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listersgirlSo, while my computer was out being repaired, I wrote down everything I read. Today I went to post about them, only to discover this list, from months ago, that I never posted. So think of this like a booktalk flashback.
Kate Atkinson One Good Turn
A sequel of sorts to the awesome Case Histories, this book takes place in Edinburgh during the Fringe Festival, as the detective from the previous book finds himself accidentally drawn into a complex investigation. Fantastic.
Elizabeth Berg Dream When You're Feeling Blue
A wonderful story about three sisters and their lives during the Second World War. The mix of the ordinary and the extraordinary was very compelling. Also, I cried a lot.
Emma Brockes What Would Barbra Do?: How Musicals Changed My Life
This was an odd book - part personal memoir, part in depth, slightly silly description of shows. It also didn't make any distinction between movie musicals and stage musicals (which I always do), or between movie and stage versions of the same show. In the section on which are the best shows with which to convince a musical-hating guy that he might like them after all, it turned out she was talking about movie versions, which threw me a little, because my opinions on Guys and Dolls and the movie version of the same are quite different. Also, she doesn't like Sondheim. But it was an entertaining read.
Diana Gabaldon Lord John and the Private Matter
I think I read Outlander once upon a time, but since I can't remember, it clearly didn't make much of an impression on me. I wound up with this, though, and it was totally fun (and more interestingly written than I expected), so I might give her books another try.
William Gibson Spook Country
As much as I enjoy William Gibson, I often don't really understand what he's talking about when he slips into tech talk. I had that same experience with parts of this book, which had three storylines that converged at the end. The thing is, it doesn't really matter, and I was completely satisfied when I finished the book.
Paul Grescoe The Merchants of Venus: Inside Harlequin and the Empire of Romance
My new theory about non-fiction is that it's always about 2 chapters too long for me. I was completely into this until right near the end, when it lost my interest. The story of how the company developed, along with the business of selling romance, was an interesting read for the most part, though.
Christopher Moore You Suck: A Love Story
The sequel to the very first Moore I ever read, Bloodsucking Fiends. Very fun, although the secondary characters were much more interesting this time.
Richard Morgan Woken Furies
A hard-edged sci-fi book, not the kind of thing I normally read, but I totally enjoyed it.
Andrew O'Hagan Be Near Me
A quiet little book about a priest who has an affair of sorts with a teenage boy. It was interesting watching the whole thing from the mind of the priest, as he found himself hanging around with this group of teenagers.
Jeanette Winterson The Powerbook
A strange book about someone telling stories to a lover through email (I think?). I felt like it would have had more power when it first came out, when that probably wasn't a kind of overdone concept. Also, this is the second Winterson I've read without really getting into her writing - maybe she's not for me.
PG Wodehouse Summer Lightning
Fun and entertaining, although the physical book was starting to fall apart, so it was slightly difficult to read.
Plus I re-read a whole whack of Julia Quinn.
Kate Atkinson One Good Turn
A sequel of sorts to the awesome Case Histories, this book takes place in Edinburgh during the Fringe Festival, as the detective from the previous book finds himself accidentally drawn into a complex investigation. Fantastic.
Elizabeth Berg Dream When You're Feeling Blue
A wonderful story about three sisters and their lives during the Second World War. The mix of the ordinary and the extraordinary was very compelling. Also, I cried a lot.
Emma Brockes What Would Barbra Do?: How Musicals Changed My Life
This was an odd book - part personal memoir, part in depth, slightly silly description of shows. It also didn't make any distinction between movie musicals and stage musicals (which I always do), or between movie and stage versions of the same show. In the section on which are the best shows with which to convince a musical-hating guy that he might like them after all, it turned out she was talking about movie versions, which threw me a little, because my opinions on Guys and Dolls and the movie version of the same are quite different. Also, she doesn't like Sondheim. But it was an entertaining read.
Diana Gabaldon Lord John and the Private Matter
I think I read Outlander once upon a time, but since I can't remember, it clearly didn't make much of an impression on me. I wound up with this, though, and it was totally fun (and more interestingly written than I expected), so I might give her books another try.
William Gibson Spook Country
As much as I enjoy William Gibson, I often don't really understand what he's talking about when he slips into tech talk. I had that same experience with parts of this book, which had three storylines that converged at the end. The thing is, it doesn't really matter, and I was completely satisfied when I finished the book.
Paul Grescoe The Merchants of Venus: Inside Harlequin and the Empire of Romance
My new theory about non-fiction is that it's always about 2 chapters too long for me. I was completely into this until right near the end, when it lost my interest. The story of how the company developed, along with the business of selling romance, was an interesting read for the most part, though.
Christopher Moore You Suck: A Love Story
The sequel to the very first Moore I ever read, Bloodsucking Fiends. Very fun, although the secondary characters were much more interesting this time.
Richard Morgan Woken Furies
A hard-edged sci-fi book, not the kind of thing I normally read, but I totally enjoyed it.
Andrew O'Hagan Be Near Me
A quiet little book about a priest who has an affair of sorts with a teenage boy. It was interesting watching the whole thing from the mind of the priest, as he found himself hanging around with this group of teenagers.
Jeanette Winterson The Powerbook
A strange book about someone telling stories to a lover through email (I think?). I felt like it would have had more power when it first came out, when that probably wasn't a kind of overdone concept. Also, this is the second Winterson I've read without really getting into her writing - maybe she's not for me.
PG Wodehouse Summer Lightning
Fun and entertaining, although the physical book was starting to fall apart, so it was slightly difficult to read.
Plus I re-read a whole whack of Julia Quinn.