february reads!
Feb. 27th, 2025 09:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
screechfoxI don't expect to finish any books tomorrow, so here we are! Because of being on leave, then being ill, then having a bad brain, I've read even more this month than I did last month, and I have more to say as well! I also bought more books, so I've spared you the list of those, unless that's actively of interest to anyone? If I still read at this pace next month, I might break my wrap-up into the two halves of the month.
But the Ships are Sailing– Sailing–, by Chiyono Sugimoto Kiyooka
A memoir about life in post-WW2 Japan, from the daughter of Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto. Unfortunately, it's not a good book! It's very... saccharine. Even though her position was relatively privileged - she had been partly raised in America and was a fluent English speaker, and her and her mother both still had positive connections with Americans - it still seems sugar-coated. It's also just not structured well; it feels almost stream-of-consciousness, where she'll mention anecdotes as they occur to her, sometimes nesting multiple stories inside each other until you've entirely lost the original point. Wouldn't recommend trying to track down a copy (and good luck with that!) unless you have an academic interest in this family.
Edge of Destiny, by J. Robert King
One of the three novels set in the Guild Wars universe. This was... fine. It provided some good context for in-game story, the lore tidbits were fun, and there were (literal) toxic lesbians. (I also Get the people who ship Rytlock/Logan now.) That said, the pacing was really strange and the foreshadowing was unsubtle. While I knew about Logan's being in love with the queen, I didn't realise that he instantly fell in love upon seeing her, to the point of stupidity. She has canonical mind-whammy abilities, but I don't think this was meant to be that, so it really reads like something that happened because that was in the plot of the game. Anyway! Would recommend to existing fans of the games, but not as a standalone fantasy novel.
Orlando, by Virginia Woolf
After nearly giving up early on, I really enjoyed this! The Gender of it all is obviously a key factor, but it was a good read all around: engrossing, and laugh-out-loud funny at times - especially when reflecting on the act of writing, which I found very relatable. It had a persistent refusal to explain itself that really worked for me. It was quite dense, both textually and typographically in my edition - a 1940s Penguin paperback with tiny text - so I had to take breaks, but it was worth it. The one blemish is the unavoidable racism, but better people than me have written better words about that.
I have a lot of places I'd like to go after this. I'd like to read more of Woolf's work, not that I have any idea where to go from Orlando. I'd like to read Orlando again, but in a font size that doesn't give me a headache. I'd like to see the 1992 film, because it's such an internal novel that I'm curious how it'll be adapted, and I'd like to see the 2023 documentary for how it might converse with the novel. We'll see which of these I get around to!
Boy Parts, by Eliza Clark
First library book of the year! Horror-thriller about a manipulative sadistic woman whose head was so fun to be in. She's just... awful. (Positive.) Incredibly compelling, and darkly hilarious in places; helped by the fact that it's set in my city, and the local references add a bit of extra colour. I don't quite know if it stuck the landing, but I enjoyed the journey so much, and I immediately put Clark's other books on hold at the library. (One of which I need to pick up in the next few days, now I think about it.)
Yellowface by Rebecca F. Kuang
Still in the mood for thrillers with unlikeable female narrators, I decided I'd finally get around to Yellowface, which I bought for a book club a year ago, but never got around to reading. I went into this with a bit of a bias against Kuang based on things I've read about her writing, but honestly, I enjoyed this! It's not a subtle book, and Kuang is clearly drawing on a lot of her own experiences with publishing and social media (as well as criticisms that have been levelled at her, which is a little sourer), but it works well for what she's trying to do. The cycle of social media discourse and outrage - a well-intentioned criticism, turned into a vicious backlash, then a backlash to the backlash, then competing outrages - rings very true, which is a sign that both she and I are probably too online.
Ink Exchange, Fragile Eternity, Radiant Shadows, and Darkest Mercy, by Melissa Marr
Anyway, then I got sick and decided that reading some dark YA faery romance was all my brain could handle, and maybe it would be a chance to finally finish the series. This is books 2 through 5 of the series - I'd reread the first one (by far the strongest) last year.
These are fine! They may even be good for what they are! They're a lot darker than I remembered (particularly Ink Exchange), and there's more queerness than I expected for a book series published from 2008-2011 - there's at least one poly trio by the end of the series. It has some obligatory love triangles, but I like how it handles them (both the poly trio and otherwise). I do think the idea of the plot, world-building, and relationships are cooler than the execution, but it's hard to say how much that's a founded criticism or if I went in with the wrong expectations because I don't read much YA anymore.
Trans Britain: Our Journey from the Shadows, edited by Christine Burns
Yay, trans history! A lot of the trans history I was aware of was US-based, particularly history around community-building and activism, so reading about the history in my own back garden was really informative. It was repetitive in places; each chapter is a different contributor and a different theme, so a lot of them cover the same events, and only some from different angles. It was also published in 2018 (after bathroom bills were a topic of conversation, but before a well-respected children's author was stirring things up), so some of it feels sadly dated in optimism. But I'm very glad to have read it, it was a useful read.
