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Books read lately
Dec. 6th, 2011 09:12 amWell, the reading has slowed down lately due to an extravagance of illness, but I've read some good ones this fall, which sort of makes up for it.
1. My Inventions, the Autobiography of Nikola Tesla. Nikola Tesla. Fascinating look at a brilliant man who had all kinds of “problems” (on the autism spectrum, very OCD, extreme synesthesia)—but who viewed them as assets and used them in some extremely brilliant and world-changing inventions.
2. Brat Farrar, Josephine Tey. Reread. Really excellent example of making the MC likable even though he’s doing something despicable (posing to be someone and taking away someone else’s inheritance). The story: Brat is a dead ringer for a kid who supposedly killed himself, who would have come into his inheritance now. He agrees to pose as the dead Patrick, upsetting twin Simon's inheritance of the horse farm Latchetts. Brat falls in love with the family, the farm, everything. He even feels the blessing of Patrick out there, because there's something funny about how Patrick disappeared...
3. Uncommon Criminals, Ally Carter. This series is getting made into a movie, right? It read more like a movie than a book, and I'm trying to figure out why. Maybe the POV? It felt more like that film omniscient POV than the inside-your-headness of a book. If indeed the movie is going forward, it will make a good one, though. The story: Kat's tried to escape her criminal family, but she just can't seem to give up the thrill of stealing things, so she's been taking back jewels and art for people whose stuff was stolen in WWII. But someone's out to double-cross the thief, and she has to decide if she's going to stay working solo, or bring in the family.
4. Breadcrumbs, Anne Ursu. Beautiful writing! The feeling of losing your best friend was very real and painful, the snow very cold, and the bookish kid realizing there really was magic, and it was up to her to go into it to get her friend back was wonderful. I would put a Newbery sticker on this one—it’s an action fantasy story where the literary element is jacked all the way up, kind of like the Gaiman book. The ending was a bit open-ended, and I think that even though there are plenty of fantastical things that happen in this, it's still a contemporary MG at heart. So I have this sneaking feeling that a contemporary reader might like it more than a fantasy reader. But I don't know--it was fun to pick out all the fantasy references, too. ("Would you like some Turkish delight?" "What's that?" "Oh, just a joke." *snort*) The story: Hazel's friend Jack dumps her, but when the ice queen takes him away, she's the only one who can get him back.
5. The Revenant, Sonia Gensler. Who knew there was Cherokee Gothic? Spooky ghost story of a girl who impersonates a teacher at an elite girls’ school in Talequah, Oklahoma, and finds a mystery and a haunting on her hands. I lived not far from Talequah in Arkansas, and it was cool to read a book about that part of the country. More stories with non-NYC settings, please!
6. Circus Galacticus, Deva Fagan. Different, interesting MG! SF but with magic. And an intergalactic circus. And a magic meteorite everyone wants. The plot and setting are completely different, but something about the feel of the book made me think of Patricia C. Wrede's Maerilon the Magician, which can only be a good thing. This would be a great book to give to someone who wants fantasy adventure but is tired of reading the same story over and over but with different covers. This is different! And excellent! The story: Beatrix Ling always feels out of place, but when a strange man breaks into her third floor dorm room to steal the meteorite her parents entrusted to her, she knows things are really weird. Fleeing the strange man, she ends up joining the circus--the intergalactic circus, made up of special people like her. Only, the fight between her and the meteor-grabbing alien is a lot bigger than she'd realized--as is her role in it all.
7. The Royal Treatment, Lindsey Leavitt. Funny, and even better than the first one! Desi gets promoted to level 2, but begins to see the cracks in the Façade. Plus, the New Zealand boy her friend’s got a crush on is so easy to talk to—and there's something about him... I'm really looking forward to the next book! The story: Desi has MP--Magic Potential--and as such, has a job substituting for princesses who just can't take it anymore and need a break. She impersonates them and no one is supposed to know any difference. But nothing is as it really seems...
1. My Inventions, the Autobiography of Nikola Tesla. Nikola Tesla. Fascinating look at a brilliant man who had all kinds of “problems” (on the autism spectrum, very OCD, extreme synesthesia)—but who viewed them as assets and used them in some extremely brilliant and world-changing inventions.
2. Brat Farrar, Josephine Tey. Reread. Really excellent example of making the MC likable even though he’s doing something despicable (posing to be someone and taking away someone else’s inheritance). The story: Brat is a dead ringer for a kid who supposedly killed himself, who would have come into his inheritance now. He agrees to pose as the dead Patrick, upsetting twin Simon's inheritance of the horse farm Latchetts. Brat falls in love with the family, the farm, everything. He even feels the blessing of Patrick out there, because there's something funny about how Patrick disappeared...
3. Uncommon Criminals, Ally Carter. This series is getting made into a movie, right? It read more like a movie than a book, and I'm trying to figure out why. Maybe the POV? It felt more like that film omniscient POV than the inside-your-headness of a book. If indeed the movie is going forward, it will make a good one, though. The story: Kat's tried to escape her criminal family, but she just can't seem to give up the thrill of stealing things, so she's been taking back jewels and art for people whose stuff was stolen in WWII. But someone's out to double-cross the thief, and she has to decide if she's going to stay working solo, or bring in the family.
4. Breadcrumbs, Anne Ursu. Beautiful writing! The feeling of losing your best friend was very real and painful, the snow very cold, and the bookish kid realizing there really was magic, and it was up to her to go into it to get her friend back was wonderful. I would put a Newbery sticker on this one—it’s an action fantasy story where the literary element is jacked all the way up, kind of like the Gaiman book. The ending was a bit open-ended, and I think that even though there are plenty of fantastical things that happen in this, it's still a contemporary MG at heart. So I have this sneaking feeling that a contemporary reader might like it more than a fantasy reader. But I don't know--it was fun to pick out all the fantasy references, too. ("Would you like some Turkish delight?" "What's that?" "Oh, just a joke." *snort*) The story: Hazel's friend Jack dumps her, but when the ice queen takes him away, she's the only one who can get him back.
5. The Revenant, Sonia Gensler. Who knew there was Cherokee Gothic? Spooky ghost story of a girl who impersonates a teacher at an elite girls’ school in Talequah, Oklahoma, and finds a mystery and a haunting on her hands. I lived not far from Talequah in Arkansas, and it was cool to read a book about that part of the country. More stories with non-NYC settings, please!
6. Circus Galacticus, Deva Fagan. Different, interesting MG! SF but with magic. And an intergalactic circus. And a magic meteorite everyone wants. The plot and setting are completely different, but something about the feel of the book made me think of Patricia C. Wrede's Maerilon the Magician, which can only be a good thing. This would be a great book to give to someone who wants fantasy adventure but is tired of reading the same story over and over but with different covers. This is different! And excellent! The story: Beatrix Ling always feels out of place, but when a strange man breaks into her third floor dorm room to steal the meteorite her parents entrusted to her, she knows things are really weird. Fleeing the strange man, she ends up joining the circus--the intergalactic circus, made up of special people like her. Only, the fight between her and the meteor-grabbing alien is a lot bigger than she'd realized--as is her role in it all.
7. The Royal Treatment, Lindsey Leavitt. Funny, and even better than the first one! Desi gets promoted to level 2, but begins to see the cracks in the Façade. Plus, the New Zealand boy her friend’s got a crush on is so easy to talk to—and there's something about him... I'm really looking forward to the next book! The story: Desi has MP--Magic Potential--and as such, has a job substituting for princesses who just can't take it anymore and need a break. She impersonates them and no one is supposed to know any difference. But nothing is as it really seems...
