52+ in 2009

[lumineaux]

Lots of books to be updated:

The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett
Lent to me by rhiannon14 , of course.  I won't recap it because I think everyone but me has already read this book.  Hilarious, even though it involves lawyer jokes.


Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern by Anne McCaffery
My fluff reading for Pennsic, requiring a minimal amount of brain power.  A perfectly adequate novel about the post-technological society of Pern coping with a mass influenza outbreak.  It could have been so much better than it was.  I never warmed up to any of the characters and I would have liked to have seen a lot more sociological effects from a mass illness.


Cast in Silence by Michelle Sagara
The latest in Sagara's Chronicles of Elantra, it is the first of these books that is impossible to appreciate unless you have read the previous books.  For those unfamiliar with the series, the heroine, Kaylin Neya, is a beat cop in a fantasy city.  She is also cursed/blessed with magical marks on her flesh that imbue her with certain powers that may or may not be benevolent.  Over time, she gets drawn more and more deeply into the secrets at the heart of the city she calls home and the powerful non-human races that rule the city.

Major character development and major upheavals abound in this book.  Hopefully, all of these developments are moving towards something equally big in future books.  Kaylin is finally showing significant signs of maturity, which is appropriate given what she's been through in the first few books.  I've loved all of these books and this one is no exception.


For the Thrill of It by Simon Baatz
A study of the Leopold & Loeb murder and the subsequent trial, with a heavy helping of background about Chicago and the United States during the Jazz Age.  I love this kind of stuff.  This book was exceptionally well-written and well-researched.  For those who have no idea who Leopold & Loeb were, see here: http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/leoploeb/Accountoftrial.html


Patriot Hearts by Barbara Hambly
A straight-forward historical novel about the "Founding First Ladies" - specifically Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, Dolley Madison and Sally Hemmings.  The book is not a linear narrative but a series of snapshots of each woman at particular key points in time, wrapped up in a fairly thin framing narrative.  I found Hambly's depiction of Sally Hemmings (more or less a complete mystery in terms of known facts) to be highly interesting - she drew her as a woman who made her choices for deeply personal reasons, not as a cypher or symbol.

For those of you who are fans of Hambly's earlier body of fantasy and historical mystery work, despair not.  There's more such books in the works, according to her blog:  http://barbara-hambly.livejournal.com/      2 more Benjamin January novels and another Asher & Ysidro vampire novel.  Plus possibly some short stories featuring some of her older fantasy novel characters.   Oh, and apparently Hambly plays WoW.  ;-)

Comments

[tonypatriquin.livejournal.com]

May I borrow the first Sagara book?

[lumineaux.livejournal.com]

It's already out on loan. When it comes home, sure.

If you want to pick it up, it's entitled Cast in Shadow; it's still in print and available at B&N. http://msagarawest.wordpress.com/bibliography/chronicles-of-elantra/

[lumineaux.livejournal.com]

It has now returned to the nest and is available for lending.

[tonypatriquin.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Could you give it to Gracie to bring down on Friday?

Glad to hear work is starting out ok. Take it easy.