book meme wants me to neglect my loves

1. Favourite Book? I believe this is a very evil question and refuse to answer it.

2. Favourite Author? Elizabeth Peters, Jim Butcher, Simon R. Green, Marsha Canham, Loretta Chase, Dorothy L. Sayers, Patricia McKillip, too many to list.
3. Favourite Genre? Flipflops between mystery and fantasy.
4. Favourite series of books?  Most likely the Amelia Peabody books by Elizabeth Peters.
5. Favourite Illustrator? Charles Vess, Brian Froud, Kinuko Craft
6. Favourite book from when you were little? Trixie Belden and the old school Nancy Drew books.
7. Favourite Hero? Again with the evil questions.  Ok, Amelia Peabody would mop the floor with anyone in the universe, so...
8. Favourite Villain? No idea.
9. Favourite couple? Amelia/Emerson have the questionable honor of possibly being the only couple I would read endless prose fiction purely for their interactions.  (For whatever reason, pairings are even more secondary to me in books...)
10. Favourite Character? Oh, let's just say Amelia again.

5 Lasts

1. Last book you bought?  Hmm. *glnces at the small pile that has not yet been released into the wilds of TBR* Either The Moorchild by Eloise Jarvis McGraw or Cybelle's Secret by Juliet Marillier
2. Last book you were given?  Swordpoint by Ellen Kushner and  the fourth Young Wizards book by Diane Duane.  (Fromdesdenova .)
3. Last book you pre-ordered?  Heir to Sevenwaters by Juliet Marillier
4. Last book you loved?  All the Fishes Come Home to Roost by Rachel Manija Brown
5. Last book you hated?  Hrm...if I don't like it, I don't really stick with it long enough to hate it.

3 dos

1.Do you read part of your current book every day? Yes
2. Do you stick to one genre of books or do you jump around? jump around, though mostly mystery an sff + random romances
3. Do you review all the books you read on LJ? Yes

1 If
1. If you were stuck on a desert island and could only take one book with you, which book would you choose?
The Bible.  Forget religious beliefs and preferences, no matter what they are.  Do you realize the sheer number of stories in it? 

(no subject)

Why is it that, every time I got to Wal-Mart, groceries (and such) ring up as almost twice as much as I think they will while I'm shopping?  Alas.  (And Wal-Mart, why were you hiding my  box of Pepperidge Farm assorted cookies?  And will you never again carry Chinese dumplings?)

Meanwhile, Jen won her tennis tournament over the weekend, and she and her partner are going to the state championship next month.  In Sacramento.  I think my contribution to getting them there will have to double as their birthday/Christmas gifts.

It is also Myles's birthday.  Must call him.  (And you know, I object to the fact that funny "for brother" B-Day cards are brother-brother or "you're getting  oooolllllddddd" cards.  As I am a sister and older...)

For the Love of Mike by Rhys Bowen

The third Molly Murphy mystery picks up some months after the second. Still living with her bohemian lesbian friends, Sid and Gus, Molly is also still struggling to keep the detective agency she “inherited” going. In addition, she’s learning that female private investigators don’t have as many lucuries as male ones do. For example, a man hanging around a streetlamp gains little or no notice, a woman doing the same is mistaken for a streetwalker or a lookout for thieves. Things seem to be going her way. However, when two cases fall into her lap. One is from an English family looking for their daughter, who ran away to America with a stablehand. The other is from Mostel, a clothing manufacturer whose designs are being stolen by a competitor.

The first can be handled through normal investigative means (or so Molly thinks) but the second requires going undercover in a sweatshop*, and eventually to getting involved in early union strikes. This last result in a new beau, Jacob, who is a union worker. Unfortunately, Jacob is just as fond as Daniel O’Sullivan to not do “stupid” things and to stop doing men’s dangerous work. While this is historically accurate, having love interests tell Molly to go back to the kitchen make my arms cross and nose rise. Meanwhile, Young Seamus, part of the Irish family Molly has fallen in with, is getting caught up with street gangs.

Like in the first two Molly Murphy books, Bowen manages to strike a nice balance between wit and humor and tackling the darker social and legal issues of the time. I was saddened that we saw so little of the Greenwich Village residents, but the new people Molly met here were also quite fun.

( spoilers )

*Minor and possibly misguided nitpick: Would it have been called a sweatshop in 1900? I thought the term came into use later.

manga: Tokyo Babylon Vol 1-2

Sumeragi Subaru is a 16-year-old onmyoji(magician/exorcist) who lives in Tokyo and is the heir to his clan. HE makes a living by banishing evil spirits and bringing spirits to peace. His twin sister, Hokuto, who has powers herself, and is very addicted to making Subaru and herself look as cute as is humanly possible. Subaru is aided at times by Sakurazuko Seishiro, a 25-year-old veterinarian who claims to be in love with Subaru. Since Seichiro is part of the Sakurazukomori clan, a rival onmyoji clan of assassins, Hokuto is extremely enthusiastic about this and their epic and forbidden love.

If you’ve seen (or read, of course) X/1999, you know that this series ends in tragedy, and what specific thing happens to each of the three leads. What you don’t know is what led to that. By the end of the first volume, the darker end is already being hinted at, and we know that the relationship between the three isn’t nearly as cheery as it seems to be on the surface. (And, honestly, you probably know it ends in tragedy if you've ever even heard of it, due to fandom osmosis.)

Each story in the book features the idea of Tokyo from one tortured soul or another, each tied to the economy or the lifestyle. The stories in the second volume were much tighter than those in the first, but I can’t help wanting to move on to focusing on the main story with Hokuto, Subaru and Seishiro. Already, we know Seishiro and Subaru both have very important secrets. Subaru’s is tied to his role in his clan, while Seishiro’s hasn’t been explored yet. So far, Hokuto doesn’t seem to have any Deep Dark Secrets, but this is Clamp, so who knows.

I have to admit, I have difficulty remembering that Subaru is a boy. His looks and personality both make me think more of a nice, cute girl than a nice, cute boy, especially when he reacts to Hokuto and Seishiro teasing him about Seishiro’s feelings for him, and talking about being future in-laws. The art is very dated, but also very detailed, with some amazing fashion (and I do wish Hokuto and Subaru didn’t look quite so much alike…I know they’re twins, but it makes it harder to remember he’s a boy) and extremely detailed backgrounds.

I have various thoughts regarding reading it from the perspective of knowing what happens, but I think I’ll save them for later, once I’ve read more.

Please use the spoiler code for comments about future volumes, or X/1999.