briefly, books
Aug. 20th, 2015 01:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
silverflight8There just aren't enough hours in the day :(
I read Linda Sue Park's A Single Shard the other day, all at once without quite meaning to. I read it a long time ago so it was a return to something I half remembered.
The story is about Tree-ear, a young orphan in 12th century Korea. He lives under the bridge with his friend Crane-man in Ch'ulp'o, a village on the seaside famous for its pottery and its celadon glaze. Tree-ear is fascinated by pottery and dreams of doing it himself one day. One day he accidentally breaks one of the master potters in the village's pots, and in trying to pay back his debt becomes an assistant to him.
This is such a jewel of a book, small and succinct but nevertheless beautifully balanced and clear. It's just such a satisfying and kind book. It is a children's book, so it's short, but the characters are well drawn and the conflict relatable, sympathetic.
It is also a Newbery book that does not have an animal dying in it! I'm sorry, Where the Red Fern Grows scarred me on that medal.
==
I was on a long train ride a couple weeks ago and since I can't read on moving vehicles I tried an audiobook - I downloaded Michael Scott's The Magician, book two of his The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series. It was actually pretty good! The book isn't exactly the best written thing ever - and it's definitely not written with the idea of turning it into an audiobook in mind, which doesn't help! - but it's compelling and I listened with enjoyment. The narrator put on accents and did a good job of differentiating characters and giving the voices emotion and feeling; one of the reasons I probably think the book isn't that well done is because the narrator gives the dialogue emotion, which Scott has to write in afterwards, so it only feels redundant because the narrator has gotten there first. Of course it takes a lot longer and I'm better at absorbing text by reading than by listening, but it's good to listen to when doing other activities.
I've half-listened, half read the third book. The one thing I can't take is the narrator voicing female characters' screaming. It sounds so ridiculous!
Also, I've forgotten how much I love kitchen-sink fantasy. You know, the kind where all the different myths and pantheons coexist (often in urban areas!) I love seeing how authors put them all together, who has relationships with whom, how the varying levels of power all add up. And how they interpret varying myths. This series also has a lot of historical figures show up - we've already met Joan of Arc and the Count of St Germain for example. (And they're married, which initially made me squint but well, they're both immortal.)
I tried listening to another book, The Painted Girls, which is a lot darker. It starts with the woman pleading with her landlord to not throw her and her daughters out onto the streets - this is, what, 19th century France? predictably the cover has Degas on the cover as it is about dancing - and I got about thirty seconds in and had to stop, delete the file, and give up on that story. I can read it but I definitely can't listen to it.
I read Linda Sue Park's A Single Shard the other day, all at once without quite meaning to. I read it a long time ago so it was a return to something I half remembered.
The story is about Tree-ear, a young orphan in 12th century Korea. He lives under the bridge with his friend Crane-man in Ch'ulp'o, a village on the seaside famous for its pottery and its celadon glaze. Tree-ear is fascinated by pottery and dreams of doing it himself one day. One day he accidentally breaks one of the master potters in the village's pots, and in trying to pay back his debt becomes an assistant to him.
This is such a jewel of a book, small and succinct but nevertheless beautifully balanced and clear. It's just such a satisfying and kind book. It is a children's book, so it's short, but the characters are well drawn and the conflict relatable, sympathetic.
It is also a Newbery book that does not have an animal dying in it! I'm sorry, Where the Red Fern Grows scarred me on that medal.
==
I was on a long train ride a couple weeks ago and since I can't read on moving vehicles I tried an audiobook - I downloaded Michael Scott's The Magician, book two of his The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series. It was actually pretty good! The book isn't exactly the best written thing ever - and it's definitely not written with the idea of turning it into an audiobook in mind, which doesn't help! - but it's compelling and I listened with enjoyment. The narrator put on accents and did a good job of differentiating characters and giving the voices emotion and feeling; one of the reasons I probably think the book isn't that well done is because the narrator gives the dialogue emotion, which Scott has to write in afterwards, so it only feels redundant because the narrator has gotten there first. Of course it takes a lot longer and I'm better at absorbing text by reading than by listening, but it's good to listen to when doing other activities.
I've half-listened, half read the third book. The one thing I can't take is the narrator voicing female characters' screaming. It sounds so ridiculous!
