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Books Thursday
Feb. 19th, 2015 09:02 pmCurrently reading: Still halfway through the Dick Francis. And I have started re-reading All She Wrote, the second Holmes and Moriarity Josh Lanyon book (does it say anywhere why Lanyon went for Moriarity rather than Moriarty? Other than to give me spelling-related doubts everytime I mention this?)
Just finished reading: The Duchess War, by Courtney Milan. First one of hers I've read, and entertaining while not really working for me. I think I should try one of her contemporaries, as I had too much trouble believing in the characters here as actually being of their time, and it got in the way a bit of the plot. Robert, 9th Duke of Clermont, deals with his father (and mother) issues and guilt over his privilege by distributing handbills urging the workers to rebel and visiting former factory employees to give them pensions. He meets Wilhelmina Pursling, a self-effacing member of various local hygiene committees who has a Mysterious Past. My favourite bit was when Robert did actually tell Minnie (Wilhelmina) his clever plan via note rather than leaving all to be revealed at a dramatic moment, and the characters are fun, but arrgh. I really wanted more setting, more politics, and more grounding for everybody. Also, this is not Milan's fault but Minnie's secret past just made me sigh wistfully in the vague direction whichever box my copies (I have 2) of The Queen's Gambit are currently in (due to storage issues everything after M as an author is in a mostly unlabelled box in the wardrobe in the spare room).
Just about to read: I am staring thoughtfully at Tove Jansson's Moominsummer Madness, actually, which would be a re-read after who knows how long - I still remember being baffled by the Midsummer Night's Dream references the first half dozen times or so I read it as a child. And I have the second in the Timothy Zahn Star Wars Thrawn Trilogy (what a great conglomeration of nouns) waiting for me.
Just finished reading: The Duchess War, by Courtney Milan. First one of hers I've read, and entertaining while not really working for me. I think I should try one of her contemporaries, as I had too much trouble believing in the characters here as actually being of their time, and it got in the way a bit of the plot. Robert, 9th Duke of Clermont, deals with his father (and mother) issues and guilt over his privilege by distributing handbills urging the workers to rebel and visiting former factory employees to give them pensions. He meets Wilhelmina Pursling, a self-effacing member of various local hygiene committees who has a Mysterious Past. My favourite bit was when Robert did actually tell Minnie (Wilhelmina) his clever plan via note rather than leaving all to be revealed at a dramatic moment, and the characters are fun, but arrgh. I really wanted more setting, more politics, and more grounding for everybody. Also, this is not Milan's fault but Minnie's secret past just made me sigh wistfully in the vague direction whichever box my copies (I have 2) of The Queen's Gambit are currently in (due to storage issues everything after M as an author is in a mostly unlabelled box in the wardrobe in the spare room).
Just about to read: I am staring thoughtfully at Tove Jansson's Moominsummer Madness, actually, which would be a re-read after who knows how long - I still remember being baffled by the Midsummer Night's Dream references the first half dozen times or so I read it as a child. And I have the second in the Timothy Zahn Star Wars Thrawn Trilogy (what a great conglomeration of nouns) waiting for me.
