Despite having an actual physical reading journal I still like to collect information digitally as well. 8D
★★ = didn't like it
★★★ = liked it
★★★★ = enjoyed it a lot
★★★★★ = love everything about it
☆ = 0.5 stars
Star Ratings (Fiction):
★ = hated it★★ = didn't like it
★★★ = liked it
★★★★ = enjoyed it a lot
★★★★★ = love everything about it
☆ = 0.5 stars
Rating (Non-Fiction):
- importance, relevance
- educational (for me/for others)
- complexity; easy to understand
- depth, details
- entertaining, interesting
A to Z Challenge
- A - Alexander Hamilton; [The Atlas Six] [Antique Roman] [All the Light We Cannot See]
- B - BABEL
- C - The City We Became
- D - DUNE; Diary of a Void; [Deutschland, deine Kolonien] [DarkHearts]
- E - Educated
- F - [The Fitful Sleep of Immigrants] [Das fligende Klassenzimmer] [The Fox and the Dryad] [Faeries of the Faultlines] [The Fever King] [The Friend Scheme] [The Fox and the Star]
- G - The Game of Kings; Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation; [The Goldfinch] [Griechische Mythen und Sagen] [The Great Mirror of Male Love] [The Golden Hour]
- H - Hold me Under
- I - [If We Were Villains] [I'm Glad My Mom Died] [Into the Light]
- J - [Japanese Magnolia]
- K - King of Scars [Kidnapped by the Pirate] [Kill Game]
- L - The Lightning Thief
- M - Momo
- N - Der neunte Arm des Oktopus
- O - The Old Man and the Sea; [Ordinary Monsters] [Once Upon a Time] [Oliver Twist]
- P - Pageboy
- Q - [The Queen's Gambit]
- R - Red, White and Royal Blue; Reise zum Mittelpunkt der Erde; Rocket Man; [River of the Gods] [Rainbow Milk] [The Ruin of Kings] [Ready Player One]
- S - (The Sea of Monsters) (The Son of Neptune) The Star and the Sun; A Song of Achilles; Das schweigende Klassenzimmer; [See What You Made Me Do] [The Starless Sea] [Der Schatten des Windes] [Smoke] [The Silk Roads] [Solarpunk] [Der Schnee von gestern] [The Soul of an Octopus] [Silver in the Wood] [The Secret History]
- T - Three Tigers, One Mountain
- U - Under the Banner of Heaven; [Die Unendliche Geschichte]
- V - Verily, A New Hope
- W - Was wird es denn? Ein Kind!
- X - [X-Isle]
- Y -
- Z - Der Zorn des Oktopus; [Zeus Grants Stupid Wishes]
2023 STATS
Books read: 17
Fiction (English): 14
Fiction (German): 3
Non-fiction (English): 0
Non-Fiction (German): 0
Print: 8
Ebook: 1
Audio: 8
January: 5
February: 3
March: 2
April: 7
May:
June:
July:
August:
September:
October:
November:
December:
Fiction (English): 14
Fiction (German): 3
Non-fiction (English): 0
Non-Fiction (German): 0
Print: 8
Ebook: 1
Audio: 8
January: 5
February: 3
March: 2
April: 7
May:
June:
July:
August:
September:
October:
November:
December:
JANUARY
Books read: 5
Books dropped: 0
Fav of the month: The Titan's Curse
Pages: 1399
Books dropped: 0
Fav of the month: The Titan's Curse
Pages: 1399
1. "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan
Rating: ★★★☆
Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians (book 1)
Date: 04.01.2021 - 10.01.2023
Genre: middle grade, fantasy
Format: audiobook (read by Hamish Plaggemars, YT)
Language: English
Pages (equivalent): 386
First Line:
Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood.
Thoughts:
I wanted to read the series because I have a Percy Jackson inspired larp coming up this year and even though they said knowledge of the books isn't necessary to play, I still felt unprepared. Fortunately the series is very popular and several people are reading them aloud on youtube. Hamish Plaggemars has a good voice for Percy but his female characters all sounded a bit weak to me. The plot was simple but a decent introduction to the world. I can see how kids would love this and imagine which god could secretly be their parent. Really made me look forward to playing a halfblood myself.
Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians (book 1)
Date: 04.01.2021 - 10.01.2023
Genre: middle grade, fantasy
Format: audiobook (read by Hamish Plaggemars, YT)
Language: English
Pages (equivalent): 386
First Line:
Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood.
Thoughts:
I wanted to read the series because I have a Percy Jackson inspired larp coming up this year and even though they said knowledge of the books isn't necessary to play, I still felt unprepared. Fortunately the series is very popular and several people are reading them aloud on youtube. Hamish Plaggemars has a good voice for Percy but his female characters all sounded a bit weak to me. The plot was simple but a decent introduction to the world. I can see how kids would love this and imagine which god could secretly be their parent. Really made me look forward to playing a halfblood myself.
2. "The Sea of Monsters" by Rick Riordan
Rating: ★★★
Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians (book 2)
Date: 10.01.2023 - 14.01.2023
Genre: middle grade, fantasy
Format: audiobook (read by Jazzy J, YT)
Language: English
Pages (equivalent): 290
First Line:
My nightmare started like this.
Thoughts:
I found a different reader for book 2 and while the quality was mostly fine, the screeching voices that female characters got a lot of the time really grated on me. The plot also didn't capture me as much as the first book did. The method of making the protagonist extra clueless so things can be explained to them as a proxy for the reader is not my favorite. I feel like Percy has every incentive to learn more than just sword fighting: his life may depend on his knowledge of Greek mythology, for example. I get that the intellectual angle is something Annabeth brings to the table but it still annoys me sometimes. She is cool though; unlike Grover who's rather annoying most of the time.
Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians (book 2)
Date: 10.01.2023 - 14.01.2023
Genre: middle grade, fantasy
Format: audiobook (read by Jazzy J, YT)
Language: English
Pages (equivalent): 290
First Line:
My nightmare started like this.
Thoughts:
I found a different reader for book 2 and while the quality was mostly fine, the screeching voices that female characters got a lot of the time really grated on me. The plot also didn't capture me as much as the first book did. The method of making the protagonist extra clueless so things can be explained to them as a proxy for the reader is not my favorite. I feel like Percy has every incentive to learn more than just sword fighting: his life may depend on his knowledge of Greek mythology, for example. I get that the intellectual angle is something Annabeth brings to the table but it still annoys me sometimes. She is cool though; unlike Grover who's rather annoying most of the time.
3. "The Titan's Curse" by Rick Riordan
Rating: ★★★★
Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians (book 3)
Date: 17.01.2023 - 28.01.2023
Genre: middle grade, fantasy
Format: audiobook (read by Books Read Aloud, YT)
Language: English
Pages (equivalent): 302
First Line:
The Friday before winter break, my mom packed me an over night bag and a few deadly weapons and took me to a new boarding school.
Thoughts:
This is my favorite book in the series so far! There were so many fun moments, especially with Apollo and his haikus. Building up Luke as a villain but also a victim works pretty well and the final moment where Percy holds up the sky for a moment felt pretty intense! I also liked Artemis and her hunters, despite the fact that I'm not usually a fan of strictly gender-segregated scenarios. Splitting up the di Angelo siblings came as a surprise to me, but a good one, same with Nico being revealed as a son of Hades. I don't know if Thalia's decision to join the hunters makes too much sense to me but I guess this gets her out of the way of the prophecy. Overall: a very enjoyable read!
Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians (book 3)
Date: 17.01.2023 - 28.01.2023
Genre: middle grade, fantasy
Format: audiobook (read by Books Read Aloud, YT)
Language: English
Pages (equivalent): 302
First Line:
The Friday before winter break, my mom packed me an over night bag and a few deadly weapons and took me to a new boarding school.
Thoughts:
This is my favorite book in the series so far! There were so many fun moments, especially with Apollo and his haikus. Building up Luke as a villain but also a victim works pretty well and the final moment where Percy holds up the sky for a moment felt pretty intense! I also liked Artemis and her hunters, despite the fact that I'm not usually a fan of strictly gender-segregated scenarios. Splitting up the di Angelo siblings came as a surprise to me, but a good one, same with Nico being revealed as a son of Hades. I don't know if Thalia's decision to join the hunters makes too much sense to me but I guess this gets her out of the way of the prophecy. Overall: a very enjoyable read!
4. "Morgen bin ich Sternenlicht" von Sandra Dieckmann
Rating: ★★☆
Date: 29.01.2023
Genre: children's literature, picture-book
Format: print
Language: German
Pages: 24
First Line:
...
Thoughts:
A friend found this book for me and I loved the artwork so I had to have it. Recently I've been obsessed with foxes and it was fun pretending this had something to do with the character I played, since death also played a role in their story. I found it a bit weird that the fox was refered to as 'she' when it wasn't called a vixen. I'd have prefered it if the characters had no or ambiguous genders. Other than that I don't really know (or care) about children's literature; the book feels very short to me and doesn't have a story beyond "fox is sad that their friend is gone"; personally I think it would have been nice to have a more subtle message wrapped in an actual story. But then again, I'm not the target audience.
Date: 29.01.2023
Genre: children's literature, picture-book
Format: print
Language: German
Pages: 24
First Line:
...
Thoughts:
A friend found this book for me and I loved the artwork so I had to have it. Recently I've been obsessed with foxes and it was fun pretending this had something to do with the character I played, since death also played a role in their story. I found it a bit weird that the fox was refered to as 'she' when it wasn't called a vixen. I'd have prefered it if the characters had no or ambiguous genders. Other than that I don't really know (or care) about children's literature; the book feels very short to me and doesn't have a story beyond "fox is sad that their friend is gone"; personally I think it would have been nice to have a more subtle message wrapped in an actual story. But then again, I'm not the target audience.
5. "Der neunte Arm des Oktopus" von Dirk Rossmann
Rating: ★★★☆
Date: 31.01.2023 - 05.02.2023
Genre: thriller, science fiction
Format: print
Language: German
Pages: 397
First Line:
Und so begann es: Der Planet Erde, den wir gerne "unseren" Planeten nennen, entstand vor etwa 4,4 Milliarden Jahren.
Thoughts:
Ich habe das Buch für meine Masterarbeit über Climate Fiction gelesen. Es ist kein literarisches Meisterwerk, liest sich aber solide und durchaus unterhaltsam. Der Plot: China, Russland und die USA beschließen (mitunter gegen den Willen oder Glauben der Massen), eine radikal klimafreundliche Politik notfalls auch militärisch durchzusetzen - und es funktioniert. Zwischendurch gibt es immer wieder Kapitel aus dem Jahr 2100, einer Zukunft in der ein nachhaltiger Lebenswandel ohne Fleischverzehr, fossile Brennstoffe und dafür mit kontrolliertem Bevölkerungswachstum bereits erreicht wurde. Ich stimme nicht mit allen Thesen des Autors (der selbst in einer kleinen Rolle als Charakter auftaucht) überein, aber es wird sicher interessant, weiter mit dem Buch zu arbeiten. Ich denke, dass ich zu diesem Zweck auch die Fortsetzung lesen werde.
Date: 31.01.2023 - 05.02.2023
Genre: thriller, science fiction
Format: print
Language: German
Pages: 397
First Line:
Und so begann es: Der Planet Erde, den wir gerne "unseren" Planeten nennen, entstand vor etwa 4,4 Milliarden Jahren.
Thoughts:
Ich habe das Buch für meine Masterarbeit über Climate Fiction gelesen. Es ist kein literarisches Meisterwerk, liest sich aber solide und durchaus unterhaltsam. Der Plot: China, Russland und die USA beschließen (mitunter gegen den Willen oder Glauben der Massen), eine radikal klimafreundliche Politik notfalls auch militärisch durchzusetzen - und es funktioniert. Zwischendurch gibt es immer wieder Kapitel aus dem Jahr 2100, einer Zukunft in der ein nachhaltiger Lebenswandel ohne Fleischverzehr, fossile Brennstoffe und dafür mit kontrolliertem Bevölkerungswachstum bereits erreicht wurde. Ich stimme nicht mit allen Thesen des Autors (der selbst in einer kleinen Rolle als Charakter auftaucht) überein, aber es wird sicher interessant, weiter mit dem Buch zu arbeiten. Ich denke, dass ich zu diesem Zweck auch die Fortsetzung lesen werde.
FEBRUARY
Books read: 3
Books dropped: 1
Fav of the month: The Last Olympian
Pages: 1104
Books dropped: 1
Fav of the month: The Last Olympian
Pages: 1104
1. "You Are Here" by Chris Delyani
Date: 01.01.2023 - DNF: 03.02.2023
Genre: queer (gay)
Format: ebook
Language: English
First Line:
Peter Bankston stood on a stepladder at the chalkboard behind the cash registers, trying to draw an elf.
Thoughts:
- where the hell is the plot going
- what does the protagonist even want
- their chemistry is very weird
- why are they called Peter and Donald what was the author even thinking
- 14 years is a decent age gap
- wow that went from dub-con to non-con in no time at all
- second character is possibly even more annoying
- leave your fucking ex alone he's moved on
Genre: queer (gay)
Format: ebook
Language: English
First Line:
Peter Bankston stood on a stepladder at the chalkboard behind the cash registers, trying to draw an elf.
