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books I keep forgetting to post on
Jan. 11th, 2013 11:14 pmWith Fate Conspire by Marie Brennan: The final book in the Onyx Court series, I think I liked it more as a conclusion to the series than as a book in and of itself. Lune's absence for a lot of the book affected my interest, especially since so much of the Fae aspect was focused on Dead Rick, who I was dinisterested in until his plot converged with Eliza's. I liked Eliza's plot a lot, but would have liked it more as its own story than as part of a larger one, depsite her role in the climax. But a good conclusion to a good series, if not my favorite book in the series.
The Dark Crystal: Creation Myths Vol 1 by Brian Froud, Brian Holguin, Alex Sheikman and Lizzy John: Not the AmeriManga that was published by Tokyopop, but the first of a GN trilogy being published by Archaia. The trilogy is, as the title indicates, about the early history of the Dark Crystal world, alternating between short illustrated stories mostly about Aughra and her son and focusing on the creation of the world and it's early years (and probably eventually ending with the light beings separating into the Skeksis and Mystics) and 2 page prose stories that serve as myths and fables. I preferred the prose parts to the main plot, but found it to be pretty enjoyable in general, and will read the other two if the library gets them in.
A Life in Secrets: Vera Atkins and the Missing Agents of WWII by Sarah Helm: An interesting biography of Vera Atkins, focusing largely on her efforts to learn the fates of SOE agents who went missing and filling in the chunks of Atkins's life that little is known about. That said, Helm sometimes seems more interested in talking about her investigations than about Atkins herself, and was a bit fixated at times in finding proof of a Doomed Love Affair in Atkins's life. I mean, I'm sure someone tol her that'd be a good hook, but I doubt anyone picking up a book about Vera Atkins is overly interested in her love life when there are missing spies, government coverups, secret investigations and shoddy management during wartime to read about instead. Recommended for anyone with an interest in the SOE, Vera Atkins, ladyspies, and wartime secrets, but if you're like me, there might be some foottapping going on at times, too.
Flames in the Field: The Story of Four SOE Agents in Occupied France by Rita Kramer: Centered around four women executed in a concentration camp but only partly about them, Flames in the Field is about SOE agents who went missing, problems with how operations were run and agents mislead, and surviving agents and allies with a bone to pick. Which actually sounds rather negative, it's more sadly critical. It's meticulously researched, written when Kramer could still have access to surviving agents and correspond extensively with Vera Atkins, and very good and fascinating (aside for a few times when Kramer was talking about female spies and agents but seemed more interested in some of the men in their lives). It's also thoroughly depressing in many ways, and often aggravating when discussing home office operations, and so I had to read it in bits and pieces over a couple months,
Illuminated by Erica Orloff: YA about a young woman named Calliope, the niece of an historian, helping her uncle investigate a palimpsest, leading them to work with an agorophobic historian and his son, August. Lots of basic yet enthusiastic medievalistic geekery tuned to 14 year old girls. It's mostly notable for centering the plot around the story of Heloise and Abelard, which isn't the "epic forbidden love" that YA tends to go for. Probably the castration bit.
The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi: Autobiography in graphic novel form, beginning with the author's childhood in Iran just before the revolution, and ending with the dissolution of her marriage in the mid-90s. Easy to read and very interesting, though sometimes uncomfortable. When I read Reading Lolita in Tehran, I found it interesting but sometimes thought Nafisi was writing more to the expectations of the audience than anything else, but I didn't feel the same here.
The Dark Crystal: Creation Myths Vol 1 by Brian Froud, Brian Holguin, Alex Sheikman and Lizzy John: Not the AmeriManga that was published by Tokyopop, but the first of a GN trilogy being published by Archaia. The trilogy is, as the title indicates, about the early history of the Dark Crystal world, alternating between short illustrated stories mostly about Aughra and her son and focusing on the creation of the world and it's early years (and probably eventually ending with the light beings separating into the Skeksis and Mystics) and 2 page prose stories that serve as myths and fables. I preferred the prose parts to the main plot, but found it to be pretty enjoyable in general, and will read the other two if the library gets them in.
A Life in Secrets: Vera Atkins and the Missing Agents of WWII by Sarah Helm: An interesting biography of Vera Atkins, focusing largely on her efforts to learn the fates of SOE agents who went missing and filling in the chunks of Atkins's life that little is known about. That said, Helm sometimes seems more interested in talking about her investigations than about Atkins herself, and was a bit fixated at times in finding proof of a Doomed Love Affair in Atkins's life. I mean, I'm sure someone tol her that'd be a good hook, but I doubt anyone picking up a book about Vera Atkins is overly interested in her love life when there are missing spies, government coverups, secret investigations and shoddy management during wartime to read about instead. Recommended for anyone with an interest in the SOE, Vera Atkins, ladyspies, and wartime secrets, but if you're like me, there might be some foottapping going on at times, too.
Flames in the Field: The Story of Four SOE Agents in Occupied France by Rita Kramer: Centered around four women executed in a concentration camp but only partly about them, Flames in the Field is about SOE agents who went missing, problems with how operations were run and agents mislead, and surviving agents and allies with a bone to pick. Which actually sounds rather negative, it's more sadly critical. It's meticulously researched, written when Kramer could still have access to surviving agents and correspond extensively with Vera Atkins, and very good and fascinating (aside for a few times when Kramer was talking about female spies and agents but seemed more interested in some of the men in their lives). It's also thoroughly depressing in many ways, and often aggravating when discussing home office operations, and so I had to read it in bits and pieces over a couple months,
Illuminated by Erica Orloff: YA about a young woman named Calliope, the niece of an historian, helping her uncle investigate a palimpsest, leading them to work with an agorophobic historian and his son, August. Lots of basic yet enthusiastic medievalistic geekery tuned to 14 year old girls. It's mostly notable for centering the plot around the story of Heloise and Abelard, which isn't the "epic forbidden love" that YA tends to go for. Probably the castration bit.
The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi: Autobiography in graphic novel form, beginning with the author's childhood in Iran just before the revolution, and ending with the dissolution of her marriage in the mid-90s. Easy to read and very interesting, though sometimes uncomfortable. When I read Reading Lolita in Tehran, I found it interesting but sometimes thought Nafisi was writing more to the expectations of the audience than anything else, but I didn't feel the same here.
