(no subject)
I am absolutely not coping with being a grown up at the moment (just for the record) but apparently that's not a thing you can take a break from. Currently I am placing internal bets on which area of my life will come crashing down first or whether I'll manage to sneak through with everything a little battered but intact. HOW IS IT SEPTEMBER?!
On a more pleasant note- books!
(If you don't want to click on the link below I'll say just one thing- read Mistress Masham's Repose <3)
August reviews
Caxton's Challenge- Cynthia Harnett This is a lovely story about a fictional boy apprenticed to William Caxton. Pirates & smugglers & secret Tudor supporters & chilvary & King Arthur & lots of daring do <3 It was just lots of fun.
Ibn Fadlan- Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness This book is absolutely fascinating! It starts with extracts from Ibn Fadlan who was an Arabic traveller in the 10th century and then has snippets from a lot of other Arabic travel writers from the 10th - 12th centuries. It's absolutely fascinating hearing their descriptions of peoples and cities and the bits that are clearly true and the bits that are clearly legends (and the gaps in between the two). Almost all the writers talk of Alexander's wall and the people of Gog & Magog behind the wall, one or two describe seeing the skeletons of these giants! But on the other side Ibn Fadlan describes a Viking ship burial (the Volga Vikings not the ones coming across to Britain etc.) in amazing detail. I also love that he comes across things he clearly disapproves of, and says as much, but then describes them all to the same level of detail. A really intriguing little history/travel book!
David Crystal- A Little Book of Language Picked this up at the Globe when I discovered I hadn't properly charged my Kindle /o\ It's technically meant to be linguistics for kids, or teenagers at least, but it's full of interesting facts and takes you through how languages developed and then how we learn them and talks about alphabets and sign language and the way computers have changed our language and dialects and accents and codes and it was a really fun read. Linguistics is a subject I thought quite hard about studying at university before swinging back to history.
Stefan Zweig- Letter From an Unknown Woman These 4 short stories are incredibly atmospheric. Zweig has a really beautiful style that absolutely caught me up into the worlds he was describing and have been swirling around in my head ever since. The title story is a fascinating look at the way we can change someone's life without ever being aware of it and is probably the most striking in the book? But there's a wonderful story about repaying a debt which is actually about a fangirl all grown up which obviously pleased me a lot. THe last story was fascinating because it was about a woman who very consciously married for status & riches being confronted by a previous lover and seemingly being fine with ehr choice till a sudden last minute question which was also one of the songs in Songs For A New World and both of them bother me a bit- I understand love conquers all is a thing in books (and maybe RL) but it's irritating when a woman's judgement is suddenly undercut. But they really are all beautiful stories. Well paced and fascinating and haunting.
A Slip of the Keyboard- Terry Pratchett I only buy Pratchetts in paperback so unlike the whole world I'm not reading The Shepherd's Crown at the moment so it seemed like a good point to jump A Slip of the Keybaord to the top of my list. I'd read some of these non-fiction pieces before but not all by any means. I think I found the one's about being a writer the most interesting, and the ones about his life, I suppose the angry section at the back about his illness & assisted dying were the ones I'd mainly already read so I got through those pretty quickly but they're all interesting.
Mistress Masham's Repose- T.H. White LOVE LOVE LOVE how had I never read this book before? It's all about a little girl with cruel guardians who discovers a community of Lilliputians living on an island in her (vast) garden ie. it's Gulliver's Travels fanfiction and it's funny and clever and I love it VERY much. Maria is a real little girl and the adults around her are idiots but the Lilliputians are allowed to be real characters with their own society and rules and wants. READ IT.
Dreams and Shadows- C. Robert Cargill I got this at the 2014 Nine Worlds and then promptly dropped it down the back of a bookcase and only just rediscovered it. If you like your urban fantasy truly depressing and grim then this is for you. I mean it's got a fascinating friendship at the centre and some great worldbuilding and I like Colby enough that I am tempted to read the sequel but it's definitely grey & grim and I was pretty glad to finish.
On a more pleasant note- books!
