Month in Review: November 2011

Another lazy month, reading and blogging-wise.  I have been doing some of my own writing - though not taking part in NaNo for the first time since 2009 - and this is taking priority over reading.  And then I bought a couple of new games and lost some time to those (Assassin's Creed: Revelations and Lego Harry Potter Years 5-7, both very good and very timesuck-y). 

I also don't think my reading is going to go up in December, but I do plan to do a lot of Year in Review style posts on the blog, covering things I've read this year and challenges I've completed.

Books Read in November 2011
134. The Lantern Bearers - Rosemary Sutcliff
135. The Missing - Lisa McMann
136. Real Live Boyfriends - E. Lockhart
137. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan
138. Dead Girls' Dance - Rachel Caine
139. Frontier Wolf - Rosemary Sutcliff
140. Beauty - Robin McKinley
141. The Iron King - Julie Kagawa
142. Love and Other Four Letter Words - Carolyn Mackler
143. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
144. The Mark of the Horse Lord - Rosemary Sutcliff

Stats
Total Books Read = 11
Total Pages Read = 2924
Average Book Length = 266

Owned Books = 2
Library Books = 8
Bought After Borrowing & Reading = 1 (The Iron King)

Most Read Author = Rosemary Sutcliff (3).

Top Ten Books of the Month
01. Real Live Boyfriends
02. The Iron King
03. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief
04. The Missing
05. The Lantern Bearers
06. Frontier Wolf
07. Beauty
08. The Mark of the Horse Lord
09. Dead Girls' Dance
10. Love and Other Four Letter Words

Rereadathon: End Result

Oh, look at that, no extra posts over the weekend and this is going up Tuesday not Monday.  And I only reread two books over the weekend because I was sucked into the world of Lego Harry Potter, trying to find any character who could do dark magic (oh, Bellatrix, that was possibly the first time I've ever been happy to see, thank you for hovering over Hagrid's hut like that). 

Anyway, the books read were...Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and Paper Towns.  So, the first two on my list.  The others on there are, however, still books I very much want to reread (and review) so that will happen soon, I hope.

The Rereadathon was hosted by The Perpeutal Page Turner, who put up some questions over the weekend which I missed owing to time zone differences and lack of internet, but here are my answers now:

Friday/1. What books are you planning on rereading?  Why did you pick those?

I have a list of the books I was planning to reread on my masterpost, and the main reason for picking all of those was: I love them.  And I haven't read some of them for a while (Harry Potter, how have I gone so long without touching those books?).  Those I have reread recently I've skimmed/skipped to my favourite bits - or skipped over bits I find boring.  The plan was to revisit and re-evaluate a lot of my favourites, which didn't really happen.  Still, all those books on that list: I love and recommend.

Saturday/2. How are your general feelings towards rereading? Are you finding yourself remembering [more] things about these books than you thought you would? Are you feeling like you are moving quickly through the books because you've already read them. Are you enjoying them as much as you did the first time you read them?
I reread a lot - it often stops me from reading new books - but, as I say above, I often skip.  I also hadn't read the two books I reread this weekend for a while.  I don't think I got through them faster (I read them both in one sitting originally) and I definitely enjoyed them as much as the first time.  There were things I'd forgotten in both books, which were often things that made me laugh, but I could remember the basic plot which is how it tends to go with me and books: basic plot, few set pieces, none of the jokes.

Sunday/3. Overall, how was your experience rereading? Do you feel like it's something you want to do more or do you feel like you'd rather read new books?

I love rereading, but actually think it's something I should do less: I miss out on trying new books because I'm so happy with my old ones.  It's easier to stick to what I know than experiment - except that when I do experiment I find something I really like.  It also prevents me doing little things like returning books to the library on time rather than renewing and renewing because I haven't got round to reading them yet.  Still, the books I read this weekend were as fantastic as I remembered, and I'm definitely going to reread the other books on that list.

Now I have to get back to reading a book the library wants returned tomorrow.

Re-readathon Masterpost

I signed up for the Re-readathon here - it's being hosted by The Perpetual Page Turner.  It is now here, and because I am me I'm already behind with my own (somewhat daft) self-imposed schedule.  I meant to start this morning, but instead I've been running round Constantinople screaming at Templars and then Hogwarts trying to hex Umbridge (for some reason I can't, which is annoying me).  So, new plan:

- Start reading tomorrow (Saturday) morning.
- Stay up as late as I can that night reading.
- Keep notes about how much I read each hour (because this is the mad type of thing I do anyway).
- Try and read some of the following books:
-- Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
-- Paper Towns
-- Anna and the French Kiss
-- Devilish and/or Girl At Sea
-- Game of Kings
- Try and read a book by the following authors:
-- Antonia Forest
-- Terry Pratchett
-- Dorothy L Sayers
-- JK Rowling

And a couple of quick rules for myself: 1) reread properly, don't skim bits like the code cracking in Have His Carcase; 2) don't start Game of Kings until Sunday afternoon/have read 5 other books because that book is intense/dense/complicated/long/will eat my life.

I'll post as much as I can although internet is a bit patchy over weekend.  Will link to all posts here.  If not: giant retrospective post on Monday.

Right, back to forming the DA.

