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Feb. 14th, 2008 03:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
I've decided that I really like the new Indiana Jones trailer. I have a weird ambivalence about the new movie. Raiders of the Lost Ark was my favorite movie as a kid, but I can barely bring myself to read up on it in case it ended up being too disappointing. But the clips of the action scenes look reminiscent of the chase in Raiders and there's some fairly amusing lines. I'm kind of meh on Shia LeBoeuf, but Cate Blanchett looks like she's having fun playing the evil nazi Commie. So yay for that, I think I can uncover my eyes now.
Anyway, here are the books I've read so far this year:
Love and Louis XIV by Antonia Fraser. Excellent biography on a fascinating time period. Very well researched.
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. Gothic tale about feral twins. Enjoyed.
After Dark by Haruki Murakami. I enjoy reading Murakami, but I'll admit, I always feel like there's stuff going way over my head, especially with some of his more fantastical or sci-fi bits. I liked the realistic parts about the night owls hanging out at Denny's, but the part about Eri getting sucked into the tv? No clue, wtfkaythnx, also felt those scenes caused the book to drag. Still, I ordered a copy of Norwegian Wood because I am nothing if not tenacious. And also, because of the Beatles reference.
And Only to Deceive and A Poisoned Season by Tasha Alexander. Two excellent mysteries set during the latter part of the Victorian era. Emily marries solely for wealth and when her husband dies soon after, realizes only too late his worth and depth of character. Then she goes around studying classics and solving crime. ^_^ The first book is mostly about stolen and forged antiquities and the second deals with someone pretending to be a descendant of the lost Dauphin of France. I'm really looking forward to the next book.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. Friendship and betrayal in 19th century China. Reread this and was horribly depressed all over again.
The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner. A fantasy of manners in which Alec, the Mad Duke of Tremontaine decides that he will have his long estranged niece trained to learn the sword. It was rather slow moving at the beginning, but it picked up after awhile and I was sorry it ended so soon. Alec is much less annoying here than he was in Swordspoint.
Yikes, much later than I thought. Time for sleep. I'll post the others later.
Anyway, here are the books I've read so far this year:
Love and Louis XIV by Antonia Fraser. Excellent biography on a fascinating time period. Very well researched.
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. Gothic tale about feral twins. Enjoyed.
After Dark by Haruki Murakami. I enjoy reading Murakami, but I'll admit, I always feel like there's stuff going way over my head, especially with some of his more fantastical or sci-fi bits. I liked the realistic parts about the night owls hanging out at Denny's, but the part about Eri getting sucked into the tv? No clue, wtfkaythnx, also felt those scenes caused the book to drag. Still, I ordered a copy of Norwegian Wood because I am nothing if not tenacious. And also, because of the Beatles reference.
And Only to Deceive and A Poisoned Season by Tasha Alexander. Two excellent mysteries set during the latter part of the Victorian era. Emily marries solely for wealth and when her husband dies soon after, realizes only too late his worth and depth of character. Then she goes around studying classics and solving crime. ^_^ The first book is mostly about stolen and forged antiquities and the second deals with someone pretending to be a descendant of the lost Dauphin of France. I'm really looking forward to the next book.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. Friendship and betrayal in 19th century China. Reread this and was horribly depressed all over again.
The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner. A fantasy of manners in which Alec, the Mad Duke of Tremontaine decides that he will have his long estranged niece trained to learn the sword. It was rather slow moving at the beginning, but it picked up after awhile and I was sorry it ended so soon. Alec is much less annoying here than he was in Swordspoint.
Yikes, much later than I thought. Time for sleep. I'll post the others later.