Cynara dips a toe into 2013

Good morrow, all! I'm looking forward to another year with the 75ers.

January
#1: The Inconvenient Duchess by Christine Merrill
#2: Point Blank by Ed Brubaker
#3: More Baths, Less Talking by Nick Hornby
#4: The Eden Express by Mark Vonnegut
#5: Wizards ed. Jack Dann
#6: Necromancing the Stone by Lish McBride
#7: Tigana Guy Gavriel Kay
#8: Life Below Stairs: True Lives of Edwardian Servants by Alison Maloney
#9: Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch
#10: Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard
#11: Midnight at the Dragon Café by Judy Fong Bates
#12: Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
#13: Whispers Underground by Ben Aaronovitch
#14: The Warden by Anthony Trollope

February
#15 & 16: Hounded and Hexed by Kevin Hearne
#17: The Naming by Alison Croggon
#18: Hammered by Kevin Hearne
#19: Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan
#20 & 21: The Girl of Fire and Thorns and Crown of Embers by Rae Carson
#22: Tricked by Kevin Hearne
#23: The Riddle by Alison Croggon
#24: The Hedge Knight, The Sworn Sword, and The Mystery Knight by George R. R. Martin

March
#25: The Crow by Alison Croggon
#26 A Lady by Midnight by Tessa Dare
#27: Moon over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch
#28: The Singing by Alison Croggon
#29: Dark Matter by Michelle Paver
#30: Trapped by Kevin Hearne
#31: Search the Dark by Charles Todd
#32: Legacy of the Dead by Charles Todd
#33: Watchers of Time by Charles Todd
#34: A Fearsome Doubt by Charles Todd
#35: Johannes Cabal the Detective by Jonathan L. Howard
#36: J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century by Tom Shippey
#37: The Mischief of the Mistletoe by Lauren Willig
#38: Victorian Women by Joan Perkin

April
#39: Farthing by Jo Walton
#40: The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig
#41: The Masque of the Black Tulip by Lauren Willig
#42: The Deception of the Emerald Ring by Lauren Willig
#43: The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
#44: He Shall Thunder In the Sky by Elizabeth Peters
#45: Cold Days by Jim Butcher

May
#46: The Seduction of the Crimson Rose by Lauren Willig
#47: Midnight Angel by Lisa Kleypas
#48: Absolute Sandman Vol 5 by Neil Gaiman et al
#49: The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams
#50: Absolute Sandman Vol 1 by Neil Gaiman et al
#51: Still Life by Louise Penny

June
#52: My Man Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
#53 - 55: The Invisibles Vol. 1, The Invisibles Vol. 2, and The Invisibles Vol. 3 by Grant Morrison
#56: Bast
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
Still Life by Louise Penny
Consider the Fork

July
The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkein
A Fatal Grace, The Cruellest Month, A Rule Against Murder, The Brutal Telling, and Bury Your Dead, by Louise Penny
Celebrity in Death and Delusions in Death by J. D. Robb and
Portrait in Death, Imitation in Death, Divided in Death, and Visions in Death, also by J. D. Robb

August

A Trick of the Light and The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny

Currently reading:
Mort D'Arthur, Book 1
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I'm first!! Welcome back.

Welcome back!

Hi again. Got you starred. Lots of lurking in 2013 :-)

Thank you! It's good to have a fresh thread for the new year!

I missed your thread in 2012, but I hope to follow closely in 2013.

Happy New Year.

Hi Cynara, I lurked all last year on your thread. Hope to be a bit more social this year :)

Glad to see you back for 2013! A star and a promise to return.

Thank you, darlings! Lurk away, and I also love to hear from you.

Hello Cynara, belated happy 2013 to you! Just made myself comfortable in your new cosy corner for this year *smile*

Hello! I've left a star.

I lost you! But now I have found you again, so all is well.

#1:


The Inconvenient Duchess by Christine Merrill

A sweet start to the year: I got around to this purely by chance. My mother gave me an ereader for Christmas, and I'd downloaded this as a free PDF when it was highly recommended by Smart Bitches, Trashy Books.

After a run of rather mediocre "categories," I enjoyed this crisp, funny historical romance. Some of it was a bit over the top or silly, but not by romance standards in general, and by and large the protagonists were sensible, good people (even if they both had tempers).

My major complaint is that I could have read another hundred pages of our heroine bringing the undisciplined staff and filthy manor house under control. Merrill has a talent for grounding the action in a satisfyingly textured, carefully researched setting that never feels *too* researched. I would have loved a subplot that would have given our heroine something else to do in it.

I'm reading Domestic Manners of the Americans. I thought of you :-) So far I'm finding it very funny, but I wonder whether it might wear a bit thin.

Ha! I do feel much more charitable to poor Mrs. Trollope after what I learned last year. I might have enjoyed the book more if I'd spread out my reading more. It is simply fascinating, all the editorializing aside.

#2:



Point Blank by Ed Brubaker

Dreadful macho boring nonsense. Not even the Authority cameos can lend much interest.

I don't typically read category romance but I'll give The Inconvenient Duchess a try. I've got it ordered interlibrary loan.

I downloaded The Inconvenient Duchess for my Kindle super cheap. Glad to hear it's not a dud!

I hope you guys enjoy it!

