Catch Up

I finally took the time to transfer my book list from my regular blog (tells you how busy I am at work right now...)

Now I have to figure out what I've read since I've gotten home from Phx and put those in the list.

#32 Haunted Places: The National Directory

Last night I finished Haunted Places: The National Directory by Dennis William Hauck. It's a state by state listing of a bunch of haunted sites, sacred areas, and ufo sightings. The husband got it for me because the building in Santa Fe where I was working was listed in it.

It was an ok read; some of the entries were fairly basic and didn't give a lot of detail, while others were more in-depth. They talked about photos that had been taken but didn't reproduce them in the book. It really needed a more careful proofreading than it got - nearly drove me nuts with all the left out words and duplications. And I couldn't believe the addresses that were listed. Seems like a good way to get stalkers and crap looking for ghosts.

I thought about passing it along to N because she likes this stuff as much as I do. If the husband was still coming to get me then I would've traded it in at the bookstore, but I guess now she can read it if she wants.

#31 Faking It

Yesterday I finished Faking It by Jennifer Crusie. It's so friggin' hot in my apartment I can't sleep and I tore thru it. I picked it up at a library sale and wasn't sure if it would be good, but for $1 I gave it a chance. Quite good, with a cast of characters odd enough to make you interested but not so out there to put you off. I hope she brings them back in another book. I should check on that...

Did I mention the apartments suck? They don't turn on the air conditioning until it's 90 degrees for 3 days. Since we're working nights, a lot of our crew was trying to sleep in the hotbox conditions and we got them to turn it on sooner. Unfortunately, the system isn't AC, it's a "chiller" which is akin to having someone suck on an ice cube then blow at you from 4 feet away. Not effective. They bought fans for everyone but I didn't get one until last night when T gave me hers. It was the first decent night's sleep I've had since it started warming up.

#30 Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber

This morning I lolled in bed finishing Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber by Adele Lang. It was meant to be a light-hearted bit of chick lit fluff (and that's not an insult, by the way). But the main character is a mean, bitter, self-obsessed bitch that I found annoying after the first 3rd or so. It still had its amusing moments so I kept reading but it really did turn into some sort of pathetic farce. I just don't buy someone being as bad that and not coming to a grisly end. Unless she was just stupid.

Either way, the only thing I'm grateful for is the author didn't have the "heroine" suddenly realize what a monster she'd been and go through some sort of redemption. She kept Katya as nasty as ever to the bitter end. Not a fun read, though.

#29 Impossible Things

Next I read Impossible Things by Connie Willis. I love her work and would read anything she wrote. Have to say the first story, The Last of the Winnebagos, was not a good choice for right after the husband and the dog left. I sobbed as I finished it and had to call the husband to calm me down. I was ready to go home right then. But I stayed and finished the book and it was as good as her work always is.

#28 St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves: Stories

I started Life of Pi before the move and it got lost...

I feel like I picked up something else but can't remember what it was, so this blog will be about the book I picked up at the used bookstore (Bookmans) in Phx when the husband was here.
St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves: Stories by Karen Russell is a weird little collection of short stories that don't seem to go anywhere. They don't follow the basic pattern of a story, at least as far as I could tell... Several of the stories just sort of stopped and others trailed off. I liked them, don't get me wrong. The ideas of some of them were exotic and just that little bit off-kilter. But it took some time to adjust.

#27 The Girls' Guide To Hunting And Fishing

When I started The Girls' Guide To Hunting And Fishing by Melissa Bank, I was really into it and thought it was going to be a good find. I was wrong. Maybe I'm the wrong generation for it, or maybe I just don't have the life experiences to appreciate it, but I was disappointed in everything after the teenage years. I just kept wondering what point it was trying to make... And when they threw in the bit from another woman's perspective, I was totally off. I couldn't figure out if they had jumped years again or what. I wouldn't recommend it.

#26 Pattern Recognition

I just finished Pattern Recognition by William Gibson. It was the husband's choice and I'm glad he gave it to me. Initially, I had trouble suspending my disbelief over the main character's allergy to branding (the use of trademarks and such) but I finally just accepted it. Mostly, I was worried that Gibson would take the predictable route and the ending would suck. There are a lot of scenarios that get set up and it's easy to assume he'd go with the trite conclusion. I haven't read enough by him but I should have guessed the husband wouldn't recommend it if he was that kind of writer. Basically, try to read it without trying to read into it and it'll take hold.

I will admit I'm wondering if it would be possible to recreate the experience of the "footage" in the real world but with the prevalence of YouTube, it's probably already being done...

#24 & 25 The Book Of Night With Moon and To Visit The Queen

While in Pasadena one weekend, we stopped at a very nice used book shop. I don't remember the name, but it had a good selection and seemed friendly. The husband found 2 books for me that had cats on the covers. Sad but true, I usually like that kind of thing. Anyway, I just finished reading the books and I have to say I hope there will be a 3rd in the series.

