(no subject)

[meganbmoore]

These are books that have ended up in the "to buy later" section of my Amazon cart, and I can't quite recall how.  i figure they're a combination of recs and things Amazon has  suggested when I've bought things.  Anyone want to offer opinions to help weed out duds? 

Wings: A Fairy Tale - E.D. Baker
The Etched City - K.J. Bishop
A Curse Dark as Gold - Elizabeth C. Bunce
Seed to Harvest - Octavia E. Butler
The Singer of All Songs (Chanters of Tremaris Trilogy, Book 1) - Kate Constable
My Soul to Keep - Tananarive Due
The Hollow Kingdom: Book I -- The Hollow Kingdom Trilogy - Clare B. Dunkle
Seven Tears into the Sea - Terri Farley
I, Coriander - Sally Gardner
Princess of the Midnight Ball - Jessica Day George
Eon: Dragoneye Reborn - Alison Goodman
In The Forest Of Forgetting - Theodora Goss
The Seer and the Sword - Victoria Hanley
Fly by Night - Frances Hardinge
Black Pearls: A Faerie Strand - Louise Hawes
Suite Scarlett - Maureen Johnson
Magic or Madness - Justine Larbalestier
Keturah And Lord Death - Martine Leavitt
The Swan Kingdom - Zoë Marriott
Mad Kestrel - Misty Massey
Fablehaven - Brandon Mull
The Pillow Book (Penguin Classics) - Sei Shonagon
Sisters of the Sword - Maya Snow
Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception - Maggie Stiefvater
Book of Shadows (Sweep, No. 1) - Cate Tiernan
This Earth of Mankind (Buru Quartet) - Pramoedya Ananta Toer
The Swan Maiden - Heather Tomlinson
The Assassins of Tamurin - S. D. Tower
In the Serpent's Coils (Hallowmere) - Tiffany Trent
Violet on the Runway - Melissa Walker
Flora Segunda: Being the Magickal Mishaps of a Girl of Spirit, Her Glass-Gazing Sidekick, Two Ominous Butlers (One Blue), a House with Eleven Thousand Rooms, and a Red Dog (Magic Carpet Books) - Ysabeau S. Wilce
Dragon Keeper - Carole Wilkinson

Comments

[southerndave.livejournal.com]

"Seed to Harvest - Octavia E. Butler" I haven't read this (and what I have read of Octavia E. Butler hasn't exactly inspired me to pick up more of her works) but she's a highly regarded writer by those who care about such things. She might have ended up in your basket or recommendations while you were hunting around for POC novels.

Apart from that, the only other book I've even vaguely heard of is The Pillow Book, and I can't remember anything else about it.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I tend to put more stock in who recommends than in how highly they're recommended. We'll see who else chimes in.

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

I haven't read this particular Butler, but I've loved everything of hers I've ever read except for Fledgling.

[wintersweet.livejournal.com]

Well, the Pillow Book is a heck of a read--she's so poignant, and so catty, and so thoroughly unlikable, and so very just like us. Plus sometimes it's parodied or referred to in manga. I'd say that's a must-read (if you haven't already and aren't just debating about whether to get that particular translation--I can't remember which one I have, so I'm no help there).

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I'm attaching the words "Heian livejournal" to it, but haven't read it, so it was probably recced to me as such. I'm not familiar with what translations are best, though.

[wintersweet.livejournal.com]

Haha, yes, that's a good one. It's a collection of lists and musings on life. Very easy to read in bits, unlike some other Great Works of Literature. I'm attempting to read a Monumenta Nipponica review of this translation in case I want to get it myself (I guess I'm pretty much a fangirl), but UC Berkeley doesn't even have access.

(The review is even titled "Reading a Heian Blog: A New Translation of Makura no Sōshi.")

[wintersweet.livejournal.com]

I got the review and I am definitely getting this translation. :D

[radiotrash.livejournal.com]

I don't know if it's because I listened to the The Singer of All Songs and maybe it's more of a book you should read but I didn't like it. It had an original idea and world, in my opinion, but the story didn't grab me and I didn't connect or care about any of the main characters at all. I only listened to it all because I paid for it and didn't want to waste the higher price I paid (versus paperback).

I think Eon: Dragoneye reborn sounds intereting though.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I think it's there after always being recced every tie I bought a YA.

