major booklog catchup
Fiction:
The Accidental Empress, Allison Pataki. This had potential to be so interesting; the story of Empress Sisi of Austria-Hungary. But it was so boring. So. Boring. :(
The Dream Lover, Elizabeth Berg. This was historical fiction written as a sort of biography from the perspective of George Sand. It probably would have been more engaging if I knew anything about George Sand.
The Translator, Nina Schuyler. A woman whose first languages are German and Dutch, but speaks a number of languages and works as a Japanese to English translator, suffers a head injury that leaves her only able to speak Japanese. Somehow this turns into a meditation on bad parenting.
A Memory of Violets, Hazel Gaynor. This was just super-twee. I can't really recommend it but I can't say avoid it, either. It is what it is.
Widdershins, Jordan Hawk
Threshold, Jordan Hawk
Stormhaven, Jordan Hawk
These are the first three books in an original m/m romance historical urban fantasy (yes) series that
alpheratz recommended to me. I'm reading book four now, so clearly they work pretty okay. I'm 99% sure they started life as Hornblower fanfic. Excellent brain candy, don't think about it too hard.
Nonfiction
Eleanor of Castile: The Shadow Queen, Claire Prentice. I really enjoyed this! Yay historical study of women who didn't get the big memorial epics.
Mozart in the Jungle: Sex, Drugs, and Classical Music, Blair Tindall. Nobody should ever become a professional musician because it's hard to make money in the arts and also artists are neurotic. That's the entire message of this book.
The Last Train to Zona Verde: My Ultimate African Safari, Paul Theroux. This veered wildly back and forth between "white people are killing Africa through their lack of understanding" and "let it fucking die oh my god it's a cesspool." Shit got uncomfortable.
Napoleon’s Hemorrhoids: And Other Small Events That Changed History, Phil Masson. Fluffy historical trivia; much of it left me whispering "Citation needed!"
The Nuns of Sant'Ambrogio: The True Story of a Convent in Scandal, Hubert Wolf. Scandalous Catholic history! Except the author was seriously more interested in the procedural operations of the Vatican court system than anything else. There are charts.
Tracks: A Woman's Solo Trek Across 1700 Miles of Australian Outback, Robyn Davidson. It's from 1977. It's very... 1977.
Poetry
War of the Foxes, Richard Siken. I know the general zeitgeist in fandom right now is to mock Siken for being essentially the "basic bitch" of poetry. Whatever. I like his work. This volume is shorter and more thematically cohesive than "Crush"; unfortunately the theme doesn't resonate for me personally so as a whole it left me pretty cold. My favorite here is "The Way The Light Reflects," obvs, since I titled all of the Pretty series after it.
The Dreamwidth copy of this post has
comments. Comment there or here, as you like!
The Accidental Empress, Allison Pataki. This had potential to be so interesting; the story of Empress Sisi of Austria-Hungary. But it was so boring. So. Boring. :(
The Dream Lover, Elizabeth Berg. This was historical fiction written as a sort of biography from the perspective of George Sand. It probably would have been more engaging if I knew anything about George Sand.
The Translator, Nina Schuyler. A woman whose first languages are German and Dutch, but speaks a number of languages and works as a Japanese to English translator, suffers a head injury that leaves her only able to speak Japanese. Somehow this turns into a meditation on bad parenting.
A Memory of Violets, Hazel Gaynor. This was just super-twee. I can't really recommend it but I can't say avoid it, either. It is what it is.
Widdershins, Jordan Hawk
Threshold, Jordan Hawk
Stormhaven, Jordan Hawk
These are the first three books in an original m/m romance historical urban fantasy (yes) series that
alpheratz recommended to me. I'm reading book four now, so clearly they work pretty okay. I'm 99% sure they started life as Hornblower fanfic. Excellent brain candy, don't think about it too hard.
Nonfiction
Eleanor of Castile: The Shadow Queen, Claire Prentice. I really enjoyed this! Yay historical study of women who didn't get the big memorial epics.
Mozart in the Jungle: Sex, Drugs, and Classical Music, Blair Tindall. Nobody should ever become a professional musician because it's hard to make money in the arts and also artists are neurotic. That's the entire message of this book.
The Last Train to Zona Verde: My Ultimate African Safari, Paul Theroux. This veered wildly back and forth between "white people are killing Africa through their lack of understanding" and "let it fucking die oh my god it's a cesspool." Shit got uncomfortable.
Napoleon’s Hemorrhoids: And Other Small Events That Changed History, Phil Masson. Fluffy historical trivia; much of it left me whispering "Citation needed!"
The Nuns of Sant'Ambrogio: The True Story of a Convent in Scandal, Hubert Wolf. Scandalous Catholic history! Except the author was seriously more interested in the procedural operations of the Vatican court system than anything else. There are charts.
Tracks: A Woman's Solo Trek Across 1700 Miles of Australian Outback, Robyn Davidson. It's from 1977. It's very... 1977.
Poetry
War of the Foxes, Richard Siken. I know the general zeitgeist in fandom right now is to mock Siken for being essentially the "basic bitch" of poetry. Whatever. I like his work. This volume is shorter and more thematically cohesive than "Crush"; unfortunately the theme doesn't resonate for me personally so as a whole it left me pretty cold. My favorite here is "The Way The Light Reflects," obvs, since I titled all of the Pretty series after it.
The Dreamwidth copy of this post has
comments. Comment there or here, as you like!