desert_vixen's lair

Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read - Not only do I wish more people would read it, I've helped ensure other people (including my ex-husband) have read this book.  It's the book that got me into reading Lois McMaster Bujold almost eleven years ago - Cordelia's Honor.  It's a convenient omnibus edition (mass market paperback size) of the first 2 books in chronological order, Shards of Honor and Barrayar.  One of the reasons it's such a good idea is that (to me, anyway) Shards is not that compelling. It introduces the characters, the places, the romance between Cordelia and Aral, but Barrayar really sucked me in and made me an LMB fan.  I love the relqtionship between Cordelia and Aral, the richness, the snap - but I also love all the political manuevering and civil warfare, and yes, shopping.  The focus of the series is their son Miles,  but he doesn't draw me the way they do.  There are entire Miles books I could skip (and do, on rereads) because these two do not appear.  It may seem a little weird, but for me, the series is more about everyone else, not Miles.  And I really, really, really wish LMB would write us another good Barrayaran book full of politics and Barrayarans and more than cameos by the characters we love, especially after Cryoburn... but that's another rant for after the book officially comes out in October.  Just go pick up Cordelia's Honor if you haven't, even if you think you don't like sci fi.  You might just be surprised.


( Days 25-30 )

Day 16 – Favorite female character - Much like I couldn't just list one, I bring you a top 16 list - because female characters are awesome, and don't get enough love, IMO.

#16 - Cherry Ames (Cherry Ames series) - I prefer the Cherry-during-the-war stories, because after that, they were a little on the silly side sometimes.  Cherry is a nursing student when we meet her, and dabbles in detective work.  She's fearless and cheerful and not super goody-goody.  She's fun, and I like that the books have been reissued. 

#15 - Charlotte (Charlotte's Web) - I know she's not a human female, but she gets stuff done.  And she's smart, and uses her words.

#14 - Elizabeth Shelby (Star Trek: New Frontier) - Peter David's brought her a long way from the two TNG episodes she appears in - he's given her humor, back story, and a willingness to go along with the crazy, because it just might work.  She gets to be authoritative without being considered a bitch. 

#13 - Kristy Thomas and Mary Anne Spier (Baby-sitters' Club) - Yes, I'm serious.  I love the "best friends who are opposites" thing, and I like that the relationship between the two of them feels real.

#12 - Amelia Peabody Emerson (Amelia Peabody series) - I enjoy reading about her, although maybe I wouldn't want to be in her path when she's on a mission.  (Plus, every time I read the Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys novel that's set in Egypt, I wonder if she's the reason the tour guide is named Mrs. Peabody.  It gives me a giggle.)

#11 - Elizabeth Bennet and Fanny Price (Jane Austen) - These characters couldn't be less alike.  Yet they both make their respective books worth reading. 

#10 - Ariadne Oliver and Jane Marple (Agatha Christie) - They each have their own style, but I like them.  Mrs. Oliver, a mystery novelist (sort of a self-insert of Christie) insists that if we had a woman at the Yard, crimes would get solved.  Miss Jane Marple of Mary St. Mead solves all her crimes through knowing human nature - and knitting.

#9 - Laura Ingalls Wilder, Caroline Quiner Ingalls (Little House) - When I was a kid, I really liked Laura, and identified with her (especially as I had dark hair, dark eyes, and vivid imagination).  As I get older, I find I like Caroline more and more - and admire the courage both characters show.  (They're also the only "real" characters to make the list)

#8 - Parker Brown (Nora Roberts, Savor The Moment) - She's the sister of Delaney in yesterday's question, and "her book" is coming out in November, so I am quite excited.  She's organized and cool under pressure, and she gets stuff done. 

#7 - Jenny Chawleigh Lynton, Lydia Lynton, Kitty Charing, Ancilla Trent, Anthea Daracott (Georgette Heyer Regencies) - There's several wonderful female characters in the books, but these five are at the top of my list.  Jenny is from A Civil Contract, which isn't very romantic and dashing, but is touching and real.  Lydia is her young sister-in-law who consistently steals the scene.  Kitty is the heroine of Cotillion - she seizes hold of an opportunity to change her life, and she's smart enough to realize that she's found a better man than the one she had dreams about - and she helps out the people around her.  Ancilla Trent is a governess, and the heroine of The Nonesuch, in which it's nice to see the bluestocking get her man and the spoiled brat man-trap to get no one.  Anthea Darracott is one of the dysfunctional Darracotts in The Unknown Ajax, and deserves an award for not killing any of her relations.

#6 - Prudence Merryweather, Emily Faringdon, Lucinda Bromley, and Venetia Jones (Amanda Quick romances) - Prudence is one of my favorites because she's a peacemaker and problem solver, and drives a hard bargain.  Emily was really the first romance novel heroine who made me think that she was worth reading about - and I sympathized with her habit of withdrawing into fantasy to get away from the reality of her family.  Lucinda and Venetia belong to the Arcane Society novels (with Caleb and Gabriel from yesterday, respectively).  They get things done and keep me entertained.

#5 - Eve Dallas, Delia Peabody, Nadine Furst, Louise Dimatto, Mavis Freestone, and Charlotte Mira (JD Robb "In Death" series) - These are the core female members of the series, and I love them.  More importantly, I love the way they work together and play off each other, and everything does NOT have to revolve around men (unless they're a criminal).  They have work lives and personal lives and they act like real people.  Eve is prickly and pragmatic, Peabody soothes all the people Eve irritates, Nadine wants her next media accomplishment as much as she wants to breathe, Louise is the crusader, Mavis keeps an eye on everyone's mental health, and Dr. Mira provides the insight.  I can't wait to see what they're up to next.

#4 - Judy Bolton (Judy Bolton series) - She's considered to be more feminist than Nancy Drew, and she actually grows and changes.  I enjoy reading her, although I don't like the later books as much.  In one, she really impressed me when comparing her two suitors, noting that one wants to do things for her, and one wants to do things with her.  She's smart enough to pick the second one.  She also has a temper, and sometimes acts without thinking.  She's worth reading.

#3 - Anne Shirley Blythe (Anne of Green Gables) - I already talked at length about the Anne of Green Gables books, so let me just say: She's delightful.  She gets lost in daydreams, loses her temper, and never loses hope.  She also doesn't give up, and while she might be accused of having rose colored glasses, she really doesn't - at least, she knows when to take them off.

#2 - Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan and Alys Vorpatril (LMB's Vorkosigan Saga) - I love Aral Vorkosigan, but I don't think he would be as interesting without Cordelia.  The two of them together make a formidable team, and they share a talent for cutting through to the heart of things, so to speak.  Alys handles all of the social things (which on Barrayar is much needed) and ensures everything is done Properly - or people suffer. 

#1 - Nancy Drew (Nancy Drew series) - Yes, I am serious.  I love her, in her various incarnations.  She has provided me with many a break for a tired-out brain that can't take one more serious book.  From the original Nancy in the 1930s (yes, there are class/race issues in the books, but Original Nancy takes charge and has adventures) to the revised "yellow spine" Nancy Drew, in which the books were updated (i.e., let's get rid of the lazy Irish stereotype and bad dialect for anyone NOT white) in which she lost some of her moxie and got more correct, to the 80s and 90s, when she got back into action and flirted with Frank Hardy, to the newest update, which I'm not liking so much.  And yes, I write Nancy Drew fanfic, because she's fun to read about, and fun to play with.

( Days 17-30 )