#3: More Baths, Less Talking by Nick Hornby



This one was more a skim than a read. It's possible I just wasn't in the mood for this book of charming articles on the author's current reading. A few of the books sounded utterly fascinating (Austerity Britain: 1945-51 has just made its unlikely way onto my reading list) and some, like his Updike review, were laugh-out-loud funny, but many of the articles just didn't hold me. Also - was I the only one who found the title essay, with its suggestion that women talk too much, a little un-charming?

#4:



The Eden Express by Mark Vonnegut

In its own argot, this is a heavy trip. Mark Vonnegut, son of Kurt, left his family, state, country, and urbanized way of life to start a farming commune in a (then) remote part of British Columbia. Unfortunately, events conspired to bring his latent schizophrenia to the surface.

His account of the formation of the commune was very interesting to me - I was born after all of this, and since the 60s and 70s have never been a particular interest of mine, Vonnegut's account of his life and times and the thought process that led him to choosing an entirely new way of life were fresh to me. I found the latter part of the book, where he describes what was going on in his mind in detail as he 'lost it' twice in succession, a heavy, claustrophobic read, though still a compelling one.

Cynara, I've had my eye on that 'Austerity Britain' book for a while. Someday I might actually read it! I haven't read the Hornby book so I can't comment on the title essay, but it certainly sounds disappointing as you describe it. Too bad, because I quite like Hornby's writing.

It may have just been my mood, or my familiarity with his titles. I am glad I read the few I mentioned.

Austerity Britain is excellent - packed with all manner of interesting facts. Family Britain, the next one in the series, is also really good. The third one is published in the UK in June this year, I believe. I am trying to make my way through my other "decades" books before then, but I think I have only a faint hope :-)

I read Domestic Manners of the Americans and was totally captivated by it ("loved it" isn't quite the right expression, because I spent much of the time being amazed and appalled that she could be so rude). I know you didn't like it, but thank you for reviewing it anyway!

Lord. I'm never going to finish He Shall Thunder in the Sky and The Jungle Book if I don't get well. First sinus trouble, and now hoarseness are keeping me from reading aloud with my husband, and he's still hacking and coughing and sniffling like nobody's business. I must also catch up on my 'reviews'....

#5:


Wizards: Magical Tales from the Masters of Modern Fantasy ed. Jack Dann

A mixed bag, as most anthologies are, but my overall impression was positive. Garth Nix is the man, but I'm a bit surprised that they didn't get Jim Butcher in on this; I mean, bestselling wizard? Hello? Maybe he was busy.

So sorry you are both not feeling well--I just finished a bout of stomach flu myself. Hope you get well quickest!

That reminds me, I need to get back to the Dresden Files at some point soon.

>27 ronincats: Thank you! I'm doing better.

>28 rosalita: I agree. They generally just get better as you go.

I hope you stay better. Being too sick for The Jungle Book is just sad.

#6



Necromancing the Stone by Lish McBride

The second book in the series, Necromancing the Stone really cements my love for the series and Sam. He's just such a great protagonist - no macho, but brave and deeply decent. And funny. The story keeps dodging my expectations in great ways, and the author is building up a great secondary cast, which augers well for future books.

Of course, I get really interested in the series just when McBride announces that her next two books will be in the same universe, but with a different protagonist - who I'm now hostile to simply because she is a different protagonist. Sigh. She promises she will get back to Sam, but two books is a long time from now.

Anyway, I'm planning to add the two first volumes to the permanent library, as soon as my book budget becomes available again. Great cover on this one and a lovely hardback edition.

#7:


Tigana Guy Gavriel Kay

I took a stab at this one because I like fantasy, it's well-reviewed on LT, and the author and I apparently share a favourite coffee shop, at least occasionally.

It was gripping, for the most part; there are two main viewpoints, and although I initially found the first one annoying and supporting female characters a bit two-dimensional, I warmed to them over time (except the imperious red-head with the daddy issues. Sigh.). Over the book I became very invested in the characters and their relationships.

I liked the way the novel engaged with the significance of names (an old fanatasy trope) but also the nature of culture and memory. I was a bit discomfited by the self-immolatory zeal of the young men and women to restore their country; now, I have doubts about nationalism at the best of times, so that contributed to my occasional feeling that these teenagers should go and drink and date and meet people and make families instead of trying to bring their country's name back into the world. Still, Kay does occasionally touch on where revolt turns into revenge, and the real point of all the death and struggle, and even some of his villains are rich and three-dimensional.

SPOILERS
The ending is, in the well-chosen word of a review elsewhere, "cruel." It's bittersweet at best, and hits you with a final knife when you think you're into the happy ending. I don't need blissfully happy endings, but I felt a bit betrayed. I know that other readers love the ending.

Also: several events in the last quarter of the book use the tired old trope of women only being able to take down the bad guy through a self-sacrifice which leads to suicide. I mean, this book isn't even that old! One noncombatant female does manage to stab a fallen guy, but she immediately tells us that it doesn't count because the guy would have died anyway.

#8:


Life Below Stairs: True Lives of Edwardian Servants by Alison Maloney

I think this slim little thing (I speak metaphorically, because I read it on my ebook) is meant to ride on the impeccably brushed coattails of Downtown Abbey, but it does a good job. It reviews the command structure of the Edwardian house and looks at different areas of servants' lives. It wasn't terribly new to me (maybe because I've read some books on Victorian domesticity, which was similar) and I was also a big fan of the BBC reality series The Edwardian House, which is a great education in itself. Life Below Stairs is studded with fascinating details, quotations from servants' memoirs, and odd little anecdotes - like the eccentric master who punished his maids by making them go skating on the household rink if they'd committed the crime of seeing him. Ever.

