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Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven
Jul 21 2015, 4:16pm
Post #1 of 11
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It's the long hot of summer reading thread!
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Kind of like the long dark of Moria, right? The long hot of summer....
Never mind. 
Last week I read two small books I picked up at Bru-na-Boinne in Ireland, site of the famous Newgrange, Knowth, and Dowth megalithic passage graves. Fascinating material, pointing out the intelligence and capabilities of our ancestors.
I've now flown over the sea to Britain and am reading Neil Oliver's A History of Scotland. I feel he's a bit too fast to apply interpretations to places like, well, megalithic passage graves, but still, I love his work and his writing. Imagine my pleasure to find this:
"Trying to understand who was who in eighth- and ninth-century Scotland (remembering all the time that there was no such place as Scotland yet) is like trying to read Tolkien's Silmarillion. For much of the time, the history of Dark Age, or, if you prefer, Early Medieval Scotland is a dizzying list of unfamiliar, unpronounceable names that seem more likely to have come from Middle Earth than anywhere in the real world."
He then quotes a passage from another book, filled with names like Wrguist, Donncoirce, and Aed---and an Elphin!--to prove his point.
I'll take a break from reading this to attend a local sf convention this weekend, where I've been tapped to sit on a panel discussing The Hobbit movies. Today I bought a box of lembas (aka Scottish shortbread) to share with the other panelists, because, after all, what's a panel about hobbits without food?
And what have you been reading?
Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?
Where is the hand on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing?
Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?
They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow;
The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow....
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squire
Half-elven
Jul 21 2015, 4:37pm
Post #2 of 11
(497 views)
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I heard about this famous young Chinese novelist, race car driver, and blogger last month, when reading a more general book about contemporary China. I found that this collection of his blogs is the only one of his books that has been translated into English (by Allan Barr), so I borrowed it at the library.
He projects a very bright and sardonic personality, with an awareness of both his fame and the perils of saying anything too directly political in the Chinese media. He has been censored many times but keeps on going as close to the edge as he dares. If the translation is anything to go by, he's also witty and ultimately light-hearted; optimistic about China but perhaps less so about the current system, which he pictures as beyond-comically corrupt in its leadership and economics.
For an American like me, it's just plain enlightening to read an extended work by a modern Chinese writer, on topics of everyday life in China. A book like this reminds us of what we should know, but sometimes act like we don't: people in other countries are just people, even if their government and ours don't always get along.
squire online:
RR Discussions: The Valaquenta, A Shortcut to Mushrooms, and Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit
Lights! Action! Discuss on the Movie board!: 'A Journey in the Dark'. and 'Designing The Two Towers'.
Footeramas: The 3rd & 4th TORn Reading Room LotR Discussion and NOW the 1st BotR Discussion too! and "Tolkien would have LOVED it!"
squiretalk introduces the J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: A Reader's Diary
 = Forum has no new posts. Forum needs no new posts.
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Otaku-sempai
Immortal
Jul 21 2015, 6:30pm
Post #3 of 11
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Re-reading Miyazaki's 'Nausicaa' manga.
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I'm starting the seventh and final volume of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Miyazaki's animated movie deviates from his manga so the film could have a satisfying ending. He didn't complete the manga version until years later.
"At the end of the journey, all men think that their youth was Arcadia..." - Phantom F. Harlock
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Brethil
Half-elven
Jul 21 2015, 8:44pm
Post #4 of 11
(465 views)
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Not reading anything much...but just popping in to say I get the connection, Lily! //
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Kind of like the long dark of Moria, right? The long hot of summer....
Never mind.
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Mikah
Lorien
Jul 22 2015, 3:39am
Post #5 of 11
(451 views)
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Yes, Stephen King. It had been ages since I read any King. Someone on Goodreads suggested it to me. It really is a good book. He has this way of developing characters. Rather brilliant insight into how people think and behave. I had forgotten about his extraordinary talent in this area. I really like the book. I just finished The Girl on the Train a few days ago. Guess I am kinda into the mysteries right now!
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Old Toby
Grey Havens
Jul 22 2015, 4:28am
Post #6 of 11
(446 views)
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A question for you Outlander fans - Spoilers!
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As I mentioned before in the last reading thread, I'm on Drums of Autumn in the Outlander series. I'm thoroughly enjoying the books so far, even though I admit I skim through many pages that I find digressions from the main story being told.
