shadowkat | Entries tagged with book recs

[Proceed with caution, I'm cranky from lack of sleep and assorted aches and pains. But hey at least the sinus headache is gone. It's been lurking for the last five days, but now, it's finally gone. I think the barometric pressure shifted? It also got colder, so hello radiators. And sigh, overcast again, but we keep getting smatterings of blue sky and sun. The purple roses drooped, so I had to dispose of them, I have two that are hanging in there. Feeling a touch lonely and depressed at the moment, and kind of impotent? Some nitwit just called me to ask for money for "the officers"?
( weird phone call )
Sigh. I feel at times like I'm a nameless and faceless entity living in a senseless world.

Work was well, work.

*****

More April Meme-mage:

12. Do you like playing card games? Which is your favourite?

I'm not into games. I've played card games and actually have done very well at them, then promptly forget the rules. I used to like Solitare and Uno.

13. Have you ever made yoghurt or kefir?

No.

14. What’s your geography knowledge like? If you were given a world map, how many countries could you confidently identify?

Fair to middling? I'm fine to an extent, but there are areas in the world such as ahem, Eastern Europe and the Middle East that like to change their geographical boundaries constantly. As does Africa and Central America.
So I get confused. The geographical map has changed at least five-six times since I was learned it all in junior high.

15. Have you a good sense of direction, or do you rely on maps/online navigation? When was the last time you got lost?

No. I have no sense of direction at all. I rely completely on maps. I rarely get lost, because I rely completely on maps. I always have one. That said - I did get lost once in Greenwood Cemetery, because I did not have a map and had to use the phone to orient myself.

16. Today, in 1850, the French artist Madame Tussaud died. She is known for her wax sculptures of famous figures and for founding Madame Tussaud’s wax museum in London. Have you ever visited the London Wax Museum or any other wax museum worldwide? What did you think of the likenesses of the models?

Yes, I visited Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum way back in the 1980s. It was okay. The models were fairly close in the likeness to what I know of the the actual people - but without having seen any of them in person? It's hard to know for sure. Mainly I found the Museum kind of creepy? Wax museums creep me out. I blame 1960s and 70s schlock horror films.

***

Fandom news...

* Sarah Michelle Gellar Gets a Lead Role in another series ahead of the Buffy Reboot
( excerpt )

In my head - Buffy goes to find help being a Watcher or maybe form a new Watcher Council for the new slayer, because honestly she has better things to do? And hunts down Liam and William running a record store, band, and detective agency out of London.
( Read more... )
*****

Book recommendations

* For those interested in the Crisis in Gaza:

Born Jewish in Nazi Germany, My Journey to Become Anti-Zionist by Suzanne Ross

( synopsis in the words of the author )

* Speculative Science Fiction by Black Women

I'm working my way through Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, which is actually quite good. Octavia Butler was a speculative science fiction writer during the 20th Century and a more than adept wordsmith and writer. (I read Kindred by her - and it is among the few Time Travel novels that blew me away and worked.) Parable of the Sower was first published in 1993, thirty years ago, but the book takes place in 2024-2025. Yes, it takes place now. It's very odd reading a science fiction novel that is taking place in present time, when it was written thirty years before. I find myself checking to see how close the novel is to real events. (Frighteningly so, in some respects? However no where near as bleak. She's writing about an apocalyptic world that a young fifteen year old girl with empathetic abilities (she literally feels the pain of anyone or anything in close proximity to her as if it is happening to her) works to survive within, along with her family and how she does it.)

Octavia Butler Article in the New Yorker

( Excerpt from the New Yorker Article on Butler and the Novel, Parable of the Sower )

Parable of the Sower is also on the Banned Books list.

* Audio Books

Finished Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo and working my way through the sequel. The Crooked Kingdom. Six of Crows were my favorite characters in the Shadow and Bone series on Netflix. And the audio book is a treat. It has six narrators, actually seven or eight narrators - one for each character's point of view, since the chapters are split by points of view, similar to GRR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series. ( where I for reasons I don't quite understand compare the two novels... )

It's better than expected. Or I'm rather enjoying it more than I thought I would. I'm on a fantasy/science fiction kick at the moment, having gotten burned out on romance novels. This happens to me. I binge a genre to the point in which I eventually get burned out on it. Then after an extensive break? I may zig-zag back to it. The only genre this has not happened with is the sci-fi/fantasy genres. I'm not quite sure why.

1. Completed my watercolor, which is partially a self-portrait. (I'm the old woman getting robbed, although I didn't - I turned around in time and deposited the glare of death. It had happened in March, the day before my birthday, and the kid looked exactly like the one in the watercolor. My point in the watercolor is the "ICE Agent" is arresting a poor young woman but ignoring the white boy trying to rob the older woman, while a little girl is trying to warn the older woman about both. But she's oblivious.)

I'm branching out a bit with my artwork and trying to tell more of a story, as opposed to just recapturing what I see.

( watercolor and pencil below the cut )

I don't know why, but I've been on a drawing and watercoloring streak since roughly 2022. Maybe it's in response to my father's death? (He was an artist who ached to draw people and never got the chance. Or maybe it's just what is working for me now? I don't know. Rick Rubin states that the Source of us all of all life - that flows around us, sends things to everyone, the most sensitive among us channel it into art to communicate it to others. Or something along those lines in his book Creation of Being, similar to the Artist Way, but less preachy and more meditative. According to Rubin - these messages don't just go to one person, so if you can't do anything with it, someone else will, and everyone will process the same messages differently. A perfect example is Rubin and Julia Cameron, they both got the same idea, but went about expressing it in different equally valid ways.)

Also on the edgy art front - of social justice is RE "Becky" Burke. Who, you may or may not recall, was the UK woman who got detained by US ICE in Seattle, when she couldn't get into Canada on her Visa. She had a horrible experience with ICE and has chosen to record it in art and comic book format, which she's posting on her Instagram account at the moment.

2. Television

* Finished watching The Pitt on MAX, it has a 15 episode arc, each episode is one hour of a fifteen hour shift. Possibly the most realistic medical drama that I've seen. People are equating it with ER, or the most realistic since ER. ( Read more... )

What reminds me a lot of ...is a series I hadn't gotten a chance to see, but read about. It's a UK medical drama entitled... This is Going to Hurt which is based on "The series is an adaptation by the real-life Kay himself from the author's hit non-fiction book, This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor."
( Read more... )
I bring all of that up - because, Michael Cricton's Estate headed by his Widow is suing Wylie and Wells for creating the PITT, which they consider a clone of ER.

It's not. ( Read more... )

* All caught up on Daredevil (Diseny +) which is very uneven writing wise, although it has always kind of has been? Episode 6 is better than the last handful of episodes. But it could be tighter. ( vague spoilers )

Also, I rather liked Episode 6. ( actual spoilers )

* The Residence not to be confused with the Medical Drama "The Resident". This is the new Shonda Rhimes, mystery-comedy series - that is similar in style/tone to Knives Out verse, except features a Black Female Detective, who is brilliant in much the same way that Daniel Craig's character had been. It's parlor room style mystery - my favorite. Where someone is murdered. It was clearly someone among the guests and residents, and the trick is to figure out who before they all leave. The setting is the White House, sometime in the future, the President is gay, and references are slyly made to how the new President has had to bend over backwards to fix the colossal mess of the last President.

Sample dialogue?

Hollinger: Wait, we have the FBI, CIA, National Park Service, Secret Service, and Homeland Security at our disposal, and you call the MPD? I wouldn't call the MPD to find my dick.
National Park: Ahem, Captain Dokes of the MPD is here.
Captain of the MPD: You can't find your dick?

( spoilers sort of )

That's the first episode. I was admittedly circumventing it because I can't watch things about the White House or the Presidency at the moment? But this isn't really about it? Oh it's satirical, but not in that way? Also the President isn't well nuts.

3. Reading

I gave up on Station Eternity, and whatever I was reading by Cat Rambo, and started Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler in paperback instead. It's much better. (The difficulty with the Kindle - is there's a lot of less than stellar or bargain basement books on it. I think I was getting tired of the writing.) So far it is pretty good, I like the writing narrative style of a dairy.

Finished Six of Crows via audiobooks. The audiobook is quite good. Moved on to the sequel. It's not like the series - so you can read or listen to it without fear of spoilers. The first book ends on a bit of a cliff-hanger. So you kind of need to read both.

Also? I found out that the book "The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies by Allison Goodman" finally got its sequel, The Ladies Guide to Utter Ruin. Goodman is an Australian Author (Melbourne based) and an Academic. (She does tend to write in the formal style of an academic, which may or may not be a selling point for you. It turned me off a bit - but that's only because I read and write exceedingly technical and dry content for a living, and desire a break from it in my pleasurable reading materials.) I'll probably snag the sequel, when I get the chance, her first book was among the few that I finished in the past few months that wasn't an audio book.

Well, the x-rays told me what I pretty much already knew - so I was right about that at least. No pneumonia, heart is fine, I've the mild beginnings of disc degenerative disorder, and mild beginnings of osteoarthritis in the knees, etc.

Kind of already knew that. I knew I was doomed to spine and back and arthritic issues when I was in my teens and twenties, it's why I've done yoga sporadically most of my life. (I despise yoga, it's boring, I'm not flexible, floor exercises are painful and impossible with the curvature that I've got, and I'm six feet tall - and most of that is in my legs, making yoga hard to do - it's not designed for giants. It was designed by cultures that tend to be shorter or smaller in stature.)

Anyhow...more February Memage:

( February Memage )

***

Mother thinks the Dems did the right thing by not shutting down the government, shutting it down would have made it a hundred times worse.

I don't know. I'm Switzerland on this. (Although apparently even Switzerland is annoyed by the Doofus. Honestly, I've been annoyed since 2010, I'm long past annoyed - I want him guillotined already.)

Meanwhile Canadians on Bluesky are telling Americans to fuck off and solve their own problems, they can't be bothered. Well, as much as I hate to break this to the Canadians? Canada is the US's next door neighbor - ignoring the fact that 79 million idiotic Americans decided to set their house on fire by electing the Doofus and his minions or rather the Republicans and their Minion the Doofus (whichever way works for you), isn't possible. Any more than you can ignore the fact that your neighbor set their house on fire. ( Read more... )

Actually this is everybody's problem. If you don't think it is? Now is a really good time to brush up on your history?

I shouldn't joke. Or be wickedly sardonic (particularly since it's really hard to pick up on the internet). But seriously, this whole thing is just patently absurd. If someone told us all this was going to happen a century ago, or even ten years ago? We'd have laughed in their face. I can just imagine getting in a time machine and trying to warn folks, and getting absolutely no where. Heck some idiots don't believe it is happening now.

Mother: I thought you were staying away from all this stuff?
ME: I tried. I can't. I have too much of the social scientist in me -
Mother: No, you have too much of your father in you -
ME: that too.

Then of course there's more evidence coming out that Facebook contributed heavily to Trump winning, and it was deliberate and Zuckerberg was complicit in it, and even had people helping with the campaign, and the marketing. (This shouldn't come as surprise to anyone? I mean if you saw The Social Network - and know the background of FB, you know Zuckerberg is a tool aka evil marketing guy. Actually 90% of the tech billionaires are.)
This is all from a new "tell-all" book entitled Careless People by Sarah Wynn Williams, which Meta tried to stop from being published. (Not sure why, most of us already knew all of this? I guess some people didn't?)

