Life is nuts but I'm still finding time to read, apparently
Finished reading Fallow: This has been my favorite of the "away" books. Whyborne has finally gotten the hang of roughing it without complaint, aside from a complete inability to do farm chores. The whole thing with the corrupted was creepy, especially the more zombie-like ones. I was COMPLETELY surprised about who was running the show and why, and the revelation about Griffin's Ma was heartbreaking. My heart ached for Griffin, for the people he loved and who could not love him back. Lawrence's family, with his black wife, was a nice oasis of understanding. I'm not that keen on the new cover artwork unfortunately - I miss the photographic models they used to use. But I suppose that's a minor loss - the writing is still good, and I enjoyed this.
I also read A Call to Arms, which was m/m gay fiction of another feather. , particularly "Arrows of the Queen" - undereducated farm child goes off to the big city, learns to be a soldier, is awed by all the trappings of city life, etc etc, makes friends from all walks of life. There's a collegium/Academy, and there are different factions of learning - mage, sentinal (soldier), healer and general. So, Gib has been drafted into the Army, although he has to undergo two years of training before he'll be qualified as a soldier, which seems like an odd draft. Gib is, of course, essentially the most perfect person, kind and generous and honest - his only "flaw" is he gets tongue-tied when presented with authority or rank, and has no self esteem, but that's about it.
He's put in a room with a mage trainee named Joel, who - as we soon learn - has suffered severe ostracism for being gay. Of course Gib soon realizes he, too, is attracted to boys, particularly Joel, and by the end of the book, they've confessed their feelings and fallen in love. A plot to kill the king has been (temporarily) halted, and Gib's future looks bright. (TBC: sequel coming)
I'm torn about this book - on the one hand, it was completely entertaining and the characters were charming. On the other hand, it drove me nuts that Gib was only thirteen. I get that this is set in a fictional time/land where kids were expected to wed and be adults much earlier than now. But it still felt ... odd ... to have thirteen-year-old kids training for war, and falling in love (beyond middle-school puppy love, I mean). Joel, the 15-year-old mage trainee who is his roommate and eventual beloved - we never get to see any of his magic, except when he pain-blocks for Gib. What is he learning? What can he do? The cover shows him doing magic, but we never get to see any of that. So, that kind of made Joel seem more like a shadow of a person, rather than a full-fledged character.
Also, the author didn't seem to know the past tense of "may" is "might" and it pulled me out of the story every single time.
Still, I was entertained and would probably read the sequel at some point. After I get through the barrage of to-read books on my Kindle and physical bookshelf. :P
Next up: Cassie's "Lady Midnight."
Speaking of books - hamsterwoman sent MiniPlu her birthday gifts, which arrived today, and contained a bonus birthday book for me: Team Human. Looking forward to that, too. (MiniPlu LOVED the lightweight scarves and jewelry in her gift, and there were other awesome trinkets in there, too.)
In other news: working frantically on finishing the quilt for my friend's wedding gift - said wedding being a week from today. We're moved in enough to be functional, although there's a lot of stuff still in boxes and we don't have any of our photos or art on the walls yet. Slowly finding stores and such I might need on an ongoing basis. Stumbling through unfamiliar floor layouts is pretty annoying, however.
Coming up on a crazy-busy week:
Monday - in PA all day. Two is getting his braces off early that morning, the kids want to swim with a friend, I need to mow the lawn. Will has his once-a-week day at his office.
Tuesday - At the middle school three times: new student orientation at 9a, picking up Two's Chromebook (one-to-one program for kids grades 6-10) at 5p, parent orientation at 6:30p
Wednesday - Back to PA in the afternoon so Two can get his retainer.
Thursday - Down to CHOP so Two can get his implant replaced.
Friday - Flight to Boston for friend's wedding.
Going to try to ease back into keeping up with LJ, though.
I also read A Call to Arms, which was m/m gay fiction of another feather. , particularly "Arrows of the Queen" - undereducated farm child goes off to the big city, learns to be a soldier, is awed by all the trappings of city life, etc etc, makes friends from all walks of life. There's a collegium/Academy, and there are different factions of learning - mage, sentinal (soldier), healer and general. So, Gib has been drafted into the Army, although he has to undergo two years of training before he'll be qualified as a soldier, which seems like an odd draft. Gib is, of course, essentially the most perfect person, kind and generous and honest - his only "flaw" is he gets tongue-tied when presented with authority or rank, and has no self esteem, but that's about it.
He's put in a room with a mage trainee named Joel, who - as we soon learn - has suffered severe ostracism for being gay. Of course Gib soon realizes he, too, is attracted to boys, particularly Joel, and by the end of the book, they've confessed their feelings and fallen in love. A plot to kill the king has been (temporarily) halted, and Gib's future looks bright. (TBC: sequel coming)
I'm torn about this book - on the one hand, it was completely entertaining and the characters were charming. On the other hand, it drove me nuts that Gib was only thirteen. I get that this is set in a fictional time/land where kids were expected to wed and be adults much earlier than now. But it still felt ... odd ... to have thirteen-year-old kids training for war, and falling in love (beyond middle-school puppy love, I mean). Joel, the 15-year-old mage trainee who is his roommate and eventual beloved - we never get to see any of his magic, except when he pain-blocks for Gib. What is he learning? What can he do? The cover shows him doing magic, but we never get to see any of that. So, that kind of made Joel seem more like a shadow of a person, rather than a full-fledged character.
Also, the author didn't seem to know the past tense of "may" is "might" and it pulled me out of the story every single time.
Still, I was entertained and would probably read the sequel at some point. After I get through the barrage of to-read books on my Kindle and physical bookshelf. :P
Next up: Cassie's "Lady Midnight."
Speaking of books - hamsterwoman sent MiniPlu her birthday gifts, which arrived today, and contained a bonus birthday book for me: Team Human. Looking forward to that, too. (MiniPlu LOVED the lightweight scarves and jewelry in her gift, and there were other awesome trinkets in there, too.)
In other news: working frantically on finishing the quilt for my friend's wedding gift - said wedding being a week from today. We're moved in enough to be functional, although there's a lot of stuff still in boxes and we don't have any of our photos or art on the walls yet. Slowly finding stores and such I might need on an ongoing basis. Stumbling through unfamiliar floor layouts is pretty annoying, however.
Coming up on a crazy-busy week:
Monday - in PA all day. Two is getting his braces off early that morning, the kids want to swim with a friend, I need to mow the lawn. Will has his once-a-week day at his office.
Tuesday - At the middle school three times: new student orientation at 9a, picking up Two's Chromebook (one-to-one program for kids grades 6-10) at 5p, parent orientation at 6:30p
Wednesday - Back to PA in the afternoon so Two can get his retainer.
Thursday - Down to CHOP so Two can get his implant replaced.
Friday - Flight to Boston for friend's wedding.
Going to try to ease back into keeping up with LJ, though.