osprey_archer (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
osprey_archer) wrote2022-01-05 07:38 am
osprey_archer) wrote2022-01-05 07:38 am
Wednesday Reading Meme
What I’ve Just Finished Reading
I picked up James Otis’s Toby Tyler; or, Ten Weeks with a Circus because Betty MacDonald included it in a list of childhood favorites in Nancy and Plum, and now I am wondering just what young Betty MacDonald saw in the book. The ratio of “fun circus hijinks” to “running away is miserable, actually” tilts definitively toward misery, and moreover, in the penultimate chapter Toby’s pet monkey is accidentally shot by a young hunter! Toby has escaped from the circus and is on his way home and the book gratuitously slaughters his monkey! Why? WHY? Truly the unkindest cut of all.
I’ve also finished Mary Renault’s Return to Night (less harrowing than expected! Or perhaps I’ve become inured?) and Amor Towles’ The Lincoln Highway (MORE harrowing than expected). But those will be getting posts of their own.
What I’m Reading Now
Halfway through Robin McKinley’s The Blue Sword. This book is the only thing standing between me and finishing the 1980s Newbery Honor books so I WILL PERSEVERE, even though “after six weeks of training, hero/ine is magically better than people who have been training at this thing their whole lives” is my anti-trope. I’m sorry, Harry. It’s not you, it’s me.
In cheerier news, I’ve been super enjoying Spike Carlsen’s A Walk around the Block: Stoplight Secrets, Mischievous Squirrels, Manhole Mysteries & Other Stuff You See Every Day (And Know Nothing About), which offers brisk histories of various everyday objects that you see on an everyday street: alleys, garbage trucks, the asphalt in the street itself. My only complaint is that sometimes I want yet more detail, but then, if Carlsen went into great depth he wouldn’t have space for such breadth. I’m just about to start the pigeon chapter!
And I’ve begun Mary Stewart’s The Crystal Cave! Merlin has just discovered said Crystal Cave and had his first scrying lesson.
What I Plan to Read Next
After The Blue Sword, I’m going to take a break from the Newbery Honor project till I feel like taking it up again. This year’s crop of winners will be appearing at the end of this month, which may inspire me… or may not! We’ll see.
I picked up James Otis’s Toby Tyler; or, Ten Weeks with a Circus because Betty MacDonald included it in a list of childhood favorites in Nancy and Plum, and now I am wondering just what young Betty MacDonald saw in the book. The ratio of “fun circus hijinks” to “running away is miserable, actually” tilts definitively toward misery, and moreover, in the penultimate chapter Toby’s pet monkey is accidentally shot by a young hunter! Toby has escaped from the circus and is on his way home and the book gratuitously slaughters his monkey! Why? WHY? Truly the unkindest cut of all.
I’ve also finished Mary Renault’s Return to Night (less harrowing than expected! Or perhaps I’ve become inured?) and Amor Towles’ The Lincoln Highway (MORE harrowing than expected). But those will be getting posts of their own.
What I’m Reading Now
Halfway through Robin McKinley’s The Blue Sword. This book is the only thing standing between me and finishing the 1980s Newbery Honor books so I WILL PERSEVERE, even though “after six weeks of training, hero/ine is magically better than people who have been training at this thing their whole lives” is my anti-trope. I’m sorry, Harry. It’s not you, it’s me.
In cheerier news, I’ve been super enjoying Spike Carlsen’s A Walk around the Block: Stoplight Secrets, Mischievous Squirrels, Manhole Mysteries & Other Stuff You See Every Day (And Know Nothing About), which offers brisk histories of various everyday objects that you see on an everyday street: alleys, garbage trucks, the asphalt in the street itself. My only complaint is that sometimes I want yet more detail, but then, if Carlsen went into great depth he wouldn’t have space for such breadth. I’m just about to start the pigeon chapter!
And I’ve begun Mary Stewart’s The Crystal Cave! Merlin has just discovered said Crystal Cave and had his first scrying lesson.
What I Plan to Read Next
After The Blue Sword, I’m going to take a break from the Newbery Honor project till I feel like taking it up again. This year’s crop of winners will be appearing at the end of this month, which may inspire me… or may not! We’ll see.
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And looking forward to your thoughts on Return to Night! Yeah, of the three Renault novels I've read it is definitely the least harrowing, though very strange.
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The next chapter is about squirrels which I have NOT previously read anything about, so I anticipate learning MANY thrilling squirrel factoids.
I will be posting my Return to Night thoughts tomorrow!
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Anyway, hopefully the squirrel chapter teaches you some new and exciting things!