Booooooks: Feb. 2010
Feb. 28th, 2010 05:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwenfrankenstienTwo months down, ten to go. Let's see how long I can keep remembering to record what I read....
He, She, & It:
This was for my Women's Studies class (Western Feminism in a Culture Context). It was... Not my favourite book in the world. From the title (and what I know of the author) I expected a) more of an exploration of gender and b) dude/lady/robot threesomes. The book did not deliver. Instead, it was predictable as fuck. A romance novel that happens to be set in a cyberpunk dystopia, when what I was looking for was dystopian cyberpunk with a feminist-minded romance in. All kinds of stuff about motherhood as natural and, of course, wonderful, which gets challenged by other characters in the text but not by the book itself. The whole book seems to be about how men and women will never be able to get along and live as equals, they need to create robots that combine masculine and feminine traits in order to be happy, and even that will end horribly. The Golem story was kind of neat, though.
Wizards At War:
(See last month for my thoughts on the series in general/books 6 and 7.) This book, man, this book. I don't know how I failed to see the Ponch storyline coming, given a) the Peach thing, way back in what, the third book? and b) I'VE READ THIS BEFORE.
I love Dairine and Roshaun a stupid amount. (I think I am probably the only person in the world who is stupidly invested in Tom/Carl and Dairine/Roshaun but does not actually care whether Kit and Nita ever get together). Dairine going back to the mobile world-- YES. Tying up loose ends AND revisiting my favourite part of the series, all in one go!
Also, the bit where Nita goes to Tom and Carl's once the thing has kicked in and they've forgotten everything? Literally painful to read. This book had me crying so many times. I need the new one in my life now. Can it be April yet? It's been five years!
In conclusion, Carmela is cooler than you. And she's read the manual. To the television.
Sabriel:
Continuing the theme of "rereading fantasy series that I used to love and have not read in a long time." Except that I didn't end up reading the rest of the series, uh. Now that I know (from reading Beyond The Wall) that Nix does his worldbuilding as he goes? It's pretty obvious. And in secondary-world-fantasy in particular, worldbuilding is important, dammit. It's bad reading a book where (for example) I know who Mogget really is, but the book itself doesn't seem to...
I think this would make an excellent film. Directed by Benicio Del Toro. (Apparently a film is being made, but directed by someone I don't know. I hope they get it right, this is a pretty dark book. It can't be a light fluffy fantasy movie, it's about death.)
Pressed Fairy Book:
GUESS WHAT I FOUND FOR TEN DOLLARS. I love this book! I love Brian Froud in general. But this one in particular has a really sick sense of humour, which is excellent. I am, however, a little bit afraid that the Little People find it really offensive and are going to make my life hell for owning it? (Sometimes I'm not sure where the line is between "superstitious" and "delusional". I suspect I am leaning towards the latter.
Various Macdonald Hall books:
*____* MACDONALD HALL. The first two were, unfortunately, the hideous new updated editions, but I managed to acquire Zucchini Warriors in hardcover at the library. (You get strange looks when you are nineteen and you check out four Macdonald Hall books. Whatever, librarian-lady, I don't have to explain myself to you.)
I JUST. There aren't words to explain how much these books shaped my childhood. I wanted to be Cathy. I knew that the schools were not real places but somehow I was convinced that Chutney, ON was a real town. I remember scouring the Ontario roadmaps looking for it. These books are the most fun. Especially when you consider that the series was started when he was twelve, what the hell kind of twelve-year-old writes actually good novels? It isn't fair.
Macdonald Hall:
This Can't Be Happening, formerly This Can't Be Happening At Macdonald Hall, is the first book, although it is set Bruno & Boots' second year. (There is not a book in their first year! I WANT THERE TO BE ONE, DAMMIT.) They sabotage a hockey game and are sentenced to a fate worse than death-- They have to *gasp* Room with other people. Hijinks ensue, including at least two of Bruno and Cathy's trademarked riots. (I say Bruno and Cathy because they seem to be the ringleaders in a riot situation.) Luckily, at the end there is a balloon-boy McGuffin that lets them go back to what we laughingly call normal at the end, after neatly tying in to what seemed like a throwaway gag in the first chapter.
