Last Writes by Laura Levine

I was warned. She who gave me the book told me that Levine indulged in some rather irritating "tricks." One is the emails to our heroine from her parents in Florida inserted at intervals for no apparent reason, except perhaps as an attempt to distract the reader from the rather thin plot - somewhat like a sitcom that has used up its "situation."

Then there are the dialogue stunts: 'I said (yes, it is stark and unrelieved first person), "blah, blah, blah, blahblah." Well, no, I didn't really, I really said, "blabity, blah."' Like one of those pathetic sitcoms where there is a voice-over telling you what the character is supposedly thinking while he says something else entirely. Once or twice, maybe, but in this effort, she may have once or twice executed an entire page of text without one of those. By the way, the situation here is the production of a sitcom, hence all the sitcom analogies.

And finally, from page one to the very end, the main character (supplied with the incredibly cutesy name "Jaine Austen") never stops putting herself down - and deserving it. Really, a cat named Prozac? And that may be the best gag in the book.

For a two hundred page piece of fluff, I nearly didn't manage to finish it. The fact that I did finish it only serves to point up how desperately hard I am procrastinating getting to work on my next assignment - which is due tonight, like Cinderella, before midnight. Extremely forgettable - I hope I remember Levine's name well enough to not pick up any more of her work.

Grace Among Thieves by Julie Hyzy

Definitely cozy, but fun. I like cozy mysteries. Given my required reading for this semester, I don't think it's getting much deeper for my "other" reading this term. Considering the matter of cozy mysteries, where does Agatha fit? Miss Marple and her knitting would seem to almost define the subgenre, but somehow she seems to dodge the label. Maybe it is Miss Jane's profound insight into human nature that takes Agatha's books somewhere else.

Grace does not share Miss Jane Marple's insight. It has been a while since I read the previous books in this series, but I'm pretty sure this one is not the first time that she shows lamentable lack of judgment. Still, quite entertaining.

This could be a sub-subgenre - cozies which are set in America, but try very hard to seem British. Grace is the curator at a manor house which has become a tourist destination, but is still the home of the single remaining member of the original family. Sound British to you? The actual location of Marshfield Manor is vague - the setting sounds New Englandish, when it isn't sounding British.

Hyzy has been busy. There is another one of these in the works, and a new White House chef book is out. Fourteen more weeks of this semester - then I can read all summer.

Balance of Trade by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

This actual began as part of my Liaden reread, but since I had never read it before - and it is a full length stand-alone, I thought it deserved its own note. Unlike Ghost Ship, it did stand alone, and stood quite well. After Ghost Ship, I swore not to fall prey to their obvious "OMG what happens next" strategy and not read any more of them. At least not to buy any more of them, but this was included in a volume with the Crystal stories and I didn't realize it until I got there. I suppose that packaging means that the setting is somewhere between Crystal Dragon and Local Custom, which is an interval of a thousand years (standards) or so.

Jethri Gobelyn is a member of a Terran trading ship family. When the ship is grounded for a refit, his captain (and mother) sees it as an opportunity to get him off the ship. The story is well along before we find out why she wants him off the ship. She has found a berth for him on a cousin ship - but through a chain of events Jethri finds himself on a Liaden ship apprenticed to a Liaden Master Trader.

Jethri is an appealing hero, and the story does hang together quite well. Parallel to the story of Jethri's adventures as he overcomes the bias of Liadens against Terrans, there is another line that ties back to the old universe and its dangerous technology. This gives the story enough depth to sustain itself for the full distance.

Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman

Gaiman does explain why his hero is named Odd. This Odd is a crippled twelve-year old Viking boy who gets involved with some of the Norse gods who have been enchanted and exiled to Midgard. In the process, he saves them, saves the world, and saves himself.

I'm not sure this makes it quite up to the level of YA. It is a children's book. Even if I didn't like Gaiman's work, it would have been irresistible sold as it was on the same special deal as the previous Odd book.

And now I am caught up - for the moment. Given the number of hours that I have this semester (both teaching and taking) I probably won't get much personal reading done. But when this semester is over, I should be through with the taking classes part. A friend of mine finished his master's over the summer - and suddenly he is posting long thoughtful pieces on Facebook. I am so looking forward to the day ---

Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz

This one I remembered pretty well. Of course, I read it for the first time within the last couple of years. I should index this blog so I could check easily. This was another kindle special. Good creepy fun. I rather like that he never really explains why the hero's name is Odd. But he sees dead people - who expect him to do something about it.