Also, I've forgotten how much I love kitchen-sink fantasy. You know, the kind where all the different myths and pantheons coexist (often in urban areas!) I love seeing how authors put them all together, who has relationships with whom, how the varying levels of power all add up. And how they interpret varying myths. This series also has a lot of historical figures show up - we've already met Joan of Arc and the Count of St Germain for example. (And they're married, which initially made me squint but well, they're both immortal.)
I tried listening to another book, The Painted Girls, which is a lot darker. It starts with the woman pleading with her landlord to not throw her and her daughters out onto the streets - this is, what, 19th century France? predictably the cover has Degas on the cover as it is about dancing - and I got about thirty seconds in and had to stop, delete the file, and give up on that story. I can read it but I definitely can't listen to it.
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no subject
Date: Aug. 20th, 2015 09:04 am (UTC)Joan of Arc and the Count of St Germain for example. (And they're married, which initially made me squint
o_O
I recently read Runemarks by Joanne Harris and wondered whether you'd read it, because it seems your sort of thing and is probably library fodder, but it's not for time-poor readers, heh.
no subject
Date: Aug. 20th, 2015 03:13 pm (UTC)No, I haven't! The name is familiar though (both author and book title) - ah ha I have read Chocolat. *puts Runemarks on veryyyy long tbr list*
Is library fodder like cannon fodder? You display certain books prominently so the first wave of patrons grabs those and leave the other books alone?
I feel paperback books are like the cannon fodder in terms of libraries. They don't even catalogue the paperbacks, they wear out so fast.
no subject
Date: Aug. 20th, 2015 05:22 pm (UTC)At least that makes sense
unlike the dating/marriage thing, lol.Runemarks is rly different to Chocolat. It's epic fantasy from reinterpreted Norse culture. And it's a doorstop, although reasonably quick to read, and has a doorstop sequel (which is optional as the first book is a complete story).
I tend to think of library fodder of consisting primarily of: (1) worthy books libraries are expected to have*, (2) books by Big Name Authors, (3) popular but ephemeral paperbacks, (4) large print and audio books for the crips (see icon) and the crumblies**.
You're probably correct about library cannon fodder being paperbacks, and also children's books, heh.
* canon fodder? ;-)
** "crumblies": wrinkly... crumbly... dusty. ;-)
no subject
Date: Aug. 20th, 2015 06:59 pm (UTC)Hm, I'll see if I can get it in ebook.
Oh yeah, I forgot about kid's books. Juvenile fiction seems to do okay - there's some fairly oldish books from there that have survived, but small children's books, ack.
I've been in fandom so long that I actually typoed every "cannon" mention in my previous comment and had to go back and insert an n into each one >.
no subject
Date: Aug. 22nd, 2015 08:47 am (UTC)I actually typoed every "cannon" mention in my previous comment
Hee!
no subject
Date: Aug. 25th, 2015 02:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Aug. 25th, 2015 07:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Aug. 25th, 2015 03:56 pm (UTC)I found the cover artist's website and omg I want the cover as like a print or something. http://www.designerpreis.com/101481/6723002/tasks/the-gospel-of-loki-cover
no subject
Date: Aug. 25th, 2015 04:31 pm (UTC)I'm now completely bogged down in the middle of Harris' second novel in the series, Runelight. I don't want to abandon it but I have read another book in the middle. I stand by my rec of the first one, Runemarks, to you though.
no subject
Date: Aug. 25th, 2015 05:25 pm (UTC)Aw no, that's too bad to hear! But I'll definitely check out the Runmarks book. I like mythology retellings.
no subject
Date: Aug. 20th, 2015 01:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Aug. 20th, 2015 04:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Aug. 20th, 2015 02:52 pm (UTC)And now I just want all dogs to be ok. Other aspects of fiction are totally negotiable.
no subject
Date: Aug. 20th, 2015 04:12 pm (UTC)I don't object to animals dying per se but I really hate how they are used to crank the angst.
no subject
Date: Aug. 20th, 2015 04:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Aug. 20th, 2015 05:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Aug. 20th, 2015 10:27 pm (UTC)A rare bird indeed!
no subject
Date: Aug. 20th, 2015 10:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Aug. 25th, 2015 04:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Aug. 26th, 2015 10:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Aug. 26th, 2015 03:35 pm (UTC)