Comments on: Desiderata

By: elaine

elaine — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 15:25:08 +0000

I really liked Infinite Jest.

By: Dave Lartigue

Dave Lartigue — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 20:28:17 +0000

I looked the first one up on Amazon and can assure anyone interested that this sentence in the blurb: "Seeker, formerly Elaine Andraste, is a changeling bound to the Mebd, the queen of the Daoine Sidhe, to find other changelings and bring them to the Faerie court." is pretty much guaranteed to make me put the book back on the shelf.

Haven't you read Clan Apis? There are only 5 volumes in Planetes and I suspect if you don't want to read volume one 5 times, you might want to buy or borrow the others before you continue.

My vote goes to the Holmes/Lovecraft crossovers, but ONLY if Holmes goes gradually insane(r) through the book.

By: Dave Lartigue

Dave Lartigue — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 08:14:54 +0000

Infinite Jest.

(I kid. I'll look at the titles and make real suggestions in a bit.)

By: elaine

elaine — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 20:43:09 +0000

Take the McSweeney's anthology so you can tell me if it's good.

I disagree with the central serial comma argument in Eats, Shoots and Leaves, but I'm sure it's a cute little book. The problem with grammar books is how often they state their rules as fact, not as style.

By: A Whole Can of Plot

A Whole Can of Plot — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 10:43:35 +0000

I'm going to pick as many as I can - not because I've managed to read all (or even enough) of these already, but because I have a system for picking just that number from such a list.

1. (Adult fiction with F/SF theme) I'm inclined to go with the Earthsea book, because I have fond memories of my mother reading it to me.

2. (A book of short stories - usually for those bit of journeys where you are going to be interrupted, or for times when you can't really settle to anything) You have the YA anthology.

3. (Something factual) Eats Shoots and Leaves is a good read, and informative.

4. (Graphic novel/book with pictures/magazine) This usually comes down to me caving in and buying Harpers and wanting to justify it later, as graphic novels never sit for more than a week on my 'to read' shelf. I haven't read any of your options, but on titles I'd go for Clan Apis.

5. (YA novel) Cart and Cwidder, if only because she has the nerve to invent a new welsh word. Although given previous comments, maybe not a good choice. But there's a system to be upheld...

6. (Optional - The "something someone loaned me/recommended to me and I really should read because I can't avoid it for much longer. I don't even know if I'm really going to like it, but I should give it a go," category) That would be your decision.

By: Mer Haskell

Mer Haskell — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 09:40:42 +0000

Ethan of Athos would be a great choice…

I didn’t really enjoy Cart and Cwidder as much as I could have… if that makes sense… but I trudged through the first three books of the series and then fell in love with the whole shebang when I read Crown of Dalemark, which ties together the three disparate-seeming books *beautifully*. So, my rec is to read C&C if you can leap through the next three soon.

By: Lanf

Lanf — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 00:56:03 +0000

1.) I liked The Other Wind, but did you read Tales from Earthsea already? That's the one that comes between Tehanu and TOW. Without reading one of the stories from Tales you may find yourself saying "zuh?" during TOW.

2.) Planetes is certainly worth reading, though it will go fast.

By: John

John — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 00:36:55 +0000

Of those, the only ones I've read are:

1) Zen and the Art of Writing. I remember enjoying it, though I can't recall any particular advice that Bradbury gave that I took immediately to heart. Which may explain why I'm not currently writing as well as he does. Or maybe not.

2) The Female Man. I read this in 1995 in a "Race Class and Gender in American SF" class. I couldn't pass up credit for reading science fiction. I thought it was a good novel, but it is not a fast, uncomplicated read.