Queereaders discussion

Tell us what you are reading this month.

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Currently being charmed by Ali Smith's How to be both. Queered identities and relationships weave through the story though none are in and of themselves the focus of it.

Tim wrote: "Currently being charmed by Ali Smith's How to be both. Queered identities and relationships weave through the story though none are in and of themselves the focus of it."

Looks good Tim - I haven't read that author before. Which of her books is your favorite?

This is the only book of hers I've read. Wish I could recall how it came to be recommended to me. I've had it on my shelf for awhile.

I'm reading Naomi Novik's League of Dragons. It has a supporting character who's gay... But I love the interaction between the dragon and his...human companion.

Alex wrote: "I'm reading Naomi Novik's League of Dragons. It has a supporting character who's gay... But I love the interaction between the dragon and his...human companion."

I read Uprooted by her recently Alex, and it was a fun read!

Greg wrote: "I read Uprooted by her recently Alex, and it was a fun read!"

Yeah, I read Uprooted, too, though I kept wishing the protagonist would go with Kasia instead of the magician.

Alex wrote: "Greg wrote: "I read Uprooted by her recently Alex, and it was a fun read!"

Yeah, I read Uprooted, too, though I kept wishing the protagonist would go with Kasia instead of the magician."

:)

I'm reading The Cold Commands by Richard Morgan his 2nd book in the "A Land Fit for Heroes series"

Gianna wrote: "I just finished A Murder Over a Girl: Justice, Gender, Junior High by Ken Corbett . I am now reading [book:Whatever... Love is Love: Questioning the Labels We Give ..."

The first one of those sounds especially interesting Gianna. How did you like it? Was it well written?

Gianna wrote: "The book was extremely well written and Ken Corbett did an amazing job telling a difficult story that is not only heart breaking ,but full of complexities. The book was extremely hard for me to fin..."

I definitely want to read that one Ginanna!

I decided to reread The Silmarillion. It isn't bad, but there's a lot of big epic stuff going on but almost no character development.

In a similar vein, I found a collected copy of the 90s comic book version of The Hobbit, which is a lot cheaper than the individual issues. I'm super excited to be starting that in a couple of days. :)

Just finished The Lion and the Jewel by Wole Soyinka, the Nobel prize winning Nigerian playwright. I liked it, but his play Death and the King's Horseman: A Play was even more brilliant and affecting. Also just finished the light 1980's fantasy novel The Riders of the Sidhe - shallow characterizations and nothing especially original, owes a lot to other works such as Lord of the Rings but entertaining regardless.

Now I've just begun Poemas de Las Madres: The Mother's Poems by Gabriela Mistral, the first Latin American woman to win the Nobel Prize for literature. I ordered a couple more books by Mistral that are on the way, one with poems translated by Langston Hughes that I'm eagerly awaiting! One of my Goodreads friends loved that one!

Apparently there was some question of Mistral's sexuality because she never married or had children, but who knows if it was just innuendo? There's a controversial biographical movie about Mistral that depicts her as a lesbian as well as some feminist books that suggest this. An interesting article from the New York Times about her here: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/04/boo...

Greg wrote: "...The Riders of the Sidhe - shallow characterizations and nothing especially original, owes a lot to other works such as Lord of the Rings but entertaining regardless...."

It sound like a retelling of the Gaelic "Creation Myths" from the Book of Invasions. I was thinking about getting it, but probably will not. An excellent retelling is The Sevenwaters Trilogy by Juliet Marillier. It's a lot more subtle retelling, but characterizations are good.

Bill wrote: "An excellent retelling is The Sevenwaters Trilogy by Juliet Marillier. It's a lot more subtle retelling, but characterizations are good. .."

That does look good Bill - I'll add it to my to-read list!

Finished re-reading Poemas de Las Madres: The Mother's Poems and now reading three books:

the so far excellent book, Madwomen: The "Locas mujeres" Poems of Gabriela Mistral, a Bilingual Edition, a translation of Mistral's late poems

about 1/2 done with The Magicians by Lev Grossman, well written but the characters are quite unpleasant and the pacing is somewhat slow so far

just started Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

Hi Greg. I ended up enjoying Grossman's fantasy trilogy, but it took me awhile.

