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Recent reading
Jan. 20th, 2016 08:01 pmI have emerged from the depths of Yuletide and started reading books again. Fic recs to come.
Rövarna i Skuleskogen by Kerstin Ekman [in English as The Forest of Hours]
This is the story of a troll over 500 years of Swedish history. Association with humans changes him over time from a wild thing eating bugs and with only fleeting thoughts in his head, to something close (but not identical) to human. I guess this is historical fantasy, but in flavor it's more like a folk tale. This book does beautiful things with the Swedish language. I have no idea if the translation is as good; I doubt it could give the same sense of place. Anyway, recommended!
Hopsnackat, edited by Frances Tuuloskorpi
A collection of anonymous stories of successful workplace struggles. I have no idea how to translate the title--it means approximately "together-talked". As a verb ("snacka ihop sig") it means an informal process where a group talks together to reach a decision or opinion about something. So if something is "hopsnackat" it's the result of such a process. Anyone have suggestions for how to render that in English?
Recently abandoned books:
City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett (audiobook)
This was highly recommended by several people in my circle, so maybe my expectations were too high--I listened to about 25 % of it but then lost my place in the recording and couldn't be bothered to find it again. I didn't dislike it at all; it just didn't grip me enough. Does it change much after that? Should I try again?
Chime by Franny Billingsley
For my fannish book club. This is YA and I found the style annoying--I read 25 % and then gave up. I guess "I am super-special and I hate myself; nobody has ever suffered like I have suffered" is actually rather true to teenage angst, but there are things I would rather be reading.
Rövarna i Skuleskogen by Kerstin Ekman [in English as The Forest of Hours]
This is the story of a troll over 500 years of Swedish history. Association with humans changes him over time from a wild thing eating bugs and with only fleeting thoughts in his head, to something close (but not identical) to human. I guess this is historical fantasy, but in flavor it's more like a folk tale. This book does beautiful things with the Swedish language. I have no idea if the translation is as good; I doubt it could give the same sense of place. Anyway, recommended!
Hopsnackat, edited by Frances Tuuloskorpi
A collection of anonymous stories of successful workplace struggles. I have no idea how to translate the title--it means approximately "together-talked". As a verb ("snacka ihop sig") it means an informal process where a group talks together to reach a decision or opinion about something. So if something is "hopsnackat" it's the result of such a process. Anyone have suggestions for how to render that in English?
Recently abandoned books:
City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett (audiobook)
This was highly recommended by several people in my circle, so maybe my expectations were too high--I listened to about 25 % of it but then lost my place in the recording and couldn't be bothered to find it again. I didn't dislike it at all; it just didn't grip me enough. Does it change much after that? Should I try again?
Chime by Franny Billingsley
For my fannish book club. This is YA and I found the style annoying--I read 25 % and then gave up. I guess "I am super-special and I hate myself; nobody has ever suffered like I have suffered" is actually rather true to teenage angst, but there are things I would rather be reading.
