catherineldf | Reading (mis)adventures (Reply)

My lengthier comments are out on my Goodreads page, if you're curious. I only post comments for books I've finished, BTW. Read and thoroughly enjoyed: a number of books on writing, a number of small press titles, and the usual assortment of fantasy, history and miscellaneous. High points included: Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (graphic novel); The Journal of Dora Damage by Belinda Starling (historical); Lace and Blade (Vol. 1) edited by Deborah Ross (historical/fantasy); From Eve's Rib by Gioconda Belli (poetry); Coalition of Lions by Elizabeth Wein (YA fantasy); From Hell to Breakfast by Joan Opyr (lesbian romance); Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches Guide to Romance Novels by Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan (nonfiction); Flora's Dare by Isabeau Wilce (YA fantasy); This One's Going to Last Forever by Nairne Holtz (lesbian, short stories and novella; Writing the Other by Nisi Shawl and Cynthia Ward (nonfiction); The Stepsister Scheme by Jim Hines (fantasy); The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon (lit fiction); Soulless by Gail Carriger (straight romance); Hit by the Farm: How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Barn by Catherine Friend (nonfiction, memoir); and By the Sword: A History of Gladiators, Samurai, Swashbucklers and Olympic Champions by Richard Cohen (nonfiction).

Some books I liked but didn't love: Snake Agent by Liz Williams (fantasy); The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield (Gothic lit fiction); Handsome Heroines: Women as Men in Folklore by Shahrukh Husain (folklore); Jane Austen in Context edited by Janet Todd (nonfiction); The Sistine Heresy by Justin Saracen (lesbian romance, historical); Paddy Whacked: The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster by T.J. English (nonfiction); The Art of Subtext: Beyond Plot by Charles Baxter (nonfiction); Affinity by Sarah Waters (lesbian lit fic); Domestic Manners of the Americans by Fanny Trollope (nonfiction); Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith (fantasy); Indie Publishing: How to Design and Publish Your Own Book by Ellen Lupton (nonfiction); and Palimpsest by Catherynne Valente (fantasy).

Therein follows a number of books which I didn't particularly like or only partially liked, none of which seem worth mentioning.

And, of course, a couple of books which I loathed: Melusine by Sarah Monette and Blood and Iron by Elizabeth Bear. Full commentary on why out on Goodreads.

I've also failed to get through Naomi Novick's Throne of Jade - I can see why it's appealing, but apparently I'm not the audience for O'Brian homages with talking dragons; The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric and Discredited Diseases - which I wanted to find amusing, but alas, did not; and several other novels too appalling to remember the titles of. This last is unusual as I am generally a completist. And we're still swimming in books. I'm trying desperately to purge, seeing as I'm the one who has to dust them, but it's an uphill battle. Perhaps it'll be a really snowy winter though; that always helps.