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bearshortyThe Sandman: Act III by Neil Gaiman [Audible audiobook, for Sandman books 6 to 8].
I found "Brief Lives" more affecting in audio form, especially with them putting Song of Orpheus story right before it, so it all really fit together thematically. I think it resonated more. I'm getting used to the voices, so Death didn't bother me this time, I thought it worked fine. And I found Dream's sulking from his break up in the beginning more amusing. This time I would walk around during lunch listening and for the story where the cities are sleeping I was on the Brooklyn Bridge, looking at the whole city, so that proved more effective as well. I rarely do audiobooks since it is hard for me to keep attention, I really have to concentrate or be cooking or something, but this one works for me and it is a good way to revisit the material.
The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik, 407pp [Scholomance 3]
A good conclusion to the trilogy. Since it was the last book, there was a lot of explanation for various, seemingly random plot points in previous books. It really does work very well as a trilogy. Most of the book is spent in the outside world now, and we get the explanation for how enclaves really work. Everything is very complex and there are no good answers, no strict good and evil division. One thing that still drove me crazy is that El really needed to explain and spell out people's motivations - it just always felt like she was monologuing and there should be more show than tell, but that was just a minor irritation. The thing with Leisel was a bit weird - I like Leisel, she is practical in the best way, but El is still grieving and it felt a bit taking advantage of her grief thing. I do like Leisel getting into El's social cicrle slowly but surely, despite El's bewilderment of that fact. I thought the ending was well earned because it was hard to see how things would get resolved, but they did, in a complicated way, a messy way, a true to life way with some happiness. I'm glad El is allowed some happiness in this very dystopian world - at least El showed why people did like magic, because in this world it seems like magic just has too many drawbacks. Anyway, this book explained a lot, and worked well and it was a nice trilogy overall. I still like Temeraire more but as usual I enjoy Novik's work a lot.
Madly, Deeply: the diaries of Alan Rickman by Alan Rickman, edited by Alan Taylor, 455pp
Alan Rickman kept short journal entries consistently from 1993 to the end of 2015 (he died in January 2016). They are not too deep, mostly events he went to and little notations, but you certainly get a sense of him and what mattered in his life and how he felt about certain people. He took acting and later directing very seriously, especially in the theatre. He knew a lot of people! Out to dinner a lot with many famous actor friends. he went to a lot of funerals too. Some apartment renovation and woes. Some politics. He also travelled a lot for work. He mostly lived in London but he also spent a lot of time in New York and some in LA and also on location in movies. It was fun to read about him filming many of the movies that I have seen, including of course, all his Harry Potter thoughts. And it was lovely how omnipresent in the background his wife Rima was. He didn't directly talk about her, but there is a lot of "we" in his travels and dinners and occasionally he would express how necessary and dear she was to him. It was very sweet. It was an interesting glimpse into his life and what his life was. And it was certainly very full.
Husband Material by Alexis Hall, 416pp
This book was disappointing. I liked the first book and I wanted to like this one, but from the beginning the plot was very silly. Like there was stress and shenanigans for no reason at all - just to hit plot points. The conflict is mostly imaginary. There is some interesting commentary on different types of weddings and marriage but it gets lots in totally made-up conflict points. Bridget is worried about Tom being spotted with someone despite knowing what his job is. Luc goes to support Bridget - also why would you do it for days? Who has time for it, and then comes up with imaginary conflict that can cause with Oliver. And then someone forgot the wedding dress and there are magically several dresses that can be fitted to you available? C'mon! Who would forget a wedding dress. That would not happen. The middle of the book was a bit better but then it sort of lost me at the end. I thought the ending was ridiculous - they had months to think about it and also all their reactions just seemed over the top. I don't know - the book just lost me because it didn't seem like people would behave and the conflicts just didn't warrant the level of drama. I know most people are not me and are prone to more drama naturally, but this just seemed over the top.
Dragonbreath: Nightmare of the Iguana by Ursula Vernon, 203pp [Dragonbreath 8].
Tanya read this one by herself, since I'm busy helping Olivia read her book after dinner now, but she wanted me to read it before I returned it to the library, so I did. That way I can share the parts that made me laugh. I liked this one. Wendell is having nightmares and he calls Danny's Great-grandfather for help and then Danny and Suki have to travel into his dreams to defeat a Dream Wasp. It was nice to see Suki again and her budding romance with Wendell is pretty adorable. And so is Danny's continued excited about various monsters. It took me two days to actually read the book, it is pretty quick and it continues to be a fun series. Tanya is on book 10, while I'm slowly going through book 9 right now. There are 11 books so we are almost done.
