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What I Just Finished Reading
You Were Born for This – Chani Nicholas
This book is a good introduction to how astrologers construct natal charts, with a focus on sun signs, moon signs, and ascendants. The large font and wide margins—usually pet peeves of mine—here keep the amount of information on the page manageable. Nicholas also presents a piece of information once and moves on instead of belaboring her point by rephrasing it several ways, which I find aids in retention. The descriptions are clear and consistent across multiple sections (which is not always the case with these sorts of books).
There are some downsides: Nicholas often uses “it” instead of “they” for the third person singular, the affirmations and reflection questions repeat frequently across entries, and the appendices needlessly repeat information from the first chapter without adding anything—probably in service of padding out the page count. Nicholas also defaults to yes/no questions for many of the reflections, which seems ill-advised for someone whose livelihood depends in large part on getting people to identify with the statements or suppositions she’s making about them. Imagine:
These Women – Ivy Pochada
This was an excellent book. I picked up an ARC on the strength of an LA Times review, and was it ever worth the read. It opens with Feelia describing her near murder at the hands of a john that wouldn’t take no for an answer, and Doreen, a widowed white woman in a gentrifying LA neighborhood mourning her teenage daughter’s murder. I won’t say any more about the plot, because it’s best left unspoiled. I will, however, say unequivocally that Pochada is a master at describing the racial, gender, and socioeconomic facets that combine to create the injustices certain people refer to as “urban” in “polite” circles, and that her narration of her characters’ lives and inner worlds is as compelling as the procedural elements. In fact, Pochada is a talented author, full stop: careful readers can solve the case themselves without leaps of logic or handholding (which Pochada doesn’t supply anyway). She also successfully pulls off a written jump scare(!).
Pochada only missteps once ( cut for spoilers. ) But even that isn’t enough to diminish the impact of this very, very good book.
The Witch’s Vacuum Cleaner – Terry Pratchett
The Witch’s Vacuum Cleaner anthologizes stories Pratchett penned in the 1950s and ‘60s. At the time, he was aware that women exist and that they sometimes have names and even speak out loud, but it was not something he wanted to think about much, let alone incorporate into his storytelling in any fundamental way.
Under normal circumstances, that would be enough to make me put a book down and strike the author's works from my TBR list, but I already know that Pratchett went on to pen Tiffany Aching and Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, some of the finest characters in Discworld. So I’m able to focus on the other pieces, in embryonic form here, that become major elements of his later books: wordplay, gentle parody, people’s responsibility to increase the world’s store of justice and kindness. And while not every aspect of his storytelling was fully developed when he wrote these stories, Pratchett’s scene setting prowess definitely was: I would happily have read a novel set in the world of “The Fire Opal,” or “Wizard War” or “Rincemangle, the Gnome of Even Moor.” This collection was certainly worth the read.
What I Am Currently Reading
Herbal – Deni Brown
This week I read the chapters on herbal aromatics, which cover some of my favorite plants.
The Wicked and the Just – J. Andersen Coats
I hadn't realized Coats had written anything before The Green Children of Woolpit. I have since rectified that by acquiring this book, which I've already made good headway on.
Transcend – Scott Barry Kaufman
I’m about 2/3 of the way through and so far it’s been one of the most readable and enjoyable popular science books I’ve read in recent memory.
What I'm Reading Next
I picked up Liz Dean’s The Ultimate Guide to the Tarot and Caitlin Moran’s How To Build a Girl, which I surprisingly have not yet read.
これで以上です。
You Were Born for This – Chani Nicholas
This book is a good introduction to how astrologers construct natal charts, with a focus on sun signs, moon signs, and ascendants. The large font and wide margins—usually pet peeves of mine—here keep the amount of information on the page manageable. Nicholas also presents a piece of information once and moves on instead of belaboring her point by rephrasing it several ways, which I find aids in retention. The descriptions are clear and consistent across multiple sections (which is not always the case with these sorts of books).
There are some downsides: Nicholas often uses “it” instead of “they” for the third person singular, the affirmations and reflection questions repeat frequently across entries, and the appendices needlessly repeat information from the first chapter without adding anything—probably in service of padding out the page count. Nicholas also defaults to yes/no questions for many of the reflections, which seems ill-advised for someone whose livelihood depends in large part on getting people to identify with the statements or suppositions she’s making about them. Imagine:
Nicholas: Do people tell you that you intimidated them when you first met?I think that astrology’s recent popularity has at least something to do with the fact that you need a person’s birth date, time, and location to create their natal chart—three pieces of information advertisers would love you to freely hand over so that they can combine them with all the other information they’ve gleaned from your social media, cellphone data, and online surfing and shopping habits. To that end, I would recommend not using Nicholas’s website to pull your chart—there are other sites that offer this service while using fewer trackers and don’t require you to input your email address either.
Client: No.
Nicholas: …
These Women – Ivy Pochada
This was an excellent book. I picked up an ARC on the strength of an LA Times review, and was it ever worth the read. It opens with Feelia describing her near murder at the hands of a john that wouldn’t take no for an answer, and Doreen, a widowed white woman in a gentrifying LA neighborhood mourning her teenage daughter’s murder. I won’t say any more about the plot, because it’s best left unspoiled. I will, however, say unequivocally that Pochada is a master at describing the racial, gender, and socioeconomic facets that combine to create the injustices certain people refer to as “urban” in “polite” circles, and that her narration of her characters’ lives and inner worlds is as compelling as the procedural elements. In fact, Pochada is a talented author, full stop: careful readers can solve the case themselves without leaps of logic or handholding (which Pochada doesn’t supply anyway). She also successfully pulls off a written jump scare(!).
Pochada only missteps once ( cut for spoilers. ) But even that isn’t enough to diminish the impact of this very, very good book.
The Witch’s Vacuum Cleaner – Terry Pratchett
The Witch’s Vacuum Cleaner anthologizes stories Pratchett penned in the 1950s and ‘60s. At the time, he was aware that women exist and that they sometimes have names and even speak out loud, but it was not something he wanted to think about much, let alone incorporate into his storytelling in any fundamental way.
Under normal circumstances, that would be enough to make me put a book down and strike the author's works from my TBR list, but I already know that Pratchett went on to pen Tiffany Aching and Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, some of the finest characters in Discworld. So I’m able to focus on the other pieces, in embryonic form here, that become major elements of his later books: wordplay, gentle parody, people’s responsibility to increase the world’s store of justice and kindness. And while not every aspect of his storytelling was fully developed when he wrote these stories, Pratchett’s scene setting prowess definitely was: I would happily have read a novel set in the world of “The Fire Opal,” or “Wizard War” or “Rincemangle, the Gnome of Even Moor.” This collection was certainly worth the read.
What I Am Currently Reading
Herbal – Deni Brown
This week I read the chapters on herbal aromatics, which cover some of my favorite plants.
The Wicked and the Just – J. Andersen Coats
I hadn't realized Coats had written anything before The Green Children of Woolpit. I have since rectified that by acquiring this book, which I've already made good headway on.
Transcend – Scott Barry Kaufman
I’m about 2/3 of the way through and so far it’s been one of the most readable and enjoyable popular science books I’ve read in recent memory.
What I'm Reading Next
I picked up Liz Dean’s The Ultimate Guide to the Tarot and Caitlin Moran’s How To Build a Girl, which I surprisingly have not yet read.
これで以上です。
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