misericordiae

@misericordiae@literature.cafe

also misericordiae@kbin.social

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misericordiae,

@Dresden I haven’t decided where I’m putting any of the books I’ve read for bingo yet, either.

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Finished Crazy Rich Asians over the weekend. I was expecting an Asian drama in book form, and that’s pretty much exactly what it is, complete with a number of common tropes. The characters have a bit more depth than your standard drama fluff, however, and the amount of discussion on Singaporean high society and culture elevates it further. On the negative side (for me), the narration–like many of the characters–gets very caught up in luxury brands, which I found kind of dry and unnecessary; I guess it might enhance the experience if you’re familiar with the names, but most of them went over my head. Additionally, the first third introduces a confusing number of characters. Thankfully, it gets easier later on, but at first, it’s hard to tell who’s important enough to keep track of (especially given the extensive family tree provided at the start).

Overall, this was a quick, fun read, and I liked it enough to add the next book in the series to my TBR.

(Bingo squares: Family Drama hard mode; Eazy, Breazy, Read-zie; maybe Stranger in a Strange Land hard mode; Debut Work; (alt) A Change in Perspective.)

–

Still trying to decide what to read next.

misericordiae,

I was computerless for the better part of a week, so had lots of time to read! Currently 75% of the way through Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan.

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Finished The Last Gifts of the Universe by Rory August. Enjoyed this more than I’d expected: the first half led me to believe it was going to be breezy fluff the whole way through, but it actually turns fairly poignant in the second half, exploring the losses experienced by different characters. It’s a little hamfisted in places (evil corporation is evil!), and a little YA in tone, but still very worth a read, imo. (Counts for Among the Stars HM, Minority Author, LGBTQIA+ Lead, Family Drama, Debut Work.)

Read The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed, which scratched an itch I had for dark fantasy. Really enjoyed it; reminded me a little of both Annihilation and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. My only real gripe is the last couple of pages feeling almost like sequel-bait, rather than letting the ending settle. This does have some horror elements, so do please check content warnings if it sounds good. (Counts for New Release, Minority Author, Mashup, It’s About Time, (alt) A Change in Perspective.)

misericordiae,

I’m gonna post thoughts on Crazy Rich Asians in the new thread, but I enjoyed it well enough.

Re: The Butcher of the Forest: I wouldn’t say the author’s sadistic with their characters, no. From my (potentially desensitized) perspective, I’d say the horror is actually pretty mild, to be honest. The MC goes through a reasonable amount of trauma as she deals with the eldritch creatures (fae?) she encounters; my content warning… er… warning was mainly to do with a part of her past that she briefly recounts toward the end. It’s only about 100 pages, so not a big investment if you try it and find it not to your taste.

misericordiae, (edited )

Finished A Wizard of Earthsea for bingo. I wasn’t really in the right headspace for the narrative style, which made reading it more of a slog than I think it deserved, but I did enjoy the story. It’s not hard to see why Hayao Miyazaki wanted to adapt it: the themes, presentation, and all the little slice of life moments really feel tailor-made for a Ghibli film. (I haven’t seen Tales from Earthsea*.)

Definitely qualifies for: Now a Major Motion Picture, Older Than You Are (1968), Local to You hard mode (Oregon), (alt) A Change in Perspective

_

Started The Last Gifts of the Universe by Rory August last night. Only a few pages in, but it’s light and quippy so far, without being annoying.

misericordiae,

It ended up being Miyazaki’s son’s first movie, and is a mashup of the entire series and some other stuff. Famous for this tidbit (quoted from Wiki):

During a private screening prior to the film’s release, Gorō’s father, Hayao, was asked what he thought of the film. He said, “I was looking at my kid. He’s not an adult yet. That is all.”