Tigana has been on my WL for awhile, but the length of it is scaring me!!! Glad to see you mostly liked it.

The Edwardian House - I think they showed that in the US as The Manor House - they'd hired a French chef who was all excited about experimenting with authentic period dishes that he'd studied, and the master of the house couldn't stand any of it and took at as the chef trying to "get at him" when a roast suckling pig, complete with head, showed up on the table. Life Below Stairs does sound kind of fun, but like you say, a lot of the information isn't terribly new.

I think I'd enjoy 'Life Below Stairs'. I must look for a video of 'The Edwardian House' as well.

>34 cammykitty: That's the one! It was a really fun show, and it's interesting to see the similarities and differences between that and Downton.
One of the podcasts I listen to, "Up Yours, Downstairs," is mainly a Downton recap, but did The Edwardian House between seasons.

As you can tell, I'm conflicted about Tigana; however its themes strike you, though, it's very good, and many people just adore it.

>35 rosalita:

I think you would enjoy it. I think the best account I've read of servant life in the previous century was in Judith Flanders' The Victorian House. She focussed more on the middle class than the great houses, and it was utterly fascinating.

#9:

Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch



This was a reread, but I enjoyed it all the more the second time through; Aaronovitch's fantasy-mystery-thrillers have sparkle, and though the plot can sag a bit in places, I'm engaged with his stories and characters. They're brisk and unsentimental, and they grow on you. I'm looking forward to the new one, and (slightly less) to rereading book two, Moon Over Soho.

p.s. At the risk of beating a dead equine, I continue to be annoyed with most of the covers. The protagonist is mixed-race, and someone suggests at one point that he could have been a stand-in for Barack Obama, giving you a general idea of his physicality. So why does only one cover variant depict him with dark skin? I've seen two others - one where the dark-skinned man in the illustration has been turned into a silhouette (my edition) and one where he's a stocky pale-white Englishman. What?

Cynara, when you say you are looking forward to "the new one", do you mean Whispers Underground? I liked that one, too!

Yes! I know it's been out since June, but it's new to me; my library didn't get it in hardcover, and I just got an ereader. My file should drop any day now.

Life Below Stairs looks like a book that would capture my interest. Now off the investigate the BBC reality series The Edwardian House.

I read Midnight Riot last year, but have not gotten around to reading Moon Over Soho. I did not even realize that there is a third book out! Off to add it to my PBS list. . .

I've starred your thread! I started Tigana a couple of days ago. I'm enjoying it thus far.

I hope you'll come over to the Tigana group read thread and share your reactions to the book once we get going on it!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/148764

Absolutely, Roni!

Cool; I've starred it, thanks!

I totally missed the part where the character is mixed race! It's certainly annoying they don't have an accurate portrayal of him on the cover.

It is! And I kinda suspect that it's because they don't think white people will buy a book about a mixed-race police wizard.

#10:



Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard

Johannes Cabal needs his soul back. The book, in fact, opens with him marching down to Hell to arrange its return. All of the dodgy, awful, and evil things he does are in service of this goal. He doesn't want it back for himself so much as he needs it for Science.

It's a weird, prickly, engrossing little book, with very funny parts; Lovecraft fans will enjoy the many nods, and the pro-Cthulhu song set to the Battle Hymn of the Republic. At times its protagonist (one hesitates to say "hero") reminded me of Mr. Norrell in his tetchiness and single-minded focus, but I found him much more engaging.

It features demons, a carnival, ghosts, a vampire, hellish minions, soul contracts, a troubled brotherly relationship, and a motivation that's hidden until the final page. I do plan to look up the next volume and see in what kind of repair Johannes plans to keep his soul. I'm all about the sympathetic necromancers at the moment - Hold Me Closer, Necromancer, Sabriel, etc.

Solid cover, too!

#11:



Midnight at the Dragon Café by Judy Fong Bates

This follows the childhood and early teen years of a girl from Hong Kong, who comes to small-town Ontario with her mother to live with the father she's never met. He runs the town's one Chinese restaurant with an old friend.

I've read a few Canadian immigrant experience coming of age books, and while some aspects of this one feel a bit familiar (encouraging and discouraging teachers, the difficulty of friendships, racism, straddling two cultures, the artistic kid seeking role models) Fong Bates has a light touch, and it rarely felt too familiar. She does an excellent job of taking the reader into her character's world, and by the end I felt I could see the prep kitchen and the ageing little restaurant, the town streets and the frozen lake.

It features demons, a carnival, ghosts, a vampire, hellish minions, soul contracts, a troubled brotherly relationship, and a motivation that's hidden until the final page.

Now that's a jam-packed book right there!

It's certainly full of incident, though it doesn't feel frenetic.

#12:



Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

The right fantasy book at the right time can be a wonderful thing. I almost don't want to tell you the premise, because I enjoyed discovering and exploring it so much, but here's the beginning. Ten years ago, some people woke up as demigods. Their skin was silver, and their hair was white. They would go to the shining city of Elantris, where the others like them ruled as deities, doing magic and living long lives of power and beauty. Then, one day, everything changed, quickly and horribly - the blessing became a curse.

