osprey_archer: (books)
[personal profile] osprey_archer
What I’ve Just Finished Reading

I zoomed through Ann Patchett’s The Dutch House, in part because there were a hundred odd people on the hold list for it at the library, but also because it all just flowed so wonderfully that I just kept reading it. I’m not quite sure why, because it’s not exactly what you’d call plotty; in the first half of the book there’s sort of a mystery about what exactly put Maeve and Danny at such odds with their stepmother, but the book doesn’t lean on it for suspense.

It’s also less about the house than you might expect from the title (I must admit that I had some hopes for gothic elements, but that’s not really present); what it is about is about family and family history, and the way that the past shapes the present - and the things that we believe about the past just as much as the past itself.

I also read Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette’s The Cobbler’s Boy, a novella about young Kit Marlowe, which I enjoyed, but not as much as I expected to. Perhaps I let it languish on my TBR list for a little too long: I should have struck while the iron was hot.

What I’m Reading Now

I have begun Vivien Alcock’s Singer to the Sea God, which kicks off with Perseus walking into the king’s court with Medusa’s head and turning everyone there into stone… including our hero’s sister Cleo. Now our hero has escaped the island, statue of Cleo in tow, and I can only presume he’s going to get kidnapped by Poseidon??? Or so the title suggests.

This is utterly unlike the other two Vivien Alcock books that I’ve read (which were utterly unlike each other) and I’m kind of digging her determination to follow her bliss and write whatever the hell she wants.

I’ve also continued on with William Dean Howells’ A Modern Instance. Bartley and Marcia have eloped and moved to Boston! ([personal profile] asakiyume, every time they mention a landmark that we saw - and this happens more often than you might think from a novel published in the 1870s - I get so excited. “I’ve been there!”) Marcia is wracked by jealousy every time that Bartley talks to another woman for too long, right now without reason, but he gave her reason before their marriage and I strongly suspect that Bartley’s going to give her a reason again sooner or later.

What I Plan to Read Next

I got Jennifer A. Jordan’s Edible Memory: The Lure of Heirloom Tomatoes & Other Forgotten Foods from the library, so I’ll probably read that soon, although it must be admitted that I currently have MANY books out from the library because the library is switching over computer systems this month and what if I ran out of books while the system was unavailable???

...I have an entire shelf of unread books that I actually own, so I would have been fine, but nonetheless I checked out a lot. So we’ll see what I read first.

Date: 2020-01-16 12:07 am (UTC)
sovay: (I Claudius)
From: [personal profile] sovay
This is utterly unlike the other two Vivien Alcock books that I’ve read (which were utterly unlike each other) and I’m kind of digging her determination to follow her bliss and write whatever the hell she wants.

I also don't associate her with mythological retellings, so I look forward to your report!

Date: 2020-01-16 09:59 pm (UTC)
asakiyume: created by the ninja girl (Default)
From: [personal profile] asakiyume
I really loved the Athenaeum! I'd go back there.

Date: 2020-01-16 10:12 pm (UTC)
asakiyume: created by the ninja girl (Default)
From: [personal profile] asakiyume
*Thumbs up on this suggestion*

Date: 2020-01-17 02:11 am (UTC)
ancientreader: sebastian stan as bucky looking pensive (Default)
From: [personal profile] ancientreader
Sarah Monette is a writer I've always stayed away from as being reputedly "grimdark," which holds no appeal, but under the name Katherine Addison she wrote The Goblin Emperor, a book I adore and have reread >1x and which is in essence all about goodness and decency triumphing over wickedness and cunning machinations. I have no idea whether it would appeal to you, and perhaps you have already read it, or picked it up and rejected it, but I figured I'd mention it.
Edited (fixing html) Date: 2020-01-17 02:12 am (UTC)

Date: 2020-01-17 05:24 am (UTC)
ancientreader: tile depicting a hawk from the floor of sainte-chapelle paris (sainte-chapelle floor tile)
From: [personal profile] ancientreader
Hm. Maybe I'll give D. of L. another look; I found the suffering-to-relief ratio daunting last time I inspected, but my tolerance goes up and down. Though. I have found that, since, oh, November of 2016, I really need an HEA with my angst, and preferably lashings of wit as well. If things don't improve on the political front after this November I'll probably be reduced to Restoration comedies and nothing else.


Date: 2020-01-19 05:34 pm (UTC)
brigdh: (Default)
From: [personal profile] brigdh
Oooh, "Edible Memory" sounds completely fascinating! I'll be interested to see what you think of it.

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