Books!
For some reason, I find myself bored with fanfic and tv at the moment. It's all about books. Sarah Monette's Melusine and The Virtu (someone on my friendslist was talking about this, but I don't remember who) are my two latest, and they are *awesome* if you're into angst, angst, intricate world-building, angst, h/c, a bit of slash, angst . . . you get the idea. If you've read David Feintuch, you'll have an idea of what these books are like. (And if you like these books and haven't read David Feintuch's stuff, especially The Still and The King, you'd probably enjoy them. His scifi series, that I think has "Hope" in the title of all the books, is also good and also heavy on the angst, but lighter on the slash, if I recall correctly.)
I went to three different bookstores looking for The Mirador, book #3 in Sarah Monette's series, and nobody had it. It was to cry. So I ordered it and Supernatural: Nevermore from Amazon.
I also read Unbowed, an autobiography of Wangari Maathai, a woman from Kenya who was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for her work with The Green Belt Movement. In simplified form, she and her group are working to replant the forests of Africa where corporate greed has caused severe deforestation. She's employing, for the most part, women from rural areas, paying them for growing and planting trees. The women have an opportunity to be entrepreneurs, to support themselves and their families, and to heal their land. It's such an awesome idea, and the trials Maathai had to face because she was defying the government are unnerving. She's making such a huge difference in the lives of other Africans (because the Green Belt Movement has spread into other countries in Africa and beyond), but also in the entire world's environment. It's humbling and inspiring all at once. *sigh* I need to do more with my life, really.
I'm *still* working through Reading Lolita in Tehran. I'm not sure why it's taking me so long, except that it's kind of like a mixture of autobiography, political commentary, and literary theory, and it's just a lot to absorb in one sitting. Or several months of sittings, as it's been for me.
Next up is Whitethorn Woods by Maeve Binchy. Not something I would have picked up on my own, but there's this book club that meets the second Monday of every month. Mostly retired ladies, but they're welcoming, and it's something social. A friend of mine from work (who's teaching at a different school this year) and I have gone several times and enjoyed it. If nothing else, it gets me reading stuff I wouldn't normally read, and that's never bad. A woman cannot live on scifi/fantasy and fanfic alone. Um, okay, she can. She just has trouble discussing books with her non-scifi/fantasy/fanfic-reading friends.
Does anyone know if there are book club-like communities on any of the journal sites? Or anywhere, I guess, as long as they're cost-free and drama/stupidity-free. I need to discuss books more than I do. *nods*
I went to three different bookstores looking for The Mirador, book #3 in Sarah Monette's series, and nobody had it. It was to cry. So I ordered it and Supernatural: Nevermore from Amazon.
I also read Unbowed, an autobiography of Wangari Maathai, a woman from Kenya who was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for her work with The Green Belt Movement. In simplified form, she and her group are working to replant the forests of Africa where corporate greed has caused severe deforestation. She's employing, for the most part, women from rural areas, paying them for growing and planting trees. The women have an opportunity to be entrepreneurs, to support themselves and their families, and to heal their land. It's such an awesome idea, and the trials Maathai had to face because she was defying the government are unnerving. She's making such a huge difference in the lives of other Africans (because the Green Belt Movement has spread into other countries in Africa and beyond), but also in the entire world's environment. It's humbling and inspiring all at once. *sigh* I need to do more with my life, really.
I'm *still* working through Reading Lolita in Tehran. I'm not sure why it's taking me so long, except that it's kind of like a mixture of autobiography, political commentary, and literary theory, and it's just a lot to absorb in one sitting. Or several months of sittings, as it's been for me.
Next up is Whitethorn Woods by Maeve Binchy. Not something I would have picked up on my own, but there's this book club that meets the second Monday of every month. Mostly retired ladies, but they're welcoming, and it's something social. A friend of mine from work (who's teaching at a different school this year) and I have gone several times and enjoyed it. If nothing else, it gets me reading stuff I wouldn't normally read, and that's never bad. A woman cannot live on scifi/fantasy and fanfic alone. Um, okay, she can. She just has trouble discussing books with her non-scifi/fantasy/fanfic-reading friends.
Does anyone know if there are book club-like communities on any of the journal sites? Or anywhere, I guess, as long as they're cost-free and drama/stupidity-free. I need to discuss books more than I do. *nods*