(no subject)
Said this elsewhere already but I quite like saying it so- the interview went well and I'm now permanent \o/
I mean I haven't signed the contract yet but our HR department are slooooooow so that's not a big surprise. I need to find a way to write down/mark/remember the nice things people said to me before & after it was announced to remember next time I have a bout of impostor syndrome...
In other news apparently it's February which has happened sooner than I was expecting but I still managed to start the year with 6 books in January.
January reviews
Tidings: A Christmas Journey - Ruth Padel Come with me to St Pancras Old Church, on a little London hill...
This was such a perfect thing to read in the last few days of Christmas. It's a poetic Christmas journey but it centres on a child and a homeless man experiencing Christmas in London. It's beautiful and thought-provoking (action provoking too in my case) and I'd definitely recommend looking for it next Christmas.
Far Rockaway - Charlie Fletcher OH ♥ I liked the other book I read by Charlie Fletcher but this is a story about stories and that's my most favourite thing in the world. Following an accident Cat, and her grandfather Victor, wake up in a world made up of the books they read together with a quest to get to Far Rockaway. It's clever and I loved it even though I didn't know all the books that form the framework for this novel. It's also surprisingly moving in places.
Juggling - Barbara Trapido I grabbed this from Mum's "send to a charity shop" pile for a bit of light relief. It ends in an irritatingly neat fashion whilst simultaneously celebrating that it isn't ending neatly (everyone gets paired off but not in a predicatable fashion). The little details of each individual's story though, and the way they wind through each other, that was interesting. And there was just a touch of magical realism in there too. A very quick read but not a bad one.
Faulks on Fiction - Sebastian Faulks The history of the novel in 28 characters (or Novel People as Faulks says he wanted the book to be titled if it wasn't a tie in to his TV series) was a nice way to ease myself into non-fiction reading in 2017. I haven't read all the novels he references but I actually think he managed a great balance between explaining plots/who these characters are and WHY they're important/he's included them. He splits his characters into Heroes, Lovers, Snobs and Villains which aren't the 4 categories I'd naturally pick (and I must point out- Becky Sharp comes under heroes!) but worked for the story he was telling. I did laugh quite hard at the way he tried to shoehorn James Bond in just so he could talk about his own Bond book but otherwise it was fun and made me look at a couple of characters in a new light.
Edge of Infinity - Jonathan Strahan (ed) Another interesting anthology from Jonathan Strahan, these stories are all themed around humanity's expansion into the solar system. Some are set in the far future (some interesting things about evolution and how human's change and AI) and some feel much nearer at hand (Water Rights chimed with some of the other short stories I've been reading recently). I think Safety Tests by Kristine Kathryn Rusch might have been my favourite though- the world of driving tests taken into outer space.
I Call Myself a Feminist - Victoria Pepe, Rachel Holmes, Amy Annette, Martha Mosse & Alice Stride (Editors) The subtitle for this book is "the view from twenty-five women under thirty" and really the only two things these women have in common is their gender and that they identify as feminists. Some write about intersectionality, some about being a feminist in school, there's a wonderful essay about being feminist with your elbows and a fascinating piece by a Kurdish woman who was locked up in Yarls Wood and then deported when she was 13. I bought this because Jade Anouka has an essay in it about playing in an all-female Shakespeare company and I love her words but the whole book is fascinating and the main essays are interspersed by quotes from all kinds of writers, men & women & feminist & not explicitly feminist. It's definitely worth a read and all the pieces are pretty short so it gives you ideas without getting too confusing.
And now I'm going to go back and stare in horror at the news from Parliment tonight again /o\
This entry was originally posted at http://morganmuffle.dreamwidth.org/1392703.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
I mean I haven't signed the contract yet but our HR department are slooooooow so that's not a big surprise. I need to find a way to write down/mark/remember the nice things people said to me before & after it was announced to remember next time I have a bout of impostor syndrome...
In other news apparently it's February which has happened sooner than I was expecting but I still managed to start the year with 6 books in January.
- Tidings: A Christmas Journey - Ruth Padel
- Far Rockaway - Charlie Fletcher
- Juggling - Barbara Trapido
- Faulks on Fiction - Sebastian Faulks
- Edge of Infinity - Jonathan Strahan (ed)
- I Call Myself a Feminist - Victoria Pepe, Rachel Holmes, Amy Annette, Martha Mosse & Alice Stride (Editors)
January reviews
Tidings: A Christmas Journey - Ruth Padel Come with me to St Pancras Old Church, on a little London hill...
This was such a perfect thing to read in the last few days of Christmas. It's a poetic Christmas journey but it centres on a child and a homeless man experiencing Christmas in London. It's beautiful and thought-provoking (action provoking too in my case) and I'd definitely recommend looking for it next Christmas.
Far Rockaway - Charlie Fletcher OH ♥ I liked the other book I read by Charlie Fletcher but this is a story about stories and that's my most favourite thing in the world. Following an accident Cat, and her grandfather Victor, wake up in a world made up of the books they read together with a quest to get to Far Rockaway. It's clever and I loved it even though I didn't know all the books that form the framework for this novel. It's also surprisingly moving in places.
Juggling - Barbara Trapido I grabbed this from Mum's "send to a charity shop" pile for a bit of light relief. It ends in an irritatingly neat fashion whilst simultaneously celebrating that it isn't ending neatly (everyone gets paired off but not in a predicatable fashion). The little details of each individual's story though, and the way they wind through each other, that was interesting. And there was just a touch of magical realism in there too. A very quick read but not a bad one.
Faulks on Fiction - Sebastian Faulks The history of the novel in 28 characters (or Novel People as Faulks says he wanted the book to be titled if it wasn't a tie in to his TV series) was a nice way to ease myself into non-fiction reading in 2017. I haven't read all the novels he references but I actually think he managed a great balance between explaining plots/who these characters are and WHY they're important/he's included them. He splits his characters into Heroes, Lovers, Snobs and Villains which aren't the 4 categories I'd naturally pick (and I must point out- Becky Sharp comes under heroes!) but worked for the story he was telling. I did laugh quite hard at the way he tried to shoehorn James Bond in just so he could talk about his own Bond book but otherwise it was fun and made me look at a couple of characters in a new light.
Edge of Infinity - Jonathan Strahan (ed) Another interesting anthology from Jonathan Strahan, these stories are all themed around humanity's expansion into the solar system. Some are set in the far future (some interesting things about evolution and how human's change and AI) and some feel much nearer at hand (Water Rights chimed with some of the other short stories I've been reading recently). I think Safety Tests by Kristine Kathryn Rusch might have been my favourite though- the world of driving tests taken into outer space.
I Call Myself a Feminist - Victoria Pepe, Rachel Holmes, Amy Annette, Martha Mosse & Alice Stride (Editors) The subtitle for this book is "the view from twenty-five women under thirty" and really the only two things these women have in common is their gender and that they identify as feminists. Some write about intersectionality, some about being a feminist in school, there's a wonderful essay about being feminist with your elbows and a fascinating piece by a Kurdish woman who was locked up in Yarls Wood and then deported when she was 13. I bought this because Jade Anouka has an essay in it about playing in an all-female Shakespeare company and I love her words but the whole book is fascinating and the main essays are interspersed by quotes from all kinds of writers, men & women & feminist & not explicitly feminist. It's definitely worth a read and all the pieces are pretty short so it gives you ideas without getting too confusing.
And now I'm going to go back and stare in horror at the news from Parliment tonight again /o\
This entry was originally posted at http://morganmuffle.dreamwidth.org/1392703.html. Please comment there using OpenID.