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thanateI read some.
July:
(Aunt Mariah- Diana Wynne Jones. Included with the last set.)
Adulting: How to Become a Grown-up in 468 Easy-ish Steps- Kelly Williams Brown. There's a certain kind of "how to" life book that I'm a bit of a sucker for, and this, while it doesn't talk about patio gardening or raising city chickens at all, falls firmly in that category. I'm not sure I actually learned a lot, but it's a good set of multi-category life advice. If I knew any clueless just-released-from-school types I would probably buy a copy to mark up with my own annotations (warnings on the use of spray bleach come to mind...) & might recommend librarying to the less clueless, or those who are feeling shaky with their adultness. Very hip young thing and compulsively readable with entertaining diagrams. No particular awareness of the evils of airborne bleach, eco-friendly household practices, or the existence of poly relationships, but otherwise pretty good.
The Art of Manipulating Fabric- Colette Wilson. I didn't actually read this cover to cover, but as the "how to use this book" section said to flip through and look at the pictures, reading as appropriate, I did that. They were awesome pictures. This takes a concept (ruffles, pleating, gathering...) and explains it with illustration & photos from basic principles to all sorts of weird things you can do with it, and then carries on to the next one. Highly recommended if you're interested in poking at decorative sewing techniques.
The Killing Moon- N.K. Jemisin. I started this some time ago and then got all cross around chapter five b/c the character I wanted to read more about disappeared after the first chapter. (He does come back eventually.) Anyway, Jemisin is doing the "which of these things makes you a monster?" thing and doesn't pull a lot of punches, but we're not really in grimdark territory either. Fantasy world with dream-based magic based on ancient Egypt & in touch with the upriver neighbors as well as the northern ones. Culturally-accepted death magic & what happens when that goes horribly wrong.
The Shadowed Sun- N.K. Jemisin. Sequel to previous, similar sensibilities. One of the plotlines (the wild dreamer) seriously creeped me out, although I think this was mostly my state of mind at the time rather than anything to do with the book. Anyway, I liked the other characters/plotlines fine, and it got sorted out in the end. This one has a little more of the city, a desert culture, & healers in focus.
Year of the Griffin- Diana Wynne Jones. Comfort reread after previous-- I think this is currently my favorite of hers, though I could do with a little less Corcoran. DWJ's take on the magical university, complete with students more competent & in touch with reality than staff and background world politics & crowd scenes, and yet completely unlike Harry Potter. Also hilarious.
Dark Lord of Derkholm- Diana Wynne Jones. Set ten years previous to Year of the Griffin, and also the story that builds off of The Tough Guide to Fantasyland which I should read someday, now that I've got over being cross that it's not actually another DWJ book. I always seem to reread this second, after I've run out of YotG, but I think that's just me-- there's some relationship stupidity & "war is exciting/horrible" stuff that is done well but I'm thoroughly over as things to read about, but otherwise it's also a lot of fun. Wildly experimental bio-magic, large (not all human) family dynamics with kids, and what happens when someone from a world-like-ours starts farming out a more magical world for stereotypical adventure tours, and the ways things go wrong when the population of the other world gets thoroughly sick of it.
Lifelode- Jo Walton. So, you know that thing where you hear a bunch of things about a work of fiction and then you actually see/read it and find out it's completely different from the thing you were expecting? I still want to read the book I thought this was, although I'm not sure if I could explain it well enough to find out if that exists anywhere. But this was pretty good, too. It's the only thing I've read that I'll give a pass for being entirely in the present tense, but it's a very aggressive present tense which is making a point about perception of time. Also difficult is getting past the first chapter or so, where you get about twelve different names thrown at you in a context where names are fairly disassociated from gender and there are complex family relationships and you're expected to sort it all out for yourself. Which eventually you do, but it takes a bit. Anyway, it is as advertised a domestic fantasy, in a world where location effects the passage of time and the possibility of magic, and there are gods who on the whole you'd probably rather didn't notice you, and a version of poly-ish relationship norms. With family drama and a cranky goddess and a scholarly traveler and getting the harvest in. Would recommend if you can make it past the first chapter.
(these two out of The Compleat Dying Earth compendium which I've had for over a decade, started twice, and entirely failed to get beyond the first chapter before. Also there was going to be a long post on Jack Vance, but I may not get to it. Short intro: he was my father's favorite author, so I've been familiar with bits and pieces of his work forever, and this is the world I never actually got into before.)
