Recent reading

[luzula]

Hjärnstark by Anders Hansen (2016, only in Swedish. Title means Brainstrong; the pun sadly is not captured.)
About the benefits of exercise for the brain--it is good for stress, for mood, for memory. This is pretty similar to the book about sleep that I just read, in that they are both pretty heavy-handed about their message. But I didn't mind, and I am certainly convinced. Funny though how the books both go "Sleep is probably the most important thing you can do to prevent dementia in old age!/Exercise is probably the most important thing you can do to prevent dementia in old age!" And don't at all mention the other's subject. Oh well, I guess that's specialization for you.

The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge (2015)
I am just more impressed by every Hardinge book I read. She is so original, and the writing is so good! I didn't warm up to this one as quickly as I did to A Skinful of Shadows, but the way everything came together at the end really got to me. I love the breadth and depth of the female characters, even the minor ones (yay, surprise lesbians!).

Comments

[chestnut_pod]

The Lie Tree was so good! Yay, surprise lesbians indeed :)

[luzula]

I have Gullstruck Island waiting for me on my bookshelf too, but I think I'll save it up for a while. : )

[skygiants]

Every time I reread The Lie Tree I love it a little bit more and it inches a little bit higher up in my Hardinge rankings and I think now it might be my favorite, even though when I first read it I very confidently stated "Well, this one won't be my favorite!"

[luzula]

I didn't like it as much in the beginning either, maybe because it was slower? But it really grew on me. We'll see how it feels on some future reread.

For now I think A Skinful of Shadows is my favorite, though I haven't read Gullstruck Island yet--it's waiting on my bookshelf, but I'll probably save it up for a while.