Ahhh, this. I am in my last semester studying literature and I am doing the same thing. It really makes me feel better to know that I am not being so exceptionally lazy. Just a usual amount of lazy. My university has a lot of classes where no one will speak up, too. It drives me nuts. Anyway check out Sanne’s channel and or blog. She’s London based, fun to follow, and takes great pictures.
F*ck! I’m in My Twenties by Emma Koenig the book!
So earlier today I blogged about not having any desire to read or review anything. Then I got this in the mail and everything changed.
F*ck! I’m in My Twenties
by Emma Koenig
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Published August 22nd 2012 by Chronicle Books
ISBN: 1452110530
I started following Emma Koenig’s Tumblr blog sometime in early 2012. She would sporadically post these incredibly funny, heart/gut/brain-wrenchingly astute hand-drawn comics about her life and I would like and reblog them and generally run around holding print outs and screaming, “Me, this is ME!” hoping people would have some kind of insight into my life.
When I heard she had a book coming out, I couldn’t have been happier, because a) I think her work is hilarious and b) clearly this is a windfall she needed (hope you took care of that mice prob, girl).
Even though I’ve seen many of the graphics in the book before, for free, on her tumblr, I bought the paperback and still got at least three solid belly laughs out of it. Which, when you’re in your fucking twenties, don’t come around as often as you need. And if you’re in your twenties you should probably read this book (or at least check out her blog).
I can’t wait to see what she does next, writing-wise, because I think she’s got a lot to offer. (Also she lives in LA, or did, and I never knew we could have been bffs bb, and ignored each other when we were too busy but been totally understanding about it because F Our Ls call me)
What I’m reading + An aversion to seriousness breeds boredom.
So I’ve been a boring book blogger lately because a) I haven’t been reading much of anything new and b) the stuff I have been reading doesn’t inspire much rave reviewing.
I DID finally get to read the sequel to Wolf Tower by Tanith Lee, which I’d been looking for in vain for years, because it is currently out of print and not available in ebook form, which is a shame, because those books are SO delightful. I wrote quite a long nice review on Goodreads and then accidentally left the page and my browser ate it. As you might imagine the frustration kind of dead-ended my enthusiasm for review writing for a bit. (Don’t worry I’ve added the Lazarus form recovery add-on so that doesn’t happen again, because I KNOW I am too lazy to write my reviews in a text-editor first)
It is slowly coming back (my enthusiasm), however the book I am currently reading, The Demonologist, while very good so far (and a bit scary!) isn’t one of my usual reading-for-pleasure genres. So I’m procrastinating?
I know, that really doesn’t make sense, but I’ve mentioned before how I am studying English Lit in my last semester of college. So I am reading lots of things. Really good things. Mostly old really good things. And I hate it. I hate it so so much. I don’t like being forced to do anything ever, so my brain just takes a vacation whenever I try to make myself read something serious. Serious as in aspirations of literary grandeur. I would say The Demonologist is much more literary than most of the stuff I have been reading for pleasure lately. It really is very good so far. But I need more magic and witches and like, faerie folk. And swords. I need many more swords.
Anyway that’s all I have to say. Maybe I will get over my review aversion and reading aversion and have something to discuss with you soon. I’ve been itching to start the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, on my friend Michael’s recommendation. And another friend, Jake, suggested I start the Dresden Files series. I want to get excited and dive in (I am on Spring Break this week, too) but instead I am rereading the three Alex Craft novels in bed with a cat on my neck. I’m currently on Grave Dance. I KNOW, but they are SO good.
Do you have genre aversion? Tell me I’m not crazy (I mean, I am, but you know yadada mean).
Review: Magic Bites (Kate Daniels #1) by Ilona Andrews
Magic Bites
by Ilona Andrews
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Published April 1st 2007 by Penguin
ISBN 0441014895
When the magic is up, rogue mages cast their spells and monsters appear, while guns refuse to fire and cars fail to start. But then technology returns, and the magic recedes as unpredictably as it arose, leaving all kinds of paranormal problems in its wake.
Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary who makes her living cleaning up these magical problems. But when Kate’s guardian is murdered, her quest for justice draws her into a power struggle between two strong factions within Atlanta’s magic circles.
The Masters of the Dead, necromancers who can control vampires, and the Pack, a paramilitary clan of shapechangers, blame each other for a series of bizarre killings—and the death of Kate’s guardian may be part of the same mystery. Pressured by both sides to find the killer, Kate realizes she’s way out of her league—but she wouldn’t have it any other way…-from Goodreads
I waited too long to review this book, and now I don’t really remember enough of my first impression to give an objective review.
Kate Daniels is a mercenary-for-hire in a world where magic and technology vie for dominance in waves, kind of like large scale power outages (which do happen when the magic is on). Civilization, left reeling when buildings began collapsing and cars and airplanes became unreliable, has had to adapt to the resurgence of mystical, mythical forces in their world.
Interesting set-up, non? The world-building is pretty excellent. The concept takes a bit to warm up on you, but luckily this book has an excellent protagonist and otherwise solid characterization to keep you company while you adjust. Kate is a bit of a mysterious character at the outset, and there are details about her you don’t discover by the end of the book. Not so enigmatic that it drives you crazy, but just intriguing enough to make the details stick in your head.
There are few weaknesses about this book, and if I’d reviewed it right away I may not have mentioned them at all, the first being that nearly every male character in this book is described as somewhat attractive. The mind reels. It’s not a romance novel, and it’s not trying not to be either. Nearly every single one of these attractive men propositions Kate at some point. She turns them all down, naturally, because trope. It sounds unkind, but you want to think that this protagonist is different from all of the other self-sufficient women protagonists who are super hot and extra caustic. She is and she isn’t. Unfortunately you don’t find out until later books why she ISN’T quite as unreasonably chaste and trope-y as she comes off. So in this context, the romances are a bit silly.
Fortunately, this book has something very few others do, aside from well executed writing from multiple authors. It has legitimately funny moments. I’ve mentioned before how difficult it is for me to read really joke-y books, because either the humor doesn’t lift off the page or because it just doesn’t ring true with me specifically. I’m weird. But Magic Bites DID make me laugh. More than once, less than five times. The acerbic wit Kate spouts is spot on. The punch lines are punchy. I can’t even believe I am saying it. I NEVER say this. But it was.
Kate:
Sickle claws shot from the tips of his stubby fingers. He spread his fingers in a catlike kneading motion, scraping the wooden surface of the table. “Oh boy,” I said. “How do you fluff your pillows at night?”
And later, a conversation between Kate and The Beast Lord, Curran:
“What happened to the alpha-wolf?”
“LEGOs.”
“Legos?” It sounded Greek but I couldn’t recall anything mythological with that name. Wasn’t it an island?
“He was carrying a load of laundry into the basement and tripped on the old set of LEGOs his kids left on the stairs. Broke two ribs and an ankle. He’ll be out of commission for two weeks.” Curran shook his head. “He picked a hell of a time. If I didn’t need him I’d kill him.”
I dimly recall chortling for several seconds over that one. There are other, funnier moments in subsequent books, these are just the ones I remembered to highlight here.
The final thing I really liked about Kate Daniels as a protagonist and the reality of this fictional world, was how realistically and humanly Kate and other characters reacted to things. If she was in danger, Kate was afraid. REALLY afraid. Not paralysed, but decently fearful. Monsters were monstrous – the vampires, for example, are horrifying in this universe. No Edward Cullens here. If someone got hurt (and didn’t have super regeneration powers) they didn’t miraculously push through it (though I suppose this is debatable. I tend to pass out from shock if I so much as sprain an ankle).
All in all this was a GREAT book and it opens a GREAT series. I eagerly await the latest.
Alex who? Kate Daniels has my heart.
Remember last week when I kept going on and on about how much I missed reading Alex Craft novels and I was soooo desolate and just, generally inconsolable? Me neither.
I had a couple of candidates for placeholders until August. One was Darynda Jones’ First Grave on the Right, which I reviewed here. I can be counted on to mostly only review books I don’t really like. I need to work on this.
