Books read in August 2018

[nou]

As per last month, by default I’m just stating whether I’d recommend the book (yes/maybe/no), whether I decided not to finish it (DNF), whether it’s a re-read, and whether I can remember there being any content that needs to be warned for (cw). I’m happy to expand on the reasons for my opinions if anyone is interested though — just comment and ask.

Recommend: Nothing for a “definitely recommend” this month!

Maybe recommend:

• The Armor Of Light, Melissa Scott and Lisa A Barnett (possession, discussion of paedophilia)
• Eat Up, Ruby Tandoh
• All Systems Red, Martha Wells
• So You Want To Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo (DNF)
• Semiosis, Sue Burke (cw: violence, murder, rape)
• Senlin Ascends, Josiah Bancroft (cw: murder, violence, slavery)
• Nineteen Eighty Four, George Orwell (re-read) (cw: classism, racism, torture, slavery)
• A Burglar's Guide to the City, Geoff Manaugh
• Daggerspell, Katharine Kerr (cw: child abuse, violence, incest, slavery, possession, whorephobia, possibly femmephobia)

Wouldn’t recommend:

• Free Food For Millionaires, Min Jin Lee (cw: dieting, domestic abuse including violence, sexual coercion, ablist slurs) (DNF)
• Resistance, BR Sanders (DNF)
• Unidentified Funny Objects 2, edited by Alex Shvartsman
• The Boy Who Loved Too Much, Jennifer Latson (cw: ablism, own-voice-erasure, fatphobia, Simon Baron-Cohen)
• New York 2140, Kim Stanley Robinson (DNF)

What have you recently read and enjoyed? (Feel free to point towards posts on your own journal.) Do you have any opinions (good or bad) on the books above?

Comments

[watersword]

I'd be interested in your more-detailed thoughts on NEW YORK 2140; I've gotten wildly conflicting assessments!

[nou]

I don’t have anything interesting to say about it, unfortunately — I just found it too boring to carry on reading!

[mrs_leroy_brown]

What does "own voice erasure" mean?

Is there a particular reason you would only maybe recommend Eat Up - problematic or just a bit dull or...?

[nou]

What does "own voice erasure" mean?

“Own voices” (or #ownvoices) refers to books written by authors who speak from their own experiences. So a book about autism written by an autistic author; or a novel with a bisexual protagonist written by a bisexual author, etc. By “own voice erasure” I mean a book written about a person or group of people that doesn’t bother to include the voices of that person/people.

The Boy Who Loved Too Much was written by an outside observer focusing on the perspective of the parent of a person with Williams Syndrome. There was nothing from people with Williams Syndrome themselves, unless you count the parent’s perceptions of those people’s thoughts and opinions (which I don’t).

Is there a particular reason you would only maybe recommend Eat Up - problematic or just a bit dull or...?

It was decent enough but didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know. It would be a great read for someone still immersed in dieting culture, but it didn’t do anything for me. Have you read it? If so, what did you think?

[mrs_leroy_brown]

Thanks for the definition, it's made me think quite a bit about how that would work within the confines of a close third person POV.

I've not read Eat Up but had a look at some reviews on Good Reads and was just curious to pick yr brain for further thoughts :)

[booklectica]

I’d be interested to know about Eat Up and So You Want To Talk About Race,

[booklectica]

Oh, just saw your Eat Up comment.

[nou]

Indeed :) I had a similar reaction to So You Want To Talk About Race. I’d certainly recommend it to people who’re new to these ideas, but I wouldn’t recommend it to myself (if you see what I mean). Hence the “maybe”.

[lovepeaceohana]

I haven't read any of those, and most of them (save So You Want to Talk About Race and Nineteen Eighty Four) are new to me, but given that they fall under "maybe" and "wouldn't" recommend ... eh. I've got Oluo's book somewhere in my TBR pile, but I haven't picked it up yet because I'm not sure it'll tell me anything that I haven't already heard in a new enough way from having read her fb feed and other stuff from around the internet, plus having participated in various other anti-racism curricula and conversations. Would you be willing to talk more about why you didn't finish it?

