Katherine Nabity's Blog, page 173
February 28, 2016
February Reading Wrap-Up
Even though there’s still a bit of February left…
Challenges
I’m still chugging along through the TBR Triple Dog Dare and #ReadMyOwnDamnBooks.
I had two ARCs that needed to be read by the end of February, both of which were acquired last year. So, by the letter of the law, I’ve been doing fine with the Dare. From books that I personally own, I’ve only started Emma Bull’s Territory. If I get a good couple of reading sessions in, I should finish it by the end of the month.
Finished in February
Good Girls by Glen Hirshberg (ARC)
Mrs. Houdini by Victoria Kelly (ARC)
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion (audio)
The only short stories I read this month were for Deal Me In. It’s been a really slow reading month…
Additions to my Library
(Not to be read until after April 1st)
“Mystic Brew” by Caren Rich, 2/12/16, Amazon, $0.99
The Guns of Retribution by Icy Sedgwick, 2/20/16, Amazon, Free
To Kill a Dead Man by Icy Sedgwick, 2/20/16, Amazon, $0.99
I only bought a few ebooks from writers I know online. Three is a surprisingly low number for me.
Notes
I really wish Goodreads had a way to search or sort your library by genre, or rather the most tagged genre for a given work. I’d like to be able, when I’m in the mood for a certain genre, to search through the books I own. I’ve been thinking about other systems/apps to manage this, but I haven’t come up with a good solution.
I think I’ve finally kicked the ARC habit. I have two more to review in May, but I haven’t had any desire to comb through NetGalley for new titles. A few reasons for this, I think. 1.) I have so many books on my shelves that I haven’t read. The phrase “embarrassment of riches” comes to mind. I don’t need to acquire more 2.) I don’t feel like I’ve been providing quality reviews lately. I was never much of a reviewer in the first place, but I think the authors and publishers who are providing me with ARCs probably deserve better than my sometimes half-baked impressions. 3.) I’m suffering from a touch of blogger burn-out. I’d rather not feel obligated to review.
Deal Me In, Week 8 ~ “The Happy Children”
Hosted by Jay @ Bibliophilopolis
“The Happy Children” by Arthur Machen
Card picked: Eight of Hearts
From: Masterpieces of Terror and the Unknown, edited by Marvin Kaye
The story I had originally scheduled for the eight of hearts is 180 pages long. Since I’m in the middle of a novel that I’d like to finish by the end of the month, I didn’t want to take it on too and decided to pick a new story. Stories from Masterpieces of Terror and the Unknown are my “fill-in” stories this year, so I figured I’d pick the next in its Table of Contents.
Thoughts: It’s the day after Christmas, 1915. A journalist is sent to “the north-eastern district” (Machen’s quotes, not mine) to investigate the rumor that the Germans have a secret mini-base near Malton Head. He quickly learns that the story is based on some kids playing make-believe, thwarting imaginary German spies as good English youth would want to do. The journalist chalks the whole thing up to fools–the same kind of fools that “got cross with anyone who expressed a doubt as ‘the Angels of Mons.'”
To make something of the day, the journalist then decides to take the train south to Banwick, a lovely village that straddles a river. On one side of the river, the inn and other main dwellings take up the flat part of the valley. On the other, red-roofed houses and a Norman church sit perched among the bluffs. The journalist doesn’t reach Banwick until near sunset. Since this is late December, that isn’t very late. He decides to take a walk, noting that the village is very dark, but there are a great number of children playing in the streets.
When asked about it, the innkeeper replies that many of the children in Banwick have lost their fathers or father figures and the women of the town are being lax with them. The journalist takes another walk after dinner, closer to midnight. Even more children are about, some seem to have strange wounds, and all are making their way to the old Norman church. The journalist then remembers what day it is: the eve of the Holy Innocents’. The children are simply going to a late-night Mass, and the surely pretend wounds are part of some medieval observance. The journalist mentions *this* to the innkeeper and “he drew away from me as though I were a messenger from the dead.”
The intricacies of this story are quite subtle. By the end of the story, Machen subverts the journalist’s skepticism toward phenomena like the Angels of Mons. (As an extra twist, it was Machen himself who had penned the story “The Bowmen” which was a forerunner to the Angels myth.) He turns the notion of children playing pretend on its ear, as well as the thought that it was only adults who were being killed during the War.
