Alastair Reynolds. Only 300 pages (of 476), so not a finished book, but I’m finished with it. An involving space opera, but then I was reading along very late at night, and I was curious, so I went skimming along to the end, reading a paragraph here, a paragraph there, and I decided that the denoument was going to be a bunch of mumbo-jumbo deus-ex-machina, so I stalled out. Too bad.
The Sari Shop
Rupa Bajwa. Gorgeous cover, loving and slow introduction of the protagonist, great attention to details of relationship (and fabric). But grim in the end.
American Jezebel: The Uncommon Life of Anne Hutchinson, the Woman Who Defied the Puritans
Eve LaPlante. Here’s what I wrote as a blurb for work:
Occasionally meandering and repetitive, this biography tells nonetheless a riveting tale of the civil and religious foundations of American culture. Nearly half the book is taken up with accounts of her two trials—one civil in November 1637, one ecclesiastical in March 1638—and attendant flashbacks to fill in the who’s who of colonial Massachusetts. Transcripts from the trials provide a rare glimpse into the religious thought of a seventeenth-century Puritan woman of uncommon intelligence, religious faith, and bravery. A visionary and radical Calvinist, Hutchinson outraged her Boston neighbors by not only teaching at women’s gatherings in her home but also challenging the fitness of male ministers. Claiming divine revelation, Anne said, “It was revealed to me that [some] should plot against me, and I should meet with affliction. But the Lord bid me not to fear.†After betrayal by her mentor the Rev. John Cotton, banishment, a four-month incarceration apart from her family, and excommunication from the First Church of Boston, Anne Hutchinson still declared, “The Lord judges not as man judges. Better to be cast out of the church than to deny Christ.â€
Six months into her sixteenth pregnancy, 46-year-old Anne walked in early April 1638 from present-day Quincy, Massachusetts, to Providence, Rhode Island, in six days, and then went on to Aquidneck to join her husband and other exiles in the creation of Portsmouth. Four years later, following the death of her husband, she moved her family yet again. To escape expanding English control, she resettled in Pelham Bay in the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, where she and her family were a year later killed by the native Siwanoy.
Best site ever!
While wiling away the hours at work googling “Pete Peters Fred Astair”, I came across what seems to be a gem of a site: Ginger Rogers & Fred Astaire, a Classic Screen Team at Reel Classics.
The Fabulous Riverboat
Philip José Farmer. He still didn’t have much luck with his choices for future predictions, and with this one I’m beginning to feel that perhaps I don’t want to solve the mystery of Riverworld enough to finish them all. (The fact that the last two books are really two volumes to one story, and that they’re much fatter than the first two, not to mention that Barbara says she found the series became tedious, contributes to this ambivalence.)
I noticed with this volume how flat and one-dimensional Farmer’s approach to religion is. The only religions that exist are extremist Islam and the Riverworld creators’ propaganda religion, and the characters several times explain how all Earth religions were totally discredited by Riverworld. I don’t for a minute believe that Buddhists or Taoists would be put off by such an experience, to name just two. It’s a shame Farmer didn’t have a broader or more sympathetic acquaintance with religion.
The Ordinary
Jim Grimsley. Set in the same world as Kirith Kirin, this is an engaging, brief story with so many tantalizing details dropped along the way that I hope for more. Generally a plot- and character-driven novel, it does have a few “idea” themes–the major one being the ambiguity of distinguishing magic and sophisticated technology. In great contrast to Kirith Kirin, this book is well edited.
To Your Scattered Bodies Go
Philip José Farmer. I suppose this is an addition to the time travel list, in a quirky way, with the mixing of eons going on. In another twist on time, it hasn’t aged well. Some of it is incredibly dated in a way that other, better, science fiction manages to avoid or transcend. Still, the character line and the whole mystery about what’s going on manage to pull me through. I plan on reading the rest of the series.
A Great Day
It was a great day yesterday in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. When I walked past city hall on my way to work, there was a long and festive line of couples waiting to apply for marriage licenses. And at work, we were very happily distracted and inconvenienced by Julie and Hillary Goodridge’s wedding. (There’s a link to a video of the wedding.)
The Companions
Sheri S. Tepper. A well-crafted, engaging book. As always, several twists at the very end. I’d like to read more about these characters’ lives.
First Light
Carol O’Biso. This is a great book, if a little vague and new-agey in spots. It was just as good a read as the first time I read it, some years ago. I tracked it down at Powell’s since my local library system didn’t even list it. (It’s out of print.) I just wish I could find out more about O’Biso’s life since the events of the book.