Thoughts:
- where the hell is the plot going
- what does the protagonist even want
- their chemistry is very weird
- why are they called Peter and Donald what was the author even thinking
- 14 years is a decent age gap
- wow that went from dub-con to non-con in no time at all
- second character is possibly even more annoying
- leave your fucking ex alone he's moved on
2. "Hold Me Under" by Riley Nash
Rating: ★★★☆
Series: Water, Air, Earth, Fire (book 1)
Date: 03.02.2023 - 08.03.2023
Genre: queer (gay)
Format: ebook
Language: English
Pages (equivalent): 350
First Line:
I'm drowning, but I feel ok about it.
Thoughts:
Ethan leads an okay life taking care of his mother, who has dementia. One day, on a gardening job, he meets Victor, who just happens to be the star of his childhood: a former olympic swimmer who withdrew from the public eye after a doping scandal. Victor's father wants him to be the face of an ad campaign for a dating app and so he needs a boyfriend, a job Ethan just happens to be there for, accidentally. Victor is an absolute dick about everything and Ethan probably wouldn't have taken the job had he not really needed the money for his mother. And so the fake dating begins!
I love the trope, it's so much fun, but I wish the author wouldn't push the fate angle quite as hard. It's very hard to see why Ethan would put so much effort into helping Victor aside from him being a super good person who made helping others his entire personality. This gets very annoying at times, but the book also has a lot of cool moments, despite being overly dramatic. The p.o.v. switches back and forth a lot to the point where I was sometimes confused which of them was "he" and who was "I" at a given point.
I liked Victor's dark past as it was revealed and his issues were believable and interesting to learn about, though the happy ending came rather easily at the end, given the fact that Victor had been struggling with this for years. Overall: a nice read but the book could have profited from a single p.o.v. (though I realize this is very much a matter of personal taste, too).
Quotes:
1) "You shouldn't let me see what scares you."
2) "I'm really a side piece in my boyfriend's sugar daddy arrangement with my father."
3) God got halfway done making him, said good enough, and shat him out.
4) "I'll show you how to take what you want, how to own me. I'll teach you how to hurt me."
5) "I was put on this earth to ruin your life."
Series: Water, Air, Earth, Fire (book 1)
Date: 03.02.2023 - 08.03.2023
Genre: queer (gay)
Format: ebook
Language: English
Pages (equivalent): 350
First Line:
I'm drowning, but I feel ok about it.
Thoughts:
Ethan leads an okay life taking care of his mother, who has dementia. One day, on a gardening job, he meets Victor, who just happens to be the star of his childhood: a former olympic swimmer who withdrew from the public eye after a doping scandal. Victor's father wants him to be the face of an ad campaign for a dating app and so he needs a boyfriend, a job Ethan just happens to be there for, accidentally. Victor is an absolute dick about everything and Ethan probably wouldn't have taken the job had he not really needed the money for his mother. And so the fake dating begins!
I love the trope, it's so much fun, but I wish the author wouldn't push the fate angle quite as hard. It's very hard to see why Ethan would put so much effort into helping Victor aside from him being a super good person who made helping others his entire personality. This gets very annoying at times, but the book also has a lot of cool moments, despite being overly dramatic. The p.o.v. switches back and forth a lot to the point where I was sometimes confused which of them was "he" and who was "I" at a given point.
I liked Victor's dark past as it was revealed and his issues were believable and interesting to learn about, though the happy ending came rather easily at the end, given the fact that Victor had been struggling with this for years. Overall: a nice read but the book could have profited from a single p.o.v. (though I realize this is very much a matter of personal taste, too).
Quotes:
1) "You shouldn't let me see what scares you."
2) "I'm really a side piece in my boyfriend's sugar daddy arrangement with my father."
3) God got halfway done making him, said good enough, and shat him out.
4) "I'll show you how to take what you want, how to own me. I'll teach you how to hurt me."
5) "I was put on this earth to ruin your life."
3. "The Battle of the Labyrinth" by Rick Riordan
Rating: ★★★★
Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians (book 4)
Date: 12.02.2023 - 15.02.2023
Genre: middle grade, fantasy
Format: audiobook (read by Dare To Read, YT)
Language: English
Pages: (equivalent): 367
First Line:
The last thing I wanted to do on my summer break was blow up another school.
Thoughts:
- I liked how the story of Daedalus and Ikarus is told
- the entire Deadalus storyline is very cool!
- Calypso's story almost made me cry, it's beautifully tragic
- Annabeth's jealousy towards Rachel is so annoying and unnecessary
- Rachel is actually cool
- the Percy/Annabeth romance is something I neither need nor want
- the final battle was pretty satisfying
- Nico got a really good character arc
- lol at Poseidon showing up at Percy's apartment when his mom's boyfriend just said he wants to marry her
Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians (book 4)
Date: 12.02.2023 - 15.02.2023
Genre: middle grade, fantasy
Format: audiobook (read by Dare To Read, YT)
Language: English
Pages: (equivalent): 367
First Line:
The last thing I wanted to do on my summer break was blow up another school.
Thoughts:
- I liked how the story of Daedalus and Ikarus is told
- the entire Deadalus storyline is very cool!
- Calypso's story almost made me cry, it's beautifully tragic
- Annabeth's jealousy towards Rachel is so annoying and unnecessary
- Rachel is actually cool
- the Percy/Annabeth romance is something I neither need nor want
- the final battle was pretty satisfying
- Nico got a really good character arc
- lol at Poseidon showing up at Percy's apartment when his mom's boyfriend just said he wants to marry her
4. "The Last Olympian" by Rick Riordan
Rating: ★★★★☆
Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians (book 5)
Date: 20.02.2023 - 06.03.2023
Genre: middle grade, fantasy
Format: audiobook (read by Jesse Bernstein)
Language: English
Pages (equivalent): 387
First Line:
The end of the world started when a pegasus landed on the hood of my car.
Thoughts:
- super exciting
- threads from all books are being brought together, especially the last few
- the threat feels very real
- you can tell Percy has grown up and learned things; I was annoyed with his cluelessness in the beginning but this has gotten a lot better!
- Rachel makes a reappearance and I still really like her
- I do, however, not like how Annabeth is clearly jealous of her
- the final battle is really well done
- I have read many books where authors shy away from writing long battles; Riordan did not and he did a great job
- I knew the Ares kids had to come through in the end but the scene was still very cool and not exactly what I expected
- the ending was happier than I expected but fitting for the target audience, I suppose. my idea included Percy having to make some great sacrifice to save the day but with about one more hour on the clock the ending seems very happy
- Rachel becoming the new oracle is pretty cool
Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians (book 5)
Date: 20.02.2023 - 06.03.2023
Genre: middle grade, fantasy
Format: audiobook (read by Jesse Bernstein)
Language: English
Pages (equivalent): 387
First Line:
The end of the world started when a pegasus landed on the hood of my car.
Thoughts:
- super exciting
- threads from all books are being brought together, especially the last few
- the threat feels very real
- you can tell Percy has grown up and learned things; I was annoyed with his cluelessness in the beginning but this has gotten a lot better!
- Rachel makes a reappearance and I still really like her
- I do, however, not like how Annabeth is clearly jealous of her
- the final battle is really well done
- I have read many books where authors shy away from writing long battles; Riordan did not and he did a great job
- I knew the Ares kids had to come through in the end but the scene was still very cool and not exactly what I expected
- the ending was happier than I expected but fitting for the target audience, I suppose. my idea included Percy having to make some great sacrifice to save the day but with about one more hour on the clock the ending seems very happy
- Rachel becoming the new oracle is pretty cool
MARCH
Books read: 2
Books dropped: 2
Fav of the month: Babel
Pages: 1118
Books dropped: 2
Fav of the month: Babel
Pages: 1118
1. "The Lost Hero" by Rick Riordan
Rating: ★★★★☆
Series: The Heroes of Olympus (book 1)
Date: 06.03.2023 - 31.03.2023
Genre: middle grade/YA, fantasy
Format: audiobook (read by Joshua Swanson)
Language: English
Pages (equivalent): 576
First Line:
Even before he got electrocuted, Jason was having a rotten day.
Thoughts:
I liked Jason from the very beginning. His lost memory doesn't make him any less capable and the scene at the camp fire, when he calls the lightning down to reveal himself as the son of Jupiter is absolutely epic! Throughout the book I liked the chapters from his point of view the most. I'm still not a fan of multiple p.o.v. and while I ended up liking both Leo's and Piper's backgrounds I would have prefered to learn about them either through Jason or in onetime flashback chapters. I'm also a bit critical of the fact that we get yet another trio of a brave protagonist, a smart girl/love interest and a somewhat goofy best friend. Still, even Leo is preferable to Coach Hedge who was nothing but annoying.
Jason and Thalia's past was interesting to learn about. I like their family drama with the unreliable mother who sacrificed her son to literal wolves. The plot, like the first series, reads like a number of smaller adventures that the characters have to go through like ticking them off a list. I don't always feel like they're contributing much to the overall story, they're just necessary for character development or to give them an item/artefct they will need later. This might be something I'll eventually grow tired of.
I'm also not sure how believable it is for there to be an entire other group of demigods in the US, but because the Roman and Greek halfbloods don't get along they're not made aware of each other. I like the idea but it really stretches my suspense of disbelieve. I did like the overall ending though. Piper's dad choosing to not remember his traumatic experiences made sense and I'm really curious to find out about this "exchange of leaders". Looking forward to seeing Percy at Camp Jupiter.
Other things I loved: Piper being thirsty for Jason because it's relatable. Juno calling her two godly children disappointments. Her claiming Jason as her own. Overall: a really good book!
Series: The Heroes of Olympus (book 1)
Date: 06.03.2023 - 31.03.2023
Genre: middle grade/YA, fantasy
Format: audiobook (read by Joshua Swanson)
Language: English
Pages (equivalent): 576
First Line:
Even before he got electrocuted, Jason was having a rotten day.
Thoughts:
I liked Jason from the very beginning. His lost memory doesn't make him any less capable and the scene at the camp fire, when he calls the lightning down to reveal himself as the son of Jupiter is absolutely epic! Throughout the book I liked the chapters from his point of view the most. I'm still not a fan of multiple p.o.v. and while I ended up liking both Leo's and Piper's backgrounds I would have prefered to learn about them either through Jason or in onetime flashback chapters. I'm also a bit critical of the fact that we get yet another trio of a brave protagonist, a smart girl/love interest and a somewhat goofy best friend. Still, even Leo is preferable to Coach Hedge who was nothing but annoying.
Jason and Thalia's past was interesting to learn about. I like their family drama with the unreliable mother who sacrificed her son to literal wolves. The plot, like the first series, reads like a number of smaller adventures that the characters have to go through like ticking them off a list. I don't always feel like they're contributing much to the overall story, they're just necessary for character development or to give them an item/artefct they will need later. This might be something I'll eventually grow tired of.
I'm also not sure how believable it is for there to be an entire other group of demigods in the US, but because the Roman and Greek halfbloods don't get along they're not made aware of each other. I like the idea but it really stretches my suspense of disbelieve. I did like the overall ending though. Piper's dad choosing to not remember his traumatic experiences made sense and I'm really curious to find out about this "exchange of leaders". Looking forward to seeing Percy at Camp Jupiter.
Other things I loved: Piper being thirsty for Jason because it's relatable. Juno calling her two godly children disappointments. Her claiming Jason as her own. Overall: a really good book!
2. "Machaniek: Lost Paradise" by JC Compton
Date: 09.02.2023 (DNF)
Format: ebook
Language: English
Thoughts:
- I hate the prose so much
- can't read more than a few pages
Format: ebook
Language: English
Thoughts:
- I hate the prose so much
- can't read more than a few pages
3. "Babel or The Necessity of Violence. An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution" by R. F. Kuang
Rating: ★★★★★
Date: 15.03.2023 - 27.03.2023
Genre: historic fantasy
Format: print
Language: English
Pages: 542
First Line:
By the time Professor Richard Lovell found his way through Canton's narrow alleys to the faded address in his diary, the boy was the only one in the house left alive.
Thoughts:
It's hard to put into words how much I love this book. It's a historic fantasy dealing with linguistics, daddy issues and colonialism, among other things.
Robin's character arc is so beautiful and tragic, so horrible and believable. After losing his family, he is taken from his home in Canton to England by his father, who won't acknowledge him as his son; Robin will spend his life loving, hating and fearing him, telling himself he doesn't need his approval while striving for it regardless. Robin is a project to him, meant to provide the Royal Institute of Translation in Oxford with a native speaker's knowledge of Chinese. At first, Robin is enamored by the place, the people and everything he learns, despite the discrimination he and his friends face. He starts working for the Hermes Society and his half brother Griffin because he sees the wrongs commited by Oxford and the British Empire, but he's also deadly afraid for his own life. This very realistic fear hols him back and also keeps him from trusting his closest friends completely.
Robin's return to Canton for the first time as an adult throws him into an identity crisis that is painful to watch. He always knew he could never be fully British and now he sees that he isn't fully Chinese either. On the way back to England he finally fights with his father and kills him, ironically with the very same bar of silver his father had given him so he wouldn't turn into his brother, who commited a murder with it. It is a turning point for Robin and his friends who see no choice but to radically ally themselves with Hermes. The downwards spiral that starts here is so realistic and, at the same time, horrible to watch.
It ends the only way it could end: in violence.
The worldbuilding of this book is fantastic! The silver working is beautifully integrated into the industrial revolution, adding magic to the world makes sense. It highlights real issues and the characters make them feel personal. The ending felt inevitable but it still hurt and I loved every single page. I loved the etymology discursions and how Robin would describe his emotions through chinese characters. This book was written for me, and I appreciate it so much.
