What Are You Reading Weekend
Oct. 15th, 2017 11:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
highlyeccentricI think we should admit I will never actually do this on a Wednesday
What are you currently reading: Hirade, 'The Guest Cat'; Jordan L Hawk, 'Hexslayer'; a truly weird assortment of stuff for work.
What have you recently finished reading:
Griffith Review 56: Millennials Strike Back by Julianne Schultz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I'm kind of late to the party on this one - I actually saw a preview article from Griffith Review 57, went to order that, and saw this existed. Ordered both, then by the time they arrived I was Too Damn Busy.
Having said that: this was a really good read. My copy is filled with little flaggies. Particular highlights:
Omar Sakr's poem Ordinary Things.
Ashely Kalagian Blunt, Today is already yesterday
Sophie Allan, Under the skin: home, history and love in patriarchy
Other outstanding pieces by Timmah Ball, Fiona Wright, too many more to name.
An Unsuitable Heir by K.J. Charles
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I liked a lot of things about this! The brother-sister dynamic between Pen and Greta is particularly great. The final love scene is very Relevant to My Interests (TM). The showdown with the revealed murderer is A+, go Greta. The dynastic solution is quite nifty.
My only qualm is I picked the villain all wrong (which is... good, for a number of characters) and I still kind of feel like I should've been right.
The Ruin of a Rake by Cat Sebastian
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I liked this better than the first in the series, at least. Sebastian's work always reads a bit flat, the historical world-building a bit thin, after KJ Charles, though.
Of Mice and Men: The Play by John Steinbeck
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
UGH. I don't LIKE Steinbeck, and I fundamentally don't like this narrative. But the production I worked on was *phenomenal*. A number of characters who would otherwise have been cringey stereotypes (notably the nameless wife and Crooks) fill with life when there's an actual human on the stage, who has clearly *thought* about them and why they act as they do.
And you can't deny Steinbeck has a knack for dialogue, for exactly the right words, for setting up parallels in one speech and another. The bit where Whit and Slim are reading the letter-to-the-editor while Carlson is talking Candy into shooting his dog is a particularly good example.
On the other hand: what a lot of racism, sexism, ableism, et bloody cetera.
-
Aaand that's it! For once, I have finally caught up reviews to cover my most recent reading. See you in a fortnight or when I've finished three things, I guess!
Up Next: Too Many Things
Music notes: bought 'Beautiful Garbage', which I couldn't afford to buy when it was first released (I had a single from it, though). Listening to P!nk's greatest hits a fair bit, especially 'Raise Your Glass'
What are you currently reading: Hirade, 'The Guest Cat'; Jordan L Hawk, 'Hexslayer'; a truly weird assortment of stuff for work.
What have you recently finished reading:
Griffith Review 56: Millennials Strike Back by Julianne SchultzMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I'm kind of late to the party on this one - I actually saw a preview article from Griffith Review 57, went to order that, and saw this existed. Ordered both, then by the time they arrived I was Too Damn Busy.
Having said that: this was a really good read. My copy is filled with little flaggies. Particular highlights:
Omar Sakr's poem Ordinary Things.
Ashely Kalagian Blunt, Today is already yesterday
Sophie Allan, Under the skin: home, history and love in patriarchy
Other outstanding pieces by Timmah Ball, Fiona Wright, too many more to name.
An Unsuitable Heir by K.J. CharlesMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I liked a lot of things about this! The brother-sister dynamic between Pen and Greta is particularly great. The final love scene is very Relevant to My Interests (TM). The showdown with the revealed murderer is A+, go Greta. The dynastic solution is quite nifty.
My only qualm is I picked the villain all wrong (which is... good, for a number of characters) and I still kind of feel like I should've been right.
The Ruin of a Rake by Cat SebastianMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I liked this better than the first in the series, at least. Sebastian's work always reads a bit flat, the historical world-building a bit thin, after KJ Charles, though.
Of Mice and Men: The Play by John SteinbeckMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
UGH. I don't LIKE Steinbeck, and I fundamentally don't like this narrative. But the production I worked on was *phenomenal*. A number of characters who would otherwise have been cringey stereotypes (notably the nameless wife and Crooks) fill with life when there's an actual human on the stage, who has clearly *thought* about them and why they act as they do.
And you can't deny Steinbeck has a knack for dialogue, for exactly the right words, for setting up parallels in one speech and another. The bit where Whit and Slim are reading the letter-to-the-editor while Carlson is talking Candy into shooting his dog is a particularly good example.
On the other hand: what a lot of racism, sexism, ableism, et bloody cetera.
-
Aaand that's it! For once, I have finally caught up reviews to cover my most recent reading. See you in a fortnight or when I've finished three things, I guess!
Up Next: Too Many Things
Music notes: bought 'Beautiful Garbage', which I couldn't afford to buy when it was first released (I had a single from it, though). Listening to P!nk's greatest hits a fair bit, especially 'Raise Your Glass'