Don't Try this at Home by Angela Readman

Much has happened since I last posted! I have created and forgotten two placeholder drafts, been on holiday three times in one month and moved country! I say this, to excuse me from ever writing and posting the two placeholder drafts which I created some months back. Sorry, you are to be sorely deprived of my experiences of the Polyglot Gathering in Bratislava and the mid-year bumper edition Lit Corner I had lined up.*

This is also the reason I haven't written up my review of Angela Readman's Don't Try this at Home here - I simply forgot completely that it was something I ought to do! I bought this book in March last year, and had wanted it a while before that. I read it in a bit of a hurry in the days leading up to my move as I knew I wouldn't be able to bring that many books with me, and also because I had promised to lend it to someone.** As it has been a while, I will be cheap and copy-paste the Goodreads review I wrote at the time here.

"I liked this book more than I thought I would after reading the first couple of stories, but less than I wanted to. Overall, I only really enjoyed two stories: 'Surviving Sainthood' and 'There's a Woman Works Down the Chip Shop'. There were a few others which I liked, but not enough, unfortunately."

So, for a book I had been looking forward to for so long, really not great. Maybe part of the problem was the anticipation, but a huge part of it was simply due to a disconnect between myself and the stories. I can no longer put my finger on the why of it, can only say that the whole experience left me feeling kinda cold.

This book counts toward the Mount TBR Reading Challenge.

*I may well get to the latter at some point, if only because I have in there a couple of books that have been mentioned before. As for the former... well they're hosting the event in Bratislava again next year and hopefully this time I won't be moving countries just a short month later! 

**Okay, to two someones. Maybe even three. Sorry for the confusion, all!

The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Steven Baxter

I accidentally started this book last year, while I was supposed to be reading something else, but only got a hundred or so pages in. I finally got back to it late last month, so that I could make a real decision on whether or not to buy the second book.

And my decision is... I won't. That's not to say that I didn't like The Long Earth. I actually did, although there were definitely more than a few things that annoyed me. I ranted about Joshua's lack of common sense in my GoodReads review (seriously, who doesn't comprehend that unexplored oceans aren't great places to take a dip in?!), and there were a few more minor things that bothered me, but on the whole I thought it was a compelling and interesting read. I liked all the world-building, although I didn't really appreciate the novel's focus on what the long earth could be for - that felt too much like the novelists imposing their own thoughts and need to inject a moral onto the world they created, and not at all like the kind of question I would be having if I found out there were multiple other worlds to skip off into. And I mostly enjoyed the different characters. I've realised that I like a good slow-burner, although the action in the end could have perhaps done with a more subtle build up. All in all, I really enjoyed reading The Long Earth - but it has nothing that could tempt me into continuing the series.

This book counts towards the Mount TBR reading challenge.

The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales by Kirsty Logan

I've wanted to read this book for ages - maybe since it first came out? Then, when I got the chance to buy it first time round, I was a bit put off by how like the title story was to a very short story that I once wrote. I hate it when I've written something that I think is really neat, only to find that someone else got there first.* And then I started reading The Gracekeepers, which was too close to The Night Circus for me to enjoy.**

But I came across the book in the charity bookshop where I work sometime last year and thought that for £2.99 I could take the chance. And I'm really glad I did. I enjoyed Logan's stories, and the way they wind themselves to their conclusions. The are all delightfully queer and often unexpected. Logan never uses her words or metaphors in the way we've come to expect a writer would. 

The stories were all, with one exception, spot on. I won't say which story that exception was, as I don't want to ruin the experience for another reader by pointing out the things that I didn't enjoy, but the voice itself wasn't to my liking. The title story I obviously liked. I also enjoyed the story which closed the collection. 'Una and Coll are not friends' and 'Witch' were two more favourites. The biggest surprise was 'The Gracekeeper' which I actually really enjoyed. Enough to make a second attempt at the novel? Only time (and my ridiculously long 'to read' list) will tell.

*Doesn't stop me from shamelessly promoting myself though. Go read my story, it's really short!

**Not that I enjoyed The Night Circus that much, either, which was probably the main problem. Maybe I would have liked it more if I had read it first, or if every single review of it ever didn't draw that same comparison. Maybe.

This counts the UK for the European reading challenge. It also counts for the Mount TBR challenge.

Stand Still Stay Silent vol. I by Minna Sundberg

I received Stand Still Stay Silent vol. I as a present from my boyfriend last month, and started reading it on New Years Day exactly. I had never heard of the comic before, although as a language enthusiast with language-enthusiast friends I had naturally seen this page before.

I loved the comic. It strikes a perfect balance between cute and scary - not something I ever thought I would say before! The story in the first volume shows the first outbreaks of the mysterious 'rash illness' and it's spread across the world. The particulars are kept quiet, and we are thrown 90 years into  future where much of the world is either uninhabited/uninhabitable or purposely forgotten (often both). The first volume charts the set up and a few of the adventures of a group of explorers on a mission to learn more about the 'silent world'.

So, a good story line and absolutely gorgeous art. Each page is truly breathtaking, with a lovely attention to detail and fabulous colour work. Each chapter contains information pages, such as the one linked above, which give the world more colour and more depth. They're all really thoughtfully done and make lovely additions to the story. The characters are all rather over the top. My favourite is the extremely withdrawn Finn, Lalli. His backstory and arc looks very promising, too. Although the characters often seem like caricatures of themselves, I felt it really fit in with the story and the artwork, if that's even possible.

The print copy is a Lovely Thing in and of itself. It's a solid hardback in a large format, although smaller than A4. The paper is high quality as is the print itself - bright, crisp and clear. It also comes with an extra short story and insight into Sundberg's page creation process. I could continue reading online, but a good part of me wants to hold off and treat myself to the second book instead.

Minna Sundberg is Finno-svensk (and there was more Finnish in this book than any of the other Nordic languages) so I will be counting this as Finland for the European reading challenge. This book also counts for the Mount TBR challenge.

Review: Ancillary Justice

I've been putting this one off.

How do I get across just how much I loved this book? I've said it so many times recently, the words seem kind of wan. And yet - and yet -

And yet I find myself, four days later, just reliving one moment or another from this book. One sensation or another. A sudden desire to be in the presence of one of the characters. This doesn't happen to me often.

I'll keep it short. Once again, I'm late to the party. This book already won all of the awards, we can all sit down and bask in the glow.

What did I like about this book, you ask? I'll tell you! I liked the voice. It was a voice clearly not human, without being so other that it felt forced. Yes, this was an AI talking, one mind spread across multiple bodies (a ship, it was an entire ship) and yet I didn't feel Leckie trying to force it's inherent AI-ness down my throat. It was just there.

And I liked that this was okay. By which I mean, I liked that this was just okay with One Esk/Breq. Breq didn't have moral dilemma's about her identity, although other characters had plenty enough on her behalf. Breq had her intelligence, and her goal. One step and then the next. This book is so much more than the question of what constitutes a human, although that is a question that is present throughout. The other question, that comes up again and again is: What do you do when you have two options, and neither of them are right?

Again, I don't see Leckie tripping over Breq's tongue to preach to us what we should do. Breq makes choices, and some are more damaging, others are less damaging. An excellent thing about One Esk as a focaliser is that we can see, through One Esk and the Justice of Toren the small and large scale impact.

Just- wow. I could wax on about this all day long, but I wouldn't be waxing lyrical or sense because I genuinely don't quite know how to do this book justice. I can't wait until I get my hands on the next.

This counts for the Mount TBR Challenge.

Review: Sabriel

Well, I'm on a roll! Here I am with yet another finished book - this time, Sabriel by Garth Nix.

I really enjoyed this book, continuing also the roll of books I've loved. There still hasn't been a single book this year that I've felt like I haven't liked. Fingers crossed for a continuation on this theme.

I'm definitely very late to the party with Sabriel, so I'll make this brief. I loved the magic system Nix dreamt up, and I even at one point found myself shaking with pleasure. It is so unusual, and so exquisite. I look forward to reading more, and seeing how the Charter, Necromantic and Free Magics all work and where (if at all) they intersect.

I also loved Sabriel as a character. Nix strikes the perfect balance between weakness and strength with her. What she knows, she knows well, and makes good use of. She is strong willed enough to stand on her own two feet, and wise enough (mostly) to know when she'd do well to lean on someone else's strength or understanding. She is in a tough situation and it shows, but without her being spoilt or bratty or completely selfish. She's amazing!

One of the few things I wasn't really a fan of - perhaps the only thing - was the romance. I found myself laughing so that I didn't have to roll my eyes. They didn't feel wrong as a couple, necessarily, but the entire thing felt a bit closer to insta-love than I would expect. I'm fairly sure that it's been proven that two people who experience a trial together are more likely to experience romantic feelings for each other, and it seems like all of YA is based on this theory. BUT. Spare me the sop bucket, please! The spontaneous kisses between Sabriel and Touchstone felt somewhat out of character, the crying from Sabriel when she thinks that Touchstone is canoodling and more with a maid brought to rise the desire to whack her one. I like that Sabriel understands that part of her attraction to him is because he is literally the first eligible male she has met ever. And I also like that Touchstone's declaration of love everlasting* takes very much into account the fact that Sabriel might not want that. But yeah. Maybe this is just me nitpicking.

This book counts for the Mount TBR challenge (and finishing it also takes me down to only 26 'Currently Reading' books, yay!)

Happy Reading,
Little Newman

*Okay, I exaggerate vastly.

Review: Bone Jack

This review was meant to be written and posted last week. Unfortunately, I became unexpectedly busy, and so I'm only just writing it up now.

Bone Jack by Sara Crowe is about Ash, a fifteen year old boy whose father is a soldier who has come home a very changed man, and his ex-best friend Mark whose father killed himself. Ghosts from the land's past and the mythology of the area are part of the fabric of the book, and the reason why I was so desperate to buy it in the first place.

It was a fabulous book. It had been on my 'to remember' list for a long time - Goodreads reliably informs me that is has only been two years, which really isn't so long. I was so happy when I finally put my pennies together to buy it that I read about five chapters before I finished the bus journey home.

Why, then, did it take me four months to read? The answer to this is simple, and fairly ridiculous. It felt like I was moving too fast. Definitely not my normal problem. When I finally finished and managed to get over my ecstasies just enough to recommend it to a friend, I told her that I wasn't really sure what age group the book is aimed at. The main characters are in the 14-16 range, and the book is dark enough to delight someone who was reading a Swedish book about witches at the same time* but the ease with which I read it made it feel like it was targeted towards a younger audience. Sure enough, on the author's blog I found reviews from a few 12 and 13 year olds. This is by no means an issue - it just felt like I wasn't giving the book time and space to do it justice. So, I decided to slow down.

I'm glad I made this decision. It made me enjoy the book that much more. I would have loved it if I had swallowed it down in a couple of days, as I was probably on track to do, but I would have perhaps missed some of the richness. Crowe's writing is a real treat. She manages to create a miasma** of fear, of constantly looking over one's shoulder, of chills down one's spine when unbearable heat gives over to the feeling that something is not quite right. The atmosphere of much of the book is neatly summed up by this sentence: 'Ash gazed back through a haze of pain and smoke and blood and terror.'

I loved everything about this book. It's about family, and friendship and fear and human sacrifice. What more could I want?

This book counts towards the Mount TBR challenge.

Happy Reading!
Little Newman

*And we all know that they do Dark in the North.
**Fact: 'miasma' is a Greek word that refers to a malevolent power that causes catastrophe until the original wrongdoer is sacrificed. No spoilers from me, but that is a strikingly relevant word.

Review: The Cyberiad

I loved this. Never before have I so fervently wished that I could speak Polish - and I've been tempted by Polish many a time before. These stories are incredibly playful, but also incredibly critical of the many pitfalls of human ideologies and mindsets. Michael Kandel did an amazing job translating this - providing a hilarious and engaging translation. I will have to seek out more things that he has done (even just essays or editorials).

However, I felt that this collection of stories did have its pitfalls. Some stories dragged a bit. I'm thinking here, mostly, of 'The Tale of the Three Storytelling Machines of King Genius', but all of the last stories fell a bit flat with me after the sheer wonder of the Sallies. In addition to this, some elements included as givens felt odd in a world of robots - the approach to death being one, the extremely patriarchal society being another. This last is somewhat understandable, given the stories' own explanations of how robot society came about.

All in all, though, this was an incredibly fun read, with three stories that particularly stood out for me being the two first Sallies and the third Sally

This counts as Poland for the European Reading Challenge. It is also included in the Mount TBR challenge (my first book!) and the Books in Translation Challenge.

Mount TBR Reading Challenge

Yes, this will be yet another reading challenge sign up. The Mount TBR Reading Challenge is hosted on My Readers Block, and the goal is to read books from your TBR Pile. Does what it says on the tin.

I'm going to be aiming for the lowest possible 'peak', Pike's Peak. After all, from there the only way is up. This means that I'll be aiming to read at least 12 books from my TBR this year. Wish me luck!

The reviews for my challenge can be found here.