One problem with Dick Francis novels as comfort reading is that in fact they tend to be a bit depressing. Mr. Francis is quite good, when he wants to be, at putting his heroes into emotional jeopardy as well as…
Usually, I accept that YA specfic books are going to have some annoying elements, and I can simply accept that and enjoy the book anyway, or at least enjoy the book whilst griping. The problem, I think, in the case…
One useful thing about keeping a list of books read over the last seventeen months is that YHB can use it to decide which book in the Vorkosigan Saga is up next. Not in order, I mean, which one has…
After reading Five Children and It and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in short succession, Your Humble Blogger wanted to read another children’s book, but it was going to be tough to choose one that looked good in that…
Now as long as we’re on about Your Humble Blogger’s pathetic Anglophilia, it may be time to admit that the next book is Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Not the Sorceror’s Stone, the Philosopher’s Stone. You see, back when…
Your Humble Blogger has been reading children’s books lately. Well, and that’s not really a surprise, as even though my Perfect Non-Reader has taken to Reading, she still lets the old man read her a book now and then. No,…
Your Humble Blogger recently revealed a fondness for Robert Silverberg’s writing. I didn’t, however, mention what I actually like about it. One thing I think he’s terrific at is world-building, which he often does quickly and powerfully, sketching rather than…
Well, and as Your Humble Blogger mentioned before, the first book in the Fool’s Guild series, Thirteenth Night, has been reprinted by Crum Creek Press (in a handsome paperback). And, as mentioned before, YHB enjoyed the book enough to read…
So I happen to like a lot of Robert Silverberg’s stuff. Well, not a lot percentage-wise. I’ve probably read about half the novels published under that name, and maybe fifty short stories, and I’ve liked maybe half of his stuff…
One of the things that I like so much about Lois McMaster Bujold is her incredible facility with plot. And by facility here, I don’t so much mean that she writes the greatest plots there ever were, but that she…