Diane Duane's The Book Of Night With Moon and To Visit The Queen feature cats as the main characters. Not ordinary cats, though; these cats are wizards and they control the gates that allow any wizard to jump from one place to another. Sounds kind of stupid, but I liked them and I thank the husband for picking them out for me.

#23 Labyrinth - Continued

The husband picked up Labyrinth at the library and I was able to finish it. I quite enjoyed it and read it pretty quickly, but I hope the author didn't think she had come up with a fantastic twist. I had it figured out pretty early on. But that didn't stop me from liking it and I hope to read more of her one day.

#23 Labyrinth

Not sure if this can really be counted as #23, but I'm planning on finishing it so I'll leave it.I started Labyrinth by Kate Mosse and was enjoying it, but I'd gotten it from the library and my time ran out on it. I read about this one in Time magazine and it's been a winner. It started out as a parallel worlds sort of thing, but I never really made it back to the present day chapters so I'm not sure. I'll have to get online and put a hold on it so I can finish it.

#22 1634: The Ram Rebellion

1634: The Ram Rebellion by Eric Flint is a collection of short stories about some of the peripheral characters in his 1632 series. This one I liked. The main books are enjoyable and these stories fill in some gaps you never even noticed.

#21 Duchess of Nothing: A Novel

I read Duchess of Nothing: A Novel by Heather McGowan. I think it was a Daily Candy recommendation but I didn't care for it. The main character was whiny and annoying and I wanted her to get on some meds and stop screwing up the little boy's life. I kept hoping it would get better but no love for me.

I hate when I get a bad book, because I'm compelled to finish most everything I start. I only know of 1 book I didn't finish (can't remember the title right now).

#20 The Rosetta Codex

The Rosetta Codex by Richard Paul Russo. It wasn't bad, but it looked better than it turned out to be. I wonder if he'll do a sequel, since the premise of the book was for a guy to go thru some pretty crappy things in order to help an alien species regenerate. Seemed to be a lot of people suffering for little to no payoff. Maybe it was too much like real life...

#19 Fables

I read the entire run of the comic Fables by Bill Willingham. Brilliant stuff. I hope the husband buys the next graphic novel soon so I can keep up. I prefer them to the individual comic, you get a longer read out of it w/o the high probability of damaging the goods.

#18 Bandbox

Started a book called Bandbox by Thomas Mallon that I got in Santa Barbara. It's about the staff of a men's magazine during the 1920's. There are a lot of characters and I'm not always the best at keeping track of who everybody is. It's a quick read, though and that's always good.

#17 A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian

While in Santa Barbara, I picked up a couple of books and just got a chance to start reading one of them - A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka. It's an odd book and I'm not sure how much I like it. The premise revolves around an 84 year old widow who marries a 36 year old gold-digger who wants to immigrate. The guy has 2 daughters and one of them starts out thinking this may be a good thing! WTF? Who in their right mind thinks it's about anything other than the money (other than ANS)? I'm going to finish it and see if it redeems itself, but it's not hopeful.

#16 The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl

I read The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl by Tim Pratt a few weeks back. It was quite enjoyable and for some reason, Sofie really likes the sound of "Rangergirl." She tilts her head back and forth every time we say it.

Anyway, I hope he's writing a sequel.

#15 The River King

I started reading Alice Hoffman's The River King. I've read several of her books, but stopped after they butchered Practial Magic by making it into that dreadful movie.

Anyway, this one is as good as I remember her work being. She has an interesting style that flows so well, you read and read and read and don't even realize how much time has passed.

#14 Death Train to Boston

Death Train to Boston by Dianne Day is my current read (it's the next in the Fremont Jones series). The format of this one is a bit different from the others but I'm enjoying it and will continue to read the series as I can find the books. This one has a lot to do with Mormons - an interesting group of people, to be sure. Not being very religious, I find people who are devout fascinating in a "sleeps-on-a-bed-of-nails" kind of way. I'll let you know if it ends well. That really is my biggest complaint about anything - they hook you and pull you along, then just drop you at the end. So far DD hasn't done this to me, but I'm always wary.

#13 Milton's Teeth and Ovid's Umbrella: Curiouser and Curiouser Adventures in History

I read Milton's Teeth and Ovid's Umbrella: Curiouser and Curiouser Adventures in History by Michael Olmert. I actually finished it before I left Santa Fe, but I didn't have the time to blog about it. Basically it's the history of various things that we take for granted like playing cards and umbrellas. It was an ok book - some of the topics were interesting and some were not... there were some entries that had better info in the endnotes.

#12 Emperor Norton's Ghost

I picked up the next Fremont Jones mystery Emperor Norton's Ghost while I was at home this weekend. Since my trip back to Abq was so time-consuming, I managed to read the whole thing. If I'd known, I'd have brought the one after that as well.

