Book update
Stuff *has* been going on, but I'd prefer to talk about books.
Despite my busy days, I have found time at night to read. I've been going near the library recently (for job hunting classes) so it has been easy to get booked. Here are some of my recent reads.
-To Say Nothing Of The Dog - Connie Willis. Time-travel novel with characters traveling to Victorian England. Shenanigans ensued. I read it but felt the mystery plot was tacked-on and forced. Plus, an exhausted, bleary narrator is a torment for this under-rested reader.
-Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke. This book read very much like a Jane Austen novel ... except it had magicians and wasn't focused on the marriage prospects of gentlewomen but on English life. I wasn't quite taken with the ending but loved the ride - all 1000+ pages of it.
-Always Coming Home - Ursula LeGuin. I started this book ahead of Potlatch but was underwhelmed. The main story - a coming-of-age tale of girl in matriarchal society who goes to live with her father's patriarchal society - would have been a blast had it been written by Sherri Tepper. But it wasn't.
I tried to read some of the supplementary material (songs and stories set in that world) but that stuff outnumbered the mainstory. Was that the point? Was there material crucial to the mainstory buried in the huge swathes of backstory? Don't get me wrong - I love to read backstory bits that flesh out the universe but I prefer them like I like butter in a piecrust: well divided up so they add airy texture to the mixture as a whole.
The best use of supplemental material is (IMHO) as chapter introductions. A well chosen song, story or historical chronicle can act as a great addition, counterpoint or simply set the mood. It is tasty but doesn't take away from the main story. Like an amuse-bouche to the main course. But maybe that's just me missing the point. If anyone would like to defend LeGuin's book, feel free.
-The Wings of Wrath - C.S. Friedman. 2nd in a trilogy (I assume). Oh no she DIDN'T!
The first book introduced her universe and defined the rules of magic. Witches (male or female) have magical power but they can only use magical power at the cost of their own life force. For this reason they are choosy about when/where to use their power but invariably die early, their life forces consumed by their work. Magisters, OTOH, have figured out how to bypass the system and tap the life force of other people. They cannot control who their power source is and seldom know who they are killing by a wasting disease. This dirty fact is kept secret from everyone on the planet. Magisters were exclusively male for some reason but a woman joined their ranks (trained by a solitary magister willing to bend the rules) and broke the greatest taboo: killing a fellow magister.
The second book continued with the story of the first female magister but changed its focus to dragonriders - uh, I mean people soulbonded with the evil soul-sucking critters fought at the end of the first book. Midway through the book I looked up and was gobsmacked: was Friedman ripping on Pern!? In other words, what if people were telepathically bonded to dragons that 1) ate people instead of food animals and 2) were antagonistic towards instead of servile to mankind.
I'm very curious to see which fantasy tropes get upended in book 3. Additionally, I hope that the main character finds lovers 1) outside the royal family who 2) don't get killed by the end of the book. That trope got mighty old, mighty quick.
-The War of the Flowers - Tad Williams. Bought at Potlatch! A Williams stand-alone tale. Tasty and fluffy. Not sure if the post-9/11 motifs (flying object crashing into building) nuked its profitability or whether this one flew under the radar for other reasons.
My Auntie sent me a big box of used books scavenged from her local library sale.
-The Victorian Kitchen - At first I looked at this book and said "ehh" but then I opened it up and started reading. Wow. This wasn't just some random cookbook but a whole sociological / historical study of Victorian food and eating customs plus the life of the servants. Fascinating stuff. Remember that scene in "Lord of the Rings" where Sam and Frodo are bemoaning the lack of breakfast as they are running for their lives? ("I don't think he's *heard* of second breakfast.") Yeah, Victorian upper class people ate a lot. There was breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner and supper ... and those were just the basic meals. Beyond that, there were special kinds of meals - the hunt breakfast, the wedding breakfast, tea for people calling vs family tea, dinner a la Russe vs a l'Anglaise vs Francaise &c. Some upper crust households were so stratified the servants' dinner was divided into upper and lower servants' tables ... and pity the poor scullery maid who had to act as servant to the lower table - poor woman barely got to sit down and eat (and couldn't join her colleagues at the table because she wasn't of the requisite standing).
-Maisie Dobbs / Birds of a Feather - Mystery novels featuring female sleuth Maisie Dobbs set in post-WW1 England. Decently done stories though I'm not sure if I dig the psychotherapy / sleuth combination. I think I prefer my murder mysteries straight-up.
Other books on my night table / piled in a stack next to it:
1) The sequel to CJ Cherryh's Cyteen. This is probably next up on my to-be-read queue because I've been borrowing it from cynthia1960. Part of me was terrified to begin reading it. I loved Cyteen so much - even wrote a term paper on it for a class - that I didn't want to face the possible disappointment of a subpar sequel. But the other day I was about to go to the library to check out some of the tasty books I've seen recommended on my f-list and I had to stop short: I HAVE BOOKS - I JUST NEED TO READ THEM!!! So I will.
2, 3 and 4) From the Auntie collection: Water for Elephants, The Girl with the Pearl Earring, and another mystery novel whose title I've forgotten and I'm too lazy to look it up.
5) Found on top of the recycling pile (!): Portrait of a Lady by Henry James. I do like James' writing and I've never read this one. I did give up on my last stab at 19th century literature - Vanity Fair by Thackeray - but I shall endeavor to persevere!
6, 7, 8 and 9) Other books that have been mouldering on top of my nightstand forever: Goldfinger, Le Menagier de Paris, MFK Fisher collection, France. I've actually been reading Goldfinger and France. Goldfinger will make it off the bedstand table really soon now. France will be a much slower read.
