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furyofvissarionReading Matters: What the Research Reveals about Reading, Libraries, and Community - Catherine Sheldrick Ross, Lynne (E.F.) McKechnie, and Paulette M. Rothbauer. Breaks down myths about reading (ie. boys don't read, people in general are reading less, etc.) & argues that libraries & teachers need to stop moralizing about what people should read in order to uplift them, & pay more attention to what they like to read & encourage them to read for pleasure. Which, of course, I can agree w/. Their historical rundown of attitudes towards fiction & other reading considered to be non-educational was pretty fascinating & disturbing.
Farthing - Jo Walton. So disturbing & depressing. Really good, but oh, so heartbreaking. This is alternate history where the Nazis won, & Britain has signed a peace treaty w/Hitler. The plot revolves around a rich set of politicians & other important people, including one daughter who's ostracized herself by marrying a Jew. Reminds me a bit of Freedom & Necessity in some ways as well.
The Machine's Child - Kage Baker. Intense! Part of me wants to laugh at all the things that are happening & think that really, Kage Baker is just getting a little silly--& the rest of me is just enjoying the ride. Also I'm really enjoying how much she has made me have empathy for the immortals, even ones that I didn't like in general from the start (ie. Joseph).
Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity - Edited by Mattilda a.k.a. Matt Bernstein Sycamore. The introduction to this anthology traces a debate between the editor & the editor at Seal Press (who published the book) about whether or not this book should just be about passing relating to gender. The upshot is that no, the anthology isn't intended to be just about gender, & there certainly is a lot of stuff in there about class, race, etc. But given the subtitle, the ones that weren't predominantly about gender (as opposed to the ones that were about gender in combination w/race or some other factor) kind of stuck out. Also, among the ones that were focused on gender, I felt like there wasn't a lot of new stuff being said--a lot of it was just like "yay, I'm genderqueer & I reject norms, yay!" w/o really telling me much I hadn't heard before. That said, there were still some good & interesting essays in this volume, & a lot of my criticisms hold true for Seal anthologies in general (which really tend to be a mixed bag).
Murder by Magic: Twenty Tales of Crime & the Supernatural - Edited by Rosemary Edghill. I got this from the library to read the Susan Krinard story featuring her characters Kit & Olivia, which was still one of the better ones in here, although I'm disturbed by how, in her world, true, real, useful magic is the province of the gentry alone. Diane Duane has a mildly creepy & well-written story in here; there were a few others that I liked, but overall it tended too much to the type of true-crime sort of writing that I guess I don't like so much.
Greywalker - Kat Richardson. Mediocre vampire/dark things novel taking place in Seattle. I couldn't really get into it. Meh. I thought the "guides to this new world for the protagonist who's been unwillingly thrust into it" were unrealistic & annoying characters, & the protagonist herself wasn't really that interesting.
Making Peace with the Things in Your Life: Why Your Papers, Books, Clothes, & Other Possessions Keep Overwhelming You - and What to Do About It - Cindy Glovinsky. I like that this book is less about how to organize & more about your own personal quirks/issues that make you hold on to things. That said, I think some of what's in this book is a mite obvious, but a lot of it seems really helpful.
Home, and Other Big, Fat Lies - Jill Wolfson. Whitney is a foster kid heading for foster home #12 in logging country in the far north of California. She's justifiably cynical, & this is the story of how maybe she finds herself a more permanent home. There's some hokeyness, but it was surprisingly warm & engaging despite that. Also I liked the whole nature nerd vs. the loggers subplot, even though I thought the resolution was a bit too pat.
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Readers' Advisory: The Librarian's Guide to Cyborgs, Aliens, & Sorcerers - Derek M. Buker. I took this out because I was curious as to what librarians who are asked for sf/f recommendations but don't read it themselves were being told to suggest. Also I hoped I might find a few things to read myself, & I did make a couple of notes. I thought the recommendations could've been a bit more diverse--both style-wise & race/gender/heterosexuality-wise, although there were a few Tiptree books mentioned. Interestingly, YA books were folded in w/adult recommendations w/nary a word. Which on the one hand I like--there are brilliant "kids" books out there that people who might shy away @ the label might still enjoy--but on the other hand... surely it would be better @ least to make a notation, right? Even given the usual boundary-straddling that some books do in between Kid & Grown-Up Land.
Homage to Catalonia - George Orwell. This is Orwell's account of fighting the Fascists in the Spanish Civil War. I was expecting it to be difficult to read because of graphic & upsetting detail relating to actual combat duty, but there wasn't much of that. What was truly heartbreaking was how the anti-Fascist forces fractured & betrayed each other, to the point of spending a lot of energy chasing down other factions & imprisoning them, instead of focusing on fighting the common enemy. The Communists hounded the Anarchists, b/c the former were being supported by Russia, who was getting its money from France. And France certainly didn't want a workers' revolution to its south, so the Communists suddenly started angling for "democracy" (ie. capitalism & classism) instead, going so far as to brand the Anarchists as actually working for the Fascists. Totally depressing. On another note, I was irked that Orwell constantly referred to his partner as "my wife"--we don't even get to hear her name, yet soldiers he meets briefly often are named & referred to by that name. Anyway, despite that, this is v. much recommended.