Another was/is Sarah J. Mass’ series beginning with Throne of Glass. I think I am like 20% through that. That’s enough for me. I doubt I will finish it. It is quite terrible.
But but BUT, I did try out Ilona Andrews’ Magic Bites. Kate Daniels is my kind of protagonist. She is requisitely Buffy/kickass, but she has flaws too. Like, she makes mistakes. And sometimes apologizes for them. HALLELUJAH.
But really, these books are pretty freaking good. I’d recommend them to anyone, whether they like urban fantasy or not (I scoff quite disdainfully at those who do not).
The series is written by husband-and-wife team Gordon and Ilona Andrews. Ilona is from Russia, so one can be reasonably certain the Russian language and folklore mentioned in the books is accurate, and Gordon is ex-Army. It’s kind of weirdly comforting to think how accurate some of the weapons/tactical information in the series must be. A lot of authors do staggering amounts of research (and some, like Laurell K. Hamilton+ are actually real life semi-gun-nuts), so I suspend very little disbelief about weapons. However, I doubt any of these well researched people have had the occasion to shoot a person while researching firearms. Maybe Gordon hasn’t either. WHO KNOWS REALLY. Maybe I should email him and ask? Would that be rude? I would like, work up to it, obviously. But he’s a busy man, I’m sure, and it’s not like there is ever a good segue into “Hey, by-the-by, have you ever killed anyone?”
ANYWAY. So I like this Kate Daniels series. I read all the way through to Magic Slays. The next book in the series is called Magic Rises. Guess when it comes out?
July 30th. Sir, I do not shit you. I can’t catch a break, can I? Oh well. YOU WIN, PUBLISHERS. I will wait patiently. And beg for ARCs the whole time.
+ For some inexplicable reason I mention Laurell K. Hamilton a lot when I talk about books, and writing. And like, guns. And vampires? I don’t even know how it works. She just comes up a lot. I mean, I like her writing. I follow her on twitter. Sometimes I read her blog. But I am not particularly fanatical about her? Seriously though, just look through my reviews. It’s uncanny. Let’s just call it the LKH Phenomenon.
Review: First Grave on the Right (Charley Davidson #1) by Darynda Jones
First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Published February 1st 2011 by St. Martin’s Press
ISBN: 0312662750
ISBN13: 9780312662752
A smashing, award-winning debut novel that introduces Charley Davidson: part-time private investigator and full-time Grim Reaper Charley sees dead people. That’s right, she sees dead people. And it’s her job to convince them to “go into the light.” But when these very dead people have died under less than ideal circumstances (i.e. murder), sometimes they want Charley to bring the bad guys to justice. Complicating matters are the intensely hot dreams she’s been having about an Entity who has been following her all her life…and it turns out he might not be dead after all. In fact, he might be something else entirely. –from Goodreads
I chose this book because its average rating is pretty high, despite the very chick lit cover. Also I have been very into ghosts and necromancers lately. (This was one of my I-need-Alex-Craft-but-can’t-have-her-til-August options)
One chapter in, I didn’t think I was going to finish it. Three chapters in I figured I had come too far to go back. The reason this book and I didn’t hit it off right away is two-fold. First, the protagonist, Charley Davidson’s narration was like the reading equivalent of having a conversation with your comedian friend who doesn’t ever shut up. The incessant stream of campy jokes didn’t work. It’s rare that “witty” book banter works for me. Probably because it is exactly my brand of senseless humor and I can only handle myself in small doses. When it permeates the book, well…
The second reason I can’t say I liked the book is how the private investigation/case aspect of the plot was executed. I was never sure what was going on, it was consistently pushed to the background and played second fiddle to the romance, but would be pulled back so suddenly I got eye-whiplash. Every time a character was mentioned I had to look up who it was because I couldn’t remember. This could be partially my fault, because I didn’t much care about any of the characters, but the fact that they were all pretty one dimensional with common Anglo names didn’t help.
