While She Knits
Oct. 5th, 2012 09:26 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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queensthiefGosh, it's been quiet around here!
What great things have you read recently that are totally obscure? Something other people are unlikely to ever find on their own?
I'll go first:
Boris by Cynthia Rylant - if you've ever loved a pet, you'll like this one. So sweet! And, it's told in verse.
A teen sci-fi series that you'll like if you're a Star Trek nerd * - the Galahad series by Dom Testa. A comet has infected the earth with a disease that is killing off all the adults. As a last-ditch effort to save the human race, scientists build a spaceship to travel to another planet, and choose 251 disease-free teens who must learn how to get the ship there, and colonize the planet. Lots of fun. The first book is The Comet's Curse.
* No, not me. Not a bit.
What great things have you read recently that are totally obscure? Something other people are unlikely to ever find on their own?
I'll go first:
Boris by Cynthia Rylant - if you've ever loved a pet, you'll like this one. So sweet! And, it's told in verse.
A teen sci-fi series that you'll like if you're a Star Trek nerd * - the Galahad series by Dom Testa. A comet has infected the earth with a disease that is killing off all the adults. As a last-ditch effort to save the human race, scientists build a spaceship to travel to another planet, and choose 251 disease-free teens who must learn how to get the ship there, and colonize the planet. Lots of fun. The first book is The Comet's Curse.
* No, not me. Not a bit.
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Date: 10/6/12 01:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 10/6/12 07:55 pm (UTC)And I have to ask....did you waste time researching that fictional book they were reading in the book? I so wished it was real -- I wanted to read it!
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Date: 10/6/12 02:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 10/6/12 02:17 am (UTC)Also Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry. Obviously she is not an obscure author, but I think the book counts because it's tremendously overshadowed by The Giver, and again, I haven't met too many people who have read it or are even aware of it. Which is a shame, because in my humble opinion, Gathering Blueis the better book!
Lastly, one for fans of the Inklings (Tolkien, Lewis, Sayers, etc.): The Company They Keep by Diana Glyer. It reads like a research paper in places, which is maybe why it's not a popular biography, but the information contained within just sang to this fangirl's heart. :) Enjoyed it so much.
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Date: 10/6/12 03:07 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 10/8/12 03:45 pm (UTC)And I loved The Company They Keep. <3
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Date: 10/26/12 05:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 10/6/12 02:53 am (UTC)Oddly, the first obscure book to come to my head (and the only one I can think of right now... agh) is a picture book called The Ice Cream Cone Coot which I absolutely loved as a kid. I has no plot, its just a book in verse about different "kinds" of birds. I haven't really met anyone else who is familiar with it though.
Have I mentioned that Les Mis is long? Its long.
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Date: 10/6/12 07:30 am (UTC)The Man Who Lost His Head, by Claire Huchet Bishop, illustrated by Robert McCloskey--children's picture book. He lost it. Literally. So he tries to find a replacement.
Are Women Human? by Dorothy L. Sayers--she didn't just write mysteries. A short little book on the role of women in public life.
The Complete Stories, by Flannery O'Connor (short stories)--Ok, probably not obscure enough. But how many have read anything of hers apart from the one or two stories they may have encountered in a high school or college class? Well, the others are worth reading too.
Tarzan of the Apes, by Edgar Rice Burroughs--Also not actually obscure...but if you've only seen a movie version, read the book, as they say. Definitely requires some suspension of disbelief (he teaches himself to read without any help, or even knowing English), and there's some racism to wade through. But it's a very rollicking adventure and coming of age story (the last page or two is very surprising in a good way), and one can certainly see why it has survived for the past 100 years (this year is its centenary).
The Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov--I've mentioned this on here before, but I'll do it again. Kind of weird, definitely unorthodox, but four years after I read it, it still stands out in my mind.
~~~~~and...
Kristin Lavransdatter, by Sigrid Undset--I haven't actually read it yet, but I've heard a lot of good things about it, got it for my birthday, and it is patiently awaiting me. The author became a Nobel Laureate.