The story takes place ten years after the fall of Elantris, and follows an unexpected victim of the plague, a princess sent to make a diplomatic marriage, and an arrogant archpriest sent to convert the country - or his master will do it the old-fashioned way.

I was feeling a bit tentative, because it's been a while since I picked up a really satisfying straight fantasy book. Each of the storylines appealed to me for different reasons - I found the plague sufferer's the most compulsively readable (partly because I loved the slightly Robinson-Crusoe-ish vibe). The princess is the best female character I've read in a fantasy novel in ages - tough, flawed, smart, and wry. The archpriest was a surprise; I was expecting him to be a total trial, but while I didn't enjoy his chapters a much as the other two, he had the most unexpected development and plot twists.

Augh. Loved it. I wish there were more.

I've had the Johannes Cabal book on my wishlist for ages, it seems. And I've had Elantris in my tbr pile for a little over a year. I need to get to both of them.

#13:



Whispers Underground by Ben Aaronovitch

The Peter Grant stories continue to be very enjoyable and very strong! This time, Grant is called in on some proper police work (or so it seems at first). His dry humour is the most engaging thing about the series, though the supporting characters continue to be quietly interesting, and I want to learn more about them.

Cynara, I want to see how Leslie develops in the next book. Her character development has been very intriguing to me.

Hm, me too. I can't quite decide if Aaronovitch is comfortable with his female characters.

I don't normally read fantasy, but I love mysteries. I'm writing down Aaronovitch's series as a possibility to give a try sometime when I'm in the mood for something different.

I hope you like them! I'd say they're more police procedurals than mysteries.

#14



The Warden by Anthony Trollope

A gentle, peculiar pleasure. Nothing very much happens in this first Barchester story, and there are no villains, but there are nice people, who measure things by social ties and feelings, and incorrect people, who are apt to get wound up in status and ideology. All his characters are endearing, and none of them is particularly charismatic.

It seems odd to me as a modern woman that Trollope over and over returns to how much *nicer* things would be if people would just take what they were given and not trouble about what they are entitled to - particularly the lower class, who are better off if they just trust that the kindly good people of the upper classes would look after them.

there are nice people, who measure things by social ties and feelings, and incorrect people, who are apt to get wound up in status and ideology - not sure I'd like his politics though!

Cynara, I've just started 'The Warden' myself, after reading all the Trollope love scattered across LT lately. That's an interesting observation about Trollope's apparent views toward being feeling entitled. I haven't read enough to form an opinion myself yet, but it's something I'll be looking for.

I got the impression above mostly from his handling of the old men at the hospital - they were good sorts, generally (if simple and not terribly bright), who were led astray by some rogues who got them to swap the kindly protection of the warden for their potential rights through appeals to greed and simple browbeating. How much better if they had stayed simply contented with their eightpence a day! Etc.

#15 & 16: Hounded and Hexed by Kevin Hearne
#18: Hammered by Kevin Hearne
#22: Tricked by Kevin Hearne



This was recommended to me because I'm a fan of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series. It was billed as "Harry Dresden without the angst," and that's true, as far as it goes.

Atticus is the last of the druids (as of the books above) - he can talk to earth elementals, brew teas with effects beyond modern medicine, and stick things together magically (ok, bind them). He's also had two thousand years' experience with a sword, so he's okay with that, too. He's usually in the bad books of one or more major mythological figures, and if they aren't getting him into trouble, his few friends are.

It is a bit like Dresden without the angst, though I might say it's more like Dresden without the depth. It's really a fun read, but I haven't been able to get too wrought up about Atticus or his chirpy bosomy apprentice (who I seriously hope will eventually get more character development than she's received thus far). His banter with his dog, Oberon, can be funny, though the pup is always on the brink of The Cutes.

Anyway, I'm enjoying them, they're well put-together, and I dig the Gaimanesque pantheon crossovers. I hope the complexity of the series will develop as the series continues, much as the Dresden Files have.

Cover art: his goatee gives me the willies. Way too goaty.

Tangential thought: I wish we could have a female protagonist without the angst. As much as I love a good romance, I don't need one in every damn urban fantasy I read. (Grouchy old lady voice).

#17: The Naming by Alison Croggon
#23: The Riddle by Alison Croggon



My first impression was not great. Map: very Tolkeiny. Plot: slave girl turns out to be chosen one, travels in search of her destiny to kill Sauron some very Sauron-like sorceror along with a reticent wizard bard through Middle Earth this place we are. Tone: a bit high-falutin'. Borrowings from Tolkein: incessant.

I finished the first one and eventually decided to grab the next. The most annoying thing was that, without old J.R.R. looking over my shoulder, inserting descriptions of fair foresty things, Elven-sounding words, and ripoff sentences every few pages, I would have enjoyed it a great deal more. It's quite good, and I love Tolkein too, but I wish Croggon had thrown off more of his influence before writing her own book.

Thankfully, that problem is largely gone in the second book. I mean, yeah, the main city is basically Minas Tirith, and the leader is basically Denethor, but aside from that I wasn't much distracted by LoTR homages, and she starts to branch out into new territory. I could get into the characters more deeply, now that I wasn't being jerked out of the narrative so much.

It is lyric, and lovely, and there's good action. I feel like a major conflict between two characters wasn't resolved as thoroughly as I'd like, but then I often feel that way. :-) I have the third coming from the library right now.

