All right, this is technically a recent re-read, as I have read this book more times than I can count. I think the last time, though, may well have been ten or twelve years ago, when I was writing my own “children from our world are whisked away to another, which only they can save” book. Halfway through, I basically fell into a complete panic that I was not writing THE SECRET COUNTRY and that what I was doing was disasterous, so I did something I never ever do, which…
I fully admit that one of the reasons I really love reading MC Beaton’s books is that I can read two of them in less than 3 hours, which makes me feel like I’m getting Lots Of Reading Done. :) I’d been reading Agatha Raisin books, but I got a couple of Hamish Macbeth books for Christmas. Agatha one likes despite herself, but Hamish is really incredibly charming and more fun to read. So I blew through the first two books, DEATH OF A GOSSIP and DEATH OF A CAD,…
I read CITY OF BONES in a deliberately deconstructive manner. I wanted to see what worked and why. So this is perhaps an unusually, er, structural, review thingy. First off, Clare nearly lost me on page three, where the POV character did something to the effect of “my flashing green eyes scanned the room,” which, well, how damned often do you say, “My clear blue eyes lifted to the heavens,” even if you’re deliberately describing what actions you took? The color of your eyes is not likely to come into…
I’m sure it’d be faster to take a picture, but here’s the to-be-read shelf: Michael Carroll: THE ASCENSION, SUPER HUMAN Neil Gaiman: THE GRAVEYARD BOOK Sarah Rees Brennan: UNSPOKEN Cassandra Clare: CIY OF BONES, CITY OF ASHES, CITY OF GLASS CS Friedman: LEGACY OF KING Nick Harkaway: ANGELMAKER Gene Kemp: THE TURBULENT TERM OF TYKE TILER Sheridan Le Fanu: IN A GLASS DARKLY Ian Whates: CITY OF DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES Pamela C Dean: THE SECRET COUNTRY MC Beaton: DEATH OF A CAD Faith Hunter: RAVEN CURSED, DEATH’S RIVAL Lynn Fwelling:…
I know it’s blasphemy, but argh, there are too. many. books. in this house. Between Christmas and EasterCon, I (we, but I cop to it: *I*) had some significant Bookstores Accidents, and while this is most of the time merely inconvenient because there are never enough shelves, when I’m facing moving, all I can really wonder is why I didn’t bloody well buy digital copies of ALL THESE BOOKS. I mean, I know why. It’s far, far more satisfying to go browse and buy physical books than it is to…