I found "Brief Lives" more affecting in audio form, especially with them putting Song of Orpheus story right before it, so it all really fit together thematically. I think it resonated more. I'm getting used to the voices, so Death didn't bother me this time, I thought it worked fine. And I found Dream's sulking from his break up in the beginning more amusing. This time I would walk around during lunch listening and for the story where the cities are sleeping I was on the Brooklyn Bridge, looking at the whole city, so that proved more effective as well. I rarely do audiobooks since it is hard for me to keep attention, I really have to concentrate or be cooking or something, but this one works for me and it is a good way to revisit the material.
The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik, 407pp [Scholomance 3]
A good conclusion to the trilogy. Since it was the last book, there was a lot of explanation for various, seemingly random plot points in previous books. It really does work very well as a trilogy. Most of the book is spent in the outside world now, and we get the explanation for how enclaves really work. Everything is very complex and there are no good answers, no strict good and evil division. One thing that still drove me crazy is that El really needed to explain and spell out people's motivations - it just always felt like she was monologuing and there should be more show than tell, but that was just a minor irritation. The thing with Leisel was a bit weird - I like Leisel, she is practical in the best way, but El is still grieving and it felt a bit taking advantage of her grief thing. I do like Leisel getting into El's social cicrle slowly but surely, despite El's bewilderment of that fact. I thought the ending was well earned because it was hard to see how things would get resolved, but they did, in a complicated way, a messy way, a true to life way with some happiness. I'm glad El is allowed some happiness in this very dystopian world - at least El showed why people did like magic, because in this world it seems like magic just has too many drawbacks. Anyway, this book explained a lot, and worked well and it was a nice trilogy overall. I still like Temeraire more but as usual I enjoy Novik's work a lot.
Madly, Deeply: the diaries of Alan Rickman by Alan Rickman, edited by Alan Taylor, 455pp
Alan Rickman kept short journal entries consistently from 1993 to the end of 2015 (he died in January 2016). They are not too deep, mostly events he went to and little notations, but you certainly get a sense of him and what mattered in his life and how he felt about certain people. He took acting and later directing very seriously, especially in the theatre. He knew a lot of people! Out to dinner a lot with many famous actor friends. he went to a lot of funerals too. Some apartment renovation and woes. Some politics. He also travelled a lot for work. He mostly lived in London but he also spent a lot of time in New York and some in LA and also on location in movies. It was fun to read about him filming many of the movies that I have seen, including of course, all his Harry Potter thoughts. And it was lovely how omnipresent in the background his wife Rima was. He didn't directly talk about her, but there is a lot of "we" in his travels and dinners and occasionally he would express how necessary and dear she was to him. It was very sweet. It was an interesting glimpse into his life and what his life was. And it was certainly very full.
Husband Material by Alexis Hall, 416pp
This book was disappointing. I liked the first book and I wanted to like this one, but from the beginning the plot was very silly. Like there was stress and shenanigans for no reason at all - just to hit plot points. The conflict is mostly imaginary. There is some interesting commentary on different types of weddings and marriage but it gets lots in totally made-up conflict points. Bridget is worried about Tom being spotted with someone despite knowing what his job is. Luc goes to support Bridget - also why would you do it for days? Who has time for it, and then comes up with imaginary conflict that can cause with Oliver. And then someone forgot the wedding dress and there are magically several dresses that can be fitted to you available? C'mon! Who would forget a wedding dress. That would not happen. The middle of the book was a bit better but then it sort of lost me at the end. I thought the ending was ridiculous - they had months to think about it and also all their reactions just seemed over the top. I don't know - the book just lost me because it didn't seem like people would behave and the conflicts just didn't warrant the level of drama. I know most people are not me and are prone to more drama naturally, but this just seemed over the top.
Dragonbreath: Nightmare of the Iguana by Ursula Vernon, 203pp [Dragonbreath 8].
Tanya read this one by herself, since I'm busy helping Olivia read her book after dinner now, but she wanted me to read it before I returned it to the library, so I did. That way I can share the parts that made me laugh. I liked this one. Wendell is having nightmares and he calls Danny's Great-grandfather for help and then Danny and Suki have to travel into his dreams to defeat a Dream Wasp. It was nice to see Suki again and her budding romance with Wendell is pretty adorable. And so is Danny's continued excited about various monsters. It took me two days to actually read the book, it is pretty quick and it continues to be a fun series. Tanya is on book 10, while I'm slowly going through book 9 right now. There are 11 books so we are almost done.