Covers: the first one is lovely, and they do catch a mood, but isn't she supposed to be blonde? No? Her face on the second cover is weird.

#19: Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan



A review of this one piqued my interest - what would it be like if a nearly undetectable infection sent you insane for a month? Cahalan is a journalist by trade, and she does a good job of laying out the story and pursuing sidebars. She isn't as capable at making you really feel her family's terror and desperation or her own guilt and grief at having put them through this. She does try, but never makes it visceral.

Okay, I should have said Dresden-Light without the angst. :D

I'm glad you enjoyed them, such as they are.

Have you checked out Mark del Franco's Connor Grey series? Five book story arc, excellent use of Celtic mythology, set in Boston.

Female protagonist--Toby Daye series by Seanan McGuire?

>67 Morphidae:
I am enjoying them, and I'm a bit annoyed with how long the next one is taking to shake loose from the library! Maybe I just like angst? I also find sometimes it's hard for me to be balanced in my reviews, and they come out more irritable than I want.

>68 ronincats: No, I don't know those - thanks for the recommendations!

Swinging through, to say 'Hi!'.

Thanks for dropping by!

It's too bad that 'Brain on Fire' doesn't quite come together. It certainly sounds like it had the potential to be fascinating.

It was just fine! I didn't feel it tipped over into "great", though. The writing was just a bit too young.

#20 & 21: The Girl of Fire and Thorns and Crown of Embers by Rae Carson



This is a solid, solid beginning for a fantasy series. The heroine is capable and smart without being supergirl and emotionally rich and relatable without being too angsty or whiny. I like her. There's a religious element that's particularly well-handled. I was a bit disappointed when TINY SPOILER the action shifted away from her husband's court, but I got over it. IMPLIED SPOILER I do wish someone had fallen in love with her *before* she got in shape, but there you go. Thanks for the recommendation, Eris!

I really liked the end of Crown of Embers, and I can't wait for the next book.

Cover note: who *is* that woman on the cover? Way too old, for one thing.

#24:



The Hedge Knight, The Sworn Sword, and The Mystery Knight by George R. R. Martin

These are the Dunk and Egg stories, by the author of (and set in the same world as) the Song of Fire and Ice/Game of Thrones books. It's set about a hundred years earlier - well, that's what the intros say, but if you ask me, it's more like 75 or 80 years earlier. If you keep your ears pricked, you can catch references to the more elderly of the GoT characters.

But that's not what we're here for. Dunk and Egg are their own characters, and inhabit their own story. Dunk is a hedge knight - barely a man, one step above a mercenary, he lives from job to job and doesn't own much besides his arms and horse. The first story introduces young Egg, who becomes his partner in crime, etc.

The precis above isn't wrong, but it doesn't communicate the subtle but striking difference from the Song of Fire and Ice series. Here goes; Dunk is a true knight. He may come from Flea Bottom; he may be rather unwise; he may be a bit of a clod; but he is a a veray parfit gentil knight, and he doesn't get summarily murdered! If you are getting a bit worn down by the relentless grit of Fire and Ice, come spend some time with Dunk and Egg. Westeros wasn't a fairy kingdom then, either, but Dunk holds his own.

The first and second are long short stories or short novellas, while the third is a lengthy novella/novel.

Hi, Cynara...

I'm currently reading my way through A Song of Ice and Fire (I'm on Storm of Swords). I saw this other series of Martin's and was intrigued, and now I'm even more interested because of your review. Thanks for the recommendation!

Karen O.

I really enjoyed it a ton. It's actually sort of giddy, reading something less miserable than A Song... set in that same world (I mean, George, I love ya, but it's saying something when a slave auction sequence feels like a relief from the misery). Dunk and Egg is my husband's favourite Martin series, now.

I know what you mean, Cynara--I just read a scene between Jaime Lannister and Brienne, the woman who is serving Catelynn as knight, and the exchanges between them were really kind of funny, and such a change of pace from the constant crises. Oh, well.

Dunk and Egg is definitely on my short list to be read!

Karen O.

What a great variety of things you read, Cynara! I'd say you truly belong here. I'm interested in several things, but I have to, must, require myself to finish a thing or two of my own before I get into them. I've marked favorites though!

What a lovely thing to say, thank you! Do let me know if you get around to any of these.

#25 & 28



The Crow and The Singing by Alison Croggon

This series got much better from the first book, though it never got quite as enrapturing as I wanted it to be. I may reread it some day, in the fulness sic of time. :-)

#26


A Lady by Midnight by Tessa Dare

I read this because of a wonderful review by SB Sarah, and I'd almost rather you read her review than mine - she loved it, and she describes it so affectionately that I wish I'd loved it just as much. It was mostly delightful, though I didn't find it quite as compelling, and I got fatigued by the ridiculousness for towards the end. I get the fantasy-regency thing, and Dare does pitch the whole setting out the window with great elan (trouser-wearing lesbians widely accepted! Vulnerable young ladies disregarding all social norms!), I love it more when the author gives us rich, unconventional characters in more accurate settings. That said: bunch 'o fun.

Cover note: looks nothing like anyone involved; not evocative of setting; oh, please.

#27



Moon over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch

A reread for me, but a first one. I'm so pleased at how solid this series is on a second reading; it's really top notch urban fantasy.

