Books galore!
11 January 2014 
Okay, this may look as though I’m breaking resolutions. But, do I care! No. Books are good! Books are our friends. I like em. And so here are some. Something old, something new, something borrowed and even something blue!
Something old: War of the Oaks by Emma Bull. This is a little bit beaten up but I like well read books:
Something new:
My camera skills leave a little to be desired but…:
- Lud in the Mist by Hope Mirrlees
- Libriomancer by Jim Hines
- Eternity by Julie Kagawa
- Beauty by Robin McKinley
Something borrowed
- Blood Rites by Jim Butcher
- Light by Michael Grant
- Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake
- Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs
and, finally, a lovely blue gift: Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones.
Books and travelling with Lynn 
I quite making resolutions to not buy books a long time ago. Now I just try to judge whether or not it is something I need/want to own as a physical object or if I am fine with the less expensive e-copy or a trip to the library.
Fun pile o’ books! I really like the cover for the DWJ book.
One of my bookish resolutions was to try and buy less books – but not to stop buying any at all – it’s just not realistic for me! Plus, 4 of these are library books and the books I bought were with my Christmas vouchers so I figure I’m not being too bad – in fact I’ve still got enough left for a few more books yet but I’m saving that for some releases I’m waiting for!
I’m looking forward to all these I must admit but the DWJ book especially – Howl’s Castle was so good.
Lynn 😀
Ooooooooooooooh. Shiny books! I hope you’ll enjoy them all! Charmed Life isn’t quite as layered or deep as Howl’s Moving Castle, but it’s still an utterly delightful read. Everything I’ve read by DWJ has been enjoyable and a lot of fun. (Well, okay. The Time of the Ghost wasn’t much fun, but that’s the exception and it’s a very different kind of book to what she normally, er, wrote, so that makes sense.) Charmed Life was actually the first DWJ book I read and she’s been on my “I must collect all the books” list since. If you’ve got a decent amount of longer or heavier books on your pile (such as, uh, Gormenghast there) it makes a perfect in-between read. It’s light-hearted and exciting, but it’s never heavy and it’s a really fast read even when accounting for its length compared to other books. ^-^
And I’ll… stop attempting to be a rambling DWJ advert now? That’s probably a good idea. Let’s stick with it. XD (Although if you want me to continue rambling about DWJ I’d be more than happy too if given a nudge on what you want to hear. ^-~)
I can’t quite make it out in the picture, but your copy of Gormenghast is all three books in one big volume, I think? I hope it is!
And… then all I’ve read of what you’ve got recently is Lud-in-the-Mist which is also quite lovely. I really enjoyed it when I read it, though it was very different from what I was expecting. It’s been a while since I read it, though.
Thanks for the comments. I’m happy for you to tell me as much as you like about DWJ – consider me a fan after reading Howl’s Moving Castle.
I must confess that I ordered Gormenghast from the library on something of a whim – I did have a bit of a gulp when I actually saw just how big it actually is. Have you read it – did you like it??
Lud in the Mist does look lovely and I’m looking forward to that.
Lynn 😀
I shall attempt to remember it for future ramblings. I love how layered most all her stories are. If I recall, it’s not quite so noticeable with Charmed Life or even Howl, but with a lot of her books there’s actually a really dark and chilling undercurrent that you might miss as a child or on a first read that makes rereading the books so much more worthwhile. And it doesn’t make the fun and excitement of the stories any less fun or exciting. It’s a gorgeous mesh. (At least in my opinion.)
I have read it, yes! I… am of two minds about it, really. It’s a gorgeous, deeply rewarding book with a lot of subtlety, but it’s also a very slow read. The prose sprawls and the plot meanders, and I found the amount of details utterly overwhelming even if/though I’d not want the book to be written differently. It wouldn’t work for me with a different style. That said, it’s definitely an acquired taste kind of book because it’s so different from most anything else. (It’s probably got more in common with Richardson’s Clarissa than, say, Tolkien in terms of the style.) I hope you’ll enjoy it, though. ❤
It's a very quiet little thing, is the Mirrlees. I'm very sad she only published the one book. I'd have liked to see another in a similar style. If I remember, it's one of the books that inspired Gaiman's Stardust in some small way? I think I remember that he talked about it positively somewhere at least. Might be a nice nugget of informatin if you didn’t already know. ^_^
Excellent! Well, I’m going to give Gormenghast a try and maybe just read it slowly and see if it grabs me. That’s interesting about Gaiman/Stardust/Mirrlees – must read that soon!
Thanks so much for all the information. That’s really great.
Lynn 😀
You might have to give Gormenghast a little longer than you’re used to to get a decent feel for it, but if it’s not working it’s not working!
I’m not 100% sure on it, mind you! It’s been a long time since I’ve read either Stardust or Lud-in-the-mist, but he said something about the relation somewhere because he’s the one who made me seek it out.
Not a problem. I love nattering about books and if I end up being somewhat helpful along with it, all the better! ^_^
We’re just a pair of massive book geeks aren’t we – don’t get me started because it could go on all night!
Lynn 😀
I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t mind particularly much if it did. ^-~ (Well, all right. My body would hate both of us because I’m fairly sensitive to sleep deprivation, but other than that…) Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on these books! ^_^
The first two books in the Gormenghast trilogy are the biggest, by the by. If I recall, they’re both chunksters while the third is… different from the other two in pretty much every single way you can imagine.
