Comments on: Review: Children of the Waters, Carleen Brice; or, A nearly unified theory of everything (that makes me enjoy a book)

By: Review: Days of Blood and Starlight, Laini Taylor | Jenny's Books

Review: Days of Blood and Starlight, Laini Taylor | Jenny's Books — Wed, 01 May 2013 10:02:43 +0000

[…] were perpetually forced to reexamine their values to adjust to changing circumstances. THAT IS WHAT I LIKE […]

By: raidergirl3

raidergirl3 — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 23:41:11 +0000

I love your theory. I’m not sure if it’s exactly my theory to explain why I like/don’t like books, but as I read it, I made the adjustments, and I understand my likes better. And there are exceptions, depending on what I’d call the writer’s ‘readability for my brain’. Some prose just does not match how my brain thinks.

By: Team Human | Necromancy Never Pays

Team Human | Necromancy Never Pays — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 04:03:52 +0000

[…] 2012 novel Team Human. I first heard about this book in the comments to a post by Jenny on her “nearly unified theory of everything that makes me enjoy a book.” The Literary Omnivore referred to the “lightly snarky and weepingly beautiful friendship in […]

By: Jenny

Jenny — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 18:07:45 +0000

I think my unified theory of reading is: I like books that tell me real things about the way people think and feel and behave. Any setting for that is okay (vampires, ghost towns, space, King Arthur’s court, Paris apartments full of ennui) and any kind of behavior is okay (love, family, travel, stampedes, betrayal, languor, seven deadlies) as long as it shows me the human heart. If it’s false to human reality, I hates it my precious. If it rings true, I loves it, at least to a degree consonant with how good the writing is.

By: The Literary Omnivore

The Literary Omnivore — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 13:45:18 +0000

In reply to Jenny. Oh, The Lord of the Rings. There's a very good audiobook production narrated by Rob Inglis, if you're interesting. Team Human is kind of my favorite YA novel at the moment; agency and friendship and diverse casts and vampires! Everything that is good in life!

By: Jenny

Jenny — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 22:21:56 +0000

In reply to Vasilly. Do! If you read her first book I'll be interested to hear about it, as I know that one's supposed to be really excellent too.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 22:21:35 +0000

In reply to litlove. Yes to the compelling reasons! It's nice when the author doesn't seem to be saying one side is right and the other is wrong, because on a lot of issues there are two sides, two arguments to be made that have valid ideas behind them. It's amazing how often stories tell you what you must think about everything, rather than letting you decide.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 22:19:44 +0000

In reply to Charlie. I know, that's the worst when that happens. And it's pretty common -- synopses can only give you a small amount of information about a book really.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 22:19:12 +0000

In reply to Care.

Okay, I won’t read it. I also hate reading about awful people. It bums me out.

Mumsy says it’s not fair for me to expect everyone to know about Juneteenth, by the way, but I’m pleased you know about it now! I mean, it’s just so fun to say. Juneteenth!

By: Jenny

Jenny — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 22:18:14 +0000

In reply to Aonghus Fallon. Hahahaha, that's exactly how I would have expected that story to end.