Exhibit A: King Hereafter, by Dorothy Dunnett, in my top five favorite books OF ALL TIME.
Exhibit B: Hild, by Nicola Griffith. (WHEN THE HELL IS BOOK 2 COMING OUT)
Exhibit C: Beautiful Wreck, by Larissa Brown.
And Exhibit D: which I am currently reading and really liking SO FAR: The Half-Drowned King, by Linnea Hartsuyker.
date refers to date finished; i.e., just b/c I finished two books in a given day doesn’t mean I read two entire books that day!
date refers to date finished; i.e., just b/c I finished two books in a given day doesn’t mean I read two entire books that day!
A lovely evening. Mitchell read from the first passage of Slade House (which I read a week or so ago, I’ll try to tell you about it soon!) and then he and Wachowski had a lovely conversation about art and immortality and writing between genres (as it were).
There were quite a number of moments I wish I could have recorded, but here are the two I wrote down.
On writing between genres, or being told your book should/shouldn’t have something because you’re not in X genre:
“If a book needs a dragon, it should have a dragon.”
On reading reviews: he said he certainly never reads the bad ones, because they’re so demoralizing and haunt you for months, but then he said he doesn’t read the good ones either:
“…even the good ones are wasps at the picnic of a calm mind.”
WOW what an image.
I’ve been a huge fan of his books for a long time now (the other book I took with me to have signed was Black Swan Green, which is one of my all-time favorite books) and it was wonderful to hear Nathan (the first character in Slade House) read in his voice. He doesn’t have a straight-up English accent, there’s a bit of a lisping quality around his Rs that I wondered if originates from his time in Japan/Asia…
I can’t wait to see what he writes next.
In case I haven’t told you, I loved loved loved loved LOVED the book “Hild” by Nicola Griffith, as if it was a child torn out of my very own heart. I also love this essay where she talks about how this story grabbed her and wouldn’t let go.
The books, in order: The Given Day, Live by Night, and World Gone By.
All fantastic.
TGD = Very plot-driven historical fiction. You are caught up in Danny’s life, in Luther’s life, in the snippets of Babe Ruth (such an interesting way to use him in this book!).
LBN = Connected to the first book b/c Joe is Danny’s little brother, and his father does play a role in both books, but in many ways just books that are sequentially related versus books that are a series. Although technically this would still be considered historical fiction (there are actual historical gangsters mentioned or who play bit parts), to me this is where the series really becomes driven by character rather than plot. Joe is SUCH an interesting character to have written. This book really caught me up in its romance–and I don’t mean the relationships between Joe and women, although there is that, but the romantic nostalgia we feel for places and things. Joe’s feelings about his dad’s watch, the way he interacts with the cities he lives in. The way he thinks about things. I wrote about this book previously it turns out. Heh.
WGB = I was surprised to find that this book was also about Joe (I thought it would be about Tomas, maybe?). I loved that years have gone by, and he’s become a different person with different sorts of schemes and plans while still having his gangster’s heart of gold. Sure, that’s a bit cliche, right, the gangster who is for civil rights, and treating people equally. The gangster who only wants to kill when he really has to, etc. But he’s such an intriguing loyal intelligent dude, you go along for the ride. He’s got a code, Wire fans, he lives by his code.
I thought they were all fantastic. I’ve read other Lehane books in the past (a few of the Kenzie/Gennaro books) and enjoyed movies made from his books as well (Gone Baby Gone, Mystic River) but this trilogy is really a tour de force. Each one was BARELY putdown able, I read late into the night, loving every minute of it.
So sweet! And so refreshing to read a regency (or thereabouts) romance where the two intendeds do not meet via a) rape, b) intended rape or c) almost rape. NO RAPE AT ALL. Nice.
(Unlike, say, the Jo Beverly books which I read a ton of all in a row last Christmas. When you read too many of those “rape or almost rape brought these two together” books too close together, you just start to feel icky.)
The reviews of this book on goodreads are widely divisive, moreso than most books from what I’ve seen anyway.
I didn’t fall head over heels but I didn’t (ever, really) feel the need to put it down, or move on, and that’s a pretty good sign that it’s at minimum well written and able to engage me as a reader.
Racing may be glamorous and sexy and the provence of the rich and the nouveau riche (heh) but it’s also a place that washed up, unhappy people (and horses) wind up spending years just stuck in. My best friend in high school’s dad once came in 3rd in the Kentucky Derby (as a jockey). He also spent years and years racing at tiny tracks, drinking away his sorrows, fighting with anyone who would fight him, and bemoaning his lack of ever getting up there again. So many horses, jockeys, owners, and trainers have just one bright shining moment. The ones that stay in the sun for years–THOSE are the real outliers in racing.
Some of this was icky and confrontational. (The sex bits were pretty uncomfortable.) Some of it was intriguing. Some of it was lyrical.
She’s an author that’s not going to do what you expect. Every time a new character entered the room, the story became about something else entirely.
A super sweet story about five little dragonets, stolen away before their eggs hatched, to play their part in a prophecy. It’s really a story about friends, family, belonging, finding your identity, and figuring out what’s important to you. And it was SO very sweet. I can think of a LOT of fifth graders who would really love this book (and presumably the rest of the story as well).
So yeah, I haven’t written about the books I’ve been reading in ages and ages although I have kept pretty much up to date with commenting on them on GoodReads. I guess I need an app for my blog, ha.
I thought this book was just beautiful. While it is one part of the story of the Coughlin family, and partly a story about gangsters (cough, outlaws, sorry, Joe) and corruption and American history, it’s also got this incredibly romantic streak running through it. The things that carry Joe through his life: not just the women he loves, but the places he loves, the objects he loves (that watch, for example).
I read the first book in this series (Any Given Day) in a furious rush over spring break while visiting my dad’s library and similarly when I picked this book up, I really couldn’t put it down either. I remember liking Lehane’s Kenzie/Gennaro series back in the day when I read those (pre-2004) but not like THIS.