Aurora Australis readalong 5 / 10, Southward Bound, post for comment, reaction, discussion, fanworks, links, and whatever obliquely related matters your heart desires. You can join the readalong at any time or skip sections or go back to earlier posts. It's all good. :-)
Recently finished reading The Museum of Whales You Will Never See, and Other Excursions to Iceland's Most Unusual Museums, by A. Kendra Greene, which is a collection of non-fiction (mostly) essays about the meaning and practice of making and keeping museums in the context of the 266 museums (official tourist board count) in Iceland where the population is about 330,000 people (= 1 museum for every 1250 people). The writing style is a crossover between quirky popular travel writing and the publisher Granta's thinky-thoughts house style. Posted seven quotes because it's very quotable: https://spiralsheep.dreamwidth.org/667697.html
Currently reading Cwen, by Alice Albinnia, 2021, which is trans-inclusive, women-centred, feminist speculative fiction set on an archipelago of small islands in the British Isles but where 51% of local power has recently been legislated to women (including Mx Thompson who was hired to teach at the high school). Written in a very readable style, with the mischievousness of the best feminist fiction.
And Don't Kiss Me, the Art of Claude Cahun & Marcel Moore, 2006, which is a collection of essays about the lives and art of CC & MM, plus a generously illustrated catalogue of the Jersey Heritage Trust's collection of Cahun & Moore's art, letters, and other archived documents such as news clippings (leaving out the contents of CC & MM's published books). Awkward shape and heavy weight but on special loan so I have to read and return it quickly.
Just finished Once Upon a Tome. An absolutely delightful book, recommended to anyone looking for an easy, upbeat read, plus you do get to learn a lot about the antiquarian book trade.
Agatha Christie's Endless Night. I am torturing my offspring by way of a Mother-Son book club with Because of Winn-Dixie. I put down the Inspector Rebus because it was shaping up to be an 'evil cops club from the past' is being investigated and I just wasn't feeling it after just finishing Lucy Foley's The Guest List which was 'evil private school boys' club kills a kid' fast forward 20 years.
About a third of the way through Eric Hobsbawn's On Nationalism. Some of the historical nitty-gritty is going over my head, but I'm learning some things about the origins of nationalism that feel useful for understanding Our Current Sociopolitical Moment.
I finished "A Charm of Magpies" by K.J. Charles and I'm in love with this series! Historical (Victorian) paranormal m/m romance with a very fun worldbuilding and well-rounded characters, it's definitely going in my favourites <3
Also watched the first 2 episodes of Murderbot and had a lot of fun, I'm liking the adaptation so far!
Finished reading Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett, which I thought was decent enough to continue the trilogy, but I still much prefer Bennett's other series, Shadow of the Leviathan. Hopefully I can get around to reading the rest of the series sometimes this year.
I also read The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain by Sofia Samatar, but unfortunately didn't like it much. The themes are great, criticizing the prison/slave labor and performative activism, but the characters didn't have much characterization, and it was mostly forgettable.
I read A Bánh Mì for Two by Trinity Nguyen yesterday, mainly because I realized I haven't read a single thing by Asian Americans this month despite it being AAPI Heritage Month. Romance isn't usually my thing, but I wanted to support sapphic Asian stories and this was cute enough. I've never been to Vietnam before, but the descriptions in the book were lovely and I wish I could visit in the future.
Continuing reading books by Asian Americans this month with They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran. I read her previous book and enjoyed it so I'm looking forward to this one. This is another horror YA, but now set in Louisiana.
I'm hoping to read Love Points to You by Alice Lin (asexual and sapphic romance!), but unfortunately my library doesn't have it.
Still midway through Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber, which is good but also sometimes a little dense after work. Definitely worth reading, although I reckon it'll take me a good while to finish.
I also finally got into Embassytown by China Miéville after bouncing off it several times. It's really good--glad I stuck with it!
Finished Hell Bent, the sequel to Ninth House. Sounds like we should hear about the final book in the series soon, and I'm already looking forward to re-reading both in preparation.
Finished Blood Trail by Tanya Huff, and I'm onto the next book.
