The interconnection of forests and fungi and how trees communicate and all that is a fascinating subject. Unfortunately, by 20% I know a lot more abouThe interconnection of forests and fungi and how trees communicate and all that is a fascinating subject. Unfortunately, by 20% I know a lot more about the author's parents' marital issues, her grandparents' various physical damage from logging, and her brother's career as a rodeo rider. Meanwhile, all the stuff about trees and fungi is being presented in a kind of detective story way with the author slowly developing ideas and thinking about stuff in extremely academic terms, rather than just writing about her subject from her current position of expertise.
I'm going to guess that the publisher wanted all the rodeo and memoir stuff to humanise a scientific book, but you have to be a very good writer / have a very interesting family to persuade readers who've only bought your book to read about X subject that they want to read your family memoir alongside it.
DNF at 20% with some annoyance because this seems like a really interesting subject, and the stuff about commercial logging practices was good....more
Extremely YA so not for me. Didn't see that on the marketing at all, though it's shelved as YA a lot here so that's on me for not looking further I guExtremely YA so not for me. Didn't see that on the marketing at all, though it's shelved as YA a lot here so that's on me for not looking further I guess. ...more
Too hard for me (and I kind of meant that as in 'hard SF' but tbh I'm happy to accept I'm not clever enough for this). Brilliant opening set in the CuToo hard for me (and I kind of meant that as in 'hard SF' but tbh I'm happy to accept I'm not clever enough for this). Brilliant opening set in the Cultural Revolution, after which I spent the next 100 pages failing to engage, so DNF.
One of the 'randos rec me 12 books' challenge. So far this isn't an unalloyed success, oh well. ...more
I'm not sure if it's me or the author, but this is one of those book's where I agree entirely with everything the author says but it's nevertheless piI'm not sure if it's me or the author, but this is one of those book's where I agree entirely with everything the author says but it's nevertheless pissing me off so much I need to stop reading before I cover my garden in concrete just for spite. It's the hectoring and-another-thing tone, I think: really grates on my nerves. ...more
I don't think I can take any more complaining about how the British consider their English superior to American English. OK, fine, that's the title, II don't think I can take any more complaining about how the British consider their English superior to American English. OK, fine, that's the title, I completely agree that people who whine about other dialects existing are awful, but I was hoping for linguistics rather than the author getting what feels like several decades of resentment off her chest. (And it's hardly one-way spite, is it? Especially with the analyses here of business and obituary language to indicate that Americans are go getting, independent and fact based while Brits are stuffy and subservient to power.)
I bailed at this sentence:
In American business pages, stocks fall to a new price from an old one, but rise from an old price to a new one in the UK papers. ... the American news focus is on now. Information about the past is put in the grammatical background.
What. The 'from old' / 'to new' is identical. Is she arguing that citing the new price before the old one is putting the focus on new, and if so, why are we assuming the 'grammatical focus' is on the thing in the middle of the sentence and not the thing at its end? How is this affected by the fact that one example is of rising prices and the other falling? Do Brits and Americans always do this the same way round? Can we really use this to prove that the British are backward-looking and mired in the past while Americans look to the future? (No.)
I think I have reached my limit with literary fiction character pieces about unpleasant people.
We're with a group of pilgrims heading to meet in LondI think I have reached my limit with literary fiction character pieces about unpleasant people.
We're with a group of pilgrims heading to meet in London then go to Rome. The thirteenth century travelogue is extensively researched and it shows. The pilgrims take turn narrating chapters, and are all unreliable and mostly awful, and by 28% with no discernible plot emerging I decided I didn't care to find out more. I don't insist characters should be likeable as long as they're human and interesting, but the repeated unreliable narrator effect made it feel more like a conscious puzzle to me. If you like that effect, you'll be in heaven.
