Books - Finished

I really, really enjoyed this book.

I've been focusing on books written by women lately; they seem to satisfy the things I'm looking for in characters and narrative more often than books written by men. But I saw some good reviews of this, and a book about Midwesterners seemed appealing at the moment, so I gave it a try.

I really liked the characters, even the more flawed ones; I especially liked Edith. And there were some plot developments I really didn't see coming that just made me grin when they happened.

I just cannot say enough good things about this book. I love the main character, and the serial enthusiasms he's propelled into, and I could happily spend years just reading about whatever he's up to, whatever new thing he's learning about, dabbling in, experiencing.

I liked this a lot - and was surprised by how much I liked this, especially since I had such a hard time getting started with it.

The book starts with a death, and each time I started it, I just didn't feel up for a book that starts with a death. But the last time I tried, I didn't really have anything else I wanted to read more, so I just kept going.

This was a really good book.

I really liked all three of the main characters (although I wished Will had a better understanding of people ... but then, he's young). I liked the world, I liked the idea of steerswomen (although I had a really hard time disencumbering myself of the idea that the whole thing was about woman cowboys in the Old West), I liked the mystery Rowan was trying to solve, and her interactions with the other steerswomen and her friend the baron.

I liked the book, but it seemed rather scattered to me, and it didn't completely hold my interest to the end.

I was especially interested in the chapter that goes into the history of fortune cookies in San Francisco and Los Angeles - parts of it described Japantown people and businesses, which I found fascinating because they're so near by and so familiar.