two wildly different books
Dec. 14th, 2005 09:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snugglekittyThis morning, I finished A Sorcerer and a Gentleman, prequel to Elizabeth Willey's brilliant debut The Well-Favored Man. And this afternoon, I read the entirety of Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl.
A Sorcerer and a Gentleman was a huge disappointment. The Well-Favored Man was hilarious. It was witty, it was real, it was lively and unpredictable. By comparison, its prequel was dreary and bleak. All of the characters get screwed in one way or another, except for the three you think probably deserve it. There were a couple of good one-liners, but that was about as far as it went, and I can't remember them now. Terribly sad considering the first book. Two stars.
Garlic and Sapphires started out as a really fun book, and I think it was well-written. However, as you go on, and the author becomes more dissatisfied with her work, it gets more and more depressing. But I loved the writing style, and I loooved the descriptions of food, especially of foods that I can no longer eat. It made me feel like I was recapturing the experience of eating crab cakes or shoba noodles. I loved the reviews being included in the book, and was intrigued by the recipes, although they almost all contained eggs, so I won't get to test them out. Three stars.
Hey, does someone want to make, or suggest, a new reading icon for 2006? I think I could use one. At the very least, an updated Hermione would be fun. I now have Photoshop, so I'd be happy to make it myself if I found the right inspiration.
A Sorcerer and a Gentleman was a huge disappointment. The Well-Favored Man was hilarious. It was witty, it was real, it was lively and unpredictable. By comparison, its prequel was dreary and bleak. All of the characters get screwed in one way or another, except for the three you think probably deserve it. There were a couple of good one-liners, but that was about as far as it went, and I can't remember them now. Terribly sad considering the first book. Two stars.
Garlic and Sapphires started out as a really fun book, and I think it was well-written. However, as you go on, and the author becomes more dissatisfied with her work, it gets more and more depressing. But I loved the writing style, and I loooved the descriptions of food, especially of foods that I can no longer eat. It made me feel like I was recapturing the experience of eating crab cakes or shoba noodles. I loved the reviews being included in the book, and was intrigued by the recipes, although they almost all contained eggs, so I won't get to test them out. Three stars.
Hey, does someone want to make, or suggest, a new reading icon for 2006? I think I could use one. At the very least, an updated Hermione would be fun. I now have Photoshop, so I'd be happy to make it myself if I found the right inspiration.
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Date: 2005-12-16 02:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-16 02:35 am (UTC)