Hours Gone By

Well, that was a rough few weeks there. I was laid off and there was some bad news in the family. OTOH, I'm now unemployed and living in a city where there isn't much work-wise so at least I've got plenty of time to read? (And marathon things on Netflix, play video games: I am looking for work, it just doesn't take much time out of the day. *sigh*)

Anyway:

What I Just FInished Reading: Swordspoint again, as promised. The Priveledge of the Sword, which I enjoyed just as much, once I skimmed through to find Richard's name ("Wait, he's not - he has to be!). I wasn't sure about Katherine at first, but I liked her much better after she decided to, pretty immediately, show some grit and adapt to everything Alec was throwing at her. Possibly unfairly, I was expecting scenes of hysterics and flouncing first. But no, her development from silly girl to determined young woman is steady and believable. So then I read it again.

The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There by Catherynne Valente. This is the sequel to The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, which I picked up in a drug store a few years ago when the 'ship of her own making' bit serendipitously caught my eye. (I have a liking for women in the STEM fields.) I want to tell you about them both, because they're both fantastic, but at the same time I don't want to risk spoiling anything because part of the charm is discovering as the protagonist, September, does exactly what is going on and how to fix it. It's about consequences, responsibility, and growing up and at no point does it feel preachy.

What I'm Currently Reading: The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. Everyone's been telling me to read this and I'm so glad I finally got round to it! It's just magnificent, everything: the worldbuilding, the characterization, the language, the plot. All of it. I particularly like the worldbuilding. We are told about the world around them in a way that feels natural, not like an infodump - even though it sometimes is an infodump, as when things are being explained to child!Locke - because it makes sense in the setting. I almost don't want to finish it because then it will be done, even though I can just read it over again.

What I'm Reading Next: What an excellent question. The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson is next on the pile, but that doesn't mean anything. I guess I'll just find out when I get there.