January reading

[jenett]

I've been tracking books I read in a single entry, this time, since both individual entries and GoodReads, etc. seem to be failing me. Some comments below, but not for every book - feel free to ask about the ones I didn't have notes for.



New to me
1: Catching Fire : Suzanne Collins (2nd in the Hunger Games series)

This is one of those YA series where you can't poke at the world-building too hard, because it's got gaps, but where the series is still remarkably satisfying and intriguing anyway. This one also nice because it is not necessary to actually like the protagonist all the time. (She is someone trying to make the best of a really lousy set of choices, and she is smarter about that at some points than others.) Desperately looking forward to the third one.

2: Click here for murder: Donna Andrews (2nd in the Turing Hopper series)

3: Soulless : Gail Carriger
I mentioned this one earlier, but I remain fond of it - steampunk Victorian! Vampires! Werewolves! Amusing relationships! Queen Victoria being firm! Again, places where you sort of eye it and go "Erm?" but the overall effect is more than enough to carry it through and keep me reading.

4: The Enchantment Emporium : Tanya Huff
I like Tanya Huff a lot in general, but this is actually one of my favorites of hers - it's got a particularly interesting worldbuilding bit of backstory, and she's really good at slowly revealing bits and pieces that are obvious to the main characters (who know all of that already) while keeping the tension going for the reader.

5: Body Signs: From Warning Signs to False Alarms: How to be your own diagnostic detective : Joan Liebmann-Smith and Jacqueline Nardi Egan
6: The Women of Nell Gwynne's : Kage Baker
7: Every Patient Tells A Story : Medical Mysteries and the art of diagnosis : Lisa Sanders
8: The Devil's Queen: A Novel of Catherine de Medici : Jeanne Kalogridis

9: Curse of the Good Girl : Rachel Simmons
I like Simmons' _Odd Girl Out_ a lot, and this is much in the same vein - the idea of what it means to be a 'good girl' in our culture, and what living up to that ideal destroys and alters in destructive ways. Like her first book, she has lots of direct stories from her own experience (as a girl, and then as a mentor in various spaces) that help illustrate her points.

Rereads
1: Exile's Honor : Mercedes Lackey
2: Arrows of the Queen : Mercedes Lackey
3: The Art of Detection : Laurie R. King
4: Arrow's Fall : Mercedes Lackey
5: The President's Daughter : Ellen Emerson White (her President's Daughter series)
6: White House Autumn : Ellen Emerson White (her President's Daughter series)
7: Long Live the Queen : Ellen Emerson White (her President's Daughter series)
8: Long May She Reign : Ellen Emerson White (her President's Daughter series)
9: Locked Rooms: Laurie King
10: Bell, Book, and Murder : Omnibus of 3 Bast novels : Rosemary Edghill
11: Scent to her grave : India Ink
12: A Blush with death : India Ink
13: Glossed and found : India Ink

Comments

[finch]

Body Signs: From Warning Signs to False Alarms: How to be your own diagnostic detective : Joan Liebmann-Smith and Jacqueline Nardi Egan

That sounds interesting. Was it?

[jenett]

I liked the way they presented information - each chapter deals with a different system or collection, so for example, the one on skin and hair deals with dry skin, hair loss, etc.

I already knew most of the information in there, but it was an interesting read, and a nice reminder of some things.

[sashajwolf.livejournal.com]

What did you think of Body Signs?

[jenett]

I thought it was interesting, but I already knew most of the info in it. What it does - which is interesting, definitely - is work through different parts of the body, talk about various symptoms and what they might indicate - so, for example, the section on skin has a part about dry skin, and all the things it might indicate. Hair has a section on hair loss, and the things that might suggest.

Some of the things are 'here are things you can do to help' and some of them are 'You should mention this to your doctor' and some are 'You should go see your doctor soon, and here's why', in what seemed to me to be a pretty reasonable balance.

[sashajwolf.livejournal.com]

Thanks - this is really helpful. I think if you already knew most of the information, I probably would too - my impression is that we have similar levels of awareness about How Our Bodies Work.

[jenett]

Yep - that was also my thought. I got it - as I did almost all of the books on my list above - from the library, and consider it a good use of time to read, but I'd be unlikely to suggest someone buy it if they already had a good sense of their own body.