Books for December, 2002
Dec. 31st, 2002 06:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pegkerrMy list is extremely short this month, understandably. I was distracted by the Two Towers movie and the holidays:
Sandman: The Doll's House, by Neil Gaiman. First time read. Thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kijjohnson for lending me this. Liked it very much.
The Book of Night With Moon, by Diane Duane. Re-read. This is the first book in the series of the cats-who-are-actually-wizards, which companion her So You Want to Be a Wizard series. I picked it up again because I started thinking about it from readingkijjohnson's Fudoki and wanted to compare how cats as characters were handled culturally in this book. Duane does a good job; the cats' culture is really carefully thought out. The cats' job is to maintain the world gates that wizards use for intergalactic travel. They are really theoretical physicists; they activate the gates by manipulating the hyperstrings in the gates with their claws and teeth, and their conversations are amusingly technical. Really a fun read. The scene where Luciano Pavarotti is eaten by a dinosaur at a concert at Central Park is not to be missed.
To Visit the Queen by Diane Duane. Re-Read. The cats are back.
A Wizard Alone by Diane Duane. First time read. This one focuses more on Kit and Ponch.
Vernon Can Read, by Vernon Jordan, Jr. First time read. Fascinating autobiography. Jordan, of course, was a civil rights lawyer who rose to become head of the National Urban League, and head of Clinton's transition team, etc. This book made me think a lot about deliberate career planning. Vernon had to cope with the worst of the segregated South, but never let it stop him. He attributes much of his determination to the character of his really redoubtable mother. From the time he was a small boy, he seemed to be really clear-minded, not letting bigots stop him, because he felt that their time was ending, and it was his job to make their time end. He would take a job, and do his best, but always be on the lookout for the next job, which would allow him to do more. Reading this has made me do some serious reflection (mostly about how bored I am with my own job--think I will look at/address that in the coming year).
And that's it for this month. As I said, a really short list, but that's understandable at this time of year. Right now, I'm in the middle of Guns, Germs and Steel, so that will start out next month's list.
Cheers,
Peg
Sandman: The Doll's House, by Neil Gaiman. First time read. Thanks to
kijjohnson for lending me this. Liked it very much.The Book of Night With Moon, by Diane Duane. Re-read. This is the first book in the series of the cats-who-are-actually-wizards, which companion her So You Want to Be a Wizard series. I picked it up again because I started thinking about it from reading
kijjohnson's Fudoki and wanted to compare how cats as characters were handled culturally in this book. Duane does a good job; the cats' culture is really carefully thought out. The cats' job is to maintain the world gates that wizards use for intergalactic travel. They are really theoretical physicists; they activate the gates by manipulating the hyperstrings in the gates with their claws and teeth, and their conversations are amusingly technical. Really a fun read. The scene where Luciano Pavarotti is eaten by a dinosaur at a concert at Central Park is not to be missed.To Visit the Queen by Diane Duane. Re-Read. The cats are back.
A Wizard Alone by Diane Duane. First time read. This one focuses more on Kit and Ponch.
Vernon Can Read, by Vernon Jordan, Jr. First time read. Fascinating autobiography. Jordan, of course, was a civil rights lawyer who rose to become head of the National Urban League, and head of Clinton's transition team, etc. This book made me think a lot about deliberate career planning. Vernon had to cope with the worst of the segregated South, but never let it stop him. He attributes much of his determination to the character of his really redoubtable mother. From the time he was a small boy, he seemed to be really clear-minded, not letting bigots stop him, because he felt that their time was ending, and it was his job to make their time end. He would take a job, and do his best, but always be on the lookout for the next job, which would allow him to do more. Reading this has made me do some serious reflection (mostly about how bored I am with my own job--think I will look at/address that in the coming year).
And that's it for this month. As I said, a really short list, but that's understandable at this time of year. Right now, I'm in the middle of Guns, Germs and Steel, so that will start out next month's list.
Cheers,
Peg
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2002-12-31 08:28 am (UTC)Sorry^_^ Just a lurker who reads the So You Want To Be a Wizard series and thought your battle of wills with Aragorn was delightful^_^
KishMish
(no subject)
Date: 2002-12-31 04:14 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-01 08:17 pm (UTC)My favourite part of that book was in the prefatory note on the cats' language. Specifically, her translation of a human's mispronounciation of "I would like a drink of milk."
(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-01 08:43 pm (UTC)I've read all the other books set in the "Young Wizards" universe, but haven't managed to find a library copy of Alone yet. It'll probably be part of my "Hardcovers of 2002" January reading series. I'm looking forward to Alone with almost as much hungry anticipation as Brust's Paths of the Dead, which had me almost literally sqealing and falling out of my chair in classic overexcited fan fashion when I heard it had finally been written.
Wizard Alone
Date: 2003-01-01 10:09 pm (UTC)However:
SPOILER
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
For the first time, no one actually _dies_ fighting the Lone Power. Everyone (except the LP itself) actually ends up _better_ than they started out. This is a serious break from her normal pattern. Optimist that I am, I'm guessing it's because the LP's cycle of destruction has finally started to be broken, but we'll have to wait until the next one to really see.
Duane's said that she's been starting on some multi-volume plot-arcs, so that's why things aren't as clear cut as they used to be (i.e. the whole "glede" thing). Continuity is good, but it's also frustrating to try and figure out what's going on without all the pieces.