Date: 15.03.2023 - 27.03.2023
Genre: historic fantasy
Format: print
Language: English
Pages: 542
First Line:
By the time Professor Richard Lovell found his way through Canton's narrow alleys to the faded address in his diary, the boy was the only one in the house left alive.
Thoughts:
It's hard to put into words how much I love this book. It's a historic fantasy dealing with linguistics, daddy issues and colonialism, among other things.
Robin's character arc is so beautiful and tragic, so horrible and believable. After losing his family, he is taken from his home in Canton to England by his father, who won't acknowledge him as his son; Robin will spend his life loving, hating and fearing him, telling himself he doesn't need his approval while striving for it regardless. Robin is a project to him, meant to provide the Royal Institute of Translation in Oxford with a native speaker's knowledge of Chinese. At first, Robin is enamored by the place, the people and everything he learns, despite the discrimination he and his friends face. He starts working for the Hermes Society and his half brother Griffin because he sees the wrongs commited by Oxford and the British Empire, but he's also deadly afraid for his own life. This very realistic fear hols him back and also keeps him from trusting his closest friends completely.
Robin's return to Canton for the first time as an adult throws him into an identity crisis that is painful to watch. He always knew he could never be fully British and now he sees that he isn't fully Chinese either. On the way back to England he finally fights with his father and kills him, ironically with the very same bar of silver his father had given him so he wouldn't turn into his brother, who commited a murder with it. It is a turning point for Robin and his friends who see no choice but to radically ally themselves with Hermes. The downwards spiral that starts here is so realistic and, at the same time, horrible to watch.
It ends the only way it could end: in violence.
The worldbuilding of this book is fantastic! The silver working is beautifully integrated into the industrial revolution, adding magic to the world makes sense. It highlights real issues and the characters make them feel personal. The ending felt inevitable but it still hurt and I loved every single page. I loved the etymology discursions and how Robin would describe his emotions through chinese characters. This book was written for me, and I appreciate it so much.
Notes:
- Robin's situation is so beautifully impossible to win: he wants to do the right thing (which he thinks is helping Hermes) but he's also scared and wants to survive (which Babel would certainly help with). He kinda hates his father but he also wants his acknowledgement. He loves his friends but can't fully commit to being on their side. What a fantastic conundrum!
- HOLY SHIT he called him 'father'! AND a coward! AND demanded he say his mother's name. Robin is growing a backbone!
- FUCK Letty (her character makes perfect sense, but DAMN, she ruined it all)
- Losing Ramy hurts so much! Not to mention almost everyone else at the Hermes Society
- Yeah, sure, take Griffin, too! I didn't need my heart anyway
oh my god, Robin is really getting shit done there! and yay for Professor Chakravarti!
- Hermes Society: their decentralized setup and their extreme secrecy is both their greatest strength/safety measure and weakness/what holds them back. It keeps its members save, but it also prevents them from cooperating more efficiently
- the last few chapters seems a bit slow. a strike doesn't really make for a grand finale, it seems
- I'm glad Victoire got a chapter! and how fitting to make it the epilogue: because to her, the only way to win (or at least: not to lose) is to stay alive in the face of those who would rather see her dead, and to stay free in the face of those who would see her enslaved
Quotes:
1) He was of an age when the language had made a permanent impression on his mind. But he had to try, really try, to make sure that he did not stop dreaming in his native tongue.
2) "Well, that's one good thing about you," said Professor Lovell. "When you're beaten, you don't cry."
3) Why had they refused to see the myriad ways they could hurt each other? Why had they not paused to interrogate their differences in birth, in raising, that meant they were not and could never be on the same side?
But the answer was obvious - that they were all four of them drowning in the unfamiliar, and they saw in each other a raft, and clinging to one another was the only way to stay afloat.
4) "You're still a Babel student. Act like one. Go to class. Go out drinking and get into brawls. No - you're soft. Don't get into brawls."
5) "So you see, translators do not so much deliver a message as they rewrite the original. And herein lies the difficulty - rewriting is still writing, and writing always reflects the author's ideology and biases. After all, the Latin translatio means 'to carry across'. Translation involves a spatial dimension - a literal transportation of texts across conquered territory, words delivered like spices from an alien land."
6) "But never forget the audacity of what you are attempting. Never forget that you are defying a curse laid by God."
7) They argued endlessly, the way bright young people with well-fed egos and too many opinions do.
8) If they made even the flimsiest case that a gold-capped fountain pen would aid their studies, then Babel paid for it.
9) "But what is the opposite of fidelity?" asked Professor Playfair. He was approaching the end of his dialectic; now he needed only to draw it to a close with a punch. "Betrayal. Translation means doing violence upon the original, means warping and distorting it for foreign, unintended eyes. So then where does that leave us? How can we conclude, except by acknowledging that an act of translation is then necessarily an act of betrayal?"
10) Their minds, enriched with new sounds and words, were like sleek muscles waiting to be stretched.
They were ready to make magic.
11) "Languages aren't just made of words. They're modes of looking at the world. They're the keys to civilization. And that's knowledge worth killing for."
12) The virtue of a humanities faculty, Griffin explained, was that everyone was hopeless with numbers.
13) "But realize this, brother. You fly no one's flag. You're free to seek your own harbour. And you can do so much more than tread water."
14) "We could escape to the New World," Ramy proposed. "Go to Canada."
"You don't even speak French," Letty said.
"It's French, Letty." Ramy rolled his eyes. "Latin's flimsiest daughter. How hard could it be?"
15) "There are no kind masters, Letty," Anthony continued. "It doesn't matter how lenient, how gracious, how invested in your education they make out to be. Masters are masters in the end."
16) Defying empire, it turned out, was fun.
17) "The university ripped us from our homes and made us believe that our futures could only consist of serving the Crown," said Robin. "The university tells us we are special, chosen, selected, when really we are severed from our motherlands and raised within spitting distance of a class we can never truly become a part of. The university turned us against our own and made us believe our only options were complicity or the streets. That was no favour, Sterling. It was cruelty. Don't ask me to love my master."
18) Pamphlets. They'd thought they could win this with pamphlets.
He almost laughed at the absurdity. Power did not lie in the tip of a pen. Power did not work against its own interests. Power could only be brought to heel by acts of defiance it could not ignore. With brute, unflinching force. With violence.
19) There was no innate, perfectly comprehensible language; there was no candidate, not English, not French, that could bully and absorb enough to become one. Language was just difference. A thousand different ways of seeing, of moving through the world. No; a thousand worlds within one. And translation - a necessary endeavour, however futile, to move between them.
- HOLY SHIT he called him 'father'! AND a coward! AND demanded he say his mother's name. Robin is growing a backbone!
- FUCK Letty (her character makes perfect sense, but DAMN, she ruined it all)
- Losing Ramy hurts so much! Not to mention almost everyone else at the Hermes Society
- Yeah, sure, take Griffin, too! I didn't need my heart anyway
oh my god, Robin is really getting shit done there! and yay for Professor Chakravarti!
- Hermes Society: their decentralized setup and their extreme secrecy is both their greatest strength/safety measure and weakness/what holds them back. It keeps its members save, but it also prevents them from cooperating more efficiently
- the last few chapters seems a bit slow. a strike doesn't really make for a grand finale, it seems
- I'm glad Victoire got a chapter! and how fitting to make it the epilogue: because to her, the only way to win (or at least: not to lose) is to stay alive in the face of those who would rather see her dead, and to stay free in the face of those who would see her enslaved
Quotes:
1) He was of an age when the language had made a permanent impression on his mind. But he had to try, really try, to make sure that he did not stop dreaming in his native tongue.
2) "Well, that's one good thing about you," said Professor Lovell. "When you're beaten, you don't cry."
3) Why had they refused to see the myriad ways they could hurt each other? Why had they not paused to interrogate their differences in birth, in raising, that meant they were not and could never be on the same side?
But the answer was obvious - that they were all four of them drowning in the unfamiliar, and they saw in each other a raft, and clinging to one another was the only way to stay afloat.
4) "You're still a Babel student. Act like one. Go to class. Go out drinking and get into brawls. No - you're soft. Don't get into brawls."
5) "So you see, translators do not so much deliver a message as they rewrite the original. And herein lies the difficulty - rewriting is still writing, and writing always reflects the author's ideology and biases. After all, the Latin translatio means 'to carry across'. Translation involves a spatial dimension - a literal transportation of texts across conquered territory, words delivered like spices from an alien land."
6) "But never forget the audacity of what you are attempting. Never forget that you are defying a curse laid by God."
7) They argued endlessly, the way bright young people with well-fed egos and too many opinions do.
8) If they made even the flimsiest case that a gold-capped fountain pen would aid their studies, then Babel paid for it.
9) "But what is the opposite of fidelity?" asked Professor Playfair. He was approaching the end of his dialectic; now he needed only to draw it to a close with a punch. "Betrayal. Translation means doing violence upon the original, means warping and distorting it for foreign, unintended eyes. So then where does that leave us? How can we conclude, except by acknowledging that an act of translation is then necessarily an act of betrayal?"
10) Their minds, enriched with new sounds and words, were like sleek muscles waiting to be stretched.
They were ready to make magic.
11) "Languages aren't just made of words. They're modes of looking at the world. They're the keys to civilization. And that's knowledge worth killing for."
12) The virtue of a humanities faculty, Griffin explained, was that everyone was hopeless with numbers.
13) "But realize this, brother. You fly no one's flag. You're free to seek your own harbour. And you can do so much more than tread water."
14) "We could escape to the New World," Ramy proposed. "Go to Canada."
"You don't even speak French," Letty said.
"It's French, Letty." Ramy rolled his eyes. "Latin's flimsiest daughter. How hard could it be?"
15) "There are no kind masters, Letty," Anthony continued. "It doesn't matter how lenient, how gracious, how invested in your education they make out to be. Masters are masters in the end."
16) Defying empire, it turned out, was fun.
17) "The university ripped us from our homes and made us believe that our futures could only consist of serving the Crown," said Robin. "The university tells us we are special, chosen, selected, when really we are severed from our motherlands and raised within spitting distance of a class we can never truly become a part of. The university turned us against our own and made us believe our only options were complicity or the streets. That was no favour, Sterling. It was cruelty. Don't ask me to love my master."
18) Pamphlets. They'd thought they could win this with pamphlets.
He almost laughed at the absurdity. Power did not lie in the tip of a pen. Power did not work against its own interests. Power could only be brought to heel by acts of defiance it could not ignore. With brute, unflinching force. With violence.
19) There was no innate, perfectly comprehensible language; there was no candidate, not English, not French, that could bully and absorb enough to become one. Language was just difference. A thousand different ways of seeing, of moving through the world. No; a thousand worlds within one. And translation - a necessary endeavour, however futile, to move between them.
4. "Make Me Fall" by Riley Nash
Series: Water, Air, Earth, Fire (book 2)
Date: 25.03.2023 (DNF)
Format: ebook
Language: English
Thoughts:
- hated the protagonist after just a few pages
Date: 25.03.2023 (DNF)
Format: ebook
Language: English
Thoughts:
- hated the protagonist after just a few pages
APRIL
Books read: 7
Books dropped: 0
Fav of the month: The Son of Neptune
Pages: 2941
Books dropped: 0
Fav of the month: The Son of Neptune
Pages: 2941
1. "Howl's Moving Castle" by Diana Wynne Jones
Rating: ★★★★
Date: 01.04.2023 - 03.04.2023
Genre: Fantasy
Format: print
Language: English
Pages: 429
First Line:
In the land of Ingary, where such things as seven-league boots and cloaks of invisibility really exist, it is quite a misfortune to be born the eldest of three.
Thoughts:
I'm a huge fan of the Ghibli movie based on this book so it was high time for me to read it! Overall I feel the movie did right by the book, Howl especially is very much on point (I learned the word "slapdash" which describes the way he acts perfectly). In the book, there's more emphasis on Sophie being a witch, but even in the movie she had her own kind of magic, so they worked with that in a way.
I didn't like how the world of Ingary is connected to our real world, that 'Howl' comes from 'Howell' and the way he interacted with his "normal" family. It kinda took the magic out of it for me and felt unnecessary, even with the other wizard also originating from non-magical Wales. I certainly could have done without this part. What I did like was how the curse that the Witch of the Waste put on Howl re-entered his life through the poem from this world.
Around the second half the plot gets a bit wild! Everyone seems to know about Sophie's curse, Howl and Michael are dating her sisters, her whole (extended) family is suddenly there for a visit, there's a dog, a prince, a wizard and a missing fiancé (some of which might be the same person), Sophie is mad for some reason and they're fighting the Witch of the Waste (briefly) and her fire demon (slightly less briefly) and then we're just in time for everone's Happy Ever After. A bit chaotic but all in all, quite fun!
Quotes:
1) "I can clean the dirt from this place even if I can't clean you from your wickedness, young man."
"Howl's not wicked," Michael said.
"Yes, I am," Howl contradicted him.
2) "She caught up, old blueface," he said.
"I know," said Calcifer. "I felt it take."
3) "I am now," he said, "going to get ready for the funeral. Please, both of you, refrain from doing anything whatsoever while I do. I can tell Sophie is in top form at the moment, and I want this room the usual size when I come back to it."
4) Howl's voice was presently heard shouting weakly, "Help me, someone! I'm dying from neglect up here!"
5) "I'm a coward. Only way I can do something so frightening is to tell myself I'm not doing it!"
