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Happy New Year, everyone! In what's become a tradition in recent years, we spent it with friends watching (and mocking) bad movies. Today has been spent profitably on a host of New Year-appropriate tasks: returning library books, taking books to little free libraries, donating clothes and old furniture, and so on.
At some point I'll get started on the backlog of DW posts I've been meaning to write, but in the meantime, here's:
What I Just Finished Reading
Triangle – Mac Bennett & Jon Klassen
Have I read this book ten times? TEN MILLION TIMES?
Whatever the number, I still love it.
The True Queen – Zen Cho
Not precisely a sequel to Sorcerer to the Crown, but a second volume set in the same universe. The novel opens when two sisters awake on a Malaysian beach with no memories aside from their names. They’re taken in by the witch Mak Genggang who is forced to send them to sorcery school in Britain for [plot spoiler reasons].
The True Queen is the literary equivalent of a macaroon: pleasingly packaged, airy, and enjoyable to consume, but not in any way filling. Cho has a knack for developing intriguing premises and worlds but focusing on the least interesting elements of the same, with a few afterthought romances tacked on for good measure. Which is not to say that this is a bad novel, just that it doesn’t entirely live up to its promise.
How To Be a Good Creature – Sy Montgomery
Montgomery’s The Soul of an Octopus is one of my favorite nonfiction books, and I hoped this volume would be more of the same. In its 10 chapters Montgomery describes her interactions with ten animals—including tarantulas, border collies, and emus—and the lessons she’s taken from each. Unfortunately, one gets the feeling this book was cobbled together from content edited from Montgomery’s earlier books and articles. It lacks the depth and nuance that made Octopus and others so compelling. While I don’t regret reading it, it’s not a book I’m likely to revisit again.
What I Am Currently Reading
The Virtu – Sarah Monette
Yes, still.
A Liberated Mind – Steven C. Hayes
Hayes is the originator of acceptance and commitment therapy, which thus far appears to incorporate quite a few elements of Buddhist practice (albeit described in non-Buddhist terms). He has a tendency to belabor his points, but is still an engaging author.
The Goddess of Buttercups and Daisies – Martin Millar
Set during the Peloponnesian War, this novel finds Millar back in Good Fairies of New York form. It’s got Athena. It’s got Amazons. It’s got happy-go-lucky wood (or are they river?) nymphs. It’s got a Aristophanes. It’s got a cameo from Lux the Poet! And one third of the way in, it’s got a great mix of sly comedy and social commentary and whimsy, and I am glad I picked it up.
The Queen of Attolia – Megan Whalen Turner
Being another winter comfort read.
What I'm Reading Next
Over the past week I picked up (and finished) Montgomery’s How To Be a Good Creature, Millar’s The Goddess of Buttercups and Daisies (currently reading), Christopher Moore’s The Serpent of Venice, and William F. Powell et al.’s The Art of Basic Drawing.
これで以上です。
At some point I'll get started on the backlog of DW posts I've been meaning to write, but in the meantime, here's:
What I Just Finished Reading
Triangle – Mac Bennett & Jon Klassen
Have I read this book ten times? TEN MILLION TIMES?
Whatever the number, I still love it.
The True Queen – Zen Cho
Not precisely a sequel to Sorcerer to the Crown, but a second volume set in the same universe. The novel opens when two sisters awake on a Malaysian beach with no memories aside from their names. They’re taken in by the witch Mak Genggang who is forced to send them to sorcery school in Britain for [plot spoiler reasons].
The True Queen is the literary equivalent of a macaroon: pleasingly packaged, airy, and enjoyable to consume, but not in any way filling. Cho has a knack for developing intriguing premises and worlds but focusing on the least interesting elements of the same, with a few afterthought romances tacked on for good measure. Which is not to say that this is a bad novel, just that it doesn’t entirely live up to its promise.
How To Be a Good Creature – Sy Montgomery
Montgomery’s The Soul of an Octopus is one of my favorite nonfiction books, and I hoped this volume would be more of the same. In its 10 chapters Montgomery describes her interactions with ten animals—including tarantulas, border collies, and emus—and the lessons she’s taken from each. Unfortunately, one gets the feeling this book was cobbled together from content edited from Montgomery’s earlier books and articles. It lacks the depth and nuance that made Octopus and others so compelling. While I don’t regret reading it, it’s not a book I’m likely to revisit again.
What I Am Currently Reading
The Virtu – Sarah Monette
Yes, still.
A Liberated Mind – Steven C. Hayes
Hayes is the originator of acceptance and commitment therapy, which thus far appears to incorporate quite a few elements of Buddhist practice (albeit described in non-Buddhist terms). He has a tendency to belabor his points, but is still an engaging author.
The Goddess of Buttercups and Daisies – Martin Millar
Set during the Peloponnesian War, this novel finds Millar back in Good Fairies of New York form. It’s got Athena. It’s got Amazons. It’s got happy-go-lucky wood (or are they river?) nymphs. It’s got a Aristophanes. It’s got a cameo from Lux the Poet! And one third of the way in, it’s got a great mix of sly comedy and social commentary and whimsy, and I am glad I picked it up.
The Queen of Attolia – Megan Whalen Turner
Being another winter comfort read.
What I'm Reading Next
Over the past week I picked up (and finished) Montgomery’s How To Be a Good Creature, Millar’s The Goddess of Buttercups and Daisies (currently reading), Christopher Moore’s The Serpent of Venice, and William F. Powell et al.’s The Art of Basic Drawing.
これで以上です。
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