The Dying Earth- Jack Vance. Um. Ok. So, I am faintly embarrassed to admit that I got almost half-way through this before realizing that he's making fun of the entirety of the genre as he knew it. And some other genres (history?) thrown in for good measure. I think I also would have gotten on with this better previously if I'd known that these are conjoined short stories rather than a cohesive whole. Still cross that Liane the Wayfarer got such a cool name for being such a creep, but otherwise I'll give it a pass. Read with salt handy and giggle.
The Eyes of the Overworld- Jack Vance. I feel I may have spent too much formative time playing Starcraft, as I keep trying to call this "The Eyes of the Overmind." Continuation of previous epic parody theme. Sadly, my desire for sympathetic characters is a failing as a reader here, as if there is anyone genuinely likeable here it's not anyone we get to know, and there's a lot of negative consequence disproportionate to the offense given. And Cugel, our "hero" (an unashamed scoundrel who is convinced he's the hero, and with whom the narrative agrees) got on my nerves sufficiently that when we reached the increasingly-obvious conclusion, rather than laughing at him, my response was much more, "Darnit, not *again*!" Readers unencumbered by the desire to sympathize will find this hilarious.
August:
The Demon Princes (The Star King, The Killing Machine, The Palace of Love, The Face, The Book of Dreams)- Jack Vance. So, having decided I couldn't stand any more Cugel for a bit, I went back to make sure there wasn't any horribly lurking parody in the Demon Princes. (There wasn't; just the occasional mad premise (cheating Interchange, nerd-turned-supervillain returns to his high school reunion...) I still find myself irritated by the one-girl-per-book thing, though unlike in many places of its era, that is fully and reasonably supported by the plot. And the stories holds up well except for some of the social mores and the technology. So then there I was reading along and nursing an infant and wondering whether she's ever going to be able to suspend disbelief sufficiently to appreciate a world with personal space ships and plot points involving not only business-with-telephone-wires-and-paper-files but slide rules. And then I wandered off into contemplating how I'd do a TV adaptation-- you can push some things off on the Institute (and these days it would probably be trendy to add a bit of technology apocalypse to be post, though I think that's a cop-out) and some on different planetary cultures, but some updating would need to be done. I could see having a physical currency, but the paper & programmed fake-meters wouldn't fly, and Pilgham's Telegraph... well. Would also cross-cast Adels, and possibly Warweave (just to confuse the issue) for starters.
My Beloved Brontosaurus: on the Road with Old Bones, New Science, and our Favorite Dinosaurs- Brian Switek. Via![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mrissa, who had a marvelous description which I can't seem to find again about this being actually written for her (our) generation rather than being like all the people who went on at us in high school about how you can't get AIDS off a public toilet seat while we all looked at each other wondering why they kept going on about toilet seats. (Um, except that I knew a girl who spoke up in class & said that her mother *had* to have gotten AIDS from a public toilet seat b/c her (the mother's) boyfriend didn't have it. Which I hadn't remembered in years and was suddenly vaguely horrified by all the implications of that statement that I failed to think about in seventh grade... But anyway!) One of the things my family did while my brother & I were still at home was go on camping trips to places with good paleontology museums, so I had the dinosaur story through the mid-90s, so this began with a little "why are we talking about toilet seats?" for me. But it also went on to a bunch of things I'd missed or hadn't gotten a good handle on, and in general it's a pretty good sum-up for the last twenty-five years or so of advances in dinosaur paleontology. Highly readable, minimal present tense narration.
The Shambling Guide to New York City- Mur Lafferty. Urban fantasy with chick lit sensibilities. Spunky heroine talks her way semi-accidentally into a job with a supernatural publishing company, madness ensues. Warning for a bit of R-rated sketchiness & a high off-screen body count, but fun if you like that sort of thing.
Shadow Bridge- Gregory Frost. Wanted to read his ancient Ireland, but this was what the library had. I enjoyed this-- it's a secondary world fantasy with hints of SF larger story, neat (if impractical) world building, and good characters. BUT. It's also childhood backstories for two characters with a lot of foreshadowing/dire hinting about things, ends on a massive cliff-hanger, has been out since '08, and the library hasn't got the second book.
Saffy's Angel, Caddy's World (prequel), and Indigo's Star- Hilary McKay. (3/6, the other three in September...) Certain parties have been going on about these long enough I figured I'd take a look at them. Caddy's World & the first few chapters of Saffy's Angel have mutual spoilers, but I didn't think it matters which you read first (I tend to be about chronological order.) Anyway, these are little mid-grade books about a British family whose parents are a couple of loony artists (one mostly present, one mostly absent) with all the quirky charm of a good big family story. Set in the more-or-less present day.
Xposty from dreamwidth.
