Daniel > Recent Status Updates

There is a distinct atmosphere of author overly focused on creating atmosphere. And I wouldn't say cloaking the opening scene (awakening to a gunfight on the lawn as the master stands on the hood of his car) in an air of disinterest is a wise narrative choice. The prose is definitely getting in the way of the story. Not quite ready to give up yet though...

It's Frugal February. I shall endeavor to make due with the one or two thousand unread books already in my possession. :(

*Exceptions allowed for preorder (Haunting of Tram Car 015), and anything already on my want list that suddenly goes on sale for $3 or whatever, cuz let's not be stupid.

This feels really short. Donald seems more subdued than previous books. Not sure if that's me, if it's intended to be a result of him being away in WWII for 18 months, getting malaria, or just Gardner being inconsistent with the characterization.

that was very confusing. that character very strongly read as gay, but, no?

I love Gardner's plots. :)

it seems really unbelievable to me that anyone could look at a total stranger across the room and guess their age and weight to such specific figures. (52, 171-175 lbs)

A whole ton of pre-2014 data loaded for your compare books pleasure. Ratings get scarcer as you go back, since I just had titles and month/year read before I started GR in 2011. Some ratings may be impressions of what I thought at the time, and may not reflect current me's opinion were I to read it again of course.

I like Zach. Seems like they ought to have gone back to talk to Walbrook by now...

When you saw something interesting enough to order a used paperback from the other side of the earth, and weeks later when it shows up you have no memory of what you thought was interesting enough to order it...

Also: Books that have birds in the title but no birds in the story... :(

Some skimming may have been involved...

"We have to love our mistakes, Peter; they're all that we have." Yeah, well, this book was a mistake and you can't make me love it.

To DNF or not to DNF...

I'm spending more time looking for other stuff to read than reading this...

This book's plot is working against it. I'm hanging on to the idea of the characters rather than the realized ones as well. :/

Blind gay math teacher.

not bad so far

gah, this is really good, but I also can't stop thinking how highlander it is. like how he's supposedly one of the last handful of X, but then every week so many new Xs show up that one is forced to conclude 78% of the population is Xs and what kind of extra thick unobservant moron he must be to have ever thought he was one of the last.

this is fun, but it also is a little hard to reconcile the idea of Nightingale being any good at his job with some of this stuff.

I would quote you more hilarious quotes, but they're longish, and this is a paper book, and I'm too lazy to type them out.

'What's he like when snubbing?'
'Pretty formidable. The beard helps a lot, of course. He waggled it at me and said "Dear lady, does one read books called Deadly Earnest?" And when I said Yes, one did, mentioning myself as a case in point, he sighed like a patronizing escape of steam and said he was afraid my taste was very crude.'

These Overlook Press hardcover editions are beautifully made, but would it kill them to use a slightly larger font?

What the hell was that? 16 pages of flashback in a voice completely unlike the rest of the book? Different cadence, different everything? What?

Thus far, "Part 4" has been a tremendous improvement over "Part 3". Only another billion or so pages to go.

I've got 50 new items on my kindle in the last 24 hours... roughly half samples, maybe 6 or so items I'd bought ages ago and forgotten till something reminded me. It's a sickness.