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Reading Wednesday, yays, and sponges are indeed on the menu.
Read aloud to Eaglet:
Monkey King volumes 9-11, adaptation Wei Dongchen, art Chao Peng -- As Janni noted, the story’s over-the-top-ness is entertaining, and it just keeps growing. And we’re just over halfway through. Eaglet, of course, enjoys the pee jokes (and has decided to be Sun Wukong for Halloween). More volumes soon.
A Child’s Introduction to Greek Mythology, stories Heather Alexander, art Meredith Hamilton -- More of the same as the previous mythology story book, with a wider range of sources and actual explainers about the setting and scenarios. Have not actually read every single story, but many have been both multiply read and personally retold.
Dinosaur Empire!, story and art Abby Howard — A dense (and as Eaglet noted, rather talky) explainer about the evolution of dinosaurs and allied reptiles of the mesozoic, with lots of nods to smaller and cuter species. I learned a lot myself from this, and I’m still cracking over the idea of a paleontologist keeping her time-and-space machine in her streetside recycling bin (and her blithe handwaving that the travelings are all "Science Magic"). We’ve started the sequel, Ocean Renegades!, covering the paleozoic, but progress has been slowed by other books, such as ...
Mighty Jack & Zita the Space Girl, story and art Ben Hatke -- Yes, the conclusion of this trilogy is a crossover. A good story well threaded, though Zita’s presence did have unfortunate effect of diluting Lily and generally weakening the emotional impact of her and Jack’s arcs. I continue to rec both this and Zita’s series. :grabs collars: Read this stuff!
Cleopatra in Space volume 1, story and art Mike Maihack -- I’m not yet clear why it was necessary to make the destined savior of the galaxy a fifteen-year-old Cleopatra VII mysteriously time-traveled to the far future (where she is, to her disgust, still made to study algebra) aside from giving the book a vaguely retro-Egyptian art style, but the results are cool so I’m rolling with it. Eaglet gobbled it up like pancakes fresh out of the pan, and is demanding more. Fortunately, four more are out and available through the library.
In progress silent:
Chaotic Sword God (混沌剑神), Xinxing Xiaoyao (心星逍遥, "Heart-Star Free and Unfettered") -- Since my current mindless Chinese fantasy adventure reading is currently limited to the translator's speed, I settled on this to scratch the extended itch. Not as well-written (the repetitive overwriting is redundantly annoying) and by-the-numbers, but so far nothing actively offensive enough to make me drop it. Up to chapter 240.
Chinese Lyricism, Burton Watson -- Another slow thinky chapter.
Plus keeping current with the five Chinese webnovel fantasies mentioned last time. And a handful of early readers in Mandarin.
On hold:
Assassin Farmer, Xi Zhen -- Caught up with translation at chapter 102. Remains a fluffy romance sweet enough to induce diabetes, even though his former sect of assassins and her body's former family have shown up to complicate things. More please?
---L.
Subject quote from SpongeBob SquarePants Theme Song.
Read aloud to Eaglet:
Monkey King volumes 9-11, adaptation Wei Dongchen, art Chao Peng -- As Janni noted, the story’s over-the-top-ness is entertaining, and it just keeps growing. And we’re just over halfway through. Eaglet, of course, enjoys the pee jokes (and has decided to be Sun Wukong for Halloween). More volumes soon.
A Child’s Introduction to Greek Mythology, stories Heather Alexander, art Meredith Hamilton -- More of the same as the previous mythology story book, with a wider range of sources and actual explainers about the setting and scenarios. Have not actually read every single story, but many have been both multiply read and personally retold.
Dinosaur Empire!, story and art Abby Howard — A dense (and as Eaglet noted, rather talky) explainer about the evolution of dinosaurs and allied reptiles of the mesozoic, with lots of nods to smaller and cuter species. I learned a lot myself from this, and I’m still cracking over the idea of a paleontologist keeping her time-and-space machine in her streetside recycling bin (and her blithe handwaving that the travelings are all "Science Magic"). We’ve started the sequel, Ocean Renegades!, covering the paleozoic, but progress has been slowed by other books, such as ...
Mighty Jack & Zita the Space Girl, story and art Ben Hatke -- Yes, the conclusion of this trilogy is a crossover. A good story well threaded, though Zita’s presence did have unfortunate effect of diluting Lily and generally weakening the emotional impact of her and Jack’s arcs. I continue to rec both this and Zita’s series. :grabs collars: Read this stuff!
Cleopatra in Space volume 1, story and art Mike Maihack -- I’m not yet clear why it was necessary to make the destined savior of the galaxy a fifteen-year-old Cleopatra VII mysteriously time-traveled to the far future (where she is, to her disgust, still made to study algebra) aside from giving the book a vaguely retro-Egyptian art style, but the results are cool so I’m rolling with it. Eaglet gobbled it up like pancakes fresh out of the pan, and is demanding more. Fortunately, four more are out and available through the library.
In progress silent:
Chaotic Sword God (混沌剑神), Xinxing Xiaoyao (心星逍遥, "Heart-Star Free and Unfettered") -- Since my current mindless Chinese fantasy adventure reading is currently limited to the translator's speed, I settled on this to scratch the extended itch. Not as well-written (the repetitive overwriting is redundantly annoying) and by-the-numbers, but so far nothing actively offensive enough to make me drop it. Up to chapter 240.
Chinese Lyricism, Burton Watson -- Another slow thinky chapter.
Plus keeping current with the five Chinese webnovel fantasies mentioned last time. And a handful of early readers in Mandarin.
On hold:
Assassin Farmer, Xi Zhen -- Caught up with translation at chapter 102. Remains a fluffy romance sweet enough to induce diabetes, even though his former sect of assassins and her body's former family have shown up to complicate things. More please?
---L.
Subject quote from SpongeBob SquarePants Theme Song.