Reading Wednesday
Nov. 26th, 2014 10:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brigdhWhat did you just finish?
The Mango Season by Amulya Malladi. Priya has been living in the US for seven years, and in that time has gotten engaged to Nick, an American. Her family, being rather traditional and conservative, doesn't even know that she's dating anyone. Priya goes back home to Hyderabad – her first visit since she went to America – with the intention of telling her family about her upcoming wedding, but keeps chickening out. All sorts of family drama intercedes: her uncle who got married secretly to a woman of the wrong caste; her aunt who is trying to get pregnant with the hope of having the family's first male heir; her brother's secret girlfriend; her grandfather's prejudices; her parents' attempts to arrange a marriage for her. The book is fun and melodramatic (in the enjoyable way, like a cheesy movie), but a bit shallow. I was really amused by the twist at the very end.
Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch. This was a lovely book. A bit lighter in terms of plot than the earlier ones in the series, but I loved it nonetheless. Peter is taken out of London, and seeing him deal with a new environment was great. I really liked the mystery plot (kidnapped children! Unicorns! Fairies!) as well as smaller details (the Peter/Beverly relationship! Nightingale backstory! magic bees! Peter's new nickname!). It was just a nice book, perfectly pleasant and absolutely wonderful to spend time with.
Waistcoats and Weaponry by Gail Carriger. The new book in the Finishing School series! I love these books; they're wonderful, and the only problem is that I read it far too quickly. The love triangle between Sophronia, Felix, and Soap is one of the only love triangles I've ever liked (though I'm completely Team Soap). There were a few moments in this book that I thought were going to go full-on OT3 (while Sophronia is practicing longing looks):
Lady Linette duly came over and Sophronia duly looked at her and thought of Felix.
Lady Linette blinked back at her, impassive. “No, I think that is rather good. Perhaps a bit too much of an offer, Miss Temminnick. Can you tone it down slightly?”
Sophronia tried to think of both Felix and Soap at once.
“Oh, dear me, no, dear. No. Better the first time. Keep practicing.”
And though I generally don't like Felix all that much, this moment was perfection:
Felix looked as if he doubted it. “You do wear breeches well.”
“They are comfortable and mobile. Why should you boys have all the fun?”
“Next thing you’ll have me in stays.”
Sophronia was surprised to find she rather liked that idea. She thought Felix would look well in a corset, perhaps a black-and-blue one to match his eyes and hair. “Would you like to try? You might fit one of Sidheag’s.”
I was sort of disappointed by the resolution of Soap's plot, though. I mean, it will clearly lead to neat plots in the next book, and it does seem to mean that there will be eventual Sophronia/Soap, and yet. I would have liked to see them actually deal with the class/race gap. Instead of solving the problem, this just... gets rid of it. Which is probably a more realistic way to get to a happy ending, but I find it less satisfying.
Anyway, other than the romance, I continue to adore this series. It's so much fun, and has such interesting world-building, and the plot this time (involving a captured run-away train; mysteriously singing robots; deadly, sharp-edged fans; and learning seduction techniques in order to manipulate). I really liked the ending, and Sophronia finally committing to a side in the political wrangling between the Supernaturals and the Picklemen. I just can't wait for the next one. I totally wanted to ask for this for Yuletide, but forgot to nominate it, alas.
Hell Is Empty by Craig Johnson. Another book in the Longmire series, about the Wyoming sheriff. I really liked this one! I think it's my favorite one since the first in the series. It's very tightly-packed in terms of time, covering only a day or two (not counting a short epilogue that takes place later). Walt Longmire is transporting a small group of extremely dangerous prisoners to hand them over to the FBI when, while passing over the top of a mountain, the prisoners escape, kill several policeman, and take two hostages. Longmire follows them alone and on foot while (of course!) a killer blizzard blows in. He happens to have a copy of Dante's Inferno with him, which becomes the theme for the book, as everyone quotes from it, and ghosts and visions and spirit guides show up. There's also a wild cougar, a forest fire, mummified cut-off hands, incredible amounts of hypothermia, many desperate iddy phone calls, and even a helicopter rescue. It was fantastic.
What are you currently reading?
Song of the Cuckoo Bird by Amulya Malladi. A novel about a group of people living in an ashram in India, going from the 1960s until the 90s.
