Reading Post ?
Jan. 27th, 2006 09:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
desertvixenI forget, and I'm too lazy right now to go back and look it up.
I've been rereading some lately, and will continue to do so, I suppose.
Nell Gwyn: Mistress to a King by Charles Beauclerk (a descendant of the offspring of Charles II and Nell) is quite good. It's a good book, not only covering her life before the king, their romance, and afterwards, but also giving enough detail about the times they lived in to be interesting, not enough to overload. I would recommend this one strongly.
The F Word: Feminism in Jeopardy by Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner was a collection of essays by the author on various aspects of feminism today. They were all fairly good, but the one that particularly hit me was the one on how motherhood tends to be where women hit the wall. Where we're exposed to all the contradictory expectations for women and mothers in our society. I will freely admit, it's starting to bug me. Worth the time and money.
Worth More Dead by Ann Rule is one of her crime files collections. The main story is pretty good, and the other ones are good. I had seen a Cold Case Files on the main story, so no surprises. If you like the true crime stuff, it's worth reading but nothing spectacular.
Traitor's Gate by Anne Perry was good. The mystery in this one was quite tolerable, and Uncle Eusatce March makes a very creditable appearance. The getting into Thomas' background is good as well, and we get rid of a very irritating character.
Life After Birth by Kate Figes is a British book, but some of the stuff is universal. It's about how women's whole lives change after giving birth. A little depressing, and not to be read all at once, but thought-provoking.
Memory in Death by JD Robb is the next entry in the Eve Dallas series. I was a little worried, because this one involved more stuff from Eve's past (for those not reading the series, or not familiar, Eve has severe past issues), but it's handled well and not the focal point of the drama. There's some amusing spat bits between Peabody and McNab, and the other characters who make their appearances are well-drawn as well. However, I thought the villain was relatively easy to spot. It was a nice little read.
The Quiet Gentleman by Georgette Heyer (titles are slowly being released by Harlequin) was quite good. Part of it put me in mind of The Unknown Ajax, which I rather liked. I also like the Heyers where the not-gorgeous girl gets the guy. This one has a mystery, as in who's trying to kill the main character, which I also thought was easy to figure out. Spoiler : The attempted killer is the LAST character I would really have expected, but it became clear that the main character suspected him. Also, the obvious killer was a little TOO obvious. I sort of wish it has been the Dowager, just for entertainment. There's some "special features" in the back - a Regency glossary, but not any help to anyone who is already a fan of Regencies (at least, I didn't catch any I didn't already know), a small explanation of Regency house parties, and what appears to be a Heyer short story, "To Have The Honour". Definitely worth the 4.99 special price. I was looking around, but didn't see a list of the others (they've done them in sets of 6) that they plan to rerelease. Anyone else seen one?
DV
I've been rereading some lately, and will continue to do so, I suppose.
Nell Gwyn: Mistress to a King by Charles Beauclerk (a descendant of the offspring of Charles II and Nell) is quite good. It's a good book, not only covering her life before the king, their romance, and afterwards, but also giving enough detail about the times they lived in to be interesting, not enough to overload. I would recommend this one strongly.
The F Word: Feminism in Jeopardy by Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner was a collection of essays by the author on various aspects of feminism today. They were all fairly good, but the one that particularly hit me was the one on how motherhood tends to be where women hit the wall. Where we're exposed to all the contradictory expectations for women and mothers in our society. I will freely admit, it's starting to bug me. Worth the time and money.
Worth More Dead by Ann Rule is one of her crime files collections. The main story is pretty good, and the other ones are good. I had seen a Cold Case Files on the main story, so no surprises. If you like the true crime stuff, it's worth reading but nothing spectacular.
Traitor's Gate by Anne Perry was good. The mystery in this one was quite tolerable, and Uncle Eusatce March makes a very creditable appearance. The getting into Thomas' background is good as well, and we get rid of a very irritating character.
Life After Birth by Kate Figes is a British book, but some of the stuff is universal. It's about how women's whole lives change after giving birth. A little depressing, and not to be read all at once, but thought-provoking.