Despite my busy days, I have found time at night to read. I've been going near the library recently (for job hunting classes) so it has been easy to get booked. Here are some of my recent reads.
-To Say Nothing Of The Dog - Connie Willis. Time-travel novel with characters traveling to Victorian England. Shenanigans ensued. I read it but felt the mystery plot was tacked-on and forced. Plus, an exhausted, bleary narrator is a torment for this under-rested reader.
-Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke. This book read very much like a Jane Austen novel ... except it had magicians and wasn't focused on the marriage prospects of gentlewomen but on English life. I wasn't quite taken with the ending but loved the ride - all 1000+ pages of it.
-Always Coming Home - Ursula LeGuin. I started this book ahead of Potlatch but was underwhelmed. The main story - a coming-of-age tale of girl in matriarchal society who goes to live with her father's patriarchal society - would have been a blast had it been written by Sherri Tepper. But it wasn't.
I tried to read some of the supplementary material (songs and stories set in that world) but that stuff outnumbered the mainstory. Was that the point? Was there material crucial to the mainstory buried in the huge swathes of backstory? Don't get me wrong - I love to read backstory bits that flesh out the universe but I prefer them like I like butter in a piecrust: well divided up so they add airy texture to the mixture as a whole.
The best use of supplemental material is (IMHO) as chapter introductions. A well chosen song, story or historical chronicle can act as a great addition, counterpoint or simply set the mood. It is tasty but doesn't take away from the main story. Like an amuse-bouche to the main course. But maybe that's just me missing the point. If anyone would like to defend LeGuin's book, feel free.
-The Wings of Wrath - C.S. Friedman. 2nd in a trilogy (I assume). Oh no she DIDN'T!
The first book introduced her universe and defined the rules of magic. Witches (male or female) have magical power but they can only use magical power at the cost of their own life force. For this reason they are choosy about when/where to use their power but invariably die early, their life forces consumed by their work. Magisters, OTOH, have figured out how to bypass the system and tap the life force of other people. They cannot control who their power source is and seldom know who they are killing by a wasting disease. This dirty fact is kept secret from everyone on the planet. Magisters were exclusively male for some reason but a woman joined their ranks (trained by a solitary magister willing to bend the rules) and broke the greatest taboo: killing a fellow magister.
The second book continued with the story of the first female magister but changed its focus to dragonriders - uh, I mean people soulbonded with the evil soul-sucking critters fought at the end of the first book. Midway through the book I looked up and was gobsmacked: was Friedman ripping on Pern!? In other words, what if people were telepathically bonded to dragons that 1) ate people instead of food animals and 2) were antagonistic towards instead of servile to mankind.
I'm very curious to see which fantasy tropes get upended in book 3. Additionally, I hope that the main character finds lovers 1) outside the royal family who 2) don't get killed by the end of the book. That trope got mighty old, mighty quick.
-The War of the Flowers - Tad Williams. Bought at Potlatch! A Williams stand-alone tale. Tasty and fluffy. Not sure if the post-9/11 motifs (flying object crashing into building) nuked its profitability or whether this one flew under the radar for other reasons.
My Auntie sent me a big box of used books scavenged from her local library sale.
-The Victorian Kitchen - At first I looked at this book and said "ehh" but then I opened it up and started reading. Wow. This wasn't just some random cookbook but a whole sociological / historical study of Victorian food and eating customs plus the life of the servants. Fascinating stuff. Remember that scene in "Lord of the Rings" where Sam and Frodo are bemoaning the lack of breakfast as they are running for their lives? ("I don't think he's *heard* of second breakfast.") Yeah, Victorian upper class people ate a lot. There was breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner and supper ... and those were just the basic meals. Beyond that, there were special kinds of meals - the hunt breakfast, the wedding breakfast, tea for people calling vs family tea, dinner a la Russe vs a l'Anglaise vs Francaise &c. Some upper crust households were so stratified the servants' dinner was divided into upper and lower servants' tables ... and pity the poor scullery maid who had to act as servant to the lower table - poor woman barely got to sit down and eat (and couldn't join her colleagues at the table because she wasn't of the requisite standing).
-Maisie Dobbs / Birds of a Feather - Mystery novels featuring female sleuth Maisie Dobbs set in post-WW1 England. Decently done stories though I'm not sure if I dig the psychotherapy / sleuth combination. I think I prefer my murder mysteries straight-up.
Other books on my night table / piled in a stack next to it:
1) The sequel to CJ Cherryh's Cyteen. This is probably next up on my to-be-read queue because I've been borrowing it from cynthia1960. Part of me was terrified to begin reading it. I loved Cyteen so much - even wrote a term paper on it for a class - that I didn't want to face the possible disappointment of a subpar sequel. But the other day I was about to go to the library to check out some of the tasty books I've seen recommended on my f-list and I had to stop short: I HAVE BOOKS - I JUST NEED TO READ THEM!!! So I will.
2, 3 and 4) From the Auntie collection: Water for Elephants, The Girl with the Pearl Earring, and another mystery novel whose title I've forgotten and I'm too lazy to look it up.
5) Found on top of the recycling pile (!): Portrait of a Lady by Henry James. I do like James' writing and I've never read this one. I did give up on my last stab at 19th century literature - Vanity Fair by Thackeray - but I shall endeavor to persevere!
6, 7, 8 and 9) Other books that have been mouldering on top of my nightstand forever: Goldfinger, Le Menagier de Paris, MFK Fisher collection, France. I've actually been reading Goldfinger and France. Goldfinger will make it off the bedstand table really soon now. France will be a much slower read.