6) Sophie could feel that the dark lump of Howl's heart was only beating very faintly between her fingers. It had to be Howl's heart she was holding. He had given it away to Calcifer as his part of the contract, to keep Calcifer alive. He must have been sorry for Calcifer, but, all the same, what a silly thing to do!
Date: 01.04.2023 - 03.04.2023
Genre: Fantasy
Format: print
Language: English
Pages: 429
First Line:
In the land of Ingary, where such things as seven-league boots and cloaks of invisibility really exist, it is quite a misfortune to be born the eldest of three.
Thoughts:
I'm a huge fan of the Ghibli movie based on this book so it was high time for me to read it! Overall I feel the movie did right by the book, Howl especially is very much on point (I learned the word "slapdash" which describes the way he acts perfectly). In the book, there's more emphasis on Sophie being a witch, but even in the movie she had her own kind of magic, so they worked with that in a way.
I didn't like how the world of Ingary is connected to our real world, that 'Howl' comes from 'Howell' and the way he interacted with his "normal" family. It kinda took the magic out of it for me and felt unnecessary, even with the other wizard also originating from non-magical Wales. I certainly could have done without this part. What I did like was how the curse that the Witch of the Waste put on Howl re-entered his life through the poem from this world.
Around the second half the plot gets a bit wild! Everyone seems to know about Sophie's curse, Howl and Michael are dating her sisters, her whole (extended) family is suddenly there for a visit, there's a dog, a prince, a wizard and a missing fiancé (some of which might be the same person), Sophie is mad for some reason and they're fighting the Witch of the Waste (briefly) and her fire demon (slightly less briefly) and then we're just in time for everone's Happy Ever After. A bit chaotic but all in all, quite fun!
Quotes:
1) "I can clean the dirt from this place even if I can't clean you from your wickedness, young man."
"Howl's not wicked," Michael said.
"Yes, I am," Howl contradicted him.
2) "She caught up, old blueface," he said.
"I know," said Calcifer. "I felt it take."
3) "I am now," he said, "going to get ready for the funeral. Please, both of you, refrain from doing anything whatsoever while I do. I can tell Sophie is in top form at the moment, and I want this room the usual size when I come back to it."
4) Howl's voice was presently heard shouting weakly, "Help me, someone! I'm dying from neglect up here!"
5) "I'm a coward. Only way I can do something so frightening is to tell myself I'm not doing it!"
6) Sophie could feel that the dark lump of Howl's heart was only beating very faintly between her fingers. It had to be Howl's heart she was holding. He had given it away to Calcifer as his part of the contract, to keep Calcifer alive. He must have been sorry for Calcifer, but, all the same, what a silly thing to do!
2. "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan
Rating: ★★★★☆
Series: The Heroes of Olympus (book 2)
Date: 01.04.2023 - 14.04.2023
Genre: middle grade/YA, fantasy
Format: audiobook (read by Joshua Swanson)
Language: English
Pages (equivalent): 546
First Line:
The snake-haired ladies were starting to annoy Percy.
Thoughts:
Series: The Heroes of Olympus (book 2)
Date: 01.04.2023 - 14.04.2023
Genre: middle grade/YA, fantasy
Format: audiobook (read by Joshua Swanson)
Language: English
Pages (equivalent): 546
First Line:
The snake-haired ladies were starting to annoy Percy.
Thoughts:
I had a lot of fun with this book! Percy, despite having lost his memories, was a very capable and clearly experienced demigod who could draw on his instincts in many cases and while it only made a certain amount of sense, I'll allow it; it was cool. His memory loss could have been a stronger factor but maybe the author didn't want to push the discrepancy between what the readers and what the character knows. And I guess Percy would have been too powerful with the Mark of Achilles, but it still felt like a somewhat clumsy retcon. I liked Percy's powerful moments, like when he uses his water powers, almost as cool as when Jason calls the lightning down. Despite that, I don't really get why Reyna would want him for Praetor after knowing him for, what, a day? An entire legion at her disposal and no one else qualifies? Even after the final battle (and Percy's admittedly clever use of a minor god to beat a giant) when they make him Praetor I don't see what made him stand out compared to, say, Hazel and Frank, who also killed a giant.
As for Frank and Hazel: we get yet another typical trio, nothing new there. I love how Frank is claimed by Mars (he is so cool, way more than Ares) but other than that his family background seems completely overpowered. However, I do love the concept of his sense of duty eventually winning
out over Percy's loyalty to his friends that would make him sacrifice
everything. Frank will save the day not with friendship but with duty.
That really appeals to me somehow and I'm super curious how that will
play out. For Hazel, the book keeps randomly turning into a horse-girl-story which doesn't really fit, imho. Plus, horses are Percy's thing, what with him being able to talk to them. Other than that I don't have much of an opinion of her. Her background is a bit strange?
Also: Thanatos. He was described as stunningly beautiful and the way Joshua Swanson read him really got that point across. I could bathe in that voice, I swear. The ending was suitably epic, I really liked it, and I'm looking forward to book 3!
Notes:
PERCY
- of course Percy gets sorted with the losers so they can be the underdogs that rise to fortune
- lol at Reyna basically only entrusting this quest to Percy, like Frank and Hazel just happen to be along for the ride ^^;;
- Percy: puts everything on his necklace like it's a bag of holding
- Percy: puts everything on his necklace like it's a bag of holding
HAZEL
- the book keeps mentioning that Hazel is younger than the others but she's not written like it
FRANK
-
I love Mars SO much, holy shit! "you can take two companions. those are
the rules. and one of them needs to be this kid." *points at percy*
NICO
-
I really love Nico. He sounds like a much older guy but whatever, he's
cool and dark and a bit over the top - all my love. I find it weird
though that he clearly knows what's what with Percy but is somehow
trusted to keep it all under wraps. Also: does he just hang out at BOTH
camps for shits and giggles?
- LOL at Nico shutting up the ghosts
ETC
- there seems to be a lot more Latin in this series than there was Ancient Greek in the first one
3. "Momo oder Die seltsame Geschichte von den Zeit-Dieben und von dem Kind, das den Menschen die gestohlene Zeit zurückbrachte" by Michael Ende
Rating: ★★★☆
Date: 03.04.2023 - 06.04.2023
Genre: children's literature
Format: print
Language: German
Pages: 301
First Line:
In alten, alten Zeiten, als die Menschen noch in ganz anderen Sprachen redeten, gab es in den warmen Ländern schon große und prächtige Städte.
Thoughts:
Die Message von 'Momo' ist eine zeitlose (pun very much intended) und eine grundlegend antikapitalistische: "Deine Zeit gehört dir. Wenn du sie jemand anderem gibst, bekommst du sie nie zurück." Zeit lässt sich auch nicht "sparen", man kann sie nur im Hier und Jetzt verwenden. Das hat auch etwas von Achtsamheit. Arbeit ist gut und wichtig, aber wenn man immerzu nur mehr und schneller und effizienter arbeitet, gewinnt man nichts dabei, schon gar nicht Zeit.
Darüber hinaus ist 'Momo' nun einmal ein Kinderbuch und auch so geschrieben, was nicht unbedingt mein persönlicher Stil ist. Gerade am Anfang gibt es einige Kapitel, die zwar für sich genommen lustig sind, zur Story aber nicht viel beitragen. Als Kind hätte ich aber zumindest an Teilen sicher Freude gefunden, vor allem an der gruseligen Welt am Ende mit den Kinder-Depots, einer dystopischen Variante von Kindergärten.
Als Erwachsener hat mir vieles nicht genug Sinn ergeben, z.B. die Art, wie Kassiopeia in die Zukunft blickt. Entweder sie kann ihr Handeln danach ausrichten, dann ist es nicht die sichere Zukunft, oder sie kann es nicht, und dann hilft es auch nicht. Die angehaltene Zeit war auch nicht logisch: einerseits läuft man selbst gegen die leichteste Feder in der Luft, wie gegen ein hartes Hindernis, andererseits kann man aber noch atmen und die Luft ist auch weiterhin durchlässig.
In jedem Fall habe ich sehr viel Inspiration für meinen Midsummer Disco Charakter, Uhr, gefunden! Ich mochte auch die Bildhaftigkeit einiger Ereignisse, etwa die Zeit in Momos Herzen und der Sturm aus Zeit. Die Methode, durchzuzählen und dann per Los die geraden oder ungeraden Zahlen zu töten: brilliant! Am Ende wäre es imho schöner gewesen, wenn Kassiopeie Momo die Lösung nicht verraten hätte. Aber es war irgendwie schön, als der letzte graue Herr seinem Ende mit Erleichterung entgegen geblickt hat.
Ein schönes Ende und ein sehr solides Kinderbuch!
Quotes:
1) Manche Dinge brauchten ihre Zeit - und Zeit war ja das Einzige, woran Momo reich war.
2) ...jeder weiß, dass einem eine einzige Stunde wie eine Ewigkeit vorkommen kann, mitunter kann sie aber auch wie ein Augenblick vergehen - je nachdem, was man in dieser Stunde erlebt.
Denn Zeit ist Leben. Und das Leben wohnt im Herzen.
3) "Aber woher nimmt man Zeit? Man muss sie eben ersparen!"
4) Der Vorsatz, von nun an Zeit zu sparen, um irgendwann in der Zukunft ein anderes Leben beginnen zu können, saß in seiner Seele fest wie ein Stachel mit Widerhaken.
5) ZEIT IST KOSTBAR - VERLIERE SIE NICHT!
6) Aber Zeit ist Leben. Und das Leben wohnt im Herzen.
Und je mehr die Menschen daran sparten, desto weniger hatten sie.
7) "Denn jeder Mensch hat seine Zeit. Und nur solang sie wirklich die seine ist, bleibt sie lebendig."
8) Es war wie ein warmer Frühlingssturm, aber ein Sturm aus lauter befreiter Zeit.
Date: 03.04.2023 - 06.04.2023
Genre: children's literature
Format: print
Language: German
Pages: 301
First Line:
In alten, alten Zeiten, als die Menschen noch in ganz anderen Sprachen redeten, gab es in den warmen Ländern schon große und prächtige Städte.
Thoughts:
Die Message von 'Momo' ist eine zeitlose (pun very much intended) und eine grundlegend antikapitalistische: "Deine Zeit gehört dir. Wenn du sie jemand anderem gibst, bekommst du sie nie zurück." Zeit lässt sich auch nicht "sparen", man kann sie nur im Hier und Jetzt verwenden. Das hat auch etwas von Achtsamheit. Arbeit ist gut und wichtig, aber wenn man immerzu nur mehr und schneller und effizienter arbeitet, gewinnt man nichts dabei, schon gar nicht Zeit.
Darüber hinaus ist 'Momo' nun einmal ein Kinderbuch und auch so geschrieben, was nicht unbedingt mein persönlicher Stil ist. Gerade am Anfang gibt es einige Kapitel, die zwar für sich genommen lustig sind, zur Story aber nicht viel beitragen. Als Kind hätte ich aber zumindest an Teilen sicher Freude gefunden, vor allem an der gruseligen Welt am Ende mit den Kinder-Depots, einer dystopischen Variante von Kindergärten.
Als Erwachsener hat mir vieles nicht genug Sinn ergeben, z.B. die Art, wie Kassiopeia in die Zukunft blickt. Entweder sie kann ihr Handeln danach ausrichten, dann ist es nicht die sichere Zukunft, oder sie kann es nicht, und dann hilft es auch nicht. Die angehaltene Zeit war auch nicht logisch: einerseits läuft man selbst gegen die leichteste Feder in der Luft, wie gegen ein hartes Hindernis, andererseits kann man aber noch atmen und die Luft ist auch weiterhin durchlässig.
In jedem Fall habe ich sehr viel Inspiration für meinen Midsummer Disco Charakter, Uhr, gefunden! Ich mochte auch die Bildhaftigkeit einiger Ereignisse, etwa die Zeit in Momos Herzen und der Sturm aus Zeit. Die Methode, durchzuzählen und dann per Los die geraden oder ungeraden Zahlen zu töten: brilliant! Am Ende wäre es imho schöner gewesen, wenn Kassiopeie Momo die Lösung nicht verraten hätte. Aber es war irgendwie schön, als der letzte graue Herr seinem Ende mit Erleichterung entgegen geblickt hat.
Ein schönes Ende und ein sehr solides Kinderbuch!
Quotes:
1) Manche Dinge brauchten ihre Zeit - und Zeit war ja das Einzige, woran Momo reich war.
2) ...jeder weiß, dass einem eine einzige Stunde wie eine Ewigkeit vorkommen kann, mitunter kann sie aber auch wie ein Augenblick vergehen - je nachdem, was man in dieser Stunde erlebt.
Denn Zeit ist Leben. Und das Leben wohnt im Herzen.
3) "Aber woher nimmt man Zeit? Man muss sie eben ersparen!"
4) Der Vorsatz, von nun an Zeit zu sparen, um irgendwann in der Zukunft ein anderes Leben beginnen zu können, saß in seiner Seele fest wie ein Stachel mit Widerhaken.
5) ZEIT IST KOSTBAR - VERLIERE SIE NICHT!
6) Aber Zeit ist Leben. Und das Leben wohnt im Herzen.
Und je mehr die Menschen daran sparten, desto weniger hatten sie.
7) "Denn jeder Mensch hat seine Zeit. Und nur solang sie wirklich die seine ist, bleibt sie lebendig."
8) Es war wie ein warmer Frühlingssturm, aber ein Sturm aus lauter befreiter Zeit.