#11 The Bohemian Murders

I finished Fire and Fog and moved right into The Bohemian Murders. I realized why I like Dianne Day so much - her characters have the usual sorts of miscommunications and misunderstandings, but she doesn't drag them out. Fremont, the main character, is a very reasonable woman and usually confronts the issue at the first possible opportunity. Not like every sitcom made today. Damn, I hate watching the convolutions people go thru because they misheard a conversation or something. So even though I have other stuff to read, I'll probably plow thru these in short order.

#10 Fire and Fog

The husband and I went to the Iliad bookstore while I was home and we got the rest of the Dianne Day series about Fremont Jones. So I've started Fire and Fog, which begins with the earthquake of 1906. Seems appropriate with it being the centennial and all.

#9 The Big Over Easy

I forgot to mention I started a new book a couple of days ago... Jasper Fforde's The Big Over Easy. I've read all of his Thursday Next series and the husband picked up this new one featuring Jack Spratt. I really enjoy his style and hope he comes out with more soon.

#8 The Strange Files of Fremont Jones

I started a new book last night The Strange Files of Fremont Jones by Dianne Day. I picked it up at a used bookstore in ABQ with the husband. I also bought the 2nd book since I thought the premise looked particulary good. It's set in 1905 in San Francisco, so I'm sure if the action continues long enough the earthquake will figure into it. The lead is female and she's one of those "ahead of her time" characters. We'll see how good it ends up being.

#7 You Are a Dog

You Are a Dog by Terry Bain is my current read. I saw it on Daily Candy and went out and bought it. It's life from the dog's point of view and it made me laugh out loud. I can just imagine the same thoughts running through Sofie's head. Of course, it also has some moments where I hope Sofie doesn't feel that way because it breaks my heart. It's a fast read and I'll finish it tonight. Gonna make the husband read this one...

#6 It's Not Easy Being Green: And Other Things To Consider

Last night I read It's Not Easy Being Green: And Other Things To Consider a collection of quotes by and about Jim Henson. It's a sweet book and a nice reminder of the wonderful things he gave to our world. There's at least one quote in there I want to send to the husband specifically, but I'm thinking it might be nice to make a "quote of the day" from some of the rest.

#5 V for Vendetta

I read the Alan Moore graphic novel V for Vendetta. The husband and I had gone to see the movie and he was so upset with the changes they made we left fairly quickly. I figured I'd better read the source material. It's a good story, even though I kept hoping they'd reveal V's identity, but I understand the point of not doing so. I'm not sure an audience would have liked the movie as much if they had stuck to the story more closely, but I'd have to finish watching the film to see what they did end up doing to it.

V, in the graphic novel, is not a typical Hollywood hero nor is he one of those "heart of gold" type characters, either. He has a point and he's very ruthless in making it. He does some despicable things that I can't imagine they let him do in the movie. And I'm not surprised they didn't let Portman be a hooker, as the original Evey was.

FYI - I finished Rasputin's Daughter which wasn't great, but wasn't bad either. It attempts to dispel some of the myth surrounding the man, but I'm not sure if I should believe it anymore than I can believe the myths. I'd need to look into the research that was done to support the theories but I don't know that I care enough to bother.

#4 Rasputin's Daughter

I started a new book last night since I didn't feel like watching TV. It's Rasputin's Daughter by Robert Alexander (also wrote The Kitchen Boy). Another Russian revolution historical fiction novel. It's pretty good and I stayed up too late reading it.

#3 Replay

I picked up a book for the husband yesterday that he had found when he was here but hadn't bought - Replay by Ken Grimwood. After getting it, I went to finally have my car washed and decided to take a look at it while I was waiting. It was intriguing enough that I started reading it and now I have to have it done before I go back to LA for the 3 day Easter weekend. I'm really enjoying it and since some of it is set in Atlanta, it's a blast from the past for me. I hope he comes up with a good reason for what's happening, though. I'd hate for it to be a waste.

#2 The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar

I started The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar by Robert Alexander last night. We picked it up in ABQ at the used bookstore there. Actually, I picked up the second book ("Rasputin's Daughter"), saw that there was first and got both. I'll save the review for afterward, but so far I like it.

And I got lazy last night and watched House rather than list all of my future reading... love that show and Hugh Laurie (yes, the husband knows all about it).

#1 The Cat's Pajamas

Since I can't figure out how to modify the right-hand-side to put in a book list, I've decided to just post each time I read something.

I just finished a collection of short stories by Ray Bradbury entitled The Cat's Pajamas. I really liked Bradbury when I was younger and even managed to use his work for a lot of my English papers. I was very disappointed to find that he didn't age with me; I wasn't enjoying most of his more recent efforts. But I liked this book and I'm glad I took the chance on it.

Tonight I'm starting something new, but I'm not sure what. I brought several books with me and we bought several more in ABQ. I think I'll just put them in a pile and pull one out. When I get home I'll edit this blog and list everything I've got here in SF to read...