Week of April 24-30

[mrissa]

Two rejections. The drought continues. I'm not sure it's a good idea to keep track of how long it's been, but I'm also not sure I can actually refrain from doing so. Still, I'm moderately cheered by the markets I'm submitting these stories to this week, and also by the stories I'm working on. May as well be cheered by something, after all.

I'm also cheered by the sleet, which meant that nobody had to mow the lawn today, and I'm hoping it got itself all sleeted out today so that it's fair and fine for the people celebrating holidays tomorrow.

I've just barely started Charlie Stross's The Family Trade, so I can't tell if I like it yet or not. Earlier this week I read Master and Commander. Nobody told me about the funny. They all said, "Oh, you should read this book! You should read all these books! There are twenty of them!" They never said, "They are funny!" Funny is not a requirement, but I care a good deal more for funny than I do for boats, which I can enjoy or not depending on the rest of the book. This book would not have languished on my library list since 1998 if someone had thought to mention the funny.

(Yes, I've had the same library list since 1998. 1997, actually. I started keeping a list when I had to browse the nasty LoC stacks for my pleasure reading. I hate LoC for browsing. Haaaate. It's really best for things you know you want, so I started keeping track of what I know I want. It's been recopied lo these many times and runs to four and a half closely written pages, annotated with the names of who recommended the books to me, if anyone. This length does not count the books on my computer list I haven't thought to look up in the library system yet. I believe Master and Commander is the only thing that's been on it that long. There's a lot more movement than that, generally, although I haven't been to the library this calendar year because of certain bad influences on the friendslist. The library will lure me in sooner or later, though. They send me e-mails with the lists of the new books they've bought. Because they are tricksy, the library people. Tricksy, but not generally false, so it works out all right.)

Comments

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

I took my rotary mower to the hardware store to get the blades sharpened. That means I'm guilt-free on not mowing the lawn for a week.

It really needs it, though.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

markgritter did ours despite the sleet. Such a virtuous markgritter.

My reel mower is lovely with sharp blades, but I can't imagine trying to mow with it if the blades were dull.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Hey, mentioning the humor is a biggie for me--but I probably bored on about it elsewhere. But it is a major element for me, superficial though that no doubt makes me seem.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's superficial at all. I think really good humor can deal with the extremely serious stuff in ways that are sometimes better than trying to take it head on. And having fun is nothing to sneer at, either.

I'm frustrated by the number of people who don't seem to be interested in fun in their books or short stories, quite apart from the number who disagree with me about what's fun. The latter I can understand. The former--blech.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Wow, do I agree.

[scott-lynch.livejournal.com]

Mmmm. O'Brian is the master of low puns, droll metaphors, and perfectly natural situation comedy.

There's a bit with some bees in the second book that's highly amusing; there's a bit with a sloth in the third that made me laugh so hard I had to put the book down for a while.

[sculpin.livejournal.com]

What? They're funny? There's a bit with a sloth? Why did nobody tell me this before? Cripes.

Thank you! I will check 'em out.

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

They are not really 20 books, so much as one long book. I'm about halfway through it, and enjoying it enormously. (It works very, very, well as audiobooks.) You're right about the humor, which is mixed with the other bits with a very light touch. There's a wonderful bit in _The Ionian Mission_ that reminded me of the tribble thing in Star Trek, but very much better done.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I think the size of the series was part of what kept me from starting them earlier. Either they would be (as you say these are) more like one long book, in which case gaps in availability would be unbearable, or they would be a lot more episodic, and I wasn't sure I was ready to deal with 20 books without arc. Now dd_b is lending them to me, so I don't have to worry about gaps in availability on a reasonable scale.

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

Getting them in order has been something of a nuisance, with the inter-library loan thingee. The library catalog is happy to search by author or title, or even ISDN, should one know such a thing, but can't search for "the next one in the series." There are hundreds of Patrick O'Brian listings in the library's online catalog, what with hardcovers, paperbacks, audiobooks, videotapes, DVDs, and multiple editions of everything. It's not even much good to sort by publication date, though that does help a little. I was on the verge of asking Papersky to send me the list (though I felt very silly about it, because she's in Montreal, and the town library is less than a mile from my apartment.) But before I got around to it, I walked into my local bookstore (also about a mile from my apartment - I love this neighborhood!) and saw they had all 20 books lined up in order. This seemed especially remarkable, as they mostly sell used books, but they have this particular matching set of new trade paperbacks.
"Can I help you?"
"No thanks. I just want to write down the titles in order."
"Well then. _Far Side of the World_ is really right after _Treason's Harbor_. We just put it at the end because it's a little bigger than the others."

So now I have a list on my refrigerator, and I'm waiting to get the _Far Side of the World_ audiobook from the library. I think the story gets better as it goes along. It's partly a matter of Jack and Stephen growing up and doing more complicated things, and partly just a matter of me getting to know them better.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Our library has the idiotic policy of not alphabetizing entries within a search. So if you search for "O'Brian, Patrick," what you get is his works in order of popularity (as expressed by number of times checked out). It's maddening, especially when you have no idea how many people like which book by a prolific author in which edition, nor do you much care -- you just want to know if they have the damn thing in some form so you can read it.