlings and, uh, badgers. And mayhem. And mischief. Portrait of a Lady is good, but Nun in the Closet is excellent-- Dorothy Gilman excels at writing really absurd situations with a perfectly straight face and making you feel like you're an uptight fuddy-duddy for thinking they're absurd in the first place. NitC is about Sister John and Sister Hyacinthe, who leave their cloister for the first time in about eighteen years to investigate this large old house that has been left to their order unexpectedly. There are nuns who can't drive but are certainly not collecting pot and hippies and mysterious people in the house and large amounts of cash just showing up and crossdressing fake nuns and ridiculously potent alcohol and and and yeah :D

[elvenjaneite.livejournal.com]

I just re-read Sunshine! Love that book so much--Rae has to be one of my all-time favorite narrators. And I secretly kind of want to be Aimil (The Death of Marat is my favorite moment in the whole book.)

[danjess.livejournal.com]

I recently read "Streams of Babel" by Carol Plum-Ucci and "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak. They're both really heavy, dark books, especially The Book Thief, which has nothing in common with our Thief's story, and is set near Munich during WWII. It deals with the tragedy vs the beauty of humanity and it's probably the most important book I've ever read, but it has so much sweetness and powerful, hopeful sentiments that it doesn't come off as being gruesome. SO MANY FEELINGS about this book!

"Stargirl" by Jerry Spinelli and it's sequel, "Love, Stargirl" are pretty light-but-not-too-fluffy books.

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

Loved K.L. Going's King of the Screw-ups.

Thought Jellicoe Road was well-written, but couldn't get past the oh-so-depressing lives of every single character in it.

Fell in love with Nabokov all over again with a reread of The Real Life of Sebastian Knight.

Looking for the Next Great Read!

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

Aww I'm sad that Jellicoe Road didn't work out for you, that's one of my favorite books last year. Maybe you can give Melina Marchetta's other books a try? Aside from Jellicoe, I also love The Piper's Son but that's a companion novel to Saving Francesca.

[lizzyazula.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid the only phenomenal books I've read (in this case, REread) this summer are those Harry Potter ones. Now I'm on a Harry Potter kick. I love Harry so much <3. Other than that I've actually been on a reading slump ever since...ever since I read QT for the first time, so about two years ago. I guess I've come across books that I certainly enjoyed, but I haven't become completely enamored with anything new. Megan and Gen set my standards to impossible heights.

[hazelwillow.livejournal.com]

Oh man , this.

I have been on a Harry Potter kick since... Well, forever, to be honest, but ESPECIALLY since the last movie. It's gotten to the point where I really can't re-read any more... It's quite bad! So yeah, Harry. I <3 that kid too.

If we can go off-topic for a moment, did you see the movie? What did you think?

[thesehnsucht.livejournal.com]

I reread The Winter Prince by Elizabeth E. Wein and I can't believe how much of this stuff just flew over my head when I was twelve. It is such an intense story and may be disturbing to some but the characterization is poignant and the writing is sparse but precise. What I love is that the author values common sense and expects the reader to do a little bit of thinking on her part, much like our lovely MWT. But the most amazing thing is that in the space of a few sentences, the most frightening woman I've ever encountered in literature suddenly becomes sympathetic. I've haven't been this invested in a character or a story in a long time. Well, actually I've never been so enthralled by a book. It certainly isn't a children's book but I recommend it to everyone, since I know the younger members here are very mature. I have read its sequel, A Coalition of Lions, and while it wasn't as good as The Winter Prince in my opinion, it is still a superb read.

On a lighter note, I've also begun to reread The Count of Monte Cristo, also a very good book. I only got a third of the way through before because while it is an excellent story, it isn't very "well written" and it is extremely long. And I say not well written, quote end quote, because it could seriously have used some editing. I know it was published in chapters so the author just made it as long as possible, and actually I love that. These days it's considered frivolous and just bad writing if it contains unnecessary details, but I happen to enjoy these old thousand page epics that don't introduce the plot for a few hundred pages. But the last time I borrowed my copy from the library and since I like to read slowly I just ran out of time and didn't pick it back up.

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

Love love love Elizabeth E. Wein's books! But I prefer the ones about Telemakos (The Sunbird and the Mark of Solomon duology) more than The Winter Prince.

[hazelwillow.livejournal.com]

Well, I've started reading Pride and Prejudice. And I actually don't know what is going to happen (except a particular couple getting together... But I don't know HOW) so don't spoil me, please! I don't know how I've managed to live through 23 years and a creative writing degree and not know the plot of this book, but somehow it happened! And so far it is very amusing indeed.

I've been reading the Fullmetal Alchemist manga, but I'm not very far in yet. Those are fun!

And I read a non-fiction book called The Whistleblower by Katherine Bolkovak, about corruption in US military contractors. The writing itsn't amazing but its interesting!

So nothing life-changing yet. I've been obsessing over Harry Potter. And looking for an intelligent forum to discuss the last movie... If anyone here is interested, let me know or head over to my journal! I wish all fandoms were as articulate and thoughtful as this one, so I would love to hear any crossover fans' thoughts! (As for me, i liked it but was disappointed with the way they showed Harry's sacrifice...).