Le Guin was also not a fan, so…

Ball Game on the Piazza Santa Maria Novella in Florence- Johannes Stradanus, fresco (1555) (lemmy.world)

[The sport] calcio was reserved for rich aristocrats who played every night between Epiphany and Lent. Even popes, such as Clement VII, Leo XI and Urban VIII, played the sport in Vatican City. The games could get violent as teams vied to score goals.

misericordiae,

I found full matches on youtube! I was expecting like an hour-long, large-scale hockey brawl, but most of what I watched was players standing around, squaring up, or on the ground in wrestling holds, punctuated by brief moments of the ball-holder actually trying to score. It sounds like the current rules (rightly) forbid a lot of the stuff that would get people too badly hurt. The ref and pre-game procession wear period clothing, though, which is cool.

misericordiae, (edited )

Powered through the second half of Stargazy Pie over the weekend. Tentatively starting Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin tonight for bingo.

misericordiae,

Just a quick note, Jaymes and I seeded the Storygraph challenge they built with literally hundreds of literary and genre fiction books (some of which they’ve crossposted here), in case you’re looking for ideas and prefer a more visual browse. (No account required!)

misericordiae,

I would love some suggestions for awards to look up, that you’d consider big for your country or preferred genre. I’ve looked up lists of awards, but they tend to be pretty US-focused, and it’s hard to tell what’s actually significant.

I’m familiar with the Hugos (SFF), Nebula (SFF), Bram Stoker (horror), Edgars (mystery), Pulitzer (lit), Booker (lit), and Newbery (kids).

misericordiae,

Have read and enjoyed:

  • Iron Truth by S.A. Tholin - space opera with horror elements
  • Leech by Hiron Ennes - gothic sci-fantasy horror, set in some kind of post-apocalypse
  • The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison - fantasy of manners mystery
  • The Mister Trophy by Frank Tuttle - fantasy mystery
  • The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope - historical fantasy
  • Ghosts in the Snow by Tamara Siler Jones - fantasy mystery
  • Priest of Bones by Peter McLean - fantasy organized crime
  • When Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger - cyberpunk mystery
misericordiae,

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie, with the caveat that her early work is a bit racist. Styles, for example, I recall having an n-word casually dropped into a conversation, along with a couple of antisemitic remarks. If you don’t mind reading around that, however, it’s a nice little Poirot case.

misericordiae,

Does “One Less” hard mode include alternate squares, or just the base card?

misericordiae,

Excellent, ty!

misericordiae,

I barely got any reading done this past week, so I’m still on Stargazy Pie by Victoria Goddard. The tone and overall story so far remind me a bit of the Cemeteries of Amalo series by Katherine Addison, which is a pleasant surprise.

It’s been a pleasure to work on book bingo with Dresden and Jaymes; hope you’ll all find it a worthy addition to the community!

Notes from a year of reading science fiction and fantasy [potentially minor spoilers]

Below are books I’ve read over the last year, with notes about on what I thought of them. I started this list just to remind me what the books were about and if I thought they were worth reading. As the year went on, my notes became a little more substantial. The list was for me, but I thought I’d share in case it’s useful...

misericordiae,

If it helps, I found books 5 and 6 of The Expanse less obnoxious than the show re: the whole family drama thing (if, like me, that’s where your biggest hangup is). I didn’t enjoy them as much as previous entries, but book 7 (imo) goes back to being pretty solid.

TIL what a fix-up novel is (en.wikipedia.org)

A fix-up (or fixup) is a novel created from several short fiction stories that may or may not have been initially related or previously published. The stories may be edited for consistency, and sometimes new connecting material, such as a frame story or other interstitial narration, is written for the new work....

misericordiae,

Finished Southern Gods from last week on Sunday (it was ok), and spent last night picking out something new. Ended up with Stargazy Pie by Victoria Goddard, which seems pleasantly light and cozy so far; should be just about long enough to last a week.

Also, grats Jaymes!

misericordiae,

I started Southern Gods by John Horner Jacobs. Not really far enough to get a good feel for it yet, but I couldn’t pass up a Lovecraftian-Southern-gothic-noir-horror kind of thing.

misericordiae,

I’m just about to hit the climax at the end of Finder by Suzanne Palmer, first in a four-book space opera. It’s been enjoyable so far, so if she sticks the landing, I’ll probably add the next book to my TBR list. Not sure what I’ll end up reading next.

misericordiae,

Seconding the excellent prologue in The Gone World. I had a couple of quibbles with the rest of the book, but overall really liked it when I read it. Hope you end up liking it, too!

misericordiae,

Thank you!

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