The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer

The last one was so much fun that I thought I would go ahead and get the next. And again, I don't believe that I had ever read this. I wonder if I will remember the ones I know I have read because I remember the titles.

The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

The newest film version just came out and everyone else has been to see it. They have all been talking about things that I don't remember from the book. So I read it again (I have no idea how many times I have read it before). Apparently, repetition has its impact even on my memory, because the things I didn't remember weren't there.

With The Hobbit - the current film, that is - we have the reverse of the issue that many Tolkien fans had with The Lord of the Rings. Much content which some of us considered critical was cut from the three films in order to get them on the screen. Now, instead of compressing three long novels into three films, the makers have elected to add enough content to stretch one novel into three films.

Most have reported that the film is pretty good. I just don't do theaters much, so I will wait for the DVD.

These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer

There was a time when I simply devoured these Regency romances and reread them repeatedly. This one was one of Amazon's special deals, so for $.99 or whatever it was I thought it might be fun to read one again. It was. The themes are not sophisticated, here a wicked man is redeemed by the love of a good woman, but even in the meticulously researched historical setting, Heyer's twist seemed fresh and amusing. BTW - I don't think I ever read this one before - and it is her earliest.

Liad by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

When you have the flu, you are not typically up to any sort of challenging reading. Well, I'm not, anyway. So I read my way through all the Liaden novels while sitting not too far from the bathroom for the best part of two weeks. I suppose this is actually ten or twelve novels - but they are not that long or that difficult and I have read them all before at least once - and posted here about them.

I did think that perhaps the last of the Theo books, Ghost Ship, might be less annoying this time around. Wrong. The book reads well up to the end - at which point they put three principal characters in jeopardy and just quit.

Devil Bones by Kathy Reichs

The science is just so compelling in these. I know I have said that before, and probbly will again. This time we also get a large dose of information on the group of religions which are frequently confused with satanism: voodoo, santeria, and several others.

Doctored Evidence by Donna Leon

A nasty old woman that no one likes is murdered and the blame falls (courtesy of the incomparably incompetent Lt. Scarpa) on the abused Romanian servant who is chased under the wheels of a train by the persistent Lieutenant and his merry men. Brunetti, of course, manages to get it all straightened out with the assistance of the amazing Signorina Elettra and Vianello. I wonder if people from southern Italy really are named Scarpa.

Day of Atonement by Faye Kellerman

Decker and Rina are married - finally. For their honeymoon, they go back to Brooklyn to visit her family (and her first husband's family). The disturbed son of a relative disappears and Decker is on the case, which (no surprise) leads back to LA eventually.

There is a major backstory bomb, too, but that would be telling.

Sweet Revenge by Diane Mott Davidson

The woman who murdered Goldy's ex then perished in a forest fire turns out to be not so dead after all. Of course, nobody believes that Goldy is actually seeing her around town. As always, Goldy's catering business is loaded with the usual impossible clients. I'm pleased that they have started putting all the recipes in the back. It is easy enough to just turn the page if you are reading a paper book, but on the kindle the pages don't always line up the same way - especially if you go for big print like I do.

Grave Peril by Jim Butcher

Vampires this time. And they don't sparkle! At least Dresden has had his death sentence lifted by the White Council - and is actually working for them.

Heaven to Wudang by Kylie Chan

This one seemed to read better for some reason. Maybe Chan is hitting her stride - or maybe I am just getting used to them. This is a triple-triple though, just when it looks like things may be resolved and the plot can actually move on - a new wrinkle keeps the lovers separated.

Wolf in the Shadows by Marcia Muller

In this one, Sharon's long-standing (several books now) boyfriend disappears and she goes after him. And she doesn't get fired or quit her job after all.

Fool Moon by Jim Butcher

With the Dresden books, you can always be confident that the title fits the story - even when it is a pun. Fool Moon - Full Moon - and the story is about -- have you guessed? Of course, you have - werewolves. It seems that there are several types of werewolf, and they all appear in the story. I do not propose to enlighten you on the subject. Read the book.

Storm Front by Jim Butcher

I had planned to catch up on all this stuff during the break. Spring term begins tomorrow - and I now have fifteen books which I haven't posted. Oh, well ---

I had recommended the Alera books to a former student and he came in a few days later talking about the Dresden books, so I thought it might be time to reread - and catch up with - this series.

Things do get gruesome - ripping hearts out and such - but the principal characters are entertaining and persuasive. After Gandalf and Dumbledore, Dresden is hard-working and fallible, and he gets beat up a lot, but he is well-intentioned and manages to save the day.