Beware the Fish also has Bruno and Boots not in Room 306, but at least this time they are both stuck with Elmer. And by this point they are actually friends with him. The school is going bankrupt, oh noes! So Bruno and Boots have to save it. With cunning use of committes, chaos, the girls from Scrimmage's, and popcans. Okay, so only the popcans make this different than basically any other Bruno Walton scheme. One of the best parts of this book is the police investigation into the supposed terrorist activity, which is actually just Bruno being an idiot. It's fascinating to watch him wreak havoc by accident for once. And, of course, as always, everything ends well, they get enough money to keep the school running properly. Hey, I'd be the first one to admit these books are pretty much brain candy. And not the "really weird movie" kind.
And then there's Zucchini Warriors, which is a story about how girls can do anything boys can do, and some girls can do guy-things better than most guys, disguised as a comedy about not eating your vegetables. Korman is (well, was, I kind of hate most of his new books) a fucking GENIUS. The D-plot is a little bit "Trouble With Tribbles", but hell, there's at least four other things going on at the same time. And nobody, nobody is more awesome than Cathy Burton. (I have to note here, however, that this was probably my least favourite as a kid, even though it is full of Cathy, because I hated football and loved zucchini and this book convinced me that that made me hopelessly uncool. Damn you, Korman.)
Bugs Potter:
Okay so did tiny!Gordon Korman just have a crush on his roommate or something, or are dudefriendships really like this? I loved Bugs so much when I was a kid, but this time 'round I mostly wanted to smack him in the head. Seriously, living with him would make living with Bruno seem normal and sane in comparison.
I love how half of this book is a 1930's screwball comedy. With the addition of fictional-bands-with-stupid-names shenanigans. And band geek-rock star odd-couple bonding. Okay, maybe I just love this book, full stop. (There is a band called Nuclear Teacup. I dare you to think of a more amazing band name than that. Oh, that's right, you can't. Because there isn't one.)
He, She, & It:
This was for my Women's Studies class (Western Feminism in a Culture Context). It was... Not my favourite book in the world. From the title (and what I know of the author) I expected a) more of an exploration of gender and b) dude/lady/robot threesomes. The book did not deliver. Instead, it was predictable as fuck. A romance novel that happens to be set in a cyberpunk dystopia, when what I was looking for was dystopian cyberpunk with a feminist-minded romance in. All kinds of stuff about motherhood as natural and, of course, wonderful, which gets challenged by other characters in the text but not by the book itself. The whole book seems to be about how men and women will never be able to get along and live as equals, they need to create robots that combine masculine and feminine traits in order to be happy, and even that will end horribly. The Golem story was kind of neat, though.
Wizards At War:
(See last month for my thoughts on the series in general/books 6 and 7.) This book, man, this book. I don't know how I failed to see the Ponch storyline coming, given a) the Peach thing, way back in what, the third book? and b) I'VE READ THIS BEFORE.
I love Dairine and Roshaun a stupid amount. (I think I am probably the only person in the world who is stupidly invested in Tom/Carl and Dairine/Roshaun but does not actually care whether Kit and Nita ever get together). Dairine going back to the mobile world-- YES. Tying up loose ends AND revisiting my favourite part of the series, all in one go!
Also, the bit where Nita goes to Tom and Carl's once the thing has kicked in and they've forgotten everything? Literally painful to read. This book had me crying so many times. I need the new one in my life now. Can it be April yet? It's been five years!
In conclusion, Carmela is cooler than you. And she's read the manual. To the television.
Sabriel:
Continuing the theme of "rereading fantasy series that I used to love and have not read in a long time." Except that I didn't end up reading the rest of the series, uh. Now that I know (from reading Beyond The Wall) that Nix does his worldbuilding as he goes? It's pretty obvious. And in secondary-world-fantasy in particular, worldbuilding is important, dammit. It's bad reading a book where (for example) I know who Mogget really is, but the book itself doesn't seem to...