--Handmaiden
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Date: 10/6/12 05:33 pm (UTC)(no subject)
From: (Anonymous) - Date: 10/8/12 06:07 am (UTC) - Expandno subject
Date: 10/7/12 05:29 am (UTC)I read Kristin Lavransdatter a few years back -- I understand there's a newish translation out now that's supposed to be good. I think people either love that book or hate it -- I thought it was fascinating. :-D
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Date: 10/6/12 03:20 pm (UTC)Most of what I've been reading lately has been not so good, unfortunately, well, except for The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater and Rae Carson's Crown of Embers, both of which are definitely not obscure. Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst showed potential at the start (trickster gods are always win in my books), but it crashed and burned pretty quickly. Rock On by Denise Vega definitely skewed towards the younger end of the Young Adult spectrum, so my interest kind of petered out after a while. Now I'm just waiting with baited breath for my copy of Quintana of Charyn to arrive from fishpond -- I cannot wait to dig into it.
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Date: 10/9/12 03:54 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 10/6/12 06:10 pm (UTC)More obscure books I've read (or re-read) somewhat recently (or not ...):
The Farsala Trilogy by Hilari Bell I know some Sounisians have read it, but it is a great series, and not that well known/loved. It has some of the political manueverings of QT, and there is definetly alot of action/adventure, but most important, there is character growth, including the side characters. The three main characters have a lot of issues to work out, and, at the end of the series, they have all grown over alot of their problems, though they are by no means perfect :) This series also includes a legend taken right out of Persian mythology, and there are some twists to it that are really great. Also has insight into how legends and myths are created, and the mindset of the people behind them. No epic romance, though there is a hint if you chose to look for it. I highly recommend this series. (disclaimer: If you read the first book, and do think it is a little dull I promise that the second and third books make up for it. That's the biggest flaw with this series, that the first book takes a lot of time to set it all up, but it is worth it in the end. I promise.) It's also one of those series that gets better with re-reads.
The Healing Wars by Janice Hardy Aimed at the younger end of YA these books pit some young folks against the oppressive government bent on destroying their homes, their families, and eventually the young folk themselves. With a heavy dose of magic, these books discuss when it's "right" to do the "wrong" thing, and who really decides what's "right" and "wrong." Definetly a romantic aspect to this book, but in a sweet, friend to lover sort of way.
The Glassmaker's Daughter by V. Briceland This is actually the first in a series, though I haven't read the second and third book becuase the library doesn't have them :( However, the first one was a sort of fun, light read that moves along at a nice pace, without brainwracking political problems. A great book to read when your sick, and want to be entertained without really having to think. (I know that from experience:)
Thanks for the post, Checkers!! :)
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Date: 10/11/12 06:52 pm (UTC)The character growth is also very realistic - it's not like some revelation that come and whack them up side the head. It's gradual, and the characters have setbacks. Kind of like Gen in QoA.
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Date: 10/7/12 05:52 am (UTC)My sister and I were talking the other day about why some wonderful books are "cult classics," instead of just classics.
One of my all time favorites in that category is Maria Dermout's "The Ten Thousand Things." Which I'm not going to try to describe -- I just love it! And I reread it recently.
Does anybody else like Sherryl Jordan's "Winter of Fire?" I loved that book so much, I read it 3 times in a row. It's very different from the Queen's Thief series or Farsala, but I still loved it. :-D
I was just rereading "The Comforters" by Muriel Spark ....but I love everything by Muriel Spark. She rules!
Also G. K. Chesterton's "The Man Who Was Thursday." (I always wonder who was lucky enough to see that New Leaf Theater production with the great trailer -- but I know I've posted that here before, so I will refrain).
I'm slowly making my way through Libba Bray's "The Diviners." "Beauty Queens was really awesome -- I'm having a harder time getting into "The Diviners," because it has really creepy horror. But it's still well done.
I don't know why more people don't read Sarah Rees Brennan's "The Demon's Lexicon" series. I think its funny, touching, gripping, .....all kinds of good things. Not a perfect series, but a really, really good one.
I also read "Team Human" recently -- so much fun! I definitely recommend it.
Finally -- not obscure at all -- but I've been reading Dante's The Divine Comedy. My Dad has been a huge fan all my life (and longer), but one of my sisters told me the comedy was really gruesome, so I avoided it for years. Such a mistake!
