Mt TBR report: May 2015

[calissa]

I think this month might be the first month this year I’ve broken even by reading as many books as I acquired. Now, if I can just improve on that a little…

Mt TBR status

Mt TBR @ 1 January 2015: 202
Mt TBR @ 30 April 2015: 220
Mt TBR @ 31 May 2015: 220

Books read

24. Kaleidoscope edited by Alisa Krasnostein and Julia Rios. Reviewed here.

25. The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch. Review forthcoming.

26. The Art of Effective Dreaming by Gillian Polack. Reviewed here.

27. Aurora: Pegasus by Amanda Bridgeman. Review forthcoming.

Books acquired

A Circle of Stones by Erynn Rowan Laurie
The Apple Branch by Alexei Kondratiev
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
Saga, Vol. 4 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Online Reading

The Wildness Within Ch. 1-7 by Pia Foxhall. A non-canon, standalone, alternate universe piece utilising Pia’s characters from The Court of Five Thrones. Gwyn becomes semi-wild after being hunted through the forest by his family for centuries. Augus discovers him and takes an interest. An accessible story for those unfamiliar with Pia’s canon, though a warning that while it doesn’t (yet) contain erotica, there are references to torture and BDSM. Although it’s not canon, it did give me a better grasp of Gwyn’s past and the Raven Prince, which was useful because both came up in…

The Court of Five Thrones Ch 32-42. The earlier chapters succeeded in making me cry, though I’ll refrain from saying why to avoid spoilers. As usual, a reminder that this is an original fantasy m/m erotica and not suitable for all audiences.

Your Blue-eyed Boys by Feather. Captain America fanfic dealing with Bucky’s recovery after the events of the Winter Soldier. The characterisation didn’t ring true for me, but I appreciated its treatment of PTSD and the difficulties Steve faces as a caregiver.

What have you read this month?

Mirrored from Earl Grey Editing.

Comments

[moonvoice]

I have a rec for you that you might be interested in, it's one of the most realistic depictions of PTSD I've ever seen (and very similar to my own specific manifestation, right down to touch issues, so I've had to take several breaks with it). But it's a novel length Captain America / Bucky fic, not my normal or preferred pairing, but I'm making an exception for the way it's been written and the content. (Totes cool if you've read it or don't want to read it!)

Also dsaklfjsda can I just say how absolutely amazed and happy I am whenever you mention that you're reading my writing???

[calissa]

Always happy to take recs, so feel free to toss any my way (fanfic or otherwise) and ignore the Mt TBR grumbles.

I really enjoy reading your stories and I hope that my continual mentioning of them snags you a few more readers. I'm a little bit sad that I'm all caught up on Court of Five Thrones and am going to have to console myself with some of your AU work I've missed.

[onewhitecrow]

This month, not a lot, but in May I got through
- an impulsively-bought and impressively good graphic novel version of The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts,
- about half of the Long Hidden anthology
- A friend's drabble-chaptered epic space opera (via Google translate!)
- the first couple of chapters of Arctic Dreams, towards which I am highly ambivalent as it is brimful of the love of the North and has the kind of luminous prose I'm a sucker for, but the author seems to think people = Westerners in a troublingly unexamined way, referring to natives as a sort of wildlife and dating the existence of "mankind" to the appearance of Cro-Magnons in Europe.

[calissa]

The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts as a graphic novel? What an intriguing concept. It sounds like they must have pulled it off well.

How are you finding Long Hidden?

[onewhitecrow]

The butterfly is a tiny samurai! It is a very good adaptation, and helps visual ol' me really get some of the stuff set as dialogue. Have you read the original?

Varied, as I suppose is natural, but the average is above-average, even if I may be biased by being desperate for fantasy that's not White Man Smash and have thus been out of the genre for a while, pining...I'm tempted to do a review with mini story-by-story sections on Goodreads, if that'd be a thing of interest?

Huh. I've just realised I have no icon with a weapon save my angry chainsaw one, how odd.

[calissa]

I haven't, but I need to double-check my SO's library for it. If he doesn't have it, it occurs to me it might make him a good gift and his birthday is in a few months. Then I can steal it away when he's done with it.

A mini review would definitely be of interest to me! I'm not sure I have you on Goodreads, though.

Angry chainsaws can work... though not generally with the grace of a martial art. Actually, maybe I'm wrong about that.

[onewhitecrow]

Oo, the I hope he doesn't, for it'd make a rather lovely gift for an interested party.

I should probably start soon and finish later, in case I forget details...you don't, but I will give you a link. [nod]

Hey, no-one's improved on gun kata yet...though given what Jackie Chan can do with a ladder, I don't think I'd want to witness it...at least not without an umbrella.

[calissa]

A perusal of his bookshelf indicates he doesn't have it. So thank you. He can be tricky to buy for sometimes.

I don't know whether this will be of interest to you, but one of the authors of Long Hidden, Thoraiya Dyer, recently signed a 3-book deal with Tor. She speaks a little about it here.

An umbrella does strike me as a wise precaution.