osprey_archer: (books)
[personal profile] osprey_archer
What I’ve Just Finished Reading

Nothing very recently; it’s been a busy week. Nothing since Edward Eager’s Knight’s Castle, when a group of kids magically visit Ivanhoe (and one of them unwisely explains the whole plot of the book to the villains, who promptly change their plans and spin the story off in strange directions).

I thought Knight’s Castle was a bit unfair to Rowena - she is not stunningly written in Ivanhoe, but she does have the virtue of constancy - but otherwise it’s a hoot. Clearly I’ll have to read more of Eager’s books.

What I’m Reading Now

Sarah Addison Allen’s Lost Lake. Allen’s books are a bit of a guilty pleasure, because I wouldn’t exactly call them good, but I like their sense of atmosphere and keep reading them as soon as the copies hit the library.

Evan S. Connell’s Son of the Morning Star: Custer and the Little Bighorn, because [livejournal.com profile] truepenny gave it a good review, and her nonfiction reviews are dependably incisive and insightful. (She has a masterlist of book reviews here, which is useful.)

I’m reading Son of the Morning Star in bits, because everyone keeps behaving badly (as one might expect) and there is only so much human cruelty and folly I can take at one sitting. But it’s very interesting: I didn’t know much about Little Bighorn or about the 19th century US military or about the Sioux or the Cheyenne or the various other tribes he references, so I’m learning a lot.

G. K. Chesterton’s The Man Who was Thursday. I strongly suspect that the lead anarchist is going to turn out to be the same man as the chief of the anti-anarchy division of the police, but we’ll see. It’s an interestingly trippy read.

What I’ve Reading Next

Barbara Hambly’s A Free Man of Color, the first of her series of mysteries set in 1830s New Orleans with a detective who is, in fact, a free man of color. I’ve seen multiple recs for this series, so I’m hoping it will be good.

Date: 2014-03-27 05:06 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] athenais.livejournal.com
I really liked the Benjamin January series, although I stopped after number seven deeply disappointed me. But man, those first six!

Date: 2014-03-27 11:51 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] asakiyume.livejournal.com
Is it possible to say how, broadly speaking, it disappointed? (No worries--I'm still curious to try the earlier ones!)

Date: 2014-03-27 01:36 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] osprey-archer.livejournal.com
I also am curious to know what went wrong in number 7, if you can explain it broadly.

Date: 2014-03-27 03:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] athenais.livejournal.com
It may not seem to go wrong for you. For me, leaving New Orleans and focusing on someone other than Benjamin and his lady was not successful. Also, plot stuff. But I never got back on track after that.

Date: 2014-03-27 07:36 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] egelantier.livejournal.com
BENJAMIN JANUARY READING EXCITEMENT \o/

(these books were the highlight of my previous reading year, no lie).

Date: 2014-03-27 01:35 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] osprey-archer.livejournal.com
You were the one who recced them! I remembered that someone had, but as so often happens it slipped my mind who. I'm looking forward to them!

Date: 2014-03-27 11:49 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] asakiyume.livejournal.com
Ooh, that mystery series sounds cool! Will have to check it out.

ETA: Just went to check out the author and discovered she's also written lots of Star Wars novelizations, plus other SF. Versatile writer is versatile!
Edited Date: 2014-03-27 11:51 am (UTC)

Date: 2014-03-27 01:36 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] osprey-archer.livejournal.com
Isn't it great when writers can do a lot of things? Of course as a reader I don't always like all the kinds of things they write, but it's great for them not to have to put all their eggs in one basket.

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