I did like how complete Charley seemed to be as a character. She had backstory & interesting relationships with her ex cop dad and currently-a-cop uncle. There was a lack of dimension to her relationships with other characters, especially the main romance guy person, but her defenses in regard to how people treated her talents was realistic, which was nice. EDIT: Now that I think about it though, Charley’s relationship with Reyes begins with a very brief moment when she is in high school and he threatens to rape her. I think I just blocked that out until I was reminded reading other reviews. Da fuq.
Overall I disliked more things about the book than I liked. Which is unfortunate, because normally I’d like any gal who calls her breasts Danger and Will Robinson. I have the second book but I doubt I’ll read it.
What I’m reading: Witches and necromancers and ghosts, oh my!
Realizing I go through book phases. Last month it was dragons. This month it is necromancers.
— Erika Gill (@invariablyso) February 4, 2013
Actually I think I went through a mini-ghosts phase in between the dragons and the necromancers. 😀
— Erika Gill (@invariablyso) February 4, 2013
So I’ve just finally finished and posted my review of Beautiful Creatures, & if you read my review you understand how tedious that was.
I’ve been experiencing the strange phenomena of feeling forced to read things I am choosing to read, lately, and I do not like it one bit.
Part of the reason why this blog exists is because I am trying to escape reading the things I am assigned (lit major woes). I am using my necromancers for ESCAPE. Maybe Dante Valentine is the wrong necromancer to use for this. Oh, ahem, excuse me, NecroMANCE. Latin-y.
The other part is probably due to my obstinate determination to finish every book I start. Beautiful Creatures was almost 600 pages long. I am a masochist.
So, bright side: now I get to decide what to read next. I have an ARC of Andrew Pyper’s The Demonologist on deck. I’ve gotten out of the habit of reading paperbacks because I got a Kindle Fire for Christmas from my parents and I am completely in love with it, so this gem I won in a FirstReads giveaway has had to wait for me.
The first nine pages are excellent, though, and I am looking forward to seeing how much of Morningside & the Columbia campus we get to see in this story. I applied to transfer to Columbia GS for undergrad. Wisely, they did not let me in. I’m not bitter, promise. Not anymore, at least. But I am nostalgic for NYC.
Despite this book being awesome and full of shiny promise…I miss Alex Craft. I read all three of Kalayna Price‘s books, Grave Witch, Grave Dance, and Grave Memory last week. I rated them pretty low, but in retrospect I have NO IDEA why. I am obsessed. I have grave witches on the brain. The next installment, Grave Visions, doesn’t come out until August.
AUGUST. I can’t even hope for a lucky ARC from Roc before April.
So what does a crazed Craft-lover do? Google for fan fics. Curse roundly when there aren’t any. Regroup, and use WhatshouldIreadnext.com to look up similar titles. Research average rating on Goodreads. Cross reference with Felica Day’s shelves (seriously that woman has read EVERYTHING). Select a few promising titles. Kindle it.
Annnd BINGO. Kate Daniels. You have my heart. (and my bow, and my axe, etc.) It’s really really rare for the teaser page (tell me if there is correct terminology for this, please!) to completely bowl me over, but this did. Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews seems to be my Alex Craft holdover. And lucky for me there are like six books in this series. SALVATION.
Anyway, it’s looking like I am going to be super irresponsible this week so who knows, maybe I will get a chance to blog the other Alex Craft-esque books I found! If you’re impatient they all should be in my to-read shelf. Maybe I will also catch up with the Vaginal Fantasy Hangout book club! Oh, the possibilities.
What are you reading right now?
Review: Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles #1) by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Beautiful Creatures
by Kami Garcia
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Published December 1st 2009
by Little, Brown and Company
Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she’s struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever. Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town’s oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them. In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything. –from Goodreads
I just finished this book, and then promptly threw it across the room. I am not being hyperbolic. I THREW IT ACROSS THE ROOM.
Let me be clear, I love long books. 600 pages? BRING IT.
I love stories set in small southern towns. Probably because I’ve never been to one. My friend Ana says she has cousins in North Carolina and there is nothing to be obsessed about. I reserve the right to disbelieve this.