4. "Notorious Sorcerer" by Davinia Evans
Rating: ★★★★
Series: Burnished City
Date: 06.04.2023 - 18.04.2023
Genre: fantasy, queer
Format: print
Language: English
Pages: 409
First Line:
Siyon couldn't get the damn square to line up, and the hangover definitely wasn't helping.
Thoughts:
Series: Burnished City
Date: 06.04.2023 - 18.04.2023
Genre: fantasy, queer
Format: print
Language: English
Pages: 409
First Line:
Siyon couldn't get the damn square to line up, and the hangover definitely wasn't helping.
Thoughts:
While a fun read overall, the novel didn't leave a strong impression with me. Which is a pity, because the potential is certainly there! The magic system is interesting: people can delve into three different planes where they gather materials that can then be used in Alchemy, a sort of magic that only works in this specific place. Siyon scavanges the planes for a living (which is quite dangerous), though he'd rather study Alchemy properly, only he's a poor low-life and membership at the prestigious Summer Club a mere dream.
But the planes, ones firmly alligned with each other, are shifting increasingly out of control. As Siyon eventually finds out, each plane needs a Power, a person who represents their plane and holds it in place. The plot runs a bit this way and that before Siyon (in the most trite larp ritual that is standing in a circle and focusing energies) becomes the Alchemist, the Power of the Mundane, his plane. It isn't entirely clear what qualifies him for the job, there certainly were other candidates.
We get multiple points of view from a number of characters, not all of which contribute to the main plot in a meaningful way. Anahid's pov was a complete waste of time. Zagiri was simply not necessary, neither was Izmirlian. The latter's motivation for doing anything was the most nonsensical and I still don't understand it completely. Siyon and Izmirlian get together at some point but their relationship is so boring that I was barely mad on principle when Izmirlian was (sort of, metaphysically) killed off in the end.
But the planes, ones firmly alligned with each other, are shifting increasingly out of control. As Siyon eventually finds out, each plane needs a Power, a person who represents their plane and holds it in place. The plot runs a bit this way and that before Siyon (in the most trite larp ritual that is standing in a circle and focusing energies) becomes the Alchemist, the Power of the Mundane, his plane. It isn't entirely clear what qualifies him for the job, there certainly were other candidates.
We get multiple points of view from a number of characters, not all of which contribute to the main plot in a meaningful way. Anahid's pov was a complete waste of time. Zagiri was simply not necessary, neither was Izmirlian. The latter's motivation for doing anything was the most nonsensical and I still don't understand it completely. Siyon and Izmirlian get together at some point but their relationship is so boring that I was barely mad on principle when Izmirlian was (sort of, metaphysically) killed off in the end.
The book also started out with criticism of the highly privileged upper class (called azatani) but then all good characters from that class were, of course, nice and never abused their position, so the book failed to do anything about the issue or drive home its message. I keps thinking that two side characters, Nihath and Tehoun, would have been the far more interesting protagonists, but Nihath especially was increasingly delegated to the sidelines, despite having been established as a capable and powerful alchemist.
I'm not sure I'll continue with the series. I think I'd have liked the story more if it had had a proper ending after book one.
Notes:
- wasn't too sure about the multiple pov at first but I came to like all the characters so I feel a little more forgiving now
- the magic system is cool (though I still don't 100% understand it) and sth I haven't seen before
- I kinda like Siyon and Izmirlian so far, they're pretty okay main characters
- I am almost halfway through this book and I kinda can't really tell what the plot is/what the protagonist's bigger agenda is
- in not even two pages Zagiri has shipped Siyon with the housekeeper, Izmirlian, and her sister
- Why would Siyon not talk to Nihath about his inability to delve!? because he's an arrogant asshole, sure, but this is just drama through miscommunication, and I hate it
- Nihath and Tehroun might have the more interesting story
- I'm confused; HOW did Siyon get back over the Swanneck? and how did Izmirlian know just where in the entire city Siyon would be?
- I love how mad Siyon is at being rescued, because Izmirlian did it with exactly the kind of azatani privilege that Siyon hates so much
- I 100% do not get what it is Izmirlian wants. his impossible comission. he wants to find a plane beyond the known planes? why? to go there, to vanish from this plane? why not go to one of the other planes, they are unreachable enough for most people? that other dude got pretty lost and he didn't need an extra plane for it
- they finally kissed! they're cute together but not particularly interesting. just... nice and mostly soft and healthy. they like each other. sure, there's the class difference, but of course Izmirlian isn't like that and only plays at being an arrogant azatani, he's *different*. the typical kind of love interest
- Tehroun is hinting at actually interesting plot! (coming back to me thinking their story is actually more interesting)
- Anahid's pov interests me the least. it doesn't seem all that related to the plot either
- that scene where they save Enkin Danelani was SO cool! very visual!
- I like how Siyon earned himself a Name!
- of COURSE something's wrong with Izmirlian, you worked weird fucking alchemy on him!
- Izmirlian is saved and it was all wrong but he still "wants to go"? where??
- I cannot for the life of me imagine Siyon as tall. he doesn't act tall. in my head he's normal sized and Izmirlian is a bit taller. I'm not ready for other things
- Izmirlian/Siyon is a very boring relationship. they're just nice and soft and good together and there is no conflict, no spark, nothing interesting
- "haha, keine Ahnung, lass mal alle einfach im Kreis stehen und, naja, unsere Energie fokussieren?" das ist so larp, Jesus fucking Christ
- if you kill the gay(s) I swear to god. also, is no one else in that room able to do fucking anything??
- I get that Siyon and Izmirlian like each other but I don't get an eternal love feel from them. Izmirlian dying for Siyon, Siyon demanding the other Powers save him... I don't know, I don't feel it
- so Izmirlian gets his wish (???) and Siyon becomes the Alchemist, the Power of the Mundane, which he can be because ??? someone has to???
- I'm saying that totally counts as killing at least one gay. and for what?
- anyone can (theoretically) delve the planes? I don't like it. I think it should be for those who felt them shifting and stuff. I don't like fantasy worlds where anyone can do magic
- the ending was so-so. what happened to Nihath? he seemed so capable in the beginning and in the end he was reduced to paying Anahid a stuttered compliment. he was in the room when shit went down and didn't do a thing? I mean, come on
- classism? all important characters, especially all the good people, from the upper class either don't care about class differences or actively work against it. no subtle dealing with or abuse of privilege. no conflict in relationships between people from different classes. zip!
- Siyon/Izmirlian is SO boring. they meet, get to know and like each other, Siyon has a brief phase of "I won't say I'm in love", then they're in love, have a boring fade-to-black sex scene and then Izmirlian dies a metaphysical death. boring as fuck.
- Siyon is famous for his purple coat but the cover made it red, what a pity
- the magic system is cool (though I still don't 100% understand it) and sth I haven't seen before
- I kinda like Siyon and Izmirlian so far, they're pretty okay main characters
- I am almost halfway through this book and I kinda can't really tell what the plot is/what the protagonist's bigger agenda is
- in not even two pages Zagiri has shipped Siyon with the housekeeper, Izmirlian, and her sister
- Why would Siyon not talk to Nihath about his inability to delve!? because he's an arrogant asshole, sure, but this is just drama through miscommunication, and I hate it
- Nihath and Tehroun might have the more interesting story
- I'm confused; HOW did Siyon get back over the Swanneck? and how did Izmirlian know just where in the entire city Siyon would be?
- I love how mad Siyon is at being rescued, because Izmirlian did it with exactly the kind of azatani privilege that Siyon hates so much
- I 100% do not get what it is Izmirlian wants. his impossible comission. he wants to find a plane beyond the known planes? why? to go there, to vanish from this plane? why not go to one of the other planes, they are unreachable enough for most people? that other dude got pretty lost and he didn't need an extra plane for it
- they finally kissed! they're cute together but not particularly interesting. just... nice and mostly soft and healthy. they like each other. sure, there's the class difference, but of course Izmirlian isn't like that and only plays at being an arrogant azatani, he's *different*. the typical kind of love interest
- Tehroun is hinting at actually interesting plot! (coming back to me thinking their story is actually more interesting)
- Anahid's pov interests me the least. it doesn't seem all that related to the plot either
- that scene where they save Enkin Danelani was SO cool! very visual!
- I like how Siyon earned himself a Name!
- of COURSE something's wrong with Izmirlian, you worked weird fucking alchemy on him!
- Izmirlian is saved and it was all wrong but he still "wants to go"? where??
- I cannot for the life of me imagine Siyon as tall. he doesn't act tall. in my head he's normal sized and Izmirlian is a bit taller. I'm not ready for other things
- Izmirlian/Siyon is a very boring relationship. they're just nice and soft and good together and there is no conflict, no spark, nothing interesting
- "haha, keine Ahnung, lass mal alle einfach im Kreis stehen und, naja, unsere Energie fokussieren?" das ist so larp, Jesus fucking Christ
- if you kill the gay(s) I swear to god. also, is no one else in that room able to do fucking anything??
- I get that Siyon and Izmirlian like each other but I don't get an eternal love feel from them. Izmirlian dying for Siyon, Siyon demanding the other Powers save him... I don't know, I don't feel it
- so Izmirlian gets his wish (???) and Siyon becomes the Alchemist, the Power of the Mundane, which he can be because ??? someone has to???
- I'm saying that totally counts as killing at least one gay. and for what?
- anyone can (theoretically) delve the planes? I don't like it. I think it should be for those who felt them shifting and stuff. I don't like fantasy worlds where anyone can do magic
- the ending was so-so. what happened to Nihath? he seemed so capable in the beginning and in the end he was reduced to paying Anahid a stuttered compliment. he was in the room when shit went down and didn't do a thing? I mean, come on
- classism? all important characters, especially all the good people, from the upper class either don't care about class differences or actively work against it. no subtle dealing with or abuse of privilege. no conflict in relationships between people from different classes. zip!
- Siyon/Izmirlian is SO boring. they meet, get to know and like each other, Siyon has a brief phase of "I won't say I'm in love", then they're in love, have a boring fade-to-black sex scene and then Izmirlian dies a metaphysical death. boring as fuck.
- Siyon is famous for his purple coat but the cover made it red, what a pity
Quotes:
1) By midnight, the inquisitor's wing of the Palace of Justice was seething like a kicked anthill, ascurry with humourless law enforcement still processing the assortment of Summer Club patrons caught too brazenly in the act of alchemy - or the act of not being azatani.
2) He didn't spend much time berating himself for past mistakes. He'd made too many; no one had that much time.
3) She was instantly and almost vertiginously familiar. Siyon blinked at her, westling with dizziness like he'd stood up too quickly. "Have you arrested me before?"
4) "Here is the secret of the azatani: Ask for everything, and be appalled if you don't get it."
5) "Let's definitely have this argument again, it's entertaining even on the seventeenth iteration."
6) "From what I hear, you are extremely his type."
"Of course not." Siyon stopped beside the bench. "What's his type?"
She grinned. "Wildly inappropriate."
7) It was a glorious, useless parade, and curfew was something that happened to other people.
8) "You are all insufficient, but someone must take the reins, or your runaway kelpie of a plane will drag us all into oblivion."
1) By midnight, the inquisitor's wing of the Palace of Justice was seething like a kicked anthill, ascurry with humourless law enforcement still processing the assortment of Summer Club patrons caught too brazenly in the act of alchemy - or the act of not being azatani.
2) He didn't spend much time berating himself for past mistakes. He'd made too many; no one had that much time.
3) She was instantly and almost vertiginously familiar. Siyon blinked at her, westling with dizziness like he'd stood up too quickly. "Have you arrested me before?"
4) "Here is the secret of the azatani: Ask for everything, and be appalled if you don't get it."
5) "Let's definitely have this argument again, it's entertaining even on the seventeenth iteration."
6) "From what I hear, you are extremely his type."
"Of course not." Siyon stopped beside the bench. "What's his type?"
She grinned. "Wildly inappropriate."
7) It was a glorious, useless parade, and curfew was something that happened to other people.
8) "You are all insufficient, but someone must take the reins, or your runaway kelpie of a plane will drag us all into oblivion."
5. "Verily, A New Hope" by Ian Doescher
Rating: ★★
Series: William Shakespeare's Star Wars (Ep. IV)
Date: 18.04.2023 - 24.04.2023
Genre: parody, scifi
Format: print
Language: English
Pages: 169
First Line:
It is a period of civil war.
The spaceships of the rebels, striking swift
From base unseen, have gain'd a vict'ry o'ver
The cruel Galactic Empire, now adrift.
Thoughts:
After loving 'The Force Doth Awaken' as much as I did, I was ready to embrace Doescher's humor and linguistic skill once more and was utterly disappointed. This book delivered exactly what I feared the first time I picked up the series: a single joke that got tired after a few pages. I even rewatched the movie between chapters so I could tell the lines kept close to the source material, adding only a few asides here and there. Those weren't much of a delight though, they mostly seemed to force a certain interpretation of the characters (eg. C-3PO being annoying and Han being a good guy who would eventually fall for Leia). Some soliloquies seem especially inapt at capturing the characters, like Luke's rousing speech to the rebels; he wasn't a leader at that point after all. The battle at the end was especially boring and by then I was pushing myself to finish the thing.
Series: William Shakespeare's Star Wars (Ep. IV)
Date: 18.04.2023 - 24.04.2023
Genre: parody, scifi
Format: print
Language: English
Pages: 169
First Line:
It is a period of civil war.