I think this would make an excellent film. Directed by Benicio Del Toro. (Apparently a film is being made, but directed by someone I don't know. I hope they get it right, this is a pretty dark book. It can't be a light fluffy fantasy movie, it's about death.)
Pressed Fairy Book:
GUESS WHAT I FOUND FOR TEN DOLLARS. I love this book! I love Brian Froud in general. But this one in particular has a really sick sense of humour, which is excellent. I am, however, a little bit afraid that the Little People find it really offensive and are going to make my life hell for owning it? (Sometimes I'm not sure where the line is between "superstitious" and "delusional". I suspect I am leaning towards the latter.
Various Macdonald Hall books:
*____* MACDONALD HALL. The first two were, unfortunately, the hideous new updated editions, but I managed to acquire Zucchini Warriors in hardcover at the library. (You get strange looks when you are nineteen and you check out four Macdonald Hall books. Whatever, librarian-lady, I don't have to explain myself to you.)
I JUST. There aren't words to explain how much these books shaped my childhood. I wanted to be Cathy. I knew that the schools were not real places but somehow I was convinced that Chutney, ON was a real town. I remember scouring the Ontario roadmaps looking for it. These books are the most fun. Especially when you consider that the series was started when he was twelve, what the hell kind of twelve-year-old writes actually good novels? It isn't fair.
Macdonald Hall:
This Can't Be Happening, formerly This Can't Be Happening At Macdonald Hall, is the first book, although it is set Bruno & Boots' second year. (There is not a book in their first year! I WANT THERE TO BE ONE, DAMMIT.) They sabotage a hockey game and are sentenced to a fate worse than death-- They have to *gasp* Room with other people. Hijinks ensue, including at least two of Bruno and Cathy's trademarked riots. (I say Bruno and Cathy because they seem to be the ringleaders in a riot situation.) Luckily, at the end there is a balloon-boy McGuffin that lets them go back to what we laughingly call normal at the end, after neatly tying in to what seemed like a throwaway gag in the first chapter.
Beware the Fish also has Bruno and Boots not in Room 306, but at least this time they are both stuck with Elmer. And by this point they are actually friends with him. The school is going bankrupt, oh noes! So Bruno and Boots have to save it. With cunning use of committes, chaos, the girls from Scrimmage's, and popcans. Okay, so only the popcans make this different than basically any other Bruno Walton scheme. One of the best parts of this book is the police investigation into the supposed terrorist activity, which is actually just Bruno being an idiot. It's fascinating to watch him wreak havoc by accident for once. And, of course, as always, everything ends well, they get enough money to keep the school running properly. Hey, I'd be the first one to admit these books are pretty much brain candy. And not the "really weird movie" kind.
And then there's Zucchini Warriors, which is a story about how girls can do anything boys can do, and some girls can do guy-things better than most guys, disguised as a comedy about not eating your vegetables. Korman is (well, was, I kind of hate most of his new books) a fucking GENIUS. The D-plot is a little bit "Trouble With Tribbles", but hell, there's at least four other things going on at the same time. And nobody, nobody is more awesome than Cathy Burton. (I have to note here, however, that this was probably my least favourite as a kid, even though it is full of Cathy, because I hated football and loved zucchini and this book convinced me that that made me hopelessly uncool. Damn you, Korman.)
Bugs Potter:
Okay so did tiny!Gordon Korman just have a crush on his roommate or something, or are dudefriendships really like this? I loved Bugs so much when I was a kid, but this time 'round I mostly wanted to smack him in the head. Seriously, living with him would make living with Bruno seem normal and sane in comparison.
I love how half of this book is a 1930's screwball comedy. With the addition of fictional-bands-with-stupid-names shenanigans. And band geek-rock star odd-couple bonding. Okay, maybe I just love this book, full stop. (There is a band called Nuclear Teacup. I dare you to think of a more amazing band name than that. Oh, that's right, you can't. Because there isn't one.)