September's Book List

I told you last time that September would be a good month.

Byatt, A.S. The Game. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1967.
-After finishing a particularly unsettling collection of her short stories, I decided to switch over to some Byatt's novels for a nice change of pace. The plot? Two sisters are kind locked into some sort of power struggle over themselves and each other and they're kind of estranged because of some boy from a long while back. They're so close that I thought they were twins, but once I realized they weren't, I was creeped out. I'm not sure why. Also: I don't think Byatt likes spaghetti. I've caught two references in two works (20ish years apart) and there's just something about the way she mentions it.

Clarke, Susanna. Jonathon Strange & Mr Norrell. New York: Bloomsbury, 2004.
-I'm not sure what's up with British writers creating alternate universes, but they're always great. And this one has magic. Tons and tons of magic. And hilarious footnotes. Yes, this is fiction. Delightful, intelligent, engaging, escapist fiction. Over 700 pages of awesome. I recommend it.

Cain, James. The Postman Always Rings Twice. 1934. New York: Vintage, 1981.
-So, supposedly this a big deal because it's one of the first books in the 'hard boiled' genre. And I didn't care. But I finished this in a day (it's barely 120 pages), and was incredibly engaged. Parts of it were ridiculous (and, several decades later, incredibly racist), but the story stayed with me. Interesting.

Cobb, Linda. Talking Dirty With the Queen of Clean. New York: Pocket Books, 1998.
-If I were one of those people who said "[Book title here] is my bible!" (and I don't, because the Bible is my bible. Duh.), I would say it about this book. Super-informative, relatively uncomplicated, and incredibly helpful. Cobb also only recommends 7 cleaning products you should always have, with a few extras if you have pets. She's easy, she's thorough, and she might be one of my heroes. And yes, I did sit down and read it all the way through.

Herbert, Frank. Children of Dune (3). 1976. New York: Ace, 1987.
-Dune! Crazy, crazy stuff. All kinds of plans just fall to pieces.

Herbert, Frank. God Emperor of Dune (4). New York: Berkley, 1981.
-Even crazier stuff. Not as great as the three before it. Nonetheless, I think I finished it in under a week because I really, really, really liked it. I've got to find Book 5 pretty soon.

In conclusion:

• Talking Dirty With the Queen of Clean > How to Clean Practically Anything.

• I really want to read Book 5 of the Dune series, but I don't know about 6 and 7 because they were ghost-written, and are based on drafts and notes. Okay, I probably will.
• Magic = fun.
• British = great.
• My 'read all the A.S. Byatt books in the Central Arkansas Library System' project = daunting.
• Spaghetti = disturbing. And possibly a metaphor for a misspent life.