[radiotrash.livejournal.com]

I don't know how different our tastes in YA are so it might be something that works well for you. Actually if you do read it then it'll be interesting to read your review and thoughts on it.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Well, some patience and tag trolling would give you an idea.

A couple I've recently acquired for similar reasons (constant Amazon recs) but haven't read yet are Jessica Day George's Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow (and also recs after I read Edith Pattou's Estat) and Alison Croggan's The Naming.

[radiotrash.livejournal.com]

Well I should say that I know that we at least both like Gossip Girl Does 1899. (And am eagerly awaiting October for the conclusion.)

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow is on my to be acquired list because I love retellings of fairytales, especially the not as mainstream ones. The Naming I actually bought but it failed to grab me after the first chapter and I passed it on. However, I got the same sort of feeling from it that I did with The Singer of All Songs so I think if you enjoy the former then you should try the latter.

[woodburner.livejournal.com]

Well you KNOW I'm going to be all ETCHED CITY RAWR. XD; (Although really I'm still not sure it would be your thing, I still can't help myself.)

I've read Dragon Keeper - it wasn't anything special imo, but it was entertaining and worth the read. Heard some good things about Floraa Segunda but haven't gotten around to it yet.

[snarp]

You definitely want to read The Pillow Book! Right now, even! Though it may have brief effects on your blogging style. I end up trying to write like Shonagon for a few days every time I pick it up - she is contagious. You probably want an edition with good foot-notes or end-notes, though, because there are a lot of incomprehensible Heian-era cultural references in there. (My edition is the Ivan Morris translation (pub Columbia University Press), which seems pretty smooth to me and has The World's Most Comprehensive End-Notes. He annotates every single flower and every single poem and every single court title Shonagon ever mentions. The information he provides on Heian court life is really its own separate book.)

Flora Segunda is... it's hard to explain? It's a fantasy book about a girl in kind of, uh, magical 19th-century California/Scotland/Mexico, and I don't think I can actually satisfactorily describe the plot, but it's incredible and you want to read it as soon as possible. (It's the first of a trilogy, of which the second one has come out, but I haven't read it yet because I'm too lazy to ask Mom to mail me my copy.)

Magic or Madness is a very good, but very, very dark urban fantasy YA novel about kids with magic powers. The protagonist is of Australian Aboriginal descent and has Math Powers. It's very good, but it leaves you with a lingering sense of Doomdoomdoom. It's the first of a trilogy, and ends on a major cliffhanger. I haven't read the other two yet.

The Assassins of Tamurin is set in a vaguely China-I-Think?-based medieval fantasy world - though if I remember correctly there's very little actual magic involved. It's about a bunch of orphaned or destitute little girls taken in by their country's queen (I think queen? I can't remember the titles) and given thorough educations in order that they become spies and assassins. Doesn't that sound awesome? Except that the gender politics are absolutely horrible. I anti-recommend this book. It left me extremely irritated.

[snarp]

Oh, and I loved Octavia Butler's Xenogenesis series. They're dark sci-fi with, uh, tentacle sex and relationships with skeevy power relationships, but in a good way? I haven't read any of her other stuff yet.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

And you were making Tamurin sound so good, too...

[snarp]

I thought it sounded good, too! BUT NO.

[anenko.livejournal.com]

Flora Segunda ♥ ♥

There's magic, and military, and (to simplify) "demons." There's family (even families in non-standard groupings!), and friendship, and secrets. The worldbuilding was terrific. Just. *flails.*

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I'll take that as a rec.

[anenko.livejournal.com]

I may have enjoyed Flora Segunda just a bit, yes. *g*

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

I did not care for Keturah: http://buymeaclue.livejournal.com/476771.html

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Hmm...the title made me think it'd be less medieval-lite...

[shewhohashope.livejournal.com]

- I LOVE the Seer and the Sword! I read that entire series in my mid-late teens, so YMMV, and indeed, MMMY.

- Octavia Butler is always good, occasionally depressing.

- I'm probably reading Keturah and Lord Death myself soon, so I'd like you to read it, and be my literary canary down the mine.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I suspect you'll get to it long before I would.

[magicnoire.livejournal.com]

Eon: Dragoneye Reborn is pretty good. There's a lot of interesting stuff being done with gender in it.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Is it the one with te crossdressing girl who gets the dragon and only boys are supposed to get dragons?

