May 17, 2012

Fearless Mocking of Jay Dante's Storm of Big Sex

This weeks reading list from the staff.

Alan: "I'm working through Suzanne Collins' series.  Finished HUNGER GAMES, which was excellent and added more dimension to the story compared to the film (no surprise there).  Now I'm into CATCHING FIRE.  It's darker than the first book but very good.  After that I'm going to finish off with MOCKINGJAY.  After that my list is open.  Any suggestions?"

Jude: "I'm reading THE DANTE CLUB by Matthew Pearl, a literary mystery set in Cambridge, 1865.  A serial killer is apparently offing his victims according to Dante's punishments, and the only people who can solve the mystery belong to a club of poets and academics who are translating Dante from Italian to English, including Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., and James Russell Lowell. I'm more than halfway through and still don't know how I feel about it.  Quite vivid characters, but it . . .plods a bit. To stick with the 19th century theme, I'm also reading CHINATOWN'S ANGRY ANGEL: THE STORY OF DONALDINA CAMERON by Mildred Crowl Martin, an utterly fascinating nonfiction look at the missionary who rescued thousands of Chinese (and other) girls from lives of prostitution and slavery in San Francisco's Chinatown in the late 1800's - early 1900's. (Incidentally, the book, which was published in 1977, hasn't said a word about what happened to these girls if they refused to convert to Christianity.  I sincerely hope, and it seems from the text, that they were not denied sanctuary.) Regardless, there is no denying that this woman's achievements were extraordinary and the story is captivating."

Claud: "BIG SEX LITTLE DEATH: A MEMOIR, by Susie Bright"

Heather: "Just started STORM OF SWORDS by George R.R. Martin."

Cary: "Still reading SAN FRANCISCO NOIR edited by Peter Maravelis and re-reading GOING POSTAL by Terry Pratchett."

Naamen: "FEARLESS by Jack Campbell
MilitarySF  - Moved on to the 2nd in the series, still a good bit of fast-paced action with surprising depth of character and interesting personal and global politics.

FLORA SEGUNDA by Ysabeau S. Wilce
YA Alternate World - Only a few pages in but WOW, great world-building, interesting set-up and I love the protagonist already.  Really shows me what some of the younger aimed speculative fiction I've read lately need to be doing."

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