Farthing - Jo Walton. So disturbing & depressing. Really good, but oh, so heartbreaking. This is alternate history where the Nazis won, & Britain has signed a peace treaty w/Hitler. The plot revolves around a rich set of politicians & other important people, including one daughter who's ostracized herself by marrying a Jew. Reminds me a bit of Freedom & Necessity in some ways as well.
The Machine's Child - Kage Baker. Intense! Part of me wants to laugh at all the things that are happening & think that really, Kage Baker is just getting a little silly--& the rest of me is just enjoying the ride. Also I'm really enjoying how much she has made me have empathy for the immortals, even ones that I didn't like in general from the start (ie. Joseph).
Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity - Edited by Mattilda a.k.a. Matt Bernstein Sycamore. The introduction to this anthology traces a debate between the editor & the editor at Seal Press (who published the book) about whether or not this book should just be about passing relating to gender. The upshot is that no, the anthology isn't intended to be just about gender, & there certainly is a lot of stuff in there about class, race, etc. But given the subtitle, the ones that weren't predominantly about gender (as opposed to the ones that were about gender in combination w/race or some other factor) kind of stuck out. Also, among the ones that were focused on gender, I felt like there wasn't a lot of new stuff being said--a lot of it was just like "yay, I'm genderqueer & I reject norms, yay!" w/o really telling me much I hadn't heard before. That said, there were still some good & interesting essays in this volume, & a lot of my criticisms hold true for Seal anthologies in general (which really tend to be a mixed bag).
Murder by Magic: Twenty Tales of Crime & the Supernatural - Edited by Rosemary Edghill. I got this from the library to read the Susan Krinard story featuring her characters Kit & Olivia, which was still one of the better ones in here, although I'm disturbed by how, in her world, true, real, useful magic is the province of the gentry alone. Diane Duane has a mildly creepy & well-written story in here; there were a few others that I liked, but overall it tended too much to the type of true-crime sort of writing that I guess I don't like so much.
Greywalker - Kat Richardson. Mediocre vampire/dark things novel taking place in Seattle. I couldn't really get into it. Meh. I thought the "guides to this new world for the protagonist who's been unwillingly thrust into it" were unrealistic & annoying characters, & the protagonist herself wasn't really that interesting.
Making Peace with the Things in Your Life: Why Your Papers, Books, Clothes, & Other Possessions Keep Overwhelming You - and What to Do About It - Cindy Glovinsky. I like that this book is less about how to organize & more about your own personal quirks/issues that make you hold on to things. That said, I think some of what's in this book is a mite obvious, but a lot of it seems really helpful.
Home, and Other Big, Fat Lies - Jill Wolfson. Whitney is a foster kid heading for foster home #12 in logging country in the far north of California. She's justifiably cynical, & this is the story of how maybe she finds herself a more permanent home. There's some hokeyness, but it was surprisingly warm & engaging despite that. Also I liked the whole nature nerd vs. the loggers subplot, even though I thought the resolution was a bit too pat.
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Readers' Advisory: The Librarian's Guide to Cyborgs, Aliens, & Sorcerers - Derek M. Buker. I took this out because I was curious as to what librarians who are asked for sf/f recommendations but don't read it themselves were being told to suggest. Also I hoped I might find a few things to read myself, & I did make a couple of notes. I thought the recommendations could've been a bit more diverse--both style-wise & race/gender/heterosexuality-wise, although there were a few Tiptree books mentioned. Interestingly, YA books were folded in w/adult recommendations w/nary a word. Which on the one hand I like--there are brilliant "kids" books out there that people who might shy away @ the label might still enjoy--but on the other hand... surely it would be better @ least to make a notation, right? Even given the usual boundary-straddling that some books do in between Kid & Grown-Up Land.
Homage to Catalonia - George Orwell. This is Orwell's account of fighting the Fascists in the Spanish Civil War. I was expecting it to be difficult to read because of graphic & upsetting detail relating to actual combat duty, but there wasn't much of that. What was truly heartbreaking was how the anti-Fascist forces fractured & betrayed each other, to the point of spending a lot of energy chasing down other factions & imprisoning them, instead of focusing on fighting the common enemy. The Communists hounded the Anarchists, b/c the former were being supported by Russia, who was getting its money from France. And France certainly didn't want a workers' revolution to its south, so the Communists suddenly started angling for "democracy" (ie. capitalism & classism) instead, going so far as to brand the Anarchists as actually working for the Fascists. Totally depressing. On another note, I was irked that Orwell constantly referred to his partner as "my wife"--we don't even get to hear her name, yet soldiers he meets briefly often are named & referred to by that name. Anyway, despite that, this is v. much recommended.