book list, January 2007

[edenfalling]

It's time for the continuing adventures of Liz and her reading list! These are the books I read in January 2007.

New: 28
---Tea With the Black Dragon, R. A. MacAvoy (fantasy: a dragon, a woman, computers, and a criminal plot in California during the 1980s; quiet but with a good flow)
---The Uplift War, David Brin (science fiction: see my comments)
---Startide Rising, David Brin (science fiction: see my comments)
---Steady As She Goes: Women's Adventures at Sea, Barbara Sjoholm, editor (nonfiction: a collection of essays about women and boats. Varrying quality -- some are fascinating, some I would like to see extended, and some are rambling, badly-thought-out, and pointless. Also there are no essays by women in the naval forces, which is a curious gap.)
---Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates, David Cordingly (nonfiction: exactly what the title says, well written, very interesting.)
---The Pirate Wars, Peter Earle (nonfiction: history of the several ages of piracy in the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and the Caribbean, with occasional mentions of other waters; emphasis on the social structures that supported or opposed piracy, and on various naval attempts to suppress the pirates. Well written, well researched, fascinating.)
---He's Just Not That Into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys, newly expanded edition, Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo (nonfiction: a dating advice book from people who worked on Sex and the City; I read it for amusement value, since I don't date. It's sad to think that there are people who need this book.)
---Psychoshop, Alfred Bester and Roger Zelazny (science fiction: weird, but in a cool way. Its approach to science is more characteristic of space opera, but since it's set mostly on Earth and mostly during the twentieth century or earlier historical periods, I hesitate to use that term. Also, the one sex scene is completely unnecessary. You should read this, though -- it's fast, snappy, and a lot of fun... even the destruction of the universe. *grin*)
---Fruits Basket, vols. 14-15, Natsuki Takaya (manga: in which we get more of the student council, backstory on Rin, and I really, really want the next volume to come out yesterday)
---X/1999, vols. 1-17, CLAMP (manga: in which the end of the world takes place in Japan, fought by groups of Japanese magicians. Gorgeous, but depressing as hell.)
---Tokyo Babylon, vol. 5, CLAMP (manga: in which Seishirou loses his eye, and you can tell things are shortly going to hell. Also, my god, the parallels between Subaru beating on the hospital door here, and Kamui's reaction when Subaru loses his eye in X/1999 could not be more obvious if CLAMP pulled out a club and beat readers over the head.)


Old: 7
---The Dispossessed, Ursula Le Guin (science fiction: in which we discuss the nature of utopia and of time. Also a story about love and family and human suffering. I first read this when I was 13 or 14, and it knocked me for a loop; I couldn't stop thinking about the book for at least a week. This one is under my skin.)
---Just So Stories, Rudyard Kipling (fiction: fables, beautifully written, albeit somewhat mired in the social attitudes of late 19th century Britain)
---Angel Sanctuary, vols. 14, 18-20, Kaori Yuki (manga: fucked up, brilliant, and very, very pretty. I wish the font the scanlations use for God's voice were a bit more readable.)
---Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, vol. 11, CLAMP (manga: still with the flying ship race; I think I have to get back to scanlations so as to catch up with the story.)


January Total: 35 books

Year to Date: 35 books (28 new, 7 old)

---------------

On the basis of this month's list, I think this year's secondary quest (the main one is to hit 365 books again, naturally!) will be nonfiction rather than great literature. It seems easier. :-)

Comments

On Unnecessary Sex Scenes

[hoshi-ryo.livejournal.com]

I remember hearing from both published authors & editors at publishers that, every so often...

...the editor will say, "Very nice book, but... Could you add some sex scenes?"

I wish I was kidding. I'm sure they do, too, given that it sometimes shows horribly; in one series I read, which strangely is considered 'Young Adult,' the sex scenes are bloody boring. They don't advance the plot or character development, and because of when the books were written may very well have resulted in more interesting passages getting dropped -- unless the sex scenes were written to pad the story, which would be worse... ::can go on...unfortunately::

I don't exactly mind sex scenes, I just want them to be relevant to the plot or character development -- the only genre where I don't insist upon that is pr0n, and even there I prefer they exist for a reason other than to exist. ('Course, conversely, I don't believe in cutting sex scenes merely because they're sex scenes when it hurts the story as a result.)

Re: On Unnecessary Sex Scenes

[edenfalling]

The sex scene in Psychoshop, well, it was a logical character and plot progression for Alf and Glory to have sex. I just don't think it needed to be written out. A fade to black would have worked equally well, if not better, especially since the overall tone of the book is emotionally 'cool' rather than 'warm' and intimate, and yet the sex is not meant to be clinical; it's meant to be fairly genuine from both sides.

Re: On Unnecessary Sex Scenes (& Evil Bob)

[hoshi-ryo.livejournal.com]

That still wouldn't really make the 'required for character development' requirement -- because it's what happens during the sex scene that would make the difference.

It's one thing if it's logical character and plot progression -- it's another if, say, one of them called out for 'Bob' or 'Jane' during sex with somebody other than Bob or Jane. (Particularly when their partner had been unaware that they swung that way.)

Other possible situations are when it's the chara's or charas' thoughts at the time which serve to forward character development or the plot (Nothing like those eureka moments during sex. Like, perhaps, "Bob's the murderer!" Particularly if it comes out as "Bob!" ) or when they're having a conversation which happens to be important during sex ("Wait, Bob did what!?" "...can going after him wait until we're done?" "...yeah." )

In both situations the sex scene is really secondary to the other purposes -- yes, sex is going on & not, say, a passage with a strange lack of description or the like, but the sex is not the end-all and be-all of the scene either.

And there is, of course, usually a point behind the sex.

[(Anonymous)]

Fruits Basket is still going? I remember watching the anime and enjoying it, but I'm pretty sure I remember it ending around episode 20 or so.

-- Guile

[edenfalling]

IIRC, the Fruits Basket anime only covers vols. 1-6 of the manga. I believe the manga has something like 20 volumes total -- it's completed in Japan, but the English publication is only up to vol. 15. *should probably look up exact numbers, but is too lazy*