DNF at 28% in search of some action. Call me lowbrow....more
Opens with a page of jokey casual homophobia which put my hackles up and by 20% hadn't really recovered from that so I'm bailing. Plus, a political coOpens with a page of jokey casual homophobia which put my hackles up and by 20% hadn't really recovered from that so I'm bailing. Plus, a political comedy that doesn't soft soap the very real problems is something I'd be very on for, but I'm not sure how well that fits with the romcom aspect, for me at least. Or possibly I don't have a sense of humour about politics any more. Anyway, not working for me. DNF....more
Didn't hold my attention at all. I read about a hundred pages, found the style heavy going, and felt I'd gleaned very little information for the lengtDidn't hold my attention at all. I read about a hundred pages, found the style heavy going, and felt I'd gleaned very little information for the length. Obviously, lots of people think it's magisterial science writing so possibly just a casualty of my pandemic brain, but I'm moving on. ...more
I love Buchan but his historicals are a bit like Conan Doyle's, burdened by research and dialect to a point where the story can barely stagger under tI love Buchan but his historicals are a bit like Conan Doyle's, burdened by research and dialect to a point where the story can barely stagger under their weight, and it felt a lot too much like hard work in my current state of mind....more
Had to give up on Dion Fortune at this point. The narrator is an epic bore, the heroine is a lot too much Eternal Feminine for tolerability. Also, theHad to give up on Dion Fortune at this point. The narrator is an epic bore, the heroine is a lot too much Eternal Feminine for tolerability. Also, the edition I got (with the big wave on the cover, Youcanprint Kindle ed) is unreadable as there are no paragraph breaks at all. Annoyingly, I got this one because the Weiser editions of Fortune are so appallingly, sloppily OCR'd as to be unreadable. If I were Dion Fortune, I'd haunt people. ...more
I am not destined to be at one with this author. Second book, also strange fable-like feel to it, and once again rammed with inexplicable inconsistencI am not destined to be at one with this author. Second book, also strange fable-like feel to it, and once again rammed with inexplicable inconsistencies that a browse of reviews say aren't resolved or explained. I'm sure it's marvellous, but overwhelmingly not for me. ...more
Exceedingly heavy on the worldbuilding and backstory, which means that by half way through there's been a limited amount of plot, and I'm still not reExceedingly heavy on the worldbuilding and backstory, which means that by half way through there's been a limited amount of plot, and I'm still not really abreast of the exceedingly elaborate world. Some fantasy readers' hearts will leap at this; not for me. ...more
Weird novel of living in a dreamlike version of London with plots and strangeness. Concept reminds me a lot of early Michael Marshall Smith, which gooWeird novel of living in a dreamlike version of London with plots and strangeness. Concept reminds me a lot of early Michael Marshall Smith, which good, but the premise is basically that Dream London is this horribly retro place where all women are grossly treated as sex objects including by the narrator (the word 'whore' is used relentlessly), being gay is vilified, Indian people are forced into offensive stereotypes, etc. I get the author is telling us this is a Bad Thing via the very unlikeable narrator, but whatever the intent, it's still page after page of objectification and abuse to read and I didn't have the strength so DNF....more
This is brilliantly written and completely compelling--detective novel set in a collapsing African state, with incredible atmosphere and build up--butThis is brilliantly written and completely compelling--detective novel set in a collapsing African state, with incredible atmosphere and build up--but it's just too much for me right now. Extremely violent and frankly I can't take the tension. 100% "it's not you it's me" because it's one of the best written thrillers I've read in forever, and I really want to keep reading even while I can't. Can you read a book while hiding behind the sofa? I sort of need to do that....more
A novelisation of history, in the "Queen Victoria fiddled with her rings and frowned as her gruff yet reliable Prime Minister, William Gladstone, enteA novelisation of history, in the "Queen Victoria fiddled with her rings and frowned as her gruff yet reliable Prime Minister, William Gladstone, entered the room" style throughout. Whether you find this a good approach to non-fiction, or indeed readable, is very much a matter of personal taste. DNF about three pages in. ...more
Rendered totally unreadable in electronic form by the baffling decision of the publisher to do the footnotes as hyperlinks covering multiple words eacRendered totally unreadable in electronic form by the baffling decision of the publisher to do the footnotes as hyperlinks covering multiple words each, so it feels like about 10% of the text is underlined and in different colours, and it's barely possible to turn the page without bringing up a footnote box. I don't know who thought this was a good formatting decision but it's unusable and hopelessly distracting.
DNF at 15%. Do not buy the ebook. No idea what the book itself is like, I think Goethe came into it....more
Not getting this at all. No connection with the characters, no interest in the setup, no desire to learn more. I couldn't get into Gladstone's Craft sNot getting this at all. No connection with the characters, no interest in the setup, no desire to learn more. I couldn't get into Gladstone's Craft sequence either so I suspect this is just a matter of a personal non-click. Can't win 'em all. DNF at 25%...more
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