The spaceships of the rebels, striking swift
From base unseen, have gain'd a vict'ry o'ver
The cruel Galactic Empire, now adrift.
Thoughts:
After loving 'The Force Doth Awaken' as much as I did, I was ready to embrace Doescher's humor and linguistic skill once more and was utterly disappointed. This book delivered exactly what I feared the first time I picked up the series: a single joke that got tired after a few pages. I even rewatched the movie between chapters so I could tell the lines kept close to the source material, adding only a few asides here and there. Those weren't much of a delight though, they mostly seemed to force a certain interpretation of the characters (eg. C-3PO being annoying and Han being a good guy who would eventually fall for Leia). Some soliloquies seem especially inapt at capturing the characters, like Luke's rousing speech to the rebels; he wasn't a leader at that point after all. The battle at the end was especially boring and by then I was pushing myself to finish the thing.
Overall: I had high expectations that were thouroughly crushed and I don't think I'll pick up another of Doescher's parodies.
Quotes:
1) In time so long ago begins our play,
In star-crossed galaxy far, far away. (Chorus)
2) And prithee, speak thou well, or speak thy last,
For fairer necks than thine my hand hath crush'd. (Vader)
3) This word is true if ever words have truth:
Forever lost I'd be should I lose him. (C-3PO)
4) Forget thou not this moment, faithless droid!
Why I should put my neck at risk for thee
Is quite beyond my mind's capacity. (C-3PO)
5) If center bright the universe contains,
Then surely, droid, hast thou now found thyself
As far from it as thou canst poss'bly be. (Luke)
6) This droid shall quickly stretch his welcome thin. (Obi-Wan)
7) Now holdeth Luke the weapon in his hand,
And with a switch the light explodes in blue.
The noble light Luke's rev'rence doth command:
That instant was a Jedi born anew. (Chorus)
8) [To innkeeper:] Pray, goodly Sir, forgive me for the mess.
[Aside:] And whether I shot first, I'll ne'er confess! (Han)
9) Forsooth, a great disturbance in the Force
Have I just felt. 'Twas like a million mouths
Cried out in fear at once, and then were gone,
All hush'd and quiet - silent to the last. (Obi-Wan)
10) There let our heroes rest free form attack,
Till darkness rise and Empire striketh back, (Chorus)
1) In time so long ago begins our play,
In star-crossed galaxy far, far away. (Chorus)
2) And prithee, speak thou well, or speak thy last,
For fairer necks than thine my hand hath crush'd. (Vader)
3) This word is true if ever words have truth:
Forever lost I'd be should I lose him. (C-3PO)
4) Forget thou not this moment, faithless droid!
Why I should put my neck at risk for thee
Is quite beyond my mind's capacity. (C-3PO)
5) If center bright the universe contains,
Then surely, droid, hast thou now found thyself
As far from it as thou canst poss'bly be. (Luke)
6) This droid shall quickly stretch his welcome thin. (Obi-Wan)
7) Now holdeth Luke the weapon in his hand,
And with a switch the light explodes in blue.
The noble light Luke's rev'rence doth command:
That instant was a Jedi born anew. (Chorus)
8) [To innkeeper:] Pray, goodly Sir, forgive me for the mess.
[Aside:] And whether I shot first, I'll ne'er confess! (Han)
9) Forsooth, a great disturbance in the Force
Have I just felt. 'Twas like a million mouths
Cried out in fear at once, and then were gone,
All hush'd and quiet - silent to the last. (Obi-Wan)
10) There let our heroes rest free form attack,
Till darkness rise and Empire striketh back, (Chorus)
6. "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
Rating: ★★★★
Series: The Heroes of Olympus (book 3)
Date: 23.04.2023 - 08.05.2023
Genre: middle grade/YA, fantasy
Format: audiobook (read by Joshua Swanson)
Language: English
Pages (equivalent): 608
Thoughts:
The last book ended on such a cliffhanger that I wanted to get started with this one right away. I was afraid that the Prophecy of Seven would also give me seven povs but in the end there were "only" four, leaving out the Romans (Jason, Hazel, Frank). Four is still too many but seven would have been worse. I'm not a fan of this big a cast and my fears were confirmed: the cast splits up often and spends time recounting stuff to each other, which was confusing sometimes.
Date: 23.04.2023 - 08.05.2023
Genre: middle grade/YA, fantasy
Format: audiobook (read by Joshua Swanson)
Language: English
Pages (equivalent): 608
Thoughts:
The last book ended on such a cliffhanger that I wanted to get started with this one right away. I was afraid that the Prophecy of Seven would also give me seven povs but in the end there were "only" four, leaving out the Romans (Jason, Hazel, Frank). Four is still too many but seven would have been worse. I'm not a fan of this big a cast and my fears were confirmed: the cast splits up often and spends time recounting stuff to each other, which was confusing sometimes.
I was looking forward to see how Jason and Percy would work together but ended up being disappointed. Of course they have a sort of rivalry going on and normaly I'd love that but I just didn't feel it. They both bring very different talents and personalities to the table and both accept Annabeth as the overall quest leader so they really have to reason not to get along. But even when they do they seem to be at a loss at what to do with each other. They coopoerate in the final battle in the colosseum but don't connect emotionally.
I loved Jason in book 1 but now he spends a lot of time knocked out because he'd otherwise be too powerful. He's also way too okay with Piper using charm speak on him, that seems rather intrusive? The book is very heavy on the teenage romance in general and I'm not a fan. Everyone's primary connection is always their love interest (maybe a sibling), never "just" a friend. And it does make Leo the odd one out which really isn't fair.
I dislike a few continuing themes in this book, like how the characters never tell each other bad stuff (like scary prophetic dreams) even though they have no reason at all not to trust each other.
I also thought the Argo II was a bit much and Coach Hedge continues to be annoying.
I did like Nico's return to the cast though and that ending - with Annabeth and Percy falling to Tartarus together - was pretty epic, not gonna lie.
7. "Luck in the Shadows" by Lynn Flewelling
Rating: ★★★★★
Series: Nightrunners
Date: 24.04.2023 - 30.04.2023
Genre: fantasy, queer
Format: print
Language: English
Pages: 479
Thoughts:
This book was teenage!me's first queer fantasy and it left quite the impression with me. I'm glad to see it aged well and that it's still as fun to read as I remember. It gave me all the emotions (like, I cried when Alec finally meets Nysander)!
Series: Nightrunners
Date: 24.04.2023 - 30.04.2023
Genre: fantasy, queer
Format: print
Language: English
Pages: 479
Thoughts:
This book was teenage!me's first queer fantasy and it left quite the impression with me. I'm glad to see it aged well and that it's still as fun to read as I remember. It gave me all the emotions (like, I cried when Alec finally meets Nysander)!
I am so fond of the entire cast. I like how even in the very beginning (and at just 16) Alec already has several skills he is well versed in and that are useful on their journey, in addition to having a knack for several others and being a quick learner. He's clearly very inexperienced, especially compared to Micum and Seregil, but he's far from useless. Something I noticed and that I also liked is how during
Alec's journey to Rhíminee, where Seregil is obviously not of any help,
Alec's loyalty and good character are constantly rewarded (even though it's far from
an easy journey). Writing doesn't often do this, I feel; it'd be a perfect
opportunity to show Alec the worst of humanity, to drive home the
message that being good doesn't get you squat. But this is not what
happens here: we learn that being good, at least sometimes, gets you
good in return.
This series really satisfies my competency kink. Seregil is allowed to be very good at what he does while still having very clear flaws, all of which make sense, given his current life and his history. He did pick up Alec on a whim (and instinct) and it's clear that he often doesn't really know what to do with him (that moment when he leaves Alec alone at the Cockerel because he panics is so sad). And he still lies a lot, if only by omission. Trusting is so hard for him, because he (unlike Alec) has been hurt before.
I don't think I appreciated Thero's character enough in the past, I so love that kind of development. The fact that Thero went through with changing places with Seregil says
a lot about him, really. He doesn't particularly like Seregil (nor vice
versa) and he has to spend time in an uncomfortable high security
prison. And yet, there he is, doing his duty, not nearly receiving the
praise he deserves for it. I'm looking forward to seeing him grow in the next few books.
Notes:
- Seregil sees no problem with stealing, justifying it with the noble cause that is his work. however, a horse is a pretty valuable possession. some high lords might not care whether they loose a horse or two, but a farmer or small merchant might well feel the loss of their horse. it's not the same as stealing a shirt and cloak, a horse may be someone's livelihood
-
what an odd scene: they find a dead beggar in the charnel house;
seregil knows where his daughter begs, implying that not only had the
old men spent at least his final years on the streets but so does his
family. and here Seregil is with all his wealth and ignores their
situation completely, like that's just the way it is
- Illior's oracle: oh you will so bone that boy; Seregil: whelp, oracles can be wrong!
- Seregil, eventually: ...fuck, he's gorgeous
- Illior's oracle: oh you will so bone that boy; Seregil: whelp, oracles can be wrong!
- Seregil, eventually: ...fuck, he's gorgeous
- Idrilain realizing Seregil is a watcher is such a beautiful scene. I guess it falls broadly under "secret identity being revealed"-scenes and I always love those!
Quotes:
1) "I want to come with you, but first you've got to give me a few straight answers."
"It's against my nature, but I'll try." (p.37)
2) "I can't think of anything that means less to me than money; it's too easy to come by." (p.67)
3) "For with or without my teachings, he will be great. And so I keep him with me because I fear to let him go to another master. It is my greatest hope that with time and maturity he will gain compassion, and then what a wizard he shall be!" (p.202)
4) "Luck in the shadows, Alec; you don't question it, you just give thanks and pray it doesn't run out!" (p.216)
5) "I doubt there are many tastes Thero and I do share," Seregil conceded.
"A fact for which I am continually thankful," Thero parried dryly. (p.240)
6) "You spoke of shape changing spells. Can a person really be changed into anything?"
"A brick, perhaps?" Thero interjected. (p.240)
7) "Thryis never changes," Seregil said with a hint of fondness, leading Alec up the back stairs. "Whether I've been gone for two days or six months, she always tells me I should have let her know I was coming, which I never do; apologizes for the menu, which is never necessary; promises an accounting, which I never look at; and then complains about my cat." (p.260)
8) "The only thing of true value is one you can take away with you in a hurry." (p.263)
Quotes:
1) "I want to come with you, but first you've got to give me a few straight answers."
"It's against my nature, but I'll try." (p.37)
2) "I can't think of anything that means less to me than money; it's too easy to come by." (p.67)
3) "For with or without my teachings, he will be great. And so I keep him with me because I fear to let him go to another master. It is my greatest hope that with time and maturity he will gain compassion, and then what a wizard he shall be!" (p.202)
4) "Luck in the shadows, Alec; you don't question it, you just give thanks and pray it doesn't run out!" (p.216)
5) "I doubt there are many tastes Thero and I do share," Seregil conceded.
"A fact for which I am continually thankful," Thero parried dryly. (p.240)
6) "You spoke of shape changing spells. Can a person really be changed into anything?"
"A brick, perhaps?" Thero interjected. (p.240)
7) "Thryis never changes," Seregil said with a hint of fondness, leading Alec up the back stairs. "Whether I've been gone for two days or six months, she always tells me I should have let her know I was coming, which I never do; apologizes for the menu, which is never necessary; promises an accounting, which I never look at; and then complains about my cat." (p.260)
8) "The only thing of true value is one you can take away with you in a hurry." (p.263)
MAY
Books read: 6
Books dropped: 0
Fav of the month: The City We Became
Books dropped: 0
Fav of the month: The City We Became
Pages: 2492
1. "Three Tigers, One Mountain. A Journey through the bitter history and current conflicts of China, Korea and Japan" by Michael Booth
Rating: ★★★☆
Date: 01.05.2023 - 21.05.2023
Genre: non-fiction, history, politics
Date: 01.05.2023 - 21.05.2023
Genre: non-fiction, history, politics
Format: print
Language: English
Pages: 306
Thoughts:
The book is
separated into three major parts – Japan, Korea, China – with a minor addition
of Taiwan. The author’s goal is to analyze the relationship of the three Asian
countries, specifically why there is so much animosity between them. I thought
this was a somewhat scientific approach but it’s really more of a travelogue.
Some interviews are quite interesting but there is no true method to it. These
are impressions and personal accounts, hardly an actual commentary and while
some recent history is mentioned, it rarely goes beyond living memories.
The journey starts in Japan, a country the author has traveled to before, that he has written books about. I got a very cringy impression from this, he feels like a weeaboo and honestly calls himself a “Japan fetishist”. At the same time, there aren’t even kanji for the Japanese words (I started adding them myself). The book would have been a lot thinner, had the author not lost himself in declarations of love to Japan every few pages. He keeps arguing that xenophobia in Japan is not a broadly shared phenomenon, that hate groups are small minorities that can’t back up their arguments with facts. According to him, the Japanese population doesn’t share the views of their right-wing political leaders (they just keep voting for them). This completely ignores the fact that Japan is, by and large, still very conservative.
Where Japan was clearly the author’s big love, Korea gets introduced in a very negative way. It is, unfortunately, the author’s first trip here and we get an unfiltered view of negative stereotypes. He complains about everything, including their driving while hardly knowing how his own car works. He is incredibly arrogant, denigrating things simply because he doesn’t like or understand them (like k-pop). He finds South Koreans get plastic surgery a lot so he honestly decides to get surgery himself. I did learn some things though, like that Korea basically had zaibatsu, called “chaebol”. It’s interesting, though not important to the actual topic. It made me want to read a proper book about Korea. Of course, he talks a lot about the Japanese occupation and the topic of the comfort women, but he ends with arguing that since it all ended 70 years ago and doesn’t influence modern lives anymore, Koreans should just start to forgive and forget already. Generational trauma doesn’t seem to ring a bell with him.
