[book log]

[iridium]

I paused on reading for a little while, but paused on recording what I've read for longer. I think I've lost track of some. Also, I think I'm having trouble translating what's in my head (thoughts and writing and descriptions and all) into words that make sense to other people, so perhaps I just won't say much this time around. These were all good, solid, well-enjoyed books.

17. Mockingbird, by Sean Stewart. (same author as The Night Watch.) Loas and magic and family and writing and life. Good book.

18. Good Omens, Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Yeah, I've read it before, but not for quite awhile.

19. A Fire Upon the Deep, Vernor Vinge. I don't think I had read any of his books before. Read this one on the plane cross-country (back and forth) and in the interstices of time during the visit...an excellent book, and good solid sci-fi escapism for me.

20. A Short, Sharp Shock, Kim Stanley Robinson. Tight, not a long story, but winding. Many things are left unexplained, and that's just fine.

21. Tehanu, Ursula K. LeGuin. I'm fairly sure I read this before, but that was also so long ago that all that was left in my memory was familiarity. I've liked everything of hers that I've read.

Also:
- re-read Strangers in Paradise, which doesn't count because it's already on this year's list once
- keep falling asleep a short bit in to R. Buckminster Fuller's Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth which is interesting and all, but kinda weird.
- read half of Jhonen Vasquez's Squee...and then fell asleep under a heavy blanket on the couch wearing too many clothes and had really very disturbing fever-dreams. *shudder*
- re-read bits of Galen Rowell's Vision: The Art of Adventure Photography, which isn't really a book that needs to be read all at once. some neat stories and some truly amazing photography - a gift from my aunt and uncle one recent Christmas.
- read a bunch of a Harper's Magazine that a friend left behind after that last art-day.

That's all I remember, right now.

Comments

[desultor.livejournal.com]

mm, good omens. still so fucking funny everytime i read it. the luxurious plants in crowley's pad. the best of queen tapes. compelling darkness, too. mmm, gaiman and pratchett.

i read a fire upon the deep a long time ago. i think i picked it up just randomly. i honestly don't remember a thing about it, though it would probably be familiar if i read it again.

i gave my dad the dark is rising series to read. he read the golden compass, felt enh about it, would have finished the series, but was missing the last two books. so i set him on the dark is rising, by susan s cooper. fabulous books, if you haven't read them. accessible to young adults, but really just a great series.

[iridium.livejournal.com]

Fire Upon the Deep - ancient immensely complicated evil tries to take over the universe, must be thwarted by a bunch of Swedish future-humans and intelligent pack-mind wolf-aliens. :)

Dark Is Rising - i remember reading that when i was much younger, but i don't remember much about it. i do remember enjoying it very much, though, and i think vyrin has at least some of the books, so perhaps i will go borrow them.

[desultor.livejournal.com]

hah, no, don't remember the vinge. ah well :)

yeah, i reread the dark is rising about a year ago. still good. :)

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

i really liked "mockingbird". have you read "perfect circle"? it is my favorite sean stevens to date.

[iridium.livejournal.com]

haven't read Perfect Circle. it's on my list now.

when we were talking the other night, i think you recommended me a neuroscience/etc-related book, but i can't remember what it was. do you remember?

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

i don't actually remember, sad to say. but my favorite neuroscience book to recommend in general is vs ramachandran's "phantoms in the brain", so i'll give you that in lieu :)

[iridium.livejournal.com]

thanks! :) it was already on the list, and i'll try to get to it before long. lots of poking to do at my brain.

[cwingate.livejournal.com]

Loved Good Omens. I've never really gotten into Pratchett but I've liked a lot of Gaiman's other fiction, particularly ,i>American Gods and Stardust.

I could never get into Tehanu; I read it through once and have never been able to get through it again. It just seems to me that LeGuin has changed too much over the years to be able to write something that ties into the old series again. (I had the same issue with Silverberg's attempts to continue the Majipoor books.)

[iridium.livejournal.com]

I've been meaning to re-read American Gods...I feel like the first time through I missed some relevant bits and got caught up in the tangles of the story a bit. I also very much liked his short stories.

It's been such a long time since I read the rest of the Earthsea series that Tehanu stood more on its own, for me. I remembered the references to the other books; otherwise I didn't notice any dissonance.
Always Coming Home was another of hers, more recently-read, that I enjoyed much.