A Provocative Insight

Mei-Ling Poses As Witchy Eye

Not as much reading time lately, in part because my achy shoulder is restricting my ability to read in bed.  MRI this week.  Ortho next week.  Grateful to live with access to 21st century medical technology.

A reminder.  The Friday Fragments is not a book review column; it’s a list of what I’m reading and maybe a bit about my opinions.  I always read the comments section and enjoy learning what other people are reading.  Oh, and I don’t usually list shorter works unless in a collection or articles, I also don’t usually list scattered research reading.

Completed:

American Ghost: A Family’s Extraordinary History on the Desert Frontier by Hannah Nordhaus.  Non-fiction.  Audiobook. Nordhaus decides to investigate her ancestor Julia Staab, who ostensibly haunts La Posada in Santa Fe.  Nordhaus states repeatedly that the book is more about herself than about Julia, so I’ll add that I’ve seen a lot of the places she mentions, and she definitely projects her interpretations onto everything from the burro statue in Burro Alley to the landscape, and, of course, onto Julia Staab.  Read as a personal memoir of the author, not as scholarly analysis of a historical figure.

A Prayer for the Crown Shy by Becky Chambers.  Audiobook.  Thoughtful, gentle.  Sequel to other “Monk and Robot” stories, but can stand alone.  As I was saying to a friend, Chambers’ work is not without conflict.  The conflict is the subtle contrast between what she envisions as possible and what “everyone knows” is how societies work. 

In Progress:

Witchy Eye by D.J. Butler.  Very solidly researched alternate history into which a classic “hidden heir” Fantasy plot is convincingly integrated.  The second edition (which I am reading) includes an excellent essay on how the author’s alternate “America” evolved.  One of those rare alternate history works in which scrupulous attention to worldbuilding does not mean characterization takes second place.

The Galaxy and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers.  Audiobook.  Re-listen.  Just starting.

Also:

Almost done with the latest Smithsonian.  Been very interesting.