Month in Review: October 2011

Slightly lazy month, both for reading and blogging.  In a minor defence it was my birthday, which meant I actually had a social life but that I also attempted to make some resolutions which I promptly broke and didn't post about.  And then November started and I still hadn't done anything new.  I need to make some plans and stick to them (this applies to my writing as well as my reading and blogging).  However, I have done quite a bit of reading in October - but am really looking forwards to the Re-readathon later this month.

NB: While I did read Dante's Inferno this month (review here) I'm not listing it as it's part of my doorstop Oxford Classics Divine Comedy so I'll count it when I've finished Paradiso.

Books Read in October 2011
121. Stop in the Name of Pants - Louise Rennison
122. Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me? - Louise Rennison
123. Frostbite - Richelle Mead
124. Valiant - Holly Black
125. Ironside - Holly Black
126. Let It Snow - Maureen Johnson, John Green & Lauren Myracle
127. The Labours of Hercules - Agatha Christie
128. Destination Unknown - Agatha Christie
129. Beauty Queens - Libba Bray
130. Wish Me Dead - Helen Grant
131. Seven Sorcerers - Caro King
132. Before I Die - Jenny Downham
133. A Murder of Quality - John le Carre

Stats
Total = 13
Total Pages = 4317
Average Book Length = 332
Most Read Authors = Holly Black, Agatha Christie and Louise Rennison (2 each)

Cover of the Month

Top Ten Books of the Month
01. Beauty Queens
02. Before I Die
03. Let It Snow
04. Ironside
05. Valiant
06. Wish Me Dead
07. Seven Sorcerers
08. Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me?
09. Stop in the Name of Pants
10. Frostbite

Review: Dante's Inferno (Group Read)

I read this for the Group Read being hosted by Allie at A Literary Odyssey.

I'm still sorting my thoughts on this poem - I only read Inferno, so there may be things that happen later in The Divine Comedy which would affect my current opinion but which I don't yet know about.  I finished at midnight last night after a few glasses of wine, which may be why I was underlining anything that was also referenced in Assassin's Creed 2 (or maybe I'm just a colossal geek) and getting annoyed with Dante for being all smug about leaving someone with their eyes frozen over.  I think the easiest way to do this may be in a list.

1) I am so glad I'm a classicist.  I was looking up quite a few notes in the back of my edition anyway - mostly to do with Florentine history and who some of the sinners were - but if I'd also been looking up the mythological references the poem would have taken even longer to read.  The only one I didn't recognise properly was Electra: I thought it was the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra and got a little hacked off that she was being treated nicely.  Turns out, it was someone tied into the whole Aeneas-founded-Rome thing.

2) Moving on from the first point, though, is the fact that I've always preferred Greek to Latin, especially when it comes to poetry.  The Aeneid does my head in a little, especially the end and Turnus and I'm sorry, I'm supposed to admire Aeneas because no, not happening, and don't even get me started on Dido - because at least none of Odysseus's ladies topped themselves when he left, whatever Dante may be saying about him in Inferno.  There is a note in my edition that states that Dante had no Greek and that Homer's work existed only in fragments or commentaries at the time, so he was drawing on those for his information, but still.  I was angry - as the above rant possibly suggests.

3) Also a follow on: the style of the poem.  I don't think I've ever seen so many Homeric similes in one place before.  They're everywhere.  And better done than Virgil, who does occasionally seem to be labouring the point.  The trip to Hell is also a clear imitation of the trip to the Underworld in The Aeneid, which is in turn based on Odysseus's journey there in The Odyssey.  I wonder what it would have been like had all of Homer been extant at the time of Dante's writing.

4) Did Dante like anyone besides himself, Beatrice and Virgil?  Because a lot of this read like Chaucer in A Knight's Tale threatening to immortalise his enemies in poetry.  This may change as he moves up to heaven - I'm guessing there will be examples of good people there - but in Inferno it seems like everyone who has ever pissed him off is suffering agonies.  He claims to have respect for the office of the Pope but is happy to have several late Pontiffs buried upside down in pits with their feet on fire.  And he even devises a way for people he likes who are still alive at the time of the poem to be suffering merrily away: your sin makes you lose your soul, which descends to Hell, and a demon takes your body (like a vampire in Buffy).

5) I'm not sure if the point is that Dante is human and therefore fallible, but he doesn't come off particularly well during his journey.  Not only does he swoon as much as Pamela, but he's smug and he lies and he's generally annoying.  Again, this may change when he gets to Purgatory and Heaven, but he didn't behave particularly well in Hell (they have a code of conduct down there, you know).

6) Some of the punishments were utterly grotesque - which may be why so many TV serial killers use them on their victims - but the one that scared me the most was in the desert at the beginning, full of people who had achieved nothing of good or evil.  Their lives had been blanks; they had done nothing and could go nowhere.

I feel like this should have some sort of conclusion, but I'm not sure what it could be - and I'm aware that this has been a bit ranty (I am clearly one of the wrathful).  I did enjoy the poem - as much as something that horrific can be enjoyed - and when I got into the rhythm of it the stanzas flew by.  I also want to read the rest of the comedy, and read up the history of Florence at the time because it sounds fascinating and faction-full.  Maybe that's the highest praise I can give it: I want more now.