Category Archives: Books

Valley of the Soul, Tamara Siler Jones (4)

What I enjoy most about Jones’ books isn’t the mystery plot — though they are interesting — so much as the characters. That was a good thing for this book, because the plot didn’t work for me and left me … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Leave a comment

Cast in Shadow, Michelle Sagara (3)

Cast in Shadow was even better than Cast in Courtlight. The beginning felt a bit slow to me — probably because it stopped to explain things I’d already figured out while reading the second book in the series — but … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Leave a comment

LITGA

Life is Too Grim Already — a group “working for a brighter genre” — now has a website. Currently it lists one book.

Posted in Books | Leave a comment

Cast in Courtlight, Michelle Sagara (2)

Cast in Courtlight was *really good*. I missed a lot, I know, because I have not read the previous book, Cast in Shadow. I bought Courtlight without realizing it was the second in the series, and it took me a … Continue reading

Posted in Books | 1 Comment

Weekly Summaries March 4

Misc: • lavenderbard has started a community for Life Is Too Grim Already, an organization (still being developed) that she came up with to promote the creation and distribution of “not grim” science fiction and fantasy, largely by making it … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Writing | Leave a comment

Weekly Summaries Feb. 25

Writing Summary: I took the week off from writing, mostly, and may take this week off as well. Needed a break, and needed time to do some other things. Also, my brain thinks it should be in story-producing mode, rather … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Writing | Leave a comment

The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, Alan Garner (1)

I don't know how I managed to miss Alan Garner's The Weirdstone of Brisingamen when I was a kid, because I would have loved it then even more than I did yesterday, which was a lot: gripping plot, and the … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Comments Off

Books Read, 2006

SF unless otherwise noted: 13: Lud-in-the-Mist, Hope Mirrlees 12: His Excellency, Joseph J. Ellis [history] 11: Devlin's Luck, Patricia Bray 10: Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn 9: Vellum, Hal Duncan 8: Tall, Dark, & Dead by Tate … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Comments Off

Lud-in-the-Mist, Hope Mirrlees (13)

Hope Mirrlees' Lud-in-the-Mist, published in 1926, was well worth reading: unusual, thought-provoking, and beautifully written, including a wonderful literal description of a sunrise (at the end of chapter 20). The book concerns the people of Dorimare (the title is the … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Comments Off

Survey: Why do people buy books?

David Louis Edelman surveyed people about why they bought the books they bought. Top three reasons: They read other books by the author, a friend recommended it, and they judged the book by its cover. Those are generally my reasons … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Comments Off