Sakura of DOOM

What I've read: Finished Anuja Chauhan's Those Pricey Thakur Girls! It's by far my favorite of her books, and now I kind of wish there were a version of Battle for Bittora done in rotating 3rd person POV, because I would have LOVED to see Pushpa Pande's sections. Hopefully a longer review to follow soon!

Also finished Chi's Sweet Home volume 2, which is just as cute and full of cat as the first volume. Definitely comfort reading for me, and I laughed especially hard at Chi getting mad at people ignoring her, climbing up on the table, and sitting down on the postcard people were looking at instead of where their attention should rightfully be focused (Chi, obviously).

What I'm reading: I finally started reading comics on my tablet! I say "finally" because that was the original reason I wanted a tablet in the first place. Anyway, I'm in the middle of the Greg Rucka Wonder Woman run (I blame chaila) and generally enjoying it. There are WAY more women than I usually see in superhero comics, though I am super skeeved out by Doctor Psycho and all the rape stuff he jokes about. I mean, you are supposed to be skeeved out, but given that the art is still male-gaze-y, it feels like one of those having your cake and eating it too things.

Also, totally get the appeal of Diana. She reminds me of why I like Captain America, at least in the MCU, and I really like that mostly her idealism and desire to do good and be good are genuine and not made fun of. It's so hard to find depictions of nice and good people who are interesting and have depth; most writers seem to save that for the morally ambiguous characters. And I looooove that she just goes ahead and makes decisions and her staff has to flounder to figure stuff out in her wake, and while she might apologize, she never angsts about it or questions her choices.

The art is mostly okay, given the genre? I think? I've never followed superhero comics closely, so I am not sure. I do love that Diana so far has very consistently been drawn with really broad shoulders and narrow hips; it's a silhouette I don't see very often on women. Still a lot of the twisted torso poses to get T&A in, and I rolled my eyes when one villain stepped out with her face entirely in shadow... but her naked body was of course visible!

It's also always weird getting into a new superhero/team and figuring out who the standard villains and secondary characters are. Various wiki articles help, but because comics is so convoluted, I hit a point when my eyes just glaze over as the details of betrayal! new allegiances! resurrection! secret identity! world resetting! and whatnot go on and on and on.

This is also interesting because it's my first foray into the DCverse that isn't centered around Gotham and its ilk.

What I'm reading next: Probably a lot more Wonder Woman.

I read!

What have you read? I finished Anuja Chauhan's The Battle for Bittora a few days ago, and I even managed to write it up.

What are you reading? Kind of a cheat, since I actually started it two weeks ago, but I am a chapter or two into Alice Miller's The Drama of the Gifted Child. Despite having been forewarned of the general mother blaming in the book, I am still appalled by how much there is. Yes, let's guilt mothers more for post-partum depression and maybe showing a little bit of negative emotion due to nursing not going perfectly! Also, I seem to think more much has to happen to traumatize a kid than Alice Miller does. (I.e. Being laughed at for asking for your own ice cream cone and being offered bites from the parents' cones probably is not going to have that huge of a psychological impact unless there's already some really emotionally abusive stuff happening.) That said, still has some good bits on what happens when you are the child who must somehow suppress yourself to emotionally comfort your parents. You just have to rewrite a lot in your head so it only applies to emotional abuse and not "mothers making any sort of mistake ever."

What are you reading next? Who knows! Hopefully I will be reading, period.

Not a particularly exciting week in reading, but notable in that I got myself to read and even enjoy it when I wasn't in the mood.

I know! This would have shocked younger me—not in the mood to read?! Blasphemy! Alas, older me has had to deal with an increasingly small attention span, in addition to diminished enjoyment in nearly everything. Things are getting better in terms of both attention span and enjoyment, and this makes me hope the reading will come back as well.

What I've read: I finally finished my nostalgic reread of Terry Brooks' Talismans of Shannara. Ahahaha, oh Par, so boring. On the other hand, Matty Roh is even more awesome than I remembered, and I had completely forgotten about the Matty Roh-Damson Rhee adventures! There should be fic, IJS.

( Spoilers )

What I'm reading: I am progressing through Anuja Chauhan's The Zoya Factor, which got a little boring a few chapters in as it introduced the love interest and he and the heroine were antagonistic and etc. However, he is now being much nicer, and there has been a street market, so I am liking it much better again. Also continuing to read Tenea Johnson's Smoketown, which is still gorgeous. I think I opened up Yuki Kaori's Iiki no Ki to show off the Kobo Aura HD's screen to troisroyaumes, but I haven't read much past the first few pages. The art, though, is gorgeous! And already I am afraid it is going to be a version of the Riff/Cain + Merriweather triangle, with another demonic guy, some aristocratic guy, and a cute spunky girl.

