Reading Wedne– Thursday
Mar. 5th, 2015 04:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brigdhWhat did you just finish?
Astray by Emma Donoghue. A book of short stories, all historical fiction, with time periods ranging from the 1600s to the 1960s, and set in Canada, the US, or England. Each story is based on some sort of real historical fact, though these people are very much not famous figures; I think the character with the most name recognition is an elephant. Instead of well-known circumstances, these stories are based on letters, diaries, newspaper articles: little references, nearly forgotten or lost in archives. There's all sorts of people here – Jewish widows in early New York City; Yukon miners who fall in love during the long, isolated winter; tough women cowboys in the Arizona territory; dignified prostitutes in the suburbs of London.
I really liked this book; I'm a fan of Donoghue in general, but this might be the best thing of hers I've read. My favorite aspect of her writing is how she can capture different voices and dialects, even though some of the stories are just a few pages long, and she certainly shows that off in this book.
Empire of Sin: A Story of Sex, Jazz, Murder, and the Battle for Modern New Orleans by Gary Krist. A non-fiction history book about – well, that's the author's main problem, really. He seems to have no idea what his topic is. So he writes a few chapters on a police chief's murder and the subsequent lynching of the suspects in 1890, then one on an (entirely unrelated) race riot in 1900, and then a random kidnapping in 1907, and finally a long section on the Axeman murders (a possible serial killer - or one killer and a copycat - or several disconnected murders linked only by a hysterical public) in 1918-19. All of this is interspersed with scenes from the childhoods of Louis Armstrong and Sidney Bechet, or the careers of other musicians. Based on the title, Krist seems to think his main topic is the rise and fall of Storyville (the notorious neighborhood in New Orleans in which prostitution was legal for a few decades, and - according to legend if not documented history - the birthplace of jazz), so every now and then he comes back to that to talk about the laws, politics, or people associated with it, but it never holds his attention for long enough to sustain a book. The "modern New Orleans" part of the title is entirely unexplained; I guess it just sounded good. Ultimately, the whole book comes off as a series of random factoids from vaguely the same place and vaguely the same time, but which have very little to do with one another. It's unfortunate because any of these topics could have made a great book, and Krist has a very easy-to-read, page-turning writing style, but his basic structure needs a serious revamping and a very strict editor before it could become what it wanted to be.
I read this as an ARC via NetGalley.
Partner by Lia Silver. A new Werewolf Marines book! :D (This one is the sequel to Prisoner, which is currently free on Amazon, just fyi.) DJ - the titular werewolf Marine, also actually a DJ – and Echo – a genetically engineered assassin/spy - are finally together, but are still being held hostage by Evil Government Scientists in their Secret Underground Base. Seriously. This series uses so many tropes, I love it. Other amazing bits in this book include: pretend married! Ballroom dancing! A playlist of the most annoying songs ever! Sex in a shower! Sex while trying to stay quiet (this is my faaaavorite, I need it in all romance novels stat)! Dramatic rescues! Near death experiences! Tender bandaging of wounds! Big explosions! Also, this book starts off with an established romance, which makes me so happy. It's not that I dislike first-time stories! It's just that they're 99% of romance, and it's really nice to occasionally see something different.
Echo and DJ are excellent characters (as are many of the secondary characters; my particular favorite is Charlie) without any of the annoying problems that turn up in so many romance novels - this book has no sketchy gender dynamics, no adults who refuse to speak to one another or dumb miscommunications, no contrived jealousy or other childish relationship problems. Just likeable characters, understandable problems, and lots of action. How is cool is that?
What are you currently reading?
Moonshine by Alaya Dawn Johnson. Vampires and djinn in 1920s NYC! :D
Astray by Emma Donoghue. A book of short stories, all historical fiction, with time periods ranging from the 1600s to the 1960s, and set in Canada, the US, or England. Each story is based on some sort of real historical fact, though these people are very much not famous figures; I think the character with the most name recognition is an elephant. Instead of well-known circumstances, these stories are based on letters, diaries, newspaper articles: little references, nearly forgotten or lost in archives. There's all sorts of people here – Jewish widows in early New York City; Yukon miners who fall in love during the long, isolated winter; tough women cowboys in the Arizona territory; dignified prostitutes in the suburbs of London.
I really liked this book; I'm a fan of Donoghue in general, but this might be the best thing of hers I've read. My favorite aspect of her writing is how she can capture different voices and dialects, even though some of the stories are just a few pages long, and she certainly shows that off in this book.
Empire of Sin: A Story of Sex, Jazz, Murder, and the Battle for Modern New Orleans by Gary Krist. A non-fiction history book about – well, that's the author's main problem, really. He seems to have no idea what his topic is. So he writes a few chapters on a police chief's murder and the subsequent lynching of the suspects in 1890, then one on an (entirely unrelated) race riot in 1900, and then a random kidnapping in 1907, and finally a long section on the Axeman murders (a possible serial killer - or one killer and a copycat - or several disconnected murders linked only by a hysterical public) in 1918-19. All of this is interspersed with scenes from the childhoods of Louis Armstrong and Sidney Bechet, or the careers of other musicians. Based on the title, Krist seems to think his main topic is the rise and fall of Storyville (the notorious neighborhood in New Orleans in which prostitution was legal for a few decades, and - according to legend if not documented history - the birthplace of jazz), so every now and then he comes back to that to talk about the laws, politics, or people associated with it, but it never holds his attention for long enough to sustain a book. The "modern New Orleans" part of the title is entirely unexplained; I guess it just sounded good. Ultimately, the whole book comes off as a series of random factoids from vaguely the same place and vaguely the same time, but which have very little to do with one another. It's unfortunate because any of these topics could have made a great book, and Krist has a very easy-to-read, page-turning writing style, but his basic structure needs a serious revamping and a very strict editor before it could become what it wanted to be.
I read this as an ARC via NetGalley.
Partner by Lia Silver. A new Werewolf Marines book! :D (This one is the sequel to Prisoner, which is currently free on Amazon, just fyi.) DJ - the titular werewolf Marine, also actually a DJ – and Echo – a genetically engineered assassin/spy - are finally together, but are still being held hostage by Evil Government Scientists in their Secret Underground Base. Seriously. This series uses so many tropes, I love it. Other amazing bits in this book include: pretend married! Ballroom dancing! A playlist of the most annoying songs ever! Sex in a shower! Sex while trying to stay quiet (this is my faaaavorite, I need it in all romance novels stat)! Dramatic rescues! Near death experiences! Tender bandaging of wounds! Big explosions! Also, this book starts off with an established romance, which makes me so happy. It's not that I dislike first-time stories! It's just that they're 99% of romance, and it's really nice to occasionally see something different.
Echo and DJ are excellent characters (as are many of the secondary characters; my particular favorite is Charlie) without any of the annoying problems that turn up in so many romance novels - this book has no sketchy gender dynamics, no adults who refuse to speak to one another or dumb miscommunications, no contrived jealousy or other childish relationship problems. Just likeable characters, understandable problems, and lots of action. How is cool is that?
What are you currently reading?
Moonshine by Alaya Dawn Johnson. Vampires and djinn in 1920s NYC! :D
