Recent reading

[luzula]

The Grief of Stones by Katherine Addison (2022)
This is murder mystery/detective fiction, which is usually not my genre, but I often enjoy it more when there is a fantastical or science fictional element. It deals with a lot of grim stuff, but strangely enough the book as a whole doesn't feel grim to me? I suppose that is because the book cares about its characters, and also the main character has people who care about him. Anyway, I enjoyed it and will read the next one. I like the world building and the main character, and beyond that it just has some indefinably page-turney quality. I do wish that the character and relationship development would move a little faster, but I am intrigued by the ending and curious to see where Thara goes next.

All Things Bright and Beautiful by James Herriot (1974, audiobook)
I am feeling a bit stressed out by work and other tasks I have taken upon myself, so it was time to listen to some soothing vet stories. A+, did its soothing job admirably.

I also reread a favorite fanfic, Up Close and Personal by Sheila_Snow. The fandom is Jurassic Park, and it is platonic kidfic Alan Grant/Original Velociraptor Character. No, really! Baby velociraptors and struggling to communicate across species lines, how can you resist! And I suppose there is some human m/m in there too, but I don't really care about that.

Comments

[seascribble]

I love that Jurassic Park story so much.

[osprey_archer]

Baby velociraptors and communication across species lines do sound very tempting...

James Herriot is perfect when you need a soothing story!

[regshoe]

Aww, hooray for soothing Herriot books in difficult times. :)

And that fic sounds like loads of fun. I have seen Jurassic Park, though I probably don't remember it well enough to read fic, and had to take a moment to remember that Alan Grant is not a Jacobite-fandom character...!

[luzula]

Oh, I'm glad to see others appreciate it as well!

[luzula]

Oh, do try it out!

James Herriot is perfect when you need a soothing story!
I can't believe I discovered him so late--but that's good, it means I have more books to go when I need them.

[luzula]

and had to take a moment to remember that Alan Grant is not a Jacobite-fandom character...!
Ha ha, I laughed out loud! Yes, it is a very likely name for a Jacobite-fandom character, isn't it.

You don't need to remember much of Jurassic Park, just the basic concept--the fic is actually for a sequel movie I haven't seen, but that doesn't matter.

[osprey_archer]

I only started reading Herriot this year too. Truly astonishing that I left it so long!

[hyarrowen]

Soothing vet stories ftw. It's odd; James Herriot is a much better writer now than when I first read him - before I started writing myself!

[chestnut_pod]

Oh, does Herriot's narrator have a wonderful Yorkshire voice?

[luzula]

How so? Has your impression of him changed, do you mean?

[luzula]

Well, judge for yourself? I do like the narrator. But the author/main character is actually Scottish--it's weird, the narrator doesn't read him in a Scottish accent, but does read minor Scottish characters that way.

[regshoe]

The 1970s adaptation did the same thing, despite including lines of dialogue acknowledging James's Scottishness, and despite the fact that the real Alf Wight apparently did sound Scottish. It is weird—is a light Scottish accent really that unacceptably regional for 1970s TV, I wondered? (The more recent TV series does give James a Scottish accent!).

[hyarrowen]

Yes (I put it badly, I know). I've learned a lot about how difficult writing is - especially humorous writing. I also thought the books were straightforward memoirs - but they were memoirs so skillfully disguised that the people involved often didn't recognise themselves.

[baronjanus]

I love Herriot. And some of the audio books are done by the actor who did him on the TV show, who really put his heart into it and it shows(sounds?)

[luzula]

As often happens, I have grown fond of the audiobook reader I started with, so I will probably stick with that one! But since the books are famous, I'm sure they've been recorded by several good readers...