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Recent reading
Sep. 13th, 2018 06:28 pmEnergy and Civilization: A History by Vaclav Smil (2017)
A brick of a book, requiring sustained concentration. But worth it! I liked how much time he spent on preindustrial societies, especially agriculture, since I've been reading other books about that. The later chapters contain a somewhat eyes-glazing-over amount of statistics, and also some repetition when he's summing up. But overall, recommended!
The Masqueraders by Georgette Heyer (1928, audiobook)
My yearly Heyer (I don't know why, but I always seem to read exactly one Heyer a year). A good choice for listening to alongside the previous book--one needs a little crossdressing hijinks with the heavy bricks. I enjoyed this, but Cotillion and A Civil Contract are still my favorite Heyers (different as they are).
Within the Sanctuary of Wings by Marie Brennan (2017, Memoirs of Lady Trent #5)
I'd been saving this up, and I wasn't disappointed. Well, I was slightly disappointed by the lack of attention paid to the Isabella/Suhail relationship, since I really liked the romance aspect of the last book. But then, romance is not the focus of this series, and I wouldn't want it to be. Instead it goes on with the scientific discoveries and dragon adventures, in a direction I did not see coming but which in retrospect I can see is set up very well. It makes for a satisfying last book.
A brick of a book, requiring sustained concentration. But worth it! I liked how much time he spent on preindustrial societies, especially agriculture, since I've been reading other books about that. The later chapters contain a somewhat eyes-glazing-over amount of statistics, and also some repetition when he's summing up. But overall, recommended!
The Masqueraders by Georgette Heyer (1928, audiobook)
My yearly Heyer (I don't know why, but I always seem to read exactly one Heyer a year). A good choice for listening to alongside the previous book--one needs a little crossdressing hijinks with the heavy bricks. I enjoyed this, but Cotillion and A Civil Contract are still my favorite Heyers (different as they are).
Within the Sanctuary of Wings by Marie Brennan (2017, Memoirs of Lady Trent #5)
I'd been saving this up, and I wasn't disappointed. Well, I was slightly disappointed by the lack of attention paid to the Isabella/Suhail relationship, since I really liked the romance aspect of the last book. But then, romance is not the focus of this series, and I wouldn't want it to be. Instead it goes on with the scientific discoveries and dragon adventures, in a direction I did not see coming but which in retrospect I can see is set up very well. It makes for a satisfying last book.