Provenance and Translation State, by Ann Leckie
The two standalone books in the Imperial Radch universe; all I've got left now is the short stories. I enjoyed both of these. Provenance was a weirdly fun read, although a little predictable in places. Translation State was less about language than I'd hoped, but it was still tense and compelling. I'm debating whether to read the Radch short stories soon, or whether to wait until I've read her fantasy novel so I can just blast through the whole short story collection. I don't know if I'll get genre whiplash!
Polar Horrors: Chilling Tales from the Ends of the Earth, edited by John Miller
Bought last month, an anthology of mostly older horror set in the polar regions. I didn't like this one that much; where I could pick out five stories I really enjoyed from last month's doll anthology, this one only had two, and I still had to look them up when writing this entry to remind me of what they were: Ghost, by Henry Kuttner (sci-fi with an impactful ending), and Polar Vortex, by Malcolm M. Ferguson (for TMA fans, this is a Lonely-Vast story). Oh well, that's the way with anthologies. I've got four more books from this series to read, so I might make it a monthly thing.
Invisible Cities, by Italo Calvino (trans. William Weaver)
This was a real treat once I got into the rhythm of it. I think some of the deeper poetic themes may have been lost on me, but I enjoyed the journey through the cities, punctuated by the occasional dialogues. The one that's stuck with me, strangely, is the city made up only of its plumbing, and the nymphs and naiads who've risen from the water in the pipes to inhabit it. I look forward to revisiting it, to retaking that journey.
Swanfolk, by Kristín Ómarsdóttir (trans. Vala Thorodds)
The third and final of the magical realism meditations on life I read this month, and by far my least favourite. My deepest respect to anyone who can make sense of this book. I didn't not enjoy it, but... I don't really know what happened, or if there was any particular thematic throughline. I wonder if it reads differently in the original Icelandic, although I suspect it has the same dream-weirdness and unreal dialogue. The prose is pretty, at least.
Again not much to say about other media. I watched a few more episodes of Shōgun early in the month, but again didn't feel compelled to carry on despite enjoying it as I was watching. I'll get back to it, somewhen! When I've been watching things, it's mostly been Youtube, and most of that Youtube has been Drawfee.
Video games-wise, I'm still playing Sky: Children of the Light, but I'm getting tired of it now as I remember how grindy it is. I've also played a few demos from the Steam Next Fest, the only one of which I really enjoyed was Is This Seat Taken?, which is probably going to be an insta-purchase once it releases.
Oh, and I'll probably cover this in my reading wrap-up(s?) next month, but I've been listening to the audiodrama production of Carmilla by the Re: Dracula people. The audio quality is a little uneven and I recognise a distractingly large amount of the voice actors, but the acting for Laura and Carmilla is great - and let's be real, that's what you need most in an adaptation of Carmilla.
Read Books
But the Ships are Sailing– Sailing–, by Chiyono Sugimoto Kiyooka
A memoir about life in post-WW2 Japan, from the daughter of Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto. Unfortunately, it's not a good book! It's very... saccharine. Even though her position was relatively privileged - she had been partly raised in America and was a fluent English speaker, and her and her mother both still had positive connections with Americans - it still seems sugar-coated. It's also just not structured well; it feels almost stream-of-consciousness, where she'll mention anecdotes as they occur to her, sometimes nesting multiple stories inside each other until you've entirely lost the original point. Wouldn't recommend trying to track down a copy (and good luck with that!) unless you have an academic interest in this family.
Edge of Destiny, by J. Robert King
One of the three novels set in the Guild Wars universe. This was... fine. It provided some good context for in-game story, the lore tidbits were fun, and there were (literal) toxic lesbians. (I also Get the people who ship Rytlock/Logan now.) That said, the pacing was really strange and the foreshadowing was unsubtle. While I knew about Logan's being in love with the queen, I didn't realise that he instantly fell in love upon seeing her, to the point of stupidity. She has canonical mind-whammy abilities, but I don't think this was meant to be that, so it really reads like something that happened because that was in the plot of the game. Anyway! Would recommend to existing fans of the games, but not as a standalone fantasy novel.
Orlando, by Virginia Woolf
After nearly giving up early on, I really enjoyed this! The Gender of it all is obviously a key factor, but it was a good read all around: engrossing, and laugh-out-loud funny at times - especially when reflecting on the act of writing, which I found very relatable. It had a persistent refusal to explain itself that really worked for me. It was quite dense, both textually and typographically in my edition - a 1940s Penguin paperback with tiny text - so I had to take breaks, but it was worth it. The one blemish is the unavoidable racism, but better people than me have written better words about that.
I have a lot of places I'd like to go after this. I'd like to read more of Woolf's work, not that I have any idea where to go from Orlando. I'd like to read Orlando again, but in a font size that doesn't give me a headache. I'd like to see the 1992 film, because it's such an internal novel that I'm curious how it'll be adapted, and I'd like to see the 2023 documentary for how it might converse with the novel. We'll see which of these I get around to!