[magicnoire.livejournal.com]

That's the one!

[ryanitenebrae.livejournal.com]

Magic and Madness is a very original fantasy novel with two very strong heroines and a female mentor figure(sort of), set in Sydney Australia and New York City. I really enjoyed it - it has the most unique magic system I've seen.

Keturah and Lord Death is wonderful. It reads like a fairy tale, unfolding delicately and smoothly.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

[ryanitenebrae.livejournal.com]

Correction I forgot to edit: Magic or Madness.

You're welcome!

[the_rck]

Flora Segunda - I enjoyed this when I read it. I had some issues in that I wanted an adult point of view on events and got cranky with the main character and her narration. The setting was a little surreal at some points as magic warped things, and there were politics going on in the background that the main character only sort of understood (and often didn't care about).

Assassins of Tamurin - I tried to start this more than once (after buying it from the SF book club). Eventually, I gave up because the first section set off my anxiety vastly. Even looking at the ending didn't make me want to read more. I can't say that this is necessarily a reflection on the book's quality or lack thereof, however. I didn't read enough. I'd suggest trying a chapter or two before buying.

Fablehaven - I've not read this one, but I have read one of the author's other books. That means that my observations may have no validity for this book, but the other book struck me as shallow. It was aimed at about fifth graders and moved along rapidly. Lots of things happened that were interesting, but I never felt that they meant much. There were moral lessons, but again, I didn't feel like they went anywhere. So the other book was not a bad kids' book. It just wasn't more than that, and I've hesitated to pick up any of Mull's other books

Keturah and Lord Death - I actually did read all of this one. That's rare, so I figure it's worth mentioning. I enjoyed the way it was written, but there were parts of it that didn't quite work for me. I can't remember all the details at this distance, though. I think that enjoying this one depends on whether or not one likes the characters and by whether or not one gets irritated at the story arc. Keturah gets lost in the woods and, as she is about to die, makes a bargain with Death. If she can find her true love within a certain time, Death will let her live. If she doesn't, she dies.

Fly By Night - This is another that I started but didn't finish. I don't think there was anything out and out wrong with it apart from it not being much to my taste. It's a long kids' book. As I recall, there's an oppressive religion that's eliminating reading. There's a traveling conman. The heroine ends up tagging along with the conman even as he tries to ditch her. I think I read about a quarter of the books (bits and pieces from the start and from the ending).

The Hollow Kingdom - I rather liked this one. It was creepy, and it could have really thoroughly repelled me. Two orphaned teenage girls go to live with relatives. They discover that something odd and creepy is going on and eventually discover that the King of Goblins is attempting to capture the older girl to force her to become his wife. The creepy part is that the goblins, while sympathetic, always kidnap and coerce the King's bride. Of course, the human characters around the girls end up being more dangerous than the goblins (or maybe just as dangerous but in a different way). I think the setting is early nineteenth century, but it might be earlier or a little later. I don't recall that it's stated. The whole thing takes place in England.


Anyway, I definitely recommend trying The Hollow Kingdom and Flora Segunda. Keturah and Lord Death gets a less enthusiastic endorsement but is good if it's the sort of thing you like. The others, I'm just offering the little bits of information that I remember with no strong thumbs up or down.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

I think telophase may have a good translator for The Pillow Book.

Justine Larbalestier was one of the people saying sensible things in RaceFail, which may be how she ended up on your list. I think rachelmanija may have recced her?

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Maybe! I've forgotten where most recs came from, though I do think Pillowbook was from Rachel.

I actually don't remember Larbaleister in RaceFail. But then, there's so much involved in that that I gave up trying to keep up with everything a while back.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

I kept a list of people I wanted to read based on sensible/decent/brilliant things they said. She's on it.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Care to share the list?

[keilexandra]

If you're trying for diversity (of all kinds), Larbalestier is also Australian, which influences the setting of her novels. Married to Scott Westerfeld too, I believe? They have a pretty strong showing in speculative YA fiction.

[wingstodust.livejournal.com]

I love, love, loooooooove Fly by Night. The premise is just kinda really crazy almost a manga-esque style that I really dig and er, it had a homicidal goose!! That ppl on the streets whisper about in fear at back alleyways!! *.* So much love.

