Beth’s Comments (group member since Mar 06, 2014)

Beth’s comments from the Nothing But Reading Challenges group.

I just read "Closing Time" and . . . I don't think I understood what happened. Anyone else want to comment on this one?

I've read parts of this collection before, but not recently, and I've never read the whole thing.

I'm listening to the audio version, which is read by Neil Gaiman, and I really like the way he reads. I recommend listening to the audio if you can. However, the first story is really complicated and I had to stop listening to the audio and switch to text so I could slow down and follow it properly. (The pdf of "A Study in Emerald" is available for free from Neil Gaiman's website.) It's really creepy; my mind was blown. (view spoiler)[contra the book blurb, the detective is never referred to as Sherlock Holmes. I picked up on that, but I didn't know enough about the original Sherlock Holmes stories to figure it all out. When I looked up the solution to the story, I realized that some of the clues are references to the original Sherlock Holmes stories, which I haven't read. (hide spoiler)]

I thought I'd post a link to the solution if anyone's interested.

So far I also really like the Bluebeard poem. The frame story in "October in the Chair" is pretty funny. I'll post again later.

When is this starting? I started the book a few days ago.

"He made now a gesture of disgust; and then straightened up, as if he would turn away from her at last, and she clenched her hands on the arms of her chair-- and at that moment the frog gave its great bellow, the noise that had startled her yesterday into dropping the necklace in the pool."

The Door in the Hedge by Robin McKinley

next: 8th sentence on page 88

I'm currently reading The Word Exchange: Anglo-Saxon Poems in Translation, but I'm going through it slowly as I read other books. I'm also reading The Door in the Hedge and listening to the audiobook of Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders. And I started Otherwise: Three Novels by John Crowley earlier this year, but I've only read the first book (The Deep) so far.

Birthday: September 21
Favorite color: Blue, Purple and Green
Favorite food: Soup, Hummus, Curry
Any pets: 2 dogs, 1 cat
Favorite book genre: Fantasy, SF, Classics
Finish the line: I know I'm a book addict because . . .
It's my favorite thing to do in my spare time and I have a long TBR list.

I started The Door in the Hedge yesterday. It's a collection of fairytales (two original and two retellings).

The first story, The Stolen Princess, is a changeling story. I really like the narration - it's a lot like the whimsical style of Spindle's End (my favorite of McKinley's so far) and it has some great quotes. On the other hand, the characters are a little flat. But I liked it. I'll be surprised if the other stories live up to this.

I just reserved this. I hope it arrives in time for me to join in!

I finished the book this morning. I decided to switch to the audiobook a few days ago to see what it was like, and it sounds perfect. This is really well suited to audio. This book isn't quite as funny or exciting as Good Omens, to me, but I had a great time rereading it.

I'm up to Chapter 7. I really like the chapter titles. This is a reread for me (I first read it over a year ago.) I like this much better than American Gods, which I didn't finish. This is more fast paced and I like the writing better. Spider is a really fun character. Favorite quotes:

"Songs remain. They last. The right song can turn an emperor into a laughingstock, can bring down dynasties. A song can last long after the events and the people in it are dust and dreams and gone. That's the power of songs."

"Stories are like spiders, with all they long legs, and stories are like spiderwebs, which a man gets himself all tangled up in but which look so pretty when you see them under a leaf in the morning dew, and in the elegant way that they connect to one another, each to each."

Jan 1 2014 - Dec 31 2014
Level: Freelance
Goal: 15 books by women writers (I only read 6 women writers last year)
I'll cross these off as I go.

