Books, books, books
Nov. 14th, 2021 01:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
killclaudioI've been in a bit of a book slump this year, and I'm having trouble really focusing and getting absorbed in anything. I blame Covid blues and just a general feeling of meh. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Still, this is what I've read since August:
Tenth of December by George Saunders
Somebody posted an extract of George Saunders' writing on FFA, and I recognized it immediately even though I'd never read that particular story. The way he writes is really unique but hard to describe - very natural and conversational and a bit rambly, and very funny. Here's the teenage narrator of the first story, complaining about the boys at her school:
She felt hopeful that {special one} would hail from far away. The local boys possessed a certain je ne sais quoi, which, tell the truth, she was not très crazy about, such as: actually named their own nuts. She had overheard that! And aspired to work for CountyPower because the work shirts were awesome and you got them free.
You know that feeling where you start a book and suddenly you're three chapters in? It's exactly like that. I loved most of the stories, but a lot of them involved people who were struggling financially, and I wasn't in a good headspace to read about that again and again. My favourite story, Escape from Spiderhead, didn't have any money troubles, but was upsetting in its own way.
In short: brilliant, amazing, imaginative, don't read it when you're depressed.
Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone
This is a fantasy novel in which gods can die and powerful sorcerers can live almost indefinitely. Some places pay tribute to their gods and get the benefits of the gods' magic in return, while others have overthrown their gods and live without them.
The worldbuilding was fascinating, but I didn't find any of the characters that appealing, and the story didn't grip me, somehow? The villain was wonderfully hateable, though, and I'm glad I finished it because the last third was full of fun plot twists.
Penric's Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold
I can always rely on McMaster Bujold. ♥ It was so nice to be back in the World of the Five Gods, it made me want to re-read Curse of Chalion for the nth time. I love Penric, I love his demon, Desdemona, I love seeing the Bastard again, I love Martensbridge and want to visit. I love everything.
Tenth of December by George Saunders
Somebody posted an extract of George Saunders' writing on FFA, and I recognized it immediately even though I'd never read that particular story. The way he writes is really unique but hard to describe - very natural and conversational and a bit rambly, and very funny. Here's the teenage narrator of the first story, complaining about the boys at her school:
She felt hopeful that {special one} would hail from far away. The local boys possessed a certain je ne sais quoi, which, tell the truth, she was not très crazy about, such as: actually named their own nuts. She had overheard that! And aspired to work for CountyPower because the work shirts were awesome and you got them free.
You know that feeling where you start a book and suddenly you're three chapters in? It's exactly like that. I loved most of the stories, but a lot of them involved people who were struggling financially, and I wasn't in a good headspace to read about that again and again. My favourite story, Escape from Spiderhead, didn't have any money troubles, but was upsetting in its own way.
In short: brilliant, amazing, imaginative, don't read it when you're depressed.
Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone
This is a fantasy novel in which gods can die and powerful sorcerers can live almost indefinitely. Some places pay tribute to their gods and get the benefits of the gods' magic in return, while others have overthrown their gods and live without them.
The worldbuilding was fascinating, but I didn't find any of the characters that appealing, and the story didn't grip me, somehow? The villain was wonderfully hateable, though, and I'm glad I finished it because the last third was full of fun plot twists.
Penric's Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold
I can always rely on McMaster Bujold. ♥ It was so nice to be back in the World of the Five Gods, it made me want to re-read Curse of Chalion for the nth time. I love Penric, I love his demon, Desdemona, I love seeing the Bastard again, I love Martensbridge and want to visit. I love everything.
no subject
Date: 2021-11-16 10:11 pm (UTC)I've also enjoyed the Chalion books, but haven't read the Penric ones.
no subject
Date: 2021-11-17 10:40 pm (UTC)I've only read the first Penric so far, but highly recommend on the basis of that one! It's very like Chalion, but with more of a focus on the Bastard's order.
no subject
Date: 2021-11-18 01:14 pm (UTC)Oh, I did like the Bastard. *puts on to-read list*