(![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lebateleur Sep. 29th, 2021 09:42 pm)
lebateleur Sep. 29th, 2021 09:42 pm)Yup, almost a month has passed since the last time I posted, largely because of work/life balance. Still, I continue to read books and even post about some of them.
The Book of Atrix Wolfe ・ The Book of Spells ・ Breathe ・ Burnt Sugar ・ The Colour of Magic ・ The Crone ・ Experience the Mystery of Tarot ・Girl, Wash Your Face ・ Gold Diggers ・ The Light Fantastic ・ How to Build a Girl ・ How to Make a Bird ・ The Inspired Houseplant ・ The Kingdoms ・ The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet ・ Magic for Liars ・ The Northern Fiddler ・ Senlin Ascends ・ The Silver Bough vol. 2 ・ Thick as Thieves ・ A Thousand Ships ・ The Westing Game ・ The Witness for the Dead ・ Yearning for the Sea ・ 最遊記ＲＥＬＯＡＤ ＢＬＡＳＴ (1) ・ 最遊記ＲＥＬＯＡＤ ＢＬＡＳＴ (2) ・ 最遊記ＲＥＬＯＡＤ ＢＬＡＳＴ (3)
What I Finished Reading This Week
Loud Woman – Jill Celeste
I really like this book, far more than I'd even expected I would. It doesn't say anything that hasn't been said before about how women need to stop apologizing, stop holding back, stop measuring themselves against impossible standards, stop adhering to social constraints and expectations, and just go for it--whatever "it" may mean to them. What sets it apart is how it delivers this message. The author presents each theme in a three- to six-page chapter that gets right to the point and belabors nothing. It gets the point across far more effectively than had the author expounded on it across twice as many pages, and is an approach I wish more authors would consider. The chapter on supporting women with whom one disagrees while staying true to one's own principles is a standout and changed my thinking regarding this conundrum.
Unfortunately, Loud Woman really needed a good editor. Subject-verb disagreements and mid-sentence subject switches occur--multiple times--on almost every page. The result is that it frequently reads like a podcast transcription instead of a prose book, which distracts from the excellent points the author is making. But again, the points are good enough to justify the read, despite this issue. It's not groundbreaking, but it does what it set out to do, and that was exactly what I was looking for when I picked it up.
Outlawed - Anna North
Outlawed is a good novel that I wanted to like more than I did. North’s descriptive language is beautiful: Yes, I’d think when coming across a particularly lovely passage, this is exactly the Great Plains. The setup is intriguing and unfortunately newly topical: When late-19th century America descends into religious autocracy after a pandemic decimates the population, what happens to barren women? To non-white women? To women who help others terminate their pregnancies? Within a few chapters, our unfortunate protagonist begins to find out.
Given the book's title, it’s not much of a spoiler to say she falls in with a band of outlaws, based in—and on the gangs that inhabited—Wyoming’s very real Hole In The Wall. I’d recommend learning something about that location and its history before heading into the book; without that background some of the characters will seem flat and some of the plot twists improbable. About the story itself: I liked it, and I would have loved it except North’s dialogue is as disconnected from historical era as her description is rooted in historical place. It’s disappointingly jarring. Similarly, her protagonist is not the sharpest tool in the shed. I think this may be by design, but I still found it exasperating when said protagonist was in the midst of doing something that was unadvisibly—and very obviously—stupid. Overall, though, Outlawed is a solidly good book with a great premise that’s crying out for further fanfic development, and I’m glad I read it.
What I Finished Reading At Some Point In The Past Four Months
The Spirit of Herbs – Candis Cantin & Michael Tierna
The Herbal Tarot was either the fourth or fifth deck I ever owned; The Spirit of Herbs is its companion volume. I bought the deck when fourteen bucks was a stretch and the 25 dollar price tag for the deck and book set was way beyond my means. Having now read the companion book after having worked with the deck for several decades, I’m comfortable saying you don’t really need the former.
The Spirit of Herbs is not particularly well written. All the necessary information is there, but readers will have to work to extract it from rambling, passive voice sentences that lack subject-verb agreement (and frequently switch subjects mid-sentence). The book does expand somewhat on why each herb was paired with its specific card, but anyone reading with the deck could probably work that out with the LWB and a good print or online herbal, which would have the benefit of providing less error-prone instructions for making herbal preparations. I paid $2.99 for the ebook—about what it’s worth—but again, it’s not a necessary prerequisite for anyone wishing to read with this deck.