[hazelwillow.livejournal.com]

Add the hilarious Bromeliad Trilogy by Terry Pratchett to that list ("Truckers," "Diggers" and "Wings"). XD I highly recommend these, especially if you've ever wanted to see the advertising in a department store taken down as religious edicts. Priceless!

[katecoombs.livejournal.com]

I'm about to read Wisdom's Kiss by Catherine Gilbert Murdock and looking forward to it very much, esp. since I loved her Dairy Queen books (even though they weren't fantasy!).

Also, I just got the next two books in an Australian fantasy series, The Laws of Magic by Michael Pryor. MC Aubrey Fitzwilliam bugs me a little because he's soooo arrogant, but I still like the series. The author has Aubrey make a major magical screw-up early on that continues to trip him up in the other books--pretty interesting. The whole thing's kinda steampunky and very British!

Colin Meloy's Wildwood was good, though I think maybe I expected it to be even better. (He's the lead singer of the Decemberists.)

The best books I've read in the past 4-5 months were probably Chime and The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making.

And--Gauroth--in shelving books in my new home library, I just reread the conclusion of the Inda series. Happy sigh! I liked A Stranger to Command except for the cover photo: NOT my idea of Shevraeth!

Is anyone else going to the SCBWI Conference this weekend?

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

I agree about the cover of A Stranger to Command! It took me some time to read that book because I didn't want to read about Vidanric without Mel but was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it. I've been recommending it to Crown Duel fans ever since.

[katecoombs.livejournal.com]

P.S. The new Harry Potter movie got a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. (Usually you only see that kind of score for the best of the Pixar movies.) Go Harry! I thought it was really well paced, well acted, and poignant. Though yeah, the fight scene with V tried too hard to be The Matrix or something...

mmm, ice cream!

[agh-4.livejournal.com]

I've been doing a lot of rereading lately, most recently My One Hundred Adventures, by Polly Horvath. Does anyone else here love Polly Horvath? Her books can be sweet, and surprising, and a little offsetting, and funny, and though-provoking... They're all (more or less) realistic fiction, and rereading one makes me want to reread them all.

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

Franny Billingsley's Chime has been the book of the summer for me. I checked it out three times from the library since May, so I figured it was about time I shelled out some cash for my own copy.
When I first began reading, I thought the main character, Briony, had one of the weirdest, most unusual internal voices I'd ever come across and I almost put it down because of that. As I continued reading, though, I came to understand that she was, or had been, a writer and she thought like one,and so her internal voice began to come across as more unique and creative to me than weird. And I love the relationship that she and Eldric have -- their sassiness, their bad boys club and the way they both get to save each other equally.
As a side note, I'm convinced that Eldric looks exactly like Ted Dwane, the double-bassist from Mumford & Sons (I'm pretty sure he has the most amazing hair ever).

[(Anonymous)]

the soulfinder books. otherwise known as poison study, magic study,and fire study. i got fire study from the library yesterday and am about 12 pages in,so if anyone has read them please dont mess them up!

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

Recently, the books that I've read and loved are Lips Touch by Laini Taylor, A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness and Saving June by Hannah Harrington.

Lips Touch has three short stories inside and I'm usually not a fan of short stories but I heard such good things about the book so I decided to give it a try. I'm glad I did because Laini Taylor's writing is beautiful. I can't wait to read her next book, Daughter of Smoke and Bone.

I was surprised by how much I loved A Monster Calls because I wasn't a big fan of the first Chaos Walking Trilogy book, The Knife of Never Letting Go. A Monster Calls isn't dystopian like Ness' other books but more contemporary middle grade, it's a book that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to any reader, regardless of genre preferences.

Saving June is a contemporary YA novel by debut author Hannah Harrington and it hasn't been released in the US but the ebook is available from Australian online bookstores. I highly recommend this one if you're a fan off YA contemps.

[ballerina-222.livejournal.com]

I've been re-reading Garth Nix's Abhorsen series. I really love it! They're the only books of his I've read, but they're so well written. The world he's created is very interesting, his characters are intriguing, and the books are just great. He's really good at going from dark and serious to comic.

[hazelwillow.livejournal.com]

I used to like those quite a lot, especially the first one! Always remembered his imagination of Death, so fascinating and atmospheric. And creepy! Just thinking about it is making me want to read them again.

[1221bookworm.livejournal.com]

I've haven't read anything good lately, several books I haven't even finished, that's really bad :-( As far as rereads go, I'm rereading "Forging the Sword" by Hilari Bell. It's the third book in her Farsala trilogy. It is one of my all time favorite books and part of one of my favorite series. The first book is a little slow, but it is worth it, and definetly improves when you read it again! Has anybody else read them?

[filkferengi]

I've been reading mostly mysteries this summer: rereads of Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher & Corinna Chapman mysteries; cosy mysteries with bad, punny titles; Aunt Dimity, etc.

I'm also reading some Edward Eager for the first time; those are lots of fun.

If you can find _The Nabob's Widow_ by Elsie Lee, it's a perpetual delight.