And lastly, I love fantasy. I love witches. Ahem, Casters. I love all of it. I even (and if you repeat this anywhere I will fervently deny it) love cliche teen paranormal romances. I am a fan of the Twilight series, for crying out loud.
So please, tell me, WHY didn’t I like this book? I really, really wanted to. I really want to go see the movie on Thursday and fangirl like there is no tomorrow.
There isn’t anything wrong with the writing. The writing is not bad. Aside from some overusage of certain words and terms, characters calling out each other’s names too often, it was not bad.
The plot was dense. This is atypical of stories like this, but stuff happened. Lots of stuff. In fact, I am pretty sure some stuff happened that I am not even aware of. I like how much time the narrative covered, also atypical. My preference in books is to be taken along for the ride the entire way through, no time skippage. I want to know when the characters do the dishes and mow the lawn. I am very unusual in this. Beautiful Creatures doesn’t really do this. There is a lot of secondhand retelling being done, which brings me to the narration.
Ethan Wate seems like a nice kid, albeit dry of personality, and while I liked that his family problems and basketball playing and dreams of travel are a part of his background, once Lena shows up he becomes just another Bella Swan. He doesn’t spend a lot of time doing, thinking, or talking about anything that isn’t Lena. He is a male protagonist who could fail a reverse Bechdel test. I think this is the root of many of my problems with this book. I think it is a novel idea to write a romance from a male perspective, maybe to normalize sensitive male characters, but if anything this example shows how flat such characters can be.
I hate to keep drawing Twilight comparisons, but hoo boy does Lena Duchannes have some serious Edward Cullen parallels. Readers also don’t get a good reading of her personality either, possibly because of the lack of dialogue. And while I will agree that 15 year old girls really do get into poetry, it just seemed so hackneyed. I didn’t dislike Lena, I just didn’t feel anything toward her.
Let’s not even get me started with Ridley and the stereotypical slutty bad girl trope. I did like Macon and Boo Radley. Marian Ashcroft was, of course, my favorite character. Everyone else? Big blank.
I want to be clear that I didn’t hate this book. I just felt like it had all of the right parts and pieces to be something really great, and just, didn’t. It didn’t have any soul? No heart. Just lots of high stakes and doom and unexplained fantastical elements. If it were about 300 pages shorter it might have been a really engrossing read.
I’m giving it three stars because I feel any less would be uncharitable, and it’s not a bad book. Just one of which I will not be reading the sequels.
Edit: NOPE. Can’t do it. Two stars.
2/20: Saw the movie on Galentine’s Day with my gurls. I was that loud huffy girl in the back, completely outraged at how bad it was. PLEASE LET’S DISCUSS.
Review: Dead Man Rising (Dante Valentine, #2) by Lilith Saintcrow
Dead Man Rising by Lilith Saintcrow
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I’m sure if I’d been having a better day I would be darkly amused by the glossary at the end of this book. The glossary which should have been at the end of the first book and also integrated into the story. But whatever.
I think what sets my teeth on edge so much about this series is how fundamentally damaged Dante Valentine is/is supposed to be, yet she doesn’t function like the fundamentally damaged, per se. I’m no expert and everyone is different, but there seem to be a good deal of psychological missteps here. Paired with unreliable narration, stingy exposition, and unusual pacing, I can’t love these books. I am not even sure if I can like them. Yet I seem to keep reading them?
Review: Hold Me Closer, Necromancer (Necromancer, #1) by Lish McBride
Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Definitely not what I expected. I would recommend this to YA readers, specifically YA aged readers, with a specific sense of humor. Maybe fans of Christopher Moore, but this book is far more lighthearted than that. Lots of inane banter, which I would be into if it didn’t sound like a neutered preteen version of Buffy-banter.
Maybe coming off of much darker more romancey necromancer stuff made this quick read less enjoyable. I don’t know. I got a kick out of the titles of the chapters, but probably I came in with Expectations. I don’t remember laughing at all, but then, most dialogue banter leaves me cold. The only writer of this genre I think can really amuse me the way McBride may have been aiming for is Sarah Rees Brennan. I am a joyless harridan but what are you gonna do?