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listersgirlMarian Keyes The Other Side of the Story
Yay! I generally like Marian Keyes very much (other than the terrible Angels), and this was not a letdown. Gemma and Lily were best friends, until Gemma's boyfriend and Lily fell in love. Now Lily is an author, represented by Jojo. The book is told in sections from each of the three women. I liked Gemma's parts best, and didn't really find myself too attached to Lily as a character, but the whole book was fun.
Never Threaten to Eat Your Co-Workers: Best of Blogs
Maybe web writers just don't seem as good on paper, or maybe I just have very different tastes than the selection committee for this book, but I found myself very uninterested in most of the writers represented here. There were a few noteworthy pieces, and a couple of sites that I'll probably check out, but overall I was not impressed.
Tamora Pierce Shatterglass
I think this was my favourite of the Circle Opens series. I really like Tris, and I found that this book focused more on the workings of magic, which I really like. My only quibble is one I've mentioned before - why do fantasy writers feel the need to make their worlds so similar to ours, instead of coming up with something new? And why, when they have their characters travel to these foreign lands that are renamed countries and regions of Earth, do they need to be quite so obviously disapproving of these other cultures?
Michael Redhill Martin Sloane
This was a Books in Canada First Novel award winner, and therefore was on a list to be read. It was definitely worth reading. The book is told primarily from the point of view of Jolene, a student who meets and falls in love with Martin Sloane, an artist many years her senior. One day he vanishes, and Jolene attempts to get on with her life, until she discovers that his works are being displayed in a gallery in Ireland. Interspersed with this is the story of Martin's childhood in Ireland. The book is beautifully written, with a nice sense of distance and something almost mythlike attached to Martin's early story.
Sarah Zettel The Quiet Invasion
This author, on the other hand, created a world unlike anything I'd read before, that of the People, whose involvement with an earth base on Venus sparks controversy and rebellion. Good stuff (but not great - I don't know why, but it didn't entirely grab me, although it was empirically a good book).
Yay! I generally like Marian Keyes very much (other than the terrible Angels), and this was not a letdown. Gemma and Lily were best friends, until Gemma's boyfriend and Lily fell in love. Now Lily is an author, represented by Jojo. The book is told in sections from each of the three women. I liked Gemma's parts best, and didn't really find myself too attached to Lily as a character, but the whole book was fun.
Never Threaten to Eat Your Co-Workers: Best of Blogs
Maybe web writers just don't seem as good on paper, or maybe I just have very different tastes than the selection committee for this book, but I found myself very uninterested in most of the writers represented here. There were a few noteworthy pieces, and a couple of sites that I'll probably check out, but overall I was not impressed.
Tamora Pierce Shatterglass
I think this was my favourite of the Circle Opens series. I really like Tris, and I found that this book focused more on the workings of magic, which I really like. My only quibble is one I've mentioned before - why do fantasy writers feel the need to make their worlds so similar to ours, instead of coming up with something new? And why, when they have their characters travel to these foreign lands that are renamed countries and regions of Earth, do they need to be quite so obviously disapproving of these other cultures?
Michael Redhill Martin Sloane
This was a Books in Canada First Novel award winner, and therefore was on a list to be read. It was definitely worth reading. The book is told primarily from the point of view of Jolene, a student who meets and falls in love with Martin Sloane, an artist many years her senior. One day he vanishes, and Jolene attempts to get on with her life, until she discovers that his works are being displayed in a gallery in Ireland. Interspersed with this is the story of Martin's childhood in Ireland. The book is beautifully written, with a nice sense of distance and something almost mythlike attached to Martin's early story.
Sarah Zettel The Quiet Invasion
This author, on the other hand, created a world unlike anything I'd read before, that of the People, whose involvement with an earth base on Venus sparks controversy and rebellion. Good stuff (but not great - I don't know why, but it didn't entirely grab me, although it was empirically a good book).
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Date: 2004-07-22 01:40 pm (UTC)To each their own, huh?
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Date: 2004-07-23 05:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-22 01:41 pm (UTC)Yay! I generally like Marian Keyes very much (other than the terrible Angels), and this was not a letdown. Gemma and Lily were best friends, until Gemma's boyfriend and Lily fell in love. Now Lily is an author, represented by Jojo. The book is told in sections from each of the three women. I liked Gemma's parts best, and didn't really find myself too attached to Lily as a character, but the whole book was fun.
Read this on the plane ride from Sydney to San Fran. I also enjoyed Gemma's story the most, although I had great admiration for Jojo too. Might be my fav Marian Keyes, not including Last Chance Saloon.
Now Drama King is reading it.
I'm currently reading Why Women Want on your recommendation. So far a LOT of what the author has to say is resonanting very strongly with me. Thanks for the tip!
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Date: 2004-07-23 05:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-22 02:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-23 05:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-23 09:20 am (UTC)I'm glad the new one is better. I have it on hold at the library and I think it's almost my turn.