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What Are You Reading Weekend
Nov. 12th, 2017 03:15 pmCurrently Reading: Meanjin 76.3; the Lerner/Milan/Cole collab of american historical romances; a book about rowing the Atlantic
Recently Finished:
I DNF'd 'Love and Other Hot Beverages' by Laurie Loft. I can't even put my finger on why exactly, but a cluster of otherwise-minor factors meant I was avoiding opening it and felt good about writing it off.
Overland Issue 227 by Jacinda Woodhead
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This was the first of my new subscription, and interesting! It's got a very different feel to Meanjin - less ponderous, I suppose. I didn't find many things to truly love in it (I subscribed because I really loved and felt grateful for the kind of work their blog has been hosting re the marriage survey), but it was largely enjoyable and I look forward to more.
Evelyn Araluen's essay on decolonial as opposed to post-colonial strategies was an interesting, if at times uncomfortable, read as a white lit crit person.
Dan Dixon's research piece on the Australian (mostly NSW) gambling industry is distressing and fascinating.
Giovanni Tiso On the Books I Kept is a striking piece.
Poetry-wise I liked Louise Swinn, Ali Coby Eckermann, and Corey Wakeling.
Sweet Disorder by Rose Lerner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I. Loved. This.
Asked for recs to diversify my pulp reading a bit, and included m/f in the list of things I'd consider. A+ good choice, this is GREAT. It's got CORRUPT ELECTIONS and working-class character clusters and a female lead I took to at once. It's rare I'm /this/ into a straight fictional pairing, especially if it's not fanwork, but yes! I approve! Very much!
Jamie's 15 Minute Meals by Jamie Oliver
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is a book of pretty good recipes organised in a COMPLETELY INFURIATING way.
Firstly, they're not fifteen minute meals: it's that common cheat of counting only the time AFTER you've done all the pre-prep, which in this case includes boiling water for pasta and the like as well as dicing things.
Secondly, in order to get the cooking time down to 15 minutes Jamie calls for some steps, like using a food processor to shred onions and carrots (reduced cooking time) that just plain produce inferior outcomes to sautéeing the onions then adding carrots.
Thirdly, each meal is composed of 2-3 separate bits (eg, this one called for the chicken, the lentil dish, and also asparagus cooked in garlic) and the instructions are all mixed up with each other - presumably so you get the timing EXACT. But it's infuriating to read if you don't have all the gadgets required (you need to move steps around) or if you're not making all the recommended components.
Anonymous Sins and Other Poems by Joyce Carol Oates
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I actually finished this a while ago, but forgot to file it or return it to the library.
I enjoyed a lot of the poems, but many of my favourites were so long they were difficult to keep in memory or copy out for later reference, so I have little to say about them in hindsight.
Up Next: I need to either get back to or concede defeat on a bunch of work-related things, and read Pericles. Fun-wise, who knows?
Music notes:
Ages ago I bought via bandcamp 'Thirty Days of Yes', a mixtape that dropped one song by an australian artist every day up to the end of the survey. Obviously that finished; I took a while to remember to download the whole thing, but I've been enjoying it. A few pieces are either twee-pro-marriage-equality ('It's Time' by Twerps) or just... too raw, really, for me right now ('Marriage,' by Guy Blackman, starts with 'you know I don't believe in marriage' and proceeds to deliver a pragmatic ode to inheritance rights and so on). But others I really enjoy! Megan Washington's live recorded piece 'The Human Race' is great, and I'm kind of in love with something called 'Hold On Harry' by Terry.
And this week I ticked off enough in my chore chart to justify purchasing an album, so I purchased 'No Place In Heaven' by Mika, special edition with orchestral collab second CD. I am very into it.
Recently Finished:
I DNF'd 'Love and Other Hot Beverages' by Laurie Loft. I can't even put my finger on why exactly, but a cluster of otherwise-minor factors meant I was avoiding opening it and felt good about writing it off.
Overland Issue 227 by Jacinda WoodheadMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
This was the first of my new subscription, and interesting! It's got a very different feel to Meanjin - less ponderous, I suppose. I didn't find many things to truly love in it (I subscribed because I really loved and felt grateful for the kind of work their blog has been hosting re the marriage survey), but it was largely enjoyable and I look forward to more.
Evelyn Araluen's essay on decolonial as opposed to post-colonial strategies was an interesting, if at times uncomfortable, read as a white lit crit person.
Dan Dixon's research piece on the Australian (mostly NSW) gambling industry is distressing and fascinating.
Giovanni Tiso On the Books I Kept is a striking piece.
Poetry-wise I liked Louise Swinn, Ali Coby Eckermann, and Corey Wakeling.
Sweet Disorder by Rose LernerMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I. Loved. This.
Asked for recs to diversify my pulp reading a bit, and included m/f in the list of things I'd consider. A+ good choice, this is GREAT. It's got CORRUPT ELECTIONS and working-class character clusters and a female lead I took to at once. It's rare I'm /this/ into a straight fictional pairing, especially if it's not fanwork, but yes! I approve! Very much!
Jamie's 15 Minute Meals by Jamie OliverMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is a book of pretty good recipes organised in a COMPLETELY INFURIATING way.
Firstly, they're not fifteen minute meals: it's that common cheat of counting only the time AFTER you've done all the pre-prep, which in this case includes boiling water for pasta and the like as well as dicing things.
Secondly, in order to get the cooking time down to 15 minutes Jamie calls for some steps, like using a food processor to shred onions and carrots (reduced cooking time) that just plain produce inferior outcomes to sautéeing the onions then adding carrots.
Thirdly, each meal is composed of 2-3 separate bits (eg, this one called for the chicken, the lentil dish, and also asparagus cooked in garlic) and the instructions are all mixed up with each other - presumably so you get the timing EXACT. But it's infuriating to read if you don't have all the gadgets required (you need to move steps around) or if you're not making all the recommended components.
Anonymous Sins and Other Poems by Joyce Carol OatesMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I actually finished this a while ago, but forgot to file it or return it to the library.
I enjoyed a lot of the poems, but many of my favourites were so long they were difficult to keep in memory or copy out for later reference, so I have little to say about them in hindsight.
Up Next: I need to either get back to or concede defeat on a bunch of work-related things, and read Pericles. Fun-wise, who knows?
Music notes:
Ages ago I bought via bandcamp 'Thirty Days of Yes', a mixtape that dropped one song by an australian artist every day up to the end of the survey. Obviously that finished; I took a while to remember to download the whole thing, but I've been enjoying it. A few pieces are either twee-pro-marriage-equality ('It's Time' by Twerps) or just... too raw, really, for me right now ('Marriage,' by Guy Blackman, starts with 'you know I don't believe in marriage' and proceeds to deliver a pragmatic ode to inheritance rights and so on). But others I really enjoy! Megan Washington's live recorded piece 'The Human Race' is great, and I'm kind of in love with something called 'Hold On Harry' by Terry.
And this week I ticked off enough in my chore chart to justify purchasing an album, so I purchased 'No Place In Heaven' by Mika, special edition with orchestral collab second CD. I am very into it.