What I read -- July 2019

LHC #44: “The Fifth Season” by N.K.Jemisin. It was on my list, so when I ran out of books and saw this at the library, I took it out. Wow, the voice was so good. I took it on a transit ride with me and kept missing my stop! Highly recommended. I forced book 1 on Ed, and he’s not complaining about it. It’s really hard to not give spoilers when he wonders about how the timelines are going to work out…

LHC#45: “Spells of Blood and Kin: a Dark Fantasy” by Claire Humphrey. Another Toronto writer, and the story takes place in Toronto! I love books that reference things like the Dundas streetcar. I assume that’s why I put it on my list 18 months ago. It was truly fun. I hope she writes more.

“The Obelisk Gate” by N.K.Jemisin. I kind of had to read this, after the previous volume went so well. I think I liked the first one better, but saying that is like comparing my two favorite kinds of ice cream, you know? I mean, they’re both awesome.

LHC #46: “The Witches: Salem, 1692” by Stacy Schiff. Research for WWS. I had a hard time keeping track of all the characters in here (because it’s all true, there are a lot of people whose roles overlap, and the book isn’t really well organized) but then I realized it didn’t matter because I’m reading this more for background and to make WWS a little more grounded in its place and time. I learned lots of useful things! What did New Englanders eat back then? How close did they live together? Where did they get their firewood? Did they do exorcisms? Fortunately/unfortunately, this book was so boring that I finished a sewing project.

Best TW feedback ever

Over at the dayjob, SMEs are feverishly trying to get documents back to me all marked up, in preparation for the release that's supposed to happen the week I'm back from VP. Today's best comment: Unfortunately not true. SMEs, they're so cute.

What I read: January 2024

"Morgan is my name" by Sophie Keech. Office book club selection. It gets exhausting to read about plucky young heroines who are terrible at needlework all the time. I should probably read some Jo Walton. I mean, you can be good at needlework and other things too! I didn't find this book very surprising. The first half was kind of boring, but it got better towards the end. LHC #233: "The Shifter" by Janice Hardy. I read her writing advice website regularly, so I thought I should maybe read an actual book to find out if she was worth it. Oh my, the voice of this book grabbed me immediately. The worldbuilding seemed shady but the voice was solid. It wasn't very subtle, but I might not be the target audience. LHC #234: "Ragnarok: The End of the Gods" by A. S. Byatt. At this point with my library account, I'm just guessing. I know there was something by Byatt there? I suspect there was. I did not know what to make of this book. Strange, but it w

What I read: March 2024

LHC #240: "Vita Nostra" by Maryna and Serhiy Dyachenko. Translated by Julia Meitov Hersey. All I knew going in was dark academia. This was a neat thing to read after A Deadly Education last month. The students can leave this school at summer and winter break, but maybe they shouldn't. Also, interesting education method, providing Sasha with a CD player and punishing her if she leaves it in the mode where it plays all the tracks in sequence. "Norse Mythology" by Neil Gaiman. When I finished Ragnarok by AS Byatt (last month? January?) I was thinking it might have made more sense if I had any knowledge of the subject matter. The boy had left this lying around, and it was not a tough read. LHC #241: "Science on a mission: How Military funding shaped what we do and don't know about the ocean" by Naomi Oreskes. I deferred this once because it was so long. History of science is challenging for me to read, because of the need to get a grasp on dispr

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