What i have been reading Thursday
Mar. 15th, 2018 07:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scripsiI missed posting this on Wednesday, as that was my day off, and I aim to not sit in front of the computer when I’m off work. On the other hand I thought I had finished more books, but I’ve actually only have several books “almost finished.”
L M Bujold's Penric and Desdemona novellas (“Penric's Demon”, “Penric and the Shaman”, “Penric’s fox”, “Penric’s Mission”, “Mira’s Last dance” and “The Prisoner of Limno”) i’ve read them all before, but I craved some nice comforting reads, and these fit the bill perfectly. They are set in Bujold’s Five Gods Universe. It’s set some hundred years after The Hallowed Hunt, and a couple of hundreds of years before The Curse of Chalion. A young man, Penric, accidently becomes a sorcerer when a demon inhabits his body after her previous sorceress unexpectedly dies in Penric’s arms. And her, in this case, are the collective memories of 1he ten women the demon has lived in before. Penric, in a way to cope, names his demon Desdemona. The first three novellas takes place during various times in Penric’s twenties. The last three are really just one story where Penric, now 30, is sent on a secret diplomatic mission where everything goes wrong. Apart from the bit of falling in love. Not that it isn’t problematic when one carries around a demon who acts like ten older sisters…
I adore almost everything Bujold has ever written, and the Five Gods Universe is one of the best fantasy realms I know of. Bujold seems to enjoy writing in these bite size novellas, and I hope there will be more Penric soon!
Your Beauty Mark by Dita von teese and Rose Apodaca. One day in the distant past; my early teens, I was allowed to use some of my mum’s makeup to go to a school dance. She didn’t wore much makeup, so my selection was a blue and a brown eye pencil as she vetoed eyeshadow. After much consideration I decided to wear the brown, as I thought it contrasted better with my blue eyes. At the dance I was told, in no uncertain terms, by one of the “cool girls” in my class, that if you had blue eyes, you could only wear blue eye makeup. And I thought “Why?”. And from then one I read everything about makeup I could find, making a whole book out of cuttings, and reading every beauty book I could find. And learned that my “cool” classmate wasn’t so knowledgeable-te tone on tone eye makeup was by the hopelessly dated, something belonging to the 1970’s. (Check out the girls in Anna for an easy reference). Now, in the early 80’s, makeup trends were exploding. I also developed an interest in using makeup, and for several years I didn’t go outside without it. Nowadays my approach I a lot more relaxed, but I still think makeup is a lot of fun, and I still enjoy reading books about it.
And Your Beauty Mark was a fun read. I could have done without the name-dropping and the product placement, but this book is certainly more than that. You get sound advice written in a chatty and friendly style. You kind of get the feeling you have Dita sitting in your boudoir offering advice as your new best friend. I’m aware we are talking about a public persona, but that persona comes across as a very approachable one. Lots of beautiful photos too.
Roger Delgado: I Am Usually Referred To As The Master by Marcus K Harmes. I’m a big fan of Roger Delgado who was Doctor Who’s first, and IMO best, Master. So of course I couldn’t resist reading this biography. If you are a fan you are likely to enjoy it, as there are a couple of things I have never heard of before; for example his first marriage. And I enjoyed reading about his work, especially as the Master. But the author decided to group delgado’s work after studio, or TV, or A-movie, which makes the book go back and forth on the timeline which was slightly confusing. The writing could have used some more editing, as if was fairly repetitive and with an overabundance of descriptors. I mean, you don’t have to write “his unhappy first marriage” every time you mention it.
L M Bujold's Penric and Desdemona novellas (“Penric's Demon”, “Penric and the Shaman”, “Penric’s fox”, “Penric’s Mission”, “Mira’s Last dance” and “The Prisoner of Limno”) i’ve read them all before, but I craved some nice comforting reads, and these fit the bill perfectly. They are set in Bujold’s Five Gods Universe. It’s set some hundred years after The Hallowed Hunt, and a couple of hundreds of years before The Curse of Chalion. A young man, Penric, accidently becomes a sorcerer when a demon inhabits his body after her previous sorceress unexpectedly dies in Penric’s arms. And her, in this case, are the collective memories of 1he ten women the demon has lived in before. Penric, in a way to cope, names his demon Desdemona. The first three novellas takes place during various times in Penric’s twenties. The last three are really just one story where Penric, now 30, is sent on a secret diplomatic mission where everything goes wrong. Apart from the bit of falling in love. Not that it isn’t problematic when one carries around a demon who acts like ten older sisters…
I adore almost everything Bujold has ever written, and the Five Gods Universe is one of the best fantasy realms I know of. Bujold seems to enjoy writing in these bite size novellas, and I hope there will be more Penric soon!
Your Beauty Mark by Dita von teese and Rose Apodaca. One day in the distant past; my early teens, I was allowed to use some of my mum’s makeup to go to a school dance. She didn’t wore much makeup, so my selection was a blue and a brown eye pencil as she vetoed eyeshadow. After much consideration I decided to wear the brown, as I thought it contrasted better with my blue eyes. At the dance I was told, in no uncertain terms, by one of the “cool girls” in my class, that if you had blue eyes, you could only wear blue eye makeup. And I thought “Why?”. And from then one I read everything about makeup I could find, making a whole book out of cuttings, and reading every beauty book I could find. And learned that my “cool” classmate wasn’t so knowledgeable-te tone on tone eye makeup was by the hopelessly dated, something belonging to the 1970’s. (Check out the girls in Anna for an easy reference). Now, in the early 80’s, makeup trends were exploding. I also developed an interest in using makeup, and for several years I didn’t go outside without it. Nowadays my approach I a lot more relaxed, but I still think makeup is a lot of fun, and I still enjoy reading books about it.
And Your Beauty Mark was a fun read. I could have done without the name-dropping and the product placement, but this book is certainly more than that. You get sound advice written in a chatty and friendly style. You kind of get the feeling you have Dita sitting in your boudoir offering advice as your new best friend. I’m aware we are talking about a public persona, but that persona comes across as a very approachable one. Lots of beautiful photos too.
Roger Delgado: I Am Usually Referred To As The Master by Marcus K Harmes. I’m a big fan of Roger Delgado who was Doctor Who’s first, and IMO best, Master. So of course I couldn’t resist reading this biography. If you are a fan you are likely to enjoy it, as there are a couple of things I have never heard of before; for example his first marriage. And I enjoyed reading about his work, especially as the Master. But the author decided to group delgado’s work after studio, or TV, or A-movie, which makes the book go back and forth on the timeline which was slightly confusing. The writing could have used some more editing, as if was fairly repetitive and with an overabundance of descriptors. I mean, you don’t have to write “his unhappy first marriage” every time you mention it.
