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What I Just Finished Reading
A Darker Shade of Magic – V.E. Schwab
I finished it. The writing was mediocre at best and often simply bad. I have no desire to read the sequel.
What I Am Currently Reading
Headscarves and Hymens – Mona Eltahawy
You probably know Eltahawy for her 2012 Foreign Policy article “Why Do They Hate Us?” It reappears here, in updated form, as the first chapter of the book and it is even more blistering than the original. It's some of the best writing I've read this year. The rest of the book is still very good, but slightly paler by comparison (perhaps because it has not had four years' worth of reworking). But I am tearing through this thing and very glad to be reading it.
How To Be a Victorian – Ruth Goodman
I am very much enjoying this book. Goodman has chosen to organize her material in the framework of a British Victorian's life from waking to bedtime, an approach I wasn't sure I would care for initially, but that is both engaging and a very effective way to convey information. A third of the way in, I have not been bored yet, even by topics that would normally never interest me.
Wildwood Dancing – Juliet Marillier
It's still early days, but that's only because I put the novel down until I have time to properly savor it. From what I've read so far, this is going to be fantasy fiction as I wish all of it were written.
The Great Suppression – Zachary Roth
I thought this was going to be a book about voter suppression legislation, and was pleasantly surprised to find that it is much wider in scope. Thus far, Roth has also tackled the influence of corporate and one-percenter money on electoral politics, attempts to stack or neuter the Supreme Court, gerrymandering, efforts to make the Senate and Electoral College less responsive to popular majorities, and attempts to override the legislative prerogatives of state and local governments. The latter especially was unfamiliar to me, and both interesting and troubling to learn about. At 180 pages, the book is short, but I have yet to feel that Roth isn't dealing with an issue comprehensively, or is cherrypicking his evidence (and only once that he had not considered a likely alternate hypothesis).
Indonesian: A Comprehensive Grammar – James Sneddon, K. Alexander Adelaar, Dwi Djenar
This week's reading involved me-kan constructions as a way of formulating verbs indicating actions conducted in or on the base noun.
What I'm Reading Next
Jane Steele – Lyndsay Faye
I will get to this book!
Inside the Victorian Home – Judith Flanders
Being the much more traditionally structured analog to Goodman's volume. My sense is that it will cover much of the same ground, only in slightly more detail and in a more academic and less chatty fashion. The color plates look gorgeous.
これで以上です。
A Darker Shade of Magic – V.E. Schwab
I finished it. The writing was mediocre at best and often simply bad. I have no desire to read the sequel.
What I Am Currently Reading
Headscarves and Hymens – Mona Eltahawy
You probably know Eltahawy for her 2012 Foreign Policy article “Why Do They Hate Us?” It reappears here, in updated form, as the first chapter of the book and it is even more blistering than the original. It's some of the best writing I've read this year. The rest of the book is still very good, but slightly paler by comparison (perhaps because it has not had four years' worth of reworking). But I am tearing through this thing and very glad to be reading it.
How To Be a Victorian – Ruth Goodman
I am very much enjoying this book. Goodman has chosen to organize her material in the framework of a British Victorian's life from waking to bedtime, an approach I wasn't sure I would care for initially, but that is both engaging and a very effective way to convey information. A third of the way in, I have not been bored yet, even by topics that would normally never interest me.
Wildwood Dancing – Juliet Marillier
It's still early days, but that's only because I put the novel down until I have time to properly savor it. From what I've read so far, this is going to be fantasy fiction as I wish all of it were written.
The Great Suppression – Zachary Roth
I thought this was going to be a book about voter suppression legislation, and was pleasantly surprised to find that it is much wider in scope. Thus far, Roth has also tackled the influence of corporate and one-percenter money on electoral politics, attempts to stack or neuter the Supreme Court, gerrymandering, efforts to make the Senate and Electoral College less responsive to popular majorities, and attempts to override the legislative prerogatives of state and local governments. The latter especially was unfamiliar to me, and both interesting and troubling to learn about. At 180 pages, the book is short, but I have yet to feel that Roth isn't dealing with an issue comprehensively, or is cherrypicking his evidence (and only once that he had not considered a likely alternate hypothesis).
Indonesian: A Comprehensive Grammar – James Sneddon, K. Alexander Adelaar, Dwi Djenar
This week's reading involved me-kan constructions as a way of formulating verbs indicating actions conducted in or on the base noun.
What I'm Reading Next
Jane Steele – Lyndsay Faye
I will get to this book!
Inside the Victorian Home – Judith Flanders
Being the much more traditionally structured analog to Goodman's volume. My sense is that it will cover much of the same ground, only in slightly more detail and in a more academic and less chatty fashion. The color plates look gorgeous.
これで以上です。
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