Well, I fell so far behind while doing all my Cybils reading that I gave up on blogging. And then I was so far behind that I was discouraged. But I like looking back to see what I was reading and when, so I'm declaring a book amnesty and just starting again with what I'm reading now.
This is a good time for resolutions, since I just had a birthday. I'm 51, which is a nicely symmetric age for our binary birthday candles: 110011. No worries about whether the cake is upside down. I had a lovely day -- lunch with my SIL, dinner out with my family, and calls from my mom and my college son. Oh, and cake! There are still specks of snow to be seen in crannies around the neighborhood, so I feel all rugged.
My currently reading is hovering around 23. I'll eventually finish a few of them. Or admit that I'm not reading them -- a few are back in the public library waiting to be requested again.
Completed:
Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula LeGuin. I was supposed to read this for Tuesday book club but I fell behind. Too bad, because I like it and I always remember different bits. I had forgotten most of the friendship the travelers build although I remembered their epic trip. I remembered the confusion of kemmer and how perverted the permanently male (and sexually available) spaceman looked but I forgot how his perceptions shifted when the locals suddenly struck him as womanly instead of male (his default for important people).
Spinning Silver, Naomi Novak. Lovely and intricate. Novak has a knack for making me care deeply about all of her characters so sometimes I would put the book down because their needs seemed so wildly opposed, or just their perceptions so that it was hard to care so much for all of them. But the ending was lovely and powerful and I liked the moneylending girl most of all.
Beggars and Choosers, Nancy Kress. This is only available in audio, and then it took me ages because I didn't drive much in February. I'm enjoying the wreck society is making of itself, and how the "smartest" people do the dumbest things. Of course, the dumb people also do dumb things; that may be Kress's theme -- people rarely do the "right" thing.
Bookmarks Moved In:
Son of the Black Sword, Larry Correia. 35/? Baen's podcast serial. All the characters come from stock images, but they run around in entertaining ways.
The Road to Little Dribbling, Bill Bryson. My current Reading-My-Library audio. Bryson would be an annoying companion although he's good for a car audio book.
Cyteen, C.J. Cherryh. I'm re-reading this, starting with the end. I'll probably go backward by chucks, although I'm not sure I'll finish the beginning because it doesn't get fun until Ari II gets interesting.
Ninefox Gambit, Yoon Ha Lee. The Sword and Laser pick I think in January; I didn't get traction on it back then but I have a week left before the library calls it home so I'm trying again.
Luminscent Threads, ed. Alexandra Pierce. This collection of essays about Octavia Butler's works makes me want to read them all over again. On my Kindle App.
Virtues of War, Bennett R. Coles. There's a bit too much of the horrors of war for me to really enjoy this. I'm a wimp. On the NOOK app.
With the Lightnings, David Drake. This has a lighter touch so I can happily read over all the carnage. It's our Tuesday book club pick.
Wonder Woman: Warbringer, Leigh Bardugo. Apparently this is not a novelization of the movie, although it is a Cybils pick from last year. I need to finish last year so I can start this year's list!
Palate Cleansers
These books I'm barely reading; I use them as palate cleansers between books I'm actually reading.
A Traitor to Memory, Elizabeth George. I find the violinist's interaction with his annoying neighbor trying.
Sammy Keyes and the Art of Deception, Wendelin Van Draanen.
Change of Heart, Norah McClintock.
Inn of the Sixth Happiness, Alan Burgess.
Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vaca.
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