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Wednesday Reading Meme
Oct. 22nd, 2014 12:18 amWhat I’ve Just Finished Reading
Zilpha Keatley Snyder's Season of Ponies, which is about a girl who gets a magical medallion that summons a whole herd of pastel-colored ponies. It's sweet, although rather slight. (And speaking of Zilpha Keatley Snyder, I was sorry to learn that she died last week.)
I also read Maureen Johnson’s The Madness Underneath, the not-nearly-so-satisfying sequel to The Name of the Star. It suffers from middle book syndrome: it’s clearly meant to set up the story that will finish in book three, and therefore ends quite inconclusively, and right in the middle of the process of Rory’s life falling to pieces. I really do not like reading about character’s lives falling to pieces, particular when one of the components of falling to pieces is “I am going to fail all my exams AND THEN I WILL HAVE NO FUTURE.” It hits a little too close to home.
But my feelings may change once the third book comes out: it may redeem this one. We’ll see!
What I’m Reading Now
Marion Polk Angellotti’s The Firefly of France, a tale derring do and espionage written and set during World War I. So far Angellotti hasn’t introduced any imaginary countries, but the story nonetheless has a sort of Ruritanian feel: full of dashing chivalry and high spirits. It’s very much at odds with the current interpretation of World War I as a grim morass. I already knew, intellectually, that the World War I naysayers were very much a minority in America, but reading the literature of the period has really driven home just how much enthusiasm and excitement many people felt about the war.
Also C. S. Lewis’s The Allegory of Love. I find Lewis an interesting writer because of how much he grows over his career, not just as a writer but as a person: I find his later work much more generous than his earlier work.
The Allegory of Love is an earlier work. Possibly this is why it has not yet convinced me to give medieval allegorical poetry a try.
What I Plan to Read Next
Charles Finch has a Charles Lenox novella out on Kindle, The East End Murder! I am so excited about this.
I also have Joan Aiken’s Midnight is a Place, because her work was mentioned on Andrea K. Host’s post about women writing SFF, and I couldn't resist its grim Dickensian promise.
Zilpha Keatley Snyder's Season of Ponies, which is about a girl who gets a magical medallion that summons a whole herd of pastel-colored ponies. It's sweet, although rather slight. (And speaking of Zilpha Keatley Snyder, I was sorry to learn that she died last week.)
I also read Maureen Johnson’s The Madness Underneath, the not-nearly-so-satisfying sequel to The Name of the Star. It suffers from middle book syndrome: it’s clearly meant to set up the story that will finish in book three, and therefore ends quite inconclusively, and right in the middle of the process of Rory’s life falling to pieces. I really do not like reading about character’s lives falling to pieces, particular when one of the components of falling to pieces is “I am going to fail all my exams AND THEN I WILL HAVE NO FUTURE.” It hits a little too close to home.
But my feelings may change once the third book comes out: it may redeem this one. We’ll see!
What I’m Reading Now
Marion Polk Angellotti’s The Firefly of France, a tale derring do and espionage written and set during World War I. So far Angellotti hasn’t introduced any imaginary countries, but the story nonetheless has a sort of Ruritanian feel: full of dashing chivalry and high spirits. It’s very much at odds with the current interpretation of World War I as a grim morass. I already knew, intellectually, that the World War I naysayers were very much a minority in America, but reading the literature of the period has really driven home just how much enthusiasm and excitement many people felt about the war.
Also C. S. Lewis’s The Allegory of Love. I find Lewis an interesting writer because of how much he grows over his career, not just as a writer but as a person: I find his later work much more generous than his earlier work.
The Allegory of Love is an earlier work. Possibly this is why it has not yet convinced me to give medieval allegorical poetry a try.
What I Plan to Read Next
Charles Finch has a Charles Lenox novella out on Kindle, The East End Murder! I am so excited about this.
I also have Joan Aiken’s Midnight is a Place, because her work was mentioned on Andrea K. Host’s post about women writing SFF, and I couldn't resist its grim Dickensian promise.
