Grewgirl and some books walked into a bar.....

[grewgirl]

You know, the book should be listed as one of a series when searching the online library catalog. This one was paired with its sequel (All Clear) but not with any other book featuring 21st century time travelers. I'm not in the habit of searching online for detailed information about a book that I find at the library, but I guess I need to do so in the future. That being said, I'm not sure I want to go back and read any earlier books any time soon.

That it's part of a series does explain why there was a waitlist for a two year old book.

*sigh*

I'm keeping it on the list as DNF and moving on.

[Proofrdr]

All those books are not really a series. Only Blackout and All Clear are sort of a series...really just one book split in two because the publisher wouldn't publish a single volume larger than the Bible. I winder why. The other books deal with some of the same background people, but they are definitely stand-alones.

GG, your confusion over the names arose because the 3 characters in 2060 take on different names in the past, e.g. Merope is Mary.

I read both those and Three Men and a Dog last year. Sacchi, I agree fully with your assessment of Three Men. What a rollicking Victorian romp!

Despite its problems, I also enjoyed the Blackout/All Clear tome for the social history of it. It gives an insider view of everyday life and common people through the horrors of WWII in England. That said, one could compile another tome of problems with it as a novel. The author is at blame for writing way beyond the story and the editor shares the blame for not hacking away at it and for not focusing on the main characters. But the picture of life at that time is exceptionally well done.

[grewgirl]

I honestly wanted to read this one because I enjoyed the last book that was set in Oxford.

GG, your confusion over the names arose because the 3 characters in 2060 take on different names in the past, e.g. Merope is Mary.

See, that's what bothered me. I knew a few chapters in that Merope was "Eileen the Irish Maid" and that Mike was an American reporter and Polly a shop girl in 1940. I didn't get that memo about the three in 1944. So having three 'new' names in a story that's jumped four years was confusing, especially since I knew they were time travelers. I'm sure it gets explained further in, and if it doesn't then shame on Willlis.

I did a little research - the Oxford Time Travel Series is four books and a novelette (which is available online).

[Proofrdr]

See, that's what bothered me. I knew a few chapters in that Merope was "Eileen the Irish Maid" and that Mike was an American reporter and Polly a shop girl in 1940. I didn't get that memo about the three in 1944.

It took me a bit to figure it out too. I'm not much for reading history books, but I love social history. That's why this appealed to me.

[grewgirl]

39. All Clear, Connie Willis

eBook version of this book = 892 pages
Things fell in to place sometime in the range of 700 pages in.
I am still a little confused but hey, at least I know I'm not alone.

And I still can't believe I dragged myself through both books.

[Baker]

I think we need to make up a LFF Persistence In The Face of Prodigious Provocation To Stop Reading award. The first recipient is... <drumroll> GG!

[grewgirl]

There were only one or two bits that just didn't fall in to place for me after all was 'read' and done. I imagine that I will just have to suffer the not-knowing. Hopefully the China Meiville book I just started will put an end to the dreams of 21st century historians trapped in WWII.

[Proofrdr]

All the flaws of both books aside...and there are many considering the composite 1900+ pages...the social history of the period made it an interesting and sometimes riveting read for me.

[grewgirl]

40. Maye's Request, Clifford Henderson

Interesting book. I liked that in the present there was only one voice, Bean, since I felt that the book was ultimately about her. I also like the way that the reader learns about "The Secret" and how it affected Jake, Jen and Maye. It wasn't really necessary for Bean to know the why's behind her family's relationships, but rather for her to see them try to make amends.

I've seen this love triangle before, and it usually has some terrible trauma to the children and the woman caught between the siblings in addition to ripping apart the family (Some people don't know the difference between tension and torture).

[grewgirl]

41. The Phantom Tollboth, Norton Juster

The weird thing about my childhood reading is that I spent a lot of it reading books that were not meant for children. I enjoyed the autobiographies and biographies and bodice rippers...but I missed classics like this one.