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And now on Thursday, December 30!
What I Finished Reading This Week
A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
I’d never actually read this one all the way through before. I managed it this time, but it reminded me of all the ways Dickens’ style disagrees with me, for all that his plots are solid conceptually.
We Found A Hat – Jon Klassen
A brilliant end to this picture book trilogy. I love everything about this: the art, the humor, the conclusion. I read it, and then I read it again.
A History of Magic, Witchcraft, and the Occult – Sarah Lipscolme et al.
This is a coffee table book, so of course the layout and illustrations are top-notch. I’m pleased to say that so was the text, which is composed of multiple two- to four-page sections on a given topic organized in five chapters spanning prehistory to 2020. Lipscolme et al. know their stuff, and write about it in a scholarly and accessible fashion. They’re not afraid to point out where a person or technique was a fraud, or to acknowledge the darker sides of the subject (e.g., the overlap between certain revivalist traditions and white terrorists). They also do a far better job than many other such volumes in expanding their scope beyond western Europe, which I very much appreciate. This book is informative, beautifully illustrated, and blessedly, blessedly free of typos, and to my mind sets the bar for what an art book on magic or the occult should be. (You have no fucking excuse, Taschen. No. Fucking. Excuse.)
The Two Towers – J.R.R. Tolkien
This is the volume that made me love Merry and Pippin (and the chapters with Treebeard and the Entmoot are some of my favorites.) This is the volume that taught me the meaning of “flotsam” and “jetsam.” I remain as creeped out as I was during my first read by the gratuitous detail of how Sam defeated Shelob. And the chapters in Ithilien remain my favorite in the trilogy, and Faramir my favorite character.
What I Finished Reading Last Week
In A Dark Wood – Mark Cadnum
This is the story of Robin Hood told from the perspective of the Sheriff of Nottingham, and it’s brilliant. The period details are amazing. There’s action and suspense and sly humor. Cadnum’s shows readers his characters’ deep interior lives in ways that are relatable without ever being anachronistic. I love this book.
Antarctic Antics – Judy Sierra, Jose Arugeo, & Ariane Dewey
Being an illustrated book of poems about penguins in the Antarctic. Sierra occasionally sacrifices strict adherence to poetic meter in favor of being informative, but it’s still a delightful read despite that. I love the vibrant illustrations, too.
Rowan – Robin McKinley & Donna Ruff
Being a book about a young girl who chooses a whippet for a pet. Whippets are one of my favorite breeds so I liked that element of the book, but still found it a bit underwhelming overall. (In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Rowan was repurposed from a passage cut from a draft of one of McKinley’s prose novels.) Ruff’s illustrations occasionally feature odd amalgamations of perspective, but are lovely overall, particularly when they feature nature scenery or puppies.
Manx Fairy Tales – Sophia Morrison
I really enjoyed this delightful book, which has a good variety of tales, from the humorous to the eerie, and a wonderful sense of place and atmosphere. I appreciate Morrison’s inclusion of Gaelg dialogue or description in many stories alongside the English (and wish she had included it alongside the English translations of the ballads and songs). The volume also provides an occasionally troubling insight into social dynamics on the island ( Read more... ) But these are in the minority. Overall the book is great fun, and if you’re even a little bit interested, you can read it for free.
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever – Barbara Robinson
I was about six years old the first time I read this book, and it taught me a ton of vocabulary. I’ve reread it more years since then than not, and can recite entire passages by memory.
If I Were An Octopus – Anne Wilkinson
Cute and whimsical.
What I Am Currently Reading
Homemade Magick – Lon Milo DuQuette
As someone whose early life also featured a deeply lamentable move from a cosmopolitan city to the rural red-state hinterland, I very much identify with DuQuette in the first few chapters.
The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System vol. 1 – Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
A lot of fun so far, but man, whenever an honorific, title, or similar comes up, I wish I had the characters in front of me instead of the transliteration.
Terciel and Elinor by Garth Nix
I keep picking this up and putting it back down, because it’s going to be good, but it’s also going to be dark.
The Watchmaker of Filigree Street – Natasha Pulley
I’ve read this easily half-a-dozen times, and I still pick out new aspects with each reread.
Pilates – Alycea Ungaro
The opening chapters lean heavily into the-founder-of-this-discipline-was-a-visionary-saint type hagiography, so I’m going to have to power through that to get to the informative and useful parts.
What I Was Reading Last Week But Haven't Yet Finished
Midwinter – John Buchan
I’ve read that this novel is less plotty than Witch Wood but still as beautiful in terms of setting and descriptive prose.
What I’m Reading Next
Did I get books this week? I got books this week: Heroes and Troy by Stephen Fry, Pamela Coleman Smith by Mary K. Greer et al., Klassen’s We Found A Hat, The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation vol. 1 and The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System vol. 1 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, Terciel and Elinor by Garth Nix, Pilates by Alycea Ungaro, The Qabbalistic Tarot by Robert Wang, and 작지만 실속 있는 MY 싱글룸 인테리어 by 유미영.
What I Still Have Left To Review
The Last Graduate ・ 最遊記ＲＥＬＯＡＤ ＢＬＡＳＴ (1) ・ 最遊記ＲＥＬＯＡＤ ＢＬＡＳＴ (2) ・ 最遊記ＲＥＬＯＡＤ ＢＬＡＳＴ (3)
これで以上です。
What I Finished Reading This Week
A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
I’d never actually read this one all the way through before. I managed it this time, but it reminded me of all the ways Dickens’ style disagrees with me, for all that his plots are solid conceptually.