China gets a similar treatment to South Korea. It was very interesting to learn about the country. The Nanjing massacre is not a new topic to me and of course it is still an issue between China and Japan. Beyond that there is Unit 731, where during WWII the Japanese conducted human experiments. The author visits different places related to these incidents and talks to Chinese people about it. The events have not been forgotten and there are groups who want to remember them, but the Chinese are also very practical: Japan is an important economical partner.
Overall: a book that could have been more interesting. Pictures would have helped, so would a somewhat scientific methodology. I learned some new things, but I’d want to read better reserched books about them.
2. "Was wird es denn? Ein Kind! Wie geschlechtsoffene Erziehung gelingt" von Ravna Marin Siever
Rating: ★★★★
Date: 01.05.2023 - 06.05.2023
Date: 01.05.2023 - 06.05.2023
Genre: non-fiction, gender, parenting
Format: print
Language: German
Pages: 263
Thoughts:
In meinen Augen ist dies ein sehr wichtiges Buch, dass ich gerne allen Menschen empfehlen möchte, die in der Thematik noch nicht so tief drin sind, die sich aber darüber informieren wollen.
Vom Anspruch her ist es gleichzeitig niedrigschwellig gehalten, ohne dabei trivial zu werden. Alle Argumente haben Hand und Fuß und sind sehr konkret formuliert. Ich denke, dass Eltern hier immer etwas mitnehmen können, egal ob sie ihre Kinder geschlechtsoffen erziehen wollen, oder sich nur ein bisschen bezüglich der Thematik sensibilisieren wollen. Wäre schon cool, wenn mehr in diese Richtung hin erzogen würde, sowohl von Eltern als auch von Erzieher*innen in allen Positionen. Ich sehe mich jetzt nicht wirklich als Zielgruppe des Buches, Erziehungstipps sind für mich nicht von Interesse und die grundlegenden Theorien sind mir nicht wirklich neu. Es ist aber cool, Argumente für etwas zu haben, was man trotzdem unterstützt.
3. "The City We Became" by N.K. Jemisin
Rating: ★★★★★
Date: 07.05.2023 - 30.05.2023
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: print
Language: English
Pages: 437
Thoughts:
I have feelings and opinions about this book, the vast majority of them positive! Can't help but love when a book is even queerer than expected.
The premise: New York has just awoken as a kind of living city and already it is under attack from an unknown and very weird enemy. It's complicated and involves tentacles plus an infinite number of alternate dimensions. New York is a special case in many ways and has not just one primary avatar but also one for each of the five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island. The people chosen to represent these parts of the city emcompass the essence, the soul of New York.
Manhattan ("Manny") was immediately my favorite character: he has that mysterious past combined with memory loss going for him and we know he's potentially very dangerous and definitely creepy, in a good way! He knows a bunch of languages (presumably because that's what his borough is like) and doesn't really look like any specific ethnicity (though he thinks of himself as Black). He has a violence inside of him that seems safely contained but it lies just beneath the surface. He
is also obsessed with the primary avatar of New York with a very gay
and carnal devotion that simply speaks to me. Their (non-) relationship
completely carried the book for me.
I also really liked São Paulo; as the latest city to awake before New York, he is tasked with being a mentor to the young city. Later we also meet Hong Kong and I liked both of them a lot! New York's on-sided crush on São Paulo was also very cute.
I very much appreciated the way race and racism are portrayed in this book. The primary avatar has a way of looking at the world and his surroundings that makes sense for a poor, young Black man. It's also a factor in how the avatars interact with each other or, in Staten Island's case, how they don't: she grew up in a privileged white neighbourhood and one thing that prevents her from connecting with the others and instead makes her side with the enemy is her racism (she is, in a way, the Letty of this story).
Through her we also learn the enemy's motivation: the awakening of a city destroys a bunch of other universes and so they want to prevent it from happening. That is why they have infiltrated our cities in ways that rob them of their individual personalities. The avatars have to rush to find their primary and team up with him to defeat that threat; only without Staten Island they are one borough short; until New Jersey steps up because they feel more like New Yorkers than folks from Staten Island and to a metaphysical representation of a city that counts for far more than lines on a map.
There were a few things I didn't like: the metaphysics are complicated and not easy to understand and the universe Jemisin creates is so vast that I had a hard time making sense of it. Adding to that, as a person who has never been to New York I often didn't get what the characters were talking about; it was still interesting though and had it been about my own home town I'm sure it would have been fascinating! This might actually work better as a movie or series. That might also help with all those different p.o.v.s; I understand why it had to be like this but I'm still not a fan. I also feel like there's a slight imbalance in this book in favor of women over men and whil I guess it's compensation on a cosmic level, I don't have to like it.
The ending was pretty cool and definitely makes me want to pick up the second book!
Quotes:
1) An ID - but immediately he tears his eyes away from this, not wanting to see the name he had prior to this morning's train ride. Who he used to be is irrelevant. Right now, he needs to be Manhattan. (p.70)
1) An ID - but immediately he tears his eyes away from this, not wanting to see the name he had prior to this morning's train ride. Who he used to be is irrelevant. Right now, he needs to be Manhattan. (p.70)
2) Manny feels a great wave of sadness come over him. "I can hurt you, Martha," he confesses. "I know how, and it wouldn't be the first time I've hurt someone else. I think... I think I've done that a lot." (p.77)
3) Maybe she's a Canadian who has been driven mad by the cold and socialized medicine. (p.101)
4) "Real gods aren't what most of you Christians think of as gods. Gods are people. Sometimes dead people, sometimes alive. Sometimes never lived." She shrugs. "They do jobs - bring fortune, look after people, make sure the world works as it should. They fall in love. Have babies. Fight. Die." She shrugs. "It's duty. It's normal. Get over it." (p.189)
5) What did you expect? laughs something, not quite a voice, in his head. It's a good-natured laugh, not the malicious kind. Laughing with, not at. You're not New York, you're Manhatten. Nice try, but pulling everyone together is his job, not yours. (p.195)
6) I'm his, he thinks suddenly, wildly. I want to be... oh, God, I want to be his. I live for him and I will die for him if he requires it, and oh yes, I'll kill for him, too, he needs that, and so for him and him alone I will be again the monster that I am-- (p.196)
7) "You're very optimistic for a possible serial killer. I like that about you." (p.200)
8) He can't help it though. He is falling in love with a city, and men in love are not always considerate or wise. (p.203)
9) She twitches a little in reaction, because so much about him disturbs her on a fundamental level - but his voice is kind, and it is good to know that she doesn't fight alone. (p.225)
10) He blinks, then chuckles a little, relaxing as if Bronca calling a space a spade has finally made him feel better about the while thing. Probably gets laid a lot with that face, but no idea how to do an actual relationship. Also figures that the personification of Manhattan is two-spirit, too. She snorts a little at the thought. Maybe Stonewall was worth something after all. (p.311)
11) Before them, in a pool of mottled light, lies the primary avatar of New York. He curls atop a bed of ancient newspapers, asleep. There's a layer of pale dust on his Black skin; he's been here for days. He looks so alone there, self-contained but unguarded, so young, so fragile. The thought comes: I will do anything for him, which is not Bronca's thought - Manhattan, whose conviction is part knight-errant discovering the quest to which he needs to devote his life, and part raw lust. Still, Bronca feels it with all the conviction of her own heart. Ours, is what she does think, which surprises her because she's never been the possessive type. Someone else in their gathering reacts to this, but there is pleasue in the reaction. Yes, flows the thought, echoed this time by all of them. It doesn't really matter anymore who it comes from. Ours. (p.314)
12) When he takes a deep breath to try to calm himself, it actually works, and has the feel of old habit. Yes. He is not some monster, lashing out wildly. Violence is a tool to be controlled and directed, and used only for worthy purpose. That is the man he has chosen to be. (p.348)
11) Before them, in a pool of mottled light, lies the primary avatar of New York. He curls atop a bed of ancient newspapers, asleep. There's a layer of pale dust on his Black skin; he's been here for days. He looks so alone there, self-contained but unguarded, so young, so fragile. The thought comes: I will do anything for him, which is not Bronca's thought - Manhattan, whose conviction is part knight-errant discovering the quest to which he needs to devote his life, and part raw lust. Still, Bronca feels it with all the conviction of her own heart. Ours, is what she does think, which surprises her because she's never been the possessive type. Someone else in their gathering reacts to this, but there is pleasue in the reaction. Yes, flows the thought, echoed this time by all of them. It doesn't really matter anymore who it comes from. Ours. (p.314)
12) When he takes a deep breath to try to calm himself, it actually works, and has the feel of old habit. Yes. He is not some monster, lashing out wildly. Violence is a tool to be controlled and directed, and used only for worthy purpose. That is the man he has chosen to be. (p.348)
13) Hong just glares at him, but. There's an undercurrent. Manny finds himself exchanging a sidelong glance with Bronca. Is this what I think it is? Brinca raises her eyebrows and purses her lips. It sure as fuck ain't what we thought it was. (p.363)
14) Even though it means Manny's death, he can't help thinking: I'm sorry we'll leave you so alone. (p.397)
15) Bronca rubs the small of her back. "Well, now we know what her super-special power is, I guess: magic xenophobia." (p.414/5)
16) Then I see the muscles in his back tense just a little as he senses my attention. Most people would ignore it, but not this guy. He twists around to look at me, and I'm the one who looks away, unable to meet the intensity of his gaze. I never asked for a knight? An enforcer? Whatever the fuck he is. But of them all, I know that he is the one meant to... serve me. Which sounds way too damn BDSM for my ass, and I don't know what to make of it. He will kill for me. He'll love me, too, if I let him. Jury's still out on that because I never wanted a fuckshit-crazy light-skinned Ivy League boyfriend. Like, I mean, he's nice to look at? But the rest... There's reasons I haven't done the rest for a while, except as pretend.
His eyes lower a bit. They all know me, we all know each other, but he's the one who's most sensitive to my moods. He gets that he makes me nervous. (He also gets that I don't like admitting that it's nervousness.) So he backs off, for now. He'll wait till I'm more comfortable with the whole thing. Then, somehow, we'll figure it out. (p.431-2)
17) I straighten and stretch a little. (Manny looks again, his gaze hungry, before he turns away. Such a gentleman.) (p.432)
18) "Your boy in China okay?"
"Hong is not my boy. But yes." (p.432)
"Hong is not my boy. But yes." (p.432)
4. "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
Rating: ★★★★
Series: Heroes of Olympus (book 4)
Date: 10.05.2023 - 20.05.2023
Genre: fantasy, middle-grade/YA
Format: audiobook (Nick Chamian)
Language: English
Pages (equivalent): 624
Thoughts:
We get the POVs for all seven demigods of the
prophecy for this book which is way more than any book needs.
Jason is an overall disappointment in this book. Once again, he spends way too much time incapacitated in one way or another (like being caught in a random trap while Leo does all the work of hunting down the thieves on his own). The narrative hardly ever gives him a chance to shine, to the point where the thing he was always good at – being a leader – is given to Frank of all people. I don’t know if it’s due to the audio books making Frank sound like the big-and-stupid archetype but I just don’t like him much and the scene where the undead legion doesn’t listen to Jason (because he’s too Greek or something) or Nico (even though he’s the son of Hades and has a connection to the undead) just hurt. Especially since the book really tries to sell me on Jason’s and Nico’s friendship and this could have been an actual bonding experience for them.
I do like that Nico is around for this book, even though it really didn’t need any more characters. He’s competent without being a show-off and he might be a bit emo/edgy, but I don’t really mind. I love that one of my favorite characters is queer but I wish his coming out had been handled better. It’s just not cool to force something like that. Now, you could argue that Cupid doesn’t actually care about sexuality and that to him it was more about Nico admitting he feels love, but it is what it is and Jason didn’t exactly handle the situation well either. He continues to belittle Nico’s very real concerns, completely unable to grasp what life is like for a queer person and that coming out is simply not that easy.
That whole Leo and Calypso thing is kinda weird. The book doesn’t acknowledge the fact that she’s a lot older than him simply because she looks and acts like a teenager. It’s not that I mind age gaps but please don’t pretend like they’re not there!
Meanwhile, Percy and Annabeth travel through Tartarus and after all Nico said about the place I thought things would be harder for them. It’s no walk in the park by any means but it still seams too easy, too doable. The whole thing with Bob confused me a bit until I realized the story didn’t actually happen in the main books. But it repeats the pattern of Percy being a horrible friend; as soon as someone is out of sight he pretty much forgets about them.
One other thing that has been bothering me for a while are the dreams demigods have and how they’re used as a narrative tool. They aren’t vague prophecies, they are exact observations. Used once or twice: fine, I guess. But used all the time it counts as cheating at narration.
All that being said, I did enjoy this book a lot and I’m looking forward to the final book in the series!
5. "Educated" by Tara Westover
Rating: ★★★★
Date: 22.05.2023 - 06.06.2023
Genre: non-fiction, memoir
Format: print
Language: English
Pages: 334
Thoughts:
This is such a difficult book to read. For one thing, because I know all those horrible things really happened to people, there is nothing fictional about the events. And also because things like these probably have happened to other people, too, are happening now and will continue to happen in the future.