Punisher Max Complete Collection vol. 1 – Garth Ennis et al.
Wow, Garth Ennis is really frightened of disfiguring facial injuries and castration. Those fears are on full display in this otherwise very paint-by-numbers collection.
Experience the Mystery of Tarot – Katalin Jett Koda
Experience the Mystery of Tarot contains some good information on the subject, particularly the chapter on court cards, but is so poorly written overall that the effort it takes to read it often doesn't justify the knowledge gained. Hopefully the publisher has subsequent printings edited, not just for grammar, but to ensure that paragraphs—and yes, individual sentences—convey a clear point that’s thematically linked to the paragraphs or sentences that precede and follow them. In the meantime, readers would be better served by turning to other volumes on the cards.
How To Build a Girl – Caitlin Moran
I put off reading this book for years, because I wasn’t sure how Moran’s fiction would compare to her essays, and because I suspected there’d be a fair amount of thematic overlap between the two. As it turns out, How To Build a Girl is very, very good. There is a fair amount of overlap, and the novel also follows Moran’s standard template: kick things off with some of the most wickedly funny humor imaginable, then go straight for the jugular once you’ve reeled audiences in. Guys, I laughed so hard, and then I cheered for, and cried for, and celebrated with the protagonist as she fought against the odds for a place at the table. Whether its poverty or sexism or substance abuse, no one tackles it better than Moran. Read this book.
Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Prologue – Vジャンプ編集部 (Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Prologue – V Jump Editorial Department
Alas, I’m way too backlogged to jump on the 30 Days of Squeenix memeage that's popped up on my flist, but in the spirit of the thing, I did reread this promo volume, published by V-Jump during the interminable delays before Advent Children was finally released. It is, of course, glorified advertainment for said film/franchise, but the 38-page “novel” it includes does provide some necessary depth to Advent Children and is a great way to practice a bunch of really cool Japanese compound verbs that don't show up in manga or drier, nonfiction prose.
What I Am Currently Reading
Cork Folk Tales – Kate Corkery
I'm really liking this one.
The Last Graduate – Naomi Novik
This was originally supposed to come out in July, and I had forgotten I'd ordered it until it showed up on my doorstep last night. At 400-odd pages, it's about 1.25 times the length of the previous volume. I'm a tenth of the way through, and so far, so good.
What I’m Reading Next
Aside from the surprise arrival of The Graduate last night, I picked up and finished Loud Women this week.
これで以上です。
What I Finished Reading This Week
Loud Woman – Jill Celeste
I really like this book, far more than I'd even expected I would. It doesn't say anything that hasn't been said before about how women need to stop apologizing, stop holding back, stop measuring themselves against impossible standards, stop adhering to social constraints and expectations, and just go for it--whatever "it" may mean to them. What sets it apart is how it delivers this message. The author presents each theme in a three- to six-page chapter that gets right to the point and belabors nothing. It gets the point across far more effectively than had the author expounded on it across twice as many pages, and is an approach I wish more authors would consider. The chapter on supporting women with whom one disagrees while staying true to one's own principles is a standout and changed my thinking regarding this conundrum.
Unfortunately, Loud Woman really needed a good editor. Subject-verb disagreements and mid-sentence subject switches occur--multiple times--on almost every page. The result is that it frequently reads like a podcast transcription instead of a prose book, which distracts from the excellent points the author is making. But again, the points are good enough to justify the read, despite this issue. It's not groundbreaking, but it does what it set out to do, and that was exactly what I was looking for when I picked it up.
Outlawed - Anna North
Outlawed is a good novel that I wanted to like more than I did. North’s descriptive language is beautiful: Yes, I’d think when coming across a particularly lovely passage, this is exactly the Great Plains. The setup is intriguing and unfortunately newly topical: When late-19th century America descends into religious autocracy after a pandemic decimates the population, what happens to barren women? To non-white women? To women who help others terminate their pregnancies? Within a few chapters, our unfortunate protagonist begins to find out.