- Caxton's Challenge- Cynthia Harnett
- Ibn Fadlan- Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness
- David Crystal- A Little Book of Language
- Stefan Zweig- Letter From an Unknown Woman
- A Slip of the Keyboard- Terry Pratchett
- Mistress Masham's Repose- T.H. White
- Dreams and Shadows- C. Robert Cargill
(If you don't want to click on the link below I'll say just one thing- read Mistress Masham's Repose <3)
August reviews
Caxton's Challenge- Cynthia Harnett This is a lovely story about a fictional boy apprenticed to William Caxton. Pirates & smugglers & secret Tudor supporters & chilvary & King Arthur & lots of daring do <3 It was just lots of fun.
Ibn Fadlan- Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness This book is absolutely fascinating! It starts with extracts from Ibn Fadlan who was an Arabic traveller in the 10th century and then has snippets from a lot of other Arabic travel writers from the 10th - 12th centuries. It's absolutely fascinating hearing their descriptions of peoples and cities and the bits that are clearly true and the bits that are clearly legends (and the gaps in between the two). Almost all the writers talk of Alexander's wall and the people of Gog & Magog behind the wall, one or two describe seeing the skeletons of these giants! But on the other side Ibn Fadlan describes a Viking ship burial (the Volga Vikings not the ones coming across to Britain etc.) in amazing detail. I also love that he comes across things he clearly disapproves of, and says as much, but then describes them all to the same level of detail. A really intriguing little history/travel book!
David Crystal- A Little Book of Language Picked this up at the Globe when I discovered I hadn't properly charged my Kindle /o\ It's technically meant to be linguistics for kids, or teenagers at least, but it's full of interesting facts and takes you through how languages developed and then how we learn them and talks about alphabets and sign language and the way computers have changed our language and dialects and accents and codes and it was a really fun read. Linguistics is a subject I thought quite hard about studying at university before swinging back to history.
Stefan Zweig- Letter From an Unknown Woman These 4 short stories are incredibly atmospheric. Zweig has a really beautiful style that absolutely caught me up into the worlds he was describing and have been swirling around in my head ever since. The title story is a fascinating look at the way we can change someone's life without ever being aware of it and is probably the most striking in the book? But there's a wonderful story about repaying a debt which is actually about a fangirl all grown up which obviously pleased me a lot. THe last story was fascinating because it was about a woman who very consciously married for status & riches being confronted by a previous lover and seemingly being fine with ehr choice till a sudden last minute question which was also one of the songs in Songs For A New World and both of them bother me a bit- I understand love conquers all is a thing in books (and maybe RL) but it's irritating when a woman's judgement is suddenly undercut. But they really are all beautiful stories. Well paced and fascinating and haunting.
A Slip of the Keyboard- Terry Pratchett I only buy Pratchetts in paperback so unlike the whole world I'm not reading The Shepherd's Crown at the moment so it seemed like a good point to jump A Slip of the Keybaord to the top of my list. I'd read some of these non-fiction pieces before but not all by any means. I think I found the one's about being a writer the most interesting, and the ones about his life, I suppose the angry section at the back about his illness & assisted dying were the ones I'd mainly already read so I got through those pretty quickly but they're all interesting.
Mistress Masham's Repose- T.H. White LOVE LOVE LOVE how had I never read this book before? It's all about a little girl with cruel guardians who discovers a community of Lilliputians living on an island in her (vast) garden ie. it's Gulliver's Travels fanfiction and it's funny and clever and I love it VERY much. Maria is a real little girl and the adults around her are idiots but the Lilliputians are allowed to be real characters with their own society and rules and wants. READ IT.
Dreams and Shadows- C. Robert Cargill I got this at the 2014 Nine Worlds and then promptly dropped it down the back of a bookcase and only just rediscovered it. If you like your urban fantasy truly depressing and grim then this is for you. I mean it's got a fascinating friendship at the centre and some great worldbuilding and I like Colby enough that I am tempted to read the sequel but it's definitely grey & grim and I was pretty glad to finish.