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larryhammerWednesday reading meme day yay.
Finished:
Miss Marjoribanks* by Margaret Oliphant, a Victorian triple-decker that I can only describe as "social manipulation competence porn." The titular character is very good at running her drawing-room-based world, and her town, through judicious indirection and calculated directness. Best character study of a domestic tyrant (narrator's term) I've read, and a delight through and through. Oliphant is not a Trollope** or even a Gaskell, but she wields her irony on point and was a popular writer for good reason, even if we have largely forgotten her.
The Towers of Sunset by L.E. Modesitt, dropping back to book two of the Recluse series. Meh. I don't think I've ever believed a matriarchy written by a male author. That this is an origin-story installment (another one) may also be a factor.
Fanfic from just-past Yuletide, to be reported on later.
In progress:
Back to Rondo Allegro by Sherwood Smith, to a little short of half-way.
Up next:
Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho just arrived from the library, yays.
* Pronounced "Marchbanks."
** Which is just as well, as he'd've bungled this one, especially the election business in the last third.
---L.
Subject quote from "Let's Dance," David Bowie (RIP).
Finished:
Miss Marjoribanks* by Margaret Oliphant, a Victorian triple-decker that I can only describe as "social manipulation competence porn." The titular character is very good at running her drawing-room-based world, and her town, through judicious indirection and calculated directness. Best character study of a domestic tyrant (narrator's term) I've read, and a delight through and through. Oliphant is not a Trollope** or even a Gaskell, but she wields her irony on point and was a popular writer for good reason, even if we have largely forgotten her.
The Towers of Sunset by L.E. Modesitt, dropping back to book two of the Recluse series. Meh. I don't think I've ever believed a matriarchy written by a male author. That this is an origin-story installment (another one) may also be a factor.
Fanfic from just-past Yuletide, to be reported on later.
In progress:
Back to Rondo Allegro by Sherwood Smith, to a little short of half-way.
Up next:
Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho just arrived from the library, yays.
* Pronounced "Marchbanks."
** Which is just as well, as he'd've bungled this one, especially the election business in the last third.
---L.
Subject quote from "Let's Dance," David Bowie (RIP).