Library!

[oyceter]

Wow, the Los Altos library is crowded on weekends! Good for it! It always makes me happy seeing a nicely used public library. I still kind of miss the Princeton one though, especially the nice little cafe they had. But I do like how this one has sci-fi/fantasy in one section so I can easily find stuff. Unfortunately, they don't seem to have more obscure fantasy, but I did see some Kara Dalkey, who I keep wanting to read but can't find, Pamela Dean's Tam Lin, which I've wanted to reread to see if I'll like it better, and Jane Yolen. I don't understand why it's so hard to find Jane Yolen books. They've also got White Jenna, but I couldn't see Sister Light, Sister Dark, which is the first book! Argh. Maybe will wait till they are reissued in the near future. They've also got a whole collection of Windling and Datlow's Year's Best Fantasy and Horror anthologies, which I really need to check out. I've still been trying to find the older books in Windling's Fairy Tale series (Dalkey's Nightingale and Wrede's Snow White, Rose Red in particular), but they seem to be out of print. Some day...

I ended up getting EL Doctorow's Ragtime, Emma Donoghue's Kissing the Witch, Ellen Kushner's Thomas the Rhymer and some random romances. I have such a hard time finding romances I like. I read part of Mary Jo Putney's China Bride, and... well. Was very irked by the portrayal of Canton and the alternating racism and PC-ness. But I figured it was a romance, and I am an EAS major who specializes in this and should probably cut the author some slack. But then she had the heroine try to throw herself on a knife when the hero tried to get her back in a very ridiculous scene. At which point, I threw the book away and promptly returned it. Ugh. Stupid heroines. I hate that breed. So now I am trying Karen Robards, whose last two I've read have been enjoyably fluffy, and Robin Schone, because she's caused such a fuss in the romance community. And... Christine Feehan because she writes vampire gothic romances. I (obviously) have a thing for vampires.

I found this off LJ: Booklend. It's like Netflix for books, but free. The guy who runs it pays for the postage (both ways!) all by himself. I'm very impressed. I wonder if he wants help....

I also tried making blueberry jam today, because I didn't feel like eating all my blueberries. I don't know if it's actually jammy, but if not, at least it'll make syrup for my waffles. And then I made peach jam/syrup! This is fun.

Comments

[angeyja.livejournal.com]

I haven't actually read Schone yet just about her work, so let me know what you think OK?

Hamilton's Anita Blake is not quite as popular as Buffy but a lot of people seem to like both. Her series has changed quite a bit since the first book Guilty Pleasures and you'll sometimes find the same reaction to that as goes on in the Buffyverse; but I like her. I've also read her interviews and she lets the story write through her, so that explains the shift to me but as people say it's all your POV. There too people have developed epectations about who the character will end up with or how she will grow and it's difficult I think for them to shift gears when the character goes a different direction. Anita's personal concern about the thin line that separates man and monster and where she is going with it, as her character very strongly contains both elements, is a main draw for me but there are other echoes with BTVS too. Hamilton built further on some themes that Joss only alluded to and has a different outlook on many issues, so there is a resonance but it's not a copycat. I could go on but I tend to instill the glazed eye effect, so I'll pause here.

Kushner is simply in a class by herself and only seems to produce about one book a decade although that might just be me the greedy reader. Swordspoint should be read before Fall if you can, since it's set in the same world but 40 years earlier. Fall grew out of a conversation between her and Delia Sherman (another good author) and they wrote it together each writing different characters. I'm hoping that they continue. The book left me hungy for another.

Swordspoint was either recently reissued or is soon to be and I can't say enough good things about it. With all I've read, I consider it the only perfect book to come into my hands. Which is not to say that you'll like it! But definitely worth a look if you come across it.

And raspberries! Yes. Like the roses they just like my yard. Plants are very funny this way. I try to grow what likes to be here; it makes the gardening fun not work. I thought about pulling them out at one point for the space but there's something about walking outside and picking breakfast off the bush that I simply couldn't give up. Have to scoot now, I've been playing too much online and need to get some work done before bed.

And thanks so much for all the good conversation!