Memory in Death by JD Robb is the next entry in the Eve Dallas series. I was a little worried, because this one involved more stuff from Eve's past (for those not reading the series, or not familiar, Eve has severe past issues), but it's handled well and not the focal point of the drama. There's some amusing spat bits between Peabody and McNab, and the other characters who make their appearances are well-drawn as well. However, I thought the villain was relatively easy to spot. It was a nice little read.
The Quiet Gentleman by Georgette Heyer (titles are slowly being released by Harlequin) was quite good. Part of it put me in mind of The Unknown Ajax, which I rather liked. I also like the Heyers where the not-gorgeous girl gets the guy. This one has a mystery, as in who's trying to kill the main character, which I also thought was easy to figure out. Spoiler : The attempted killer is the LAST character I would really have expected, but it became clear that the main character suspected him. Also, the obvious killer was a little TOO obvious. I sort of wish it has been the Dowager, just for entertainment. There's some "special features" in the back - a Regency glossary, but not any help to anyone who is already a fan of Regencies (at least, I didn't catch any I didn't already know), a small explanation of Regency house parties, and what appears to be a Heyer short story, "To Have The Honour". Definitely worth the 4.99 special price. I was looking around, but didn't see a list of the others (they've done them in sets of 6) that they plan to rerelease. Anyone else seen one?
DV
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Glad to hear it.
Date: 2006-01-29 09:26 am (UTC)I wasn't very happy with "Origin in Death," the one right before, so I'm glad she's returning to form. Roberts/Robb may qualify as a guilty pleasure, but she knows how to write good prose. I'm glad she hasn't succumbed to the trap of keeping the Roarke-Dallas romance and/or Dallas' emotional health frozen at the same level indefinitely, like a sitcom.
How's about a drinking game?
-- one sip any time a character eats or drinks something soy-based.
-- one sip for other food or drink characterized as fake or substitute.
-- one sip for any mention of coffee.
-- empty the glass whenever Peabody gets Dallas coffee.
-- one sip for any Summerset/Dallas exchange of snarkiness...
-- ... empty the glass if narration in Summerset's POV reveals that he is in fact acting bitchy in the interests of household harmony.
-- one sip whenever Eve misses a meal.
-- Empty the glass if she pushes herself hard enough to pass out or show other signs of extreme exhaustion.
-- One sip whenever Roarke buys something major.
-- one sip if his eyes are (yes, we checked) still blue.
-- one sip if he puts his hair back in a ponytail.
-- Empty the glass if Roarke is described as a prince, a pirate, or a fallen angel.
-- one sip per scene involving the unregistered computer and/or circumventing CompuWatch.
-- one sip per color each time McNab appears in a new, wild outfit.
-- one sip per three colors each time Mavis appears in a new, wild outfit. (A person could die.)
-- Empty the glass for each athletic and soul-satisfying bout of Roarke-Dallas sex. (Refill and empty again, per previous rule, if this leads to Dallas passing out from exhaustion.)
-- Empty the glass for each _new_ recovered memory via one of Dallas' strangely literal nightmares.
-- One sip per nightmare that only restates known information and/or has non-literal content like most people's dreams.
-- Empty the glass for each new revelation about Roarke's or Dallas' past by means other than repressed-memory retrieval.
That's all I've got for the moment. Other suggestions anyone?
Re: Glad to hear it.
Date: 2006-01-29 03:37 pm (UTC)I'll have to think.
My issue with Origin was that she tried to get too deep into the sci-fi mode. The books are "futuristic", or as I kepe trying to explain to people who ask, they're superficially sci-fi. This one's more of a standard mystery.
-- one sip if his eyes are (yes, we checked) still blue.
Maybe add a sip for each extra adjective? IE, wild Irish blue would translate into three sips.
DV
no subject
Date: 2006-01-29 04:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-29 05:43 pm (UTC)Remember, it's been like 3 weeks since I updated.
DV
no subject
Date: 2006-01-29 08:40 pm (UTC)Biology is a Mother.
Date: 2006-01-30 09:50 pm (UTC)It's not that I don't agree--and sympathize--but I do wonder where that nirvana of sane and consistent expections for women and mothers is (or was).