1. The Hero and the Crown Robin McKinley 3/5/2014 **
2. Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora ed. Sheree Thomas - 4/30/2014 ****
3. The Door in the Hedge Robin McKinley 5/22/2014 **
4. Deathless Valente, Catherynne 6/10/2014 ***
5. The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye A.S. Byatt 6/27/2014****
6. Swamplandia! Karen Russell 7/23/2014 **
7. To the Lighthouse Virginia Woolf 8/20/2014 ***
8. A Bed of Earth Tanith Lee 8/25/2014 **
9. The Crystal Cave Mary Stewart 9/10/2014 **
10. Who Fears Death Nnedi Okorafor 9/27/2014 ***
11. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen - finished 11/30/2014 ***
12. The Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif - finished 12/6/2014 ****
13. The Borders of Life by Gael A. Kathryns - finished 12/16/2014 ****
14. The Book of the Mad by Tanith Lee - finished 12/19/2014 ***
15. Greenwitch by Susan Cooper - finished 12/31/2014 ***

I reserved Anansi Boys yesterday. I hope it comes in by the time the book of the month discussion starts.I just checked out The Baron in the Trees. Calvino is a new author for me; I found the book on this list.

The Handmaid's Tale 4/2/2014 - 311 pages (this is a reread for me, does it count?)

Current total: 894,657

Ofglen's suicide and replacement in chapter 44 is chilling. I don't have much to add about the ending, except that the historical notes section interferes somewhat with the ambiguity of the last chapter (that is, we know Offred got away because the tapes survived). But she may have been recaptured later, so it's still an ambiguous ending in a way.

Question 26. a note about the epigraphs: The Jonathan Swift quote is from "A Modest Proposal," Swift's satirical essay proposes slaughtering babies to address the Irish potato famine. Handmaid's Tale is also using satire to make a point, that's why it's relevant.

The book focuses more on the people than the world, but I think it makes the details we do get stick out more. The women stealing butter as a substitute for handcream, the brief references to what's happened to the Jews and "Children of Ham" (African Americans). I might like more information about the crisis that led to this society, but otherwise I think this style of exposition really works.

32. I just finished chapter 34 and I'm really struck by the the passage about the nuns who were forced to "renounce their celibacy, sacrifice it to the common good." I didn't see that coming but I guess I should have. This is a theocratic society, but since it's organized around maximizing female fertility, it's inevitable that the the nuns' celibacy would be a threat. Anyone else have thoughts on this?

I'll post again when I finish the book.

My copy doesn't have an introduction. I could look up a synopsis, but I probably won't. I actually like how the book drops you in the middle of things without a full explanation.

I've read this once before, but I don't remember very much. Does anyone understand the third epigraph at the beginning - "In the desert there is no sign that says, Thou shalt not eat stones?" The relevance of the other two (from Genesis and from Jonathan Swift) is pretty obvious.

I noticed this time that the majority of the book is actually from the perspectives of Anathema, Newt and the Them. I was a little surprised that Aziraphale & Crowley don't actually have the most page time because they're what I remember best from the first time I read it. They don't actually have the most important role in the book, but I love their commentary on humans and heaven and hell.

I finished it today (how appropriate, the book itself ends on Sunday) and I'm interested to see other people's reactions. I'll probably have something to add later.

the 4 books I've read this year are are 904 pages total
Einstein's Dreams 179 pages
Promethea, Vol. 2 176 pages (this is comic, does it count?)
Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer 293 pages
The Hero and the Crown 246 pages

Since I've read this before, I can't really comment on the "what do you think will happen" type of questions upthread.

I remembered a lot of the jokes, but I forgot some important things (like the details of the baby switch) until I started rereading.

I like how Crowley and Aziraphale have been changed by their time on Earth:

"He rather liked people. It was a major failing in a demon."
vs
"Aziraphale felt the occasional pang of guilt about this, but centuries of association with humanity was having the same effect on him as it was on Crowley, except in the opposite direction."

Other favorite parts -
- "And just when you'd think they were more malignant than Hell could ever be, they could occasionally show more grace than Heaven ever dreamed of. Often the same individual was involved."
- "the boredom you got in Heaven was almost as bad as the excitement you got in Hell."
- "Saying he'll grow up to be a demon just because his dad became one is like saying a mouse with his tail cut off will give birth to tailless mice. No.
Upbringing is everything. Take it from me."
- the drinking scene (where the quote above is from) is my favorite in this section, and maybe my favorite in the book (47-52 in the American paperback).
- the ducks!

The Annotated Pratchett File has some interesting notes, especially the explanation for the "Best of Queen" joke:
http://www.lspace.org/books/apf/good-...