Moar booksss!
Finally finished Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, just in time for various parcels to arrive...
Excited about quite a few of these (well, all of them, but I've been waiting for some to be published):--
Probably first pick from the pile is Ancillary Mercy, third of Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch trilogy. I want to see how things end up for Breq.
The two Patrick Weekes books are sequels to The Palace Job from the previous bookpile, which was honestly the closest novel I've read to replicate the delight of a good caper/heist movie (ie full of twists, turns, double-crosses, plans going to shit, making new plans up on the fly, competence porn, etc etc and also with a talking warhammer and a unicorn).
And it's always a joy to have a new Max Gladstone book. The titles indicate their place in the chronology of the Craft Sequence (Three Parts Dead; Two Serpents Rise; Full Fathom Five), so this one actually takes place before the other novels (unless we eventually go into negative numbers?).
Anything you're looking forward to, or reading right now?
Finally finished Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, just in time for various parcels to arrive...
Excited about quite a few of these (well, all of them, but I've been waiting for some to be published):--
Probably first pick from the pile is Ancillary Mercy, third of Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch trilogy. I want to see how things end up for Breq.
The two Patrick Weekes books are sequels to The Palace Job from the previous bookpile, which was honestly the closest novel I've read to replicate the delight of a good caper/heist movie (ie full of twists, turns, double-crosses, plans going to shit, making new plans up on the fly, competence porn, etc etc and also with a talking warhammer and a unicorn).
And it's always a joy to have a new Max Gladstone book. The titles indicate their place in the chronology of the Craft Sequence (Three Parts Dead; Two Serpents Rise; Full Fathom Five), so this one actually takes place before the other novels (unless we eventually go into negative numbers?).
Anything you're looking forward to, or reading right now?
So I've just started reading Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell because I keep seeing gifs of the BBC miniseries across my tumblr dash, and while I'm not exactly spoiler-averse I do like to keep *some* surprises/want to read before watching...
The thing is a goddamned brick. I can't take it anywhere, and it's too fat to comfortably hold in my hands, so I read it lying flat on sofa or bed or floor and curse the fact I got it before ereaders were really a thing. (Yes, this has been sitting on my To Readpile shelf bookcase for almost a decade. Hush!)
But, uh. Still reading, despite its unwieldy mortal form. That's gotta say something for the prose, yes?
The thing is a goddamned brick. I can't take it anywhere, and it's too fat to comfortably hold in my hands, so I read it lying flat on sofa or bed or floor and curse the fact I got it before ereaders were really a thing. (Yes, this has been sitting on my To Read
But, uh. Still reading, despite its unwieldy mortal form. That's gotta say something for the prose, yes?
SO. I finally moved into my new place a month ago, and have been unpacking and moving things around and generally settling in.
There are many small rituals that go into making a new space feel like home (first cup of coffee made, first meal cooked, first night's sleep in it, planting things), but now I've come to the best one: buying new books!
I have been So Good(-ish) these past months during selling and moving, because more books were just one more thing that would have to be packed and stored and unpacked.
And now? Booksss, precious!
There are many small rituals that go into making a new space feel like home (first cup of coffee made, first meal cooked, first night's sleep in it, planting things), but now I've come to the best one: buying new books!
I have been So Good(-ish) these past months during selling and moving, because more books were just one more thing that would have to be packed and stored and unpacked.
And now? Booksss, precious!
Ah hell, Terry Pratchett died. One of the wisest, wittiest, most clear-sighted writers I ever read.
Farewell, and thank you.
AT LAST, SIR TERRY, WE MUST WALK TOGETHER.
— Terry Pratchett (@terryandrob) March 12, 2015Terry took Death’s arm and followed him through the doors and on to the black desert under the endless night.
— Terry Pratchett (@terryandrob) March 12, 2015The End.
— Terry Pratchett (@terryandrob) March 12, 2015Farewell, and thank you.
I've just come in from the dark, where I've been drinking a piña colada and staring up at the stars in the remarkable peace of the countryside. For all that my astronomical knowledge is hazy (Southern Cross, Probably Venus, False Southern Cross, ...Other Southern Cross?, Other Other Southern Cross, No Wait The Real Southern Cross What The Hell Were The Others, Too Many Stars!, Etc), the new year looks pretty nice from here.
Happy 2015! May the year ahead be brightened by unexpected moments of delight and lasting contentment. Internet hugs to you all.
Happy 2015! May the year ahead be brightened by unexpected moments of delight and lasting contentment. Internet hugs to you all.
There's a zillion bits of weird folkore surrounding the creation and disposal of vampires (of which, yes, the sinister occurance of vampire watermelons are my favourite). But ask me for citations, and I draw a blank because "I read it several years ago across several sources including a 19th-century collection of vampire folklore, no I don't remember the author (probably Montague Summers?)" doesn't really cut it academically. Which is why it's really neat when new research of actual "vampire burials" hits the science magazines.
The article is Apotropaic Practices and the Undead: A Biogeochemical Assessment of Deviant Burials in Post-Medieval Poland, and has two photos of burials using a sickle or stone to stop the body from rising again, plus much tasty data and references. The authors were testing the hypothesis that the vampire burials in a cemetery in Poland were of outsiders, but found instead that they were local people:
"These data indicate that those targeted for apotropaic practices were not migrants to the region, but instead, represented local individuals whose social identity or manner of death marked them with suspicion in some other way. Cholera epidemics that swept across much of Eastern Europe during the 17th century may provide one alternate explanation as to the reason behind these apotropaic mortuary customs, as the first person to die from an infectious disease outbreak was presumed more likely to return from the dead as a vampire."
