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Books, books and more books
Apr. 19th, 2010 06:21 pmI've been tardy in saying anything about what I've read, and this will be overtly short as well, but hopefully better than nothing:
Charlaine Harris: Living Dead in Dallas and Club Dead.
I really liked the first installment of the Sookie Stackhouse / Southern Vampire Mysteries, and since Wal-Mart carries the whole enchilada cheaper than Amazon... The second and third books introduce a few new characters and plot elements, but also settle down into a more predictable groove. A personal slight annoyance of me is that the main character has become the protagonist in a reverse harem setting, and keeps getting tempted by all these hot hunks. While Harris likely writes to her audience, the lack of focus on Sookie's part is a bit frustrating to me. Four out of five and three out of five for being enjoyable romps nonetheless.
Patricia Briggs: Bone Crossed.
Following a bit of the same line as the previous commentary, this is another installment of the Mercy Thompson series. There are significant enough plot developments to keep things from settling down, and Briggs is tackling some pretty major issues. Perhaps not with the depth and attention I'd like to see, but being a serial novel I suppose that's to be expected. While I'm still fond of the series and will pick up the next book, this one seemed a bit off as far as pacing and plot went, so three out of five.
It should be noted that while both the Southern Vampire Mysteries and the Mercy Thompson books make a token attempt at introducing the reader to the setting and characters, both of them -- especially this Bone Crossed -- requires you to read the previous works to have a sufficient idea of just what happened and why the characters are who they are and do what they do. Neither series tends to end on cliff-hangers, which I appreciate, but the characters and world get defined along the way with some major events and aren't easy to pick up mid-series.
Sharon Shinn: The Shape-Changer's Wife
Apparently Shinn's first novel -- worth publishing and well polished in many ways, but lackluster compared to her latter works. If you're a dedicated Shinn fan, probably worth a read. If you're not, skip this one. Two and a half out of five.
Alain Briot: Mastering Landscape Photography
I usually don't comment much on non-fiction books, but this one's very good -- it talks a lot more about abstract issues related to photography, but the gravitas of someone who not only knows exactly what they're doing and why, but also has had decades to think about it shines clearly through. It also talks about technique, but at least for me it had at least as much value in making me think about my own photography.
Charlaine Harris: Living Dead in Dallas and Club Dead.
I really liked the first installment of the Sookie Stackhouse / Southern Vampire Mysteries, and since Wal-Mart carries the whole enchilada cheaper than Amazon... The second and third books introduce a few new characters and plot elements, but also settle down into a more predictable groove. A personal slight annoyance of me is that the main character has become the protagonist in a reverse harem setting, and keeps getting tempted by all these hot hunks. While Harris likely writes to her audience, the lack of focus on Sookie's part is a bit frustrating to me. Four out of five and three out of five for being enjoyable romps nonetheless.
Patricia Briggs: Bone Crossed.
Following a bit of the same line as the previous commentary, this is another installment of the Mercy Thompson series. There are significant enough plot developments to keep things from settling down, and Briggs is tackling some pretty major issues. Perhaps not with the depth and attention I'd like to see, but being a serial novel I suppose that's to be expected. While I'm still fond of the series and will pick up the next book, this one seemed a bit off as far as pacing and plot went, so three out of five.
It should be noted that while both the Southern Vampire Mysteries and the Mercy Thompson books make a token attempt at introducing the reader to the setting and characters, both of them -- especially this Bone Crossed -- requires you to read the previous works to have a sufficient idea of just what happened and why the characters are who they are and do what they do. Neither series tends to end on cliff-hangers, which I appreciate, but the characters and world get defined along the way with some major events and aren't easy to pick up mid-series.
Sharon Shinn: The Shape-Changer's Wife
Apparently Shinn's first novel -- worth publishing and well polished in many ways, but lackluster compared to her latter works. If you're a dedicated Shinn fan, probably worth a read. If you're not, skip this one. Two and a half out of five.
Alain Briot: Mastering Landscape Photography
I usually don't comment much on non-fiction books, but this one's very good -- it talks a lot more about abstract issues related to photography, but the gravitas of someone who not only knows exactly what they're doing and why, but also has had decades to think about it shines clearly through. It also talks about technique, but at least for me it had at least as much value in making me think about my own photography.
