September Book Report

Reading up on as much steampunk as I can get my hands on because I will be writing a book series in a steampunk-ish world. Any recommendations for me? Also watching Victorian-era movies and The Princess Diaries. SO fun!

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan: This was a quick, adventurey, Young Adult read, recommended by Kam. The main character is 12, so the simple reading level of one of the first 2 Harry Potter books, and in fact Percy Jackson reminds me a bit of Harry (hot-headed, self-sacrificing, etc). I liked it. Not enough to buy it and obsess over it, but I plan on reading the rest of the series and trying out Riordan’s other 2 series as well. It’s nice to have easy YA books to read sometimes. Breaks up the U.S. History.

A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket: I love this series. I believe Count Olaf was written for Jim Carrey. I love the unique voice. I love the tiny details thrown in. I love the side references to Snicket’s love for Beatrice. I love books with smart, capable kids.

Soulless by Gail Carriger: Fun but slightly ridiculous. Just an easy, quick supernatural steampunk … thriller romance? I don’t know exactly how I would categorize the genre. I get irritated with books that throw in sex just to have it there, and this book felt a *little* like that. Lord Maccon reminds me a bit of the hulking Rhett Butler. I’ll probably read the next in the series, but we’ll see. I enjoy the tone and humor either way.

Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger: Hot pink book cover so you know it’s for women. God bless marketing. This is a Young Adult pre-quel to the Parasol Protectorate series (read as part of the NovelTeaBookClub). The main character Sophronia is enrolled in a finishing school where she learns things like poisoning and intelligence gathering in addition to proper curtsies. I liked this book more than Soulless. Probably because there was no love story to distract from the main plot. Probably because it gave me ideas for my own book series. It seemed less silly, somehow, than Soulless.

Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger: The sequel to Etiquette & Espionage. Less world-building details (she is already at the school, after all) and deeper conspiracy. This book almost didn’t feel resolved — it is clearly just one step along the way to the bigger story. But I love the tone and the world details. The third book in this series comes out in a week or so and I’m looking forward to it.

The Dream Engine by Johnny B Truant and Sean Platt: This was a re-read. Kinda. I read the first draft as it was written in June, but this was my first read of the final, published version. The writing weekend I went to a few weeks ago was related to this book, so I re-read half of it in advance of going, and the other half when I got back (and had an autographed paperback in my hand). I will be writing a book series in this world, so I imagine I will be re-reading this book and its sequels a lot. During the writing weekend we started planning out future books in this series and it’s going to be fantastic!

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern: This was a re-read, started solely because I wanted a book to read on the plane to and in Austin that *goes with* the book I had in mind to write/brainstorm without being too close as to lead to unintentional plagiarism. And, lord almighty, I had forgotten just how beautiful the prose in this book is. This is one of those books that I just adore, the kind I have decided to call ‘literary fiction through a veil of fantasy’ (like the later Harry Potter books, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell or The Magicians series). I love it. I can’t wait for Andrew to read it.

Read anything good lately?

September Book Report is a post from: Lemon and Raspberry | Amy T Schubert

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