January Reading

So much for updating "soon." Oh well. During January I read:

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Continuing on my mission to read every work by Jane Austen, I read Northanger Abbey, the shortest of the author's novels. Overall, NA was enjoyable. More of a mystery/gothic novel than Austen's usual romantic fare, this novel provided a bit more plot than the author's other books. Following this trend, the characters were also more melodramatic, less realistic than the characters from P&P or S&S (though not including Lydia Bennett, of course). The villainous scoundrels, Isabella and John Thorpe, were very aggravating indeed. Tinley is the type-cast hero, and Catherine is a good-enough heroine. The first half of the novel reads like a typical Austen romance with chance encounters and misunderstandings between our protagonists, and we do not arrive at the eponymous Northanger Abbey until halfway through the narrative. There the romance is subverted by mischief of a more gothic kind, including secret murders. In the end, of course, everything is put right, as is always expected in an Austen novel. NA was a very short and engaging read. It definitely tops Persuasion (what doesn't?), and for me, probably ties with Sense and Sensibility. Number 1 on my 2011 Free Choice Reading Challenge! (But probably the last one for a while)

Philosophy of Technology by Val Dusek

Read this for my class on human enhancement and bioethics. A good introduction to the history of philosophy of technology/science, which fits right into my interests in science fiction studies. A very good primer on the subject.

A Practical Companion to Ethics by Anthony Weston

Also read for my bioethics class. Not so much a history of ethics as an overview of the current state of things. For me, it was too didactic and relied to heavily on religious traditions and texts. Although, it did include a very nice chapter on creative problem solving. I wasn't quite sure how it fit in with the rest, but that chapter at least was applicable to my life.

Into the Unknown by Robert Philmus (which I can't find a picture for)

Read this as part of my independent research on the emergence of science fiction. It started off as very informative, with an analysis of early SF's links to utopian and satire writing. Then, however, it digressed to definitions of the field as well as close readings of certain texts. In the end, it was marginally helpful, but it wasn't really what I was looking for.

2010 Wrap Up

I know I'm really bad at updating. Sorry about that.

So, first of all: I completed my 2010 Challenge to read 20 books of my choice. Hooray!! But, I never finished my Harry Potter Reread Mini Challenge. I reread books 1-5, but haven't yet gotten to the 6th and 7th. I will read them before the last movie though. In the last few months, I've read:

Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray

My goodness, this book was long. Heinously long. I'm sorry I made my book club read it. Seriously, you need quite a lot of stamina to get through this one. It is a perfect example of those "loose, baggy monsters" of Victorian fiction.

Regardless of its frequent tedium and digressions on contemporary politics, I enjoyed this book well enough. Thackeray can be very funny when he wants to be. Once the plot finally appeared, it kept me entertained. I loved Rawdon and Rawdon Jr. of course. I adored Dobbin, if only because in the BBC adaptation, he is played by Philip Glenister of Gene Hunt-fame. If only this book was 200 pages shorter, I could have enjoyed it a lot more.

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

This YA book came highly recommended from a friend, so I hate to say that it disappointed me. It could have been amazing, a little bit steampunky, a little bit urban fairytale, but instead it was just regular old YA fantasy trash. Rehashed tropes all over the place without innovative writing to help it along. It's the first piece in a series, but I won't be reading the rest of them.

The Difference Machine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling

Another book which I expected to blow my mind, but just left me kind of unsatisfied. I really don't like this trend. As the "definitive" steampunk novel, I was expecting a lot from this book. However, the steampunk aspect was the only good part of the novel, and even that was only half-way decent. I would have liked more description on all the steam-powered technology, but as the book that began the whole genre, I can let it slide.

However, the rest of the book was just too frustrating. The characters were boring, even though one was a prostitute and the other was an archaeologist, and I found myself struggling to care about anything that was happening to them. In addition, the plot just never really took off, and I still don't really understand what went on. There were just too many loose ends that were never tied up. And the big revelation at the end was a huge let down, especially since this book was structured as a mystery story. I was expecting something much bigger and significantly more exciting. In the end, this book was a let down, and I hate it when a book leaves me feeling that way.

So that's all for the 2010 wrap up. What are my resolutions for 2011? I'm going to repeat my free choice challenge, though maybe I'll up it to 21 books. I also want to blog a lot more. I've forgotten half the books I read this year, and that was the whole point of this blog. So I promise: I will update soon!