We Found A Hat – Jon Klassen
A brilliant end to this picture book trilogy. I love everything about this: the art, the humor, the conclusion. I read it, and then I read it again.
A History of Magic, Witchcraft, and the Occult – Sarah Lipscolme et al.
This is a coffee table book, so of course the layout and illustrations are top-notch. I’m pleased to say that so was the text, which is composed of multiple two- to four-page sections on a given topic organized in five chapters spanning prehistory to 2020. Lipscolme et al. know their stuff, and write about it in a scholarly and accessible fashion. They’re not afraid to point out where a person or technique was a fraud, or to acknowledge the darker sides of the subject (e.g., the overlap between certain revivalist traditions and white terrorists). They also do a far better job than many other such volumes in expanding their scope beyond western Europe, which I very much appreciate. This book is informative, beautifully illustrated, and blessedly, blessedly free of typos, and to my mind sets the bar for what an art book on magic or the occult should be. (You have no fucking excuse, Taschen. No. Fucking. Excuse.)
The Two Towers – J.R.R. Tolkien
This is the volume that made me love Merry and Pippin (and the chapters with Treebeard and the Entmoot are some of my favorites.) This is the volume that taught me the meaning of “flotsam” and “jetsam.” I remain as creeped out as I was during my first read by the gratuitous detail of how Sam defeated Shelob. And the chapters in Ithilien remain my favorite in the trilogy, and Faramir my favorite character.
What I Finished Reading Last Week
In A Dark Wood – Mark Cadnum
This is the story of Robin Hood told from the perspective of the Sheriff of Nottingham, and it’s brilliant. The period details are amazing. There’s action and suspense and sly humor. Cadnum’s shows readers his characters’ deep interior lives in ways that are relatable without ever being anachronistic. I love this book.
Antarctic Antics – Judy Sierra, Jose Arugeo, & Ariane Dewey
Being an illustrated book of poems about penguins in the Antarctic. Sierra occasionally sacrifices strict adherence to poetic meter in favor of being informative, but it’s still a delightful read despite that. I love the vibrant illustrations, too.
Rowan – Robin McKinley & Donna Ruff
Being a book about a young girl who chooses a whippet for a pet. Whippets are one of my favorite breeds so I liked that element of the book, but still found it a bit underwhelming overall. (In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Rowan was repurposed from a passage cut from a draft of one of McKinley’s prose novels.) Ruff’s illustrations occasionally feature odd amalgamations of perspective, but are lovely overall, particularly when they feature nature scenery or puppies.
Manx Fairy Tales – Sophia Morrison
I really enjoyed this delightful book, which has a good variety of tales, from the humorous to the eerie, and a wonderful sense of place and atmosphere. I appreciate Morrison’s inclusion of Gaelg dialogue or description in many stories alongside the English (and wish she had included it alongside the English translations of the ballads and songs). The volume also provides an occasionally troubling insight into social dynamics on the island ( Read more... ) But these are in the minority. Overall the book is great fun, and if you’re even a little bit interested, you can read it for free.
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever – Barbara Robinson
I was about six years old the first time I read this book, and it taught me a ton of vocabulary. I’ve reread it more years since then than not, and can recite entire passages by memory.
If I Were An Octopus – Anne Wilkinson
Cute and whimsical.
What I Am Currently Reading
Homemade Magick – Lon Milo DuQuette
As someone whose early life also featured a deeply lamentable move from a cosmopolitan city to the rural red-state hinterland, I very much identify with DuQuette in the first few chapters.
The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System vol. 1 – Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
A lot of fun so far, but man, whenever an honorific, title, or similar comes up, I wish I had the characters in front of me instead of the transliteration.
Terciel and Elinor by Garth Nix
I keep picking this up and putting it back down, because it’s going to be good, but it’s also going to be dark.
The Watchmaker of Filigree Street – Natasha Pulley
I’ve read this easily half-a-dozen times, and I still pick out new aspects with each reread.
Pilates – Alycea Ungaro
The opening chapters lean heavily into the-founder-of-this-discipline-was-a-visionary-saint type hagiography, so I’m going to have to power through that to get to the informative and useful parts.
What I Was Reading Last Week But Haven't Yet Finished
Midwinter – John Buchan
I’ve read that this novel is less plotty than Witch Wood but still as beautiful in terms of setting and descriptive prose.
What I’m Reading Next
Did I get books this week? I got books this week: Heroes and Troy by Stephen Fry, Pamela Coleman Smith by Mary K. Greer et al., Klassen’s We Found A Hat, The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation vol. 1 and The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System vol. 1 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, Terciel and Elinor by Garth Nix, Pilates by Alycea Ungaro, The Qabbalistic Tarot by Robert Wang, and 작지만 실속 있는 MY 싱글룸 인테리어 by 유미영.
What I Still Have Left To Review
The Last Graduate ・ 最遊記ＲＥＬＯＡＤ ＢＬＡＳＴ (1) ・ 最遊記ＲＥＬＯＡＤ ＢＬＡＳＴ (2) ・ 最遊記ＲＥＬＯＡＤ ＢＬＡＳＴ (3)
これで以上です。
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