Reading roundup: Worldcon prep and follow-up edition

[hamsterwoman]

So I haven't done a proper reading post in almost two months, since before Worldcon, and am finally almost caught up. Unlike how I normally do these, I wrote these up out of order, because I was hurrying through the Hugos, and am posting them a little bit out of order, too -- book #59 was The Will To Battle, which wouldn't fit in this post, so will

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[aletheiafelinea]

I'm hoping that my hold on Jo Walton's history of the Hugo awards comes in soon enough for me to be able to reach my goal of reading at least one non-fiction book in 2018.
If not, I'm pretty sure travel guides count, and including online ones will be only a small stretch. ;D

I'm assuming the fic is Bucky/Steve :P
Oh my, how did you guess? XD I read gens though, too! If they happen to exist, that is...

Currently rereading Wisława Szymborska's "Literary Mail" from circa fifty or sixty years ago when she ran a column in a literary magazine, which boiled down to explaining tons of wannabe writers why their magnum opuses are unprintable. Golden stuff, nowadays sporkers could learn a thing or two. :')
At least half of others and some of the best were Polish, too, but some of those that weren't:
- The Story of Gardening by Penelope Hobhouse (because I actually impulse-bought that; I should be kept away from bookstores...)
- The War Against Boys by Christina Hoff Sommers (the only one read in original; wow, a thing written by a feminist and from a feministic point of view that turns out actually refreshing, that's new... and I'm only very slightly sarcastic here :P)
- Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? by Frans de Waal (I liked this one more than The Bonobo and the Atheist; also, omg, Polish cover is crap compared to the original one)
- Dear Leader by Jang Jin-Sung (not bad, though nothing particularly outstanding, if one have read others of this sort)
- Crossing the Sea by Wolfgang Bauer (meh, a little disappointing; one-sided to the extreme and very simplistic in conclusions; actually, author would do better if he held from any conclusions, lettting the relation speak for itself, no more and no less)
- How to Read Water by Tristan Gooley (hmm, good stuff, but somehow I rather pushed through it, instead being pulled in, so to speak)
- Into the Gray Zone by Adrian Owen (fascinating theme and actually informative, but somehow I expected more from it)
- Mind of the Raven by Bernd Heinrich (don't :] fascinating subject, but I trudged through it for three weekends; when asked, a friend of mine specializing in reviewing nature pop-science said the same about his other book, so we concluded, yeah, must be the author, not us)

Now I'm tempted to throw together a more exhaustive entry, but don't be surprised if I won't... XD

[hamsterwoman]

which boiled down to explaining tons of wannabe writers why their magnum opuses are unprintable. Golden stuff, nowadays sporkers could learn a thing or two. :')

This was the sharp-tongued poet you like, right? I can imagine how entertaining such a column would be!

- The War Against Boys by Christina Hoff Sommers (the only one read in original; wow, a thing written by a feminist and from a feministic point of view that turns out actually refreshing, that's new

That does sound really interesting!

The "Are We Smart Enough" original cover is pretty! I'm puzzled by the polish one, though -- does the book get an extra title (above the subtitle) that the original doesn't have?

And of course I'd happily read a more exhaustive entry, too, if you find the time/energy/interest for one :)

[aletheiafelinea]

This was the sharp-tongued poet you like, right?
Yep.

I can imagine how entertaining such a column would be!
:)

"My boyfriend says I'm too pretty to write good poems. What do you think about the ones I included?" We think you are indeed a very beautiful girl.

"Accidentally I wrote twenty poems. I'd like to see them printed." Alas, the Great Pasteur was right, saying that lucky chance favors only the ready minds. The Muse found you in a mental dishabille.

It's true that Éluard didn't know Polish, but does it really need to be emphasized so much, when translating his poems?

You're asking in a poem whether the life has any mening. The spelling dictionary's answer is negative.

Everything in this world wears out from constant using, except the rules of grammar. You should make use of them more, there's enough for everyone.

"I have a sigh to be a poet". In such circumstances I have a groan to be an editor.

That does sound really interesting!
It was, as long as one is okay with generous use of stats and Full & Very Long Names of Very Serious Associations... XD

I'm puzzled by the polish one, though -- does the book get an extra title (above the subtitle) that the original doesn't have?
It does, argh! :') It says "Smart/Clever Animal" and the original title became a subtitle (with 'smart' swapped for 'wise'). The publisher did like a Classic Polish Movie Distributor...

And of course I'd happily read a more exhaustive entry, too, if you find the time/energy/interest for one :)
Not saying no, and not promising. :)

[hamsterwoman]

The mean quips are wonderful -- thank you for sharing them! :D I especially love the crack about the translation -- that's really clever! :D