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starladyI was digging through my filing cabinets to answer a question for thistleingrey the other day (yes; I am one of those people who saves her school notebooks. I could probably get rid of the ones from middle school, though) and came across my eighth grade reading journal. It's hilarious on multiple levels, the most obvious being that the entries form a pattern: one will read, "Dear [teacher name redacted], I started [insert book name here] today…" and the next will begin, "Dear [teacher name redacted], I finished [insert book name here] today…" The other thing is that my reading journal consists almost entirely of plot summaries. And they're not even very good plot summaries! So, yes. As a reviewer, I have had a long apprenticeship in my craft (I'd rate myself at the journeywoman level now), but there has also been a definite learning curve.
So, for my own amusement and because it turns out I read some decent books in eighth grade, I've extracted the non-plot summary bits for some and am posting them here, with some contemporary commentary.
David Weber, On Basilisk Station
What I said then: "I like how the technology is described thoroughly and how the RMN is a real navy (unlike Star Trek). … I like this book because it is rather brutally realistic on the fact that humanity won't get all peaceful and lovey-dovey once we discover FTL travel."
What I say now: Absolute gender equality, baby, to the point of using the third person feminine. I have a lot of other problems with Weber, but for the gender equality and for the character of Honor Harrington herself, who is a fantastic role model (and was for me, I think, since I did start reading about her when I was 13), he will always have my gratitude.
Michelle West, The Uncrowned King
Then: "Michelle West's style of writing is subtly different from other people's--the words read like an inference. It's suitable for the book. … There is very little love in her books, only power."
Now: I would agree with my younger self's assessment, actually; West's writing is a lot denser, and works a lot more subtly, than almost any other writer I can think of. I enjoy this, since I often find that supposedly clever twists and setups in other books are transparently obvious to me. I stand by what I said about love, too, with the important qualification that it's romantic love that's MIA here; nothing in West's books is quite so simple as that.
Philip Pullman, The Golden Compass
Then: "This book takes place in an alternate universe…I like it a lot because the differences are fun to figure out. It's very cool. … I like this book because all the species and differences and parallels are really well thought out. It's very cool."
Now: I really need to reread this book, not least because China Miéville named it a great sff book for socialists, which I would never would have considered, and also because I nearly bounced off the first half of the book, which seemed really...childish at the time. But in some ways I think Compass is the most ethical of the trilogy (I wrote a paper for a college course on philosophical theology on these books, actually), as well as the most tightly structured. We'll see what I think upon reread.
thistleingrey the other day (yes; I am one of those people who saves her school notebooks. I could probably get rid of the ones from middle school, though) and came across my eighth grade reading journal. It's hilarious on multiple levels, the most obvious being that the entries form a pattern: one will read, "Dear [teacher name redacted], I started [insert book name here] today…" and the next will begin, "Dear [teacher name redacted], I finished [insert book name here] today…" The other thing is that my reading journal consists almost entirely of plot summaries. And they're not even very good plot summaries! So, yes. As a reviewer, I have had a long apprenticeship in my craft (I'd rate myself at the journeywoman level now), but there has also been a definite learning curve. So, for my own amusement and because it turns out I read some decent books in eighth grade, I've extracted the non-plot summary bits for some and am posting them here, with some contemporary commentary.
David Weber, On Basilisk Station
What I said then: "I like how the technology is described thoroughly and how the RMN is a real navy (unlike Star Trek). … I like this book because it is rather brutally realistic on the fact that humanity won't get all peaceful and lovey-dovey once we discover FTL travel."
What I say now: Absolute gender equality, baby, to the point of using the third person feminine. I have a lot of other problems with Weber, but for the gender equality and for the character of Honor Harrington herself, who is a fantastic role model (and was for me, I think, since I did start reading about her when I was 13), he will always have my gratitude.
Michelle West, The Uncrowned King
Then: "Michelle West's style of writing is subtly different from other people's--the words read like an inference. It's suitable for the book. … There is very little love in her books, only power."
Now: I would agree with my younger self's assessment, actually; West's writing is a lot denser, and works a lot more subtly, than almost any other writer I can think of. I enjoy this, since I often find that supposedly clever twists and setups in other books are transparently obvious to me. I stand by what I said about love, too, with the important qualification that it's romantic love that's MIA here; nothing in West's books is quite so simple as that.
Philip Pullman, The Golden Compass
Then: "This book takes place in an alternate universe…I like it a lot because the differences are fun to figure out. It's very cool. … I like this book because all the species and differences and parallels are really well thought out. It's very cool."
Now: I really need to reread this book, not least because China Miéville named it a great sff book for socialists, which I would never would have considered, and also because I nearly bounced off the first half of the book, which seemed really...childish at the time. But in some ways I think Compass is the most ethical of the trilogy (I wrote a paper for a college course on philosophical theology on these books, actually), as well as the most tightly structured. We'll see what I think upon reread.