(And because it's that time of year in the library and proper citations are our friend...
Gregoricka, L.A., Betsinger, T.K., Scott, A.B., & Polcyn, M. (2014). Apotropaic Practices and the Undead: A Biogeochemical Assessment of Deviant Burials in Post-Medieval Poland. PLoS ONE 9(11): e113564. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0113564)
The article is Apotropaic Practices and the Undead: A Biogeochemical Assessment of Deviant Burials in Post-Medieval Poland, and has two photos of burials using a sickle or stone to stop the body from rising again, plus much tasty data and references. The authors were testing the hypothesis that the vampire burials in a cemetery in Poland were of outsiders, but found instead that they were local people:
"These data indicate that those targeted for apotropaic practices were not migrants to the region, but instead, represented local individuals whose social identity or manner of death marked them with suspicion in some other way. Cholera epidemics that swept across much of Eastern Europe during the 17th century may provide one alternate explanation as to the reason behind these apotropaic mortuary customs, as the first person to die from an infectious disease outbreak was presumed more likely to return from the dead as a vampire."
(And because it's that time of year in the library and proper citations are our friend...
Gregoricka, L.A., Betsinger, T.K., Scott, A.B., & Polcyn, M. (2014). Apotropaic Practices and the Undead: A Biogeochemical Assessment of Deviant Burials in Post-Medieval Poland. PLoS ONE 9(11): e113564. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0113564)
The latest issue of the Review of Australian Fiction just went live with my short story 'Afterparty', a tale of resurrections, resolutions, parties, crushes, last dances, first kisses, ghosts, gods, magic and mayhem on that most spectacular of nights, New Year's Eve in Sydney. I'm thrilled to be sharing a table of contents with Clarion South buddy Jason Fischer, who has written 'Percy's War', a World War I story where one German-Australian soldier finds his battle on a very different front.
You can buy an ebook of the issue at the link above, or a get a subscription for 6 issues/3 months. RAF publishes two stories every two weeks, and has published some excellent writers in previous issues.
Anyway, hope you enjoy undead gorgons and water sprites with unspoken crushes on them.
You can buy an ebook of the issue at the link above, or a get a subscription for 6 issues/3 months. RAF publishes two stories every two weeks, and has published some excellent writers in previous issues.
Anyway, hope you enjoy undead gorgons and water sprites with unspoken crushes on them.
Song of the day: The Body Electric, by Hurray for the Riff Raff. A bluesy-folk response to all those murder ballads where women are killed.
“I also feel like, first and foremost, I have this feminist lens that I see the world in. And I feel like folk music is so great because it’s a conversation throughout the generations. So I thought it was fairly important for someone like myself to add my voice into these old songs. and also just give these characters a voice, give Delia a voice. [...] And just give these women characters their humanity back." [x]
“I also feel like, first and foremost, I have this feminist lens that I see the world in. And I feel like folk music is so great because it’s a conversation throughout the generations. So I thought it was fairly important for someone like myself to add my voice into these old songs. and also just give these characters a voice, give Delia a voice. [...] And just give these women characters their humanity back." [x]
Two things that have tided me over this week:
1/ A more-ish recipe for macaroni and cheese that uses an egg/cheddar/cottage cheese/sour cream mix instead of a bechamel sauce and is thus 500% times less bothersome to clean up. Good hot and cold and reheated. (The recipe as stated serves eight, which I... didn't notice until I ran out of dish to bake it in. Many was the meal of leftovers, and I didn't regret it once.)
2/ Equal parts soy and rice wine vinegar plus a drizzle of sesame oil, over pretty much any salad or vegetable. Had it over grated carrot, then regretted only making a snack-sized serving. The only dressing that has ever made me go back for more leafy salad. This is basically a simple dipping sauce for dumplings, repurposed to make other things delicious.
1/ A more-ish recipe for macaroni and cheese that uses an egg/cheddar/cottage cheese/sour cream mix instead of a bechamel sauce and is thus 500% times less bothersome to clean up. Good hot and cold and reheated. (The recipe as stated serves eight, which I... didn't notice until I ran out of dish to bake it in. Many was the meal of leftovers, and I didn't regret it once.)
2/ Equal parts soy and rice wine vinegar plus a drizzle of sesame oil, over pretty much any salad or vegetable. Had it over grated carrot, then regretted only making a snack-sized serving. The only dressing that has ever made me go back for more leafy salad. This is basically a simple dipping sauce for dumplings, repurposed to make other things delicious.
A tale from the Solomon Islands gives the origin of the Baegu language as this:
One night a woman, Fala, dreamed of a new language, and when she woke up she could not remember her old language. She could only speak in the language of her dream.
(Source: Solomon Island Folktales from Malaita, collected and translated by Kay Bauman)
The story goes on to describe the founding of a village with her husband and the spread of their new language, but the dream-language stands out. Traumatic, world-altering Babel-fall crept across the borders of sleep and stole her tongue.
One night a woman, Fala, dreamed of a new language, and when she woke up she could not remember her old language. She could only speak in the language of her dream.
(Source: Solomon Island Folktales from Malaita, collected and translated by Kay Bauman)
The story goes on to describe the founding of a village with her husband and the spread of their new language, but the dream-language stands out. Traumatic, world-altering Babel-fall crept across the borders of sleep and stole her tongue.
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I can certainly imagine a very different kind of book emerging from that edit. The latter incidents with Lascelles in…