Weekend Reading Roundup (10 July 2017)

[nanila]

How did your weekend reading go? If you planned on anything specifically, did you read it?

NB I'm presently on holiday so comment replies will be delayed (even more than usual), sorry

Comments

[nanila]

I finished Alys Fowler's Hidden Nature! It has left me with newfound respect for eels and a desire for the time to explore the canals I live next to in a canoe.

[nou]

That sounds really interesting, but, I dunno, reading the Guardian review I do wonder why the author has decided she’s lesbian rather than bisexual. Obviously it’s a person’s own decision as to how to identify, regardless of their romantic/sexual history, but that decision is made against a background of societal biphobia, so I wonder if there’s going to be too much bi-erasure in the book for me to enjoy it?

[nanila]

I don't think you'd enjoy the bi erasure or the author's life choices, which are terrible. Honestly I loathed the memoir portions of it. She briefly mentions possibly being bi before totally rejecting the idea despite being married to a man for 14 years. Also she carries on living in the house with him after she's dumped him - for months - which frankly I found needlessly cruel. There was no need for it especially since she clearly had the financial means & social network to move elsewhere. I know I'm being judgmental here but really, it was infuriating.

[nou]

Oh dear, yes, thanks for the warning. I think I’ll skip it.

[quoththeravyn]

I finished a novel recently published by a former writing buddy, and posted an Amazon review. That "read me next" pile is a little shorter now.

[quoththeravyn]

Right. I should probably say that the book was Five Blocks Down by Miriam Sidanius. The characters are wonderful; they're two kids growing up in a bad neighborhood in LA, making mostly rational decisions but then having to live with the consequences. I recommend it.

[nanila]

Thank you for the mini-review! Adding it to my list.

[alexseanchai]

The first 84 pages of Portrait of a Priestess by Joan Breton Connelly.

[nanila]

Huzzah, well done! \o/

[berryandthorn]

Finished up Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance.

[nou]

Ooh, thanks, I like the look of that — have added to my to-read list.

[berryandthorn]

It's very interesting and kind of heartbreaking; I hope you enjoy it, because I really did!

[nou]

I’ll report back here once it gets to the top of the queue :)

[nou]

Since last report, I have read:

• Round About A Pound A Week by Maud Pember Reeves. Published just over a century ago and still relevant today.
• Between Two Thorns, Any Other Name, All Is Fair, A Little Knowledge, and All Good Things by Emma Newman. The first four of these were re-reads in preparation for the fifth, which is the conclusion of the Split Worlds series. I enjoyed all of these, though am not likely to re-read them in the future. The writing style didn’t really grab me in the way I wanted it to — it has that feel of being a really really detailed plot summary rather than an immersive experience (a criticism I have previously also levelled at the Harry Potter novels, so if you’re fine with those you should be fine with these).
• Trans Like Me by C N Lester. I didn’t find this as engrossing as I’d expected to — my attention kept wandering, I think partly because I felt the writing style was a little too impersonal to fit well with the first-person viewpoint. I was also surprised to discover a plethora of footnotes at the end of the book, since all the in-text citations are missing from my copy (Kindle version bought from Amazon). I think all cis people should read it, though!
• Confessions of a Barrister by Russell Winnock. This was OK, but the author isn’t as witty as he thinks he is, and the romance sub-plot was cringeworthy. Also, his portrayal of the situation of false rape accusations is annoyingly biased (and, according to evidence, wrong).

[nanila]

Ooh. Thank you for that first one. I looked it up and have reserved the one available copy in my library system.

[bluegreen17]

it wasn't this weekend,but today i went to the library and decided to bring home asimov's 'foundation' not really being sure i'd like it as i'd never read anything by him but thought i might try before i die. i've read the first 25 pages at a very fast clip and i'm really into this world already.

[nanila]

Huzzah for unexpectedly enjoyable immersion in a story!

[fox_confessor]

I finished Elizabeth Strout's Anything Is Possible, which I really enjoyed. I had read the ...companion book? My Name Is Lucy Barton back in April but I was on a terrible trip to visit family and was very distracted (So distracted that for about half the book, I was thinking of Clara Barton and was very confused.) Anyway, this was delightful and I'm planning to reread Lucy Barton because I feel like I missed everything in it.

[nanila]

Oh, excellent. I hope you enjoy your re-read more than the initial one.

[momijizukamori]

I got caught up on some of my comics backlog! Bee and Puppycat, Lumberjanes, Bitch Planet, and Rat Queens. All remain good, though I might take Lumberjanes off my pull list because while it's cute, I'm not super into it, and it comes out a LOT. Rat Queens was exactly what I needed though.

I think I have another bag of stuff from the comic shop somewhere hidden though, because I was missing an issue in the Lumberjanes sequence and I thought I had Warren Ellis stuff waiting to be read.

[nanila]

Well done for catching up on your backlog! I hope there doesn't turn out to be too much lurking in the archives. :)