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Tag: Spoiler-Free September

Closing the book on spoiler-free September

Published 3 Oct 2010 by Gin Jenny

My verdict: Never again. There is this one episode of Doctor Who where the Doctor is standing around waiting for a monster to show up, and he says “Is this how time normally passes? Reeeeally slowly, in the right order?” and if you substitute “books” for “time” (and “pass” for “passes”, to retain proper grammar), that is exactly how I felt throughout the month of September. Except more depressed. I think part of the reason I have been lax about writing up reviews is that my reading was so dreary and depressing compared to normally, I couldn’t face writing reviews.…

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Review: Still Life with Fascists trilogy, Jo Walton

Published 16 Sep 2010 by Gin Jenny

Britain didn’t declare war on Germany. Instead they made peace, and Britain slid gradually into fascism. One might call the trilogy the Small Change trilogy instead, as the books are called Farthing, Ha’Penny, and Half a Crown, but I like the Still Life with Fascists title better. Each book has two narrators, one the first-person narration of a young upper-class English woman, and one the third-person narration of a morally compromised policeman called Carmichael. Don’t you love a morally compromised narrator? The first book, Farthing, is a country house murder mystery. The so-called “Farthing set”, famed for their integral role…

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Review: Jellicoe Road, Melina Marchetta

Published 13 Sep 2010 by Gin Jenny

One definite conclusion I have reached from the first half of no-spoilers September is that reading the end sometime saves you misunderstanding the point of a book. I was sure Jellicoe Road was a good fit for the RIP Challenge, a dark gothic fantasy orphan boarding school book. When really all along it was a dark family tragedy orphan boarding school book. Happily for me and my reading experience, I like family tragedy nearly as much as gothic fantasy, so this disparity made me merely muddled, and not ultimately dissatisfied. Orphan Taylor Markham is the leader of the Jellicoe School…

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Absolutely spoiler-free review of Mockingjay

Published 9 Sep 2010 by Gin Jenny

I have had Carly Simon’s “Mockingbird” stuck in my head for the past week and a half. Except instead of “bird” I keep hearing “jay”. Mock–ye-ah; ing–ye-ah; jay–ye-ah. It’s gotten kind of old. All the time I was reading Mockingjay I’ve had this song in my head, and ever since then. To my joy, I read the end of Mockingjay at the bookshop ages before I started reading the library copy for real, so it didn’t fall under no-spoilers September. This worked out nicely for me because the rest of the book is pretty intense, and I am not positive…

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Challenges and a request for advice

Published 6 Sep 2010 by Gin Jenny

As you have probably all heard, the R(eaders) I(mbibing) P(eril) Challenge has returned! September and October are the months for the blogosphere to be reading books that are spooky and mythic. I have made up a tentative list of books for myself, and I shall pick the best ones to read this month and next month. On Jellicoe Road, Melina Marchetta Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton The Magicians and Mrs. Quent, Galen Beckett Here Lies Arthur, Philip Reeve (does this count? I can’t decide) Affinity, Sarah Waters Blue is for Nightmares, Laurie Faria Stolarz The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos…

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