I started The Dark Defiles book 3 of this fantasy series which has been fun.

Bill wrote: "Hi Greg. I ended up enjoying Grossman's fantasy trilogy, but it took me awhile. "

The last 1/3 of the book is shaping up to be quite engaging! Hopefully Quentin gains a little maturity by the end of the book as well. I'll probably continue with the series, though not immediately.

Finished up Black Sheep Boy: A Novel in Stories which I saw up as one of the poll selections this month. It wasn't selected by I went ahead and read it. The writing is beautiful and the story interesting, but I felt outside the experience of the character. Odd for first person narration.

Now I'm starting Juliana: Volume 1: 1941-1944 which I received as a free download, I think from the author's posting here or in another group. It follows a group of young gay men and women in NYC in the '40s. I'm a history buff so this should be a particularly fun and interesting read.

Evidently it's also being performed on stage in NYC and the novel was intentionally written as a piece of performance art. Wish I'd known that when I was visiting there a couple months ago!

Tim wrote: "Finished up Black Sheep Boy: A Novel in Stories which I saw up as one of the poll selections this month. It wasn't selected by I went ahead and read it. The writing is beautiful and..."

Was it still worth reading Tim? Should I add it to my to-read list?

Almost done with Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, which is mainly about pesticide use in the 1950's US (although there is some description of worldwide use in the decade as well). It's beautifully written, and some things are historically fascinating! For instance, soldiers were dusted with DDT on the way back home from WWII to kill their lice?!?

Very interesting the origins of some of these chemicals. Her description of abuses of various pesticides in widespread plane spraying in the 1950's for various insect killing campaigns is chilling and disturbing as well - very comprehensive and cogent as well as lyrical. I'm glad I read it.

I'm listening to my "Parent's Generation" playlist which started with Jolson singing Gershwin's 1st hit, Swanee. He is great. And now - some Patsy Cline ;-)

Bill wrote: "I'm listening to my "Parent's Generation" playlist which started with Jolson singing Gershwin's 1st hit, Swanee. He is great. And now - some Patsy Cline ;-)"

Patsy Cline is great Bill - I hadn't heard much of her work before, but my brother put on some of her music during a car trip, and I really enjoyed it.

Yes she is. I'm not much into country music, but I like her. She's not too country

PS: I thought I was putting this into What are you doing now ;-)

Greg wrote: "Tim wrote: "Finished up Black Sheep Boy: A Novel in Stories which I saw up as one of the poll selections this month...Was it still worth reading Tim? Should I add it to my to-read list? "

While I wouldn't say it's a modernist style of writing I will say if you like modernists, you'd find the book a worthwhile read. It's a short book so either way it's not a big time investment.

Keep it in mind if you're looking for something different.

I'm always reading three books at the same time - because I'm too impatient.
On paper, I'm reading Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey. It's a thousand-page tome and I've oscillated between hating and liking it. Hopefully by the end I'll be able to make up my damn mind.
On e-reader, I'm reading Black Blades by Ginn Hales. Pretty damn confusing politics, so I've decided to take a break on it so I can focus properly on it later.
And on audiobook, I'm listening to Terrier by Tamora Pierce. I love her Tortall universe to bit, and this book is particularly interesting. The narrator is very good too, her accents helped to spice up the story considerably.

Miri wrote: "I'm always reading three books at the same time - because I'm too impatient.
On paper, I'm reading Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey. It's a thousand-page tome and I've oscillated between hating a..."

Oh, I love the Kushiel series. What made you dislike it?

I read Ginn Hale's Wicked Gentleman. She left too much about the background out for the book to make much sense...

I found the first part of Kushiel's Dart very iffy - the whole bit where she was a prized courtesan, the extensive description of the Night Court and everything. I couldn't put a finger on it, but I read somewhere this explanation that made sense to me. Despite describing Terre d'Ange like a sexual utopia where sex is no taboo and sex workers are respected, the book is still crawling with casual insults. Like 'whore' and 'prostitute' are still spewed as insults, and then there's the ingrained misogyny... It's this conflict that made the worldbuilding unconvincing to me.
But I'm at the Skaldia exile part, and I like it much more.