Anyway, my question is this: do any of you find Brianna as annoying as I do? It seems she is supposed to be very mature and bright and independent like her mother, but honestly, how she reacts to Roger and Jamie when they are obviously putting themselves on the line for her, even risking their lives for her, really irritates me. I find her self-centered, disrespectful and arrogant, considering the feelings and viewpoints of others only when it suits her. She's quite the spoiled child. So that being how I see her, it's very hard for me to sympathize with her even when she's been abused by whatshisname....the ship captain who had Claire's ring.
I hope she redeems herself later on (I'm about 2/3 of the way through the book). I'd welcome other viewpoints, since I know I'm supposed to like her character. But for now.....no.
"Age is always advancing and I'm fairly sure it's up to no good." Harry Dresden (Jim Butcher)
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Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven
Jul 28 2015, 2:27pm
Post #7 of 11
(368 views)
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It's the summer is still hot and I'm still reading thread!
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Hm. The boards are moving rather slowly these days, so yet again last week's thread hasn't fallen off the front page.
Having spent the weekend at Armadillocon, a regional f/sf convention in Austin, Texas, I haven't read as much as I otherwise would.
On my CD player, I'm still listening to Bill Bryson's At Home, which is his discursive look (very discursive in parts!) at the history of domestic life. I'm loving it, but his soothing voice keeps putting me to sleep.
On my MP3, I've started listening to The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag, by Alan Bradley, the second in the Flavia Deluce mystery series. No, I haven't read or listened to the first, but this one seems to stand alone. Flavia is a precocious 11-year-old girl in an English village in 1950. In this story she's lying in the churchyard one afternoon when a couple of traveling players come to town with their puppet show.
So far nothing at all mysterious has happened, yawn, but then, I'm enjoying Flavia's voice, not only as written but also as read. The narrator actually has a bit of a child's tone.
I've put aside A History of Scotland in paper in order to read Heavenly Pleasures, the second Corinna Chapman book, on my e-reader. I love this series, starring a woman who runs a bakery in contemporary Melbourne. Corinna also has a great voice, very funny, and the plots involve food and cooking and mythology. What's not to like?
What have you been reading?
Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?
Where is the hand on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing?
Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?
They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow;
The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow....
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Meneldor
Valinor
Jul 28 2015, 8:47pm
Post #8 of 11
(354 views)
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by Dorothy Clark Wilson. The first half was kind of a slog, too much court intrigue, scheming, plotting, soap opera-ing and so forth for my taste, but it was well-written, so I kept going (mainly because of the family connection: the author wrote my parents' wedding vows and her husband was the minister who married my grandparents). It picked up a little halfway through when Moses finally realized he was a Hebrew and the story moved into the Biblical events. I'd have preferred a story that followed Exodus more closely. A case could be made that the animated movie was closer to scripture than this book.
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. -Psalm 107
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Kim
Valinor
Jul 29 2015, 3:29am
Post #9 of 11
(344 views)
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Just started reading this at the recommendation of a TORnsib and so far, it's a bit weird, albeit intriguing (she described it as "reading a dream" - I can see that). I've never read any of his stuff before, but everyone always seems to excited when he gets involved in projects (like when he wrote an episode of Doctor Who), so I'm curious to discover his style. We've got a stretch of long hot days coming up, perfect for outdoor reading, so plan to continue on.
Also tried reading Vanity Fair, but just got so annoyed by the characters, I had to stop.
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cats16
Half-elven
Jul 29 2015, 5:42am
Post #10 of 11
(337 views)
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A collection of interviews with Jean-Luc Godard
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The interviews took place (roughly) between 1968 and 1998, in various locales around the world. It's a very nice collection, in my opinion, as it presents a chronological development of Godard's artistry in this particular window of time. One can follow his meta-thoughts on cinema/commercialism/purpose of images and see them evolve or contradict themselves (a point of pride within him, I feel).
I've just completed one from 1980 conducted by Jonathan Rosenbaum, which projected an interesting brotherly feel between the two men. Perhaps Rosenbaum viewed Godard less as specimen to observe and more akin to a fellow human, albeit full of his eccentricities.
I'm enjoying it very much, and am allowing his philosophies to seep into my own more and more. Unpopular, I know; still, I'm drawn to his perspective on art and life, and feel the urge to follow that intrigue as far as I can.
Join us every weekend in the Hobbit movie forum for this week's CHOW (Chapter of the Week) discussion!
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Meneldor
Valinor
Aug 4 2015, 2:46am
Post #11 of 11
(271 views)
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by Walter Hunt. Social-military-political scifi story with a B5 vibe. An interesting alien species and good understanding of military procedures were the strong points, IMO. The characters didn't interest me as much as the plot did. Haven't decided if I want to look for the sequel or not.
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. -Psalm 107
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