Given the book's title, it’s not much of a spoiler to say she falls in with a band of outlaws, based in—and on the gangs that inhabited—Wyoming’s very real Hole In The Wall. I’d recommend learning something about that location and its history before heading into the book; without that background some of the characters will seem flat and some of the plot twists improbable. About the story itself: I liked it, and I would have loved it except North’s dialogue is as disconnected from historical era as her description is rooted in historical place. It’s disappointingly jarring. Similarly, her protagonist is not the sharpest tool in the shed. I think this may be by design, but I still found it exasperating when said protagonist was in the midst of doing something that was unadvisibly—and very obviously—stupid. Overall, though, Outlawed is a solidly good book with a great premise that’s crying out for further fanfic development, and I’m glad I read it.
What I Finished Reading At Some Point In The Past Four Months
The Spirit of Herbs – Candis Cantin & Michael Tierna
The Herbal Tarot was either the fourth or fifth deck I ever owned; The Spirit of Herbs is its companion volume. I bought the deck when fourteen bucks was a stretch and the 25 dollar price tag for the deck and book set was way beyond my means. Having now read the companion book after having worked with the deck for several decades, I’m comfortable saying you don’t really need the former.
The Spirit of Herbs is not particularly well written. All the necessary information is there, but readers will have to work to extract it from rambling, passive voice sentences that lack subject-verb agreement (and frequently switch subjects mid-sentence). The book does expand somewhat on why each herb was paired with its specific card, but anyone reading with the deck could probably work that out with the LWB and a good print or online herbal, which would have the benefit of providing less error-prone instructions for making herbal preparations. I paid $2.99 for the ebook—about what it’s worth—but again, it’s not a necessary prerequisite for anyone wishing to read with this deck.
Punisher Max Complete Collection vol. 1 – Garth Ennis et al.
Wow, Garth Ennis is really frightened of disfiguring facial injuries and castration. Those fears are on full display in this otherwise very paint-by-numbers collection.
Experience the Mystery of Tarot – Katalin Jett Koda
Experience the Mystery of Tarot contains some good information on the subject, particularly the chapter on court cards, but is so poorly written overall that the effort it takes to read it often doesn't justify the knowledge gained. Hopefully the publisher has subsequent printings edited, not just for grammar, but to ensure that paragraphs—and yes, individual sentences—convey a clear point that’s thematically linked to the paragraphs or sentences that precede and follow them. In the meantime, readers would be better served by turning to other volumes on the cards.
How To Build a Girl – Caitlin Moran
I put off reading this book for years, because I wasn’t sure how Moran’s fiction would compare to her essays, and because I suspected there’d be a fair amount of thematic overlap between the two. As it turns out, How To Build a Girl is very, very good. There is a fair amount of overlap, and the novel also follows Moran’s standard template: kick things off with some of the most wickedly funny humor imaginable, then go straight for the jugular once you’ve reeled audiences in. Guys, I laughed so hard, and then I cheered for, and cried for, and celebrated with the protagonist as she fought against the odds for a place at the table. Whether its poverty or sexism or substance abuse, no one tackles it better than Moran. Read this book.
Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Prologue – Vジャンプ編集部 (Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Prologue – V Jump Editorial Department
Alas, I’m way too backlogged to jump on the 30 Days of Squeenix memeage that's popped up on my flist, but in the spirit of the thing, I did reread this promo volume, published by V-Jump during the interminable delays before Advent Children was finally released. It is, of course, glorified advertainment for said film/franchise, but the 38-page “novel” it includes does provide some necessary depth to Advent Children and is a great way to practice a bunch of really cool Japanese compound verbs that don't show up in manga or drier, nonfiction prose.
What I Am Currently Reading
Cork Folk Tales – Kate Corkery
I'm really liking this one.
The Last Graduate – Naomi Novik
This was originally supposed to come out in July, and I had forgotten I'd ordered it until it showed up on my doorstep last night. At 400-odd pages, it's about 1.25 times the length of the previous volume. I'm a tenth of the way through, and so far, so good.
What I’m Reading Next
Aside from the surprise arrival of The Graduate last night, I picked up and finished Loud Women this week.
これで以上です。
Tags:
From:
no subject
I'd be interested in hearing more about this. Is it possible to summarize the crucial points, or should I just read the book? :)
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject