Wheel of Chaos
Jun. 8th, 2025 05:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
used_songsI took it as a sign when two posts about this in a row crossed my feed, so now I am in, too! I have never done LJ Idol: Wheel of Chaos but here I go!
used_songsJust Stab Me Now
Jun. 7th, 2025 05:29 pmmarycatelli posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
booksJust Stab Me Now by Jill Bearup
A comic tale of a writer taking off into fantasy romance for a break. And to escape her frustrating job.
Her notion of a heroine hits the actual heroine, who is middle-aged, a widow, and the mother of two children trying desperately to protect them.
( Read more... )
A comic tale of a writer taking off into fantasy romance for a break. And to escape her frustrating job.
Her notion of a heroine hits the actual heroine, who is middle-aged, a widow, and the mother of two children trying desperately to protect them.
( Read more... )
JFC what is it about Greeks?
Jun. 8th, 2025 08:49 amconulyA shocking number of people will blithely tell us all about the book they read, in English, on an English-language subreddit, and never tell us that they didn't read it in English. I can only catch so many of them - if they don't say "English isn't my first language" or make any obvious foreign language errors then I'll never know. (Some of them say "I read this in my own language" and then don't tell us what that language was.)
Most of these people, if prompted, will tell you what language they read it in. Three times now, I've had to ask twice because they refused to answer the question in a useful way, and every time that person has been Greek.
I thought it was a little funny the second time, but three times is the start of a worrying pattern, especially as it's not at all the most popular not-English language posted there. Maybe there's something going badly wrong with their school system?
(And, sidenote, even if you're certain it was translated from English you still ought to tell us the language it was written in. At least in theory this can help us weed out false positives, although I may be expecting too much of fellow commenters to that subreddit.)
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Most of these people, if prompted, will tell you what language they read it in. Three times now, I've had to ask twice because they refused to answer the question in a useful way, and every time that person has been Greek.
I thought it was a little funny the second time, but three times is the start of a worrying pattern, especially as it's not at all the most popular not-English language posted there. Maybe there's something going badly wrong with their school system?
(And, sidenote, even if you're certain it was translated from English you still ought to tell us the language it was written in. At least in theory this can help us weed out false positives, although I may be expecting too much of fellow commenters to that subreddit.)
( Read more... )
Zines
Jun. 7th, 2025 09:05 amused_songsI FINALLY printed copies of the zines I made during April and May. If you would like some, send me a message with your address and I will get them in the mail. I am not comment screening, so don’t leave your address here!
In your room again.
Jun. 5th, 2025 08:56 pmhannahI went to a master's program's commencement ceremony at the Apollo Theater today, and while I left after two hours and didn't see it end, based on how those first two hours and the setup went, I doubt anyone blasted any James Brown.
What a wasted opportunity.
I'm glad I went, though, for all its wasted opportunities and long-winded metaphor-straining speeches and a prerecorded speech from a chancellor that included a plug to sign up for the alumni association while detailing its many features. My sister in law E. and older brother J. seemed happy about it, and I'll know I was willing to make an effort to show up.
What a wasted opportunity.
I'm glad I went, though, for all its wasted opportunities and long-winded metaphor-straining speeches and a prerecorded speech from a chancellor that included a plug to sign up for the alumni association while detailing its many features. My sister in law E. and older brother J. seemed happy about it, and I'll know I was willing to make an effort to show up.
The Only Light Left Burning, by Erik J. Brown: DNF
Jun. 5th, 2025 01:32 pmrachelmanija
This sequel to one of my favorite books of last year, a young adult post-apocalypse novel with a lovely slow-burn gay romance, fell victim to a trope I basically never like: the sequel to a romance that starts out by breaking up the main couple or pitting them against each other. It may be realistic but I hate it. If the main thing I liked about the first book was the main couple's dynamic - and if I'm reading the sequel, that's definitely the case - then I'm never going to like a sequel where their dynamic is missing or turns negative. I'm not saying they can't have conflict, but they shouldn't have so much conflict that there's nothing left of the relationship I loved in the first place.
This book starts out with Jamison and Andrew semi-broken up and not speaking to each other or walking on eggshells around each other, because Andrew wants to stay in the nice post-apocalyptic community they found and Jamison wants to return to their cabin and live alone there with Andrew. Every character around them remarks on this and how they need to just talk to each other. Eventually they talk to each other, but it resolves nothing and they go on being weird about each other and mourning the loss of their old relationship. ME TOO.
Then half the community's children die in a hurricane, and it's STILL all about them awkwardly not talking to each other and being depressed. I checked Goodreads, saw that they don't make up till the end, and gave up.
The first book is still great! It didn't need a sequel, though I would have enjoyed their further adventures if it had continued the relationship I loved in the first book. I did not sign up for random dead kids and interminable random sulking.
"Luck in the Shadows" by Lynn Flewelling
Jun. 4th, 2025 06:24 pmrocky41_7 posting in booksI really hate to give up on a book, but sometimes, there are too many other tempting things on the horizon to keep ploughing through an active read in the hopes it gets better. Today I put aside Luck in the Shadows by Lynn Flewelling. While I would have liked to have gone all the way to the end before making a judgement, there just over 9 hours still to go on the audiobook and the book has simply not given me enough to power through that.
At nearly 9 hours in (about halfway) my overall feeling towards this book is indifference. Towards the plot, towards the characters, towards the setting. It's very generic fantasy and just doesn't give much to bite onto outside of that. The first half of the plot has some fun adventure elements, but when the mentor-figure, Seregil, becomes incapacitated partway through, the youthful protagonist Alec is simply not enough to carry the story. The second half of the story is more political intrigue, and I can't help but compare it to The Traitor Baru Cormorant which I'm also currently reading, and that comparison does Luck in the Shadows no favors.
Seregil and Alec's escapades are fun, and it's interesting to see the creative ways they go about their tasks, but for me it's not enough to make up for the lackluster plot and detailed but unremarkable worldbuilding.
Seregil and Alec's escapades are fun, and it's interesting to see the creative ways they go about their tasks, but for me it's not enough to make up for the lackluster plot and detailed but unremarkable worldbuilding.
There's a disappointing dearth of women in the story, although one of the fantasy kingdoms in which the second half of the story takes place has been ruled by a succession of queens for centuries. There is some casual queerness in the story which I liked, but when I looked for more reviews on this to help me decide if it was worth pressing on, I learned (SPOILER) that Alec and Seregil become a couple later on. Given that Alec is barely sixteen at the start of this book, and Seregil is a middle-aged man, I'm just not here for it.
This is the first book of a series (the Nightrunner series), but my general feeling on series is that it's a cop-out to rely on later books to make up for weaknesses in earlier books. Particularly here, where each book gets longer, the author is asking for me to take a lot on trust that this story will get better with time.
I really wanted to like this book, as I really want to like all fantasy novels, but it's just not worth the amount of time investment needed. Also, in general, not looking for stories about adults falling in love with teenagers. Disappointing, but there are other things to move on to.
Scraping paper to document.
Jun. 4th, 2025 08:42 pmhannahLess than eighteen hours to go and still no texts, emails, or other forms of communication about my sister in law E.'s graduation tomorrow. It's information I can look up fairly easily, and that strikes me as being somewhat beside the point when I don't have anything beyond a verbal "come if you can" offer. It's not exactly sitting peacefully with me. I know a closed mouth doesn't get fed, and I'm not sure if I'm supposed to open my mouth or not.
I plan on going, and it's feeling a bit like it's under protest.
I plan on going, and it's feeling a bit like it's under protest.
Why Are Your Poems So Dark? by Linda Pastan
Jun. 4th, 2025 02:12 pmconulyIsn't the moon dark too,
most of the time?
And doesn't the white page
seem unfinished
without the dark stain
of alphabets?
When God demanded light,
he didn't banish darkness.
Instead he invented
ebony and crows
and that small mole
on your left cheekbone.
Or did you mean to ask
"Why are you sad so often?"
Ask the moon.
Ask what it has witnessed.
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Link
most of the time?
And doesn't the white page
seem unfinished
without the dark stain
of alphabets?
When God demanded light,
he didn't banish darkness.
Instead he invented
ebony and crows
and that small mole
on your left cheekbone.
Or did you mean to ask
"Why are you sad so often?"
Ask the moon.
Ask what it has witnessed.
Link
Recommend me something to read
Jun. 5th, 2025 10:45 amconulyIdeally something I can get through the NYPL or the Queens Public Library (I haven't yet re-upped my Brooklyn Public Library card. I ought to go do that this weekend or the week after.)
I suppose I should set a good example and rec something to all of you first. Lemme see....
I did recently enjoy both Long Live Evil and How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying!
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I suppose I should set a good example and rec something to all of you first. Lemme see....
I did recently enjoy both Long Live Evil and How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying!
( Read more... )
Tuesday night.
Jun. 3rd, 2025 10:18 pmhannahIn trying to tidy my closet and the dresses I've got in there, I'm now seeing how many "nice" dresses I have that cover a fairly wide variety of situations. It's nice to see that the ones I bought well over a decade ago are still largely holding up well.
In other news, while my sister in law E. and my brother J. are planning on going to Cancún, I somehow doubt they're at all interested in visiting the Chicxulub crater. Some people just don't know how to have a good time.
In other news, while my sister in law E. and my brother J. are planning on going to Cancún, I somehow doubt they're at all interested in visiting the Chicxulub crater. Some people just don't know how to have a good time.