Random book-shaped space: I am still trying to figure out what to get with the Kobo 50% off coupon before it expires! Candidates so far: Kate Elliott's Jaran books, some Charlotte Stein novellas the library doesn't have, ???. Maybe the dinosaur book I have been looking at?

In less pleasant news, I deleted Ben A's books from my computer.

What I've read: Woe, didn't manage to finish anything this week. At least it was mostly because I was being social!

I did forget to note that I read Sampson Davis' Living and Dying in Brick City: An E.R. Doctor Returns Home. I really wanted to read about the medical cases intermixed with personal knowledge of the intersections of health and race and poverty. In the end, the book was too didactic for me. Each chapter is about a specific thing (HIV, obesity, drugs, history of medical experiments on black people, etc.), and each ends with a list of resources. I'm sure it is helpful for people, but I wanted something much more complicated than an introduction to the myriad problems of the US healthcare system and/or personal health issues and what to do about them. I was especially put off by the PSA on obesity, where he focuses on a woman he portrays as grotesquely obese (examples of how she can't be strapped to the gurney, fungus growing in folds of flesh, etc.). This is too bad, because the bits on his own life and history in Newark and how they intersect with his doctoring were really interesting, especially since he was one of the few doctors there who had grown up in and still lived in Newark, as opposed to commuting there from another, more affluent town.

I also forgot to mention Carolyn Jewel's novella Moonlight last week. It unfortunately is not particularly notable. There is some emotional stuff going on there re: a younger man in love with the slightly older women he grew up with and trying to not be seen as a goofy younger brother, but most of it focuses on the sex without tying it in to the conflict.

And I forgot Courtney Milan's A Kiss for Midwinter. Wow, I read a lot the week before. Anyway, I don't dislike it to the same extent coffeeandink does, but the noted discrepancy between what people say about Lydia's cheerful disposition and what we actually read on the page is very disconcerting. I also thought Jonas never quite gelled as a character to me; he read more as a collection of traits—blunt and socially awkward doctor who shows compassion to underserved populations—than an actual person. Definitely not one of Milan's better works.

What I'm reading: I still haven't finished Spillover. So of course I started Mira Grant's Feed, which is one of those "everyone was talking about it when it came out and I am only now getting around to reading it" books. So far, it is entertaining and easy to read—too easy, given how I lost track of time at bedtime! I'm not terribly caught up in the characters yet; they are very snarky and capable, but there's no real emotional hook for me to grab on to. Also, it is interesting reading this in 2013 when the presumed zombie apocalypse is in 2014 (the book was published in 2010). I'm not sure I would have fully bought into Grant's projection of how blogging grows increasingly important even back then, but now it's even odder to compare to what has actually been happening.

What I'm reading next: Er, hopefully Hiromi Goto's Half World, because I keep meaning to read it and then forgetting that I do when it comes time to select a book.

Yay, I actually read something this week, even if I didn't finish anything!

What I've read: As noted, haven't finished anything =(.

What I'm reading: Wendy Christensen's Outsmarting Cats, for the obvious reasons. I probably won't finish, as there doesn't seem to be much in there that I can't already find on the Internets. I was, however, very amused at the introduction and the whole "cats have been domesticated for much less time than dogs, so inside your cat lurks a wild and ferocious predator!"

And I started Grace Lin's Starry River of the Sky, which is a companion to Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, which I loved. So far, there aren't any direct connections between the books, but the structure of stories within the main story is the same. It is so nice having a book that plays to my love of retold tales where said tales are not only not Eurocentric, but also ones I grew up with. Like the previous book, I'm enjoying the little changes Lin makes as she weaves them all together. I'm reading this as an ebook, though I feel I should get it (and the previous book) in paper so I can look more closely at the illustrations and the typesetting and etc.

What I'm reading next: Er, if I actually keep reading, hopefully finishing the Lin? Also, I have had Cold Steel for a while now and still haven't started, despite my anticipation. Cecilia Grant's new romance has also been out for a few weeks, and I vaguely intend to read, but haven't been in much of a romance mood. Instead, I want to get my hands on Spillover to read about pandemics or My Beloved Brontosaurus to read about the latest in paleontology. The latter is sparked by a rewatch of Jurassic Park a few months back, and as for the former... no idea, except that I like reading about diseases and parasites? I have several books about plague and disease and hospitals on my ereader, but am of course hankering after the one I don't have.