Ginn Hale's writing IS confusing as hell. So much to fill in on your own, sometimes I can't make sense of it all.

Miri wrote: "I'm always reading three books at the same time - because I'm too impatient.
On paper, I'm reading Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey. It's a thousand-page tome and I've oscillated between hating a..."

Miri, Terrier is such a fun book - I stayed up late reading it. I enjoyed that whole series a lot!

Hey Greg, Terrier is definitively very fun to read! I love Tamora Pierce's female characters a whole lot. And a cat is always a good addition!

Miri wrote: "Hey Greg, Terrier is definitively very fun to read! I love Tamora Pierce's female characters a whole lot. And a cat is always a good addition!"

Me too Miri - the protagonist of Terrier is definitely fun to root for - I was invested in her story practically right from the start.

Finished Silent Spring today - despite being 56 years old, it still felt highly relevant ... not only cogently argued but also with some truly beautiful prose, very evocative for a scientific text.

As for the books I'm still in the middle of:

Gilead so far is my favorite of the batch. It's shaping up to be my favorite book so far this year ... an extraordinary book! I'm loving The Book Thief too though, and the third book The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is also quite enjoyable in its own way.

Phillip wrote: "'I've been meaning to read Silent Spring for decades . . . having grown up in Maine I can appreciate Carson's passion for protecting the coast's beauty, and we all are so indebted to her! ..."

So true Phillip! I had no idea that there wasn't even an EPA at the time of her writing the book. According to the introduction, the book was instrumental in encouraging the EPA to be formed!

Phillip wrote: "I think Silent Spring is my next book to read. The environment really was taking a beating until early activists like Rachel Carson started raising a stink. I grew up nearby the Rachel Carson prese..."

What a great tradition Phillip! I've never been further Northeast than New York yet, but one day I want to see Maine in the autumn.

I am reading all of Poul Anderson's Technic Civilization novels, novellas and short stories as compiled and republished by Hank Davis. I am currently on Captain Flandry book 5 of 7 in the series.

Poul Anderson is both a SFWA and Gandalf Fantasy Grand Master. He "began his career during the Golden Age of the genre and continued to write and remain popular into the 21st century. Anderson also authored several works of fantasy, historical novels, and a prodigious number of short stories. He received numerous awards for his writing, including seven Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards" among many other accolades. I highly recommend his works. Caveat Emptor: He has 20th century Libertarian ideas, some coming through in his works, subtly or not so. Also a lot written in the SF Golden Age, so he may seem not PC. Such things I can easily overlook, just like in Shakespeare or Chaucer. But I know it can piss some off, thus the caveat ;-)

Currently reading The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessig, it's nice so far.

I have FINALLY finished Kushiel's Dart, praise the lord. Yep, definitely not reading any of these books ever again.

The Enormous Room by e.e. cummings.
Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin.

Finished The Book Thief (great storytelling), only a few pages left in Gilead (brilliant!), and just began A Little Life today.

Greg wrote: "Finished The Book Thief (great storytelling)"

Not enough (view spoiler)[BOOK THEFT (hide spoiler)] though, I found!

I just got Something Like Rain by Jay Bell. His newest book will be my next read.

Natasha (Diarist) wrote: "Greg wrote: "Finished The Book Thief (great storytelling)"

Not enough [spoilers removed] though, I found!"

Ha ha Natasha, that's true! :)

I'm now reading Fortress in the Eye of Time book 1 of CJ Cherryh's Fortress series. This will be my 3rd read of these. Cherryh is my favorite spec-fic author.

Oh dear, I've read that book a VERY long while back. Don't remember much but the fact that the main character is SO PURE. I guess it's due for a re-read now!

Miri wrote: "Oh dear, I've read that book a VERY long while back. Don't remember much but the fact that the main character is SO PURE. I guess it's due for a re-read now!"

Tristan's the ultimate innocent.

Bill wrote: "I'm now reading Fortress in the Eye of Time book 1 of CJ Cherryh's Fortress series. This will be my 3rd read of these. Cherryh is my favorite spec-fic author."

Cherryh is so fantastic. This series reminds me of her Foreigner series in the sense of political complexity while having great characters and stories. It's been awhile since a novel has kept me up too late to keep reading...