What Am I Reading Wednesday - July 6

And after a short hiatus, I am back.

What I Just Finished Reading

How To Be a Victorian – Ruth Goodman
Entertaining and well-written from start to finish. I recommend this one to anyone interested in day-to-day life during the time period.

Promethea vol. 1 – Alan Moore
Nearly 20 years later, Promethea is still the best comic out there. The storytelling, the worldbuilding, the clever allusions, the social commentary, the art (oh god, the art). I more or less have this volume memorised, but it still wows me every time I read it.

Having said that, it is a product of its time, written before anyone questioned why “gay” was a go-to putdown for a subpar experience, or whether sex between a colonial landholder and his decades younger, mentally handicapped housemaid could ever be described as “consensual.” But what's surprising is how jarring these instances are, precisely because they stick out like sore thumbs here, when so many 21st century titles are far more Neanderthal, for all that they've been written decades later.

Promethea vol. 3 – Alan Moore
Moore gets a bit more didactic in this volume, but since it's Tarot and Qabbalah and English ritual magic, I don't really mind. Still a few blind spots on display (e.g., one wonders if the typical woman in ancient Greece would use “freedom,” “logic,” or “peace” to characterise her existence), but the plot and character development are as good as ever, and the art is enthralling.


What I Am Currently Reading

Miramont's Ghost – Elizabeth Hall
The author knows how to spell and punctuate.

Wildwood Dancing – Juliet Marillier
This book was so good, so good...until the main character started delivering pages of ham-fisted dialogue that could have come straight from a modern pop psychology book on self-actualization. I am sad.

Time Exposure – Jane Burton & Dougal Dixon
I loved this book as a child. It's interesting to return to it as an adult and read all the passages that were far too technical for my child's attention span. I believe the author is Scottish, and it's also interesting how frequently my flow snags on his unanticipated phrasings or word choices.

Indonesian: A Comprehensive Grammar – James Sneddon, K. Alexander Adelaar, Dwi Djenar
In which I encounter the memper- and memper-kan verbs, and spend much time committing to memory when and how they do not overlap with their men- and men-kan counterparts.

終点Unknown 3 - 杉浦 志保 – (Shuten Unknown vol. 3 – Sugiura Shiho)
It's an amusing series with art that is as gorgeous as ever, but it just is not grabbing me. Sugiura excels at long, intricate plots and the attendant character development; everything here just feels rushed.


What I'm Reading Next

Wren to the Rescue – Sherwood Smith/b>

これで以上です。