FF: Wonders All Around

Mei-Ling Seeks the Invisible World

For those of you unfamiliar with this column, the Friday Fragments lists what I’ve read over the past week.  Most of the time I don’t include details of either short fiction (unless part of a book-length collection) or magazines.  The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list.  If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive recommendation list, you can look on my website under Neat Stuff.

Once again, this is not a book review column.  It’s just a list with, maybe, a bit of description or a few opinions tossed in.  And it’s also a great place to tell me what you’re reading. 

Completed:

DreamForge Anvil, issue 8.  Enjoyed most of the stories.

In Progress:

The Lost Book of the Grail by Charlie Lovett.  Audiobook.  I find Arthur a bit annoying in his complacent privilege and technophobia, but I realize the latter other is something some of my friends would say I share, as I do prefer print to electronic books!  However, I use tech quite a lot for research, which Arthur is unbelievably clueless about for a modern college professor.

Wonders of the Invisible World by Patricia A. McKillip.  Short story collection.  Lovely prose, but many of the stories seem like part one of a novel.  My favorite so far is “Knight of the Well,” which seemed like a complete tale.

The Hotel Cat by Esther Averill (illustrated by her as well).  My “before bed” book right now.

The Animal World of the Pharaohs by Patrick F. Houlihan.  This 1996 study is enjoyable and engrossing.  Over half-way, enjoying, although it’s such a big tome I can’t read it before bed, which is slowing me down.

Also:

The latest issue of Archeology.