I somehow ended up reading two fantasy novels about goddesses at the same time. The first is Circe by Madeleine Miller. It’s a re-imagining of Greek mythology from Circe’s point of view. I loved it, especially the twists that Miller put in the story. My favorite part was the motivations behind the myth of Pasiphaë, the white bull, and the Minotaur.
The other was Inanna by Emily H. Wilson. It’s the first book of a trilogy and the only one published so far. It’s a reimagining of the Epic of Gilgamesh mixed in with several myths about Inanna. It was a fantastic trip back to the ancient Sumeria of 6000 years ago. There was one part where I thought “Oh no, she’s not going to go science fictiony all of a sudden,” but it turned out to not be too bad.* Highly recommended.
*The entrance to the Underworld was a nod to the belief by some that the Sumerian gods were aliens. It’s very brief and Wilson doesn’t lean into it too much so it doesn’t ruin the historical fantasy feel of the book.
It will probably take you less time to read than it will to watch the film!
I’m still reading Paladin’s Grace by T.Kingfisher which has the uncommon distinction of teaching me something I can apply to my own romance novel. It’s a bit fluffier than what I typically read/write but that means it takes its sweet time and spends more time in the characters’ heads as they try to talk themselves out of being in love, which is something I could stand to do a little better. Overall a very enjoyable read so far.
Finished You Make It Feel Like Christmas, by Toni Shiloh. Meh.
Now I’m reading In a Flight of Starlings: The Wonders of Complex Systems, by Giorgio Parisi (in collaboration with Anna Parisi, and translated by Simon Carnell.) I saw a murmuration of starlings the other day, and it was awesome. (For anyone unfamiliar with the term, it’s a flock of birds flying in complex patterns, usually to confuse a predator. I’m sure there are clips on You Tube.)
Finished In a Flight of Starlings: The Wonders of Complex Systems, by Giorgio Parisi (in collaboration with Anna Parisi, and translated by Simon Carnell.) It was interesting. He also talked about his education and work with other physicists. I think people who enjoyed Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman, might like this too.
Now I’m reading Horse of a Different Color: Stories, by Howard Waldrop.
Just downloaded and started listening to Flight or Fright, a collection of short stories about flying the not-so-friendly skies, edited by Stephen King and Bev Vincent.
Several people have mentioned Happiness Falls by Angie Kim. I thought I’d give it a whirl. I LOVED the first half. The characters were very well-drawn, with realistic flaws and bumps along with strengths, and the plot moved forward in a way that certainly drew me in. “This must be the explanation!” “No, here’s another piece of information that makes it clear we were wrong–this must be what’s happening instead!” It was all well done and as I say kept me going to see what happened next.
But I didn’t like the second half so much. There’s a big reveal, at which point the narrative seems to move away from what I thought was the central topic of the book (the father’s disappearance) into a much less interesting (to me anyway) focus. It starts dealing with–how do I put it without giving things away?–I suppose I could do a spoiler box but I don’t know how–well, it starts dealing with a controversial issue, and the author clearly has great interest in it and strong feelings about it, but for me it was too much. I felt lectured at. The author would probably say that the book was as much about this issue as it was about the disappearance, and hey, she wrote it, so she should know, but I found myself getting bored and a bit turned off at a time in the book when I shouldn’t have been.
Still, the book definitely has its pluses, and I bought it for my son for a Christmas present, so there you go.
Finished Paladin’s Faith which I liked, tried again with Talonsister but bounced again, now rererereading The name of the rose to try and find inspiration for a RPG adventure I’m writing.
I, too, finished Paladin’s Faith aaaand I did NOT see that coming… or that… or that over there and goodness what was that?! The book was wonderful, will be a reread I am certain.
I’ll have to look that one up. I know the author – Toni L. P. Kelner. It wasn’t until her “Skeleton” series came out that I learned was the “L.P.” stood for.
If you like her stuff, look up the mysteries that she wrote under her real name – there are two other series.
Still reading Paladin’s Grace. This book is taking its sweet time getting these two lovers together. It’s very charming. I wish Marguerite would stop interrupting everything!
Gave up on The name of the rose after finding what I was looking for, and found a promising book by M. R. Carey, the author of The girl with all the gifts called Infinity Gate, so far, so good.
Finished Julia, a retelling of Orwell’s 1984. It was well done, for the most part. I could really identify with the character and it was interesting to find out more about the daily lives of the people of Airstrip One. And obviously every incident which dovetailed with a scene from the earlier book was fascinating. A couple of quibbles: it was incredibly bleak, so much so that I felt depressed at times after reading. Well, duh! That’s no one’s fault but my own. However, the second quibble is that I just didn’t like the ending. To me it was not the true and fitting way the tale should have gone. I’m glad I read it though.