Boy Parts, by Eliza Clark
First library book of the year! Horror-thriller about a manipulative sadistic woman whose head was so fun to be in. She's just... awful. (Positive.) Incredibly compelling, and darkly hilarious in places; helped by the fact that it's set in my city, and the local references add a bit of extra colour. I don't quite know if it stuck the landing, but I enjoyed the journey so much, and I immediately put Clark's other books on hold at the library. (One of which I need to pick up in the next few days, now I think about it.)
Yellowface by Rebecca F. Kuang
Still in the mood for thrillers with unlikeable female narrators, I decided I'd finally get around to Yellowface, which I bought for a book club a year ago, but never got around to reading. I went into this with a bit of a bias against Kuang based on things I've read about her writing, but honestly, I enjoyed this! It's not a subtle book, and Kuang is clearly drawing on a lot of her own experiences with publishing and social media (as well as criticisms that have been levelled at her, which is a little sourer), but it works well for what she's trying to do. The cycle of social media discourse and outrage - a well-intentioned criticism, turned into a vicious backlash, then a backlash to the backlash, then competing outrages - rings very true, which is a sign that both she and I are probably too online.
Ink Exchange, Fragile Eternity, Radiant Shadows, and Darkest Mercy, by Melissa Marr
Anyway, then I got sick and decided that reading some dark YA faery romance was all my brain could handle, and maybe it would be a chance to finally finish the series. This is books 2 through 5 of the series - I'd reread the first one (by far the strongest) last year.
These are fine! They may even be good for what they are! They're a lot darker than I remembered (particularly Ink Exchange), and there's more queerness than I expected for a book series published from 2008-2011 - there's at least one poly trio by the end of the series. It has some obligatory love triangles, but I like how it handles them (both the poly trio and otherwise). I do think the idea of the plot, world-building, and relationships are cooler than the execution, but it's hard to say how much that's a founded criticism or if I went in with the wrong expectations because I don't read much YA anymore.
Trans Britain: Our Journey from the Shadows, edited by Christine Burns
Yay, trans history! A lot of the trans history I was aware of was US-based, particularly history around community-building and activism, so reading about the history in my own back garden was really informative. It was repetitive in places; each chapter is a different contributor and a different theme, so a lot of them cover the same events, and only some from different angles. It was also published in 2018 (after bathroom bills were a topic of conversation, but before a well-respected children's author was stirring things up), so some of it feels sadly dated in optimism. But I'm very glad to have read it, it was a useful read.
Provenance and Translation State, by Ann Leckie
The two standalone books in the Imperial Radch universe; all I've got left now is the short stories. I enjoyed both of these. Provenance was a weirdly fun read, although a little predictable in places. Translation State was less about language than I'd hoped, but it was still tense and compelling. I'm debating whether to read the Radch short stories soon, or whether to wait until I've read her fantasy novel so I can just blast through the whole short story collection. I don't know if I'll get genre whiplash!
Polar Horrors: Chilling Tales from the Ends of the Earth, edited by John Miller
Bought last month, an anthology of mostly older horror set in the polar regions. I didn't like this one that much; where I could pick out five stories I really enjoyed from last month's doll anthology, this one only had two, and I still had to look them up when writing this entry to remind me of what they were: Ghost, by Henry Kuttner (sci-fi with an impactful ending), and Polar Vortex, by Malcolm M. Ferguson (for TMA fans, this is a Lonely-Vast story). Oh well, that's the way with anthologies. I've got four more books from this series to read, so I might make it a monthly thing.
Invisible Cities, by Italo Calvino (trans. William Weaver)
This was a real treat once I got into the rhythm of it. I think some of the deeper poetic themes may have been lost on me, but I enjoyed the journey through the cities, punctuated by the occasional dialogues. The one that's stuck with me, strangely, is the city made up only of its plumbing, and the nymphs and naiads who've risen from the water in the pipes to inhabit it. I look forward to revisiting it, to retaking that journey.
Swanfolk, by Kristín Ómarsdóttir (trans. Vala Thorodds)
The third and final of the magical realism meditations on life I read this month, and by far my least favourite. My deepest respect to anyone who can make sense of this book. I didn't not enjoy it, but... I don't really know what happened, or if there was any particular thematic throughline. I wonder if it reads differently in the original Icelandic, although I suspect it has the same dream-weirdness and unreal dialogue. The prose is pretty, at least.
Other Media
Again not much to say about other media. I watched a few more episodes of Shōgun early in the month, but again didn't feel compelled to carry on despite enjoying it as I was watching. I'll get back to it, somewhen! When I've been watching things, it's mostly been Youtube, and most of that Youtube has been Drawfee.
Video games-wise, I'm still playing Sky: Children of the Light, but I'm getting tired of it now as I remember how grindy it is. I've also played a few demos from the Steam Next Fest, the only one of which I really enjoyed was Is This Seat Taken?, which is probably going to be an insta-purchase once it releases.
Oh, and I'll probably cover this in my reading wrap-up(s?) next month, but I've been listening to the audiodrama production of Carmilla by the Re: Dracula people. The audio quality is a little uneven and I recognise a distractingly large amount of the voice actors, but the acting for Laura and Carmilla is great - and let's be real, that's what you need most in an adaptation of Carmilla.
