mid-March reading update
Mar. 16th, 2025 07:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
screechfoxTrying out a mid-month reading update, so books are fresher in my mind.
--
100 Queer Poems, edited by Andrew McMillan and Mary Jean Chan
I'm not a very poetic soul, so I can't say whether this collection was good or not. I will say that not a lot of the poems stuck with me. I found the introduction interesting, with reflections on how collecting these poems as queer poems might make them read differently than in their original contexts - particularly in dialogue with Harry Josephine Giles' May a transsexual hear a bird?, which describes poems being read through the author's identity.
The Traitor, by Seth Dickinson (a.k.a. The Traitor Baru Cormorant)
This was great. Darker than I'd expected - and I'd expected pretty dark; I knew about the in-universe homophobia before going in, but the in-universe racism and eugenics were a surprise. I loved Baru and the tension between her nominally noble overall goal, her enjoyment of power for its own sake, and what she'll do to get more power for both of those reasons.
Modern Gothic, published by Fly on the Wall Press
A short anthology of gothic-style stories I picked up at an indie book stall at a local market. Surprisingly for an anthology, I liked all of the stories; the first ended on a bit of a dud note, but the rest were all solid. A Respectable Tenancy, by Rose Biggin, was the standout, but there was some great stuff here!
Pod by Laline Paull
I had the impression from the blurb that this would be like The Bees: following a single character through the world. It wasn't that, and it had a lot more commentary on the environment than I'd expected too, not to mention being unflinching about dolphin... morality, for want of a better word? Still, Laline Paull should carry on writing speculative fiction about animal social dynamics for the rest of time.
Penance, by Eliza Clark
Didn't like this as much as Boy Parts. That book was darkly funny, and this was mostly just dark and kind of sad. I didn't get much from the unreliable narrator conceit, and I couldn't help but feel like the book was judging me for reading it, which might be unfair; it's clear from both books that Clark is preoccupied with humanity's interest in human violence. That said, it was solid, and the fandom stuff was pinpoint accurate. I kept thinking that I hoped Clark had read the webcomic What Happens Next while reading, and lo and behold, she read and enjoyed that after writing this book!
The Devil's Mixtape, by Mary Borsellino
I also kept thinking about this book while reading Penance, although beyond having teenage killers and a few true crime elements, they don't share much in common. A comfort-reread that shouldn't be comforting, I can't say whether I'd like this as much if I hadn't read it at a formative age, but I do like it. It all connects up in a satisfying way.
Winters in the World: A Journey Through the Anglo-Saxon Year, by Eleanor Parker
One of my favourite books I've read this year - not in a stunning, life-changing way, but in a gentle way. A really good exploration of how Anglo-Saxons experienced the year, both in the practical calendrical sense and in a poetic sense, with some lovely translation. Very well-referenced but also honest where the information is absent or uncertain (e.g. anything about pre-Christian Anglo-Saxon practices).
--
Trans Rights Readathon is a thing happening at the end of this month, and I figure I'd use it to focus my TBR for a bit. I've got a couple of non-fiction books from the library for it, and I have plenty of options for fiction on my own shelves.
Nothing much to say about other media - I bought The Roottrees are Dead and Pentiment in the current Steam sale, but I'm only partway through the former and barely started the latter.
--
100 Queer Poems, edited by Andrew McMillan and Mary Jean Chan
I'm not a very poetic soul, so I can't say whether this collection was good or not. I will say that not a lot of the poems stuck with me. I found the introduction interesting, with reflections on how collecting these poems as queer poems might make them read differently than in their original contexts - particularly in dialogue with Harry Josephine Giles' May a transsexual hear a bird?, which describes poems being read through the author's identity.
The Traitor, by Seth Dickinson (a.k.a. The Traitor Baru Cormorant)
This was great. Darker than I'd expected - and I'd expected pretty dark; I knew about the in-universe homophobia before going in, but the in-universe racism and eugenics were a surprise. I loved Baru and the tension between her nominally noble overall goal, her enjoyment of power for its own sake, and what she'll do to get more power for both of those reasons.
Modern Gothic, published by Fly on the Wall Press
A short anthology of gothic-style stories I picked up at an indie book stall at a local market. Surprisingly for an anthology, I liked all of the stories; the first ended on a bit of a dud note, but the rest were all solid. A Respectable Tenancy, by Rose Biggin, was the standout, but there was some great stuff here!
Pod by Laline Paull
I had the impression from the blurb that this would be like The Bees: following a single character through the world. It wasn't that, and it had a lot more commentary on the environment than I'd expected too, not to mention being unflinching about dolphin... morality, for want of a better word? Still, Laline Paull should carry on writing speculative fiction about animal social dynamics for the rest of time.
Penance, by Eliza Clark
Didn't like this as much as Boy Parts. That book was darkly funny, and this was mostly just dark and kind of sad. I didn't get much from the unreliable narrator conceit, and I couldn't help but feel like the book was judging me for reading it, which might be unfair; it's clear from both books that Clark is preoccupied with humanity's interest in human violence. That said, it was solid, and the fandom stuff was pinpoint accurate. I kept thinking that I hoped Clark had read the webcomic What Happens Next while reading, and lo and behold, she read and enjoyed that after writing this book!
The Devil's Mixtape, by Mary Borsellino
I also kept thinking about this book while reading Penance, although beyond having teenage killers and a few true crime elements, they don't share much in common. A comfort-reread that shouldn't be comforting, I can't say whether I'd like this as much if I hadn't read it at a formative age, but I do like it. It all connects up in a satisfying way.
Winters in the World: A Journey Through the Anglo-Saxon Year, by Eleanor Parker
One of my favourite books I've read this year - not in a stunning, life-changing way, but in a gentle way. A really good exploration of how Anglo-Saxons experienced the year, both in the practical calendrical sense and in a poetic sense, with some lovely translation. Very well-referenced but also honest where the information is absent or uncertain (e.g. anything about pre-Christian Anglo-Saxon practices).
--
Trans Rights Readathon is a thing happening at the end of this month, and I figure I'd use it to focus my TBR for a bit. I've got a couple of non-fiction books from the library for it, and I have plenty of options for fiction on my own shelves.
Nothing much to say about other media - I bought The Roottrees are Dead and Pentiment in the current Steam sale, but I'm only partway through the former and barely started the latter.
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Date: 2025-03-16 09:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-03-17 07:11 am (UTC)