Books and comics read in June 2017
Monday, 3 July 2017 22:13![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
usuallyhats
Larklight - Philip Reeve
Wonder Woman: The Circle
Wonder Woman: Destiny Calling
The Pearl Thief - Elizabeth Wein
Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet vol 1
In the Teeth of the Evidence - Dorothy L. Sayers
Black and British: A Forgotten History - David Olusoga
A Tyranny of Queens - Foz Meadows
A Cold Blooded Business - Dana Stabenow
It's A Don's Life - Mary Beard
Larklight
A funny, fast paced "what if the Victorians had space travel?" kids book, which sadly did not poke Victorian social mores quite as hard as I wanted it to, especially, with regards to gender and sexuality.
The Pearl Thief
*muffled shrieking*
...ok so this is a prequel to Code Name Verity, about Julie, and I LOVED it. I think it would have been really solid as a standalone, but knowledge of the events of CNV gave it so much extra resonance. I loved how it looked at class and privilege and identity, and at consent, as well as being a really good read. Julie's voice is so strong and so instantly recognisable. <3 I also really loved (skip) both the fact of her queerness and how it was handled: the book wasn't about it, but it was a thing that was happening in her life and it was discussed and mentioned in a way that was really great.
In the Teeth of the Evidence
Detective stories don't really work for me in short story format, it seems - they're just not satisfying enough, because they feel like a plot summary of a longer story. The ones I did like were a) the ones with Peter Wimsey in them, especially the part where he had to go to the dentist, and b) the one that was a joke.
A Tyranny of Queens
This is the second in a portal fantasy trilogy (...maybe series? pretty sure trilogy), and I think I actually enjoyed it more than the first, even though it is very much a second book - the first half deals with the fallout from book one, the second sets up book three. Partly I think the writing was stronger in this volume: the first one was occasionally a bit clunky in its explanations of social justice concepts. Which I will obviously take over their not being there at all, but still. I've also got over my slight disappointment from the first book over how the aromantic character was portrayed: she herself was GREAT (she's a black woman from eighties London who stumbled into a portal), but she's also married, and while the book is very clear that she doesn't have romantic feelings for either of her partners and that they know and understand this, and I'm sure there are aro people who are or would want to be in similar relationships, and I'm glad they get to have this, to me it felt a little too like she was being reinscribed into amatonormative structures when I first encountered it. (I think my issue here is more to do with the dearth of aro characters than anything else: normally I'd be all for reading about characters forming relationships in ways that work for them.) ANYWAY. I like these books a lot! Great worldbuilding, excellent characters, solid writing, everyone's queer, good times.
Wonder Woman: The Circle
Wonder Woman: Destiny Calling
The Pearl Thief - Elizabeth Wein
Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet vol 1
In the Teeth of the Evidence - Dorothy L. Sayers
Black and British: A Forgotten History - David Olusoga
A Tyranny of Queens - Foz Meadows
A Cold Blooded Business - Dana Stabenow
It's A Don's Life - Mary Beard
Larklight
A funny, fast paced "what if the Victorians had space travel?" kids book, which sadly did not poke Victorian social mores quite as hard as I wanted it to, especially, with regards to gender and sexuality.
The Pearl Thief
*muffled shrieking*
...ok so this is a prequel to Code Name Verity, about Julie, and I LOVED it. I think it would have been really solid as a standalone, but knowledge of the events of CNV gave it so much extra resonance. I loved how it looked at class and privilege and identity, and at consent, as well as being a really good read. Julie's voice is so strong and so instantly recognisable. <3 I also really loved (skip) both the fact of her queerness and how it was handled: the book wasn't about it, but it was a thing that was happening in her life and it was discussed and mentioned in a way that was really great.
In the Teeth of the Evidence
Detective stories don't really work for me in short story format, it seems - they're just not satisfying enough, because they feel like a plot summary of a longer story. The ones I did like were a) the ones with Peter Wimsey in them, especially the part where he had to go to the dentist, and b) the one that was a joke.
A Tyranny of Queens
This is the second in a portal fantasy trilogy (...maybe series? pretty sure trilogy), and I think I actually enjoyed it more than the first, even though it is very much a second book - the first half deals with the fallout from book one, the second sets up book three. Partly I think the writing was stronger in this volume: the first one was occasionally a bit clunky in its explanations of social justice concepts. Which I will obviously take over their not being there at all, but still. I've also got over my slight disappointment from the first book over how the aromantic character was portrayed: she herself was GREAT (she's a black woman from eighties London who stumbled into a portal), but she's also married, and while the book is very clear that she doesn't have romantic feelings for either of her partners and that they know and understand this, and I'm sure there are aro people who are or would want to be in similar relationships, and I'm glad they get to have this, to me it felt a little too like she was being reinscribed into amatonormative structures when I first encountered it. (I think my issue here is more to do with the dearth of aro characters than anything else: normally I'd be all for reading about characters forming relationships in ways that work for them.) ANYWAY. I like these books a lot! Great worldbuilding, excellent characters, solid writing, everyone's queer, good times.
no subject
Date: 3 Jul 2017 22:23 (UTC)*not so muffled screaming*
I must get myself to amazon with all haste.
no subject
Date: 5 Jul 2017 22:12 (UTC)