books

[gategrrl]

Yay! I finally ordered the second part of the As the World Dies trilogy!  

It'll be fun to read that, once it comes up in my TBR list pile. Right now I have to read The Stolen One, but I've been busy with doctors', dentists' and vets' appointments, and so on that I haven't had a chance to devote the time I need to really read through it.

I've printed out a few how-to articles on how to review a book, but they seem mostly angled for kids in college turning a paper in to a professor. But the principles are the same, at least.

In the meantime, I dragged my copy of Sink Reflections off of the bookshelf to review the principles in that book (I am a born messy, and drive the Guy NUTS because I just don't see the same mess he does when he comes home.)

I also reread a Jack McDevitt book that I can't seem to shake, mostly because of its perspective and because the main mover and shaker in the novel is a woman explorer/silversmith. The book is Eternity Road. It's a lot of fun.

Comments

[sars.livejournal.com]

Can I grab the how-to links from you, please? Might help me with my music reviews, which seem to mostly consist of "awesome" and "fantastic" :)

[gategrrl.livejournal.com]

Let me see...I typed "How to write a book review" into Google and selected the best looking articles. eHow.com is one of the sites. Their articles are short and to the point.

The other article I printed is from www.lavc.edu/Library/bookreview.com.

Try How to write a music review into Google. Heaven knows I wouldn't know how to write a music review if I tried. I've got NO frame of reference, and it's not "my thing". I suspect some of the principles behind writing a music and a book review are the same, but a lot might be different.

[sars.livejournal.com]

Thanks :)

[ladyjax.livejournal.com]

Interestingly enough, Eternity Road is the only McDevitt book I've never finished. It just didn't grab me the way the others have.

[gategrrl.livejournal.com]

I've got Moonfall coming via Paperback Book Swap, and I have Deep Six, which I am looking forward to reading, too. I wouldn't say McDevitt is a...I don't quite know how to put this. He's not a masterful wordsmith, BUT I do like how he actually incorporates women into his books and makes a real effort to treat them as *people* which is so damn rare. He tries almost too hard with Eternity Road. I can just about see his mind working at it and processing how he's viewing women's roles in a future society, etc. It's interesting.

I'm hoping reading more of his stuff will help me figure out his point of view, or where's he's really coming from.

[ladyjax.livejournal.com]

I think I started reading McDevitt with Moonfall and then Ancient Shores and those two top my list as far as faves go.

Deep Six is part of what has come to be known as the Academy novels featuring Patricia "Hutch" Hutchins. The rest of the novels in the cycle are definitely worth reading, although "The Engines of God" which is an earlier McDevitt novel (and is technically the first Academy novel) remains another novel I have yet to get through. I'm not entirely sure why.

I agree, he's a bit on the breezy side - although for someone who is more on the hard sci fi side of the fence, he doesn't neglect the personal relationships between his characters and there's growth throughout a lot of the novels. And I love his women. I don't know how he does it, but he gives them a lot of depth, even if their parts in the story are small. I always rec him to people who think they won't like harder sci fi as someone worth reading.