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Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Gregory Maguire, 368 pages. For once, I liked a Maguire book.* In late May or early June, I read Girl with a Pearl Earring, so I couldn’t help but notice some similarities between the two books. Both books are about a young girl and their relationship with a painter in 17th-century Holland. For the most part, I liked Iris, who is very imaginative, and obsessed with imps, changelings, and the like. The ending is quickâI think because we are all already familiar with the basic Cinderella storyline.
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Hot Target, by Suzanne Brockmann, 396 pages (including bonus Alyssa & Sam short story). Another installment in her Troubleshooters, Inc. series, specificially about Cosmo Richter (we also learn more about Jules Cassidy in the sub-plot). Fun to read and fast-paced. These books’ plots tend to be based in a war-torn country or focused on terrorists. So it was a nice change that Hot Target takes place in Los Angeles/Hollywood with minimal mention of terrorism.
My last book holder arrived today! I’ll get all my comments together in a post for this weekend sometime. Yay for the long holiday weekend!
* I didn’t like Wicked very much. While I found Elphaba interesting, sympathetic, and doomed, I felt the book was too pushy, over-the-top, and jaded. Mirror, Mirror depressed me, and I thought the stone-dwarf creatures (and pretty much all the characters) were vaguely creepy. If I hadn’t already gotten 4 Maguire books from Sam’s Club earlier this year, I probably wouldn’t search out more after reading Wicked. Now I only have Son of a Witch left and am curious to see how it compares wiith Wicked. I also wonder if I would like Maguire’s JF series (The Hamlet Chronicles). Have you read these, and how did you like them?
Have you checked out Tracy Chevalier’s other books? They are really powerful. I think my favorite was Virgin Blue or Falling Angels. Set in the same period as Falling Angels are The Alienist and The Angel of Darkness by Caleb Carr. I loved these historical fiction pieces because they detail the beginning of forensic science in a very engaging way. And they include interesting historical figures like Teddy Roosevelt and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Very enjoyable. Now I’m jumping into Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, the acclaimed novel about magic in England. The writing style so far is very reminiscent of Dickens. I’m finding it quite lovely. Thanks for sharing your reading recommendations!