About the Author: I knew the name Arthur Machen, but I couldn’t remember from where. The introductory note to the story offered no clue. Finally, one of the first mentioned works on his Wikipedia entry is The Great God Pan, which is on the Obscure Literary Monsters list.
February 24, 2016
Review ~ Good Girls
This book was provided to me by Macmillan-Tor/Forge via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Good Girls by Glen Hirshberg
Reeling from the violent death of her daughter and a confrontation with the Whistler–the monster who wrecked her life–Jess has fled the South for a tiny college town in New Hampshire.
Rebecca, an orphan undergrad caring for Jess’s grandson, finds in Jess’ house the promise of a family she has never known, but also a terrifying secret.
Meanwhile, unhinged and unmoored, the Whistler watches from the rooftops and awaits his moment.
And deep in the Mississippi Delta, the evil that spawned him stirs…
(via Goodreads)
(That summary is from Goodreads, but edited to leave out a few details that I think are better encountered in the novel.)
Good Girls continues where Motherless Child leaves off. And considering where Motherless Child ends, that is an interesting proposition. The story shifts necessarily from Natalie and Sophie’s story to Jess’s as she picks up the pieces in the wake of the Whistler’s attack. Jess’s narrative intersects with Rebecca’s as she attempts to wend her way into adulthood.
Thus far, the Motherless Children trilogy has a sort of split quality to it. Rebecca’s story line is firmly in the land of realism. She is a broken person with a rough background, and that narrative lacks supernatural elements. In tone, this is very much like Hirshberg’s The Snowman’s Children. In flashback, we are treated to the other half of this reality: Jess on the run from the Whistler and all the horror that follows with him. When these two plots overlap, it isn’t pretty. Hirshberg is good with gore, I have to say. While the violence sometimes feels over the top, it works. The Whistler and his kin are beyond human and over the top is just right.
Tantalizingly, there is a third plot thread in which we meet Aunt Sally, the origin of Whistler’s Mother. I’m definitely looking forward to the third book in this series.
Publishing info, my copy: eARC, Tor, Feb. 23, 2016
Genre: horror
February 22, 2016
Magic Monday ~ Cigarettes and Book Covers
I like Mondays. On Monday, I am refreshed from the weekend and exhilarated by the possibilities of the week ahead. I also like magic. I like its history, its intersection with technology, and its crafty use of human nature. I figured I’d combine the two and make a Monday feature that is truly me: a little bit of magic and a look at the week ahead.
Much of magic is dependent on the use of ordinary objects to do extraordinary things. Therefore, magic is also somewhat time and place dependent. Top hats aren’t used much for tricks anymore because men no longer wear top hats. Likewise, if I took a pack of ordinary Bicycle playing cards back in time to 1900, they would certainly incite suspicion with their quality card stock and “air-cushion” finish. And so, in a world where smoking is becoming restricted to outdoors*, performances like Tom Mullica’s signature cigarette routine will become more and more scarce.
Tom Mullica passed away last week. No, not due to anything smoking-related or to the myelogenous leukemia he was diagnosed with in 2010, but due to complications following a routine hernia operation. He was 67.
* Personally, I have no problem with this. If smoking is a personal choice, it can’t really be done around people who choose not to.
It’s Monday, What Are You Reading?
Before Sunday, I’d only read 47 pages last week. Some drama centering around our next door neighbor really wore me out. I’m still working on Territory by Emma Bull and started listening to Fresh Off the Boat by Eddie Huang. While there is a TV show based on Huang’s book, the book is definitely not a sit-com. Tomorrow, I’ll have a review of Glen Hirshberg’s new release, Good Girls.
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading, hosted by Book Date!
What Am I Writing?
This week I’ll be doing a final pass on Bounded in a Nutshell. And, the hard part, I still have to write a blurb. But I should have it good to go by the weekend.
And, since authors do these things, cover reveal! The book is a collection of my short works, mostly flash fiction pieces.
If you’re interested in being notified when Bounded in a Nutshell is released, sign up for my totally spam-free update list.
February 21, 2016
Month-Long #Weirdathon
Thus far 2016 has been pretty busy, reading and otherwise. A visit from my parents, classes, ARCs… But March is wide open, and it’s time to get weird.
Julianne at Outlandish Lit is hosting this month-long celebration of the weird and wonderful in honor of her three-year bloggiversary. There will be prizes. There will be Bookstgramming. There will be Weird-Offs. Sounds like a great time to me!