What I've finished reading: As you guys may have noticed, I kind of blazed through twenty volumes of Skip Beat and now want more content and/or more fic. Hi manga! I missed you! Now I'm trying to decide what else I should catch up on! OMG manga is now on my Nook (thank you so much meganbmoore and I feel like all the possibilities are open! I also got and read Ooku 7, though I'm still stuck on posting about the series. Everyone has already said such smart things! I am not sure what to add, and the stuff I can think of is all jumbled in my head and not coming out very coherently.

What I'm reading now: I started the Tokyo Demons light novel, which is... interesting? I'm not really caught up in it yet, but it's my first light novel (I think? Do Twelve Kingdoms books count?), and I am not entirely sure how they work. I am so not used to fictional work that grabs from anime and manga traditions that is in text!

What I'm reading next: Ahaha, I am betting I will reread more bits and pieces of Skip Beat over the next few days. And maybe go on some other giant manga rereading binge! \o/

This actually makes me look forward to Wednesdays, which is nice.

What I've finished reading: Brene Brown's The Gifts of Imperfection, which was nice but largely unforgettable. I feel like I know most of the stuff about taking it easy on yourself from therapy and am currently in the space where I am trying to not be perfectionist and beat up on myself for stuff, but also trying to Do More Things. The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2011: I don't know if this was depressing because I am feeling depressed and morbid lately or if it's just the subject matters. There's an extremely good but extremely depressing piece on end-of-life care (and how we suck at it) by Atul Gawande, which made me morbid for the obvious reasons. Then there was a piece or two on the existence of the afterlife or not, several on species taking over environments or the general bad effects of global warming, and one on why a killer whale at SeaWorld may have killed his trainer. You know things are depressing when you turn to reading a murder mystery to cheer yourself up.

What I'm reading: Am now a few chapters into Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London/Midnight Riot, which has been enjoyable but put-downable for me. I really wish I had a UK copy; there have been several references to the main character wanting cable so he can watch soccer, which was extremely weird, given how rooted the book is in London.

What I'm reading next: Hopefully I will start the book I'm going to review for my Con or Bust offer. Also, I need to reread Ooku 4 and 5 and read Ooku 6 before it's due at the library. Sigh. I am reading so little manga lately, largely because I'm not buying any and because I'm trying to avoid reading them off LCD screens for the sake of my eyes and my nausea.

What I've just read: Forgot to do this last week, so more books this week! That, and LCD-screen-induced nausea forcing me to ditch my usual time-wasting computer games. I just finished Martha Wells' The Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy, and generally had fun, though I wish there were more women in the narrative aside from Tremaine. Also got and read Karen Lord's new book, The Best of All Possible Worlds, and generally liked the anthropological stuff and the team stuff, but wanted more in terms of resolution with those. Wasn't particularly into the romance as such, but I've been having that reaction to everything, so I think it's less the book and more me not being in any sort of romance mood.

What I'm reading now: I don't know! Finished the last Ile-Rien book last night and didn't really know what to pick up next.

What I'm reading next: More not knowing! I am tempted to read Death of the Necromancer due to all the trilogy's bits and pieces about Nicholas Valiarde and his compatriots, but I don't have it on hand. Also thinking about a reread of God Stalk, since I bounced off it the first time 'round, or starting the Ben Aaronovitch books.

So, I am doing much better with the reading! As in, I actually have new books to discuss every Wednesday!

... hopefully now my blogging will catch up. Lumatere books 2 and 3, why so hard to write up?

What I've just finished: Cold Fire! It feels much more tight than the first book in the series, probably because much of the action takes place in a single setting. I'm not a huge fan of journey narratives, which explains why I've always liked the non-Frodo-Sam bits of LotR better. I think there's only so much scrounging for food and shelter and constantly moving on that I can take, particularly when I really like to dig into a specific setting. Luckily, the one in Cold Fire is incredibly cool: the city of Expedition (located in the world's equivalent of our Dominican Republic), which is a center of trade nestled up by the large Taino Emprie.

I also read Charlotte Stein's Sheltered, which has a sweet f/m relationship where the girl is usually the instigator of sex while the boy draws back a bit. I didn't find the portrayal of parental abuse that realistic though; it feels more like someone's idea of what abuse is and doesn't have as much of the emotional terror that goes with it. YMMV, since obviously there is no one right way to write about abuse.

What I'm reading: Currently in the middle of Andrea K. Host's And All the Stars, after starting and then not quite getting into Y.S. Lee's first Agency book or Malinda Lo's Adaptation. I like the Host so far, though I wish it had more worldbuilding and felt less YA. This, by the way, is more about my own mood and what I feel like reading right now than an actual critique of the book, since it is rather unfair to complain about something feeling like the genre it was written for!

What I'm going to read next: Who knows? I have some of Tansy Rayner Roberts' stuff and am eyeing Laini Taylor, which may also feel too YA for now. I might also pick up the Lee or the Lo again.