sabotabby: (books!)
sabotabby ([personal profile] sabotabby) wrote2023-05-24 07:55 am
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Reading Wednesday

Extremely drive-by today because my internet cacked out most of the morning, interrupting my routine and my tiny window of posting time.

Just finished: Maej by Dale Stromberg. This was a brick but worth it. Epic fantasy with sociopolitics and linguistic play. It's a slow, dense read but it's more than worth the time.

Escape from Incel Island by Margaret Killjoy. Sometimes you need a quick read that's exactly what it says on the tin. If you want to see a woman in STEM and a nonbinary mercenary escape from an island where the US government has quarantined a bunch of incels—most of whom die in very funny ways—this is the novella for you. It's fast-paced and witty and the black humour is absolutely my kind of black humour. If you generally enjoy the types of things that I post about, you'll love this.

Currently reading: Airy Nothing by Clarissa Pattern. This is a very beautifully written queer romance, set in the Elizabethan era, about a boy who's maybe trans, maybe just too pretty to pass as a boy, who runs away from home, accompanied by a hobgoblin that only he can see, in search of the Faerie Queen in London. He falls in with a pickpocket who wants to sell him into sex work but just...can't. It's very sweet and very YA, so it's not at all my thing, but it's well-written and the setting is cool.
greylock: (Default)

[personal profile] greylock 2023-05-24 12:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Escape from Incel Island is the worst or best. I am not sure.

If you want to see a woman in STEM and a nonbinary mercenary escape from an island where the US government has quarantined a bunch of incels

I can't even saving throw that disbelief. Not even in the Bernieverse.

This was a brick but worth it. Epic fantasy with sociopolitics and linguistic play.

NGL, you lost me at linguistic play if it's less Dickens and more Delany.
highlyeccentric: Sign on Little Queen St - One Way both directions (Default)

[personal profile] highlyeccentric 2023-05-24 12:20 pm (UTC)(link)
ohhh. I have a different Margaret Killjoy on my list, I think, but that one sounds very funny.
greylock: (Default)

[personal profile] greylock 2023-05-24 01:23 pm (UTC)(link)
I prefer Dickens than Delany.
I prefer Peake to Wolfe.
I guess if it is in a collection in 10-20 years I'll read it.

I feel like poking the bear (And I ALWAYS do at work) is a bad idea, but what is, is.

But, when I was young, I hated Dickens. So... It might be an IQ test?
greylock: (Default)

[personal profile] greylock 2023-05-24 01:32 pm (UTC)(link)
I prefer writers who have earned their names, and percolated up. It's not always the ideal, but it is how I shuffle my options (also, I second hand my purchases). And, newer writers, are not my priority.

I know what you mean, though.
maeve66: (Default)

[personal profile] maeve66 2023-05-25 02:23 am (UTC)(link)
Wow; I want to immediately read both of the second titles you describe. On my list!
maeve66: (Default)

[personal profile] maeve66 2023-05-25 02:25 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, boo -- Escape from Incel Island (I like the cover) does not have a Kindle version, sigh.
greylock: (Default)

[personal profile] greylock 2023-05-25 09:15 am (UTC)(link)
Ah, sorry. No one has ever accused me of being able to read a room.
I have nothing up respect for people who can stick it it to write stuff. it's a skill I've lost.
greylock: (Default)

[personal profile] greylock 2023-05-25 11:24 am (UTC)(link)
"I refuse to buy books by living authors"

I don't think that's what I said?

That said, I am coming as a person who could read two books a week until I die, and still not get to the bottom of my TBR pile. And my strategy had me reading
'Bug Jack Barron' this week, so it is not a winner.

dariaw: Sunflower in foreground, with a sun-drenched field of sunflowers and the horizon in fuzzy focus in the background (Default)

[personal profile] dariaw 2023-05-26 03:09 am (UTC)(link)
These look awesome - thanks for sharing!!
greylock: (Default)

[personal profile] greylock 2023-05-26 08:44 am (UTC)(link)
If I offended you (which seems possible!), I apologise.
I will usually try to acquire the books my writer friends publish (I draw the line at romance and erotica though).

You're right, I do repeat myself, but I have a terrible memory.
I will attempt to mind my Ps and Qs in your Dreamwidth.
greylock: (Default)

[personal profile] greylock 2023-05-27 09:43 am (UTC)(link)
That's actually an interesting analogy.
I wish I could actually look at the world like that.

greylock: (Default)

[personal profile] greylock 2023-05-28 06:38 am (UTC)(link)
It sounds a little like a superpower to me.
greylock: (Default)

[personal profile] greylock 2023-05-29 09:40 am (UTC)(link)
Maybe if we combine powers we can be part of a fully-functional adult?