Reading Wednesday
Jun. 12th, 2013 11:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brigdhBookless in Baghdad: Reflections on Writing and Writers by Shashi Tharoor. This was really good! A collection of essays (mostly originally newspaper columns or magazine articles) reflecting on book reviews, particular authors, and general literary-type stuff. Tharoor is mostly a fairly humorous writer, but the title essay was a bit heartbreaking: an account of a book-market in Baghdad in the early 90s, he described how the sanctions on the country were forcing many middle class families to sell their private libraries for money for food or rent, and all I could think was, Oh god, if it was bad then...
Wet Grave by Barbara Hambly. I think this may be the most action-adventure of the January books. There's two murder mysteries, pirate treasure, midnight raids, gun smuggling and more. I cannot get over how amazingly awesome the climax is, particularly the fact that of course it's set during the middle of a hurricane. And then the sixteen-foot alligator shows up. I really like Ben and Rose's relationship in this book, particularly after they head to her family home out on one of the small islands south of New Orleans. There's a lot of really beautiful nature description in that section. I think I might have posted about this before, but I love how the story regarding Rose's rape is written so very much. It strikes just the right balance between making her a victim and making her unaffected by it, and the constant insistence that it's about her and not how it affects the main character really makes me happy.
I like Artois a lot as a character, and wish he stuck around for longer. Though I do feel like there needed either to be a lot more of him, or he needed to carry less emotional weight; as it was, I didn't feel like he should have been as important as the narration insisted he was. Alas, this is the book without Hannibal. But I like it despite that.
What are you currently reading?
Days of the Dead by Barbara Hambly. Everyone in Mexico tries to kill Hannibal!
The Co-Wife and Other Stories by Premchand. Short stories by famous early 20th century Hindi author! Much fewer murder attempts.
Wet Grave by Barbara Hambly. I think this may be the most action-adventure of the January books. There's two murder mysteries, pirate treasure, midnight raids, gun smuggling and more. I cannot get over how amazingly awesome the climax is, particularly the fact that of course it's set during the middle of a hurricane. And then the sixteen-foot alligator shows up. I really like Ben and Rose's relationship in this book, particularly after they head to her family home out on one of the small islands south of New Orleans. There's a lot of really beautiful nature description in that section. I think I might have posted about this before, but I love how the story regarding Rose's rape is written so very much. It strikes just the right balance between making her a victim and making her unaffected by it, and the constant insistence that it's about her and not how it affects the main character really makes me happy.
I like Artois a lot as a character, and wish he stuck around for longer. Though I do feel like there needed either to be a lot more of him, or he needed to carry less emotional weight; as it was, I didn't feel like he should have been as important as the narration insisted he was. Alas, this is the book without Hannibal. But I like it despite that.
What are you currently reading?
Days of the Dead by Barbara Hambly. Everyone in Mexico tries to kill Hannibal!
The Co-Wife and Other Stories by Premchand. Short stories by famous early 20th century Hindi author! Much fewer murder attempts.