I went to B&N today, discovered I was a member? I apparently am a member of three area bookstores. I'm collecting book store memberships.

Today, I bought Rick Rubin's book The Creative Act - a Way of Being by Rick Rubin. It's a lovely little hardback book with short chapters. Rick Rubin is a music producer and wrote a book about the creative process based on his years in the music industry. But it's not about the music industry per se. Amazon Link to the Book.

I told Wales about it, and she responded: the music producer? Oh he's so cool.

I had no idea who he was. I'm not that knowledgable about art or music, I just do art (the actual act of creating it) and listen to music.

All achey breaky today - I took an aleve before leaving work, and a shower, and did a little yoga - and sigh, my legs are bugging me, and it's most likely digestive related. (It usually is.) At least the commute was okay for the most part. No one tried to dig into my backpack and I got a seat.
(Technically speaking - the attempt to open my backpack, only happened once, and by a wet between the years white, blond haired, and blue eyed teenage boy from a wealthy neighborhood, who should have known better.)

Found this oration on boycotting by John Scalzi, entitled The Billionaire Boycott Conudrum

He makes some valid points about the difficulty of boycotting Amazon. I realized today how impossible it is. For one thing? My health care aka NYU Langone is using Amazon One as their new check in tech starting this summer. Boycotting NYU Langone is out of the question. Also, as an independently published writer? My novel is on Amazon and was published via Amazon - if it weren't for Amazon, I couldn't have afforded to get it published. I'm techie enough to do it myself. And a lot of other indie publishers survive because of Amazon's Kindle Unlimited.

And as Scalzi validly points out - it's not like the other publishers are much better. The Trades are basically nazis. I've been boycotting Simon and Schuster and Random House for decades.

( Excerpt on the Publishing Trade )

Another example? "Even then you may find yourself contributing to the bottom line of a company you intended to boycott. If you ditch The Washington Post (not owned by Amazon, but owned by Jeff Bezos) and subscribe to The Guardian instead, you are still putting money in Bezos’ pocket, because The Guardian uses Amazon Web Services to stay online. Ditching Amazon’s streaming services for Netflix? Same problem. And so on. Note well that Amazon Web Services is actually the biggest division of the company and the largest contributor to its operating revenue… and is not public-facing in any meaningful sense. It’s merely the backbone of a third of the commercial internet."

[I did not know that. Did you know that?]

I was discussing this with mother, and we both agree that Bezos isn't the same as Musk.( Read more... )

***

Crazy Workplace

I solved the work problem that I was kind of whinging about yesterday - or rather Lawyer solved it. I putted it in her direction and Breaking Bad's, and Breaking Bad had no clue, so Lawyer stepped in.

Lawyer: Do you want to reach out to them for more information, or should I?
ME: Unfortunately, you probably should, since I attempted it and just went around in a circle.

Also today...

Me: (reviewing Modification 7) okay where's Mod 5?
Document: Mod 5 is currently in progress and this will be involved in Mod 5.
Me: Wait a minute? Did you frigging project managers jump over mod 5 and issue the mods out of order, after I told you not to??

Anyone else feel like they are just banging their head against a wall of jello? Or as my father used to put it - throwing jello at a wall.

**

Also bought a black sweatshirt with the subway map printed on it, and New York in big letters. I got it from the NYC Transit Museum Store. Also bought a card with New Yorker cover on it for niece. I'm going to start writing niece.

***

Books

I'm reading The New Yorker on the subway now instead of my Kindle. Mainly because I got lost in Station Eternity - too many characters, too many points of view, and I kept losing the plot. I just don't have the attention span for it? Also it's hard to read on the subway. While short magazine articles don't require quite as much work and it's nice not to be reading off a screen for a bit.

Finished Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Mass on Audible - it's not bad. ( Read more... )

Now, listening to Leigh Bardouch's Six of Crows - which is hard to follow, so we'll see. It has multiple points of view, and more than one narrator involved. However, I saw the television series - so it may work.
The best part of Shadow and Bone was "Six of Crows".

My big accomplishment today was putting together the new piece of home exercise equipment that was delivered at 1pm. I was pleased with Amazon - they actually delivered it to my apartment door - and didn't leave it in the lobby. Because there is no way on earth I could have lugged it up the elevator and into my apartment without assistance. Lugging it from the door of my apartment and through the foyer and into the living room was difficult enough.

Between interruptions from Mother (phone - she lives on an island off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia, I live in NYC - about the distance of Greece to Britain or Denver to Tucson, Arizona), I managed to assembly the base of it. I only had to screw on the base and the pedals, not the wheels, etc.
( picture of new exercise equipment below )

It's a peddler - low impact, helps with balance, stamina, and overall cardio workout, without being disruptive to the neighbors. Also fits in small spaces.

***

Finished Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan which has been adapted into a film by Cillian Murphy, starring Murphy. I'll check it out tomorrow, I think.

The book is brilliant. Best thing I've read in a long time. (Granted my reading material hasn't exactly been stellar of late. But this is a beautifully written book that packs a punch.) It's a character study, and not all that long - 116 pages, in a small little hard back book that can fit in a purse. About the size of a Kindle.

Here's the review I wrote on Good Reads:
( Good reads review )

Also finally got around to renting Conclave on AppleTV for $5.99 (far cheaper than seeing it in a movie theater - in NYC, movies cost between $15-20 possibly more depending on where, and not nearly as comfortable. Plus I have a big screen tv and this movie doesn't require a huge screen.)

It's brilliant. I highly recommend everybody see it. The set-up? ( Read more... )

Ralph Fiennes is excellent in it, as is the supporting cast, in particular Isabella Rosellini, and the actor who portrays Benitiz. John Lithgow is almost unrecognizable in his role - took me a minute to realize it was him.
Beautifully filmed, and scored film, that is quietly moving and poignant.

Memage:

15. Sci-fi and fantasy (books/TV/film), yes or no?

Yes. All of the both. My favorite genre is sci-fantasy, fantasy and sci-fi. (I'm online because I can't find anyone offline who loves it.)

16. Do you know how to knit? Even if you don’t – do you own anything hand-knitted?

Yes. I suck at it - because I can't count to save my life. But I've knitted a blanket, a few clumsy scarves, and a few clumsy hats. I don't follow patterns - they don't make any sense to me. I can't read them. I just play.
I'm an intuitive artist.

And yes, I own knitted items, two throws, one by me, one by my church, and several scarves and hats.

17. Have you ever seen a ventriloquist act?

In person? I don't know. On TV, yes.

****

Books

Finished We Used to Live Here by...Marcus Kilewer

It reminded me a lot of Jordan Peele's horror films - specifically "Us". Also Shutter Island, The Prisoner, and various films and books dealing with the concept of altered realities, or parallel realities. It's also a...book that will thrill folks who like puzzles and minute, seemingly random details. (It's a nerdy book.) I was bored by it for the most part, and had difficulty understanding why folks loved it.

It's okay. ( vague spoilers )

Now I'm reading a science fiction novel - "Rules of Redemption by T. A. White". So far so good - the protagonist, Kira, is scavenging alien war vessels for parts, with her drone companion, Jin. I'm not sure where it goes from there - as of yet.

And on audio - "Sanctuary" - Roman focused novel by Illona Andrews in the world of Kate Daniels. It's about a dark volv priest, with a lot of Eastern European mythology.

I've decided to break from Horror for a bit - I'm anxious enough at the moment, don't require help. Although the last two horror novels I read, had massive pacing issues, not helped by unlikable characters. I got irritated and bored by both. So dumping that genre and jumping back into urban fantasy and science fiction.

1. Currently reading? Still reading... The September House by Carissa Orlando - which for some reason or other makes me want to re-watch The Haunting of Hill House, and watch Insidious. I'm resisting. I have enough trouble sleeping as it is. Reading horror doesn't keep me awake, watching horror does.

I'm halfway through it, and so far - agree with the 3 star reviews that I've seen on Good Reads - none of which have include spoilers. There are reviews that do, but I've avoided them. It's not the sort of book I want to be spoiled on. Romance novels are among the few that I don't care whether or not I'm spoiled.

It's moved from haunted house book to a book about domestic violence, abusive relationships, and alcoholism. I looked up the author and apparently she's a psychologist who counsels folks with these issues, and decided to write a horror novel about it.

I'll stick with it - because I'm curious and I think I've figured it out and want to know if I'm right. Also I've been told there's a huge twist - which I think I figured out. It's told in first person, which usually means unreliable narrator, and all the signs are there.

But...it's not as funny as I was lead to believe. To date the only horror writer who has made me laugh was T Kingfisher. I admittedly have an off-beat sense of humor. Grady Hedrix annoyed me. And while this humor is dry, it's not quite dry in the right way?

Humor is an odd thing.

2. I'm re-reading X-Factor comics via an on sale item - X-Factor 1985-1995. It's pure nostalgia for me, because I read those books back in the 1980s and 1990s. In fact, I got hooked on X-men comics in college in 1985. A woman in my dorm had a box of them in her closet, and there was a group of people who collected and read them. We all hung out together, went to the comic book store together, and would discuss them in analytical detail. We tended to analyze the characters and relationships, mainly the relationships among the characters, their emotional and psychological arcs, why they do what they do, and defend or condemn (basically fight over) their actions.

At any rate, that was then, now I just read them on my own and don't discuss with anyone. Don't know anyone who reads them. This set or volume is interesting because it does a good job of showing the differing art and writing styles over a period of time. Recently, Tom Brevoort mentioned in his blog - how the editorial board at Marvel, himself included, wrote a treatise of sorts on what not to - or how to write/break down story, and fix what's wrong in comics.

This was what he said:
( Brevoort's memo to Editorial Staff )
And so, here I am reading X-Factor - from around 1985-1986, and the writers/artists are doing exactly what they say not to do. Sitting around tables, standing in rooms, and often it's five-six characters. There's paragraphs of dialogue. I do mean entire paragraphs. If you think I can be long-winded and verbose? These writers have exposition that can give my blogging skills a run for my money.

For example? One piece of dialogue goes into nitty gritty detail about scientific experiments that a fictional Soviet Union is conducting.
( Read more... )

3. I had a three, but I've managed to space it? I'm tired and my mind is spacey, what can I say? How about a picture of an elderly but pretty cat instead?

1. Books

* Gave up on or DNF (Did not Finish) Live Long Evil (Time of Iron - Book 1) - I may come back to it, but I don't know. The writing is sloppy for a traditionally published book and very YA, even though it feels like it is slanted towards an adult audience? It's an interesting idea - I just wish it was executed a bit better. (I'm wondering if Illona Andrews who is executing a similar idea, will fare better? They are good at world building and you kind of have to be for this to work?)

The set-up is that Rae has just turned 21 and is dying of some sort of cancer. I can't remember what it is or if I was told what it is. (Which is a problem right there. Shows the writer isn't interested in certain details.)She's stuck in a hospital, visited mostly by her younger sister, who is absolutely stunning, who is in love with a fantasy series entitled Time of Iron. To the extent that she does cosplay, and attends fantasy conventions. Each of the characters in the story have multiple names and titles..like the Lady Dipped in Blood, the Lady of Hope, The Emperor, etc and so on. Rae never really read the books, and only later editions. Her sister is reading them to her in the hospital, and she pokes fun at them.
Then one night, a woman comes to her and offers her a way to live - she just has to choose to pass through a door to the fantasy realm in her sister's favorite series and pick a flower from the Emperor's Gardens, the flower will cure her cancer or all her ills. The series's realm was made real by all the fans love of it and belief in it. She'll take on the body of one of the fictional characters best suited to her - one recently left vacant. And has such and such limited time to complete her task. (I think it is 48 hours?)

I like the idea, but the execution is on the sloppy side and a bit ridiculous? At any rate, I was bored by it. I tried to read it on the way down to Hilton Head, but found myself staring out into space most of the time. Did not hold my attention at all. The blurbs say it has great banter - I'm wondering about the source of the blurbs and the editor? Because the banter is falling flat. Also it doesn't have an interesting world or characters - too Game of Thrones light. Reminds me of what various folks tried with Harry Potter and Narnia. Not a trope I particularly like. It's rarely executed all that well.

I may come back, but not certain.

* Finished Bayou Moon by Illona Andrews - [I did it as an AudioBook via a credit. I basically get free audio books for a monthly subscription price. And since I get a lot of audio books - it's worth it. You can get these for free via other sources and the library, I've just not figured it out as of yet. Without the subscription - they would cost close a bundle a shot. So worth it.]

This is more horror novel than romance. It's urban fantasy, with a heavy dose of body horror, biological science fiction/fantasy, and mad scientist worked in. The antagonist fuses the protagonist's mother with a magical tree like creature, with tentacles and vines - it's horrific. And the sort of thing that can give nightmares. The villain is something out of a horror film. There is a romance, and because the romance is the central focus not the horror aspects - it ends happily and not with the emphasis on the horror.

It's also really long-winded. I kept thinking it was over, only to have another problem or cliff-hanger that kept it going. There are way too many characters for one person to lend their voice too - so I got confused occasionally, because some of them sounded a like. The narrator is good, but not that good. (I may be spoiled with the Graphic Audio Full-Cast Dramatizations. Because this narrator is better than most.)

Overall? I enjoyed it. It had a lot interesting side-characters. The writers are really good at writing and developing side or supporting characters. Not everyone is. It's hard to do well. I love these writers for that ability alone, that and their ability to write good dialogue. A lot of novelists suck at dialogue. They need to read more plays. (That's how you learn to write dialogue - read and see plays, not musicals, plays.)

* Currently reading two things:

- 1) Home Before Dark by Riley Sager - this is the horror novel that Joe Hill (Stephen King's kid, and the writer of the Lock & Key series, among other things) recommended on Twitter a few weeks back - and I read the synopsis on Good Reads and grabbed it.

It's selling point? It will appeal to fans of the Haunting of Hill House series by Mike Flanagan - since it has a similar vibe. (That was hands down the best ghost series that I've seen - it scared me, and I still can't forget certain images from it. Also it was endlessly fascinating.)

It is set up as your run of the mill - Haunted House book, but after about the first chapter or prologue, I realized it wasn't at all. It's two books or a book within a book - told in two separate first person points of view. ( vague spoilers )
It's the first book that has held my attention in a while - in regards to reading. And that isn't a comic book.

[Comic books are easy, they are about 30 pages, sometimes 50 if that, and mostly art. Not everyone can read them of course (folks think differently) - for some the art or visuals makes no sense at all. They don't think visually or in pictures. But I can read art well - it's actually easier for me than words. I think in visuals. So reading a comic is akin to reading a story-board, which is why comics make great films. You don't have to do all that much. The dialogue is there, along with the visual setups.]

-2 Currently listening to Fate's Edge by Illona Andrews - this is book three in their Edge series, which I'm thinking they wrote prior to the Kate Daniels and Innkeeper series, which are a whole lot better. I like it though - these stories focus on down on their luck people, with little to no money, and are struggling to make things work. This one has potentially the most interesting hero - a con artist and gambler, and an interesting heroine, who is trying to distance herself from a family of grifters. They are going after something valuable in a Pyramid in this world's version of Egypt. So it's more of an adventure story and less of a horror novel like the previous two books were. Or so it seems at this point.

Like the others it is a romance/sci-fantasy/urban fantasy hybrid. And it is the third book in the series. You don't really have to read them in order? But it helps - to understand the hero in each book and what his motivations are. I mean, the hero in book two, is in book one. And the one in book three, is featured prominently in book two and the two kids (that I'm thinking come with him but not certain) are introduced in book one.

If you've read The Innkeeper Series - this is in the same world as that series with the same sci-urban fantasy hybrid. ( Read more... )

2. Television

* Watched a lot of Dancing with The Stars (DWTS) ("Hulu") with my eighty-two year old mother (she turned 82 last Friday). Mainly because we couldn't find anything else to agree to watch together. (I have the same problem with Wales - we scroll forever and you can scroll forever on these streaming channels now. Plus they are badly indexed. The suggestions for me from Netlix are not the same as for my mother.)

Anyhow, this season is kind of fun. We even watched an episode from last season - but mother wasn't that enthralled - she's more interested in Pommel Horse guy.

We are alike in this way? We both love to watch dance. Prefer it to watching concerts. Although mother likes to watch the classical concerts and choirs, and perform herself in choirs. I need the dance element. Watching people sing kind of bores me. Listening to them on the other hand - I adore and can do endlessly. I tend to see stories or people dancing when I listen to music, or pictures. See? I think visually.

[Also watched our soap, where we agree on all the characters and storylines. It's why we watch it - because we agree. We only have a handful of shows. And with streaming - we rarely watch shows at the same time, one of us is ahead of the other. We can rec stuff to each other. But our tastes tend to vary per mood. But when it comes to GH, we agree on everything. I've watched soaps all my life for the same reasons some people watch sports or play board games - it gives me something to discuss and do with my mother, and when my grandmother was still alive - and in her right mind - it gave me something to do with her. When it comes to family? Life is easier if you can find common denominators.]

* Finished (after I got home) The Perfect Couple (Netflix) starring Nicole Kidman and Liv Schrieber finally. It's okay. It's based on a Elin Hibbrand (sp?) beach book. Wales read it and said it was similar to the series, except the book was told in the first person pov or the pov of the bride. The series kind of is too, but makes the mistake of jumping to various other points of view - and veering away from the Bride, to the point in which we kind of lose track of her and don't care all that much. I think she's more of a focal point character in the novel.

This has too many characters. And too many twists and turns (some bordering on outlandish and poorly developed). I lose a lot of characters in it, and my attention span wandered. It's also harder to figure out the murder - because of the lack of development of various integral to the plot side characters. I barely know Thomas's wife, the mistress, or the younger brother, or even Thomas. I also barely know Amelia, or her parents. It jumps around too much and doesn't develop them enough. I don't know if the book did a better job or not - haven't read it. But it reminded me, as did the Illona Andrews novels and Live Long Evil - that character development of side-characters and world building are kind of crucial. If you don't want to develop a lot of side-characters, get rid of a few or combine them.
But don't leave hanging out there like stock characters with no real purpose outside of a plot point here or there.

* Also watched three more episodes of The Great British Baking Show -(Netflix) after I got home. It's fun, they fixed the problems they had in S8-10. This season (12) is better. I think the new host really helped make the show a little warmer, like it had been previously. It's my comfort show.

* Tracker - which is now on Hulu. It's about a guy who was raised by a mentally ill survivalist father in the woods, with his mother and two siblings. His estranged older brother may or may not have been responsible for his brother's death. At any rate, Colt, played by Justin Hartley of This is Us fame, tracks down missing people or people who have been kidnapped or lost in the woods. He works with two women in an RV. One may or may not be his sister. The two women are Lesbians and very likable.
There's also a lawyer, who he previously had a relationship with, and reluctantly took his cases. She's not in the next two episodes - so this may be a one time thing. Nor is the rookie cop that he appeared to be having a romantic hook up with - but doesn't pop up again. Instead the focus is on his mother and estranged family, and what went down with his Dad. Romance is thrown out the window. (Wise move. It works better without it.)

It's set up as a kind of "help/save someone" once a week, A plot line, with
the family character centric B plot-line in the background. ( Read more... )

* Two more episodes of Season 2 of Sullivan's Crossing - it's similar to Virgin River (adapted from a series of contemporary family drama/romances by Robyn Carr. Carr appears to write contemporary family drama novels...which kind of fall somewhere between Lifetime and Hallmark. They have more edge than Hallmark (not as boring and better actors/scripts/dialogue), but not quite the edge of Lifetime (about the same in actors, better scripts/dialogue). I kind of enjoy it? I like family relationship dramas. This one takes place in Nova Scotia. Big City Doc returns to her father's lodging/campground business to see him, and deal with issues she's running away from. Think Norther Exposure and Gilmore Girls - but not quite the same level of writing. She falls for the local handyman (Chad Michael Murray of One Tree Hill), struggles with her Dad (Scott Patterson of Gilmore Girls), and has an odd-sibling/romantic rivalry with Lola. Add to the mix, the Native Canadian couple running her father's campground, the Black diner owner and his ex-model sister (and Doc's best friend), the owner's son, and the local Fire/Rescue group - and we have a series, with quirky or not-so-quirky residents, and family drama. It kind of makes me miss Gilmore Girls and Northern Exposure which did all of this ever so slightly better?

* On the plane - I watched over half of IF - the Ryan Renyolds film with I think the little girl from The Last of Us? It's much better than I expected. The Imaginary Friends are interesting and innovative, and it is heartwarming in places. I thought about going back to it on the way home on the plane, but decided against it. It made me cry. I really don't want to cry on the plane again. Also laugh in places.
( vague spoilers )

It's kind of musical, but not at the same time. It has a few - dance and song numbers which fit the story, and are realistically rendered. Very imaginative. And works well for children or families. I watched it on the plane - because when I selected Hacks (R rated raunchy LGBTQA adult comedy), it told me that this had adult "visual" content that may not work for kids or the people around me. I looked around me, and thought, okay, Hacks is so not worth the trouble, I'll pick something else. I had a small child on one side of me, a couple of kids behind, and an older gentleman next to me. He was falling asleep to a horror film, that he couldn't hear. No one could really see it. I was sitting on the aisle.

I may have to hunt for it on Prime or Hulu, to see if I can see all of it uninterrupted. It exceeded expectations. I heard it was awful, it wasn't. Helped by the fact that we're really following and in the little girl's pov not Ryan Renyolds (who I like well enough - but a little can go a long way).

I get Junteenth off now. Crazy Workplace has its advantages. Also taking Thursday and Friday off. So a nice five day break from work. I can sleep in, and play. Well, I also have a dentist appointment and a mammogram, so there's that. But I've been procrastinating both for about two-three years, so they are overdue.

Facebook - Kensington Neighborhood Page: Venomous flying spiders with four inch long legs are invading the Northeast.

Poster: I thought they'd already arrived.

Poster 2: They are not venomous to humans and pets, perfectly safe.

Me: Uhm, there are flying spiders now? Big flying spiders?????

And I thought jumping spiders were bad. Frigging internet is intent on scaring me again.

Friend: No, they don't really fly - it's just a parachute type web that carries them over the wind to a new spot. And they are harmless. Won't hurt you.

Babs: I read they were about the size of a child's hand though.

Me: Okay...can we just not have the spiders? [I looked it up, they are apparently Joro Spiders. I didn't make it very far - because pictures. And I just can't look at pictures of spiders. I've tried. I don't make it very long and it gives me nightmares and makes it hard to sleep. I did not watch the spider scenes in Lord of the Rings, or the Hobbit, or Harry Potter, spent most of the time with my hands over my face. Anyhow, they said they aren't venomous to humans or pets, they have web parachutes like baby barn spiders, and usually travel that way when small, and long legs.]

Poster: They kill lantern flies, and don't hurt you. Which would you rather have the lantern flies or the spiders?

Me: The lantern flies? (Okay I realize that's the wrong answer, so I didn't post it to the neighborhood page.)

And here, I thought, jumping spiders were bad. I should have been grateful that was all they were and quit while I was ahead. They were at least tiny.

***

I'm flirting with horror novels. Here's the complete LIST of Ten Incredible Horror Books That Would Make Great Movies.

These are the horror novels that I'm flirting with:
( list of horror books rec'd by Screen Rant, with descriptions )

I've the oddest craving for a really good, creepy and/or thrilling horror novel for some reason or another. I gave up on the romance novel "As You Desire" (the writing was getting on my nerves, it was a bit on the amateurish side), and started Firebird by Susan Kearsely (it's not a horror novel - it's a supernatural historical time travel novel with two time lines, and a touch of romance - we'll see if I stick with it. For someone who claims they don't like time travel stories - I certainly watch and read a lot of them.) The difficulty with buying books based on SBTB recs or suggestions, is I don't tend to share their taste? And they often like amateurish writing. I also may start one of my new paperbacks/hardbacks. I'm clearly growing weary of e-books. They are lovely - but I like to jump ahead, and skip behind, and also see the cover and the title? Plus having to charge them or having them freeze up on me from time to time is aggravating. I like the feel of a book in my hands sometimes not to mention the certainty that it won't suddenly go poof without warning. And I love the smell of new books.

On my bed stand is The Master and the Margarita - the forward has enamored me of the writer Bulgrove (sp? - probably got that wrong and too lazy to look it up). It said that he spent over five years writing it. Was afraid to publish it. And was just happy to get it out of himself. And hoped maybe someone would read it one day. His wife didn't publish it either or not right away - she was afraid to as well. It's a thinly disguised political satire of Stalin's regime. They'd have been killed.
I'm enamored because it was a story he had to get out, a labor of love, he cared not if anyone read it, and he risked a great deal to write it, even if he could never publish it. That's what we do, writers - we have stuff to say, and we can't shut up, and if we don't get it out - we get constipated and hurt all over. But it is equally frightening to share the work. And in Bulgrove's case - downright dangerous.

Oh, final note:

* Apparently Eddie Remayne's performance in Cabaret and the Kit Kat Club was controversial? They were fighting over it on Twitter - we're talking about what was shown on the Tony's. It really irritated and scared a few folks, made them uncomfortable, while others were pleasantly surprised by the discomfort and embraced it - since that's what good satire should do, make you uncomfortable. [That's the argument.] And Cabaret is a political and social satire, so the folks who embraced it have a point. The others declare it's too over the top and on the nose, and satire should be subtle. (Since when? American Satire is hardly known for it's subtly.)

1. Wasted a heck of a lot of time last night reading this very long comment thread to a 2016 review of a Mary Balough historical romance novel in Smart Bitches. I read it - partly out of curiosity and partly to see if I wanted to read the book. It was allegedly on sale for $2.99 on Kindle (via Amazon). So after reading the whole thread - which was a long thread - I checked out the book on Amazon, only to discover the sale was over - and it was $11.99 now. Hard pass. (It tend to buy books on sale mostly now via Kindle.)

The 2016 review in of itself was hardly memorable, but the comment thread had three historical novelists respond to it. The writer of the book (which surprised me, she's a major author and they rarely do that), and two other authors - Courtney Milan, and Suleikha Snyder, who spends more time causing trouble on social media than writing books, actually they both do.

In actuality, the most interesting comment is on the second page of the comments thread near the very bottom, by an individual from Asia, who lives in Asia. They react to the long kerfuffle over the two "alleged" problematic items in Balough's novel as "you people are insane". Notably no one really responded to these two comments. And backed off. Mainly because we had a logical person jump in there and tell them they were all being self-righteous twits and get over themselves. It's a historical romance novel. Spend their time worrying about actual fixable problems not how someone might slur them unintentionally in a historical romance novel.

( see the most interesting comment below the cut )

I told all of this to mother, who responded much as one might expect:
( Read more... )

2. Finished The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies by Alison Goodman. Per the afterward - the author apparently utilized two of the chapters from her book for her doctorate thesis. If I were to guess? I'd say it was the last two chapters. The first one was very tropey bordering on cliche. The second and third were about human trafficking and the horrible conditions in private asylums in the Regency Period.

The book was rec'd by a college pal who doesn't tend to read historical romance novels. Isn't really into character so much as plot and historical accuracy. (She's a nit-picker.) And is more into contemporary or mystery. So that alone should tell you all you need to know about the book?

She rec'd it to me because the lead character made her think of me, and she loved the book.

I...liked it? It was slow in places. And the writer was clearly more interested in detailing the results of her research than building the characters relationships or the characters? I loved the main character - who I felt was for the most part, well-developed, different, and relatable. It's rare to find a tall woman in a historical romance novel (the average woman is 5'4). And rarer style to find one who is single and forty-two years of age. Who has never been married. Or been with a man per se, yet is heterosexual. That's rare. Usually if they are above the age of twenty-six, they've been married and widowed, or ruined or something.

It doesn't resolve itself at the end. Oh, the caper is resolved. The romance is not. The hero is still at large, the heroine is still pining for him and trying to figure out how to get him off, and that's about that.
So no HEA, not there won't be one, if the writer ever decides to write a sequel. That's kind of rare for an historical romance novel. I think this is more a historical woman's fiction than romance, even though there is a romance in it - it's not the central focus of the novel - the capers are, and the research.

You can always tell an academic posing as a fictional novelist - they are more interested in telling you the history than well, the story? Look at all the things I found out, don't you want me to regale you with them in all their gory details! (ME: not really. I know enough horrible things thank you very much. I do not need to add yours to the bunch. Can I have more fun banter and story instead? Because if I wanted to know all of this - I could find it easily enough on my own for free no less.)

When it comes to historical romances? I actually prefer less historical accuracy and more romance. If I wanted historical accuracy, I wouldn't be reading a historical romance novel. They are known for a lot of things, but not necessarily historical accuracy.

The story is historically accurate - no problems there. Possibly too historically accurate? If that's possible?

It has three capers or cases the heroine has to solve -( vague spoilers )

First person limited narrator. ( vague spoilers )

I'd say it swings towards hyper-realism. The men are for the most part, difficult, except for three of them, possibly four (if you include the dead). And it delves into the difficulties of people of color, the working folks, and women during this time period. If anything I'd say it's more of a historical "feminist" novel than a romance. The writer takes no prisoners with her descriptions - which are brutal and gory in places. I skimmed over a lot of it. Because I didn't want that in my head. Also there's a heavy feminist slant to the text. The writer is Australian and a historian, who was writing her thesis for her doctorate at the same time she was writing this novel. (Honestly she's either independently wealthy or has a wealthy husband - because she also has a collection of 19th century clothing from that period, fencing materials, space, and time to get a doctoral degree while writing historical romance and fantasy novels. Most people don't make a ton of money as a novelist - folks, you do more often than not, require a second income from somewhere.)

3. Also finished Ancillary Justice by Anne Leckie - this was via audible or an audio book. I couldn't get into it on E-book, but audible worked for me. The narrator is amazing, she manages to do ten different voices, plus songs. I was impressed.

It's a hard sci-fi space opera book, emphasis on hard sci-fi. The point of view or protagonist is an ancillary of a spaceship, the Justice of Toren.
Breq is the name she goes by. She was destroyed by the ruler of the realm, and is seeking justice for her destroyed ancillary parts, and her friends on board the ship. She's AI or a piece of equipment - a human body turned into a part of a ship or ancillary part.

The story is told in the present, and via flashbacks to events that happened on board Justice of Toren over nineteen years ago. More engrossing than I thought it would be. Once I got past all the gender pronouns being she - because the Ancillary basically sees everyone as she or female, and can't tell the difference - it worked. It works better in audio - because the narrator was good at distinguishing the voices, so I could ignore the pronouns. I'm not sure why the writer went with she and not they, I'd have gone with they for the most part with an Ancillary, but I guess it's the traditional view that ships are given a female gender, and likewise would assume everyone else was female.

It's interesting in that the villain is rather complicated, as is the Ancillary's desire for justice. And it deals with the view - do the ends ever justify the means? The idea that to save the world - or the universe, you kill everyone who gets in your way of creating that ideal universe or vision? Is this justified? (What's disturbing to me is this theme keeps popping up in various stories I've read or seen in various media. It's most likely just a coincidence, but disturbing nonetheless. I saw it in Fall Out today as well. Everyone wants to save the world - they just disagree on how, and some seem to think that as long as they achieve their goal, whatever they do to get there is justified.)

And..

4) Finished Uncanny X-men 700 or X-men 35 which was 88 pages. That was a great read. Had similar themes to Ancillary Justice (again disturbing that), but overall uplifting. I rather enjoyed the conclusion to the Kraokan age arc, and am enjoying the few pages setting up the From the Ashes Arc. There's a special bit with Nightcrawler, Rogue and their two mom's (Mystique and Destiny) - which has the creator of the characters delve into their family issues revealing his thoughts about their family dating back to the 1980s and 90s. Marvel was always a bit more liberal and progressive than the other comic book institutions. Also more character focused. (Just stay clear of the online comic book fandom - they are frightening.)

1. Saw Boys on the Boat - via $3.99 on Prime, at Mother's recommendation. This is the George Cloony directed/produced film adapted from the non-fiction novel of the same name. It's about the epic quest of nine working class crew members to win Olympic Gold in 1936. Rowing was big back in the 1930s, folks listened to it on the radio. And Hitler was going all out for Germany's 1936 Olympics - with various lavish venues, to demonstrate how great Germany was under his rule. The book jumps between the working class boys training for the Olympics in Seattle, Washington, and Germany preparing for the Olympics. The movie, wisely, just focuses on the boys. Unfortunately it's only an hour and a half movie - so we don't really get much on the "boys". We only get the main point of view - Joe Rantz, who is the one who is telling the story to his grandson, or remembering it. We also get a bit of the lead coach.

It's an uplifting film which my Mother enjoyed more than I did. I felt it was lacking in character development, and didn't quite give us enough of various characters to truly care if they won or lost or how they became a team? This may have worked better as an Apple TV costume drama? Although I agree that it would be difficult to get viewers invested in a series about a bunch of men taking up rowing to compete in the 1936 Olympic Games.

The book is excellent and I highly recommend it. The movie is okay, it's worth $3.99. Not sure it's worth more than that - though.

2. Started watching Outlander again on Netflix. I fast-forwarded over most of the rape sequence in S1. ( may be triggering? )This is a difficult topic to do well. But again, I did fast-forward over most of it, and I'd given up on Outlander because of the sexual violence. Both Ron Moore and Diana Galbandano rely way too heavily on it for my sensibilities. However, I can get around it to some extent. (And I've seen worse.)

I started again - because I like the actors, and find the twin time line trajectories interesting. One is 1945-1970, and the other is 1500s through early 1700s, with early Scottish Settlers (which is part of my ancestory actually). Two periods of history that aren't done that often. And - the lead female character is a nurse, who becomes a doctor and surgeon, who works with people in the War. Also, the guy playing the male romantic lead is ...hot. And a good actor. I honestly wish they'd do the Chronicles of Lymond and have him play that role. May be too old now.

Anyhow, I've finished S1, and will start on S2 soon. Mother and brother are rec'ing Shogun, which I may do next. We'll see.

3. I wonder sometimes why other people read books? I've figured out why I do. It's to be in someone else's head. To see the world through another lens or point of view.

It's why I like social media actually - I get to see the world through various points of view. I'm curious. I want to understand why people do what they do, and how they see things?

It took me a while to realize that people did not perceive things the same way I did. Nor did they necessarily understand how I perceived things. And definitely didn't think the same way. Be nice if they did, but they don't. And actually it's probably more interesting that they don't.

Writing, stories, art, music are ways to express how we view the world or think to others, and help us understand each other, and get inside each other's heads? Not perfect, but it helps?

Along these same lines ...I've noticed a recurring theme in various television shows, books, and other things of late - which is, that most people want to save the earth or world they live in, and make it a better place to live, they just disagree on how to go about it. And in some respects vehemently so.

4. Is there any genre you haven't tried?

No.

I've literally tried all of them. I don't understand people who haven't. Aren't you curious? I mean, when I figured out how to read - I devoured whatever I could find. Maybe that's why? It took me forever to figure out how to read - so once it happened, I considered it this marvelous gift? I sometimes wonder if we take the things we do easily for granted? I took drawing for granted, so as a result am not as good as I could have been?

Granted I don't like all the genres. Biography, Memoir, Role-Playing Games or Interactive, True Crime, and Self-Help - I could do without.

Someone on Twitter said they felt that Science Fiction and Fantasy should be allowed to mutually co-exist in the same genre or book. That was okay.

And I did a double-take. Okay, does this person not realize that there is a genre entitled sci-fantasy, and actual books and films that fit in both and are hybrids? Did they skip over the whole Star Wars thing?

5. I am still watching Fallout on Prime. I've made it through about five episodes now? It's very satiric. I'm not a huge fan of satire for satire's sake, and it kind of falls into that category? Also there's the video game aspect (and as you all already know I'm not really much of a gamer, I tried, I don't have the coordination or the mental aptitude for it. It may very well be genetic? Since absolutely no one in my immediate family does either? The most I'll do is play a matching Redecor game. I like the puzzle games, I played those at the video game company that I worked for.) It's okay, just kind of slow and reminds me of a lot of other dystopian satires that I've seen.

Also still plan to watch Gentleman in Moscow - which is dropping slowly on Showtime and I keep forgetting its on. I gave up on Under the Bridge -it's True Crime, and I find True Crime to be icky. And it began to irritate me in that way that True Crime tends to after a bit. (It's why I couldn't become an investigative journalist - after flirting with it in college - that ick factor.)

Baby Reindeer (very popular on social media outlets) - I can't watch for multiple reasons - I tried and didn't get past the first ten minutes of it. I can't watch "You" either, which is a similar idea, albeit as fictionalized satire - I tried. The trailer alone turned me off of it. It's cringe and I can't do cringe. I don't care if its comedy or horror - cringe and me are unmixy things.

6. I've started reading "The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies" based on an old college friend's recommendation. She said it made her think of me and she loved it. It's actually pretty good, the lead character, Augusta ("Gus") is tall and unmarried. She's just not found anyone who fit with her. And can't understand really why anyone would want to marry or the whole deep romantic love thing. She's dated, but never been overtaken by passion apparently. She's very logical and rationale. Her sister, who is recently widowed, has breast cancer, and her brother is a bit of a pest. Anyhow, in an attempt to distract her sister from her ills - they've launched on an ill-advised campaign with their manservant to save a mutual acquaintance from her abusive husband. En route, highwaymen try to rob them - Gus accidentally shoots one of them, and takes the injured highwayman (who they recognize as a former disgraced Marquis) to the bad guy's residence - stating they require medical attention for their brother, and gain entry as a result.

That's as far as I've gotten.

While I can see the resemblance between myself and Gus, I also see the differences. ( Read more... )

Mother: I've nothing to say.
Me (in my snarky tone of voice): Well, I've things to say, whether you find any of them interesting or not...

Mother cackles with laughter.

***
Thoughts on Writing

I've managed to slice away over 200 pages from the novel that I'm revising. It was 890 pages, it is now 670 pages. It's actually not as hard as I expected.

Meanwhile, I've decided to write a prelude novel to the science-fiction novel that I was working on prior to the pandemic. The hardest bit about writing science fiction and fantasy (for me, your mileage may vary on this) is the world-building. Too much, you turn folks off, too little, you turn folks off, don't get it right, you turn folks off. Science fiction and fantasy fans are unfortunately insanely detail oriented, so that's the other problem.

Some people love world-building. They actually prefer it to developing character, story, plot, or anything else. Which is a problem with a lot of sci-fantasy novels - there's no real plot or character development, and you kind of get bogged down in the world building.

Anyhow, we'll see where it goes. Since I'm writing it in first person - I may be able to handwave a few things.

***

Thoughts on Dungeons and Dragons and role playing games.

Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game that was originally created by American game designers Ernest Gary Gygax and David Arneson and published by by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TSR) in 1974. Before D&D was the game as we know it, it grew out of a medieval war game called Chainmail.

Book Riot - when was dungeons and dragons invented

Interesting, I thought it was much later than that? I didn't see it until the 1980s. But I was also only eight in 1974, and we weren't really playing board games like that back then. We did play adventure and role playing games - but not with costumes as such, and usually made them up ourselves. There was no book. No rules. It was spontaneous. ( Read more... )

I doubt I'd have enjoyed D&D that much:
( Read more... )

I do like solo games - like Redecor and Wordl. I also loved Tetris. Dominoes. Anything with matching of patterns or matching colors, words, pictures, tiles. I'd probably be good at Mai-john. I also like strategy games, such as chess or backgammon or Clue.

But anything with an embarrassment or humiliation quotient - no.

***
Shen Yun

They've been advertising the heck out of Shen Yun. I considered going once, but a friend explained to me that it was cult. Stepping into the Uncanny Unsettling World of Shen-Yun.

But you do get inundated with the advertising in New York City around January through April. It's on subways, shopkeepers doors, and on television ads. They certainly know how to market themselves - which alone gives me pause.

***

Thoughts on Books

I'm reading "Magic Tides" by Ilona Andrews - which is told in two points of view for a change, Curran's and Kate's. It's a sequel to the previous series.

The good news? It sparked my own imagination and story - the post-apocalyptic science fiction I was writing pre-pandemic. So I may continue.
Anything that sparks the creative juices.

The Magic Series by Andrews isn't for everyone. If militaristic post-apocalyptic fiction doesn't work for you - best to skip. I like the world-building, and how the writer does it without going into too much detail, but enough to make it feel real and interesting. Also how she manages to skirt around issues like linguistics, and utilizes lesser known mythologies like the Babylonian, Asian, Egyptian and Russian. Too many fantasy novels fall into Judeo-Christian mythos or Grecian, this goes in a different direction. But the protagonist is snarky, and married to a lion shape-shifter. There's no yearning. No angst. They are married - so no, oh, I want him but can I? I like the exploration of a marriage for a change. It's a nice change of pace and kind of innovative. No will they or won't they, and less emphasis on sex. I like their banter, but both are super-powerful, so? Not for everyone. Then again, is anything?

Bride by Alix Harrow - isn't working for me. ( Read more... )

Yellowface by RF. Kuang - I'm kind of bored? ( Read more... )

X-men by Gerry Dugan - I think the difficulty I have with this writer's take on the series and the other current ones is a lack of focus? In some respects, I like it. But in others - a twenty page comic is not a lot of space for multiple stories and action. It feels a bit scattered. Also far too many characters.

Thoughts on the boat-load of articles on Narcissism via Internet Web Browsers

There a lot of articles on narcissism online. Microsoft Edge, my workplace internet browser, keeps throwing them at me. I must be doing something that is making it pull those? That and lists of horror films. There are at least three films coming out that focus on spiders. ( Unrelated sub-tangent on spider films - note no pictures of spiders, I'm terrified of them, you won't see any photos of spiders in this journal ever, just in case you were worried about that for any reason. )

But the "narcissism" (I struggle spelling that word. Can one be a narcissist if they can't spell narcissism? It's the number of s's that throws me off. I either want to add another s or subtract one) articles are annoying (note they aren't journal studies or the medical articles, but cheap journalistic ones thrown at me by a work web browser). ( rant about narcissist articles )

So, as you all know (because I keep posting about it), I've been listening to the forty-six hour audio book version of Barbra Streisand's Memoir. I told mother it was forty-six hours, and she reacted much as you'd expect. "Oh my god, that book must be huge - and it can't be doing well?" (Actually it's doing very well. She doesn't hold back. And in the audiobook - she includes snippets of her songs - and sings them, also bits from movies. Hence the forty-six hours.)

What Streisand says about the Entertainment Business (note the Business itself, not the creation of the art) is not good, although nothing that I didn't already know from various sources personal and otherwise. My brother's worked and interacted with it, and has close friends in it. I've had various actor friends who've worked within it. And my sister-in-law's family was closely involved within it. Plus every memoir I've listened to or read about it - says the same things. Without exception they all state how Fame nearly destroyed them, and how they tried to cope with it.

What's interesting about the Streisand memoir - is she doesn't speak ill of anyone who is a)currently alive (at least not so far), or b) hasn't spoken ill of her, or didn't gossip about her. Anthony Newly hurt her - but she doesn't explain how or go into details. And she's relatively vague about her divorce and marriage to Gould (just stating what is already known and dispelling any rumors about cheating). She does explain and speak ill of those who did attack her when they were alive and tried to destroy her career and feed the media gossip machine. I kind of respect her for that?

1. Anthony Newley and the pitfalls of holding a grudge. It took a minute or two to remember who he was. He was a popular British singer/song writer/composer and actor in the 1960s and early 70s. A triple threat - so to speak. Kind of like Burt Bacharach? Or similar musical style - just not quite as successful. Died sometime in the 1990s. You may know him for the musical scores to Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (the musical version with Gene Wilder), and Doctor Dolittle.

Here - Anthony Newley and Sammy Davis Jr singing Newley's song "The Candy Man"

Apparently Streisand had a brief fling with Newley in 1971, after divorcing Gould.( Read more... )

2. Hello Dolly and the pitfalls of the White Male Boys Club

This was fascinating. Some back story? For years, it had been bandied about in various unauthorized biographies (which are basically gossipy works by so-called journalists who acquire tidbits from other people about the person whose life they are chronicling) and gossip columns that Streisand was a terror on Hello Dolly. That she was trying to direct the film, was a perfectionist and control freak, and Walter Matthau had a blow up, and hated each other. And Matthau believed she was trying to play director, and had pushed to get into the picture and pushed for someone else to star opposite, etc. And Gene Kelly had issues with her.

Here's a 1969 interview with Streisand from Good Housekeeping that pushed back against the rumors at the time, and discusses the jealousy, envy and resentment of the gossip columns which hated Streisand for not playing along with them.

( excerpt )

The truth is more complicated, of course. Per Streisand's memoir - Streisand was signed to Dolly long before either Matthau was cast or Gene Kelly was set to direct. She didn't want to do it. And tried to get out of it, but was informed by both her manager and Ernest Lehman, the producer, that it would be a serious breach of contract. She'd read the play, and seen it - and felt at 23 that she was too young for the part. It was for a much older woman (she still feels that way). But they said a young woman could be a widow. She also felt that Mathau was wrong for the romantic male lead - but she had not control. However, she got along famously with the producer - Ernie.

* Gene Kelly - Kelly was signed to direct after Barbra was signed to star. Barbra grew up with a huge crush on Gene Kelly (and had seen him in Marjorie Morningstar the year before - and had fallen for him in that film, it was dream of hers to be in a film with him). Anyhow - Kelly had issues directing women. ( Read more... )

Walter Mathau - Mathau didn't want to do the film either - but got signed on for it. Streisand first met Mathau backstage in Piper Laurie's dressing room in the early 1960s. He popped his head in and looked at Streisand. "Oh, Barbara Harris, nice to see you. Did you get a nose job? Could have done better." And left. Streisand didn't know what to make of the comment. Years later she's acting opposite him in a movie and having a terrible time of it.

( why Mathau and Kelly had issues with her - and you'll never guess why? )

3. Platonic Friendship with Marlon Brando and the Movie Business

Streisand first met Brando in the early 1960s when she was pregnant with her son Jason, then again in 1972. Streisand said she had two huge crushes on movie stars growing up - one was on Gene Kelly, the other was Marlon Brando, who she considered to be the Greatest Actor who ever lived.
( Streisand, Brando and the film business )

ETA: Streisand talks a bit more about Brando - how much like Streisand, he did not return to the stage or theater after his early runs of I Remember Mama and Streetcar Named Desire (and wanted to be let out of the role).
He like her - struggled with the press. ( Read more... )

Got quite a bit done today, considering. I managed to finally clean out and straighten the top portion of my closet - and utilized the organizers I'd purchased, which sort of work just not as well as I'd hoped. It is neater at any rate, and nothing is falling from the shelf like before. I may actually be able to find things.

Also, received the three new blouses that I'd purchased on Thursday night. Two are button down work blouses, the third is an exercise, around the apartment long-sleeved t-shirt. I was surprised I got them today - considering I purchased them online on Thursday.

After organizing the closet, I decided I definitely did not need more shirts or sweaters or pants, at the moment. I don't have much space for what I have. Also, there's a lot I have to get rid of. A couple of things I'm hoping to donate to the Church's Unifair, considering I've never worn them.

Making headway with the Barbara Streisand Memoir - which is well done. In it, she focuses heavily on her process, how she sings her songs, puts them together, gets her arrangements, and how the musical Funny Girl was put together. There's a lot of false information floating around regarding it - I know I read some of it online, and listened to it on Youtube.

According to Streisand, there were only four auditions, not twenty. Her manager says there were seven, she only remembers four. And feels seven is an exaggeration. Also only ten curtain calls, not twenty, which she also feels is a gross exaggeration.

The story behind the departure of Sydney Chaplin, her leading man (also the son of Charlie Chaplin) - is complicated, and not at all what some folks on Youtube think or various others. ( Read more... )

And she relates her meeting with Judy Garland - how famously they got along, and actually adored each other. Which makes sense - their acting and singing styles are very similar. They were also huge fans of each other's work. Both act their songs, and both are belters, with the ability to draw in an audience, and move an audience to tears. I actually cried during this segment of the audio book - because Garland died not long after they met and became best friends. They'd talk frequently. Then a mere year or so later, Garland died. It was devastating. When she sang with Garland on her show, Garland grabbed her hand and wouldn't let go. Garland also came up with the number. Garland drank this sweet wine, which she offered to Streisand, but Streisand didn't drink. The lines on that episode of the Garland Show weren't theirs but actually written by Mel Torme. Streisand states people think we didn't get along or were jealous of each other - and nothing could be further from the truth. They loved each other. And were fast friends, and supporters of each other's work. She said the thing about meeting famous people - is all they are is human beings like you. With the same foibles and issues.

This audiobook is really good. It has selections of her songs as well. She gives them as examples. So you hear the song People or snippet of it, and the song "Cry Me a River" showing how it works, or "Happy Days are Hear Again". Possibly the best Memoir I've listened to (or read) for that matter, and I've still 40 some hours to go.

***

Television Shows

1. The Gilded Age Season 2 - this is boring. I kept going to sleep during it. It makes Downton Abbey relatively action packed by comparison.
I've decided to give up.

2. Great British Baking Show - the Early Seasons (It's on Roku, not Netflix), and I was watching the very first season, when they traveled about the country side. And only had ten contestants and let two people go each round, due to the fact that they were traveling around the countryside with their tents. It's also a lot rougher in regards to camera work inside the tent. And there's more focus on the history of cakes, cookies, etc in Britain and who invented them. (Which is fascinating. Did you know that cakes were basically created by women, when men stopped being the sole chefs in the kitchen? Also the biscuit (cookie in the US) was created when more people traveled, as a travel ready snack. And, apparently cakes were outlawed by the Puritans due to the view that sugar raised the blood and made people do nasty things. (I think they were afraid of diabetes?). And Queen Victoria created the multi-tiered wedding cake.)

I like the early seasons better than the later ones. And I'd not seen or found this one. Doesn't have that many commercials either - so quite watchable.

3. Fall of the House of Usher

The later episodes are better than the early ones. They are actually kind of scary. And kind of gruesome. Roderick Usher is being haunted by his children. Each killed in a different manner by the demon he and his sister made their devil's bargain with ages ago. A lot of Poe's work is threaded through the series.

I'm not sure the series completely works though. It's not quite clear what bargain Madeline and Roderick made with Verna, or why Verna is now collecting her lump of flesh. I'm hoping it will be revealed in the last episode. I've one to go.

Will state that Bruce Greenwood, Mary McConnell, and Mark Hamill are quite good in their roles, as is Carl Lumbly.

Ah, two days left. This six day break is flying by. Damn it. I wish work would fly by. It does when I'm busy and in the zone, not when I'm waiting for people to send me stuff and make up their minds.

I'm in a bad mood. Blame Crazy Workplace, honestly what's new? I had the same circle arguments today that I've been having for the last two to three months, and didn't get anywhere. I'm tired of arguing with people at work. I can't seem to go a day without it.

Work is exhausting. I should have gone to my Church's evening vespers today but alas, passed.

Meme that I swiped from slaymesoftly.

1. Do you have a button stash. My answer is, well, kind of? I put them somewhere, forget about them...and never sew them on. I can't sew. I occasionally manage to sew a button on, but it's not pretty.

The rest of the questions -
( Read more... )

**

Frustration is possibly the worst emotion next to anger and envy/jealousy, and often all three are interrelated.

My music choices today fit my mood, and were oddly reassuring:

*Don't You Need - Melissa Etheridge
*Tokyo A Go-Go - The Magnetic Fields
* Insecure - Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
* Giants - Dermot Kennedy
* Woman of Heart and Mind - Joni Mitchell
* Breaking Glass - David Bowie
* Corner of the Sky - the Jackson 5
* Stranded - Heart
* She Never Could Resist a Winding Road - Richard Thompson

I particularly appreciated Insecure. It helps to know everyone else is in the same boat.

***

Reading...

* Finished reading the Jean Grey comic arc written by Louise Simonson. It's four issues. And available via comixcology and Marvel.
It was oddly reassuring. The whole theme of it was - that we have limited control, and we do the best we can, and the direction our lives take us isn't necessarily all our fault. Jean is blaming herself for all these deaths and thinking she went wrong somewhere or made the wrong choices, and tries to undo it by making different choices in her head - but is gradually shown that wouldn't matter, the choices she made were the best ones that she could possibly have made at the time. She went with her gut, and that's all she could do, and really it's all any of us can do. We don't know everything, we don't have all the information, and there are other variables at play that we don't have any control over.

* Finished listening to Turn of the Screw as read by Emma Thompson, with some material read by Richard Armitage via audible. It's okay. I had difficulty following it. Thompson was excellent - no complaints there. I'm just not a fan of James. He takes a long time to get to the point. I feel like I'm listening to legalese. And he's very flowery, which is a writing style that irritates me - mainly because I was taught not to be flowery.
My father was a minimalist who preferred Hemingway.

The story is about the ghosts of a manservant and governess - go after two children, who are under the care of the current governess. The title refers to the horrific use of children by ghosts. "The turn of the screw is when a child is possessed or taken over by a ghost, it's worse when it is two turns of the screw." James was obsessed with sexuality or repressed sexual desire - I personally think it was the time period? (And it is why I hate that particular time period in literature - it irritates me). And wrote a great deal about sexual repression as did many of his contemporaries - Hawthorn, Wharton, etc. ( Spoilers )

Now, I'm listening to Barbara Streisand's Memoir - "My Name is Barbara" - which she wrote in order to tell her story, her way, and stomp on the lies told about her by various journalists and critics over time. She makes a point of stating that she likes facts and can't stand lies. (Unfortunately we all lie, whether we want to admit, acknowledge or realize it. People tend to twist things to make themselves look good, embellish a story, or fit whatever belief or worldview they have. And they lie to themselves. We see the past as we wish to - and tend to remember it the same. But alas, I'm not sure everyone has figured this out yet? Or is that self-aware?)

Streisand is apparently the same age as mother - 81. I wonder if her son is the same age that I am?

She's reading the book herself - which is excellent. If you plan on listening to a memoir - pick one read by the author, and preferably by an actor - since most people can't read their own work without going into a monotone.

Almost done with Starling House which has been categorized as dark fantasy by Good Reads. I guess that works.

Current Mood: aggravated

I saw several flicks with mother via streaming and television during my visit. I also completed The Devil Takes You Home and started Starling House.

Movie Reviews

1. Air - direct by Ben Affleck, staring Matt Damon, Jason Bateman, Viola Davis, and Ben Affleck.
( mild spoilers )

Currently Streaming on Amazon Prime. (It's worth a view.)

2. The Phantom Thread [ETA : I accidentally called it the Phantom Menace previously - it is a lot better than that film by the way.] - starring Daniel Day Lewis, Lesly Mansville..directed by Paul Wesley Anderson. It's Day Lewis's last film.
( Read more... )

3. The Wonderful Life of Henry Sugar - directed and adapted by Wes Anderson, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Ben Kingsley, and Ralph Fiennes. It's adapted from a Ronald Dahl short story - they've been adapting his short stories on Netflix, where it is currently streaming.

Eh, it is Wes Anderson - which means it is slow and kind of boring, and told in Anderson's surrealistic style. People don't talk to each other, they talk to the camera, and narrate their portions of the story - as opposed to telling it or having dialogue. There is some interaction but not a lot. It's really made for filmophile's or film fanatics.

I find Anderson arty for art sake. But it does kind of work here - in a 30 minute format. Anything longer - not so much. That said, our attention wandered during it.

The story is about a gambler, who learns how to see with his eyes closed in order to win at cards.

4. The Little Mermaid - Live Action Version - Disney +

Better than I expected. Held both of our attention for the most part. Neither of us remembered the animated film that we'd seen in theaters in the 1990s. They updated it a bit. And shortened it.

The casting worked very well, and I was rather impressed with the young actors playing Ariel and Eric. Also it featured all the key songs.
The changes - such as they were - were minor and worked. Better than expected.

Little Mermaid was during the Disney Princess era. Before Frozen kind of changed all of that.

***

We also watched bits of old movies on TCM, which is my mother's go-to station, that and CNN, and PBS for news, also ABC National News. Mother is a news, old movie, and sports junkie.

I've seen more national news this past week than I've seen in the last year. One of the many reasons I can't live with mother.

***

Book reviews

1. The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias - this is a noir horror novel, which is kind of gory in places. It won the Stoker and Shirley Jackson awards. And was rec'd to me by a social media friend.

I've mixed feelings about it. ( cut for mild spoilers )
Overall, an interesting book. I recommend, but with a few caveats, if you are an impatient reader who doesn't link linguistical hurdles, or has issues with gore - you may want to skip? Does it end happily? Well it is a horror noir and not subversive in that context, actually I'd say outside of one or two things - it's pretty much straight up horror noir - so...

2. Started reading Starling House by Alix E. Harrow - which is a gothic haunted house novel, about a Latino or POC woman and her brother, and a house in an old Kentucky coal mining town, that calls to her.
It's written in a post-modern style - with wikipedia pages created and put into the novel, and references to her brother's videos. Also has illustrations. And heavily references a horror children's book or nightmare book, entitled The Underland - which was written by the first owner of the house, a recluse, who died in it.

My favorite horror genre is haunted houses.

3. And on audible... Slayers : a Buffyverse Story by Amber Bensen and Christopher Golden - it stars James Marsters, Emma Caulfield, Amber Bensen, Juliet Landau, Anthony Stewart Head, James Cleary, and Daniel Strong.

It's actually surprisingly good. I was surprised by it. I don't usually like play style novels on audible - because I can't tell folks apart, but the voices in this are distinctive. They are all excellent voice actors - voice acting is hard.

Emma Caulfield does multiple voices - Anya, Anyanka, and Anyanka as a dog.

The set-up? Spike is undercover - when a new slayer pops up and blows it.
With Clem in tow, Spike is trying to find a watcher for the new slayer, Indira, when Cordelia Chase whizzes in from an alternate reality courtesy of that reality's Anya. In the alternate reality, Cordelia is the one and only slayer, Buffy and Willow never existed, and Dru is the Big Bad. As is Tara McLay, who got tricked into touching a grimoire or dark magic, and has become possessed by it - and as a result is now the paramour of Dru. Tara got seduced by dark magic. Apparently Cordelia killed off that verse's Spike. She's coming into this one to get Spike to pose as her reality's Spike because he always had a calming effect on Dru and may be able to pry her from Tara and help them save Tara and the world.

Of course things go wonky.

It's a lot of fun - particularly if you were more of a Spike, Tara, Giles, Anya, Cordelia and Clem fan than well, a Xander, Willow, Buffy, and Angel fan. (I was - I got bored of the other four eventually.) It also reclaims all the characters who were killed off in S6, S7, (Buffy) and S4 (Angel).

I'm enjoying it more than the other two. It works in the verse. (Let's face it everything written post Angel S5 is probably fanfic at this point. And this is really good fanfic or it's fanfic created by the actors on the series.)

Did very little today - but read, dozed, went grocery shopping (which always involves a 1.9-2 mile hike, partially with heavy baggage - because hello, no car), cook, talk to mother (we talk daily via phone - she lives far away, although we probably would do it regardless), and watch a little telly.

Also completed another somewhat abstract watercolor of people I saw on the sidewalk from memory. It is actually an abstract watercolor. I have a somewhat expressionistic/impressionistic style in my art - according to every art teacher that I've ever had. They actually preferred it. I can do realistic - it just requires going from a photograph or live, and isn't as much fun. Kind of the difference between writing a contract or journal article and writing a story.
( abstract painting beneath the cut )

Speaking of stories? I am reading multiple stories across different mediums at the moment.

One of which is the X-men comics - which may inspire me to write fanfiction. ( Read more... )

[Pause to get on soap box]
( or how to piss me off without possibly intending too... )

Ahem. I used to hide my love of comics from people. Why? ( tells you why )
[Gets off Soap Box - Sort of?]

Sigh. Life would be so much easier if everyone liked the same things I did and in the same way. Then again, it would also, probably, be boring.

Oh well. At any rate - as in all things, I will continue to defend to my dying breath others rights to love and enjoy what they love and enjoy and be whomever they are/want to be and/or define themselves as being however they please, as long as it doesn't harm or hurt any one. (Fascism and Religious fanaticism is not something I'll ever support). Also, being annoyed or offended doesn't count as harm - learn a little tolerance - people tend to be annoying by default, I'm certain I'm annoying somebody half the time. [Not at the moment, well outside of writing this I suppose.]

Sigh, still on soap box. Why you all put up with me, I've no clue.

Now, off soap box, and hopefully no longer self-deprecating as result. (I've been criticized a lot for doing this in my life time, so I make snarky remarks about it - to kind of fend it off? Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Probably make more sense to just stop doing it - but why do that, when I can snark and be self-deprecating instead? It's a lot more fun.)

***

Anyhow back to the books I'm reading - which is a lot more interesting, than talking about myself and my annoyances.

1. Comics via Comixcology - read on Fire HD, which is about the size of a small comic book and in color.

These have gotten alarmingly good. Alarmingly, because my addiction is back, and I'm buying them again. Although they are generally speaking fairly cheap.

* X-men issue #26 (of god knows how many...they keep rebooting this comic) - this was advertised as the Wedding between Emma and Iron Man. It's not. So, I was expecting - well a wedding, and the drama involved during it as both teams come together. But, that's not what happened. At all. They managed to surprise me, and in a good way. Kudos. ( what really happened in 'Not the Wedding Issue' even though it says it is the Wedding Issue )

* Captain Britain issue #1 of 5 - it's kind of a gay lesbian action fantasy romp, which others may find more entertaining than I do. Some good stuff here and there. And the art is pretty good. Plus Pete Wisdom, another fav. But Betsy has alas, always bored me, I much prefer - Kwiannon aka Psychlock.

* X-Force issues 20-30 (of god knows.. see X-men) This is the saga of Domino getting her mojo back by taking out the genegnieer. It's kind of a horror action comic - with a lot of body horror, and biological experimentation. Also it delves into Beast who is becoming more and more of a super-villain, he rejects his humanity completely, along with the name Dr. Henry McKoy or Hank, and just goes by Beast now.( Read more... )

* Wolverine issues #25-29 (see X-men) - Saga of Beast taking control of Wolverine, and his ultimate betrayal of Logan. ( Read more... )

See? Not for kids.

*The Last Slayer - this is an AU comic where Tara wasn't killed by Warren, although everything else more or less happened, and Buffy at the age of 50 finally loses her powers and becomes a watcher with Spike. They are watchers for a teenage Thess, Willow and Tara's daughter, who is orphaned when both are killed doing a magic spell to bring back the sun.
Tara kind of comes back in another form - but Thess moves on. Anya is another Watcher or on the council. Thess is a lesbian.
( Read more... )

2. Audible or Audio Books - Here, There, Elsewhere: Stories from the Road by William Least Heat Moon

So far, he's talked about the beginnings of micro-breweries in Brooklyn, New York with Red Hook Beer. (I've had it - prior to the gluten intolerance bit). Kansas. New York's geography. Japan - a town over there. The Mayan Ruins. It's kind of like listening to a journalist's travel blog. Rather comforting actually.

3. The Hollow Places - E-Book on the Kindle by T Kingfisher. ( Read more... )

4. Moon Witch, Spider King by Marlon James - in paperback, courtesy of an independent book store in Brooklyn. Not that far - it's a huge paperback and difficult to cart around with me.

But the prose is lyrical and the man can write circles around most. It's like reading prose poetry. It ebbs and flows like water and wind throw trees. I can hear the voices in their original Jamaican and Island tones.
And it has a distinctive narrative voice.

A lot of writers out there have never developed a distinctive voice. The good ones, or the ones who are memorable have. Although admittedly I can't remember some of them - but most of those were translations so don't count.

It starts with a young girl - pushed aside, with a rope around her neck, in cavern, while her brothers hoot and holler. Dash and run around her. She, being but a girl, is neglected and forgotten. Left to find her own way, or be sold or bartered off into marriage. Not praised and trained like the boys.

It's not sexist. So much as brutally honest. And we're in the girl's point of view as well as her brothers. Her treatment from the narrative's perspective is despicable - we are supposed to be upset by it.

5. Yellowface by R. F. Kuang - Hardback from independent bookstore in Brooklyn. It is a satire of the NYC Book Publishing Industry. About a woman who gets a book deal by stealing her dead rivals book and plagiarizing it as her own. Oh, I should add the anti-hero protagonist is a white woman, and the dead rival was Chinese-American.

I've not started it yet, but I need to soon - since I plan on giving it to Wales for Christmas.

Clearly I'm constantly reading or listening to books, and in between doing other things. One of the pluses of living in NYC, particularly Brooklyn, is I'm surrounded by books. There's little book houses - where people drop off and take books, an ever-expanding library in the basement, people keep adding to it, two libraries, and two book stores in the area. Plus a lot of writers. The lovely thing about the information age? Is it is not hard to find books or book clubs for that matter. Even my workplace has a book club - it just meets in Manhattan - and well, it's reading books I've either already read (say five years ago) or on audio (and don't feel like discussing). But it exists and I can join at any time. So too does the church, and now the neighborhood book store.

***

Oh, I found out via FB's neighborhood Kensington Page, that a new bookstore has popped up in the area. This one on Church Street and between Ocean Parkway and Coney Island Avenue, I think. It's called... Lofty Pigeon Books- apparently a couple that meet working at a book store, decided post-pandemic to deliver on their dream of opening up their own book store and giving back to the community. They aren't hiring - which is wise, actually.
Because then you don't get to do the hands on service as much.

[I worked in a book store, and I won't do it again. Nor will I run or open up one. My father is right - too many movable parts that I can't control and have to keep track of. I want to read and write books, I do not want to market and sell books. Me and marketing and retail are unmixy things. Library - I'll do (well, maybe not - I'm allergic to old books as I've recently discovered), not a book store (the books are fine - they are new, but I hate selling things). I don't like selling things. I can buy things, I just suck at selling them.]

1. My difficulty with fandom regardless of the fandom - is I don't care if the characters are happy. They aren't real. I just want a good story. Happy characters is often boring story. Be nice if they ended happy - but I just want a good story arc. Fandom seems to only care about their favorite characters. The other thing fandom only seems to care about is if the series espouses their own worldview and preaches it. If I wanted a sermon - I'd go to church. I don't like to be preached to. All I care about is a story - and a good story shouldn't be put a political message first, that's not story, that's allegory. I find allegorical writing boring.

2. I did get laundry done on my day off. Had the equivalent of four heavy loads. Actually more like five - but had one huge washer - for the the towels and sheets.
( Personal )

3. I finished Vox Machina finally - it's good. Just two seasons at the moment. Onto the Witcher - which I have to watch from the beginning again, because I can't remember it. I'm also considering hunting down a English version of Cowboy Bebop animated series. (I don't want to see the live action version.)

Vox Machina is an adult fantasy anime - with a heavy Dungeons and Dragons vibe. I have a feeling I may have enjoyed that game in another life.

Trailer

4. Ah, finally found it again...Buffy and Spike find their Happy Ending in the Last Slayer Comics but with a Dark Twist.
( Read more... )
Spike Supporting Buffy Side by Side

( spike and buffy from the Boom Comic - the Last Slayer )

BOOM took over from Dark Horse, and is sans the misogynistic Scott Allie, Joss Whedon, et all - so what they did? Reboot the verse, and did it sans the rapes, attempted rapes, and all the misogynistic tendencies. In this verse, Buffy ends up with Spike, in a healthy relationship of equals no less, and no sexual violence. Or references to it. In this verse, it didn't happen. In this verse, Tara and Willow ended up together. Buffy married Angel, he walked out on her, and they got divorced twenty years ago. Now, she's in her fifties and with Spike. They are co-watchers to Thess, Willow and Tara's kid, after Willow and Tara are killed. It's actually a good comic. I like it better than the Dark Horse comics, better art, and better writing.

5. The X-men comics have reinvented my favorite female character again - it's kind of where I got my fandom internet name from...

( origin of shadowkat )

This is basically Kitty Pryde of the X-men, who can phase through and disrupt technology, along with walls, is wickedly smart, and a ninja.
She goes by the nickname "Shadowkat". It was originally shadowcat in the old comics, but finally it's correct, Shadowkat. People have been misspelling my pseudonym forever. It's annoying, but I handwave.
( Read more... )
6. They are torturing my other favorite character in the X-men comics. Actually I have a lot of fav's in the X-men comics - it's why I read them. I have a 100 characters in those comics that I adore.

But, hey, at least they didn't kill him. So there's that. No instead they've sewn his eyes shut, and broken his back.

They allegedly killed off a bunch of characters, but no one in the fandom believes they are dead. ( Read more... )

6. Almost done with Blood Sweat and Chrome - Mad Max Fury Road - despite what you may think - I'm not a fan nor obsessed with the film in any way. I saw it once. Thought it was a good, if insanely violent and at times cringe-inducing action film, and that was it. I just like books about movie making.
( Read more... )

1. So now folks from Reddit have jumped over to DW? Let's see we've gotten Tumblr, Twitter, FB, and now Reddit refugees, prior to all of that LJ.

DW is among the few social media platforms that is not designed as an insane marketing platform and not owned by a tech-billionaire, or controlled by Russia's crazy-ass brand of fascist capitalism (LJ) or China's crazy-ass brand of capitalism (TikTok).

2. The new trailer for the Hunger Games Prequel - makes me want to read the Hunger Games Prequel. It looks really good. Whomever go the rights to the Hunger Games - new what they were doing with casting, script and direction.

Watch on YouTube

3. Pop Culture Items whose insane popularity is lost on me...
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4. Has anyone see the Barbie Movie? Is it any good? What about Oppenheimer?

5. Twitter was agog a few days back on the casting of Little Mermaid and Snow White. ( Read more... )

My niece has the right idea - spend the summer in the mountains, hiking, chasing bears, putting out campfires, and off the grid.

6. Latest audio book, Blood, Sweat & Chrome - the Making of George Miller's Mad Max Fury Road, is surprisingly enough quite good. It goes into George Miller's career as a film maker. I didn't realize that I'd pretty much seen all of his movies. He did Mad Max films, Babe film, Lorenzo's Oil, Happy Feet, Contact, the Witches of Eastwick...so apparently, without quite realizing it, I'm a diehard George Miller fan?
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I dumped Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube - couldn't follow it. Reading some romance novel or rather two - not sure which to pick yet. I might go with the Cinderella meets the Fae one by Elisa Kova. It's better written. The one I'm reading on the subway is a bit flowery and too descriptive - so my attention wanders. I need minimalism in my prose at the moment. I blame all those contracts, tech specs, etc that I'm reviewing, editing, reading and analyzing at work. Also working on editing my book.

7. Regarding Horror movies and television shows? I rarely watch them. Unless, I decide they aren't scary and won't keep me awake at night. Horror novels on the other hand - I do read and enjoy.

If I'm going to watch a Horror film or television series, it's usually:
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I tend to stay away from:
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That said, I've read a lot of books, and seen a lot of horror films and television series. So, there's clearly a part of me who likes it? I mean one of my favorite cartoons growing up was Scooby Doo, Where Are You?

I've still not seen the entirety of the film Alien. I've seen Aliens (twice), but it's the only one I've sat through. I actually saw it in the theater - it was a great horror movie. JAWS also is a very enjoyable horror movie.

What makes a good horror film? ( Read more... )

Some Writers/Directors who can do horror well?

Steven Spielberg was good at it. Steven King equally good, along with Dean Koontz, Peter Straub, Shirley Jackson, Octavia Butler, Toni Morrison. Jane Campion. Peter Wier. George Miller. James Cameron. Kevin Williamson. Mike Flanagan.

I think its hard to pull off.

Favorite horror television series?

Haunting of Hill House, Bly Manor, Lock & Key (S1), Vampire Diaries, Angel the Series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Orphan Black, Being Human (UK), Misfits (UK), Jekyll (UK - Stephen Moffat), Doctor Who (yes, yes, I know some people don't think it is horror)...Twilight Zone, Outer Limits...

Films? The Shining (Stanley Kubrick's version), JAWS, Haunting of Hill House (dir. Robert Wise), Andromeda Strain (dir. Robert Wise),
Tremors, Aliens (James Cameron), Terminator series (James Cameron), The Others, The Sixth Sense,

Films that still haunt and scared me silly?
The Skeleton Key, Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween,

1. Managed to put together a tray table that I bought from Amazon for eating and possibly drawing and painting on. I may use it for the laptop as well. Haven't decided yet.

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It's not perfect, but it does get the job done. Only quibble is it is really hard to adjust the angle of the top into different positions. Also took forever to adjust the legs.

2. Went grocery shopping - and appeared to be accident prone - or I left disaster in my wake, one or the other. ( the mini-disasters that I left in my wake at the grocery store )

After that, I kind of tip-toed around the store, afraid of causing another mishap.

I wish I could say I felt something one way or the other - but I didn't.
It's as if I'm walking around in a fog lately.

Did manage to pick up healthy things and avoid sweets and ice cream for the most part. Got peaches instead. Buying peaches and nectarines is always problematic. The chances you'll get an overripe mealy one or unripe hard one are high.

3. My Church is doing a "go off plastic" challenge via the sustainability group, that I've no clue how people manage it. One woman stated that she'd picked up bar shampoo and bar soap. Considering I can't stand bar soap, that's not happening. I really can't avoid plastic - it's every where. It's akin to trying to avoid sugar (another discussion). I bought a glass bottle of natural spring water today - in my attempt to get away from plastic, after reading that plastic bottles are bad for you. Although they do have ones that are BPA proof now. Whatever that means.

4. At work yesterday, Gabe informed me that she needed to taste her medication in order to remember that she took it. And took powdered tynenol. It had sugar in it - but that helped her remember and soothed her. I thanked her for explaining that too me - because I'd always wondered why they added sugar to so many medications. Now I know.

5. I don't know about anyone else? But I'm finding the information age to be exhausting. ( Read more... )

6. I am still in a reading slump. Cat Sebastian's book "The Crimes of Marian Hayes" isn't grabbing me. I don't know why.

I am enjoying Geena Davis' audiobook - Dying Politely. Apparently she spent some time in NYC pretending to be a mannequin in shop windows. She was trying to get into modeling, but at six foot, she was considered too big.
The clothing samples they provided for catalogue and runway models were sized at 5'10, if that. But Geena was determined. As a side gig to working in a retail store, she pretended to be a mannequin in several shop windows. She even found a wire to make it look like she was plugged in. The challenge was to fool people into thinking she was a mannequin. I don't know how she did that - I'd have given up after ten minutes.

I'm thinking of trying another book by T Kingfisher - who to date has written the only book that I could finish that wasn't an audio book, and also that I remembered and haunted me. Plus no romantic love interest.
I may be burned out on romances? I should stop buying them. And switch to horror and dark fantasy for a bit.

I seem to want books that have a spot of magic in them? I don't know.

Wales jumped from a Jennifer Weiner beach read, which annoyed her, to a Patricia Highsmith novel. She also tried to read Elena Ferrati's My Brilliant Friend, made it through most of the first novel, before getting fed up and throwing it against the wall. She didn't like anyone in it, and didn't care what happened to any of them. And was bored. Didn't understand how the writer got published or why people loved her. I can relate - I couldn't get past the first fifty pages. I got bored. That sort of fiction no longer works for me. I'm sure it's lovely, it just doesn't work for me right now.

7. Yesterday discussed nails with Mel.
( getting nails done )
It's fascinating to me how different we all are, and how our different upbringings inform who we become.

8. Trying to get spoilers on a comic book character that I'm concerned about. But the spoiler sources aren't reliable - mainly because they don't like the character, and have troll logic.
( venting about annoying comic book journalists who don't understand the characters and have the story/character analysis skills of two year olds, no offense to the two year olds intended )

Ugh. I know they aren't going in that direction.

9. Night Agent - saw the first episode. It's good. Basically an FBI agent after stopping a bomb from taking out a group of folks on a metro train that he was on, is assigned to the counterintelligence Night Desk, as the Night Agent. The phone never rings. Until one night it does. Rose, who has just declared bankruptcy and lost everything, discovers her parents are spies and in trouble. They tell her to run next door and call the Night Agent, and give her the codes. She does - and well, it goes from there.

Long past my bed time - heading there now.

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Page generated Apr. 23rd, 2025 10:54 am

Spontaneous Musings

from a curious soul

Entries tagged with book recs

More April Memage amongst a lot of other things.

Art, Television, and Books..oh my

Friday needs to call it a night and go to bed...

Wednesday wishes it stayed in bed, with the covers pulled over its head

Assemblage of New Exercise Equipment and Book/Film Recs

Memage and books...

Books and well, a cat.

Books, TV, and Film mini reviews...

Books specifically horror novels, also a bit on spiders

Book Recs

Opinions on various television shows and books..

I've things to say...whether you find any of them interesting...

Sigh, the Entertainment Business... (or more from Streisand Memoir)

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Movies and Book Reviews..

Mainly about art and books, not much else...

Fannish things: Vox Machina, X-men, Buffy, Fury Road

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This that and the other thingamig

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