Reading Reading Reading.

[lit_gal]

Thanks so much for the advice on "abet" guys. Um... I got so much good advice that I don't think I'm going to answer all those comments because WOW... ya'll are logophiles! I'm trotting right along with my Moonridge stories. I'm discovering all sorts of things about the characters by writing this story. And the manips have now been beta'ed and I'm rather proud of them. And I've been reading more print books.

These are out of five stars.


Pretender by C.J. Cherryh.  God I love this series.  I feel like I should take notes on the psychology and political maneuvering she includes, and that makes the geek/nerd in me so very, very happy.  The first book in the series starts weak, finds its feet halfway through the novel, and after that, it's all golden.

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. I wanted to love this book; I tried to love this book.  I can't.  I can appreciate the poetic language and her viewpoint, but these short snippets of life on Mango Street leave me not knowing the characters as little more than dressing on an artsy-fartsy window.  I can appreciate this book but I will never love it.

An Unfinished Life by Mark Spragg.  I really loved these characters--flawed, struggling, real and lovable. And Spragg just has a remarkable talent for turning a beautiful phrase.  And unlike many books, there are no villains here.  All the damage done is done by people who believe they're in the right.  I do like that in a story.  So, why not five stars?  It's not the sort of book that leaves you thinking about the implications when you've finished the last page.

Comments

[sparrow2000.livejournal.com]

It's funny, Maz has just introduced me to C J Cherryh. She lent me her battered copy of Angel with the Sword at the tail end of last year and I just loved it. My Christmas present was the Chanur saga trilogy which is sitting on my shelf calling to me. Shit I can't believe I haven't read a book book in 6 months, it's just been so crazy, but that's first on my list when things finally calm down.

[lit-gal.livejournal.com]

I love summers because I can read. I collect a pile of books all year, and then in summer I get to slowly read through the list. It's pure joy.

[sosaith.livejournal.com]

I had a very similar reaction when I read La Casa en Mango Street. It was the first book I had ever read in Spanish, and I wanted to like it more than I did.

I appreciate the book recs as, since I discovered fanfiction, I've spent a lot less time reading actual books.

[lit-gal.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I can appreciate the language enough to want more, but more just is not there.

[swanpride.livejournal.com]

C.J.CHerryh is great...it is the only Sci-Fi author I read. Sadly her books are very hard to get in Germany. My favourite in the pretender series is the second volume. Have you ever read Tripoint?

[lit-gal.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry she's hard to find over there because she is great, and yep to Tripoint. I still think my favs by her are Foreigner series and Chanur series.

[swanpride.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I had to read part 4-9 of the foreigner-series in english...which is really hard to do with all the "new" words. If I hadn't known the first three books in german I would have never managed (but it was worth it).

Chanur is one of the few books I haven't read...yet.

[raissad.livejournal.com]

I read Mango Street for one of my lit courses and had the same reaction. There was no drive, even collected vignettes need drive.

[lit-gal.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's it.... you don't feel any suspense or involvement. They're just vignettes, and I don't much care what happens to the characters.

[shakatany.livejournal.com]

C. J. Cherryh is one of my two favorite SF writers (the other being Lois McMaster Bujold) and her Foreigner series is one of the best. I've been reading SF since I was 12 and after decades of reading it I'm sort of gafiating except for those 2 and a few others. Like one of your other commenters, I'm doing most of my fiction reading online these days.

Shakatany

[lit-gal.livejournal.com]

I haven't read Lois McMaster Bujold (*adds one more name to the need to read list*) During the school year, I read more fanfiction, but in summer, I do enjoy relaxing with a good old-fashioned book, especially since during the peak hours, my electricity costs three times more than off-peak hours, so the computer is off off off in the hot afternoon.

[shakatany.livejournal.com]

She writes both fantasy and SF and it's the latter I truly adore. She invented the most marvelous character called Miles Vorkosigen. The books should be read in chronological order starting with "Shards of Honor" where his parnets meet and then "Barrayar" where he is born. I think you'll love his mother Cordelia and Miles too. During the series he grows from about 17 in HIS first book to a newly married man in his 30s. I love that he actually grows and changes (he's no Nancy Drewish character). Try her asap.

Shakatany

[shakatany.livejournal.com]

In addition you might like "Ethan of Athos" also set in the Miles'verse where the hero comes from a planet of only men - no women!

Shakatany

[joyleaf41.livejournal.com]

I see I shall have to start tracking down Cherryh's Foreigner series and start reading that. I started by reading her Faded Sun trilogy and then found Serpent's Reach in her Alliance-Union universe. I have read and enjoyed several more set in the universe. A bit creepy with their Azi but I did like the fact that several of her characters in the Cyteen trilogy are gay.
Hubby prefers the Chanur books.

[swanpride.livejournal.com]

If you like books with gay-characters: Have you ever read the books of Lyn Flewelling? They are really great.

[joyleaf41.livejournal.com]

I enjoy slash so I must have some fondness for gay characters. But I was more impressed that that was only one aspect of her characters, not their defining characteristic and she showed them in long term stable relationships. Just as McCaffrey's Dragonriders are most often gay, something she takes for granted the readers will pick up on in the early books but make plain in later books, but that is not what makes them take the risks they do to protect Pern. It is just a fact of life.

[swanpride.livejournal.com]

My recommendation stands...Lyn Flewelling (luck in the Shadows) writes the development of the realationship between her two main characters really great, but it is not the main focus of the story (heck, they need two books to get together). And her characters aren't "gaygay" if you get my drift.

[heeroluva.livejournal.com]

I agree with you assessment of The House on Mango Street. The sad thing is that I had to read it for an English class about seven years ago and it was the best book out of the lot.

[lit-gal.livejournal.com]

That's so sad. There are great books out there, but it's like one book gets good press, and everyone flocks to it.