Ran Away by Barbara Hambly. Book club - we're almost running out of books! D:
The Mango Season by Amulya Malladi. Priya has been living in the US for seven years, and in that time has gotten engaged to Nick, an American. Her family, being rather traditional and conservative, doesn't even know that she's dating anyone. Priya goes back home to Hyderabad – her first visit since she went to America – with the intention of telling her family about her upcoming wedding, but keeps chickening out. All sorts of family drama intercedes: her uncle who got married secretly to a woman of the wrong caste; her aunt who is trying to get pregnant with the hope of having the family's first male heir; her brother's secret girlfriend; her grandfather's prejudices; her parents' attempts to arrange a marriage for her. The book is fun and melodramatic (in the enjoyable way, like a cheesy movie), but a bit shallow. I was really amused by the twist at the very end.
Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch. This was a lovely book. A bit lighter in terms of plot than the earlier ones in the series, but I loved it nonetheless. Peter is taken out of London, and seeing him deal with a new environment was great. I really liked the mystery plot (kidnapped children! Unicorns! Fairies!) as well as smaller details (the Peter/Beverly relationship! Nightingale backstory! magic bees! Peter's new nickname!). It was just a nice book, perfectly pleasant and absolutely wonderful to spend time with.
Waistcoats and Weaponry by Gail Carriger. The new book in the Finishing School series! I love these books; they're wonderful, and the only problem is that I read it far too quickly. The love triangle between Sophronia, Felix, and Soap is one of the only love triangles I've ever liked (though I'm completely Team Soap). There were a few moments in this book that I thought were going to go full-on OT3 (while Sophronia is practicing longing looks):
Lady Linette duly came over and Sophronia duly looked at her and thought of Felix.
Lady Linette blinked back at her, impassive. “No, I think that is rather good. Perhaps a bit too much of an offer, Miss Temminnick. Can you tone it down slightly?”
Sophronia tried to think of both Felix and Soap at once.
“Oh, dear me, no, dear. No. Better the first time. Keep practicing.”
And though I generally don't like Felix all that much, this moment was perfection:
Felix looked as if he doubted it. “You do wear breeches well.”
“They are comfortable and mobile. Why should you boys have all the fun?”
“Next thing you’ll have me in stays.”
Sophronia was surprised to find she rather liked that idea. She thought Felix would look well in a corset, perhaps a black-and-blue one to match his eyes and hair. “Would you like to try? You might fit one of Sidheag’s.”
I was sort of disappointed by the resolution of Soap's plot, though. I mean, it will clearly lead to neat plots in the next book, and it does seem to mean that there will be eventual Sophronia/Soap, and yet. I would have liked to see them actually deal with the class/race gap. Instead of solving the problem, this just... gets rid of it. Which is probably a more realistic way to get to a happy ending, but I find it less satisfying.
Anyway, other than the romance, I continue to adore this series. It's so much fun, and has such interesting world-building, and the plot this time (involving a captured run-away train; mysteriously singing robots; deadly, sharp-edged fans; and learning seduction techniques in order to manipulate). I really liked the ending, and Sophronia finally committing to a side in the political wrangling between the Supernaturals and the Picklemen. I just can't wait for the next one. I totally wanted to ask for this for Yuletide, but forgot to nominate it, alas.
Hell Is Empty by Craig Johnson. Another book in the Longmire series, about the Wyoming sheriff. I really liked this one! I think it's my favorite one since the first in the series. It's very tightly-packed in terms of time, covering only a day or two (not counting a short epilogue that takes place later). Walt Longmire is transporting a small group of extremely dangerous prisoners to hand them over to the FBI when, while passing over the top of a mountain, the prisoners escape, kill several policeman, and take two hostages. Longmire follows them alone and on foot while (of course!) a killer blizzard blows in. He happens to have a copy of Dante's Inferno with him, which becomes the theme for the book, as everyone quotes from it, and ghosts and visions and spirit guides show up. There's also a wild cougar, a forest fire, mummified cut-off hands, incredible amounts of hypothermia, many desperate iddy phone calls, and even a helicopter rescue. It was fantastic.
What are you currently reading?
Song of the Cuckoo Bird by Amulya Malladi. A novel about a group of people living in an ashram in India, going from the 1960s until the 90s.
Ran Away by Barbara Hambly. Book club - we're almost running out of books! D:
