Robynettely

Why I read it: I'd seen the author's name mentioned various places, so on that list of authors last year at Christmas, This name was on the list. The boy had expressed interest in the cover , and I wanted to read it before he did to vett it for adult themes. Oh, and I happened across her LJ account , and CRK seems like an interesting person with an interesting process. Bookmark: White Birch Books (North Conway, NH). Support your local independent! Tastes like chicken: A cross between Thomas M. Disch and China Mieville. The book follows the adventures of a three-piece band in Birmingham, Alabama (a female singer/bass player who works in a coffee shop to pay the bills, her heroin-addict guitarist boyfriend, and the drummer, who's a mechanic by day). In their extended circle are the local goth kids who are in thrall to a woman named Spyder, who... has some issues. Some of the goth kids have an ill-advised peyote ritual in Spyder's basement, where Spyder's psyche kee...

Why I read it: I read her blog, which is entertaining because of the celebrity stuff I suppose, but also because she is very open about her life. Also, she did Tai Kwon Do. A couple of days ago, she said she writes "vampire books with no vampires in them". Excellent. I got the book for Christmas from Ed (because I'd provided him with a list of "a book by..." type items). Bookmark: Envelope from a Customs questionnaire I received back in August, the last time I crossed the border. Tastes like Chicken: Tough one, this time. (Edited later to add:) I think if Tim Wynne-Jones were to write a different book than the two I read that were exactly the same, it might come out like this. That is a good thing. What I liked: So very much. The voice was good. It made me laugh. I found Kelly really believable as a teenager, I found her parents believable as parents of teenagers, I found her brother believable as someone who had expectations placed on him that just weren...

Why I read it: Part of the "blogger's books" project. I've been reading her blog for maybe a year. As a published-writer wannabe, her blog is maybe the best one I read. That's because she goes on at great length about the life of a writer, how the money comes in, how the words go out, how her hormonal cycle affects her climbing, her writing, her motivation. I was really happy that I liked this book. Tastes like chicken: Covers a lot the same ground as GGK "The Summer Tree" - a lot the same supporting characters out of mythology -- wild hunt, Arthur, etc. But this book seemed like it added something, wasn't just the standard rehashed blend of northwestern euro myth. Bookmark: Library receipt. What I liked: To start with, I agreed with the theme that better for humanity in general to have some risk (fairies) than for humanity to become sheep... in order for us to stay human (i.e., intelligent), we need an element of danger. While there were probabl...

Why I read it: This is part of my project to read books by the bloggers I read, so I'll know whether I should take their advice. The blog is http://www.whatever.com/ , if you're one of the 3 people on the planet who doesn't read it. I got the book as a PDF as a free download from Tor, just for signing up. What I loved: The idea is neat. I can tell he's been a marketing writer, because the marketing material that is part of the story is very realistic. What I hated: This was not the book for me! I think I may just hate science fiction. Or at least outer space science fiction. Even though I wrote one once. (It's filed away.) The cover references comparing Scalzi to Heinlein should have been a giveaway, because I don't think I ever finished a Heinlein book, even though I've got Stranger in a Strange Land around here somewhere, and really wanted to finish Number of the Beast (but just couldn't). I felt like there was no plot to speak of. Guy goes into sp...

Why I read it: Book 2 in the Blogger's Books project. The blog is here: http://justinelarbalestier.com/blog/ What I liked: The voice was strong. I found the main character, Reason, very entertaining, in her fish-out-of-water ness in Sydney, and then even more so in NYC. The premise was really neat -- people who have magic need to use it or they go nuts. And when they use it up they die. That seemed really well-thought-out to me. A peeve of mine is poorly thought-out magic that just seems to solve whatever plot problem comes along. This magic has cost. What I hated: The section in New York City seemed slower and kind of gratuitous to me, but by the end it seemed somewhat motivated. Also, because the part in NYC is on the back of the book, I was anticipating it a little too much. Sometimes marketing does that to me. I clearly didn't hate that much, because I've already requested the second book through the library. What i can steal (a.k.a. Conclusions): She can write. An...

Why I read it: Part of my "Blogger's Books" project (wherein I read books by people whose blogs I read and decide whether I should really be taking their writing advice). The blogs in this case are: http://asknicola.blogspot.com/ and http://gemaecca.blogspot.com/ . I had read a ton about Always during the LBC thing last year, so I knew where this book was going, which might have ruined it a bit for me, as I kept yelling (in my head, of course, not out loud) to Aud not to get too close... A couple of weeks ago bloggers were posting their one-star comments from Amazon, and a lot of them complained about the excessive martial arts and self defense information. That all didn't bother me. And I may have accidentally ruined the ending for myself (with the who that it was that was trying to kill them, and who the blackmailer was) by accidentally flipping to the back. What I liked: I don't read that much in the thriller or suspense genres, but this seemed to follow th...