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Media Roll Call
Oct. 3rd, 2012 12:21 am37) Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L Sayers - It's Lord Peter. What can I say? I love the man for all his flaws and the painful sort of way he carries through with his own moral code. The plot centered at an advertising agency is only more clever when you remember that Sayers herself spent about a decade as a copywriter (her most notable work being the "zoo" series for Guinness - think the Toucan poster, all). Though I could have done without the detailed cricket match. I've never understood the game and so it flew right over my head. Luckily, there was very little in that scene that affected the plot. Anyway, it was good to read it after having seen the BBC adaptation and feeling that they did right by it (Oh, Ian Carmichael, you're too, too Wimsey).
38) Badass: The Birth of a Legend by Ben Thompson - A Half-Price Books find that I couldn't resist and, for a fiver, not feeling too guilty about it. It's a fast, fun read and mostly well-researched. I rolled my eyes at some of the lightness and flippancy when it got to be a bit much but, considering the tone and the fact that (unsurprisingly) the writer is an on-off staffer for Cracked... It was pretty good and it was charming to read a book that ranges all the hell over the place. Start with Anubis and end with Daleks? Okay, buddy. Also he gets points for even knowing who Oya is - even if the write-up lacks one of my favorite myths.
39) Lowcountry Boil by Susan M Boyer - A GoodReads advanced reader gift copy. I really must write a proper review of it for the site. I meant to do that before the book was fully released (9/18) but... Life. Sigh. Anyway, it was a fairly charming read with some wonderful detail in the setting and a clear love for the setting. The plot is fairly strong, too, with minimal holes to it and it had good flow once you got into it. There were a few things, though, that got to me. Firstly, the brand-name dropping and gadget-mentioning felt like someone at work who flashes their Rolex when you ask the time - a bit pretentious and sure to date the book before too long. Not offensive but definitely noticeable. Secondly, while the motives and threads were all finally tied together there was more than a dash of Soap Opera to parts of it. You needed to suspend some of that good common-sense disbelief. Thirdly... Was the supernatural gimmick really bloody necessary? But the heroine is kinda charming and I have an immense and strangely abiding love for her poor beleaguered brother.
... And I swear I'll do a proper update on my life and the past trip to CA soon. Promise. I know I'm boring the hell out of you all.
38) Badass: The Birth of a Legend by Ben Thompson - A Half-Price Books find that I couldn't resist and, for a fiver, not feeling too guilty about it. It's a fast, fun read and mostly well-researched. I rolled my eyes at some of the lightness and flippancy when it got to be a bit much but, considering the tone and the fact that (unsurprisingly) the writer is an on-off staffer for Cracked... It was pretty good and it was charming to read a book that ranges all the hell over the place. Start with Anubis and end with Daleks? Okay, buddy. Also he gets points for even knowing who Oya is - even if the write-up lacks one of my favorite myths.
39) Lowcountry Boil by Susan M Boyer - A GoodReads advanced reader gift copy. I really must write a proper review of it for the site. I meant to do that before the book was fully released (9/18) but... Life. Sigh. Anyway, it was a fairly charming read with some wonderful detail in the setting and a clear love for the setting. The plot is fairly strong, too, with minimal holes to it and it had good flow once you got into it. There were a few things, though, that got to me. Firstly, the brand-name dropping and gadget-mentioning felt like someone at work who flashes their Rolex when you ask the time - a bit pretentious and sure to date the book before too long. Not offensive but definitely noticeable. Secondly, while the motives and threads were all finally tied together there was more than a dash of Soap Opera to parts of it. You needed to suspend some of that good common-sense disbelief. Thirdly... Was the supernatural gimmick really bloody necessary? But the heroine is kinda charming and I have an immense and strangely abiding love for her poor beleaguered brother.
... And I swear I'll do a proper update on my life and the past trip to CA soon. Promise. I know I'm boring the hell out of you all.
