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Books? What on earth are those?
Dec. 23rd, 2009 10:51 pmDay 04 → Your favorite book
I will admit right now that I am not much of a book reader. I go through these short periods where all I do is read books, and then much, much longer periods where I never even bother to pick one up. But when I do, it is usually an Inspector Monk novel by Anne Perry.
I love ALL of the pre-marriage books and have read them each at least three times through, even though I already know the answer to all the mysteries, but that should tell you right there that I am totally in it for the Monk/Hester romance of epic bickery. They are just so, so wonderful, and I love how it frustrates Monk to a ridiculous degree that he becomes a better detective in Hester's presence. Or rather, she gets things done, because she's awesome, and it annoys him that he ends up relying on her (and actually desiring her help) for every single case. When he talks things through with her, stuff just becomes clearer in his head, but he is rather insensitive and she is rather opinionated and he is rather old-fashioned and she is rather headstrong, so, naturally, they spend most of their time being angry with each other. And Hester is obviously the smarter of the two since she realizes way before he does that they complete each other. And of course there is this lawyer dude named Rathbone who sees right from the start how freaking awesome Hester is, and how freaking clueless and dickish Monk can be, and how flustered Hester gets around him and yet is totally cool around everyone else, and so naturally Rathbone detests Monk on a personal level, but admires him on a professional level, because Monk is a good detective, and he does always strive to do what is right. And Monk is totally not cool with Rathbone's appreciativeness of Hester, so, there's this lovely little triangle going on that I get so wrapped up in, and it stretches through something like 16 books and is handled masterfully, mostly because the romance is beautifully subtle and never once overshadows the main plot of the book.
As for the mysteries, which is what this series is really about despite what this post may lead you to believe, they are usually pretty interesting, but maybe not in a typical mystery novel type way? Basically the mysteries are just leading up to some truly epic courtroom drama, which is what I REALLY love, and this is probably why I have such a fondness for Rathbone. He is like Alan Shore in Victorian garb, only... not a manwhore. But anyway, some truly horrific stuff tends to come out during the court proceedings, and I love how these books cover modern day topics in a Victorian setting. There's one about child molestation (which contains the most disturbing/fascinating courtroom scene ever), abortion, rape, gay rights, war (the effects of war is a huge theme in all the books), etc. Basically, I really, really love these books. A lot. I can never remember which one's my absolute favorite though. I think it's the one I used for the pic. Maybe.
( Days rolling on by )
Buffy/Giles Xmas fic rec #3:
Mistletoads and Eggsnog by Escargoat. This one's quite ridiculous, but the Buffy/Giles bickering was done so magnificently that I enjoyed the heck out of it.
Guess who has to do last minute shopping on CHRISTMAS EVE tomorrow? *sigh* This really doesn't surprise me, seeing as how I end up having to do this every year. On the upside, they've built a Walmart closer to my home and very much not in the city, therefore I will not be stuck in the city traffic on Christmas Eve (last year it took me two hours to get home from a typically 40 minute trip. This year will be even worse with all the ice and whatnot out there).
I will admit right now that I am not much of a book reader. I go through these short periods where all I do is read books, and then much, much longer periods where I never even bother to pick one up. But when I do, it is usually an Inspector Monk novel by Anne Perry.
I love ALL of the pre-marriage books and have read them each at least three times through, even though I already know the answer to all the mysteries, but that should tell you right there that I am totally in it for the Monk/Hester romance of epic bickery. They are just so, so wonderful, and I love how it frustrates Monk to a ridiculous degree that he becomes a better detective in Hester's presence. Or rather, she gets things done, because she's awesome, and it annoys him that he ends up relying on her (and actually desiring her help) for every single case. When he talks things through with her, stuff just becomes clearer in his head, but he is rather insensitive and she is rather opinionated and he is rather old-fashioned and she is rather headstrong, so, naturally, they spend most of their time being angry with each other. And Hester is obviously the smarter of the two since she realizes way before he does that they complete each other. And of course there is this lawyer dude named Rathbone who sees right from the start how freaking awesome Hester is, and how freaking clueless and dickish Monk can be, and how flustered Hester gets around him and yet is totally cool around everyone else, and so naturally Rathbone detests Monk on a personal level, but admires him on a professional level, because Monk is a good detective, and he does always strive to do what is right. And Monk is totally not cool with Rathbone's appreciativeness of Hester, so, there's this lovely little triangle going on that I get so wrapped up in, and it stretches through something like 16 books and is handled masterfully, mostly because the romance is beautifully subtle and never once overshadows the main plot of the book.
As for the mysteries, which is what this series is really about despite what this post may lead you to believe, they are usually pretty interesting, but maybe not in a typical mystery novel type way? Basically the mysteries are just leading up to some truly epic courtroom drama, which is what I REALLY love, and this is probably why I have such a fondness for Rathbone. He is like Alan Shore in Victorian garb, only... not a manwhore. But anyway, some truly horrific stuff tends to come out during the court proceedings, and I love how these books cover modern day topics in a Victorian setting. There's one about child molestation (which contains the most disturbing/fascinating courtroom scene ever), abortion, rape, gay rights, war (the effects of war is a huge theme in all the books), etc. Basically, I really, really love these books. A lot. I can never remember which one's my absolute favorite though. I think it's the one I used for the pic. Maybe.
( Days rolling on by )
Buffy/Giles Xmas fic rec #3:
Mistletoads and Eggsnog by Escargoat. This one's quite ridiculous, but the Buffy/Giles bickering was done so magnificently that I enjoyed the heck out of it.
Guess who has to do last minute shopping on CHRISTMAS EVE tomorrow? *sigh* This really doesn't surprise me, seeing as how I end up having to do this every year. On the upside, they've built a Walmart closer to my home and very much not in the city, therefore I will not be stuck in the city traffic on Christmas Eve (last year it took me two hours to get home from a typically 40 minute trip. This year will be even worse with all the ice and whatnot out there).
