Books read, 2015

[peppermintesse]

Books, 2015

January (4)

A Private Reason for This by Femmequixotic: On the recommendation if a friend, I actually started off the year with fanfiction—a murder mystery set in the Harry Potter universe, 20 years after the final book, with Draco Malfoy as a DCI with the Edinburgh Auror office—and it was surprisingly good, very well written, compelling and not at all overly obvious as to who the killer turned out to be. It's also a Malfoy/Potter pairing, and if any of the tags contain anything that bothers you, steer clear. If not, go for it. I don't think you'll regret it. (It also provided me a refresher course in the universe, which was kind of fun.)

Wandering Son Vol. 1 by Takako Shimura: And on the recommendation of another friend, I read this manga about a girl who wants to be a boy, and who meets a boy who wants to be a girl. It took me a while to get into the cadence of reading the pages and panels right to left. It's charming but sometimes confusing—more to do with me and my unfamiliarity with the intricacies of Japanese culture. This is just the beginning, so I'll be getting the other volumes as I can from the library.

The New Mrs D by Heather Hill: I really didn't know what to expect from this book, but I will say it left me actually feeling a bit inspired. The main character starts out as a doormat, but finds herself. The ending did not take the expected route at all, and I liked that a lot. I think it was self-published, and it could have done with an editorial read-through as I spotted some missing quotation marks, at least one missing paragraph break, and one embarrassing wrong use of a homonym (which I have since forgotten). (Also, if you're going to include a character from a region that you are not from, get someone from that region to read those parts for you as a check; i.e. Americans don't say something's worth "millions of pounds", particularly while in Greece). But definitely a worthwhile, light, silly read with a deeper message to take to heart.

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins: Man, what a ride, no pun intended. This book keeps you off-kilter from the get go, when you start to realize that all is not what it seems. A little bit Rear Window, a little bit Gone Girl. I did have a moment of clarity where I realized exactly what was going on. It was a chilling moment. Really good read, and her first novel, to boot. (Fun fact: I pictured Louise Brealey as Rachel, then came to find out that she reads the part of Megan on the audiobook.)

February (2)

Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty: Part mystery, part voyeuristic thriller, this book had me hooked from the start. It's an anti-mystery, actually, in that you know there's a trial, but you don't know for what, and you don't know who's being tried. There are some seriously sexy moments, and there are some seriously trigger-y moments. Also, lessons to be learned. Really very good, thought-provoking.

Wandering Son Vol. 2 by Takako Shimura: The next volume in the manga series. We get to learn more about the main characters, Nitori Shuichi and Takatsuki Yoshino, as they go on a school trip, and their older friends, Yuki and Shii.

March (3)

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell: When I first began to read this, I was constantly feeling off-kilter; it's more realism than fantasy, a fantasy style along the lines of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. It spans decades (in the first section, it's 1985, and the last, 2040s), and trades off narrators (hence the discombobulation), but the blanks fill in nicely. It's almost like there's a larger story told mostly from the periphery (like ST:TNG's "Lower Decks"); there are hints but the penultimate section is where all comes to light. That's not to say that it's bad—on the contrary! It is truly epic (in scope and in length). In the end of it all, I was in tears. The last section does not paint a happy future.

Wrong (First) Impressions: A Modern Pride & Prejudice by Krista D. Ball: I read this to counter the heaviness that the previous book left, so I picked this out of the archive on my Kindle. It's not very polished—I've seen more polished fan fiction—and there seemed to be a checklist of marginalized characters (not a bad thing, just seemed a bit too obvious initially). The dialogue was, at times, a bit forced to fit with the original Austen. At first, for all of these reasons, I was pretty dismissive.

But the more I read it, the more it grew on me. It's one of the more original re-homing of the tale that I've seen: Lizzy runs a homeless shelter, it takes place in Canada, and the multicultural aspect feels, after a while, a little less forced. There were points when I was actually misty-eyed. The ending was appropriately happy, as any tale between an Elizabeth Bennet and a (Fitz)William Darcy must be.

Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz: I enjoyed The House of Silk, so I was thrilled to learn that this author had done another Holmes-based book. I was pretty satisfied. It was a riveting tale, though I did wonder for much of the book what the title had to do with anything. About 80% of the way through, though, it became crystal clear why; the most stunning twist I've read, from the narrator's perspective, since Louis Bayard's The Pale Blue Eye. The end itself, however, felt a bit unresolved—then again, what happened next seemed unrelated.

The final "chapter" was, I would later learn, a standalone short story, in the form of an unpublished Dr. Watson Holmes tale (which is mentioned in the book), called The Three Monarchs. I can't help feeling there's a parallel to the book that I'm not seeing, maybe because it was mentioned. I'll have to reread the book again to see if I can spot what it is.

