lucymonster (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lucymonster) wrote2024-08-27 02:10 pm
lucymonster) wrote2024-08-27 02:10 pm
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Reading meme
Copying my answers to this tagging meme on tumblr. Please steal at will, I'd love to hear all your answers! <3
1) The Last book I read:
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. I honestly don't know how I got this far in life without reading it given my interest in war history, but oh well - I've read it now, and it was every bit as devastating and wonderful as expected.
2) A book I recommend:
Oh, come on, this isn't a fair question. Who am I recommending it to? And for what purpose? My book recs come tailored, dammit!
For the sake of the game I'm going to plug Star Wars Propaganda, which combines two of my very favourite topics: space wizards and politics! It's also very nicely printed and comes with a bunch of posters included so that you, like me, can live in a house plastered with stormtrooper recruitment posters.
3) A book that I couldn’t put down:
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. It actually took me a while to get into - I found the early chapters so off-putting I nearly gave up - but as soon as the plot kicked off, I was utterly obsessed. I mean keeping it on my person at all times, reading while walking to the supermarket, cooking dinner one-handed while propping it open with the other obsessed. Same for Harrow and Nona.
4) A book I’ve read twice (or more):
War by Sebastian Junger. The title makes it sound vast, but it's actually a very specific and self-contained sort of nonfiction character study, of a US infantry platoon stationed in the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan. It's a powerful read, and very useful if you're someone who spends a lot of time trying to access the mindset of soldiers for your own storytelling purposes.
5) A book on my TBR:
Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood, though it has slipped somewhat down my priority list since I opened the front jacket to find a note from the author warning that it departs from her usual formula. Sincere props to her for expanding her creative horizons, but the days I reach for an Ali Hazelwood novel are the same days I skip supper in favour of shovelling ice cream straight in my mouth from the tub, which are emphatically NOT days on which I'm open to surprises. The formula is the whole appeal.
6) A book I’ve put down:
A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine, but I think that was a mistake. It's the sequel to a novel I enjoyed a lot but had some lingering quibbles with, and it was a non-renewable library loan due to the reserve queue, so I took that as a sign to give up - only I keep thinking about it every now and then, wondering how the space lesbians are coping with the alien invasion. I might have to rejoin the queue again myself.
7) A book on my wish list:
A Rome of One's Own: The Forgotten Women of the Roman Empire by Emma Southon. Saw on a friend's blog (osprey_archer it was probably you); saw again on a Goodreads rec list; want.
osprey_archer it was probably you); saw again on a Goodreads rec list; want.8) A favorite book from childhood:
The Silver Brumby by Elyne Mitchell captured my imagination so vividly, it was responsible for more than one twisted ankle when I would tear around the back garden jumping over too-high obstacles and pretending I was Thowra.
9) A book you would give to a friend:
The last book I did give to a friend was the Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith novelisation, and the friend was my sister, and she requested it for her birthday. Apparently it's an absolute banger of a novelisation, especially if you like Obi-Wan/Anakin.
10) A book of poetry or lyrics that you own:
Milton's Poetical Works. I am, ever so slowly, picking away at Paradise Lost - it's SO FREAKING GOOD, but I really have to be in the right mood.
11) A nonfiction book you own:
Significantly more than half my library is nonfiction, but I'll pick one I'm currently working on: 1914-1918 by David Stevenson. It's a solid read, in the sense of both 'this is sound history writing' and 'holy fuck there are a lot of pages in this thing'.
12) What are you currently reading:
Other than above, I'm also partway through From Cradle to Stage: Stories from the Mothers Who Rocked and Raised Rock Stars by Virginia Hanlon Grohl. All these famous musical legends probably belong right up the top on the list of people I've never pictured as babies, but it's a really fun, charming read so far.
13) What are you planning on reading next?
I'm on a bit of a church kick at the moment - the first of a couple of parcels of theology books I ordered have just arrived this afternoon, so I'll be getting stuck into those.
I'm also sorely tempted to do a Lord of the Rings reread. I've been really trying to prioritise new-to-me fiction this year, but what can you do? The heart wants what it wants.
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I keep vaguely meaning to do a Lord of the Rings reread too. I read it when the movies were coming out, and I feel that I would appreciate it more now that I'm older and have more stamina for nature description and the endless Council of Elrond.
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This is the eternal frustration of trying to learn about women’s history, and one of the reasons I so loved that book we both read by that living historian about the coal revolution. If I ever find someone doing similar work reenacting ordinary Roman women’s domestic lives, I’m going to go absolutely feral for it.
I first read LotR when I was eight, then again at some point in my teens, but as an adult I’ve only reread it in chunks - never the whole way through at once. I imagine my perspective has probably shifted somewhat!
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Hope you enjoy Star Wars Propaganda! I don’t see it cited much in the fandom, but it’s honestly one of my favourite Star Wars books ever.
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