Archives - October 2003 archives -- index by author -- index by category -- favorite books -- links

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3 October 2003

• Susan Ferrier, Marriage: Ferrier is like a Scottish Jane Austen, writing at about the same time, only with a slightly broader wit. I wish her other books were in print.
• Alice Hoffman, The Probable Future: a reasonably good outing from the mistress of American magic realism; though the plot is on the predictable side, Hoffman's writing is as lovely as always.
• Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar, The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination: a groundbreaking work of feminist literary criticism, discussing Austen, the Brontës, Eliot, Dickinson, and more.
• Julie Clark, Great Minds Start Little: a supplement to the Baby Einstein videos and CDs, with suggested activities. Not as extensive as other baby activity books, but nicely organized.
• George Sand, Marianne, Indiana: Sand's last book and her first.

Books read: 6

5 October 2003

• Michael Lewis, Moneyball: overrated account of how Billy Beane turned the low-budget Oakland A's into a winning baseball team. Yes, their statistical analyses of players are interesting and new and probably useful, but the long-term value has yet to be proven.
• Terri Windling, The Wood Wife: Windling is a very well-known fantasy editor; this is her first novel, and it's a winner, set in the Arizona desert, peopled with a strong cast of characters, and elegantly written.
• Mollie Hunter, The Walking Stones: young adult fantasy.

Books read: 3

10 October 2003

• Anthony Everitt, Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome's Greatest Politician: interesting bio.
• Beryl Markham, West with the Night: the stunningly poetic account of Markham's adventures as an aviator in Africa.
• Mickey Mantle, All My Octobers: in-depth accounts of all of the World Series Mantle played in, with a bittersweet tone.
• Elizabeth Peters, Summer of the Dragon: reread - fun romantic suspense.
• Elizabeth Goudge, The Little White Horse: charming young adult fantasy, set in 19th-century England.

Books read: 5

13 October 2003

• Benita Eisler, Chopin's Funeral: largely focused on the affair between Chopin and George Sand.
• Patricia A. McKillip, In the Forests of Serre: beautifully written, as with all of McKillip's fantasy novels, though I got a little lost in the plot.
• Martha Brooks, Bone Dance: young adult fantasy.
• Elizabeth Peters, Seeing a Large Cat: reread - the ninth book in the Amelia Peabody series.

Books read: 4

17 October 2003

• Elizabeth Peters, The Ape Who Guards the Balance, The Falcon at the Portal, He Shall Thunder in the Sky, The Love Talker: rereads - more Amelia, and a stand-alone (The Love Talker).
• Lemony Snicket, The Slippery Slope
• Robin McKinley, Sunshine: wow, McKinley's take on vampires. I'll have to reread this really to be able to review it, but wow.

Books read: 6

20 October 2003

• J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: reread - a good entry in the series, after the overly long Goblet of Fire (Order of the Phoenix is actually longer, but it feels tighter).
• Juliet Marillier, Wolfskin: Viking historical fantasy - not as good as her Sevenwaters trilogy, as unfortunately the villain was far more interesting than the hero or heroine.
• Jane Yolen, Merlin's Booke: a collection of poems and stories about Merlin the enchanter.
• James Blaylock, Lord Kelvin's Machine: odd Victorian time travel fantasy.

Books read: 4

24 October 2003

• Elizabeth Willey, A Sorcerer and a Gentleman: a fantasy novel with interesting characters and a richly detailed world, though the plot (like Willey's other novels) drags somewhat.
• Philip Pullman, The Broken Bridge: not at all similar to Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, this is an involving young adult novel about a black girl growing up in Wales.
• Margaret Peterson Haddix, Just Ella: another retelling of Cinderella - not bad, but a clunky plot and less than fascinating characters make it second-best to Ella Enchanted.
• Gail Carson Levine, Ella Enchanted: reread - will eventually end up on my favorites page.
• Robert B. Parker, Stone Cold: the latest in Parker's Jesse Stone mystery series, and a good one.

Books read: 5

27 October 2003

• Holly Black, Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale: pretty good YA fantasy about a teenage girl who gets involved with a conflict between the Seelie Court and the Unseelie Court
• Dorothy Gilman, Caravan: romantic adventure/suspense; not very deep or complex, but very entertaining and descriptive tale of an American woman in Africa during the early part of this century
• Sherwood Smith, Crown Duel and Court Duel: I see that these have recently been reprinted in one volume, which I'll have to pick up one of these days (I got these from the library). I started out not being very impressed with these, because I found the heroine annoying; she kept acting immaturely and impulsively, never seeming to understand what was going on around her, and I kept thinking, "Geez, girl, get a clue." But as I continued reading, I began to wonder why she should understand everything: she's the heroine, not the omniscient narrator or reader. It's her process of maturing and gaining knowledge that is actually the focal point of the books, and Smith does a really excellent job of showing her emotional and intellectual growth.

Books read: 4

31 October 2003

• Jo Walton, The King's Peace and The King's Name: an excellent reworking of the Matter of Britain (i.e., King Arthur and all that) set in a different world from ours. I use the word "reworking" rather than "retelling" simply because the books aren't a straight retelling of the Arthurian legends; the world is different (largely in that magic and the gods are real), and although there are certainly parallels, the events and characters are sufficiently different to make this more than a retelling.

  The narrator is Sulien ap Gwien, the king's greatest warrior; I suppose you could say that she is analogous to Lancelot in that role, but certainly not in any other - she is her own character, not a reflection of a character from the legend as it's usually told. (In fact, another character in the novel, who can see into alternate universes, tells her that she is unique and has no "shadows" in other worlds.) Her narrative voice is distinctive and completely convincing as that of a practical, honorable, military woman, if a bit dry and unemotional.

  I had a hard time getting into the books at first, and I'm not sure why. Perhaps it was the amount of time spent in describing battles, which has never been my cup of tea. I ended up liking them very much, though.

• Ellen Kushner, Thomas the Rhymer: an elegant and romantic retelling of the ballad of Thomas the Rhymer, a harper who was taken by the Elven queen to spend seven years in Elfland and came out with the gift of telling only the truth. I was somewhat unsatisfied with the events of the novel, and with the character of Thomas himself, who was sufficiently self-centered that I had a hard time sympathizing with him, but the language was beautiful, as Kushner's always is, and it was overall a good read.

Books read: 3

Total books read this month: 40
Total books read this year: 292

Last updated 29 November 2005. All text and photographs © George Mitchell and Margaret Johnston, unless otherwise noted Comments, questions, suggestions to margaret@lonelymountain.net.