Books Read in 2008

[rolanni]

...a necessarily incomplete, and depressingly short, list. I was so busy at the three jobs this year that I couldn't focus on something as long as a novel. I read a lot of New Yorker articles. Man, the New Yorker rocks.

Anyhow...reproduced from memory, poor tool that it is.

Mrs. Caliban, Rachel Ingalls
Five-Finger Discount, Helene Stapinski
Suds in Your Eye, High Time, Wait for the Wagon, Mary Lasswell (the first three novels detailing the adventures of Mrs. Feeley, Mrs. Rasmussen, and Miss Tinkham, as discussed in this post.  If anybody'd like to (re-)read these, let me know, I can pass them on for the cost of the postage.)
Gale Force, Rachel Caine
Girl Genius, Volumes 1-7, Phil and Kaja Foglio
Undertow, Elizabeth Bear
A Night in the Lonesome October, Roger Zelazny (annual re-read)
The Shortest Way to Hades, Sarah Caudwell (re-read)
Tinker, Wen Spencer
Whiskey and Water, Elizabeth Bear
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Winifred Watson
blink, Malcolm Gladwell
War for the Oaks, Emma Bull (re-re-re-&c-read)
Hiding the Elephant:  How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear, Jim Steinmeyer
Iron Kissed, Patricia Briggs
The Arrival, Shaun Tan
Blood Bound, Patricia Briggs
Season of the Witch, Natasha Mostert
Commodore Perry and the Opening of Japan, Ferdinand Kuhn
Narbonic Five, Shaenon K. Garrity
Identical Strangers, Elyse Schein, Paula Bernstein
Moon Called, Patricia Briggs
Dust, Elizabeth Bear
Madame Sadayakko: The Geisha Who Bewitched the West, Lesley Downer
Soon, I Will be Invincible, Austin Grossman

Comments

Mary Lasswell

[(Anonymous)]

Found these books at the library. Very Eastern humor but enjoyable once I got in the swing of it. Ordered High Times. Jenny from WA

Re: Mary Lasswell

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

Very Eastern humor

OK, I'll bite -- Eastern humor? Not a phrase I'm familiar with, and...the books -- or at least the author -- came out of California.

Where is my copy of that.....

[rfalken.livejournal.com]

Hrm will have to track down my copy of War of the Oaks..... Well past due for a re read..... might add Moonheart by Charles De Lint (sp) to that list. I would also recommend any of the Patricia Briggs books you can find. I think I have read all of them but her first now which may be out of print. Hobs Choice was a lot of fun!

Re: Mary Lasswell

[(Anonymous)]

Rats, I knew someone was going to call me on that as soon as I hit the send button. I'm having trouble articulating what exactly I mean by Eastern humor. But, in the cause of clarity(or do I mean foggity), a friend who was raised in NY state loves the movie Moonlight( I think that's the title) with Cher. She raves about this film. It left me...cold. We looked at each other and agreed to disagree. Help, anybody else?

Re: Mary Lasswell

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

Hmm.

Haven't seen Moonlight, but I wonder if you might mean "blue collar humor"? The ladies are definitely Salt o'the Earth and a some of the humor comes from pulling the wool over the eyes of The Man, and from making do most excellently well on Just About Nothing.

Re: Mary Lasswell

[(Anonymous)]

Blue collar humor -and with a bite. It's darker, sharper, knife-edge, which is a definite whimsey because these ladies couldn't be kinder. They do however see through fakes and poseurs with the greatest of ease. I must have not been paying attention because now I discover that the junk yard is supposed to be in San Diego. Somehow, I thought it was NJ. Sent my copy back to the library so couldn't check. Howsomever, did like the book immensely and have requested all five of the series. Thanks for the recommendation! Jenny from WA

Re: Mary Lasswell

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

They are sharp. And not to be Messed With.

The one you've got on order -- High Time -- actually does take place in New Jersey. A lot of the plot went right over my head when I was twelve...

Since you've ordered them all, would you tell me when you get to the one about N. Carnation? I've forgotten the title and I would like to read it again.

Re: Mary Lasswell

[(Anonymous)]

So far haven't seen anything about NJ in High Time. That's the one where the ladies have twins to take care of as war work. Maybe the next book is in NJ? Altho I am only on page 108 of 174 total. Speaking of page 108 the ladies are going out for a beer and Mrs. Rasmussen says "No use spending our own money!" Miss Tinkham concurs by saying it is a patriotic thing to send the money right back into circulation. 'Then Mrs. Feeley and Mrs. Rasmussen looked at Miss Tinkham as if they had never seen her before: they did not know that she had her eye on an almost new skunk chubby at the Thrift Shop, an absolute gift at fifteen dollars.' Do you have any idea what a skunk chubby is? I can find no mention of it on any site that I checked! Jenny from WA

Re: Mary Lasswell

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

Erp; you're right. I was thinking of One for the Road.

I believe, but cannot prove, that a "chubby" is a fur collar that covers the top of the wearer's shoulders.

Miss Tinkham's wardrobe is nothing short of astonishing.

Re: Mary Lasswell

[(Anonymous)]

Finally had the wits to consult my mother who as usual is a mine of information (wonderful woman of 86). A chubby is a short fur jacket of hip length, so-called because it did make you look chubby. Mi madre wonders why anyone would want a skunk chubbby or a skunk anything. She reminds me that I had a rabbit fur chubby courtesy of my Oregon ranching uncles when I was 10 plus. As you say, Miss Tinkham's wardrobe is nothing short of astonishing, war or no war. Jenny from WA

Re: Mary Lasswell

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

A chubby is a short fur jacket of hip length, so-called because it did make you look chubby.

And so we are both informed!

Great!