The Poisoner's Handbook - awesome history of forensic science via jazz age New York true crime stories. The author has described it as a chemistry textbook disguised as a pulp detective story, which is spot-on.
This book really is awesome. I read the first few chapters of it a while back and then wandered away from it, but I really must go back to it.
Thanks!
I have nothing literary to add to this thread. The Sword of Shannara still feels like the LOTR but it's moving away, slowly.
"Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury." NSFW, obviously, but hilarious.
I liked the slapdown on the Vonnegut fan.
I caught that on the second viewing.
Okay, I just realized why I feel like you can skim the libel thing in
Girl with a Dragon Tattoo.
These books, for me, are clearly about Lisbeth. She's really the heart of the story. Mikael and his antics (and in the last book Ericka and her
stalker
) are just ancillary to the real story in many ways. Plus, I half-heartedly suspect that Mikael is really a Mikael Sue for the author.
I read the first book and thought it was... okay? A Swedish friend of mine thinks they changed the traslator for the second two and they're much easier to read. I think I'll pick them up before I go on holidays next week, as there seems to be consensus that they're a bit better?
I half-heartedly suspect that Mikael is really a Mikael Sue for the author.
Totally.
So I had a weird book experience yesterday.
When I was 9 or so, I read a book that kinda stuck with me. It was set on the moon, and the story was about two boys escaping from the stifling moon colony and discovering a cave dominated by a sentient plant. It took them prisoner by giving them everything they wanted.
I've never been able to remember the title or author, and whenever I've told someone about it, they've looked at me blankly.
Yesterday, skimming io9, I saw a headline that "[so-and-so] might direct
The Lotus Caves
for SyFy" and I sat up. Could it be? A quick google said yes, and I ended up ordering
The Lotus Caves
from Amazon.
While there, I also ordered a couple of the author's other books, as they got excellent reviews as well. So wow, one lifelong mystery solved!
Last night while IMing with a friend, I mentioned this. He said "I did that same thing once, except in my case I described the book to the librarian from the local elementary school, and she brought it to me the next day. It was
The Tripod Trilogy."
...
Anyone see anything weird about this?