What Am I Reading Wednesday: November 25 (+ bonus Nov. 18 material)

The turn to colder weather means I have busted out my flannel pants in fetching grey and navy check, and have mulled cider on perpetual 'keep warm' in the kitchen. My place smells heavenly.

I haven't gotten much serious reading done of the past two weeks, thanks to puzzling, podcasts, and Great Courses, which is reflected in this entry.


What I Just Finished Reading

The Reign of Wolf 21 – Rick McIntyre
The Reign of Wolf 21 is the second in a trilogy about the various packs that formed in Yellowstone after wolves were reintroduced to the park. I started with this book without having read its predecessor and was able to dive right into the story. McIntyre's prose is spare and rapid fire. It narrates what the wolves do and lets their actions illustrate why they're doing it instead of going into textbook-style explanations of wolf behavior. The focus is also on the wolves: McIntyre gives credit to the colleagues and academics he collaborates with in his work, but don't expect any descriptions their appearances, personalities, or habits here. It's a major departure from the style of many other nature writers, and I found it refreshing that the wolves—and only the wolves—took center stage. It makes for surprisingly effective prose, particularly during the book's moving final chapter. McIntyre's awe and respect for his subjects comes through precisely because of his bare-bones style, making The Reign of Wolf 21 well worth the read.


What I Am Currently Reading

Complete Book of Ceremonial Magic – Lon Milo Duquette & David Shoemaker, eds.
Since this a nearly 500-page nonfiction beast, I’ll do this one by chapters instead of a comprehensive review after finishing the whole thing.( Read more... )

Lady of Magic – Sylvia Izzo Hunter
I’m over halfway through now, and still very much enjoying the read, which is very much in the vein of the Regency novels it’s pastiching. In other words, if you’re looking for chases! And magical explosions! And fiery misunderstandings! this is not the book for you. But if you want to follow a group of interesting characters as they go about their lives while navigating the twin challenges of magic and rigid etiquette as a plot very slowly unfolds in the background, then this is the series for you.

The Last Shogun – Ryotaro Shiba
I held off starting this one because I prefer not to read translations. But realistically, I wasn’t going to make a big effort to get the original and I’m working on tackling my pile of shelf sitters. I know Shiba is a well-regarded author, and was correspondingly surprised to discover that The Last Shogun is less a work of history than collection of the author’s unfounded suppositions and weird sexual preoccupations.

Secret Agent 666 – Richard B. Spence
Spence is the instructor for the Great Courses’ Real History of Secret Societies, which I enjoyed so much I immediately went out and acquired his books. So far, I’ve only read this' volume's introduction, but I’m hoping the book is as informative and engaging as the Great Course.

王朝唐紅ロマンセ-王朝ロマンセ外伝 - 秋月 こお (Ouchou Karakurenai no Romanse - Ouchou Romanse Gaiden – Akizuki Koh
Akizuki writes some of my favorite historical fiction novels, ever. Take out the BL and they’d still be some of my favorite historical fiction novels, ever. This particular volume retells events from the main Ouchou Romanse quartet from the perspective of secondary character Fujiwara no Kunitsune. As with most such endeavors it often has an episodic quality and tends to breeze through scenes instead of carefully fleshing them out as in the original story, but it’s still well written for all that.


What I'm Reading Next
This week, I picked up Emily M. Danforth’s Plain Bad Heroines as well as a ridiculous number of library holds.

これで以上です。