I was trying to find out if an author tour is planned, so I could pick up a hardcover copy from a local bookstore nearish hosting an eve03 April, 2023
I was trying to find out if an author tour is planned, so I could pick up a hardcover copy from a local bookstore nearish hosting an event where I could say "I love your work" and get a copy signed. Did not find. Checked the publisher website and saw "Category: Romance."
WTH? To be clear, I read a lot of romance, so I am not ragging on the idea. I just can't reconcile having only one Category tag for an author with crossover appeal. But also: did anyone in marketing look at that cover? That cover says "for fans of
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and
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, and
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" That cover says humorous scifi, not Romance.
Am I wrong?
***
4th July, 2023
And today I finished reading it, coincidentally over the July fourth weekend during which I also saw Asteroid City. Not the only good time to read it, but pretty good.
The book is better than "pretty good" by a lot. Classic screwball comedy which does require a little love interest, but is more about putting sane people in a maelstrom of amusing absurdity for comic effect. Willis is brilliant at that maelstrom. And at the cinematic references. So many movies are named checked, that one should probably not read it without an interest in movies. A delightful read, and one lending itself to dream casting: there aren't any bad choices no matter when or where the cast is selected.
Another satisfying ending. Burrowes sense of justice is highly advanced as well as entertaining. Restorative and empowering. The art world aspect makeAnother satisfying ending. Burrowes sense of justice is highly advanced as well as entertaining. Restorative and empowering. The art world aspect makes me think of How to Steal a Million.
The Windham family is a hoot, Megan is relatable, and it's good to see PTSD in a book that isn't depressing. Her characters are practical, affectionatThe Windham family is a hoot, Megan is relatable, and it's good to see PTSD in a book that isn't depressing. Her characters are practical, affectionate, and they have hibbies and interests. But one thing that's common these days is off-putting ro me. I have no quarrel with using word choice as characterization, but I really hate dialogue written in dialect. It's condescending to Scots in a way "she loved listening to the way he said 'Ptarmigan'" isn't. English is not a phonetic language, and this is not going to age well cf., slave dialect in 19th and 20th century fiction.
It's odd that one of the the blurbs for this, not the one on this actual edition, contains two big plot points which are not present in the text. I amIt's odd that one of the the blurbs for this, not the one on this actual edition, contains two big plot points which are not present in the text. I am left wondering of there were significant revisions at some point, or no one familiar with the text ever bothered to read the blurb, or there is some kind of time travel/magic/multiverse shenanigans. Along the same vein, I have been wanting to read this for years because I thought it was about Christopher Marlowe, which it is not, at all.
Nor did I realize it was a swashbuckling extravaganza, and fun with that. In retrospect, I wonder if Neal Stephenson considered it an influence on The Baroque Cycle.
I'm glad it's been reissued: it deserves more readers...more
This is part of my 365 Kids Books challenge. For a fuller explanation see my review for 101 Amazing Facts about Australia You can see all the books onThis is part of my 365 Kids Books challenge. For a fuller explanation see my review for 101 Amazing Facts about Australia You can see all the books on their own shelf. Yay, Reviewers list is fixed, as far as I can tell. Still waiting for the Readers list to be fixed, though.
Most of the books I've read have been picture books, because I am, after all trying to read and review twice as many books as normal this year and I need to sleep sometimes. But Rundell's books are just too good to ignore.
It's a heist and Vita is putting together a gang. Meanwhile, New York is crawling with the organized crime that fills a Prohibition vacuum. There's action, adventure, fights, revenge, plotting, lots of critters, jewels, a castle, poverty, and eating. This is not a book with kissing in it. This is the film script Dickens would have written for the Ocean's franchise.
Capers are not to everyone's taste, but if anything can change your mind, it's probably this. Also, it would be a fabulous film.
Think of this as Ocean's 8th grade. The tone feels like Hiasson's Hoot and Scat, only with (street) art as a motif. Plus fun facts about Banksy.
LibraryThink of this as Ocean's 8th grade. The tone feels like Hiasson's Hoot and Scat, only with (street) art as a motif. Plus fun facts about Banksy.
Such a weird book, and such a delight. The plot is just a hanger for the interactions between the mother and son, the sisters, the aunts and the n1990
Such a weird book, and such a delight. The plot is just a hanger for the interactions between the mother and son, the sisters, the aunts and the nephew. I dearly love these sisters, and their crazy trip to take in the autumn foliage of Vermont.
***
2014, August 26
All these years later I still adore it just as much. Joe's love for these three women is complete and accepting and generous. And the contrast between the middle-class suburban working women and the fantastically wealthy WASPs of Maine slays me.
***
23 January 2023
I can only hope the three sisters to whom this book was dedicated were half as delighted with this book as I am. There is so much fond indulgence and appreciation. Since my first reading, younger than Joe, and still today when I am in Hedy territory, it's just the most unconditionally loving book. Plenty of exasperation, but such acceptance.
And also, so very much my sense of humor. Well, now it occurs to me that my taste is not merely aligned with, but actually based largely on Rudnick's body of work.
The Glamourist Histories start with an extremely well-done Jane Austen sort of Regency romance with magic as an art form. Then with each subsequent boThe Glamourist Histories start with an extremely well-done Jane Austen sort of Regency romance with magic as an art form. Then with each subsequent book Kowal makes great leaps in the development of the art, development of the characters within their marriage, the opportunity to take her couple places Austen never went like the Napoleonic wars and the slave trade, while always managing to maintain the Austen tone.
It's kind of astounding even though Novik does essentially the same thing with the Forester/O'Brien tradition of naval war novels.
And now I'm off to read, because writing this up I realized that I skipped the second book in the series entirely. I knew my September was rough, but, wow, that's a pretty huge error to make.
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