I can' remember the last time I was too sick to read for more than a few hours, but I was for most of December. Heres what I can remember reading in November:
Firstly, I continued with my teen fiction reading. Patrick Ness' The Knife of Never Letting Go and its sequel The Ask and the Answer, Michael Grant's Hunger and Suzanne Collins' Mockingjay. I do wonder with some series whether the author planned to write the sequels before finishing the first book, or after. Some seem to run out of steam, stretch an initially promising premise a little too far, or loose what was interesting about a character as the story takes over. Having said that, I've got Michael Grant's Lies on my To Be Read pile and I've ordered Patrick Ness' next book from the library.
Moving right along (as Fozzie Bear sang), I read The Last Summer (of you and me) and My Name is Memory, books written for adult readers by Ann Brashares, who is best known for her Traveling Pants series for teens. I think the first title was far more successful than the second. It delt with characters coming of age, and negotiating relationships that change (or don't) as childhood friends become adults. Perhapes this is familiar territory to a teen writer, but the characters were well developed (if a little cliched), and the sense of place - Fire Island -was wonderfully conveyed. I felt that the plot of My Name is Memory completely overwealmed the characters. Only the central character was developed, and was ultimatel not particularly likeable (not that characters have to be likable, but in a romance, you have to at least understand why they may seem attractive to other characters in the story. The last few chapters suggested that a sequel is planned, so maybe the story wil appear more balanced read as a whole.
That is just the case with Connie Willis' Blackout and All Clear, in which time traveling Oxford University history students (with an astonishing lack of general knowledge about the past) travel to WWII to study the Blitz. I've enoyed Connie Willis time travel novels for years, so was a real treat, but I do think that the books could have been a little shorter. Her characters spend a lot of time worrying about things, then worrying about them again for a few pages, and so on. Important clues are embedded in the worry, but I'm sure the characters could worry a little more concisely, with the help of an editor. Still, time travel is a favorite of mine, as Connie Willis will always be.
Many of my other November reads were set in the past too, though none involved time travel. Daisy Goodman's My Last Duchess was set in 1890's England, and told the story of an American Heiress marrying into the English aristocracy. This was a random pick - it may have had shiny bits on the cover, and I love a bit of glitter - but I was pleasantly surprised. Expectation is all - having been told that Eloisa James is the writer to read if you love regency romances, I was a little dissapointed. She writes well, but maybe I'd prefer her if no one had told me that I should love her books. I enjoyed A Duke of Her Own wich was set around 1760 (I think, my memory is a bit vague, but it was definately pre-regency) but I did not love it.
Returning to twentieth century settings, Colm Toibin's Brooklyn was fantastic, and Julian Fellowes novels Past Imperfect and Snobs were good reads. The first made me think of Antony Powell's "Dance to the music of time", and the second Nancy Mitfords "Love in a cold climate". Barbara Vines The Minotaur was good, but the story did not resonate as much with me as the Blood Doctor did.
And finally, the twentyfirst century and Kate Atkinsons When Will There Be Good News and Started Early Took My Dog Both excellent.
