I continue to be sick and I continue my reading ways. I was telling my mother that I made my goal of reading 250 books in 2011 and asking what my goal should be for 2012. 300? 275? She said, “Get a job and read less books.” Aw, moms.
Books Read: 19
Books Partially Read: 0 (this seems odd. Maybe I forgot some?)
Books Bought: 9
Money Spent: $40
Books Borrowed: 12
Books Given: 9
Books Re-read: 5
Money made (from selling books): $134. (at Powell’s and also many copies of my book, Book ‘Em.)
Books on To-Be-Read Shelf: 71
Favorite Books this month: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, Diva Without a Cause by Grace Dent, As You Desire by Connie Brockway, and The Kingdom of Gods by N.K. Jemisin.
The Night Circus was the first book I read last month and it was fabulous. It’s a fiction book about a magician competition set in a circus (which provides the means by which the magicians demonstrate their powers). The competitors are these two old guys but they don’t fight, they assign proxies who are then trained and enslaved to the battle. It was gorgeous and fabulous and I loved it. Also it was begun once upon a time during a NaNo so there’s that camaraderie going for it too.
Quote
“It is important,” the man in the grey suit interrupts. “Someone needs to tell those tales. When the battles are fought and won and lost, when the pirates find their treasures and the dragons eat their foes for breakfast with a nice cup of Lapsang souchong, someone needs to tell their bits of overlapping narrative. There’s magic in that. It’s in the listener, and for each and every ear it will be different, and it will affect them in ways they can never predict. From the mundane to the profound. You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone’s soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows what they might do because of it, because of your words. That is your role, your gift. Your sister may be able to see the future, but you yourself can shape it, boy. Do not forget that.” He takes another sip of his wine. “There are many kinds of magic, after all.”
–From The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Diva Without a Cause was ridiculous. I cannot stress this enough. The cover. The writing. It’s super SUPER slangy Brit YA. And not normal Brit slang, Chav slang. It’s quite different. I thought I knew a lot of Brit slang but no, I discovered, I really don’t. Even with all the ridiculousness happening, I still kind of loved it. It’s very funny and sweet. And funny. Also funny was watching my cousin James snort-giggle at the dictionary in the back over Christmas.
Cousin James and my book. And a rooster quilt.
As You Desire by Connie Brockway is obviously a romance novel as you probably already guessed. But what a romance! It’s set in Egypt and I LOVE Egypt. It’s got great characters and back stories and research and history (there’s a lot of archaelogy). The writing is of a much higher caliber than some romance novels–ie there are 6 syllable words in this book. I’ve read a lot of Connie Brockway at this point over the last year and this is one of the best (which also includes Bridal Favors and Bridal Season which I also re-read this month). She wrote a sequel to As You Desire which I have ordered but not gotten yet. Super excited as it is also set in Egypt.
Quote:
“…Face lifted for the sun god’s caress…Why, look,…even Ra himself cannot resist you. Only see how he lathes your cheeks and brow with his heated tongue…marking you with his golden kiss?…How can a mere mortal man stand a chance if even the gods are so enamored?…And how can one single image describe you? You are a country, a country of unexplored sensation and whim, veiled in dawn, shining, shedding light. See how the long fluid line of your throat flows to your breasts?…Or how their blue-shadowed curves open above the smooth plain of your belly?…Your mouth…Your mouth is a sweet well sealed against me, keeping me thirsting for the clarity of your kiss. Your flesh is like the desert sand, warmth and shifting strength beneath its golden color. Your palms open, fingers flexed, are minarets, delicate and elegant. And your body…it is the Nile itself–by the narrows of your waist and jettied hips to the lush delta below…You are my country, Desdemona…My Egypt, my hot, harrowing desert and my cool verdant Nile, infinitely lovely and sustaining.”
–From As You Desire by Connie Brockway.
Hoo! It makes me want to fan myself and watch The Mummy.
Kingdom of Gods was the third in the trilogy of Jemisin’s and it did not disappoint. It’s way better than the second one though still not as good as the first one. This is high quality fantasy novel with a well-developed world, religion, and political structure (though politics were actually slightly less important in this one than religion and familial relationships–though that family was very political). There’s a lot of new characters in this one and a lot of the ones from book 1 back again. The end was fabulous. It gave me a lot of things I don’t normally get out of a book–polyamorous relationships for starters. Which is something I’ve been considering writing about lately because seriously, where are those books? Maybe I just don’t know the right places to look.
Honorable Mentions: Pirates Ninjas Zombies. Yup. I read my draft and copy-edited some and then was disappointed in it and now am going to make Kris read it and give me feedback. Sigh. It’s still good and I enjoy it and love it. But it NEEDS something and I don’t know how to put that need into words. Or action to fix it.
Least Favorite Books this month: Meh, nothing so bad it’s worth mentioning as it turns out.