Reading Post #15
Mar. 11th, 2006 01:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
desertvixenWhy yes, I *am* delaying finishing my reading for British Empire. I only have 2 of the 5 left to go, but they're on tech stuff, and that bores me. I'll review the textbooks I'm keeping when the class is over. (BTW, American Military University has this really cool program where if you're doing undergrad work, you DON'T pay for the books. And you don't have to return them.)
WARNING: Two of the reviews have cuts for spoilers.
The Book on Bush by Alterman and Green was one of those ones I picked up on the Bargain rack at Barnes and Noble. When stuff is only five bucks, I'm willing to take a chance. After all, you pay more than that for a damn paperback these days if you're buying it new. It was a decently researched book, but there were no surprises. One, it's part of the pre-2004 election crop, so it's dated. Two, it's basically a catalog of the Bush Presidency missteps, or what the authors view as missteps. In other words, if you're already in this camp, you're not really reading anything new ; if you're not, I doubt it's going to make you suddenly switch sides. And it may or may not get purged in the next pre-move cull. But, like I said, five bucks on the bargain rack.
The Cat Who Wasn't There by Lillian Jackson Braun. I stopped reading the TCW... books years ago, and am sort of trying to take them back up again. This wasn't bad.
The Wagering Widow by Diane Gaston is a "gritty" Regency. This deals more with gambling than the previous book did. It's a pretty good read, especially if you liked the first one.
For my classes, I ended up picking up a copy of Kate Turabian's Manual for Writers as this seems to be what the history teachers want.
Born to Rule by Julia P. Gelardi was an EXCELLENT book on five of Queen Victoria's granddaughters, all of whom became queens themselves (Marie of Romania, Sophie of Greece, Eugenia Victoria (Ena) of Spain, Maud of Norway, and Tsarina Alexandra of Russia). I particularly liked this one because instead of telling the stories segregated by each woman, she tells the stories together, showing you how they impacted on each other. I would defintely recommend this one to anyone who is interested in history, particularly British/Victorian/Edwardian history.
Missing in Action by Peter David is the newest entry in his New Frontier series. I still like NF, even though there have been some sweeping changes, and I would really love to know what happened in that three year gap in GREATER DETAIL (hint, hint to PAD). This is cut for spoilers lurk within: The ending was sort of not what I expected. I'm a little irked that he killed off Si Cwan, who I rather liked. I sat there staring at the page for a moment, wondering if the bit where everything went black was actually death, or unconsciousness, but then later on I was sure he wasn't jerking us around and he really was dead. I'm also a little mixed on what's going on with Soleta, but on the overall, I have to say I like it. But then, I just like her, so it's no big surprise. The scene where Lefler, Shelby, and Mueller are drinking together was absolutely hilarious, and there were some other ones that got a good laugh out of me. All in all, definitely worth reading, and only 16.35 on Amazon.
Micah by Laurell K. Hamilton - well, before I move onto the spoilered portion, my overall impression was "They charged 7.99 for this? I ordered mine through Amazon, so it cost less, but still... And could they make the print a little larger? I'm sorry, this should NOT have been sold as a novel, but as a novella. And it should have cost less. On to the spoilers: Really, the only part of this book that I really felt was worthwhile was the end, when the doc tells her she is a lycanthropy carrier. Again, more stuff that only happens to Anita. SA Chester Fox was pretty entertaining too. I was sort of starting to suspect foul play in the graveyard, but I thought it came off well. Still, 7.99? If anyone else wants to read it, let me know and you can borrow my copy. The preview of the next book also has me dithering about whether I want to pick it up. I may have to wait and see what the other LKH readers I know think. The sex scene was technically well done, but didn't really do much for me, being not really suited to my tastes. As for the new thing, does anyone actually think Anita is going to end up and STAY pregnant?
