February’s reads were:
- Assassin’s Quest (Robin Hobb)
- The Magic Thief (Sarah Prineas)
- The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
- Drowned Wednesday (Garth Nix)
- Sir Thursday (Garth Nix)
- Coloring Outside the Lines (Roger Schank)
- Boys Adrift (Leonard Sax)
Whew. I sure managed to cram a lot of books into a short month. I really should stop reading so much. It makes the monthly reading roundup so much more work to write up than I’d like it to be. Hee.
On the fantasy front, I finally finished the Farseer trilogy. No spoilers, but I was driven almost mad by the random meandering journeying in the first third (?!) of the book. It took Fitz far too long to get around to doing what he should’ve done by page 50. Harrumph. I also would like to express my disappointment in the ending. Of course, now I’m going to read the Tawny Man trilogy so that I can be further disapproving and critical. Really. *grin*
Finally got ahold of a copy of The Magic Thief. Quick, fun and entertaining, though the plot felt slight. One major plot point could’ve easily been resolved a couple chapters in, but instead Evil Almost Triumphed because Good Was Not Listening. Overall, though, a thoroughly enjoyable MG-level read with one or two absolutely hysterical moments (if you read it, you’ll know what I mean :D).
The Keys of the Kingdom continue to enthrall me, but I’m trying to pace myself here. The stakes have been upped, the Nithlings are more organized, powerful figures are making a bid for sole control and Arthur is in danger of losing his humanity the more he wields the Keys. Great fun.
My classic read was The Good Earth, a novel that I liked and loathed in turns. The loathing, alas, increased as I got towards the end because, really, the characters did fairly loathsome things. Which, perhaps, was the point of the story: more wealth leads to more disconnect from the earth which leads to overall loathsome-ness. Or something like that.
Coloring Outside the Lines and Boys Adrift were my two education-related reads. I liked the latter better. I agreed with Coloring Outside the Lines for the most part (yes, yes, formal schooling turns children into unmotivated uncreative automata), but I found the attitude of the writer to be… overly smug, maybe? He made a lot of statements that were backed up by personal anecdotes, not research. Boys Adrift was better researched, and quite a bit more worrisome and thought-provoking.
What did you read in February that you loved or loathed?
I didn’t get much read in February. I finished off the last two books of His Dark Materials trilogy, and re-read an old sci-fi book I used to love and re-read constantly back in the day called Psychodrome by Simon Hawke. Funny… I still love the characters and story itself, and I can still quote my favorite lines from it, but I found the actual writing to be quite weak. Hee!
Yes, a lot of my childhood favorites don’t live up to my memories. Having a hyper-critical reading eye is the downside of being a serious writer!
I suggest you try the Liveship Traders trilogy before the Tawny Man. While not told from Fitz’s viewpoint, it takes place in the same world and makes reading the Tawny Man books much more enjoyable. 🙂
Thanks to my SIL mentioning it, I started on the Garth Nix series myself. Just finished Friday and the library didn’t have Saturday. I have a bad feeling about the Dame.
Also picked some Asimov back up due to explaining the Three Laws to my son… he read I, Robot and the Nightfall anthology. Curious to know how much he understood, although he devoured them both!
Mervi,
Ship of Magic is the next Hobb book I’m going to read. I like her world, and welcome the chance to explore it while taking a much-needed break from the emotional roller-coaster of Fitz’s storyline.
Robin,
I picked up Friday and Saturday from the library today! And yes, I mistrust that Dame Primus.