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bearshortyThese three are not all the books I read so far this year; I also finished Hamilton biography and Dante's Purgatory. But these are the three that I want to talk about, in the reverse order of my reading.
Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling) - book 3 of Cormoran Strike books
By the time I got to the second half of the book I could not put it down. I had lots of grading to do but I still found the time to read the second half of the book in three days. I enjoy the characters and I also like the plot and the mystery. And I like that the cases are pretty brutal and don't try to hide that. There is suspense and genuine worry for one of the main characters. We got a lot more background on the characters. I do have one problem with the book but that's just my personal reaction to a common trope rather than a problem in itself.
SPOILERS
The book starts with the perspective of the serial killer who is stalking Robin, the main character. It was super creepy. And having chapters from serial killer's perspective sprinkled throughout really built both suspense and horror at his actions. I was really worried for Robin there. I loved, loved the twist that Robin does gets attacked but she kicks ass and successfully escapes.
I don't know if I like that her backstory is a tragic rape backstory because usually if one wants to protray trauma with female protagonists, that's where a lot of authors go. But it won me over in the end, because of how Robin emerges from her trauma, both in how she deals with it at first in escaping from the world and in how she decided to learn to drive aggressively and learn to fight. She is a really great character for me and I appreciate her more now after three books than I did in the first one.
The one problem I have with this book is this common trope for which I no longer have patience for - the male and female characters who work together must pair romantically - and usually whatever romantic partner they have is unworthy in some way. It is really tiresome for me. I loved 4400 TV show, because they managed to have a male and female partner who worked well together, became family to each other but each fell in love with other people. In Dresden files, Harry and Murphy relationship feels earned - I loved their conversation in Book 8 where they talk about it, agree to stay friends, and the later books where it feels natural. In this book, I was really, really hoping Strike and Robin won't get together, despite the idea of it being in the back of the mind for both. I was happy that Robin decided to forgive Matthew on her own terms but I'm tired of rolling my eyes at the idea that Matthew is somehow a less impressive person than Strike just because he worries about her career and is presented as an ass at times. We don't see much from his point of view. As least this book makes clear why Robin wants to marry Matthew. I just wish there wasn't that ambiguity and that characters are allowed to have good, solid relationship with people they don't work with. Again, this is personal annoyance and doesn't really reflect on the quality of the book. I'm looking forward to the next one. Good thing Stephen King did an interview with EW about these books and I realized there was a third one out there. And go public library for having it in ebook form with a relatively short wait list.
Tomek in the Country of the Pharaohs by Alfred Szklarski
This book was partly written by the author before his death and it was finished by his friend from notes that Szklarski had left. So it is the last book in the nine book Tomek series that I read as a child. Well, I read books 1 to 7 as a child and discovered last year that I can get books 8 and 9 in Russian translation for my Kindle.
It is not my favorite book in the series. I had more fun with Book 8. But it was pleasant to spend time with my favorite characters as an adult and get a new perspective on them. At some point I want to reread the first seven books. In this book, the awkward writing to introduce exposition and lectures, that is present in other books, got a bit more annoying. The deficiencies in writing style itself were more apparent.
SPOILERS
The change in POV was weird at times and not often necessary. The villain was cartoonish - his ridiculous decisions like to leave his enemies in the desert and not just shoot them were explained by his madness, but they still felt ridiculous. And c'mon, one character falls off a cliff but survives long enough to tell the heros valuable intel on the villain. A bit too neat. And yes, it is technically a children's book. Still. It was interesting to see everyone's reactions to Tomek's 'death' (of course, I always figured he wasn't dead). I think that's the most emotion I've seen from the characters. And both Yan and Tadek got some personality traits and hints of backstory that made them even more interesting to me. One thing that was not present in earlier books was religion - since earlier books were published during Soviet control of Poland. This book was published later and all of the sudden the characters are professing Christianity and praying. It felt weird. The inclusion of the kid felt silly, just to have a kid character since Tomek is an adult now. But he didn't grate too much.
Are You My Mother?: A Comic Drama by Alison Bechdel
I finished reading this graphic novel on January 22nd, which was really weird since Bechdel bases a lot of the ideas in the book on the psychology of Donald Winnicott and talks about his life as well. Near the end she mentions that he died on January 22, 1971 - exactly 45 years from when I was reading about it. Strange and weird.
I liked the book but not as much as I liked "Fun Home." I think the difference is that "Fun Home" was based around literature and books and this book was based around psychology and psychoanalysis. It was still interesting but not as engaging for me. I teared up at the end of "Fun Home." This book was neutral. I did enjoy reading about the author's own life as an adult. It's a good book but not as good as the first one.
Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling) - book 3 of Cormoran Strike books
By the time I got to the second half of the book I could not put it down. I had lots of grading to do but I still found the time to read the second half of the book in three days. I enjoy the characters and I also like the plot and the mystery. And I like that the cases are pretty brutal and don't try to hide that. There is suspense and genuine worry for one of the main characters. We got a lot more background on the characters. I do have one problem with the book but that's just my personal reaction to a common trope rather than a problem in itself.
SPOILERS
The book starts with the perspective of the serial killer who is stalking Robin, the main character. It was super creepy. And having chapters from serial killer's perspective sprinkled throughout really built both suspense and horror at his actions. I was really worried for Robin there. I loved, loved the twist that Robin does gets attacked but she kicks ass and successfully escapes.
I don't know if I like that her backstory is a tragic rape backstory because usually if one wants to protray trauma with female protagonists, that's where a lot of authors go. But it won me over in the end, because of how Robin emerges from her trauma, both in how she deals with it at first in escaping from the world and in how she decided to learn to drive aggressively and learn to fight. She is a really great character for me and I appreciate her more now after three books than I did in the first one.
The one problem I have with this book is this common trope for which I no longer have patience for - the male and female characters who work together must pair romantically - and usually whatever romantic partner they have is unworthy in some way. It is really tiresome for me. I loved 4400 TV show, because they managed to have a male and female partner who worked well together, became family to each other but each fell in love with other people. In Dresden files, Harry and Murphy relationship feels earned - I loved their conversation in Book 8 where they talk about it, agree to stay friends, and the later books where it feels natural. In this book, I was really, really hoping Strike and Robin won't get together, despite the idea of it being in the back of the mind for both. I was happy that Robin decided to forgive Matthew on her own terms but I'm tired of rolling my eyes at the idea that Matthew is somehow a less impressive person than Strike just because he worries about her career and is presented as an ass at times. We don't see much from his point of view. As least this book makes clear why Robin wants to marry Matthew. I just wish there wasn't that ambiguity and that characters are allowed to have good, solid relationship with people they don't work with. Again, this is personal annoyance and doesn't really reflect on the quality of the book. I'm looking forward to the next one. Good thing Stephen King did an interview with EW about these books and I realized there was a third one out there. And go public library for having it in ebook form with a relatively short wait list.
Tomek in the Country of the Pharaohs by Alfred Szklarski
This book was partly written by the author before his death and it was finished by his friend from notes that Szklarski had left. So it is the last book in the nine book Tomek series that I read as a child. Well, I read books 1 to 7 as a child and discovered last year that I can get books 8 and 9 in Russian translation for my Kindle.
It is not my favorite book in the series. I had more fun with Book 8. But it was pleasant to spend time with my favorite characters as an adult and get a new perspective on them. At some point I want to reread the first seven books. In this book, the awkward writing to introduce exposition and lectures, that is present in other books, got a bit more annoying. The deficiencies in writing style itself were more apparent.
SPOILERS
The change in POV was weird at times and not often necessary. The villain was cartoonish - his ridiculous decisions like to leave his enemies in the desert and not just shoot them were explained by his madness, but they still felt ridiculous. And c'mon, one character falls off a cliff but survives long enough to tell the heros valuable intel on the villain. A bit too neat. And yes, it is technically a children's book. Still. It was interesting to see everyone's reactions to Tomek's 'death' (of course, I always figured he wasn't dead). I think that's the most emotion I've seen from the characters. And both Yan and Tadek got some personality traits and hints of backstory that made them even more interesting to me. One thing that was not present in earlier books was religion - since earlier books were published during Soviet control of Poland. This book was published later and all of the sudden the characters are professing Christianity and praying. It felt weird. The inclusion of the kid felt silly, just to have a kid character since Tomek is an adult now. But he didn't grate too much.
Are You My Mother?: A Comic Drama by Alison Bechdel
I finished reading this graphic novel on January 22nd, which was really weird since Bechdel bases a lot of the ideas in the book on the psychology of Donald Winnicott and talks about his life as well. Near the end she mentions that he died on January 22, 1971 - exactly 45 years from when I was reading about it. Strange and weird.
I liked the book but not as much as I liked "Fun Home." I think the difference is that "Fun Home" was based around literature and books and this book was based around psychology and psychoanalysis. It was still interesting but not as engaging for me. I teared up at the end of "Fun Home." This book was neutral. I did enjoy reading about the author's own life as an adult. It's a good book but not as good as the first one.