Recent reading
Nov. 10th, 2023 02:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
luzulaWhat I imagine the dogs are thinking at our summer house: "Finally the humans are house trained! They're going outside to pee in the grass!" (We don't have a WC there...)
In other news, we used the old wood-fired range in the summer house kitchen for the first time in many years, and it worked perfectly and didn't let any smoke into the room at all! We even cooked on it, and an old friend of mom's was there to show us all the tips and tricks of using it.
Honeytrap by Aster Glenn Gray (2020)
I had been saving this up because I knew it would be good, and lo, it was indeed very good! I mean, it's enemies-to-lovers of the type "people who are enemies by circumstance of being in different organizations/countries/whatever that are opposed", which is obviously my jam (in this case FBI agent and Soviet agent). But aside from that, it also has what I wanted the previous books by the author to have, namely more space for the relationship to form and fully play out--the previous ones I've read were novellas and this is a full novel, so that makes sense. But not all romances even if they're novel-length have this! I loved that it's not love at first sight, but takes time to develop and they're not on the same page at all times. I also enjoyed the poly dynamics later on, and more generally that we get to see the relationship play out and change over the years in complicated ways. And of course, the writing has that engaging quality which I've enjoyed before. (Incidentally, I am intrigued that Selma Lagerlöf's Nils Holgersson was a reference point for Gennady. Did not know she was popular in the Soviet Union.) My only complaint is that the book kept me up too late reading and deprived me of sleep.
A Beleaguered City by Margaret Oliphant (1879)
What an odd little book. It's the story of a French city which is beleaguered by the spirits of the dead, which then drive out the living, told in a documentary fashion by various people, mostly the mayor, his wife, his mother, and a man known as a visionary. What it reminded me of most was a story a friend of mine wrote once after having a vision of the dead at a churchyard. Anyway, I didn't enjoy it as much as her realist novels and nearly didn't finish it, but it was short and I pushed on to the end. It sadly lacks her usual sort of independent unmarried female perspective. The mayor's POV is pompous in a way which made me hope his perspective would be interestingly offset by some later female POV, but no, his wife is just pious and devoted. Maybe I didn't pick up on everything that was going on.
In other news, we used the old wood-fired range in the summer house kitchen for the first time in many years, and it worked perfectly and didn't let any smoke into the room at all! We even cooked on it, and an old friend of mom's was there to show us all the tips and tricks of using it.
Honeytrap by Aster Glenn Gray (2020)
I had been saving this up because I knew it would be good, and lo, it was indeed very good! I mean, it's enemies-to-lovers of the type "people who are enemies by circumstance of being in different organizations/countries/whatever that are opposed", which is obviously my jam (in this case FBI agent and Soviet agent). But aside from that, it also has what I wanted the previous books by the author to have, namely more space for the relationship to form and fully play out--the previous ones I've read were novellas and this is a full novel, so that makes sense. But not all romances even if they're novel-length have this! I loved that it's not love at first sight, but takes time to develop and they're not on the same page at all times. I also enjoyed the poly dynamics later on, and more generally that we get to see the relationship play out and change over the years in complicated ways. And of course, the writing has that engaging quality which I've enjoyed before. (Incidentally, I am intrigued that Selma Lagerlöf's Nils Holgersson was a reference point for Gennady. Did not know she was popular in the Soviet Union.) My only complaint is that the book kept me up too late reading and deprived me of sleep.
A Beleaguered City by Margaret Oliphant (1879)
What an odd little book. It's the story of a French city which is beleaguered by the spirits of the dead, which then drive out the living, told in a documentary fashion by various people, mostly the mayor, his wife, his mother, and a man known as a visionary. What it reminded me of most was a story a friend of mine wrote once after having a vision of the dead at a churchyard. Anyway, I didn't enjoy it as much as her realist novels and nearly didn't finish it, but it was short and I pushed on to the end. It sadly lacks her usual sort of independent unmarried female perspective. The mayor's POV is pompous in a way which made me hope his perspective would be interestingly offset by some later female POV, but no, his wife is just pious and devoted. Maybe I didn't pick up on everything that was going on.
(no subject)
Date: 2023-11-10 07:49 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2023-11-10 08:03 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2023-11-10 08:06 pm (UTC)Hee! <3
(no subject)
Date: 2023-11-12 01:38 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2023-11-12 10:47 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2023-11-13 01:53 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2023-11-11 02:31 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2023-11-12 01:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2023-11-11 10:56 am (UTC)This is definitely my thing! One reason why I often find novels more enjoyable. Added to list, thank you very much. Hope you are enjoying the rustic retreat :)
(no subject)
Date: 2023-11-12 01:40 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2023-11-11 12:49 pm (UTC)What a good complaint to have :D
I really like the idea of the concept of A Beleaguered City, but it does sound as though the execution is not really that great. Perhaps I'll give it a try sometime and see what I think. I suppose Oliphant wrote so many books that one can't really expect them all to be as good as Hester :D
(no subject)
Date: 2023-11-12 01:46 pm (UTC)It is! But at the same time, I did need that sleep...
I think I'll keep to her realist novels from now on! But I should get around to reading Broster's ghost/supernatural stories...
(no subject)
Date: 2023-11-12 03:46 pm (UTC)