After the above and my readings for class, I retreated into Regency Land once again with two older Allison Lane books, The Unscrupulous Uncle and A Bird in the Hand. Both were quite good, and along the lines of what I expect from her. One of her main themes seems to be the damage that vanity and greed can do to people's characters and relationships. I liked the Uncle one slightly better, but they were both quite good.
Until next time...
DV
WARNING: Two of the reviews have cuts for spoilers.
The Book on Bush by Alterman and Green was one of those ones I picked up on the Bargain rack at Barnes and Noble. When stuff is only five bucks, I'm willing to take a chance. After all, you pay more than that for a damn paperback these days if you're buying it new. It was a decently researched book, but there were no surprises. One, it's part of the pre-2004 election crop, so it's dated. Two, it's basically a catalog of the Bush Presidency missteps, or what the authors view as missteps. In other words, if you're already in this camp, you're not really reading anything new ; if you're not, I doubt it's going to make you suddenly switch sides. And it may or may not get purged in the next pre-move cull. But, like I said, five bucks on the bargain rack.
The Cat Who Wasn't There by Lillian Jackson Braun. I stopped reading the TCW... books years ago, and am sort of trying to take them back up again. This wasn't bad.
The Wagering Widow by Diane Gaston is a "gritty" Regency. This deals more with gambling than the previous book did. It's a pretty good read, especially if you liked the first one.
For my classes, I ended up picking up a copy of Kate Turabian's Manual for Writers as this seems to be what the history teachers want.
Born to Rule by Julia P. Gelardi was an EXCELLENT book on five of Queen Victoria's granddaughters, all of whom became queens themselves (Marie of Romania, Sophie of Greece, Eugenia Victoria (Ena) of Spain, Maud of Norway, and Tsarina Alexandra of Russia). I particularly liked this one because instead of telling the stories segregated by each woman, she tells the stories together, showing you how they impacted on each other. I would defintely recommend this one to anyone who is interested in history, particularly British/Victorian/Edwardian history.
Missing in Action by Peter David is the newest entry in his New Frontier series. I still like NF, even though there have been some sweeping changes, and I would really love to know what happened in that three year gap in GREATER DETAIL (hint, hint to PAD). This is cut for spoilers lurk within: The ending was sort of not what I expected. I'm a little irked that he killed off Si Cwan, who I rather liked. I sat there staring at the page for a moment, wondering if the bit where everything went black was actually death, or unconsciousness, but then later on I was sure he wasn't jerking us around and he really was dead. I'm also a little mixed on what's going on with Soleta, but on the overall, I have to say I like it. But then, I just like her, so it's no big surprise. The scene where Lefler, Shelby, and Mueller are drinking together was absolutely hilarious, and there were some other ones that got a good laugh out of me. All in all, definitely worth reading, and only 16.35 on Amazon.
Micah by Laurell K. Hamilton - well, before I move onto the spoilered portion, my overall impression was "They charged 7.99 for this? I ordered mine through Amazon, so it cost less, but still... And could they make the print a little larger? I'm sorry, this should NOT have been sold as a novel, but as a novella. And it should have cost less. On to the spoilers: Really, the only part of this book that I really felt was worthwhile was the end, when the doc tells her she is a lycanthropy carrier. Again, more stuff that only happens to Anita. SA Chester Fox was pretty entertaining too. I was sort of starting to suspect foul play in the graveyard, but I thought it came off well. Still, 7.99? If anyone else wants to read it, let me know and you can borrow my copy. The preview of the next book also has me dithering about whether I want to pick it up. I may have to wait and see what the other LKH readers I know think. The sex scene was technically well done, but didn't really do much for me, being not really suited to my tastes. As for the new thing, does anyone actually think Anita is going to end up and STAY pregnant?
After the above and my readings for class, I retreated into Regency Land once again with two older Allison Lane books, The Unscrupulous Uncle and A Bird in the Hand. Both were quite good, and along the lines of what I expect from her. One of her main themes seems to be the damage that vanity and greed can do to people's characters and relationships. I liked the Uncle one slightly better, but they were both quite good.
Until next time...
DV