#29



Dark Matter by Michelle Paver

I'm not generally a fan of horror, but I was intrigued by the description of this far-north ghost story, and I decided to sign up for some anxious hours and twitchy nights. I was oddly disappointed when, for maybe the first time in my life, I wasn't as scared as I hoped I'd be. Aside from that, it's a really good book - flawed only in being a hair too short. The period details were handed very well, and the characterization was good. Paver did very well at evoking an arctic landscape, and the jolly-fun young explorers whose enthusiasm slowly sours into fear.

#30:


Trapped by Kevin Hearne

Good fun, but I'd still like to see Granuaile become a bit more... something. Intelligent? Competent? Wise? I feel like she has too many scenes where she gets into a huff. Oberon is still wonderful but cutesy.

I want more Leif!

#31 - #33:



Search the Dark, Legacy of the Dead, and Watchers of Time by Charles Todd

I have to say, I'm becoming more and more fond of this series. I was impressed by the cool, edgy tone of the first book and the outlandish but wonderful conceit of Rutledge and Hamish. It's certainly an inversion of the Holmes/Watson dynamic. I was a little let down, then, by the sameness of the second book. I decided I liked them, but I'd have to space them out a bit so I wouldn't get tired of them.

Search the Dark was again very much like the first two books - our haunted protagonist goes to a small town where he is mistrusted by the local police force and falls into the web of an exotic, alluring, moody, mysterious, bohemian, artistic (delete where appropriate) woman.

I was thrilled, then, when Legacy of the Dead gave Rutledge a much more personal stake in the action and stirred him up. I was agonized when the book stopped slam in the middle of the climax - I love the tidying-up bits at the ends of mystery novels, and we were given nothing of the kind here, but it was a wonderful book anyway.

Watchers of Time did not return to the rut of books 1-3 - yes, it has a great deal in common in terms of form, but I was just so happy not to see that same female character again. I hope no-one will mind if I observe that Rutledge has a rather narrow perception of women, and Hamish's can be worse. It's entirely in period, of course, and it's subtle, but it's there. Anyway, Watchers of Time and the one I'm currently reading, A Fearsome Doubt show that Todd is allowing Rutledge some development, and is throwing some new things at him in each book. I'm pleased.

Hello Cynara, for some reason I was sure that I commented recently on your fab reads. However, I couldn't find myself so I assume that I must have been lurking. Well, you have done some absolutely great reading this year.

Tigana was one of my fave reads last year. Although, I do agree with you on your assessment of the partial old-fashioned portrail of women in his story. I recently finished Midnight Riot also the UK edition is called The Rivers of London and I really thought that was a real fun read. Johannes Cabal the Necromancer has been on my TBR for an extended time already, so maybe I should start moving the book up. I read Elantris last year and I absolutely loved it, out of all his book this is my favourite, also I very much enjoyed Warbreaker at the beginning of the Year and I just finished his The Alloy of Law which was also a fun read.
I have read Hounded, Hammered and Tricked last year and very much enjoyed that Urban Fantasy series and my fave character is Oberon the dog as he usually made me howl with laughter. I still have got the other books in the series on my TBR. I also enjoyed the Alison Croggon quartett a couple of years back.

You managed to hit me with some book bulletts here. I have put The Girl of Fire and Thorns, Crown of Embers and the Books by Charles Todd onto my faaaaaaar too long wishlist.

However, I also would like to wish you a very happy and relaxing Easter Cynara!

Aww, thank you, Drachen! I'm spending the weekend with friends, family, and a big stack of library books. No wonder I never get any organizing done. I hope you have a happy and relaxing Easter, too.

We've enjoyed a bunch of the same books! Do look up Johannes Cabal - I'm reading the second book, and I'm really loving it. It's a fascinating series - it teeters on the brink of being too clever for its own good, but always draws back in time. It's also managed to create interesting, three-dimensional characters, which is no mean feat, considering what Johannes is like. He's just likeable enough, which is a fascinating place for a character to be.

I just picked up the third in the Aaronovitch series--I'm enjoying them as well.

Hi Cynara, just stopping by to wish you a lovely weekend! I digged out Johannes Cabal out of my vast Ocean TBR and definately will try to read it rather sooner than later!

Oh, cool! I hope you have a great weekend, too.

Man, I gotta update my "reviews".

*delurking*

Some intriguing books there.

Thanks, Humoress! I'd better get back to reviewing 'em, too, if I'm to remember what the devil they're all about.

#34



A Fearsome Doubt by Charles Todd

After that, will you believe me if I say that I remember A Fearsome Doubt but don't have a great deal to say about it that I didn't cover in discussing Watchers of Time, above?

Moo hoo ha ha. My father gave me a cheque for books for my birthday. So far I have ordered:

Wheeling Motel by Franz Wright
Hold me Closer, Necromancer and Necromancing the Stone by Lish McBride
Johannes Cabal the Necromancer and Johannes Cabal the Detective by Jonathan L. Howard

And I still have budget to go. Yeee!

#35:



Johannes Cabal the Detective by Jonathan L. Howard

I can't say enough good things about this series. Like Lish McBride's books, one's affection for the series swells mightily in the second book, where it becomes clear just what good hands you're in. While the setting and the supporting characters have many pleasures to offer, it's really all about Johannes and his somewhat bedraggled soul.

