(no subject)
I am struggling a little with the idea that it's June. How even?! But apparently it is even if the weather and my health (I've just started a thoroughly lovely cough & cold) feel more like winter than summer.
Still Venice last week was lovely and the weather was gorgeous.
And now for last month's books!
Firebirds Rising - Sharyn November (ed) I loved Firebirds so I was very glad to pick up Firebirds Rising too. It's a fantastic anthology because the range of stories is so great from pure fantasy to pure Science Fiction and everything in between. I particularly loved the Wizards of Perfil by Kelly Link which slowly unfolded before me, Kara Dalkey's Hive was a terrifying glimpse at a future that doesn't seem too far away and Tamora Pierce's Huntress (because I've never read any modern fantasy by her before) but I could list about half the anthology and there wasn't a single story I didn't like (though Quill was very disturbing).
A Death at the Dionysus Club - Melissa Scott & Amy Griswold So... nobody died at the Dionysus Club? But that aside I really enjoyed this second adventure for Lynes & Mathey and I hope the series continues. The mystery was interesting and the way the case was tangled up in the club was clever. Also it still feels like really good fanfiction and that's meant as praise- the relationship is important alongside the plot and both are satisfying.
How I Became a Holy Mother (& other stories) - Ruth Prawer Jhabvala An interesting little set of short stories by an English woman who married an Indian man. It starts with an introduction in which she talks about how much she dislikes living in India but that every time she tries to leave she just misses it. The stories are a complete mix of characters and situations though often there's a thread of being unsettled in a place or a relationship or job and sometimes the resolve but not all the time. Little snippets have stuck with me and I certainly enjoyed her style but it's not a feel good book in any way!
The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace & Babbage - Sydney Padua Unsurprisingly I adored this. How can you dislike a graphic novel with footnotes (with endnotes (with their own footnotes)) <333 Also it's a wonderful mix of history, maths and fantasy as well as being funny and occasionally a little moving. If you haven't picked it up already DO.
A Fool's Alphabet - Sebastian Faulks I picked this up in a charity shop because I like Sebastian Faulks & I like books with unusual structures and this is the story of Pietro told in 26 chapters each set in a place beginning with a different letter of the alphabet and told in, not chronological but alphabetical order. It's not got a huge amount of plot exactly but some of the sections are absolutely fascinating (Jerusalem in particular) and I enjoyed it as a whole even if I did keep feeling like there was a twist or a something I was missing.
Legends of the Tour - Jan Cleijne What do you call a graphic novel when it's not a novel so much as a non-fiction history? Anyway I saw this in the library when getting a guidebook out and it's just brilliant. It's a history of the Tour de France, or rather of some key moments, and it's absolutely beautiful. The panels covering the two world wars are so simple and effective and the writer manages to capture both the joy and the heartache of the tour & cycling. I was particularly impressed (and sad) to see the prominence & sympathy given to Christophe Bassons during the section on doping. I'm really glad I found it & quite tempted to buy myself a copy :)
Bill, The Galactic Hero - Harry Harrison I got some great presents when I left my last job but this was the best one. It was from one of my volunteers who I used to swap SFF recs with and I was already touched that he'd given me one of his favourite books when I opened it and discovered it's a first edition and signed ♥ (he's very much one of the ones I miss). It is, in its own words, a hysterical & satirical science fiction novel and it does a wonderful job of exaggerating a whole bunch of 1950s & 60s SFF cliches to ridiculous ends. I have to say I think I appreciated it all the more having finally read one of the Lensman books ahead of LonCon- all the military might & honours and strict discipline blending into something dystopian with a broken bureaucracy. Knowing it was written just after the Korean War & in the early years of the Vietnam War gives it an edge... and it is pretty funny too.
Still Venice last week was lovely and the weather was gorgeous.
And now for last month's books!
- Firebirds Rising - Sharyn November (ed)
- A Death at the Dionysus Club - Melissa Scott & Amy Griswold
- How I Became a Holy Mother (& other stories) - Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
- The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace & Babbage - Sydney Padua
- A Fool's Alphabet - Sebastian Faulks
- Legends of the Tour - Jan Cleijne
- Bill, The Galactic Hero - Harry Harrison
Firebirds Rising - Sharyn November (ed) I loved Firebirds so I was very glad to pick up Firebirds Rising too. It's a fantastic anthology because the range of stories is so great from pure fantasy to pure Science Fiction and everything in between. I particularly loved the Wizards of Perfil by Kelly Link which slowly unfolded before me, Kara Dalkey's Hive was a terrifying glimpse at a future that doesn't seem too far away and Tamora Pierce's Huntress (because I've never read any modern fantasy by her before) but I could list about half the anthology and there wasn't a single story I didn't like (though Quill was very disturbing).
A Death at the Dionysus Club - Melissa Scott & Amy Griswold So... nobody died at the Dionysus Club? But that aside I really enjoyed this second adventure for Lynes & Mathey and I hope the series continues. The mystery was interesting and the way the case was tangled up in the club was clever. Also it still feels like really good fanfiction and that's meant as praise- the relationship is important alongside the plot and both are satisfying.
How I Became a Holy Mother (& other stories) - Ruth Prawer Jhabvala An interesting little set of short stories by an English woman who married an Indian man. It starts with an introduction in which she talks about how much she dislikes living in India but that every time she tries to leave she just misses it. The stories are a complete mix of characters and situations though often there's a thread of being unsettled in a place or a relationship or job and sometimes the resolve but not all the time. Little snippets have stuck with me and I certainly enjoyed her style but it's not a feel good book in any way!
The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace & Babbage - Sydney Padua Unsurprisingly I adored this. How can you dislike a graphic novel with footnotes (with endnotes (with their own footnotes)) <333 Also it's a wonderful mix of history, maths and fantasy as well as being funny and occasionally a little moving. If you haven't picked it up already DO.
A Fool's Alphabet - Sebastian Faulks I picked this up in a charity shop because I like Sebastian Faulks & I like books with unusual structures and this is the story of Pietro told in 26 chapters each set in a place beginning with a different letter of the alphabet and told in, not chronological but alphabetical order. It's not got a huge amount of plot exactly but some of the sections are absolutely fascinating (Jerusalem in particular) and I enjoyed it as a whole even if I did keep feeling like there was a twist or a something I was missing.
Legends of the Tour - Jan Cleijne What do you call a graphic novel when it's not a novel so much as a non-fiction history? Anyway I saw this in the library when getting a guidebook out and it's just brilliant. It's a history of the Tour de France, or rather of some key moments, and it's absolutely beautiful. The panels covering the two world wars are so simple and effective and the writer manages to capture both the joy and the heartache of the tour & cycling. I was particularly impressed (and sad) to see the prominence & sympathy given to Christophe Bassons during the section on doping. I'm really glad I found it & quite tempted to buy myself a copy :)
Bill, The Galactic Hero - Harry Harrison I got some great presents when I left my last job but this was the best one. It was from one of my volunteers who I used to swap SFF recs with and I was already touched that he'd given me one of his favourite books when I opened it and discovered it's a first edition and signed ♥ (he's very much one of the ones I miss). It is, in its own words, a hysterical & satirical science fiction novel and it does a wonderful job of exaggerating a whole bunch of 1950s & 60s SFF cliches to ridiculous ends. I have to say I think I appreciated it all the more having finally read one of the Lensman books ahead of LonCon- all the military might & honours and strict discipline blending into something dystopian with a broken bureaucracy. Knowing it was written just after the Korean War & in the early years of the Vietnam War gives it an edge... and it is pretty funny too.