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larryhammerOkay, so it's been long enough since I did a Reading Wednesday post that the list has built up a bit. Hrm.
Finished reading aloud:
Dogman books 3 & 5, story and art by Dav Pilkey, which are both quite funny; Castronauts book 4, story and art by Drew Brockington, which has plot elements even Eaglet didn't buy; a collection of Antman and Wasp comics, which were a mixed bag; (reread) Ivy + Bean Make the Rules, Annie Barrows, which is the one where the girls invent a spring-break day-camp in the park; Zoey & Sassafras books 1 through 6 (out of order because library holds are asynchronous), Asia Citro, which are a fabulous blend of whimsical fantasy, scientific investigation, and silly cat antics; Dragon Masters books 1-4 complete, Tracey West, which do indeed work better for an audience still learning fantasy tropes; and Nightlights, story and art by Lorena Alvarez Gomez, which has wonderful art for a creepy story that Eaglet is not quite old enough to grasp.
I strongly commend Zoey & Sassafras to the attention of parents and friends of children who consume early chapter books. After book 1, the order doesn't matter much. Book 6, with a longer than usual experimental setup (including plating petri dishes), drags the most.
Finished reading silently:
Unstoppable Wasp: Fix Everything, story by Jeremy Whitley, art by Gurihiru, which was meh despite the very appealing art (I love Gurihiru's understandably manga-influenced style -- they being a Japanese artist duo); Princeless v1, story by Jeremy Whitley again, art by Mia Goodwin, which was also meh despite the appealling story concept; Aquicorn Cove, story and art by Katie O’Neill, which I didn't like as much as The Tea-Dragon Society, despite being as close to a graphic novel distillation of Kathy Apelt (with more queerness) as I can imagine; Spark, Sarah Beth Durst, which is a middle-grade fantasy about finding one's voice without changing oneself and the power of being the right spark in the right situation, with bonus lightningdragons storm-beasts.
Plus a few Chinese readers (titles not noted).
In progress:
A College of Magics, Caroline Stevermer -- a reread, of which I'm about 1/3 in and need to find again (it's a hardcover and so didn't travel with me).
On hold:
Lady Cultivator (一仙难求, literally "an immortal is hard to find" -- though I've seen 仙 rendered as "fairy"), Yun Ji (云芨) -- Female-protagonist Chinese fantasy by the author of Phoenix Destiny,* and like that focused on the difficulties of being an outsider in multiple directions, including being female. Unlike that, this one is really a xianxia, focused on the practice of being a "Daoist" cultivator -- and more, uses the genre as the scaffolding for a bildungsroman. This just may be the best intro to the genre I've read -- and so far I haven't met any reason not to rec it to first-time readers. Bonus: it sidesteps or outright ignores many common formulaic tropes.** That said, a Content Note: the protagonist spends the first 100+ chapters, starting in childhood, under the pervasive threat of sexual violence, and is directly attacked a few times (this doesn't go completely away, but she eventually gets strong enough to counter most threats). There's also a lot of sexist gender essentialism, but I can't tell yet whether the author believes it, baked it into the worldbuilding to make things harder for the protagonist, or will eventually be poking holes in it. Caught up with the translation at chapter 230 (out of 685), shortly after wrapping up a wanderjahr.
* Speaking of which, I'm current with the translation at chapter 268.
** For example, there hasn't been a single tournament arc.
---L.
Subject quote from Don't Stop Believing, Journey.
Finished reading aloud:
Dogman books 3 & 5, story and art by Dav Pilkey, which are both quite funny; Castronauts book 4, story and art by Drew Brockington, which has plot elements even Eaglet didn't buy; a collection of Antman and Wasp comics, which were a mixed bag; (reread) Ivy + Bean Make the Rules, Annie Barrows, which is the one where the girls invent a spring-break day-camp in the park; Zoey & Sassafras books 1 through 6 (out of order because library holds are asynchronous), Asia Citro, which are a fabulous blend of whimsical fantasy, scientific investigation, and silly cat antics; Dragon Masters books 1-4 complete, Tracey West, which do indeed work better for an audience still learning fantasy tropes; and Nightlights, story and art by Lorena Alvarez Gomez, which has wonderful art for a creepy story that Eaglet is not quite old enough to grasp.
I strongly commend Zoey & Sassafras to the attention of parents and friends of children who consume early chapter books. After book 1, the order doesn't matter much. Book 6, with a longer than usual experimental setup (including plating petri dishes), drags the most.
Finished reading silently:
Unstoppable Wasp: Fix Everything, story by Jeremy Whitley, art by Gurihiru, which was meh despite the very appealing art (I love Gurihiru's understandably manga-influenced style -- they being a Japanese artist duo); Princeless v1, story by Jeremy Whitley again, art by Mia Goodwin, which was also meh despite the appealling story concept; Aquicorn Cove, story and art by Katie O’Neill, which I didn't like as much as The Tea-Dragon Society, despite being as close to a graphic novel distillation of Kathy Apelt (with more queerness) as I can imagine; Spark, Sarah Beth Durst, which is a middle-grade fantasy about finding one's voice without changing oneself and the power of being the right spark in the right situation, with bonus lightning
Plus a few Chinese readers (titles not noted).
In progress:
A College of Magics, Caroline Stevermer -- a reread, of which I'm about 1/3 in and need to find again (it's a hardcover and so didn't travel with me).
On hold:
Lady Cultivator (一仙难求, literally "an immortal is hard to find" -- though I've seen 仙 rendered as "fairy"), Yun Ji (云芨) -- Female-protagonist Chinese fantasy by the author of Phoenix Destiny,* and like that focused on the difficulties of being an outsider in multiple directions, including being female. Unlike that, this one is really a xianxia, focused on the practice of being a "Daoist" cultivator -- and more, uses the genre as the scaffolding for a bildungsroman. This just may be the best intro to the genre I've read -- and so far I haven't met any reason not to rec it to first-time readers. Bonus: it sidesteps or outright ignores many common formulaic tropes.** That said, a Content Note: the protagonist spends the first 100+ chapters, starting in childhood, under the pervasive threat of sexual violence, and is directly attacked a few times (this doesn't go completely away, but she eventually gets strong enough to counter most threats). There's also a lot of sexist gender essentialism, but I can't tell yet whether the author believes it, baked it into the worldbuilding to make things harder for the protagonist, or will eventually be poking holes in it. Caught up with the translation at chapter 230 (out of 685), shortly after wrapping up a wanderjahr.
* Speaking of which, I'm current with the translation at chapter 268.
** For example, there hasn't been a single tournament arc.
---L.
Subject quote from Don't Stop Believing, Journey.
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Date: 11 July 2019 09:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 11 July 2019 10:00 pm (UTC)