Rapid-fire reading round-up…

I know, I know: bad blogger, no biscuit.

Being back at work has meant less time to update my blog, that and actually reading more to keep up with what’s out there…and playing video games, just because.

So, over the past few months I’ve read a ton, and rather than produce a big old wall o’text, I will instead give a brief summation of the highlights and lowlights of the past few month’s reading.

The Passage, Justin Cronin: Mega-blockbusting ground-breaking, really? Ok, I’ve had a lot of time to mull this one over since finishing the book. I still prefer The Stand by Stephen King to an infinite extent. This made me want to read it again, which is a good thing. Also, Cronin really needs an editor who understands the difference between the words “wretch” and “retch”. The latter was the one he was looking for, the former is both mis and over used. The book starts off well, then gets bogged down in the second part. World-building is incomplete and seemingly done on the fly rather than considered and organic-feeling. There are good parts to the book, but on the whole it’s lacking. Not particularly interested in the next one. Ouch.

Lightborn, Tricia Sullivan: This is more like it. I own and love all of Sullivan’s books and was anxiously awaiting the chance to get my mitts on this one. It doesn’t disappoint. If you want to see great world-building you should take a look at Sullivan’s books. Like many a post-apocalyptic work, this concerns itself with resistance (to the “shine”, to the powers that be, to the idea of change, to the old ways or the new ones) and it does so in a very measured way. Sullivan’s books entertain, to be sure, but they also make you think – which is never a bad thing. Characters are strong, their motivations sometimes kept opaque to the reader as much as to the other characters, and the plot trucks along. I didn’t want it to be over, and I don’t often feel that way about books.

The Last Dragonslayer, Jasper Fforde: I love Ffordes Tuesday Next and Nursery Crimes books, and if there’s a writer out there who should be able to produce funny, appealing YA fare then he is it. In this first book (of a planned series), however, there is rather too much time taken up with scene-setting so that the main plot (with all the politics involved, sort of a lite version of those to be found in the Hunger Games) seems to ebb in and out of focus. Has a great independent heroine though (and, joy of joys no gratuitous love triangle) and is both a fun and a smart read. I’m interested to see where he goes next with it.

The Scarecrow and Nine Dragons, Michael Connelly: Playing catch-up on my crime reading, and remembering why I’d gotten disenchanted with Connelly, and also why I love his stuff. Confusing? Well The Scarecrow is vintage Connelly, dark, socially aware, smart, well-plotted, zinging pace and engrossing. Nine Dragons has a forced feeling to it, I kept putting it down and being ambivalent about picking it up again. On paper, it should have been fascinating, Bosch taken out of his comfort zone and on a mission in Hong Kong to save his daughter. Instead it’s clunky and transparent. A central “twist” is readily apparent and the other one is not particularly interesting. It feels like a book that doesn’t know when to end, rather than one you don’t want to end. One great, one bad. Same author. Go figure.

Broken, Karin Slaughter: Am I the only person in the world who feels compassion for Lena in the Grant County series? Actually had a higher-up in work snap at me that “Lena’s a bitch, she deserves all she gets!” when I asked how she was enjoying the novel. Slaughter kind of has a way of provoking strong feelings with her characters, and Broken is no exception to the rule. It’s fun to have Will Trent in Grant County, out of his element and struggling with trying to impress Sara and doing his job. The book is less grand guignol than a lot of Slaughter’s work, and is all the better for it (I’m sorry, she’s one of the few writers out there who makes me thoroughly squeamish to the point of having to put a book down).

I’ve also been reading a lot of Donald Harstad based on a friend’s recommendation and I really like his stuff. Carl Houseman is a great creation, not your usual detective, and you don’t come across a lot of crime fiction set out in the middle of nowhere (or in Iowa, which would seem to equate to the same thing), plus Harstads own 26 years as a cop give the books an unshowy veracity and a distinctive laid-back humour. If you haven’t read his books, try them.

Am also still devouring Nero Wolfe books as quickly as I can get my hands on them.

Having gotten my mitts on an e-reader, I’m also re-reading a lot of classics and trying to decide whether the benefits of being able to carry around lots of books without the aid of a wheelbarrow balances out the annoyances of flashing on page-turning and glare on the screen. I do like my e-reader, I’m just not sure that I’d ever plump for a digital edition over a real paper-based book. That said, it has been handy for getting Nero Wolfe books quickly and relatively cheaply so it has its upside.

That’s it for this round-up, I’m loading up my e-reader with digital proofs at the moment, so should have more to report once I’ve read them.

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