Whoa There Virus! And It's Hugo Time

Another quiet week in pandemic time. In Washington the virus is making another surge, so we are urged to be careful and the reopening has slowed a bit. So I'm staying home as much as possible. 

It's also almost time for the WorldCon convention, which this year is in New Zealand. I'm going, although because of COVID-19 I'm only going virtually since New Zealand is closed to foreigners. But it also means that I get to vote on all the Hugo Awards, from writing (short stories to series) to movies to podcasts. So I have a lot of material to plow through so I can vote responsibly. Just as well I'm supposed to stay home!

I'm now running for 25 minutes at a time, three days a week. Which doesn't sound like much, but is more than I've ever managed before -- I've always been a five minute run, ten minute walk kind of person. And it's also given me a chance to get through some of those Hugo podcasts.

My kids did their income taxes this week, and I think are getting small refunds. I did mine way back before the extension, so I've been enjoying my refund for months. Oh, I signed up for another Goodreads Team challenge, to make sure I keep finishing things. 

Dinner was nice this week. Wednesday was Pasta Primavera, made with fresh veggies from the farmers market. And Friday was Steak and Goat Cheese quesadillas, again with good material. Both had tasty salads on the side, and I feel I will my Paulos a lot when he goes back to college and I have to start cooking again instead of just planning the meals and having it show up on my table.

My currently reading has calmed down to 21. I'm still listening to too many audios, but I can't really help that. And three books are really more vague intentions rather than things I hope to make progress on this week. The Hugo voting is in a few weeks, so I have to read a lot of stuff, and I'm including things like the Harry Potter read-aloud and the Greek picture book I'm working my way through. 

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. Ditto for the children's lit version at either Teach Mentor Texts or Unleashing Readers. My CYBILs reading keeps me eligible this week.

Started

Exhaulations, Ted Chiang. I read this for my book team, and it had two Hugo nominated stories in it.

The Deep, River Solomons. A Hugo Awards novella finalist. 

To Be Taught, If Fortunate, Becky Chambers. A Hugo Awards novella finalist.

In An Absent Dream, Seanan McGuire. A Hugo Awards novella finalist. 

The Haunting of Tram Car 015, P Clark.  A Hugo Awards novella finalist. 

Completed

The City in the Middle of the Night, Charlie Jane Anders. Another Hugo book. That was a very strong landing. At times while reading the book I wanted to wrestle it to give me more of what I wanted -- more aliens, more clarity on what is going on with the girlfriend, but Anders made me wait until the book was ready. At the end, it was emotionally and thematically absolutely complete, which is a great ending. 

The Ten Thousand Doors of January, Alex E. Harrow. This Hugo nominee had a great premise and setting, but I ached for more agency from the protagonist, who mostly reacted to events until the very end. And the framing bothered me a lot -- it didn't fit with its own conceit. The parents' love story felt real; they lived and sacrificed for each other so that I'd believe the efforts they'd go to to reunite, even from the beginning (which was a stretch, so Harrow did a lot to earn that). But the love of the kids was just a reflection -- they were two kids who knew each other as they grew up, and then he had a crush that she wasn't sure she reciprocated, and then they had a timeless love that mirrored that of her mom and dad? Wait, what was that last step? The love hook that was the excuse for the book (apparently that's why she's writing it, for her True Love) doesn't fit the book's tone or events or even its purpose, which weakened the effect a lot.

The Deep, River Solomons. A Hugo Awards novella finalist. As I expect from Solomons, this is lovely and beautifully written, with a sense of emotional truth reflected through the plot. Plot itself is sometimes a weakness; there was too much time spent in the lagoon waiting for the next step. Probably I'm just too shallow to appreciate patience.

To Be Taught, If Fortunate, Becky Chambers. A Hugo Awards novella finalist. This was an intellectual and curiosity delight. The four astronauts visit four wonderfully diverse planets and do science, helped by the great science-fictional technology their version of NASA set them up with. I was so busy enjoying this that I ignored almost all the moral foreshadowing Chambers scattered about, so when she pulled up at the end to ask her big question I was left just wanting to play with all the nifty ideas some more.

