Recent reading
Sep. 10th, 2017 01:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
luzulaI have had a cold for the last ten days or so, which is usually rather good for my mental state (though of course it's annoying with the runny nose, sore throat, etc). It makes me immediately cancel most of my plans and stay home and sleep a lot, which coincidentally also helps with any feelings of stress and having too much to do. Although I did teach anyway, because I know it's hard to find a substitute.
The King's Peace and The King's Name by Jo Walton
Reread. Last time I had a cold I also read fantasy books about an asexual female soldier, with a focus on logistics and religious issues (the Paksenarrion books). This unlikely combination seems to be comfort reading for me? Anyway, the Walton series is a version of the Arthurian story, probably my favorite version. Basically Lancelot is a woman and also she's asexual, which changes the whole Arthur/Guinevere/Lancelot dynamic really a lot, in interesting ways. These books handle rape and revenge in a really good way, and also invasion/immigration and reconciling different ethnic groups. Although perhaps she is making it easy for herself by there not actually being any issue of competing for resources when invaders/immigrants arrive--there's a lot of empty land where they can settle.
You probably want to read both books quickly, because there are a ton of (mostly very likeable) characters to keep track of, and a ton of places as well (I actually like all the logistics--there's a sort of competence thing there that I like). It has an interesting take on pagan and Christian religion. They're not actually called that--this is the sort of book where Romans are called Vincans and Saxons are called Jarns, etc. But still very interesting; I especially liked the everyday religious charms that people use to light the fire, heal a wound if you've still got the weapon that made it, etc. And the one that I most wish we had in our own world--that a woman can just ask the little fertilized egg to leave if she doesn't want to be pregnant. Of course we do have that (the day-after pill and abortion), it's just that so many don't have access to it.
Flugfällan by Fredrik Sjöberg (The Fly Trap)
A Christmas gift from my sister. This is a rambling non-fiction book about the author's own experiences with insect collecting and also about Réné Malaise who invented the Malaise trap. The guy can definitely write and there's various interesting stuff, but he's ironic and dismissive of environmental activists which naturally raises my hackles, and also it's such a male POV. Like, he says, "you'll never impress any women by saying that you collect hover flies". I happen to be a woman who is really into hover flies, so I am sure you can see the several different ways that this statement annoys me.
The King's Peace and The King's Name by Jo Walton
Reread. Last time I had a cold I also read fantasy books about an asexual female soldier, with a focus on logistics and religious issues (the Paksenarrion books). This unlikely combination seems to be comfort reading for me? Anyway, the Walton series is a version of the Arthurian story, probably my favorite version. Basically Lancelot is a woman and also she's asexual, which changes the whole Arthur/Guinevere/Lancelot dynamic really a lot, in interesting ways. These books handle rape and revenge in a really good way, and also invasion/immigration and reconciling different ethnic groups. Although perhaps she is making it easy for herself by there not actually being any issue of competing for resources when invaders/immigrants arrive--there's a lot of empty land where they can settle.
You probably want to read both books quickly, because there are a ton of (mostly very likeable) characters to keep track of, and a ton of places as well (I actually like all the logistics--there's a sort of competence thing there that I like). It has an interesting take on pagan and Christian religion. They're not actually called that--this is the sort of book where Romans are called Vincans and Saxons are called Jarns, etc. But still very interesting; I especially liked the everyday religious charms that people use to light the fire, heal a wound if you've still got the weapon that made it, etc. And the one that I most wish we had in our own world--that a woman can just ask the little fertilized egg to leave if she doesn't want to be pregnant. Of course we do have that (the day-after pill and abortion), it's just that so many don't have access to it.
Flugfällan by Fredrik Sjöberg (The Fly Trap)
A Christmas gift from my sister. This is a rambling non-fiction book about the author's own experiences with insect collecting and also about Réné Malaise who invented the Malaise trap. The guy can definitely write and there's various interesting stuff, but he's ironic and dismissive of environmental activists which naturally raises my hackles, and also it's such a male POV. Like, he says, "you'll never impress any women by saying that you collect hover flies". I happen to be a woman who is really into hover flies, so I am sure you can see the several different ways that this statement annoys me.
(no subject)
Date: 2017-09-10 05:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2017-09-10 08:16 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2017-09-10 11:49 pm (UTC):p)
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Date: 2017-09-11 08:33 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2017-09-11 08:50 pm (UTC)I do want to note that she only occupies Lancelot's place in the story in the sense of being the foremost of the king's armigers (which are not really knights, but more like elite cavalry units). She's not actually much like Lancelot in any other way, and the books are much more down-to-earth than the chivalrous medieval-style Arthurian stories.