April books

[clare_dragonfly]

Once again, posting the list of books I finished* reading in the past month, with star ratings out of five. (You can click on the "books" tag if you're interested in things I read earlier this year!) I totally welcome questions or discussion of any of the books on my list.

28. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood - ****
29. The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis (reread)
30. Red Glove by Holly Black - *****
31. Servant of the Underworld by Aliette de Bodard - ****
32. Imaginary Friends by Martin H. Greenberg (ed.) - **
33. The Hotel Under the Sand by Kage Baker - *****
34. The Bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen - *** 1/2
35. The Procrastinator's Guide to Getting Things Done - ****
36. The Alchemist: A Graphic Novel by Paulo Coelho - **
37. Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore - **** 1/2
38. Room by Emma Donoghue - ****

* That is to say, I stopped reading them during the month. I actually noticed that in April I didn't stop reading anything before I finished it (except for a couple of the short stories in the anthology), which is pretty cool. If I'm not enjoying a novel I'll probably stop before I finish because I don't want to waste valuable reading time. Some of these books are ones I started reading in March; books I started in April but haven't finished yet will go on May's list. There you have my unnecessarily long explanation for why these particular books go on the list and not others.

Comments

[miss_haitch]

Oooh, I am interested in Magic Under Glass, as I've been considering buying it. What did you enjoy about it?

[clare_dragonfly]

Oh man, it would be easier to say what I didn't like about it! I really enjoyed it :D Let's see. The main character rocks; she's smart and brave and interesting and complex, and she's a great balance of "insider" and "outsider" to the culture she lives in, so the information comes in at a comfortable rate for the reader (at least for me). There's some moral ambiguity. There are echoes of fairy tales, but it's not a close retelling of any particular one (well, it's very similar to Pinocchio in places, but it doesn't follow the plot exactly). There's a Queen of the Underworld. There are faeries! It's well-written, easy/quick to read, and the plot kept doing unexpected things. I'm eagerly anticipating the sequel even though it's not coming out until next year... I checked the book out of the library, but I'll definitely be buying the sequel.

[luckychan]

I have been interested in reading Oryx and Crake before, but haven't gotten around to reading it yet since lately I've become a bit wary of post-apocalyptic books. Did you like it though? :) I love Margaret Atwood, especially her prose. She just conveys so much emotion without being melodramatic.

[clare_dragonfly]

I did like it, but I love post-apocalyptic stuff XD However, Oryx and Crake is mostly set before the apocalypse happens. I adore Margaret Atwood too. The book was kind of frustrating because it was narrated by a guy who was on the peripheral of most things, and I didn't like him very much, but the story was good and so was the sci-fi.