I didn't love it as much as I thought I might after everyone said "oh my God I love it!" But that was probably as much a reaction to hype as anything, and I did like it a lot, in a "wah how could you do that?" kind of way.
Xander: How? What? How? Giles: Three excellent questions.
Xander/Giles ,'Never Leave Me'
We're Literary 2: To Read Makes Our Speaking English Good
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Katie M - Jul 18, 2004 1:32:28 pm PDT #5181 of 10002
I was charmed (albeit somewhat perplexed) by the fannish sensibility of many of the music choices -- it's like the director was trying to vid Canada. --loligo on the Olympic Opening Ceremonies
Nutty - Jul 18, 2004 2:05:19 pm PDT #5182 of 10002
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."
I was 100 pages into K&C when it won the Pulizter that year, and I felt very smart for having chosen it. But aside from that ego-boost, I did like it -- for its style, and the way it grasped after Big Things. I admired its narrative ambition, even when it felt a little cockamamie; and I like Josef and Sammy a great deal.
Also, it's just got that tone that feels very engaging to me, the way some people can invite you to a party and even if you don't know anybody there the hosts make you very comfortable. (I haven't found this is the case for all of Chabon's novels, or anyway it didn't work quite right in the short stuff of his I've read, and Summerland was more of a children's novel anyway.)
Ginger - Jul 18, 2004 2:50:18 pm PDT #5183 of 10002
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda
Romance readers: A friend needs recommendations for romance authors to get for her 17-year-old niece. The niece likes "no particular period, just lords and ladies, fancy dress, butlers, footmen, ladies' maids, horses and coaches sort of stuff." The complication is that she'd like books with a minimum amount of explicit sex. I know that explicit sex probably won't harm a 17-year-old, but there's a nosy grandmother in the picture.
Any help would be appreciated.
Consuela - Jul 18, 2004 2:58:30 pm PDT #5184 of 10002
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix
there's a nosy grandmother in the picture.
I'd recommend Regencies, Ginger. In general they seem to be much less with the sex, and more with the comedy-of-manners sort of thing. Georgette Heyer would be an excellent bet -- she basically started the genre, actually. And they don't have any explicit sex, while being well-written, funny, and just plain fun.
Oh, another resource would be Melymbrosia's LJ; she regularly reviews romance novels, and you may find some good recommendations there.
Glamcookie - Jul 18, 2004 3:07:54 pm PDT #5185 of 10002
I know my own heart and understand my fellow man. But I am made unlike anyone I have ever met. I dare to say I am like no one in the whole world. - Anne Lister
I'm reading Kavalier and Clay right now AIFG. I'm really enjoying it.
Susan W. - Jul 18, 2004 3:24:29 pm PDT #5186 of 10002
Good Trouble and Righteous Fights
Second the Heyer rec--specifically, I suggest The Grand Sophy, These Old Shades, Frederica, or Arabella.
Hmmm...others with minimal explicit sex. Carla Kelly writes very good traditional Regencies, usually rather serious in tone. Look for Libby's London Merchant or One Good Turn. A lot of people like Nonnie St. George, a new Regency writer. IMO her comedy is almost too broad, but take that with a grain of salt, since I tend to prefer the more serious stories. And if you can dig up any of Mary Jo Putney's, Mary Balogh's, or Jo Beverley's traditional Regencies used, you can't go wrong, though their more recent European historicals are too sexy for your purposes.
Volans - Jul 18, 2004 5:08:47 pm PDT #5187 of 10002
move out and draw fire
I have to admit to not loving Kavalier and Clay. I don't know why. I loved the beginning with Josef, and I like Sammy as a character. A lot of his dialogue is great. I just got bored with it and wandered off, and haven't picked it back up. I have odd reading tastes though - I just read a book that was recommended to me 10 years ago. I tried it then, made it 1/3 of the way in, didn't like it. Tried again, same deal. Just finished it and enjoyed the heck out of it.
So maybe in 10 years I'll read Kavalier and Clay and love it.
P.M. Marc - Jul 18, 2004 5:10:49 pm PDT #5188 of 10002
So come, my friends, be not afraid/We are so lightly here/It is in love that we are made; In love we disappear
Barbara Metzger does good, often light and comedic, Regency romances with little to no sex. But I remember them being awfully good fun none the less.
Matt, K&C was a really enjoyable book, much like a nice, fictional companion to Comic Book Nation.
Amy - Jul 18, 2004 6:09:38 pm PDT #5189 of 10002
Because books.
Ginger, the early Julia Quinn books aren't as sexy as her latest ones, and they might be perfect, too -- she does the period well, but not with a heavy hand, and she's funny with a lot of heart. There are definitely some sex scenes, though.
Shannon Doherty's Regencies are lovely, too -- she also has a great sense of humor, but a light touch. I would also recommend Mary Blayney.
Avon has a new line of YA historical romances out specifically without explicit sense (Meg Cabot wrote one -- I believe it's called Nicola and the Viscount -- as well as a few other well-known historical authors) but the characters are teens, too, not adults, so I don't know if that would turn a 17-year-old off.
Tam - Jul 18, 2004 6:31:39 pm PDT #5190 of 10002
"...Singing their heads off, protected by the holy ghosts, flying in from the ocean, driving with their eyes closed." - Patty Griffin "Florida"
Emily Hendrickson is one of my favs in Signet regency. I'm a big regency fan. I read them alot between "heavier" stuff, or when I'm depressed and just want a diversion. But anyway, I agree, great for all ages.
Oooh! Marion Chesney! She's great too, she wrote bunches of sextets. I don't know which may still be in print, but I'd recomend any of hers for a teen.