Reading & Viewing: Week 37
Sep. 14th, 2013 04:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
calissaOne of my goals for this year was to finish the year with a smaller pile of books to read. If you've been following my journal, you'll know that goal is now laughably out of reach. However, in order to mitigate some of the damage I signed up for Dewey's 24 hour readathon. As usual, I won't try to go for the full 24 hours. Nevertheless, I will try and jam as much reading into the time I'm awake as I possibly can. If you're interested in joining up it will be running on 12 October (or 13 October if you're in Australia).
In the meantime, here is some of what has been occupying my time.
What I'm currently reading: With a writing deadline breathing down my neck, reading time has been a little hard to find. In addition to wading my way through submissions for the Gold Coast anthology, I'm currently in the middle of The New Journal by Tristine Rainer.sidheblessed was kind enough to lend me this as a way of helping revitalise my personal journaling practice. It has certainly helped and I think I'll be looking into getting my own copy at some stage, since it's the sort of book you need to come back to again and again.
I'm also midway through A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf. She has such a sly way of writing, using style as well as substance to get her message across. I love the way she focuses on small, mundane details--like food--and just generally adore her work.
My poetry book is Selected Poetry of W.B. Yeats. He writes some lovely poems, but I'm not finding them as accessible as Mary Oliver.
What I just finished reading: The last book I finished was an electronic copy of The Phantom Queen Awakes, a collection of short stories about the Morrigan and edited by Amanda Pillar. I found this to be somewhat disappointing. There were just too many stories too similar in theme. This general lack of originality made the stories by the big names--Katherine Kerr and Elaine Cunningham--stand out even more.
What I plan to read next:sidheblessed was kind enough to lend me Incenses, Oils and Brews by Scott Cunningham, so that will be next on the list.
What I'm currently watching: Wrapping up a new anime called Free! about a group of boys who revive their high school swim club. It features plenty of fanservice, which I understand many hetrosexual male anime fans find uncomfortable. I confess that I don't like it any more than the usual forms of fanservice, despite being a heterosexual female. The plot is pretty standard and nothing to write home about.
In the meantime, here is some of what has been occupying my time.
What I'm currently reading: With a writing deadline breathing down my neck, reading time has been a little hard to find. In addition to wading my way through submissions for the Gold Coast anthology, I'm currently in the middle of The New Journal by Tristine Rainer.
sidheblessed was kind enough to lend me this as a way of helping revitalise my personal journaling practice. It has certainly helped and I think I'll be looking into getting my own copy at some stage, since it's the sort of book you need to come back to again and again.I'm also midway through A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf. She has such a sly way of writing, using style as well as substance to get her message across. I love the way she focuses on small, mundane details--like food--and just generally adore her work.
My poetry book is Selected Poetry of W.B. Yeats. He writes some lovely poems, but I'm not finding them as accessible as Mary Oliver.
What I just finished reading: The last book I finished was an electronic copy of The Phantom Queen Awakes, a collection of short stories about the Morrigan and edited by Amanda Pillar. I found this to be somewhat disappointing. There were just too many stories too similar in theme. This general lack of originality made the stories by the big names--Katherine Kerr and Elaine Cunningham--stand out even more.
What I plan to read next:
sidheblessed was kind enough to lend me Incenses, Oils and Brews by Scott Cunningham, so that will be next on the list.What I'm currently watching: Wrapping up a new anime called Free! about a group of boys who revive their high school swim club. It features plenty of fanservice, which I understand many hetrosexual male anime fans find uncomfortable. I confess that I don't like it any more than the usual forms of fanservice, despite being a heterosexual female. The plot is pretty standard and nothing to write home about.
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Date: 2013-09-14 05:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-09-15 03:17 am (UTC)I have also read Wicca and tend to find Cunningham's work a lot more grounded than many others... though Starhawk is pretty good for that, too.
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Date: 2013-09-15 07:08 pm (UTC)Also, did the illustrations come out better in the e-copy? I think there was some inter-editor oddness going on with the dead tree format.
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Date: 2013-09-15 10:17 pm (UTC)I was most disappointed to discover that the e-copy didn't actually have the illustrations in it. I had been looking forward to seeing your beautiful work.
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Date: 2013-09-15 10:29 pm (UTC)Get his Beowulf with his intro if you can - that dragon is a work of art.
Aw. If I weren't on t'internet at silly at night hoping to calm myself from freaking out about impending Travel I would seek the digital files out for you. D'you ever ink?
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Date: 2013-09-15 10:31 pm (UTC)Ink as in draw? Not really a talent of mine, I'm afraid, though I greatly admire those that do. Have you seen Kathleen Jennings' work?
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Date: 2013-09-15 10:50 pm (UTC)I have not, though the name seems familiar. What does she do?
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Date: 2013-09-15 11:21 pm (UTC)