Books!

[eurydicebound]

I've been reading lately. It's shocking, frankly, given the long drought that preceded it. Some of it I can blame on mercuryeric, who took me to a Borders the other day where I proceeded to buy paperbacks in a most abandoned fashion. I'm actually pretty careful about buying books, as it a) eats up my limited bookshelf space and b) is far, far too easy to spend far, far too much money doing so. I likely shouldn't have even spent what I did, but there I went getting three (3!) paperbacks. Add in what I'm working through that I already owned, and I'm pretty amazed at myself.

1) Wicked. I'm going to see the musical this month, so I wanted to finish reading it before I went. It was... odd. Not really fantasy despite its setting and ilk. I find myself thinking back on it that it had the least amount of magic in a book about a magical setting that I've ever seen -- which really isn't entirely true. It did have some, but not very bloody much, and what there was largely came as an aside. It was very much modern literature; it would be rather like a biography if there were such a thing for fictional characters. The bulk of the book was pretty good, but it meandered heavily and had no set story arc. The end felt very rushed and happenstanced, as if he suddenly realized he had twenty pages to turn this character into the actual Wicked Witch of the West and have her melted. I found it very unsatisfying, really. This wouldn't stop me from recommending the book, but it is a caveat. If you like less structured stories than I do, you might actually like it far better. As it is.... eh. I'd give it 2 1/2 to 3 out of 5.

2) Storm Front. This is the first of the Harry Dresden novels (aka the Dresden Files) by Jim Butcher -- I believe there are 6 of them currently in print. As it happens, I'd met Jim long ago and far away in Norman, Oklahoma during my college days. I didn't place him at first, but a friend of mine is on the Dresden fan mailing list, and he asked Jim about me and the ex. He actually remembered us, although we didn't have a lot of interaction at the time. Jim's a good guy, and I'm very glad to see him doing well. The novel itself was his first novel, so there are some hiccups here and there stylistically which I have every reason to expect to work themselves out in time. It's tightly plotted, which I find a definite plus, and he's got a certain eye for description and dialogue. There's a number of throwaways for characters that you can tell will be recurring that are undoubtedly sorted in later books, and there's some stuff that got glossed over that I'd rather have gotten more focus, but it's still an engaging little yarn. I'm looking forward to seeing more character development as the line develops. Good work, Jim. :) I'd give it a solid 3 1/2 stars -- Wicked is more substantial in its way, but Storm Front was a bit of brain candy that I blew through in an hour and a half because I was that engaged with it. Wicked took me two weeks, picking at it here and there. Milage will undoubtedly vary.

Comments

[elissa-carey.livejournal.com]

Since tomorrow I'll be going to Barnes & Noble to get Heather a math workbook, I'll need plenty of "help me restrain myself!" vibes. I really only want to get said workbook, not that AND some paperbacks or bargain books.

[anaka.livejournal.com]

Mmmm. I feel your pain, but obviously can offer no help to you. :)