I also quite liked Keturah and Lord Death. It wasn't the greatest book ever, but I remember having lots of fun while reading it. =D

I, Coriander was horrible, imo. There are many Cinderella retellings out there that are so much better than this one.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I think Fly By Night is one that caught my attention by sounding manga-esque.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I love the Pillow Book. :) I think I read the Morris translation, as it was the one my library had and is is two volumes.

Fablehaven: read recently, and a lot of the action depended on one kid being The Good One Who Followed Rules and one kid being The One Who Broke Rules, and The One Who Broke Rules not ever learning that hey! bad things happen when you break rules! so that each time he broke one worse. I finished the book, but I'm not motivated to pick up any sequels (if there are any; I have no idea).

I enjoyed Dragon Keeper to an extent, but oyceter had problems with it. You might want to poke through her tags to find her review.

My review of Mad Kestrel is ... er, sometime in the last month. I liked it, didn't hate it, but loathed the romantic interest.

I really enjoyed Eon, more than I expected to. As I'm pretty much burne dout on dragons, it takes high recommendations from others to get me to pick one up, and got this after I read a glowing review. And I'll be picking upn the sequel when it's out. :) I've got a review ... somewhere. Try my "book" or "books" tags to see if I tagged them properly.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

There are several sequels to Fablehaven. I noted book 3 or so at the bookstore this week.

I think your comments were what got Mad Kestrel added in. Years of romance novels, kdramas and shoujo-and really, most things with romantic pairings-have left me almost expecting anything from vague irritation to outright hatred of men in pairings. (I am assuming you are referring to a male love interest, as the book indicates a female lead.)

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

My Soul To Keep and the rest of Tanarive Due's "African Immortals" series are something I rec at the drop of a hat for folks who are tired of the same old tired Dracula/Anne Rice vampire tropes. They're fabulous page-turners and absolute not more of the same old same old (and also count for your POC reading list). And this is reminding me that I should really preorder the third book now that the paperback is coming out in a few months...it came out in hardcover last summer but my previous two volumes are in trade size and THEY NEED TO MATCH, DAMN IT!

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

*spares a moment to bond over the need for matching sets*

[keilexandra]

Let's see...

Bishop's ETCHED CITY is dark, gritty, not really my type but I remember admiring its aesthetics. Constable's Tremaris trilogy is YA fantasy with interesting worldbuilding and reads quickly. Ditto for Dunkle's Hollow Kingdom trilogy, although it's not secondary-world and so is necessarily more derivative. Have heard good things about Goodman's EON: DRAGONEYE REBORN, though I haven't read it myself. Goss's IN THE FOREST OF FORGETTING is on my shortlist; she wrote me a really great critique of worldbuilding once, and I also adored her short story "Singing of Mount Abora" (review) but I'm not hard to please when it comes to anything derived from "Kubla Khan" or "The Lady of Shalott." Maureen Johnson's name sounds familiar with positive mental attachments, although I don't know anything about SUITE SCARLETT. Many people have liked Larbalestier's Magic or Madness trilogy; I'm not really a fan, but they are good books. Sei Shonagon's PILLOW BOOK is going on my own list! Never read it, but I liked telophase's Yuletide story and loved MY NAME IS SEI SHONAGON (review) by Jan Blensdorf. Maggie Stiefvater's LAMENT was a great comfort read (flocked notes), YA Urban Faerie (minus the urban) with neat musical ornaments. Walker's VIOLET ON THE RUNWAY is on my TBR list as well; YA, sounds fresh and interesting. Wilce's FLORA SEGUNDA, I have heard much praise of but it doesn't seem like my kind of book. DRAGON KEEPER by Wilkinson also sounds vaguely familiar--I know it's YA, again.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I thought I remembered someone posting on lament recently.

[darkelf105.livejournal.com]

How did I miss this post?

Heartily, heartily recommend The Etched City. So beautiful and poisonous and just full of awesome. Plus both main characters are very, very cool.

Also, The Forest of Forgetting, so worth it, just for the prose.

Flore Segunda is right up your alley, I think. I LOVED it to itty-bitty little pieces. Flora gets better as a narrator in the second book.

I also think the Hollow Kingdom is way worth a read, though I must admit I couldn't get through the third book because it lost a lot of it's believable female character steam.

I'd probably get the Fablehaven books from the library. I read all three that were out, but they have multiple problems, which have been pointed out, but there are some really awesome scenes, too.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Flora Segunda sounds very very bookish!