Hah, we have something else in common then – I’m a sleep monster. Literally, if I don’t have at LEAST 8 hours I don’t like anybody at all – not even Neil Gaimain. I can quite happily sleep for 10 hours – perhaps I was a cat in a former life.
I’m pretty good with slow books – I’ll give it at least 100-150 pages, maybe even more, before I put it down.
It almost reminds me – just in the way of having three books and them being a little different of Jonathan Norrell and Mr Strange – which I really loved. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea and some people find it very slow – have you read it??
Lynn 😀
Oooh, you found some good ones. I love Robin McKinley.
Happy reading!
You wouldn’t believe how difficult it’s been to to get a hold of Beauty – first I tried the library, in a waiting list for ages – then it turned out the book had ‘disappeared’, then tried various book shops and they’ve never had a copy in, I always keep my eyes open for a copy when I’m out and about but never saw sight or sound of this book – don’t know why I didn’t just go on Amazon in the first place to be honest!
Really looking forward to it though – I do like McKinley.
Lynn 😀
Oh wow! That’s quite a saga to find it. Hope you enjoy it! 🙂
Yes, ditto, it would be a shame now if it’s only so-so!
Lynn 😀
Lovely books Lynn! Hope you enjoy Charmed Life. 😉
I bought Gormenghast aaaages ago on Marcus Sedgwick’s recommendation. As usual I haven’t read I yet but I will be awaiting your review!
It’s huge – apparently three books in one. Part of me ‘whimpers’ whenever I look at it and part of me just wants to dive head first in. Similar to you I picked this up because I read it off another Author’s site – can’t bloody well remember which author though now! Typical.
Lynn 😀
there are some goodies there! yay for War for the Oaks! Yay for Libriomancer! Yay for Diana Wynne Jones!!
Such an unusual cover on the War of the Oaks! Very curious to read that one. Libriomancer I’ve been wanting to read for ages but, to be honest, and I know this sounds miserly – I was simply waiting for the price of that one to come down! We don’t get a lot of these books in the shops over here and if they’re imported they’re double the price.
Really looking forward to the DWJ – I’ve only read Howl’s Moving Castle but I loved it.
I think between you, Carl and my other book buddie, Jenny, I’m going to slowly sink under a sea of books – it might not be a bad way to go though. Reading right up to the final moment! LOL
Lynn 😀
Hah, we have something else in common then – I’m a sleep monster. Literally, if I don’t have at LEAST 8 hours I don’t like anybody at all – not even Neil Gaimain. I can quite happily sleep for 10 hours – perhaps I was a cat in a former life.
Heh. Could well be! I’m on the other end of the scale. If I get more than 6 hours of sleep I spend the entire day dazed, sluggish, snarly and feeling exhausted. It does mean that the sleep I get is very important, though.
I’m pretty good with slow books – I’ll give it at least 100-150 pages, maybe even more, before I put it down.
That’ll be about right, I suspect. One thing I’d recommend is that, even though the first book is called Titus Groan, don’t expect to see much of him until the second book. Talking about it has left me wondering if one of the reasons it’s such an… acquired-taste reading is because the back blurb leads people to expect something entirely different from what the book actually is.
It almost reminds me – just in the way of having three books and them being a little different of Jonathan Norrell and Mr Strange – which I really loved. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea and some people find it very slow – have you read it??
I couldn’t get along with the footnotes. 😦 I bought it… shortly after it came out, I think? A long time ago, anyway. I’d actually like to try it again as an ebook because I suspect that might solve the issue I had with them. It sounds like a book I’d really enjoy, in terms of the storyline anyway, and I remember liking the main narrative. But I just… did not get along with the footnotes. There was much sadness.
Well, I have a confession – I didn’t get along with the footnotes and so ignored quite a lot (aka all) of them – now, I hold my hands up that it’s probably a very bad thing to do and I fully realise that there was probably some very necessary information in those but they got on my last nerve so I just read the story – it just felt like info dumping by another name. To be even more honest, I didn’t read all of Tolkien’s appendices either – and, again, I realise it’s just sacrilege but it just felt like too much information – I was happy with the story! Enough already.
*laughs* I’m a bit glad I’m not the only one, to be honest!
I think my main issues with the footnotes was how incredibly long they were and the way their use wasn’t immediately and visibly relevant to the narrative style or the plot. I’ve read plenty of annotated texts with footnotes to know how I prefer my footnotes and JS&MN‘s just didn’t deliver on what I want and need.
I’m… not actually sure I ever read the appendices. I must have read them quite a few times when I was younger, but I don’t remember at all. I quite understand, though! I’m often much the same way, but I like having the option to explore more in depth if it’s my choice to do so. ^-^
Basically – I don’t mind the information being there if I need it – but I reserve the right to ignore it!
Lynn:D
Re: Gormenghast, rather than the actual content of the post. That one might take awhile. Though you could probably read the first book and see if you like it enough to continue. Still, it’s slow going. Kind of a bizarre comedy of manners if Dickens were transported into an Escher painting. Or something.
Come to think of it, the early second books was the best part.
Well, I can only give it a try – I’m a bit more tolerant about putting a book down these days if I’m not enjoying it than I used to be so we’ll see! It’s a library book – and there doesn’t seem to be any queue so I can probably take my time and keep renewing!
Lynn 😀