In An Absent Dream, Seanan McGuire. A Hugo Awards novella finalist. This would work as an excellent introduction to this series, as good as the actual first book. Since I've read them all, I kept pulling back from the story because I knew how it would end. This meant that I partially ducked the emotional punch at the end, but not completely, because McGuire sets up the sister's relationship so well in a fairly short time. 

Exhalations, Ted Chiang. Hugos and book team. I loved all these stories. My favorites were "Exhalations" and "Omphalos" but the novella "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom" was also excellent. I love how his stories contain both character and emotion but also a deep philosophical question.

The Haunting of Tram Car 015, P Clark.  A Hugo Awards novella finalist. A fun puzzle story, with interesting characters and a great setting that combined women's suffrage with bureaucratic genie problems. 

Bookmarks Moved (Or Languished) In:

Tender Morsels, Margo Lanagan. 7-8/10 discs. I'm hoping to see the sisters reunite.

Uncompromising Honor, David Weber. Baen Free Radio Hour's serial, part 19. Falling behind on my podcasts as I frantically try to finish Stamped and all the Hugo podcasts.

Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton. The mean brother-in-law has a tantrum. The sisters settle in.

Stamped From the Beginning, Ibram X Kendi. (Audio) For an online book club. Into part IV! OK, time to stop the slow pace and try to get through before book club on Thursday. History is almost to my birthday.

Braiding Sweetgrass (audio), Robin Wall Kimmerer. I don't get to this much because of all the other listening but I really like it. I tend to listen to it while exercising since it helps me appreciate my body and the physical world.

Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler. Reread. OK, show time for her preparation!

Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling. I'm listening to celebrities read this to me. Stephen Fry is up, but I have almost no time to listen.

The Warden, Anthony Trollope. For my Tuesday Minecraft club. Heading for chapter 15 now. I hope if I ever have son-in-laws that they don't harass me like that!

Middlegame, Seanan McGuire. Novel finalist for 2020 Hugos. In the homestretch where all the pieces start flying together.

Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Marlon James. Sword and Laser pick. This has a very strong flavor; I'm not sure I'm going to like it.

A Face Like Glass, Frances Hardinge. Cybils book. I really like the technology of the city.

Picture Books / Short Stories:

 

"The Archronology of Love," Caroline M. Yoachim. Hugo Novelette finalist.  Time travel love story with an actual adult couple. 

"Away With the Wolves," Sarah Gailey. Hugo Novelette finalist. Grim look at chronic pain but inspiring look at friendship. 

"Emergency Skin," N.K. Jemison story. Hugo Novelette finalist. A fable but a good one. 

"For He Can Creep," Siobhan Carroll. Hugo Novelette finalist. Cat story!

"The Blur In the Corner of Your Eye, Sarah Pinsker. Hugo Novelette finalist. I laughed out loud at the final line. This one really worked and the assistant is an inspiration to us all.

(If you are wondering where the Ted Chiang "Omphalos" is, it was included in the Exhalation book.)

Αλφαβητάρι με γλωσσοδέτες, Eugene Trivizas. I haven't actually finished this yet, but I'm working my way through. Alphabets are long, folks, even Greek ones.

Palate Cleansers

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

The Educated Child, William Bennett. 

Give All to Love, Patricia Veryan. 

Wool, Hugh Howey. The bad guys seem to be several steps ahead of everyone else.

The Wind Gourd of La'amaomao, Moses Nakuima. 

Sorcerer to the Crown, Zen Cho. From my shelves. Since I'm trying to read more books with black protagonists this is a lucky pick.

Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vaca. Techniques for encouraging understanding before and during reading a nonfiction text.

Reading Challenges

1. Cybils 2017. Continued A Face Like Glass.
2. Cybils 2018. None.
3. Cybils 2019. Checked out some stuff. Went a bit wild with my new ability to get holds from the library and put a bunch of stuff on hold. 
4. Reading My Library. I wonder if a librarian would be willing to walk to my next shelf and pick something for me. 
5. Ten to Try. At 9/10. Got my recommendation!
6. Where Am I Reading: 21/51 states. Picked up Vermont. 18 Countries. Plus an unnamed island of the west coast of Africa. 
7. Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge. 21/24. Three left:  6 (play by PoC or queer author), 13 (food book about a new to me cuisine),  and 24 (Indigenous author). (Had to read several literary magazines to vote in the Hugos Awards.)