Mur Lafferty > Recent Status Updates

This is a very long slog. I can't say I'm enjoying the book, just experiencing it.

It's guilty reading, not because the book is light, but I feel guilty reading anything not on my school list. But it's audio, in the car listening, so it's OK. It's as good as, or better than, I expected.

Few books illustrate "the male gaze" better than GRRMs series. In the female POV chapters he sure likes to tell us what their breasts are doing.

I've been warned that this book is a letdown. And yes. It is. I keep going, "Really? you expect me not to fall asleep while a septon is telling Brienne really boring stories in excruciating detail? The Greyjoys? Can't you have them say "women can't inherit" at most 5 times instead of every other page, every other chapter?" And then he does Sansa's storyline, and I'm in awe. Would love some consistency, though.

Wow. Getting a bit bloody, innit?

Finally picked it back up again to read over the holidays. Still enjoying it. It's still long. Boy that Red Wedding was something, huh?

A really amazing writer has ADD and it's very sad. That's what I'm getting from this book. Apparently it's "literary" to jump from present tense to flashback to flashback and then back to present tense just for an instant and then flashback again. when I'm not suffering whiplash from the flashbacks, the book is very well written, but I have to say I am 4 hours in with no idea of what it's about, ie character goals.

I'm mostly enjoying this but it feels forced, it seems the protagonist is not reacting to the proper things. I'd gripe more, but spoilers, but a witch tells her something early on that barely registers, and she doesn't think about it until a bit later. And this is OMG Red Lights Flashing! information. I'll keep going, but I'd rather listen to White Trash Zombie books.

Does anyone else find " hells bells" and "never never" childlike and jarring? It just doesn't work for me. Clearly I like the books cause I keep reading them. Just not sure how much I like hanging a lantern on Harry's chauvinism.

Just read a fascinating blog post about the male gaze in fiction, and Dresden is all over that. I know what every character's breasts look like. except maybe Murphy, which makes me wonder if he's doing a Madonna Whore thing. It was irritatingly frustrating to have half the female characters in Fool Moon naked for the latter half of the book. Dresden likey the boobies. We get it.

Hey cookie, hey lovely, your thighs are lush, let me sleep with you, or maybe your daughter, but i'll be a gentleman and wait till NEXT chapter to plow her field. what, there's a macguffin that's missing? Let me insult everyone who could aid me and sleep with a few dames and I'll get it sorted out before the next broad spreads her legs for my incomprehensible sex appeal. No, I didn't like it.

Gah. Hating this one so far. "I'm a jerk for no reason and the ladies throw themselves at me," protagonist. Oooh, catch me before I swoon. But I'm getting a good sense of place, which is why I'm reading it. Also Spenser cooks a lot, and we get a lot of detail about that, so that's interesting.

Was going to have this on the back burner but Joanna Penn convinced me I needed to be reading this. It'll probably be a little at a time, but it's what I need to hear right now.

Finally started reading this with the kiddo (sorry, Sam!) and she is completely hooked already.

Sometimes this book reads like the bible. Blah son of blah from blah, accompanied by (insert names and lineages and homelands of at least seven men.) are we really supposed to retain all of these names? GRRM is too thorough to just toss random names in, but I'm not in the mood to take notes.

Finally getting to pick this up again. Hope I remember what's going on. Let's see... Sean Bean is the star, right?

My second read, still think Severian is a misogynist tool, but the world is still fascinating.

Sansa Stark. It wasn't the worst wedding night ever, but I'd say it's in the top five of "most uncomfortable and awkward and dear god just blow out the candle and go to bed."