What Am I Reading?
Randi at I Have to Say asks the question What are you reading? I'd like to post a disclaimer before I reveal my literary choices. I read for enjoyment more than enlightenment. I read voraciously. I devour books, I savor them, I inhale them, I dream their stories, I live them while lost between their bindings. I would rather read a lousy book than watch a great movie (although I just saw Batman Begins and it ROCKS!). So, the books I am listing are not great literary works. They are not particularly scholarly or insightful or redeeming in any great way. But I enjoyed them. And that's why I read.
So, here's my books for the past week or so. I checked out 5 books from the library around June 30, I've been done with them since July 8. I've got to get back to the library this week, I'm rapidly going through the books on my Palm, and I like to keep those for emergencies.
First in the pile, Pirates of Pensacola by Keith Thomson. Thomson is a screenplay writer, among many other things, and the book reads like one long action sequence. I would describe it as Get Shorty (the book was better than the movie) meets Pirates of Penzance. Crazy, but a great read!
Next, The Emancipator's Wife by Barbara Hambly. I have read or tried to read a couple of Hambly's books before and I have a lot of trouble really getting into them. Although I was very curious about this fictional account of Mary Todd Lincoln's life, particularly the insight into her mental state, I just couldn't stay with it. As with the other Hambly books I've tried and liked, I will have to pick this one up again later and try again. Some books and authors just hit me that way.
The House of Storms by Ian R. MacLeod is an alternate history novel. I was sucked right in to an England that has moved into the Industrial Age with "aether" as important as electricity and other mechanical developments. Elaborage guilds have risen up to control aether and the different disciplines it is used for. England ends up in a civil war over the use of free labor, or slaves, instead of the US, which has not developed beyond colonies. The characters were interesting enough to catch me at the beginning of the book, but their development was lacking. We caught them at the beginning, and then it was 20 years later and we didn't see much of what got them there. I didn't like that. But it was another good read and I would try MacLeod's writing again.
The Myriad, by R.M. Meluch -- Basic Sci-Fi, somewhat Trek-ish. Humans working with a former enemy (a splinter colony from Earth that started as a secret Roman society among Earth's Latin-speaking professions and ended up as the new Roman Empire on another planet) in order to overcome a new enemy. A bit derivative of Star Trek story lines, but very well done. There's a really cool paradox that occurs when they discover the new civilization they come upon has been colonized not only from lightyears away, but from thousands of years in the past! A quick, light read. The subtitle is Tour of the Merrimack #1, so there should be sequels. I'll be looking for them.
The Beach House by James Patterson and Peter DeJonge. Sis turned me on to James Patterson, and I have read every one of his books I can get my hands on! We're waiting right now for 4th of July and Honeymoon to come back to the library, thank goodness for online holds! This one was just as good as his others I've read. Murder mystery, plot twists, unexpected reading -- great summer reading. Loved it.
My literature will become quite elevated this fall, we will be starting our Charlotte Mason curriculum. Loads and loads of great reading -- things I loved as a kid, things I've heard of and wanted to read but have never got around to it. I hope the girls enjoy it as much as I will!!!
So, here's my books for the past week or so. I checked out 5 books from the library around June 30, I've been done with them since July 8. I've got to get back to the library this week, I'm rapidly going through the books on my Palm, and I like to keep those for emergencies.
First in the pile, Pirates of Pensacola by Keith Thomson. Thomson is a screenplay writer, among many other things, and the book reads like one long action sequence. I would describe it as Get Shorty (the book was better than the movie) meets Pirates of Penzance. Crazy, but a great read!
Next, The Emancipator's Wife by Barbara Hambly. I have read or tried to read a couple of Hambly's books before and I have a lot of trouble really getting into them. Although I was very curious about this fictional account of Mary Todd Lincoln's life, particularly the insight into her mental state, I just couldn't stay with it. As with the other Hambly books I've tried and liked, I will have to pick this one up again later and try again. Some books and authors just hit me that way.
The House of Storms by Ian R. MacLeod is an alternate history novel. I was sucked right in to an England that has moved into the Industrial Age with "aether" as important as electricity and other mechanical developments. Elaborage guilds have risen up to control aether and the different disciplines it is used for. England ends up in a civil war over the use of free labor, or slaves, instead of the US, which has not developed beyond colonies. The characters were interesting enough to catch me at the beginning of the book, but their development was lacking. We caught them at the beginning, and then it was 20 years later and we didn't see much of what got them there. I didn't like that. But it was another good read and I would try MacLeod's writing again.
The Myriad, by R.M. Meluch -- Basic Sci-Fi, somewhat Trek-ish. Humans working with a former enemy (a splinter colony from Earth that started as a secret Roman society among Earth's Latin-speaking professions and ended up as the new Roman Empire on another planet) in order to overcome a new enemy. A bit derivative of Star Trek story lines, but very well done. There's a really cool paradox that occurs when they discover the new civilization they come upon has been colonized not only from lightyears away, but from thousands of years in the past! A quick, light read. The subtitle is Tour of the Merrimack #1, so there should be sequels. I'll be looking for them.
The Beach House by James Patterson and Peter DeJonge. Sis turned me on to James Patterson, and I have read every one of his books I can get my hands on! We're waiting right now for 4th of July and Honeymoon to come back to the library, thank goodness for online holds! This one was just as good as his others I've read. Murder mystery, plot twists, unexpected reading -- great summer reading. Loved it.
My literature will become quite elevated this fall, we will be starting our Charlotte Mason curriculum. Loads and loads of great reading -- things I loved as a kid, things I've heard of and wanted to read but have never got around to it. I hope the girls enjoy it as much as I will!!!
posted by Gem at 10:59 PM
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