July:
(Aunt Mariah- Diana Wynne Jones. Included with the last set.)
Adulting: How to Become a Grown-up in 468 Easy-ish Steps- Kelly Williams Brown. There's a certain kind of "how to" life book that I'm a bit of a sucker for, and this, while it doesn't talk about patio gardening or raising city chickens at all, falls firmly in that category. I'm not sure I actually learned a lot, but it's a good set of multi-category life advice. If I knew any clueless just-released-from-school types I would probably buy a copy to mark up with my own annotations (warnings on the use of spray bleach come to mind...) & might recommend librarying to the less clueless, or those who are feeling shaky with their adultness. Very hip young thing and compulsively readable with entertaining diagrams. No particular awareness of the evils of airborne bleach, eco-friendly household practices, or the existence of poly relationships, but otherwise pretty good.
The Art of Manipulating Fabric- Colette Wilson. I didn't actually read this cover to cover, but as the "how to use this book" section said to flip through and look at the pictures, reading as appropriate, I did that. They were awesome pictures. This takes a concept (ruffles, pleating, gathering...) and explains it with illustration & photos from basic principles to all sorts of weird things you can do with it, and then carries on to the next one. Highly recommended if you're interested in poking at decorative sewing techniques.
The Killing Moon- N.K. Jemisin. I started this some time ago and then got all cross around chapter five b/c the character I wanted to read more about disappeared after the first chapter. (He does come back eventually.) Anyway, Jemisin is doing the "which of these things makes you a monster?" thing and doesn't pull a lot of punches, but we're not really in grimdark territory either. Fantasy world with dream-based magic based on ancient Egypt & in touch with the upriver neighbors as well as the northern ones. Culturally-accepted death magic & what happens when that goes horribly wrong.
The Shadowed Sun- N.K. Jemisin. Sequel to previous, similar sensibilities. One of the plotlines (the wild dreamer) seriously creeped me out, although I think this was mostly my state of mind at the time rather than anything to do with the book. Anyway, I liked the other characters/plotlines fine, and it got sorted out in the end. This one has a little more of the city, a desert culture, & healers in focus.
Year of the Griffin- Diana Wynne Jones. Comfort reread after previous-- I think this is currently my favorite of hers, though I could do with a little less Corcoran. DWJ's take on the magical university, complete with students more competent & in touch with reality than staff and background world politics & crowd scenes, and yet completely unlike Harry Potter. Also hilarious.
Dark Lord of Derkholm- Diana Wynne Jones. Set ten years previous to Year of the Griffin, and also the story that builds off of The Tough Guide to Fantasyland which I should read someday, now that I've got over being cross that it's not actually another DWJ book. I always seem to reread this second, after I've run out of YotG, but I think that's just me-- there's some relationship stupidity & "war is exciting/horrible" stuff that is done well but I'm thoroughly over as things to read about, but otherwise it's also a lot of fun. Wildly experimental bio-magic, large (not all human) family dynamics with kids, and what happens when someone from a world-like-ours starts farming out a more magical world for stereotypical adventure tours, and the ways things go wrong when the population of the other world gets thoroughly sick of it.
Lifelode- Jo Walton. So, you know that thing where you hear a bunch of things about a work of fiction and then you actually see/read it and find out it's completely different from the thing you were expecting? I still want to read the book I thought this was, although I'm not sure if I could explain it well enough to find out if that exists anywhere. But this was pretty good, too. It's the only thing I've read that I'll give a pass for being entirely in the present tense, but it's a very aggressive present tense which is making a point about perception of time. Also difficult is getting past the first chapter or so, where you get about twelve different names thrown at you in a context where names are fairly disassociated from gender and there are complex family relationships and you're expected to sort it all out for yourself. Which eventually you do, but it takes a bit. Anyway, it is as advertised a domestic fantasy, in a world where location effects the passage of time and the possibility of magic, and there are gods who on the whole you'd probably rather didn't notice you, and a version of poly-ish relationship norms. With family drama and a cranky goddess and a scholarly traveler and getting the harvest in. Would recommend if you can make it past the first chapter.
(these two out of The Compleat Dying Earth compendium which I've had for over a decade, started twice, and entirely failed to get beyond the first chapter before. Also there was going to be a long post on Jack Vance, but I may not get to it. Short intro: he was my father's favorite author, so I've been familiar with bits and pieces of his work forever, and this is the world I never actually got into before.)