This is weird stack version 2. (I should never make a TBR stack more than 48 hours in advance of an event…) It’s still my own damn weird books, but I’m including a reread: Bret Easton Ellis’s Lunar Park. I actually went out of my way to purchase a copy with intent to reread it…about two years ago.
I’m keeping Mrs. Caliban by Rachael Ingalls from the Obscure Literary Monster list. It’s the shortest of the trio.
I also wanted to read some classic weird. I considered The King in Yellow, but instead I think I’ll finish an anthology I already started: volume one of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Weird Tales. I read “The Sandman” last year and really enjoyed it.
Coming Up: Month-Long #Weirdathon
Thus far 2016 has been pretty busy, reading and otherwise. A visit from my parents, classes, ARCs… But March is wide open, and it’s time to get weird.
Julianne at Outlandish Lit is hosting this month-long celebration of the weird and wonderful in honor of her three-year bloggiversary. There will be prizes. There will be Bookstgramming. There will be Weird-Offs. Sounds like a great time to me!
For this event, I’m going to Read My Own Damn Weird Books:
I had slated the five stories in The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye by A.S. Byatt to be read as part of Deal Me In. Unfortunately, when I picked “The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye” for week 8, I realized that it was 180 pages long. That’s a little much for a weekly short story challenge. Instead, I figured that the novella/novelette would be applicable for Weirdathon.
From the Obscure Literary Monsters list: Mrs. Caliban by Rachael Ingalls. This is definitely going to be the weirdest of books in my stack.
I thought about adding some classic weird, maybe The King in Yellow, but instead I think I’ll finish an anthology I already started: volume one of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Weird Tales. I read “The Sandman” last year and really enjoyed it.
I think I’ll also dip into Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women by Ricky Jay. Nonfiction can be weird, right?
February 20, 2016
Deal Me In, Week 7 ~ “Dance of the Dead”
Hosted by Jay @ Bibliophilopolis
“Dance of the Dead” by Richard Matheson
Card picked: Eight of Diamonds
From: I Am Legend, and other stories
Thoughts:
It’s the year 1997. WWIII has come and gone, leaving behind cities infected with anti-civilian germs and a youth culture whose catchphrase is “Live It!” Four of these young people, Lenny & Barbara and Bud & Peggy, head to St. Louis for an evening of fun. Peggy is the youngest of the bunch, a lonely freshman at the University. Her mother has warned her against people like Lenny, Barbara, and Bud. They drink. They use drugs. They have sex. And tonight, they are all going to go see a loopy dance. Peggy is new to most of these experiences and is reserved and a little frightened to take part in any of these activities. It’s through her eyes, and the occasional definition of slang terms, that we experience the story.
Loopy, we are told about halfway through, is a slang alteration of LUP. LUP, it’s finally revealed near the end of the story, is an acronym for Lifeless Undead Phenomenon. Peggy witnesses the loopy dance and chooses to embrace “Live It.”
The best part of this story is the build up to seeing the loopy and its dance. Matheson conjures up a gruesome enough site that we believe that Peggy could dread it. I think it’s difficult to pull off dread in literature. It’s too easy for a reader to skim or skip; the reading equivalent of covering your eyes. A good horror writer impels you to read every word, and Matheson is often that good.
Is This Your Card?
From naive Peggy to Yale graduate Jen Kramer. Kramer was a “contestant” on the most recent season of Fool Us. Spoiler–she doesn’t fool Penn & Teller, but she still does a great card trick.
February 16, 2016
Review ~ The Rosie Project
MEET DON TILLMAN, a brilliant yet socially challenged professor of genetics, who’s decided it’s time he found a wife. And so, in the orderly, evidence-based manner with which Don approaches all things, he designs the Wife Project to find his perfect partner: a sixteen-page, scientifically valid survey to filter out the drinkers, the smokers, the late arrivers.
Rosie Jarman is all these things. She also is strangely beguiling, fiery, and intelligent. And while Don quickly disqualifies her as a candidate for the Wife Project, as a DNA expert Don is particularly suited to help Rosie on her own quest: identifying her biological father. When an unlikely relationship develops as they collaborate on the Father Project, Don is forced to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie—and the realization that, despite your best scientific efforts, you don’t find love, it finds you. (via Goodreads)
Characters on the spectrum are tricky. There is the temptation to create a character that is inherently less than the audience; therefore, the reader can feel smarter and “in the know” in relation to the character. For me, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time fell into this category. The point of that book seemed to be the story that the character wasn’t seeing, and I thought it put me, the reader, in a wince-worthy position.
