Grumble. . . Books. . . Grumble. . .

[qos]

I've been striking out with new books lately. Over the past few weeks I've picked up CJ Cherryh's The Book of Morgaine, a novel about China called The Middle Heart, and The Voyage of the Narwahl which is historical fiction about an arctic voyage. The first two I put down and literally forgot to pick up again. I've been plodding through the third without enthusiasm.

Between Middle Heart and Narwahl I pulled The Black Chalice, by Marie Jakober, off my shelf and read it for the second time. It's a fantasy set in a mythical Germany at the time of the Crusades, and very Pagan. One reviewer compared it to The Mists of Avalon, but I enjoy it much more. (That's not saying much, since I can't stand Mists, but it might put things in context for other folks.) I also recently re-read Parke Godwin's Beloved Exile, which I loved as much as ever, and had the fun of re-discovering since it's been years since I opened it to do more than scan a favorite scene or two.

Why is it so hard to find books I like these days? It may have something to do with where I am psychologically. It's not that there are no good books out there, it's that I'm not connecting with them. I tried to read Our Lady of the Forest by Gutterson, which like Heart and Narwhal got a lot of critical praise, but I was so depressed by the main characters I didn't even make it halfway through.

The last new books I really, truly enjoyed were the Kushiel series, and that was several months ago. I devoured those in just a few days and was sorry to see them end.

Anyone have any suggestions? Any classics (canon or personal) you love and return to again and again? shellefly mentioned Treasure Island a few days ago, and I might give that a try. I'm primarily interested in fiction at the moment. School starts next month, and I'll have more than enough non-fiction to tackle then.

I have dozens of my own old favorites on my shelves, but I'm in the mood for the pleasure of new discoveries.

Comments

[qos.livejournal.com]

Anita Blake
The Ex and Peter have been reading those and enjoying them. I've read her Princess Merrie series, and enjoyed that, so maybe I'll give Anita a try.

Haven't ever read Pratchett, since I don't usually look for low-brow humor in my reading material. But I'll take a look.

According to queenofhalves, The Blue Sword is by Robin McKinley, the author she was recommending. I like your description of the plot. With both of you voting for it, it goes to the top of my list.

The last one doesn't sound like my cup of tea, since I'm not particularly interested in time travel or the Ripper.

Thanks for the suggestions!

[rocket-jockey.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! I really do recommend The Blue Sword.

One author I forgot to mention is P. Elrod, and his (her?) Jack Fletcher vampire mystery series. The first volume, Bloodlist, starts with the main character waking up on a moonlit night in 1936, three days missing from his memory, and discovering that he's dead -- then setting out to solve the mystery of who killed him and why.

[rocket-jockey.livejournal.com]

A warning about Anita Blake: the violence and the sex are very graphic. Tjough if you've read her faerie courts series, you have a pretty good idea of what her style is.

[qos.livejournal.com]

Between the Princess Merrie series and the Kushiel books -- to simply name books already referenced in this thread -- I doubt Anita Blake has much to faze me.

It becomes obvious that there are certain shelves of my library that you've never seen. . .

[rocket-jockey.livejournal.com]

likely, as I've only skimmed through the shelves in your publicly viewable living space.