Tara grows up in a strictly religious mormon family. Her father especially has very strong convictions and ideas about what their lives should look like, based less on religion and more on (undiagnosed) mental disorders. He is extremely paranoid, believing in the end of the world and government conspiracies. She and her siblings aren't allowed to go to school and receive very little academic schooling beyond reading. They don't go to the hospital, no matter how severe their illnesses or injuries, with horrifying results. Twice her father leads the family into car crashes, the first of which leaves Tara's mother with permanent brain damage. All children suffer injuries from working in the scrapyard with their father who believes in god and his guardian angels over actual safety measures. This repeats over and over again. I keep reading, knowing more horrible things will happen, for no good reason whatsoever. That is the true tragedy. It all seems so avoidable.
Eventually, after one of her brothers leaves for college, she begins to see that she needs to leave, at least for a while, if she wants to have any kind of future and starts to study for exams. Quite the challenge for someone who has never seen the inside of a school and received less than the barest of minimums in home schooling. Calling college a 'challenge' for Tara is an understatement. And she still has to deal with abuse - physical and mental - from her family on top of it. There's so much violence in the
family. Tara seems to half convince herself it isn't so, or that it
doesn't affect her, when her mind is really just trying to protect
itself from further damage. And Tara knows how unreliable her memories are, which is not surprising: all her life her family has devalued her memories, has warped its narrative until it stood in stark contrast to reality. Who would trust their own mind after all that?
The story ends well for Tara who manages to free herself from her family through education, but for this to work she has to cut herself off from them completely. A scary story, especially because it's true.
The story ends well for Tara who manages to free herself from her family through education, but for this to work she has to cut herself off from them completely. A scary story, especially because it's true.
Quotes:
1) Suspended between fear of the past and fear of the future, I recorded the dream in my journal. Then, without any explanation, as if the connection between the two were obvious, I wrote, I don't understand why I wasn't allowed to get a decent education as a child.
2) That's not to say I trusted my memories absolutely, but I trusted it as much as I trusted anybody else's, and more than some people's.
3) Everything I had worked for, all my years of study, had been to purchase for myself this one privilege: to see and experience more truths than those given to me by my father, and to use those truths to construct my own mind.
6. "The Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan
Rating: ★★★★☆
Series: Heroes of Olympus (book5)
Date: 31.05.2023 - 09.06.2023
Genre: middlegrade/young adult fantasy
Format: audiobook (Nick Chamian)
Language: English
Pages (equivalent): 528
Thoughts:
The fifth
book gives us five POVs, which is still a lot but I really enjoyed Nico and
Reyna so that’s something, at least. I generally liked their part of the story
more than the main storyline. If it had just been them, I’d have easily rated
the book five stars. Their plot felt clearer, more targeted, and they’re a
smaller group which generally works better for me. The others constantly have
to split up to give every character their moment to shine and it gets
confusing. Reyna and Nico also have a great dynamic and a believable
friendship. They support and slowly open up to each other, and Reyna does a
much better job at learning to understand Nico than Jason ever did. And their
story is exciting! The whole thing around Reyna, her sister and the giant, and
all the crazy shit Nico does, like shadow-traveling until he’s almost fading,
killing Bryce, or calling his French zombie chauffeur. These two characters
made the book for me, start to finish.
As for the rest. Jason continues to disappoint. At one point he’s even proud of not getting knocked out for a change which is really just lampshading the problem. The final battle where the seven demigods race back to Camp Halfblood to join the fight against Gaia is so cool and well done. Greeks and Romans stand together as one: A+! And of course Jason blacks out, again. I hate that this is a running gag by now. Then there’s the thing with Jason being near-sighted: his bad eyesight is mentioned ONCE and minutes later he gets diagnosed and is given glasses. Did the author just think of that spontaneously? I hate it.
The part where
Leo knows he’s going to die but hides it from his friends is pretty well done.
For once, this is a reasonable thing to keep secret. I kinda forgot where the
cure thing came from though. I like that Leo ended up going back for Calypso;
though I don’t really understand why he couldn’t have told his friends about
that. And honestly, I would have prefered for his death to be permanent and meaningful, but it's a children's book, I guess.
I loved meeting Will; I see where this is going and I like it!
Overall: a good book with a few weaknesses. I really liked it!
JUNE
Books read:
Books dropped:
Fav of the month:
Books dropped:
Fav of the month:
Pages:
1. "Timekeeper" by Tara Sim
Rating:
Series: Timekeeper (book 1)
Date: 01.06.2023 -
Genre: steampunk-fantasy
Format: print
Language: English
Pages: 414
Thoughts:
- Danny and Brandon...!
- I like the idea of these huge, powerful clocks. reminds me of the Labyrinth books; I hope these clocks will be as cool
- Danny needs to overcome his crippling anxiety soon or I'm going to DNF this. it's on my scholar tbr so I'd hate to do it but I really can't stand that kinda thing
-
2. "The Hidden Oracle" by Rick Riordan
Rating:
Series: The Trials of Apollo (book 1)
Date: 09.06.2023 -
Genre: middle-grade, fantasy
Format: audiobook (read by Robbie Daymond)
Language: English
Pages (equivalent): 384
Thoughts:
- this is written in the first person, narrated by Apollo and the chapter titles are haikus! I am in love already
- bit slapstick for my taste but punished-with-humanity!Apollo is beautiful
- I hope Meg will grow on me. she's not horrible but also not great
- lol what, Percy's mom is pregnant?
- wow Apollo, can you stop thirsting for Percy's mom
- Apollo's attitude is just perfect and I love him so much
- it's kinda grown-up of Percy to be like "I promised people in my life to have that life with them so I'm not gonna go off into the world to save it" but also??? that's not generally a choice you make? if the world needs saving you better get to that because what life do you have if the world doesn't get saved? usually, when a hero says stuff like that, it doesn't work. kinda unfortunate though that there's no prophecies making sure people know what to do. but anyway, Apollo, don't you have your own demigods to do stuff for you?
- Apollo being all "I don't feel at ALL like these kids' father"; geez, Rick, stop trying to make it not weird. He's 4k years old and he's their daddy; own it
-
3. "The Song of Achilles" by Madeline Miller
Rating:
Date: 10.06.2023 -
Genre: historical romance
Format: print
Language: English
Pages: 352
Thoughts:
- first impression: positive! Patroclus seems very cute
- Achilles is just so... good? bit of a Damen
-
Quotes:
1) My father was angry. "Son of Laertes, I do not remember inviting you to speak."
The man smiled. "I was not invited. I interrupted."
The man smiled. "I was not invited. I interrupted."
2)
4. "Pageboy" by Elliot Page
Rating: ★★★☆
Date: 21.06.2023 - 31.07.2023
Genre: non-fiction, memoir
Format: print
Language: English
Pages: 266
Thoughts:
First things first: I gotta respect the pun in the title, well done!
I was lucky enough to get tickets for a reading in my town that unfortunately was more in German than English; they had an actor read from the German translation of the book. There was also an interview and Elliot talked about writing and how the non-chronological order is intentional, but it really doesn't work for me. I was often confused when events took place and how they related to other events around the same time or in the same chapter.
I guess I also expected something a little different. Elliot talks about more than just being trans. The book is about him being queer in general, but also about his childhood and youth, his relationship to his family and his career. And, most of all: it is about love and sex. It might be my aroace perspective but the constant sequence of crushes, loving, flirting, dates and sex seemed a lot to me.
The parts where he did talk about his trans experiences felt familiar in many ways, minus (of course) the part where his life is partly public and so are the reactions he feared and got. The book felt very stream-of-consciousness which I often found hard to read. It wasn't a bad book but, in my opinion, not a great one either.
Quotes:
1) It's hard to explain gender dysphoria to people who don't experience it. It's an awful voice in the back of your head, you assume everyone else hears it, but they don't.
2) Hollywood is built on leveraging queerness. Tucking it away when needed, pulling it out when beneficial, while patting themselves on the back. [...] I was punished for being queer while I watched others be protected and celebrated, who gleefully abused people in the wide open.
3) It was unfathomable to me that I wasn't a boy.
4) As puberty transmuted me into a character I had no interest in playing, my isolation, insecurity, and unknowing grew.
5) It was too much to play a role on-screen when the role I played in my personal life was suffocating me already.
6) I suppose my aversion to "coolness" and "popularity" related to the degree to which I was already masking myself, fully aware of it or not, and popularity is the ultimate mask. A mold too tight. I felt compressed enough.
7) I resent that we were cheated out of our love, that beautiful surge in the heart stolen from us. I am furious at the seeds planted without our consent, the voices and the actions that made our roads to the truth unnecessarily brutal.
8) This is your life. You don't need to believe their stories. Those are their narratives.
JULY
Books read: 1
Books dropped: 0
Fav of the month:A Midsummer-Night's Dream
Books dropped: 0
Fav of the month:A Midsummer-Night's Dream
Pages: 127
1. "A Midsummer-Night's Dream" by William Shakespeare
Rating: ★★★(★)
Date: 10.07.2023 - 22.07.2023
Genre: classic, fantasy
Format: print; performance
Language: English
Pages: 127
Thoughts:
- watching the best performance EVER while reading along (2013)
- Hermia loves Lysander and Helena loves Demetrius – but Demetrius is supposed to be marrying Hermia… When the Duke of Athens tries to enforce the marriage, the lovers take refuge in the woods and wander into the midst of a dispute between the king and queen of the fairies.
- Hermia loves Lysander and Helena loves Demetrius – but Demetrius is supposed to be marrying Hermia… When the Duke of Athens tries to enforce the marriage, the lovers take refuge in the woods and wander into the midst of a dispute between the king and queen of the fairies.
- An enchanted forest charms a disenchanted court. In Athens a daughter's
disobedience forces two lovers to flee to the woods, pursued by the two
lovers they rejected. In the woods, amateur actors rehearse a play,
while the king of fairies plays tricks and captivates the night. A
mischievous Puck (with the magical juice of a flower) helps love lose
its way, while the fairy queen falls for an ass; the king and queen of
the fairies reconcile; the lovers find each other, return to court and
marriage celebrations end in a theatrical dream.
- plays should be watched, not merely read!
- I obviously loved the scenes with Oberon and Puck
- I also liked the scene where the fairies bespell the forest to confuse the humans, it was so well done
- the amateur actors kind of annoyed me though the actor who played Bottom did an absolutely amazing job. their play at the end was a bit much, I wouldn't have needed that
- Oberon/Theseus: John Light
- Puck/Philostrate: Matthew Tennyson
- rating is for the performance, not so much the story on its own; that I would have given three stars
Quotes:
1) Demetrius: "Relent, sweet Hermia: and Lysander, yield
Thy crazed title to my certain right."
Lysander: "You have her father's love, Demetrius;
Let me have Hermia's do you marry him."
2) Bottom: "Methinks, mistress, you should have
little reason for that: and yet, to say the
truth, reason and love keep little company
together, now-a-days; the more the pity that
some honest neighbours will not make them
friends. Nay, I can gleek, upon occasion."
3) Oberon: "But we are spirits of another sort:
I with the morning's love have oft made sport;
And, like a forester, the groves may tread
Even till the eastern gate all fiery-red,
Opening on Neptune, with fair blessed beams,
Turns into yellow gold his salt green streams.
But notwithstanding, haste, make no delay:
We may effect this business yet ere day."
4) Robin: "If we shadows have offended,
Think but this (and all is mended),
That you have but slumber'd here,
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend:
If you pardin, we will mend.
And, as I am an honest Puck,
If we have unearned luck
Now to scape the serpent's tongue,
We will make amends, ere long;
Else, the Puck a liar call.
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends."
AUGUST
Books read: 0
Books dropped: 3
Fav of the month: -
Books dropped: 3
Fav of the month: -
Pages:-
1. "Between Jobs" by W.R. Gingell
Date: 01.08.2023 - DNF: 02.08.2023
Genre: fantasy
Format: ebook
Language: English
Pages: 244
Thoughts:
- took me way too long to figure out "pet" is a girl =/
2. "Are Prisons Obsolete?" by
Date: 02.08.2023 -
Genre: non-fiction
Format: ebook
Language: English
Pages:
Thoughts:
-
3. "Professional Distance" by
Date: 02.08.2023 -
Genre: queer (gay), bdsm
Format: ebook
Language: English
Pages: 326
Thoughts:
- gay dudes in suits having hot kinky sex within a few pages, nice
- sex with food, unfortunately not my kink at all
- it's quick and cheap but about what I expected
- please stop talking about private stuff on your second appointment. it's unprofessional. at least build up to it
- also, Dash keeps talking about fucking pastries and it's boring af
- the POV started switching every other page all of a sudden, not a fan
- also, Dash thought of himself with his real name before but now he suddenly uses 'Dash' as well
- also, Dash thought of himself with his real name before but now he suddenly uses 'Dash' as well
- I don't really mind, it's a good nick name, but please stay consistent...
- every sex worker story ever: "it's just business" => one meeting => "fuck, he's special"
-
DECEMBER
Books read: 1
Books dropped: 0
Fav of the month: The Narrow Road Between Desires
Books dropped: 0
Fav of the month: The Narrow Road Between Desires
Pages:
1. "The Narrow Road Between Desires" by Patrick Rothfuss
Date: 28.12.23 - 1.1.24
Genre: fantasy
Format: print
Language: English
Pages: 240
Thoughts:
Quotes:
