Currently reading
As I Descended
Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History
City Folk: English Country Dance and the Politics of the Folk in Modern America
Freedom
So very, very Franzenian, but not nearly as good as [b:The Corrections|3805|The Corrections|Jonathan Franzen|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1355011305s/3805.jpg|941200]--looser, with less of a point and less incisive humor. The buildup is great, but there isn't really a payoff.
Fading Amber
I won a copy in a Goodreads Firstreads giveaway. And I kinda wish I hadn't, because then I could've preserved my memory of the first book in this trilogy as imperfect-but-kind-of-awesome, and not have it sullied by the mess of the other two.Oh well.
Son
Great writing, but... but...Part 1: [b:The Giver|3636|The Giver (The Giver, #1)|Lois Lowry|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1342493368s/3636.jpg|2543234] from a less interesting perspective.Part 2: Training montage! With flirting.Part 3: Love as Deus Ex Machina!And... just... why?
The Mark of Athena (Heroes of Olympus)
Unusually weak for this series, but still enjoyable and engrossing and I'm still looking forward to the next one.
Every Day
Well, that was depressing.Fascinating, sappy, manipulative, overwritten in spots and brilliantly written in spots, with characters who are simultaneously good people and largely unsympathetic. Interesting but not enjoyable.
Midnight Blue-Light Special (Incryptid Series #2)
The cause of much squeeing and laughing out loud and feelings.
NW
Bounced off this fairly quickly. Unlike [b:White Teeth|3711|White Teeth|Zadie Smith|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327899698s/3711.jpg|7480], the writing is painfully pretentious and ponderous.
Various Positions: A novel
Disappointing. It started out very strong--emotional, powerful, and difficult--but faded as it had room to reveal inconsistencies, a dated feel, an overly simplistic setup, and unbelievable actions on the part of the adult characters.Also, terrible cover--that's not the way romantic tutus hang, her front foot is turned in so she's not in the proper ballet position it's trying to look like, the ribbons are trying to make it look like she's in pointe shoes but the shape is all wrong. PLUS the bodiless legs are creepy.
How to Save a Life
Well-written and exactly what it was trying to be and no more. Mandy is way more interesting than Jill, but they balance well.Won in a FirstReads giveaway.
Keeping the Castle
A bit of Northanger Abbey, a bit of Emma, a bit of Pride & Prejudice, and rather more open in its snark than Austen.Light but thoroughly delightful.
Mr. Churchill's Secretary (Maggie Hope Series #1)
Hit SO MANY of my "things I want to read" checkmarks, but the execution was such that it was 50-paged.
When We Wake
Well written, engaging, and readable, but the ideas are nothing new and it's a bit preachy (and I'm in all of her particular choirs).It is VERY nice to have so many QUILTBAG, POC, and Muslim characters without it being a big deal, and a protagonist who is religious without it being a religious book. Also, Abdi is so much less interesting than Bethari and Joph.
Violins of Autumn
Meh.My enjoyment of the read probably suffered from being in the same year as two brilliant YA/crossover novels about SOE spies during WWII (Code Name Verity and Tamar: A Novel of Espionage, Passion, and Betrayal). Even without that, it suffered from As You Know, Bob conversations, unnecessary remembrances that disrupted the pacing, and flat relationships.I won a copy in a FirstReads giveaway.
Railsea
Wonderfully written, but self-conscious, pretentious, and kind of pointless....given that it's a take on Moby-Dick, I suspect that the things I found unsatisfying are things I would also find unsatisfying about Moby-Dick.
