Memememe, Youyouyouyou
May. 20th, 2007 07:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jmc_bksJennie has created an experimental meme: The Little-Known Favorites Meme.
Rules: List and describe three of your favorite books that other people might not be familiar with. Then tag five people. See, easy!
I had a very hard time thinking of three favorite books that other people might not be familiar with. I suppose it says something about my taste (mainstream? plebian?) that I had a hard time a first thinking of any. But then, once I got started, I kept thinking of more and it was hard to narrow the list to three. There were a surprising number of chick lit books on the list, too, given how small a percentage of my reading they make.
This is the first chick lit I ever read, way back before chick lit was over-exposed. Set in the 80s, it is the story of Lisa Diodetto. She's an early version of the fashionista copy editor -- except her raison d'etre isn't clothes, it is partying; she's spent her teens and early twenties doing drugs and having anonymous sex. After hitting a really low point, with the help of her cousin and best friend, Dodi, she gets a job in corporate America, out of Manhattan. While working on her epic novel (Stop It Some More), Lisa starts dating her boss, Eben Strauss. Beyond the professional tension, they have a cultural disconnect too, and it is fascinating to watch them learn about each other. I must admit that I liked Lisa a lot more than Eben; of course, the POV is all her. Getting his take on Lisa unfiltered would've been interesting.
FWIW, I read Ciresi's follow up to this book, Tell Me Again Why I Married You? Not so impressed. But that's just me -- I liked where she left the characters in Pink Slip and probably would've been better off leaving the follow up unread.
Gen is a thief, rotting in the prison of Sounis when he is "rescued" by the king's magus. If he can steal something for the king & magus, he'll be set free. But the magus won't tell him what it is in advance. So, in the dark, he sets out with the magus's small party, crossing into the neighboring kingdom in secret, seeking Hiamathes Gift, a stone of mystical power and immense political importance for Sounis and its neighboring countries.
Loved this book (and reviewed it here). Read the two books that followed and hope that a fourth will be coming.
I first discovered Laker when I was in high school. Our local library had her name listed on an "If You Like..." flyer -- if you like Victoria Holt, you should try Rosalind Laker. She wrote books in a variety of historical settings, up to the early 20th century. I tended to like her older books, particularly Ride the Blue Riband (about racing) and Circle of Pearls, set during the Cromwell years and the reign of Charles II. CoP is the story of Julia Pallister and Adam Warrender. They first meet as youths on the opposite sides of a civil war -- Cavalier vs. Roundhead -- and the relationship that follows is quite tempestuous. Julia is an interesting and independent character, although quite hardheaded and impetuous at times. Charles II's restoration, the Great Fire of London, Christopher Wren, all kinds of important historical events and people play roles in the book.
A few of the runner up books:
Pushing 30 by Whitney Gaskell (chick lit)
Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier (YA)
If Andy Warhol Had A Girlfriend by Allison Pace (chick lit)
Bad For Each Other by Kate Hathaway (category, contemporary)
The Conquest by Yxta Maya Murray (contemporary & historical, genfic)
Ceiling of Amber by Elisabeth Ogilvie (YA)
Imaginary Men by Anjali Banerjee (chick lit)
Calico Palace by Gwen Bristow (historical)
Marriage Meltdown by Emma Darcy (category, contemporary)
Wolf in Waiting by Rebecca Flanders (category, paranormal)
The Promise by Donna Boyd (paranormal)
(or maybe The Passion? The second book of her Devoncroix werewolf series...which never finished, dammit)
Let's see, who to tag?
SarahF
Rosario (already tagged!)
KateR
Suisan
Lyvvie
Rules: List and describe three of your favorite books that other people might not be familiar with. Then tag five people. See, easy!
I had a very hard time thinking of three favorite books that other people might not be familiar with. I suppose it says something about my taste (mainstream? plebian?) that I had a hard time a first thinking of any. But then, once I got started, I kept thinking of more and it was hard to narrow the list to three. There were a surprising number of chick lit books on the list, too, given how small a percentage of my reading they make.
This is the first chick lit I ever read, way back before chick lit was over-exposed. Set in the 80s, it is the story of Lisa Diodetto. She's an early version of the fashionista copy editor -- except her raison d'etre isn't clothes, it is partying; she's spent her teens and early twenties doing drugs and having anonymous sex. After hitting a really low point, with the help of her cousin and best friend, Dodi, she gets a job in corporate America, out of Manhattan. While working on her epic novel (Stop It Some More), Lisa starts dating her boss, Eben Strauss. Beyond the professional tension, they have a cultural disconnect too, and it is fascinating to watch them learn about each other. I must admit that I liked Lisa a lot more than Eben; of course, the POV is all her. Getting his take on Lisa unfiltered would've been interesting.
FWIW, I read Ciresi's follow up to this book, Tell Me Again Why I Married You? Not so impressed. But that's just me -- I liked where she left the characters in Pink Slip and probably would've been better off leaving the follow up unread.
Gen is a thief, rotting in the prison of Sounis when he is "rescued" by the king's magus. If he can steal something for the king & magus, he'll be set free. But the magus won't tell him what it is in advance. So, in the dark, he sets out with the magus's small party, crossing into the neighboring kingdom in secret, seeking Hiamathes Gift, a stone of mystical power and immense political importance for Sounis and its neighboring countries.
Loved this book (and reviewed it here). Read the two books that followed and hope that a fourth will be coming.
I first discovered Laker when I was in high school. Our local library had her name listed on an "If You Like..." flyer -- if you like Victoria Holt, you should try Rosalind Laker. She wrote books in a variety of historical settings, up to the early 20th century. I tended to like her older books, particularly Ride the Blue Riband (about racing) and Circle of Pearls, set during the Cromwell years and the reign of Charles II. CoP is the story of Julia Pallister and Adam Warrender. They first meet as youths on the opposite sides of a civil war -- Cavalier vs. Roundhead -- and the relationship that follows is quite tempestuous. Julia is an interesting and independent character, although quite hardheaded and impetuous at times. Charles II's restoration, the Great Fire of London, Christopher Wren, all kinds of important historical events and people play roles in the book.
A few of the runner up books:
Pushing 30 by Whitney Gaskell (chick lit)
Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier (YA)
If Andy Warhol Had A Girlfriend by Allison Pace (chick lit)
Bad For Each Other by Kate Hathaway (category, contemporary)
The Conquest by Yxta Maya Murray (contemporary & historical, genfic)
Ceiling of Amber by Elisabeth Ogilvie (YA)
Imaginary Men by Anjali Banerjee (chick lit)
Calico Palace by Gwen Bristow (historical)
Marriage Meltdown by Emma Darcy (category, contemporary)
Wolf in Waiting by Rebecca Flanders (category, paranormal)
The Promise by Donna Boyd (paranormal)
(or maybe The Passion? The second book of her Devoncroix werewolf series...which never finished, dammit)
Let's see, who to tag?
SarahF
KateR
Suisan
Lyvvie
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-05-21 03:35 am (UTC)CindyS
no subject
Date: 2007-05-21 01:40 pm (UTC)And I just thought of a couple others to add to the list.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-21 12:06 pm (UTC)the others I haven't read.
I think I'll make this my SBD.
Kate r
no subject
Date: 2007-05-21 01:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-21 12:07 pm (UTC)I didn't even notice that.
Kate R
no subject
Date: 2007-05-21 12:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-21 01:31 pm (UTC)I'm doing the same thing -- making a list of the books that are listed and adding them to my wishlist.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-21 02:32 pm (UTC)Nice choices! Megan Whalen Turner has been on my list for a while, and Circle of Pearls sounds awesome.
-Jennie