And I'm rereading "The Thief," so I can continue my dissection :-D
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Date: 10/7/12 06:50 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 10/9/12 06:07 pm (UTC)Otherwise, I've just finished reading The Hunger Games, ad right now I'm reading "Throne of Glass" which is OK - altough I cold have told the main character on page 80 what she's just now figuring out on page 310...Seriously, Celaena, who told you you were an assassin? And I also read te first two books of te Ryria Revelations by Michael Sullivan. The read alot like The Legend of Eli Monpress, but a little more to the epic fantasy side. It's best not to compare the two series though, because the RR thief and swordsman are very similar to th LoEM thief and swordsman - if they swapped personlities....It can be a little distracting!
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Date: 10/10/12 05:08 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 10/9/12 08:27 pm (UTC)~mwt
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Date: 10/10/12 12:22 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 10/10/12 01:11 am (UTC)One book series which is sadly obscure at my library is the Moomin books by Tove Jansson. I adore them, but nobody at the library has even heard of them --including all the kids librarians I've asked! Of course, they are Finnish... I read them as a child but have no idea how known they actually are. Are there any Moomin fans here?
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Date: 10/10/12 02:06 am (UTC)~mwt
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Date: 10/10/12 02:05 am (UTC)The series is much more traditional fantasy-oriented (and less political intrigue and romance) than the MWT's, but... well Eli Monpress is a rascal and a silvertongued charmer and a hella powerful wizard, but above all he's a THIEF; and he's short and dark and almost as good as he thinks he is and I love him madly.
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Date: 10/10/12 02:20 am (UTC)Hee! Anything that someone loves madly is worth checking out. Thanks for the rec! :)
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Date: 10/10/12 08:19 pm (UTC)It does read more like a Middle Grade book than a YA one, as it's marketed, because the protagonist is only twelve and deals with some very Middle School type issue (not in a bad way); however, I really enjoyed Louis's travels into the past. Through discovering history, she comes to better understand the problems she's dealing with in the present. It would definitely be refreshing for fans of historical fiction, as it's a very different take on how to teach a history lesson and make it pertinent to the present. All around, very entertaining and lovely
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Date: 10/10/12 08:48 pm (UTC)I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Regina Doman. You'll probably never see her books in a store; because she's published through the independent publishing company she runs. Nevertheless, she's written some of the best modern fairytale reduxs I've ever read. My favorite is her trilogy retelling Snow White, Rose Red; Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; and Sleeping Beauty.
The Shadow of the Bear (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6146985-the-shadow-of-the-bear)
Black As Night (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6013686-black-as-night)
Waking Rose (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1912546.Waking_Rose)
Mystery, murder, intrigue, and suspence set in, surprisingly enough, a New York Catholic community. Check it out!
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Date: 10/11/12 03:17 pm (UTC)(Actually none of my friends have heard of Susan Cooper other than me shoving books in their face telling them to read them((which they never do)) )
But King of Shadows is awesome. There is no other way to describe it. I've read it about 35 times (not exaggerating!) and learn something new from it every time I do!! Sound familiar?
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Date: 10/26/12 05:56 pm (UTC)1. An online friend has written a book I've mentioned before, which might appeal to us Megan Whalen Turner fans. It's called His Own Good Sword, and her name is Amanda McCrina.
2. A book that had a powerful effect on me when I read it as a teenager: I am David by Ann Holm. This is the story of a young boy given the chance to escape from a Communist labor camp, and told only that he must travel north through Europe to Denmark.
3. I don't know why no one reads the Ranvan series, by Canadian author Diana Wieler. They're really kind of great, even though, when I try to describe them, they can sound like they've got everything but the kitchen sink. Comics! Videogames! Destiny! Superpowers! Abuse survivors! Cancer! Aids! Neonazis! Teenagers acting crazy! - ;)
You get the picture. But seriously, this is an underrated set of books that should be better known. Especially the final one in the trilogy, Ranvan: Magic Nation.
4. I also love Sally Prue's Cold Tom. It's a remarkable book; short but intense. But somehow I've never come across a bad retelling of Tam Lin. This may be one of the most troubling and original retellings. As a teen reviewer said, don't let the fact that it's short and seems to be aimed at young kids stop you from reading this one.
5. Speaking of retellings of Tam Lin, I shouldn't forget The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope.
6. And childhood books that still touch me deeply - The Singing Tree, by Kate Seredy
7. Till We Have Faces, by C.S. Lewis - I think this is his best book; a wonderful character study of an intelligent, passionate, physically ugly woman.
8. And I will always, always love L.M. Boston. Deirdrej introduced me to her books when we were both small children.