This book falls into that group of media where when you read it for the first time in the modern age you see a lot of cliches, but that is probably because it is responsible for establishing a lot of those cliches. It felt quintessential hard boiled detective to me, including some of the more poorly aged elements, like the treatment of the gay character and women, but looking past those sigh worthy moments I thought it was a lot of fun.
I finally picked back up the Hawkmoon series by Michael Moorcock... same guy who wrote the Elric of Melnibone books (I have not read Elric at all). I forgot how batshit they were but at least it's really, REALLY funny in a "put your brain down and stop thinking" sort of way.
I think last week I was talking about reading wuthering heights, which I did finish in the meantime. My heights WERE thoroughly wuthered, and I am fascinated by the characters. I need to pick them apart like bugs. You know ? Fascinating.
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booknook2025-05-21 02:02 pm
Aurora Australis readalong 5 / 10, Southward Bound
Aurora Australis readalong 5 / 10, Southward Bound, post for comment, reaction, discussion, fanworks, links, and whatever obliquely related matters your heart desires. You can join the readalong at any time or skip sections or go back to earlier posts. It's all good. :-)
Reaction post 5 / 10:
https://spiralsheep.dreamwidth.org/667406.html
Text of Southward Bound by Lapsus Linguæ (warning for putting down an injured pony):
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Aurora_Australis/Southward_Bound
Readalong intro and links to discussion posts 1-4:
https://spiralsheep.dreamwidth.org/662515.html
Reminder for next week, An Interview with an Emperor, by Alastair Mackay, about an imagined discussion with an Emperor Penguin:
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Aurora_Australis/An_Interview_with_an_Emperor
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https://spiralsheep.dreamwidth.org/667697.html
Currently reading Cwen, by Alice Albinnia, 2021, which is trans-inclusive, women-centred, feminist speculative fiction set on an archipelago of small islands in the British Isles but where 51% of local power has recently been legislated to women (including Mx Thompson who was hired to teach at the high school). Written in a very readable style, with the mischievousness of the best feminist fiction.
And Don't Kiss Me, the Art of Claude Cahun & Marcel Moore, 2006, which is a collection of essays about the lives and art of CC & MM, plus a generously illustrated catalogue of the Jersey Heritage Trust's collection of Cahun & Moore's art, letters, and other archived documents such as news clippings (leaving out the contents of CC & MM's published books). Awkward shape and heavy weight but on special loan so I have to read and return it quickly.
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Also watched the first 2 episodes of Murderbot and had a lot of fun, I'm liking the adaptation so far!
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I also read The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain by Sofia Samatar, but unfortunately didn't like it much. The themes are great, criticizing the prison/slave labor and performative activism, but the characters didn't have much characterization, and it was mostly forgettable.
I read A Bánh Mì for Two by Trinity Nguyen yesterday, mainly because I realized I haven't read a single thing by Asian Americans this month despite it being AAPI Heritage Month. Romance isn't usually my thing, but I wanted to support sapphic Asian stories and this was cute enough. I've never been to Vietnam before, but the descriptions in the book were lovely and I wish I could visit in the future.
Continuing reading books by Asian Americans this month with They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran. I read her previous book and enjoyed it so I'm looking forward to this one. This is another horror YA, but now set in Louisiana.
I'm hoping to read Love Points to You by Alice Lin (asexual and sapphic romance!), but unfortunately my library doesn't have it.
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I also finally got into Embassytown by China Miéville after bouncing off it several times. It's really good--glad I stuck with it!
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Finished Blood Trail by Tanya Huff, and I'm onto the next book.
I DNF'd Left Handed Booksellers of London
Also starting Grishaverse
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This book falls into that group of media where when you read it for the first time in the modern age you see a lot of cliches, but that is probably because it is responsible for establishing a lot of those cliches. It felt quintessential hard boiled detective to me, including some of the more poorly aged elements, like the treatment of the gay character and women, but looking past those sigh worthy moments I thought it was a lot of fun.
no subject
I think last week I was talking about reading wuthering heights, which I did finish in the meantime. My heights WERE thoroughly wuthered, and I am fascinated by the characters. I need to pick them apart like bugs. You know ? Fascinating.
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