Had a pretty good run of reading over the holidays. The extra down time was really nice and I'm going to continue to make an effort to keep reading as one of my main ways to use free time even when work picks up. I've been playing less video games since graduating college and starting my career, and I think the ease of being able to read for 30 minutes over lunch versus gaming is the reason I haven't fallen off as hard. Similarly, I've been listening to a lot more music proportionally since it's easy to listen and discover new stuff while working. I was curious if any one else has had some of the same experience in making the shift from school to work.
As for books:
This was a quick, fun read about an English professor and writer at a middling Liberal Arts college who gets tapped to write hundreds of Letters of Recommendation. He uses the letters as a chance to further personal agendas, vent frustration, and from time to time show some genuine affection for colleagues and students. Given that it's told only through LoR I was curious as to how it would play out. Overall, it was different than most of what I read and a pleasant change of pace. I'd probably rate it 3.5/5.
Taking a recommendation form Aidan's blog/best of 2014 list, I dug into this novel. As others in the thread have said this was excellent. Very different than most fantasy I've read in recent memory and up there with Ancillary Justice as recent books that distinguish themselves from the pack of conventionally plotted dreck. I wonder if the mystery aspect of both books plays into that. 5/5
Being roughly the hundredth person to comment on this book in the thread I won't say much other than to say I really enjoyed it and found the sense of humor fitting. I ended up buying physical copies as a gift for my father to try to get him to branch out a little past the Tom Clancy, Vince Flynn novels that he typically reads. 4/5.
I think I've seen a few other people in this thread mention this book. A pretty unique take on a post-apocalyptic setting with the focus on actors, musicians, and Shakespeare. It was interesting that the main character, in my opinion, dies in the first few pages before the apocalypse happens and the book then deals with the effects his actions have had on both the past and the future. Pretty short read that burned through in just over a day. 4.5/5.
For this one, I wanted to branch out from my usual genres and try my hand at some historical fiction (is that correct for a post WWI setting?) but with LESBIANS. Sarah Waters seems to be pretty well known for running with the theme of lesbians through time, and creating damn good novels. I found the book engaging enough and can't tell if I liked the first or second half more. There's a pretty significant event that occurs that changes the focus of the plot starkly. The ending fell a little flat for me. I suppose I just like to have a bit more closure and definitiveness at the end of books. Overall, I'm glad I branched out and tried something a little different. Not sure if I would read another of her books or not though. 3.5/5.
On the topic of finding recommendations for novels, does anyone else listen to Reading/Books/Publishing podcasts? I've been a big fan of Books on the Nightstand for the past few months and read several of these books after hearing them recommended there.
) continues to write books within this universe.