[nou]

given that they fall under "maybe" and "wouldn't" recommend ... eh.

Yeah, it’s been a bit of a “meh” month reading-wise! So much so, that I’ve decided to do a complete re-read of the Katharine Kerr series starting with the abovementioned Daggerspell (the books are problematic for several reasons, but the series as a whole is really well executed, and they got me through some hard periods of life so are comfort reading for me now).

I've got Oluo's book somewhere in my TBR pile, but I haven't picked it up yet because I'm not sure it'll tell me anything that I haven't already heard in a new enough way from having read her fb feed and other stuff from around the internet, plus having participated in various other anti-racism curricula and conversations. Would you be willing to talk more about why you didn't finish it?

I didn’t finish it for pretty much the reasons you mention — I wasn’t learning anything from it, so didn’t see much point in continuing.

[lovepeaceohana]

So I looked up Daggerspell on Goodreads, and my TBR pile has grown by one to 219 - I'm hugely into reincarnation as a plot device, especially when it's like, a fantasy-esque quantum entanglement that means the same souls are affecting each other across time (I think it's my favorite part of the Legend of Zelda series, actually). So, that's pretty exciting :D

[nou]

I really hope you like it! Though since there are 15 books in the series, I fear for your to-read pile :D

[selki]

I read Armor of Light earlier this summer and enjoyed it as historical fiction. Probably too Christian for some (though not all characters are Christians/devout).
I enjoyed All Systems Red and its sequels but understand that some folks find it a bit precious or more violent than they were expecting, or otherwise just meh.

[nou]

I read Armor of Light on your recommendation and am glad I did! I was actually on the fence between “yes” and “maybe” re recommending it, and possibly went the wrong way. It’s interesting you say it might be too Christian for some, because it was the politics that I struggled with a little, rather than the religion. (As in, finding it hard to keep track, rather than finding it hard to read.)

I did enjoy All Systems Red, and would happily have put it in the “yes, recommend” bucket if the sequels hadn’t been so overpriced. It just feels wrong to split up a novel into four novellas, sell the first one at a reasonable price to get people hooked, and then charge novel prices for the rest of them.

[selki]

Oh, I forgot! I'm glad you are glad you read it. Right, lots of politics (arcane and mundane) which I can't say I completely followed, but I thought the whole thing was an interesting alternate-history take on a period I don't know much about, but interestingly colored for me by having read a Harry Turtledove alt-history around the same time frame based on what if the Spaniards had won (still based in England).

I have noticed the high price on those sequels and see your point there.

[fred_mouse]

I've just finished 'Onyx and Ivory' by Mindee Arnett. It's a complex faux-feudal fantasy with lots of political under- and over-tones, conspiracy theories, and lots going on. The only content I can think to warn for is sexual harassment at the beginning, and lots of genre typical violence.

[nou]

I saw you mention that in your journal and was intrigued, but the internet tells me it’s Young Adult and I don’t usually get on with those. I’ll grab a sample anyway and see how it goes. Did it turn out to be part of a series or not?

[fred_mouse]

I think the internet is kind of wrong? I did find it in the YA section, but I'm not sure why it is getting that rating. The characters are adult, it is a heavy political conspiracy theory fantasy. Which I probably would have read as a young adult, but I would not distinguish it as aimed at a younger audience than, say, Feist's early works (I haven't read anything past the late 80s). I guess it depends on what aspect of YA you bounce off. I tend to bounce off the probably realistic but I don't want to deal with it romance aspects, and while this one does have a romantic b-plot, it is really quite adult (in terms of the ideas and the relationship that is offered; I think the closest to a sex scene is a kiss?)

There is no evidence of it being a series. The book comes to a satisfying conclusion, but there are still several major threads left to unravel, and it would not surprise me if related works come out later. If not, if it can get a good following, I imagine it would be a great world in which to set fic, because there is so much richness.

I'm rating it at 5, because while I kinda wish everything had wrapped up, I completely respect the way that the story doesn't tell us everything, and the finish was strong.

[nou]

Thank you! Definitely sounds like I might enjoy it.

[fred_mouse]

:)