(no subject)
I've been away in Margate for a few days and I did that thing where I hung all my hopes on it as being my chance to rest, recuperate and become super effective again which of course is STUPID because it was literally 3 nights. But I liked Margate a lot and I did do some resting and I might tell you about it if my brain can stop discussing methods of presentation with itself (I feel a bit like I had two distinct holidays and I'm not sure which one to talk about)
ANYWAY. In the mean time here are my June books (only a week late!)
June reviews
Dodger's Guide to London - Terry Pratchett Loved this book and it was the perfect thing to read whilst thoroughly distracted by work. Lots of short snippets to read, lots of jokes and some actual history in there too.
Indiana - George Sand After a couple of books I wasn't convinced by this month's Emotions Book Club was a good one again. Or at least a fascinating one. It has a central female character in an impossible situation but who actually takes control of her own fate a lot more than many heroines (even if she is impossibly naive and being manipulated at least she is trying!) It's set between France and La Réunion in the early 1800s and some of the politics were a little byond me as it's not a period I really know but that didn't spoil the book.
Back Roads - Tawni O'Dell I think this was one of the three books I got in the Yuletide Bookswap and it was interesting to try, a boy tries to care for his three sisters after his mum murders his dad and everything falls even more apart... which is to say it wasn't an easy or a cheerful read and it's not quite the kind of thing I usually go for but I think I'm still glad I tried. Also this is the book Alex Pettyfer just directed (and starred in) which... I mean I'm not sure I WANT to watch it exactly but |I am now intrigued.
Gin: A Global History - Lesley Jacobs Solmonson An interesting read I've been dipping in and out of. I've heard too many histories of gin for a lot of this to be new but what was really interesting were the sections on the various medicinal gins that became cocktails (Pink Gin, Gin & Tonic and the Gimlet) and also on the history of gin in America which I knew a lot less about. It also has a much more likely claim than the "one in three houses in London distilled gin at the height of the gin craze" fact that I've been told by at least three different distilleries now - one in three public houses! Of course nobody sources these claims but that does sound a lot more likely (and still pretty enormous).
Plain Tales from the Hills - Rudyard Kipling I've wanted to read these for a while as someone who was brought up on the Just So stories. They are, unsurprisingly, full of racist and sexist language and views and several of the stories are pretty unreadable but then there are others where there are fascinating stories and characters and also really interesting glimpses at Anglo-Indian culture and that weird world of empire. The story about opium is weirdly heartbreaking and the sympathy in some of them doesn't fall quite where you expect. But there is a lot of jarring language to get through to get there.
The Tale of Kitty in Boots - Beatrix Potter I don't know why it took me so long to read this, I think it was a Christmas present, but the fact that Beatrix Potter wrote an amazing crossdressing story about a cat feels me with so much glee <3 I wish it had her illustrations but Quentin Blake is a pretty good substitute.
Shatila Stories - Omar Khaled Ahmad, Nibal Alalo, Safa Khaled Algharbawi, Omar Abdellatif Alndaf, Rayan Mohamad Sukkar, Safiya Badran, Fatima Omar Ghazawi, Samih Mahmoud , Hiba Mareb, Nashwa Gowanlock (Translator) This book was written by people who live in the Shatila refugee camp in Lebanon. They each wrote stories and then worked together with an editor to hone them and they were than taken and woven into one books. Given the multiple voices involved it's a really coherent story and a really GOOD one too. It could have been worthy but dull and it's not, it's fascinating and human and I would highly recommend it.
This entry was originally posted at https://morganmuffle.dreamwidth.org/1410957.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
ANYWAY. In the mean time here are my June books (only a week late!)
- Dodger's Guide to London - Terry Pratchett
- Indiana - George Sands
- Back Roads - Tawni O'Dell
- Gin: A Global History - Lesley Jacobs Solmonson
- Plain Tales from the Hills - Rudyard Kipling
- The Tale of Kitty in Boots - Beatrix Potter
- Shatila Stories - Omar Khaled Ahmad, Nibal Alalo, Safa Khaled Algharbawi, Omar Abdellatif Alndaf, Rayan Mohamad Sukkar, Safiya Badran, Fatima Omar Ghazawi, Samih Mahmoud , Hiba Mareb, Nashwa Gowanlock (Translator)
June reviews
Dodger's Guide to London - Terry Pratchett Loved this book and it was the perfect thing to read whilst thoroughly distracted by work. Lots of short snippets to read, lots of jokes and some actual history in there too.
Indiana - George Sand After a couple of books I wasn't convinced by this month's Emotions Book Club was a good one again. Or at least a fascinating one. It has a central female character in an impossible situation but who actually takes control of her own fate a lot more than many heroines (even if she is impossibly naive and being manipulated at least she is trying!) It's set between France and La Réunion in the early 1800s and some of the politics were a little byond me as it's not a period I really know but that didn't spoil the book.
Back Roads - Tawni O'Dell I think this was one of the three books I got in the Yuletide Bookswap and it was interesting to try, a boy tries to care for his three sisters after his mum murders his dad and everything falls even more apart... which is to say it wasn't an easy or a cheerful read and it's not quite the kind of thing I usually go for but I think I'm still glad I tried. Also this is the book Alex Pettyfer just directed (and starred in) which... I mean I'm not sure I WANT to watch it exactly but |I am now intrigued.
Gin: A Global History - Lesley Jacobs Solmonson An interesting read I've been dipping in and out of. I've heard too many histories of gin for a lot of this to be new but what was really interesting were the sections on the various medicinal gins that became cocktails (Pink Gin, Gin & Tonic and the Gimlet) and also on the history of gin in America which I knew a lot less about. It also has a much more likely claim than the "one in three houses in London distilled gin at the height of the gin craze" fact that I've been told by at least three different distilleries now - one in three public houses! Of course nobody sources these claims but that does sound a lot more likely (and still pretty enormous).
Plain Tales from the Hills - Rudyard Kipling I've wanted to read these for a while as someone who was brought up on the Just So stories. They are, unsurprisingly, full of racist and sexist language and views and several of the stories are pretty unreadable but then there are others where there are fascinating stories and characters and also really interesting glimpses at Anglo-Indian culture and that weird world of empire. The story about opium is weirdly heartbreaking and the sympathy in some of them doesn't fall quite where you expect. But there is a lot of jarring language to get through to get there.
The Tale of Kitty in Boots - Beatrix Potter I don't know why it took me so long to read this, I think it was a Christmas present, but the fact that Beatrix Potter wrote an amazing crossdressing story about a cat feels me with so much glee <3 I wish it had her illustrations but Quentin Blake is a pretty good substitute.
Shatila Stories - Omar Khaled Ahmad, Nibal Alalo, Safa Khaled Algharbawi, Omar Abdellatif Alndaf, Rayan Mohamad Sukkar, Safiya Badran, Fatima Omar Ghazawi, Samih Mahmoud , Hiba Mareb, Nashwa Gowanlock (Translator) This book was written by people who live in the Shatila refugee camp in Lebanon. They each wrote stories and then worked together with an editor to hone them and they were than taken and woven into one books. Given the multiple voices involved it's a really coherent story and a really GOOD one too. It could have been worthy but dull and it's not, it's fascinating and human and I would highly recommend it.
This entry was originally posted at https://morganmuffle.dreamwidth.org/1410957.html. Please comment there using OpenID.