One can't help but develop a strangled affection for him, but Howard's grasp of his character is so sure that he never goes a step too far into sentiment. Is Johannes good or evil? Evil. Evil, evil, evil. But he reminds me of a definition of evil from Karen Marie Moning's Fever series: there are good people, and there are bad people - and then there are evil people. And evil, Mac, is bad that thinks it's good. That's Johannes all over - he honestly believe that his end justifies the means.

Howard somehow manages to maintain Johannes' integrity and our affection for him - along with some steampunk, funny bits (Johannes is very funny), and a tightly paced adventure. And the next one isn't out yet, drat him.

#36: J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century by Tom Shippey



Shippey's aim is to rehabilitate Tolkien from the most-hated list a bit - not so much as to explore why Tolkein is hated (much gently frustrated talk of the literary establishment) but to take a critical approach to the work and show why it's worthy of academic consideration. The results are enjoyable and not at all post-modern.

#37:



The Mischief of the Mistletoe by Lauren Willig

Delightful, frothy, and not at all dependent on knowing the previous books in the series. I really enjoyed this, even the cameo by Miss Austen. Turnip is lovely: a bit like Bertie Wooster + brawn - the fear of commitment. I really enjoyed how the heroine's need to work played into the story!

The cover: I'm not so sure. A bit simpery for my taste.

#38:



Victorian Women by Joan Perkin

A good general social history of Victorian Women. I liked her matter-of-fact approach to Victorian sexuality (some otherwise excellent authors won't even touch the subject; I'm looking at you, Judith Flanders) and her account of women's incremental legal and cultural gains over the century. I also found it a bit plodding at times, maybe due to all the other reading on this subject I've done this year?

#39: Farthing by Jo Walton



Ooh, a stodgy country-house murder mystery! Don't they call these "cozies"?

Except not. Not even a little bit, not at all. That's how the beginning reads, for the most part; the guests assemble, and we get bits of information on grudges and desires. We slowly realize that we're in an alternate history, where England made peace with Hitler and the Third Reich rules much of Europe, but at first it's background material for understanding our heroine and her Jewish husband, the odd one out at the party.

The expected murder happens, a Scotland Yard detective is dispached and starts to hunt around - but as the narration cuts between him and our heroine, politics become central, and one starts to wonder if a neat mystery-novel wrapup is in the cards after all.

This is an exciting, difficult book that will not leave you with many warm fuzzy feelings of order restored, but is thought-provoking and affirming.

>95 Cynara:: Nice review! You've tweaked my interest.

#40 - 42, #46



The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, The Masque of the Black Tulip, The Deception of the Emerald Ring, and The Seduction of the Crimson Rose by Lauren Willig

Having enjoyed The Mischief of the Mistletoe so much, I was inspired to go back to the beginning of the series. They're somewhat more conventional Regencies, with the exception of a healthy dose of inspiration from The Scarlet Pimpernel and all his Napoleon-foiling kin. The heroines tend to be quite competent (though also a bit feather-brained? But the series rewards it), though not as competent as Jane. I adore Jane.

There's a framing story of a present-day graduate student researching these historical figures for her PhD and dealing with their mercurial but attractive descendent. I'm going through a series of feelings about it: 1) This is a bit awkward. 2) It's going to bridge the different books in the series! That's brilliant! 3) Enough of this sitting by the phone and moaning already. The Regency heroines don't do this BS. 4) Thank god that's over. 5) Oh, that wasn't what I expected there. Well played.

Cover note: mostly brilliant (I adore the first one), though I wish the women looked a bit smarter.

#43:



(NB: This isn't my book's cover - it's the first edition. However, my mother's edition is also old and blue, and I can't find it online, so this will do. Our copy is deep blue, a large size, with a black woodcut of a youth and wolves walking through the jungle on the cover).

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

This was a read-aloud with my husband, and it was illuminating, reading it again after all these years. I was pleasurably surprised to find that it had kept a great deal of its old magic, and it was wonderful to revisit Bagheera and Kaa and Shere Khan. I had forgotten exactly how it fit together, and I find that it's a loose assemblage of stories which move forwards and backwards in time. I haven't researched this, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear they'd been published separately in periodicals before they were pulled together in one volume.

The edition we read from (my mother's, from her childhood) was part of the magic, with its thick creamy pages and beautiful woodcuts.

I also read it with a new understanding of Kipling's own life - that India was his native land in more ways than just by birth. He grew up rarely speaking English, and he was largely raised by Indian servants. While his attitudes as an adult were deeply English and colonial, he also had a deep feeling for the beauty and texture of India, and that comes across in his descriptions of the sounds and smells. And when I cry a bit for Mowgli, driven out of his beloved jungle by his humanity, I also cry (a little) for Kipling, estranged from his earliest home by his Englishness.

Now that I'm older I can also see the problematic depictions of Indians, and particularly one Muslim Indian. The joke is partly on humans as a whole, but I don't think you can deny that the English forest-warden gets much gentler treatment than old Buldeo from the village in terms of being mocked and made to look stupid and selfish. It is racist with that nineteenth-century colonial racism, that shows that brown people must be ruled for their own good.

Still, I do love the parts in the jungle and Kipling's depiction of a boy who transcends national boundaries.