April (3)

Wandering Son Vol. 3 by Takako Shimura: The next volume in the manga series. More characters introduced. I still find it intriguing, but I find both the format (being 'flipped', back to front and right to left across the page) and the names (honorifics, diminutives, etc.) both exhausting and confusing. And now that there are more characters… I think I'm going to have to admit defeat, here.

The Darcys: The Ruling Passion by Linda Berdoll: When I learned there was yet another part to the series, I was elated. I suppose it was inevitable, then, that my expectations were a little too high. That's not to say that it's not interesting—it is—but it could have used a bit more editing. (I discovered this volume, unlike her first two, was self-published, which may explain why here wasn't a more rigorous editorial review.) There seems to be much that is extraneous to the plot, which does not reveal itself soon enough, and… while I know she intentionally uses "compleat" as an archaic variant of "complete", the repeated use of "discrete" when she means "discreet" and "ton" instead of "town" seems more like substituting spell-check for proper copy-editing than anything else (if these are valid archaic variants, then I stand corrected).

And—as much as it pains me to say this—the sex scenes, which were a feature in the first book, seem like wedged-in afterthoughts in this book. (That is not to say they are not enjoyable, but they just seem devoid of context. Also, I have a v. difficult time picturing Lizzy wearing a cape, boots, and nothing more to surprise Darcy in the bedchamber.)

Fear of Flying by Erica Jong: I had some vague recollection of this book from when I was younger, but I had no idea it was so controversial. The story of Isadora Wing, a sort of proto-Bridget Jones, searching for The Zipless Fuck, and torn between two men: her husband (the stoic, staid Chinese-American psychoanalyst) and the Englishman (the wild, seemingly-free-of-inhibitions psychoanalyst). I enjoyed it; parts of it I highlighted to save as still being revolutionary ideas today, how far we have yet to come for true equality of women and men… and other parts made me realise how far we've come even since the early 70s. Jong's language is bold and unapologetic. Definitely read the more recent foreword (if you have a copy with such a thing) as it is really insightful into the era into which this first appeared.

May (2)

Riders by Jilly Cooper: Think Dynasty produced for Showtime, taking place in the late 70s/early 80s in the world of competitive show jumping (horses) in England. That may sound cheeseville, but it was a pretty enjoyable fluff read (and now I feel like I know way more about show jumping than I ever wanted to). My only complaint is how long it was (the paperback is a staggering 928 pages!), but more importantly, how long it felt. There were stretches of boredom there. I'm not sure it would have been possible to trim any of it down, though; there wasn't much extraneous plot. As for the rumoured sensational levels of smut in this book… perhaps I am too jaded by more modern novels, but this didn't really shock or excite me much. I'm sure if I'd read this when it first came out in 1985, I would have been equally titillated (especially at the tender age of 14).

Finding Colin Firth by Mia March: The thread that (tangentially) ties the lives of three women together—Bea, Veronica, and Gemma—in a small town in Maine, when one of Colin Firth's film comes to town to shoot. It's more about their search for themselves and their own happiness, between references to Colin's* films and what he represents to them, without ever getting too fannish in an embarrassing, uncomfortable way (no, that would be represented by the cringe-worthy fan club that makes an appearance—but I think that was the point). It would have been just as good a read—not in the 'high literature' sense, just a fun, light read—without the namedropping, to be honest, but neither does it suffer from that side plot being shoehorned in. She manages to strike a balance of honest, heartfelt endearment (with a weighty issues here and there tossed in for good measure) without being too corny.

(* Like we're old pals or something)

June (1)

Diary of an Unsmug Married by Polly James: A fun little diary-driven tale of a middle-aged married woman, the title a tip of hat to Bridget Jones in the title and in some of the things that she does (and that happens to her). Molly (the protagonist) works in a local MP's office and a lot of the governmental references go over my head (a 'surgery' for open house?), even with the footnotes. Even still, I really enjoyed it, as it is very much in the spirit of Bridget.

July (2)

Dead Wake by Erik Larsen: The story of the sinking of the Lusitania, as always vividly told by Larsen, breathing life and humanity into the people and the events of the time. The confluence of events that caused this tragedy is almost literally unbelievable.

Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination by Helen Fielding: This was a reread. Originally I read it shortly after it came out, and at the time I found it disappointing and the spy stuff a bit ridiculous. But now, on a reread, I found it far more enjoyable, even if there are certain phrases and situations that I recognize from her Bridget Jones novels—but then again, I have read those books and columns more than most. (And I now find myself drawing comparisons between the character Morton C and Mr Wallaker from Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy.)

August (4)

Fluency by Jennifer Foehner Wells: I am not usually a huge fan of reading science fiction, but I was intrigued by the premise (the discovery of an apparently abandoned ship deep in space, and a manned mission to said ship), by the fact that the main protagonist is a female linguist. (I also claim an acquaintance online with the author.) It was as good as, if not better than, I expected. It was so hard to put down, and I did not want it to end. The biology, the portions that take place in space, even the linguistics, seemed entirely, perfectly correct, or at the least, believable in a very real way. Very, very much looking forward to the next book.

