Books read
His Majesty’s Dragon, Throne of Jade, Black Powder War / by Naomi Novik (8/10)
Lots of fun. But very, very fast reads. Who doesn’t want to read about the Napoleonic Wars — with dragons! (I’m sure some people don’t, but they’re wrong.)
An Easy Mark / by Sheila Kindellan-Sheehan (6.5/10)
I find the writing very clunky, but the mystery is well enough done, and it’s set in Montreal. This is why I read Kathy Reich’s books — forensic anthropology was neat, and it was set in Montreal, but the writing stunk. (I have heard the writing has since improved.) I can’t really recommend it unless you live in Montreal, because it’s got a very weird view of the city.
Before I wake / by Robert J. Wiersema. (6.5/10)
The writing was good. The idea was fascinating. And yet — I still didn’t like it, I feel the ending didn’t really gel, and was sort of too pat. Something about the theology bothered me, though I do not really know why.
A wild sheep chase / by Haruki Murakami (8/10)
I think my expectations were too high for this book. Not that it wasn’t very good: it was very good. Something about the ending disappointed me, though perhaps this is a bit unfair, as the moment I finished it I fell asleep for a long nap, and I’d pushed myself to finish reading it before I could nap. I also feel there’s some cultural connotations to sheep I am missing to properly understand the book.
December 28th, 2006 at 9:07 pm
Oh, I loved Naomi Novik’s books! You know that Peter Jackson picked up the film option for her work?
December 29th, 2006 at 9:08 am
I did too, but they’re too *fast*. Yes, I had heard that they were picked up, and they might do very well.
Actually, I bought them two months ago, then lent them to someone because I was reading them before my trip. I still almost finished the first one before I left.