Monday, July 23, 2018

Social Butterfly

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?
I burst out in a flurry of sociality. I went to a friends house and we read a play (The Revolutionists) out loud, which was a lot of fun. Hmm, maybe I should count it as a book read? I dragged my son to my brother's island so we could hang out at the local Strawberry Festival, aka an excuse for me to eat a gyro. I went to see King Lear at the Shakespeare in the Park festival. And then I went to the graduation party for a local teen who had grown up with our kids. Good golly, that doesn't seem like much but as I'm a dedicated homebody it was a lot for me.

My currently reading is triumphantly down to 24. Since my ideal would be around 10-15, that's not too bad. Really.

The Book Date does a weekly roundup of what people are reading, want to read, or have read each week called It's Monday! What Are You Reading so I'll sign up there. There's also a version that is kidlit focussed at either Teach Mentor Texts or Unleashing Readers and last week I read a  Cybils YA so I'll sign up there.

This Week I started:

No Farm, No Foul (Farmer's Daughter Mystery #1)MoxieBiscuits and Slashed Browns (Country Store Mysteries #4)Circe
The Revoluitnists graphic Cincy

No Farm, No Foul, Peg Cochran. A Reading My Library Quest book.

Moxie, Jennifer Mathieu. Cybils YA.

Biscuits and Slashed Browns, Maddie Day. Set in Indiana.

Circe, Madeline Miller. June's Sword & Laser pick.

The Revolutionists, Lauren Gunderson. Play.

I finished:

The Privilege of Peace (Peacekeeper, #3; Confederation, #8)Symbiont (Parasitology, #2)Alliance of Equals (Liaden Universe, #19)Tinker (Elfhome, #1)
No Farm, No Foul (Farmer's Daughter Mystery #1)Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at WarBiscuits and Slashed Browns (Country Store Mysteries #4)Moxie

The Privilege of Peace, Tanya Huff. Great action and world building, as our Hero deals with civilians, team mates, partner, and bosses while making the world safe for civilized folks. The development of the plastic aliens worked well, as did the integration of the dinosaurs into wider society. I hope there are more.

Symbiont, Mira Grant. OK, I never understood how the master plan could possibly work, but it was fun to watch them executing it, and I liked the further discussion of tapeworms and their evolution. I will chase down the next one soon.

Alliance of Equals, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller. Padi's story comes to a triumphant conclusion; her half-sister may or may not be on the way, Korval's trading has been increased a wee bit, and the Admiral is still working on achieving competent sapience. A fun conclusion and I'm looking forward to seeing what Baen has for me next.

Tinker, Wen Spencer. Tinker, of course, emerges triumphant. Each time I reread this I catch more weaving that Spencer puts into the plot, so that everything that happens has been grounded, and I also see how the future books grow from this one.

No Farm, No Foul, Peg Cochran. A RML book. I was disappointed in the plot-inspired cluelessness of the narrator. It was cute to have part of the story be her gormless blog posts, but wouldn't some of the local people reading it comment on her speculation about who murdered whom at the church picnic? And how has she been a mom for 12 years without ever having to set limits for her kids -- did her husband do all of that while he was alive? Don't get me started on the last evening, where she was handed the idiot ball and not allowed to let go.

Grunt, Mary Roach. My audio RML book. And I don't have the next one ready because I hurried this one along when I realized I was switching cars!. I like Roach's curiosity and energy as she wanders into various crannies of her subject. From sharks to smell warfare to submarine crew sleep patterns she cheerfully brings along her audience as she asks the questions and walks as much of the walk as her subjects allow. Nothing deep but a good driving book.

Biscuits and Slashed Browns, Maddie Day. This Indianian protagonist was refreshingly competent after the hapless farm owner. She ran a restaurant, contacted the police when she felt threatened, encouraged her friends to report their misdeeds to the police, (even when the police were barely more competent than their Michigan counterparts), and held down an adult relationship. Not a parent, but a responsible pet owner.

Moxie, Jennifer Mathieu. Cybils YA. I loved this story of girls in East Texas rebelling against an obnoxious school administration that encouraged sexual harassment, especially by its football players against the entire female student population. The mix of inspiration from a previous generation's work probably appealed to me as an old person, but I hope actual young adults also liked the 'zine approach taken by our narrator.

The Revolutionists, Lauren Gunderson. My feminist book club read this aloud. There were only four parts, so even with a small turnout we had people for each role, and the play is only 88 pages so we started after dinner and finished before dark. I had a lot of fun; everyone was a good sport, we were very non judgmental, and the play itself built to a strong finish. I mean, we know at the beginning that everyone dies, but the play distracts you and then they all die.

Bookmarks moved in:

Too Like the Lightning (Terra Ignota, #1)A Princess in Theory (Reluctant Royals, #1)
The PowerTomorrow's Kin (Yesterday's Kin Trilogy, #1)The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics

Too Like the Lightning, Ada Palmer. I am uncomfortable with the convict slaves of the future.

Princess in Theory, Alyssa Cole. Since I read romances for vicarious happiness, I always drag along during the valleys. I hope they go to not-Wakanda soon so I can at least enjoy it in an SF kind of way.

The Power, Naomi Alderman. The library is giving me another chance and I am frittering it away. Also, everyone is awful. Do I just live a protected life, because most of the people I know are not awful.

Tomorrow's Kin, Nancy Kress. One of the characters is a drug addict, and I hate reading about drugs.

Boys in the Boat, Daniel James Brown. I have pulled it out of my reading-any-second bag!


These I'm barely reading; I use them as palate cleansers between books I'm actually reading.

KenilworthA Traitor to Memory (Inspector Lynley, #11)The Quantum Universe: Everything That Can Happen Does Happen
Sammy Keyes and the Art of DeceptionChange of Heart (Robyn Hunter, #7)Reading and Learning to Read

Kenilworth, Sir Walter Scott.

A Traitor to Memory, Elizabeth George. Cops grimly go around interviewing unhappy people.

The Quantum Universe, Brian Cox.

Sammy Keyes and the Art of Deception, Wendelin Van Draanen.

Change of Heart, Norah McClintock. If your friend is accused of murdering your other friend's boyfriend, where do your loyalties lie?

Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vaca. Vocabulary growth without bloodshed among children.

2018 Challenge Progress:
  1. Cybils 2017! 14/104-ish. I started (and finished) Moxie.
  2. Reading My Library: Finished Grunt. Finished No Farm No Foul.
  3. Where Am I Reading 2018?: 36/51. I read an Indiana. Also Texas and Michigan, but those are repeats.

No comments: