What I have been reading Wednesday
Oct. 17th, 2018 03:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scripsiI still have a terrible backlog, only the first three are books I've read since I posted a reading post last.
Sarah Perry The Essex Serpent This was an odd one. Probably because I thought it was a fantasy, which it isn’t. It’s Essex, it’s the 19th century, and rumours of a sea dragon is afoot. It’s beautifully written, but I didn’t take to any of the characters, and, even if that is unfair, it wasn’t what I expected. I don’t think it’s a bad book, only just not for me.
L. M. Montgomery The Blue Castle I read this book for the first time not so long ago, but felt I wanted to re-read it again. I quite love it, a great book to lift your spirits!
Phil Rickman All of A Winter’s Night The last in the Merrily Watkins series; about a female priest who is also an exorcist, who gets involved in solving a murder. I always enjoy these books because I like the character gallery, but the murder case is often rather uninteresting. Not so this time; I found it unusually suspenseful. I also learned about Church of St Mary and St David, which is a church with some really weird and interesting sculptures. And about Border Morris, which seems to be very different from the morris dancing I knew about.
Catherine F. King The Ninety-Ninth Bride This is a re-telling of the Scheherazade-story in One Thousand and One Nights. Dunya is the neglected youngest daughter of the Grand Vizier, until the day she is given to the sultan to be the next bride-for-a-night. But when she enters the bridal chamber she is met by a beautiful woman, Zahra, who says she is Dunya’s sister, and that she, not Dunya, is the sultan’s bride. To Dunya’s surprise, everyone accepts this, and Zahra’s stories prolong her life, night after night. I enjoyed this story a lot. I like Dunya and her efforts to solve the mystery of Zahra, and also her own political awakening. Highly recommended!
Robin McKinley Deerskin Another re-telling, this time the fairy tale Donkeyskin. When the queen dies she elects a promise from her husband he only can remarry if he finds a woman as beautiful as she is. Unfortunately for their daughter, the kings decide she is the one. In the fairy tale, the princess tries to stall the wedding by demanding a number of difficult-to-produce gowns; this re-telling takes the story in a slightly different direction. I’ve read this book once before, some twenty years ago, and though I usually like McKinley a lot, I never felt the need to re-read it until now. And it’s not that I don’t like this book- I do, but it’s not an easy read. It contains one of the most horrific rape scenes I have ever read, and the lingering trauma Deerskin suffers makes this book difficult to read at times.
Emma Donghue The Wonder This novel takes place in Ireland in the 19th century. A young English nurse is hired to take care of a little girl who, everyone says, hasn’t eaten anything in several months. The general belief is that it’s a miracle and the girl is destined to become a saint. The nurse believes it’s a hoax, but try as she might she can’t determine how the child has survived for so long. She takes a great liking to her, and becomes increasingly more worried as it’s clear the girl is starving to death, she refuses to eat, and her family and neighbors seem to accept it without questions.
Based on rather horrible historical facts, throughout several centuries deeply religious children starved themselves to death, and was seen as saints by their surroundings. I read this book in one day; it was very gripping, if not particularly easy. I recommend it, but if you find sexual abuse of children triggering, then you should stay away.
Sarah Perry The Essex Serpent This was an odd one. Probably because I thought it was a fantasy, which it isn’t. It’s Essex, it’s the 19th century, and rumours of a sea dragon is afoot. It’s beautifully written, but I didn’t take to any of the characters, and, even if that is unfair, it wasn’t what I expected. I don’t think it’s a bad book, only just not for me.
L. M. Montgomery The Blue Castle I read this book for the first time not so long ago, but felt I wanted to re-read it again. I quite love it, a great book to lift your spirits!
Phil Rickman All of A Winter’s Night The last in the Merrily Watkins series; about a female priest who is also an exorcist, who gets involved in solving a murder. I always enjoy these books because I like the character gallery, but the murder case is often rather uninteresting. Not so this time; I found it unusually suspenseful. I also learned about Church of St Mary and St David, which is a church with some really weird and interesting sculptures. And about Border Morris, which seems to be very different from the morris dancing I knew about.
Catherine F. King The Ninety-Ninth Bride This is a re-telling of the Scheherazade-story in One Thousand and One Nights. Dunya is the neglected youngest daughter of the Grand Vizier, until the day she is given to the sultan to be the next bride-for-a-night. But when she enters the bridal chamber she is met by a beautiful woman, Zahra, who says she is Dunya’s sister, and that she, not Dunya, is the sultan’s bride. To Dunya’s surprise, everyone accepts this, and Zahra’s stories prolong her life, night after night. I enjoyed this story a lot. I like Dunya and her efforts to solve the mystery of Zahra, and also her own political awakening. Highly recommended!
Robin McKinley Deerskin Another re-telling, this time the fairy tale Donkeyskin. When the queen dies she elects a promise from her husband he only can remarry if he finds a woman as beautiful as she is. Unfortunately for their daughter, the kings decide she is the one. In the fairy tale, the princess tries to stall the wedding by demanding a number of difficult-to-produce gowns; this re-telling takes the story in a slightly different direction. I’ve read this book once before, some twenty years ago, and though I usually like McKinley a lot, I never felt the need to re-read it until now. And it’s not that I don’t like this book- I do, but it’s not an easy read. It contains one of the most horrific rape scenes I have ever read, and the lingering trauma Deerskin suffers makes this book difficult to read at times.
Emma Donghue The Wonder This novel takes place in Ireland in the 19th century. A young English nurse is hired to take care of a little girl who, everyone says, hasn’t eaten anything in several months. The general belief is that it’s a miracle and the girl is destined to become a saint. The nurse believes it’s a hoax, but try as she might she can’t determine how the child has survived for so long. She takes a great liking to her, and becomes increasingly more worried as it’s clear the girl is starving to death, she refuses to eat, and her family and neighbors seem to accept it without questions.
Based on rather horrible historical facts, throughout several centuries deeply religious children starved themselves to death, and was seen as saints by their surroundings. I read this book in one day; it was very gripping, if not particularly easy. I recommend it, but if you find sexual abuse of children triggering, then you should stay away.
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Date: 2018-10-17 01:49 pm (UTC)(Very nice to meet you, by the way.)
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Date: 2018-10-20 11:25 am (UTC)And likewise! :)
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Date: 2018-10-17 04:31 pm (UTC)I've got to say the title of "The Essex Serpent" has a great sound to it. Hiss, hiss! :D
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Date: 2018-10-22 06:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-10-17 08:24 pm (UTC)If you talk about sea dragons, you should deliver! *nods*
It sounds like an interesting collection of titles.
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Date: 2018-10-20 11:25 am (UTC)Exactly!
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Date: 2018-10-17 08:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-10-20 11:24 am (UTC)