It’s also easy, I think, to go into the land of caricature. There is entertainment value in eccentricities. The problem with this is that many adults on the spectrum have found non-obtrusive lifestyle work-arounds. Maybe there is a little less eye-contact in social situations and a little more passion when discussing certain subjects (or even dispassion when discussing emotionally charged issues).
The Rosie Project does do both of these things to some degree. There is a wide range of behavior on the spectrum and Don falls firmly into the amusingly eccentric. He has an immutable down-to-the-minute schedule. He takes the term “jacket” way too literally. He estimates a person’s BMI upon meeting them. These things are a little extreme. On the other hand, one of Don’s responses strikes me as fundamentally true for the people on the spectrum that I know (and maybe myself as well): when Don is told that the woman he’s going on a date with has firm beliefs he asks, “Are they evidence-based?” It’s not that there is an innate skepticism to people on the spectrum, but there is usually a firm default position that comes out occasionally.
(For what it’s worth: Simsion based Don on people he knew in physics and the tech industry. He didn’t purposefully research Asperger’s or other areas of the autism spectrum.)
The other issue, the reader being the smart one, didn’t bother me much due to the genre of this novel. The romantic comedy is somewhat based on the audience presuming to know what is best for the characters. Most of the time, it’s only Don’s relationship with Rosie that we see “the truth” of. Often, Don can see the areas in which a faux pas might be made, and explains the methods he’s taken to deal with the situation or acknowledges, “yes, that was a faux pas,” which is certainly more the position of an intelligent adult.
The story itself is a little wild, a little unbelievable maybe, but also fun. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. The audio book I listened to was read by Dan O’Grady, a native Australian. It hadn’t sunk in to me that the book was set there so he was the perfect voice of Don.
Publishing info, my copy: Audio, HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books, Nov 20, 2014
Acquired: Tempe Overdrive Digital Collection
Genre: Romantic Comedy
February 15, 2016
Magic Monday ~ Something Fishy
I like Mondays. On Monday, I am refreshed from the weekend and exhilarated by the possibilities of the week ahead. I also like magic. I like its history, its intersection with technology, and its crafty use of human nature. I figured I’d combine the two and make a Monday feature that is truly me: a little bit of magic and a look at the week ahead.
I figured since it’s Lent…
It’s Monday, What Are You Reading?
I finished both The Rosie Project and Mrs. Houdini last week. I’ll have a review of the former tomorrow and the latter closer to its publication date. Since I’m a good two months away from the next ARC pub date and a few weeks out from Outlandish Lit’s Weirdathon, I decided to reach for a book from my own damn shelves.
According to Amazon, I purchased Territory in 2013. So far, the fantasy elements are light and the depiction of Tombstone, AZ is grimy and good.
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading, hosted by Book Date!
What Am I Writing?
Added front and back matter to Bounded in a Nutshell and the table of contents. I thought I had some issue with how I did the table of contents for The Martian Engineer’s Notebook, Compiled, but I don’t see what it was now. This week, I need to put together a cover, a blurb, and keywords. Shooting for a 2/29 release.
February 13, 2016
Deal Me In, Week 6 ~ “The Intoxicated”
Hosted by Jay @ Bibliophilopolis
“The Intoxicated” by Shirley Jackson
Card picked: Four of Spades
From: The Lottery, and other stories
Thoughts: An odd little story, although what else would I expect from Shirley Jackson?
A somewhat intoxicated man at a party seeks some quiet in the host’s kitchen. There, he meets their daughter Eileen. She’s seventeen. He struggles to come up with a topic to talk to her about. The default of “school” leads her to describe the paper that she’s writing about the downfall of humanity. She has developed a pretty grim view of the future. The man and, as we see later, Eileen’s father shrug off the impending doom of man with a sort of “kids will be kids” attitude.
First published in 1949, “The Intoxicated” is probably too early to reflect the youth activism that I associate with the 50s and 60, but I could be wrong about that. Eileen certainly reminded me of the some of the severe, serious high school activists I knew, whose parents were probably more interested in cracking a beer than in learning about ZPG or green house gases.
