what I have been up to: reading
I have been reading a lot lately. Not much fanfiction, which, waaah, but for the most part I am not feeling fannish. I did read the ds_flashfiction 2nd Badfic Challenge, which has a lot of awesome stories (my favorites being this dS/Xmen crossover by china_shop and this C6D extravaganza by shayheyred). I also very much enjoyed 
toft's Holmes/Watson story Homo Ex Machina (NC17), and greensilver's Lost In Austen story Pemberly, Off-Season which is more or less George/Caroline and PG13-ish.
The bulk of my reading lately has been dead trees and pro audiobooks, which I am sad to say put podfic really in the shade as far as the full theatrical experience goes. On the other hand, audiobooks are usually not slashfic - but OH MY GOD you guys, I have been listening to the audiobook version of Diana Gabaldon's Lord John series as read by John Woodman, and, OH MY GOD. First of all, these are apparently her own slash fanfiction for her Outlander series (which I have not yet read) - I mean, Lord John is gay, okay, but the stories read like the best slash, with the emphasis on relationships, the UST (MY GOD THE UST in the second book) and then, wow, she actually GOES THERE and it's quite beautifully explicit within the constraints of the time period. And read by a talented actor who does the various English and Scottish and German and French accents with ease - let me just say that having a sexy male English accent purring into my ear about silken pricks and the curve of warm buttocks under his hand is quite the experience. And there are interesting action/adventure/mystery plots, which I really enjoy. I'm not much of a romance qua romance fan, so having actual plot external to the relationships makes the books far more interesting to me I am about four hours from the end of the second book and I am already anticipating getting the next. And reading the Yuletide fic. And maybe writing some, la la la.
Speaking of audiobooks and things I might consider at Yuletide, I have also finished the second book of the Millennium series by Stieg Larrson. The first (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)I read, the second I listened to (although I think it's better read than listened to), and I can't wait for the third. Excellent books. And hey, some lesbian sex and references to MMW threesomes, and lots of twisty turny plot. Although if you are triggered by noncon and abuse, do not read these.
In nonfiction, I particularly enjoyed Starbucked: A Double Tall Tale of Caffeine, Commerce, and Culture by Taylor Clark, A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson, The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan, and The Audacity of Hope by some guy, I think he's president of something.
I'm on Goodreads if you want to read my reviews; I try to put into words why I like what I like and why I don't like what I don't, but I can't claim to be particularly coherent about it, and your mileage may vary. (Also, if your Goodreads identity isn't the same as your LJ/DW identity, lemme know who you are? I have already forgotten who half my friends are there.) The kind of books I read are pretty well represented by this post.
And if you've been reading something really cool lately, tell me about it!
Also posted on Dreamwidth where there are
comments.
toft's Holmes/Watson story Homo Ex Machina (NC17), and greensilver's Lost In Austen story Pemberly, Off-Season which is more or less George/Caroline and PG13-ish.
The bulk of my reading lately has been dead trees and pro audiobooks, which I am sad to say put podfic really in the shade as far as the full theatrical experience goes. On the other hand, audiobooks are usually not slashfic - but OH MY GOD you guys, I have been listening to the audiobook version of Diana Gabaldon's Lord John series as read by John Woodman, and, OH MY GOD. First of all, these are apparently her own slash fanfiction for her Outlander series (which I have not yet read) - I mean, Lord John is gay, okay, but the stories read like the best slash, with the emphasis on relationships, the UST (MY GOD THE UST in the second book) and then, wow, she actually GOES THERE and it's quite beautifully explicit within the constraints of the time period. And read by a talented actor who does the various English and Scottish and German and French accents with ease - let me just say that having a sexy male English accent purring into my ear about silken pricks and the curve of warm buttocks under his hand is quite the experience. And there are interesting action/adventure/mystery plots, which I really enjoy. I'm not much of a romance qua romance fan, so having actual plot external to the relationships makes the books far more interesting to me I am about four hours from the end of the second book and I am already anticipating getting the next. And reading the Yuletide fic. And maybe writing some, la la la.
Speaking of audiobooks and things I might consider at Yuletide, I have also finished the second book of the Millennium series by Stieg Larrson. The first (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)I read, the second I listened to (although I think it's better read than listened to), and I can't wait for the third. Excellent books. And hey, some lesbian sex and references to MMW threesomes, and lots of twisty turny plot. Although if you are triggered by noncon and abuse, do not read these.
In nonfiction, I particularly enjoyed Starbucked: A Double Tall Tale of Caffeine, Commerce, and Culture by Taylor Clark, A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson, The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan, and The Audacity of Hope by some guy, I think he's president of something.
I'm on Goodreads if you want to read my reviews; I try to put into words why I like what I like and why I don't like what I don't, but I can't claim to be particularly coherent about it, and your mileage may vary. (Also, if your Goodreads identity isn't the same as your LJ/DW identity, lemme know who you are? I have already forgotten who half my friends are there.) The kind of books I read are pretty well represented by this post.
And if you've been reading something really cool lately, tell me about it!
Also posted on Dreamwidth where there are
comments.