The Dying Earth- Jack Vance. Um. Ok. So, I am faintly embarrassed to admit that I got almost half-way through this before realizing that he's making fun of the entirety of the genre as he knew it. And some other genres (history?) thrown in for good measure. I think I also would have gotten on with this better previously if I'd known that these are conjoined short stories rather than a cohesive whole. Still cross that Liane the Wayfarer got such a cool name for being such a creep, but otherwise I'll give it a pass. Read with salt handy and giggle.
The Eyes of the Overworld- Jack Vance. I feel I may have spent too much formative time playing Starcraft, as I keep trying to call this "The Eyes of the Overmind." Continuation of previous epic parody theme. Sadly, my desire for sympathetic characters is a failing as a reader here, as if there is anyone genuinely likeable here it's not anyone we get to know, and there's a lot of negative consequence disproportionate to the offense given. And Cugel, our "hero" (an unashamed scoundrel who is convinced he's the hero, and with whom the narrative agrees) got on my nerves sufficiently that when we reached the increasingly-obvious conclusion, rather than laughing at him, my response was much more, "Darnit, not *again*!" Readers unencumbered by the desire to sympathize will find this hilarious.
August:
The Demon Princes (The Star King, The Killing Machine, The Palace of Love, The Face, The Book of Dreams)- Jack Vance. So, having decided I couldn't stand any more Cugel for a bit, I went back to make sure there wasn't any horribly lurking parody in the Demon Princes. (There wasn't; just the occasional mad premise (cheating Interchange, nerd-turned-supervillain returns to his high school reunion...) I still find myself irritated by the one-girl-per-book thing, though unlike in many places of its era, that is fully and reasonably supported by the plot. And the stories holds up well except for some of the social mores and the technology. So then there I was reading along and nursing an infant and wondering whether she's ever going to be able to suspend disbelief sufficiently to appreciate a world with personal space ships and plot points involving not only business-with-telephone-wires-and-paper-files but slide rules. And then I wandered off into contemplating how I'd do a TV adaptation-- you can push some things off on the Institute (and these days it would probably be trendy to add a bit of technology apocalypse to be post, though I think that's a cop-out) and some on different planetary cultures, but some updating would need to be done. I could see having a physical currency, but the paper & programmed fake-meters wouldn't fly, and Pilgham's Telegraph... well. Would also cross-cast Adels, and possibly Warweave (just to confuse the issue) for starters.
My Beloved Brontosaurus: on the Road with Old Bones, New Science, and our Favorite Dinosaurs- Brian Switek. Via
mrissa, who had a marvelous description which I can't seem to find again about this being actually written for her (our) generation rather than being like all the people who went on at us in high school about how you can't get AIDS off a public toilet seat while we all looked at each other wondering why they kept going on about toilet seats. (Um, except that I knew a girl who spoke up in class & said that her mother *had* to have gotten AIDS from a public toilet seat b/c her (the mother's) boyfriend didn't have it. Which I hadn't remembered in years and was suddenly vaguely horrified by all the implications of that statement that I failed to think about in seventh grade... But anyway!) One of the things my family did while my brother & I were still at home was go on camping trips to places with good paleontology museums, so I had the dinosaur story through the mid-90s, so this began with a little "why are we talking about toilet seats?" for me. But it also went on to a bunch of things I'd missed or hadn't gotten a good handle on, and in general it's a pretty good sum-up for the last twenty-five years or so of advances in dinosaur paleontology. Highly readable, minimal present tense narration. The Shambling Guide to New York City- Mur Lafferty. Urban fantasy with chick lit sensibilities. Spunky heroine talks her way semi-accidentally into a job with a supernatural publishing company, madness ensues. Warning for a bit of R-rated sketchiness & a high off-screen body count, but fun if you like that sort of thing.
Shadow Bridge- Gregory Frost. Wanted to read his ancient Ireland, but this was what the library had. I enjoyed this-- it's a secondary world fantasy with hints of SF larger story, neat (if impractical) world building, and good characters. BUT. It's also childhood backstories for two characters with a lot of foreshadowing/dire hinting about things, ends on a massive cliff-hanger, has been out since '08, and the library hasn't got the second book.
Saffy's Angel, Caddy's World (prequel), and Indigo's Star- Hilary McKay. (3/6, the other three in September...) Certain parties have been going on about these long enough I figured I'd take a look at them. Caddy's World & the first few chapters of Saffy's Angel have mutual spoilers, but I didn't think it matters which you read first (I tend to be about chronological order.) Anyway, these are little mid-grade books about a British family whose parents are a couple of loony artists (one mostly present, one mostly absent) with all the quirky charm of a good big family story. Set in the more-or-less present day.
Xposty from dreamwidth.