#44:



He Shall Thunder In the Sky by Elizabeth Peters

I love Elizabeth Peters' books. She has written some of my all-time favourite characters, and she can be absolutely hilarious. This, however, is a rather uneven entry in the Amelia series. And for "uneven" read "there are huge dull stretches." My husband and I were reading it out loud, which tends to highlight the virtues and faults of a book, and there were many long slogging passages about Ramses, David, and the political situation that made me want to skip down a page or five. But. You can't do that when you're reading it out loud, or at least you can't if you have a husband like mine, so we read every single line of it.

The awful part is that you simply can't just skip it. There's some lovely character development for Amelia and Emerson here and there, and the last fifty pages are absolutely unmissable for any fan of the series.

#45:



Cold Days by Jim Butcher

A reread; just as good as the first time. This is the best writer in a genre pretty near the top of his game. WHERE IS MY NEXT BOOK, BUTCHER?

I've read some in the Amelia Peabody series that I've really enjoyed, and I've read others that almost make me never want to pick up another one.

Groan. The earlier ones are generally great, I'd say, but the later entries - well, someone needed a more energetic editor. That tends to happen to popular authors, I've noticed: the swelling word count.

>104 Cynara:: eek!

I haven't read The Dresden Files (I assume this is one of them?), but I do like what I've read of his Codex Alera series.

In my humble opinion, the Dresden Files knock the Codex Alera into a cocked hat. Having only read the first one, though, and having a well-documented aversion to fantasy books involving farm boys (curse you, David Eddings), I freely admit that it isn't the best-informed opinion.

It's about time for me to account for my May reading! There hasn't been a great deal of it because I've been in weird between-books zones, and I've had one or two that took me a long time to finish, like The Dragonbone Chair.

Right now I am obsessing about kimchi, the Korean pickled-cabbage condiment. I'm planning kimchi-noodle soup for tonight, but kimchi pancakes, hot dogs with kimchi relish, and kimchi fried rice also beckon. I think my first batch has fermented long enough, so it's off to the races! I was set on this sad downward spiral by a local restaurant's kimchi fries, about which I dream at night.

>108 Cynara: ;0)

How did the kimchi turn out?

Really well! I'm putting it on everything.

#47:


Midnight Angel by Lisa Kleypas

I had a mixed reaction to this one. I liked the Russian heroine - it was a nice change having a protagonist who isn't English or American, and who the author attempts to flesh out as a character from a different culture. The telegraphing of the villain was the least-subtle thing ever. "I hope my fiancee's crazy brother doesn't come looking for me, because that would be scary!" I liked the villain quite a bit, and I enjoyed the hero's hoyden daughter. I was less in love with the hero himself and his crazy possessive controlling streak. Yes, Kleypas does try to deal with it at the end, but despite finally writing what I was thinking (I can't have a relationship with this jerk if he keeps acting like this) it felt like too little, too late.

I think I'll pass on that one, Cynara, but really I just stopped by to say I miss you now that we have bid Will adieu! I hope all is well with you.

Aw, sweetheart! I miss you, too. I'm by your thread sometimes, but I know what updating is like. I imagine that like me, you've been letting your LT energies build up again after our intensive Will-engagement. I am looking forward to catching up on my list here.

My reading hasn't been very listable lately- skimming books I know well for the good bits, catching up on free short stories posted by authors I like, rereading a few old comic books. I have updates to the list, though, and I should put them up top.

I'm pretty well, and I'm getting July off, so that's great! What about you?

#48 & #50: Absolute Sandman Vol 5 and Absolute Sandman Vol 1 by Neil Gaiman et al


I was very pleasantly surprised to find that I'd read less than half of this volume before! While none of it is what you'd call essential Sandman reading, with the exception of The Sandman: The Dream Hunters written by Gaiman and astoundingly illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano, it's all intriguing and a worthwhile read. The only decision I'd question is the one to include an alternate version of The Dream Hunters, illustrated in a more conventional comic book style. While it's capably illustrated and the colouring is lovely, it's entirely redundant next to the ghostly and lovely Amano pictures.

One of the stories follows Wesley Dodds, the golden-age Sandman, as his story briefly bumps up against Morpheus', and that (along with reading Gaiman's original series pitch) inspired me to reread the first Absolute volume. I just managed to escape the gravitational pull leading me to volume 2. Not that I don't want to read it, but I try not to overread my graphic novels.

#49: The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams



This book is almost solely responsible for my low book count in May - I found it fairly easy to put down, and I was determined to finish it, so my reading in general flagged a bit (on the other hand, my comic-book-themed petit-point project thrived).

It's about a scullery boy, an orphan, who has grown up in the castle of aged King Prester John. He's apprenticed to the court wizard, only to find his life disrupted by evil forces at work in the court. The rest of the novel finds him on the road with new companions, visiting new courts, and learning about the quest he and his friends must undertake to save the world from evil. There are elves, Vikings, and other familiar fantasy groups under slightly different names.

The book? Well, it's fine, I guess. My husband has very fond memories of it from childhood. However, at the time he'd only read Eddings' Belgariad and possibly Tolkein, so he wasn't as steeped in fantasy cliches (I mean tropes) as I am. I found it a capable but unexciting read.

Sorry I haven't been by in a bit. Sandman looks good, and The Dragonbone Chair series was one of my favourites when it was written; the prose is a bit dense, if I remember correctly, and maybe a little old-fashioned, but one of the classics, I thought. Maybe it's time for a re-read.



Best wishes for the festive season and for 2014!