I have #mecfs so I have a lot of time for reading, mostly #fantasy and #SciFi but I'm happy to dip into nearly anything.
Ratings: 1 star: I didn't like it 2 stars: it was okay 3 stars: I liked it 4 stars: I really liked it 5 stars: it was brilliant
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From the exiled Kenyan novelist, playwright, poet, and literary critic--a magisterial comic novel that is …
A satire of African dictatorships and coups. Nearly everyone is stupid, superstitious or greedy. Lightly amusing & insightful but exceeedingly long.
Reading time 24 days, 32 pages/day
Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (also known as Alice Through the Looking-Glass …
(2 stars = it was okay)
A sequence of random but colourful nonsense, for no discernible reason. Poor ending. Very effective at sending me off to sleep, though!
Return to Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn world of Scadrial as its second era, which began with …
More high-octane fantasy from the Mistborn world, with some key reveals. Some very pleasing support characters.
Reading time 7 days, 71 pages/day
Indigenous mother & daughter find healing & belonging on a literary tour through England. Dwells a lot on literary history which seems incidental to main story. Not a lot of plot progression or character development.
Reading time 12 days, 25 pages/day
For readers of White Fragility, White Tears/Brown Scars is an explosive book of history and …
Argues forcefully & convincingly that white womanhood has been (and still is) instrumental in upholding #WhiteSupremacy. I will never see the #intersection of #race & #gender so naively again. A must read for all - for solidarity & reflection.
Reading time 18 days, 12 pages/day
#BookReview #Books #Bookstodon #BookWyrm #WhiteWomensTears #WhiteFragility #Racism #Sexism #Intersectionality
20 years ago the world went quiet. Father is suspended between the living world and …
Post-climate apocalypse in #HuonValley & #Hobart. Mostly believable (ex-PM was a caricature, and questionable lack of planning for expedition) with survivors being both humane & loving, but also merciless when called for. Unnerving to see local area in this light.
Reading time 7 days, 47 pages/day
#BookReview #Books #Bookstodon #BookWyrm #CliFi #SciFi #Tasmania
(2 stars = it was okay)
Good sense on foreign & defense policy. Most interesting on historical background of region. Clear on how things could be done better, but no theory of change as to how to bring that about.
A platform for describing love in its many forms, but neglects intimacy with the reader. Shows a remarkable ability to capture the ineffable aspects of an encounter, but too often gets lost in obtuseness.
Reading time 17 days, 20 pages/day
Content warning spoiler
@unsuspicious I feel like I was mugged. Tricked into thinking I was reading a harmless fantasy trope, then boom, having the Rape of Nanking shoved in my face. Apart from wider awareness of the horrors of that war, I'm not really sure what literary purpose it served.
A brilliantly imaginative talent makes her exciting debut with this epic historical military fantasy, inspired …
A reimagining of China & Japan, with shamans & gods for interest, and war crimes & genocide for a horrifying reality check. Misleadingly begins with standard 'orphan goes to hero school' trope, but turns disturbingly dark without warning.
Reading time 6 days, 88 pages/day
Black sisters grow up as orphans in England. Staid & unremarkable. Potentially traumatic, but pulls its punches.
Reading time 4 days, 93 pages/day
WINNER of the 2021 Hugo, Nebula and Locus Awards!
The first full-length novel in Martha …
She's perfected the MurderBot recipe: awkward AI-AI relationship, friendly humans, emotional discomfort, clever conflict.
Reading time 3 days, 117 pages/day
Still Life is the debut novel written by Louise Penny and published by St. Martin's …
A murder mystery with effortless characterisation and lots of pastries. Awkward autism portrayal?
Reading time 3 days, 126 pages/day
The Wind in the Willows is a children's novel by the British novelist Kenneth Grahame, …
Oh, hapless, feckless Toad! A tale of cleaning up after a narcissistic friend. Only two minor female characters.
Biography of Virginia Hall, one of the most effective Allied agents who organised the French resistance during WW2. Lacks the narrative tension to do justice to this incredibly capable woman and the many intense trials she and her associates suffered through. Appalling misogynistic treatment by CIA during Cold War.