Moranthology by Caitlin Moran: A collection of columns from over the years from serious topics (a women's right to choose; disappearance of library funding) to silly and fun ones (gushing over Sherlock; hanging with Lady Gaga in a German fetish club; interviews with Keith Richards and Paul McCartney (separately)). Quite an amusing read.

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler: I had only heard about the book and that people whose taste I admired had enjoyed reading it, so I thought, hey, why not. I didn't know a thing about it going in; I hadn't even realized it was the same author who had done The Jane Austen Book Club. I think that was all for the best. This book is so very different from that one, such that I might not have read this book (I didn't dislike JABC, but I didn't think it was all that great). There were plot points that I never saw coming, and never expected. Fascinating and well-written.

From Notting Hill to New York… Actually by Ali McNamara: The second installment in the series that began with From Notting Hill With Love… Actually, which picks up with Scarlett O'Brien and her wacky life in London, and then New York City. The words that keep coming to mind is 'dippy' and 'giddy'; the dialogue is slightly stilted and the situations literally unbelievable, but at the same time, it's silly, fun brain candy. It made a nice change of pace from the previous book.

September (5)

From Notting Hill with Four Weddings… Actually by Ali McNamara: …and the third installment, this time, with weddings! Four of them (though two of them are kind of a cheat, only tangentially related to the main characters). There's actually a bad guy, and he's so over-the-top villainous that it's funny, with a name that is so incredibly obvious it's s funny. Same re: dialogue etc., but it's still fun brain candy, and some of the wedding stuff actually did make me get misty.

(I really do hope she's not planning From Notting Hill with Nappies… Actually, as hinted at the end of the book… a trilogy is a fine place to end this.)

Dark Beyond the Stars edited by David Gatewood: A science fiction anthology featuring all women authors, this collection doesn't really have a dud amongst them. Even the story with dragons turned out to be a winner in the end (not usually all that wild about dragon stories). Standout stories include "Carindi" by Jennifer Foehner Wells (though I admit this story was the reason I bought the collection, as the short story takes place in this author's novel Fluency's universe) and "2092" by Rysa Walker.

The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz: Highly anticipated sequel to the Stieg Larsson Millenium series featuring Lisbeth Salander. I thought it was very nicely done in Larsson's tradition, definitely worthy of the series. I did see a couple of the big plot points coming but I still very much enjoyed it. (It must be an artifact of translation that some of the dialogue seems a little stilted to me, but I thought the same about the original books, too.)

Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll: A great read, intriguing, though I would offer a TW for gun violence & sexual assault (saying more would spoil the story, but I would hate to inadvertently traumatize someone). Protagonist starts out utterly unlikable… by the end, she's changed, or maybe you have because of what you've learned about her.

After You by Jojo Moyes: Sequel to Me Before You, the absolutely beautiful, brilliant, and heart-wrenching story of Louisa and Will, which was not the sort of book I would have expected a sequel for, but I've loved every page for its study of love, loss and mourning. (I keep comparing it, in my head, to Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy.) I'm about 3/4 through, and find it impossible to put down without intervention. The only thing that's bothered me so far is one chapter from another character's POV, and in a different tense (present vs. past). Maybe there's going to be a reason that the author did it this way that is only clearer at the end of the book, and it's not a huge thing, just… a bit weird.

Later: There was no real reason aside from letting the reader know this was someone else's thoughts.

October (1)

Trip to London for almost two weeks; I actually did not read on the flight or during the trip because, duh, busy. Also, my Kindle broke, so I read this graphic novel on my iPad.

Death: The Deluxe Edition by Neil Gaiman, Chris Bachalo, Mark Buckingham: Collection of short stories from the comic book series Sandman, featuring the character of Death. Brilliant storytelling, even better art.

November (2)

Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling): Third in the Cormoran Strike detective novels. Could not wait to see who did it; did not want it to end. I found the language lively (if a bit gruesome at times) but every twist and turn kept me guessing.

Just about the best (or worst) book to have read after arriving home from London, because so many landmarks—including Euston Station, into which we arrived in London every day—made an appearance in this book. But it also made me long to be back there.

Trigger Mortis by Anthony Horowitz: Hard to believe this is the same author who did Moriarty (above) because if I hadn't known in advance, I wouldn't have known. Typical James Bond fare, authentic to the period; the three main female characters (one being Goldfinger's Pussy (tee hee) Galore) were suitably feminist to my modern sensibilities. Only one thing bothered me: describing a woman's backside as being "round like a child's"—what the hell sort of creepazoid description is that?

December (0)

I started to read Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl, but it was a bit heavy. I think I read some fanfiction instead. I didn't keep track of it.

Total number: 29.
Not as good as last year…