Larry Hammer (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
larryhammer) wrote2019-01-16 07:57 am
larryhammer) wrote2019-01-16 07:57 am
“only the snow can begin to explain / how children are apt to forget to remember”
Okay, so it's been a while again since my last Reading Wednesday accounting ...
Finished:
Mighty Jack and Mighty Jack and the Goblin King, story and art Ben Hatke, being both books of a duology in the same universe as Zita the Space Girl -- Read aloud to TBD, who snorked them down even more enthusiastically than Zita and demanded immediate rereads. Learning that Hatke's next book, Mighty Jack and Zita the Space Girl, will be published shortly before their birthday prompted squeals of delight. (NB: It has since been pushed out to next September, the same day as the next Hilda book.) Like Zita, there's a good blend of thematic meat with the adventure, here refracted through a folkloric lens instead of space opera. Note that Jack is in his early teens, instead of Zita's unspecified pre-teens -- though the age difference does not seem to have been a barrier.
The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby, story and art Dav Pilkey -- Another read-aloud, snorked-and-reread graphic novel, this one a spinoff from Captain Underpants. Amusing potty humor abounds. Reread a few times.
My Beijing: Four Stories of Everyday Wonder, story and art Nie Jun, tr. Edward Gauvin -- Another read-aloud and reread graphic novel (and TBD immediately started demanding bedtime stories about the characters). Four magic-realist stories about a young girl with mobility issues being raised by her grandfather in a Beijing hutong (traditional neighborhood). Lovely, lovely stuff, and the atmosphere reminds me of a certain manga (such as Aria). FWIW Yu'er's disability does cause issues but is not linked to any magic.
Monkey King volume 8, adaptation Wei Dongchen, art Chao Peng -- Another manhua read-aloud. This installment covers the adventure of the Gold- and Silver-Horn Kings (chapters 33-35 of Journey to the West), and treats Pigsy with all the dignity he deserves. (Yes, that's a joke.) Looking for more, yah.
The Magic Tree House volumes 1-2, Mary Pope Osborne -- Also, yes, read aloud to TBD. If these stick -- not a given, as there's some ambivalence -- this series should last us a while. Of course, it didn't hurt that they're already interested in the subjects of these two volumes, namely dinosaurs and medieval European knights. (I've not been noting down all the books about castles, knights, arms, and armor we've gotten through.)
Plus as part of Yuletide research, a few translations of Gilgamesh materials -- the ones of note being the two from Penguin Classics, the recent Andrew George version with All The Fragments and the older N. K. Sandars version synthesizing the fragments to date into a unified prose narrative. In fact, I didn't actually finish any other translations, as these two were clearly better for both reading and fic'ing purposes.
And bunches of Yuletide 2018 fics, to be partially noted in a recs post when I've digested more.
In progress:
My Disciple Died Yet Again (我家徒弟又挂了), You Qian (尤前) -- Comedy xianxia, in which a contemporary woman is reincarnated into a fantasy world ... several times over, each time as the disciple of the same cultivation master, one so old and detached from the world as to be an active danger to her. Genre-savvy gamer protagonist for the win, which means lots of skewering genre conventions. Entertaining popcorn. Up to chapter 36 (of 393).
On hold:
Genius Doctor: Black Belly Miss (絕世神醫：腹黑大小姐), North Night (夜北) -- LCD reincarnation xuanhuan with an amusing if overpowered female protagonist and an irritating if even more overpowered love interest. Very short chapters made for quick munching in times of little brain. Unfortunately, most characters are not very realized except as props for increasingly elaborate and unrealistic revenge fantasies, and the growing grimdark details have been leaving enough bad taste in my mental mouth that I switched at chapter 1225 (out of over 2000 translated, 3123 total) to ...
... Insanely Pampered Wife: Divine Doctor Fifth Young Miss (爆宠狂妻：神医五小姐), Shan Gumu (扇骨木), a reincarnation xianxia with an amazing number of identical story elements with Genius Doctor, remixed into more of a pure-fun adventure yarn. Would still be reading it (despite the sloppy translation) if I hadn't run out of chapters at 353. (ETA: At which point, the Fifth Young Miss is not only nowhere near close to being a wife, pampered or otherwise, but has been living the entire book disguised as a young man for Reasons, and even sometimes acting the beard for her best female friend to keep her from unwanted attentions.)
Which means Phoenix Destiny remains the only xianxia I've been keeping up with chapters as they release, currently chapter 193. Best female protagonist Chinese fantasy I've found yet. ETA Annnnd a couple more chapters just dropped --- with a freaking Monkey King joke YESSSS FTW.
---L.
Subject quote from anyone lived in a pretty how town, e.e. cummings.
Finished:
Mighty Jack and Mighty Jack and the Goblin King, story and art Ben Hatke, being both books of a duology in the same universe as Zita the Space Girl -- Read aloud to TBD, who snorked them down even more enthusiastically than Zita and demanded immediate rereads. Learning that Hatke's next book, Mighty Jack and Zita the Space Girl, will be published shortly before their birthday prompted squeals of delight. (NB: It has since been pushed out to next September, the same day as the next Hilda book.) Like Zita, there's a good blend of thematic meat with the adventure, here refracted through a folkloric lens instead of space opera. Note that Jack is in his early teens, instead of Zita's unspecified pre-teens -- though the age difference does not seem to have been a barrier.
The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby, story and art Dav Pilkey -- Another read-aloud, snorked-and-reread graphic novel, this one a spinoff from Captain Underpants. Amusing potty humor abounds. Reread a few times.
My Beijing: Four Stories of Everyday Wonder, story and art Nie Jun, tr. Edward Gauvin -- Another read-aloud and reread graphic novel (and TBD immediately started demanding bedtime stories about the characters). Four magic-realist stories about a young girl with mobility issues being raised by her grandfather in a Beijing hutong (traditional neighborhood). Lovely, lovely stuff, and the atmosphere reminds me of a certain manga (such as Aria). FWIW Yu'er's disability does cause issues but is not linked to any magic.
Monkey King volume 8, adaptation Wei Dongchen, art Chao Peng -- Another manhua read-aloud. This installment covers the adventure of the Gold- and Silver-Horn Kings (chapters 33-35 of Journey to the West), and treats Pigsy with all the dignity he deserves. (Yes, that's a joke.) Looking for more, yah.
The Magic Tree House volumes 1-2, Mary Pope Osborne -- Also, yes, read aloud to TBD. If these stick -- not a given, as there's some ambivalence -- this series should last us a while. Of course, it didn't hurt that they're already interested in the subjects of these two volumes, namely dinosaurs and medieval European knights. (I've not been noting down all the books about castles, knights, arms, and armor we've gotten through.)
Plus as part of Yuletide research, a few translations of Gilgamesh materials -- the ones of note being the two from Penguin Classics, the recent Andrew George version with All The Fragments and the older N. K. Sandars version synthesizing the fragments to date into a unified prose narrative. In fact, I didn't actually finish any other translations, as these two were clearly better for both reading and fic'ing purposes.
And bunches of Yuletide 2018 fics, to be partially noted in a recs post when I've digested more.
In progress:
My Disciple Died Yet Again (我家徒弟又挂了), You Qian (尤前) -- Comedy xianxia, in which a contemporary woman is reincarnated into a fantasy world ... several times over, each time as the disciple of the same cultivation master, one so old and detached from the world as to be an active danger to her. Genre-savvy gamer protagonist for the win, which means lots of skewering genre conventions. Entertaining popcorn. Up to chapter 36 (of 393).
On hold:
Genius Doctor: Black Belly Miss (絕世神醫：腹黑大小姐), North Night (夜北) -- LCD reincarnation xuanhuan with an amusing if overpowered female protagonist and an irritating if even more overpowered love interest. Very short chapters made for quick munching in times of little brain. Unfortunately, most characters are not very realized except as props for increasingly elaborate and unrealistic revenge fantasies, and the growing grimdark details have been leaving enough bad taste in my mental mouth that I switched at chapter 1225 (out of over 2000 translated, 3123 total) to ...
... Insanely Pampered Wife: Divine Doctor Fifth Young Miss (爆宠狂妻：神医五小姐), Shan Gumu (扇骨木), a reincarnation xianxia with an amazing number of identical story elements with Genius Doctor, remixed into more of a pure-fun adventure yarn. Would still be reading it (despite the sloppy translation) if I hadn't run out of chapters at 353. (ETA: At which point, the Fifth Young Miss is not only nowhere near close to being a wife, pampered or otherwise, but has been living the entire book disguised as a young man for Reasons, and even sometimes acting the beard for her best female friend to keep her from unwanted attentions.)
Which means Phoenix Destiny remains the only xianxia I've been keeping up with chapters as they release, currently chapter 193. Best female protagonist Chinese fantasy I've found yet. ETA Annnnd a couple more chapters just dropped --- with a freaking Monkey King joke YESSSS FTW.
---L.
Subject quote from anyone lived in a pretty how town, e.e. cummings.
no subject
I am very fond of Andrew George with All the Fragments.
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Magic Tree House held some attention around then, as I recall. Magic Schoolbus turns out to be 2-3y older subjectively due to a different kind of complexity. Reason has forgotten about it, though it occurs to me, typing, that now-ish is probably right. (She's eight.)
Lumberjanes = v. popular here; Princess in Black has been left behind; Harriet Hamsterbone is still read and reread, no longer with adult help. Actually, lately she's been trawling the library's craft books, including the ones on how to monetize your work, which made me laugh. We've talked about why one book about making slime at home (which Reason has done twice at others' birthday parties and now shuns due to the environmental consequences) is produced the way it is, since its author is an Instagram influencer.
...hm, sorry for leaving a post in your comments! Think I won't move it, however.
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Mighty Jack was a definite leveling up the storytelling skills for Hatke -- I rec it wholeheartedly for both kids and grown-ups.
We've read two of the Magic Schoolbus chapter books, because the show gets repeated rewatching, but they are indeed of a certain complexity. I expect another year or two, they'll be of more concern. I'm hopeful of Magic Treehouse, given age.
Haven't tried Lumberjanes yet, because they look pitched slightly older than 5. We haven't read any Princess in Black except the most recent one when it came out for at least half a year. Hamster Princess is on pause for the nonce, although we still get requests for stories about Harriet and Handsome Mumfrey (querk!), if not as frequently as Hilda and Twig.
Not much on crafting, yet. Lots and lots of knights and castles ...
no subject
Reason brought me a Magic Treehouse book yesterday while tidying things and declared, "Someone else should have this now." Okay then. It does seem apt for 4-7ish, IMO.
Yes, Lumberjanes = MG heading for the MG/YA border, I think: not as dark as YA is so often now, but fairly incisive and complex. Mumfrey is best.
Also: upon realizing the other day that I hadn't read Dahl's Matilda (she has) because I was kind of too old to care by the time it was published (1988), Reason required me to borrow a library copy. I agreed on the condition that she try The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, and Six More (she's read BFG and Witches and Charlie and James already). We shall see.