And another monthly procrastination update...
Recently Finished:
The Falconer (Book 1 of a trilogy, Elizabeth May, YA fantasy, on Kindle): Set in a gaslamp/steampunkish alt-history Edinburgh, it stars society girl Aileana, whose life was forever changed the night she witnessed a faerie woman murder her own mother. Since then, she's devoted herself to a secret nightly battle against the invisible fae stalking the countryside... but there's more to her battle than she knows, a secret destiny and a rising danger to all the mortal world. It starts fast and has some nice ideas and imagery, drawing on Scottish lore and an older, dangerous idea of the faerie races... but it becomes too repetitive as the MC constantly relives her Great Pain and reflects on Dark Secrets she reflected on not two chapters ago. There's a bit of a graphic novel feel to it, particularly in the many gadgets Aileana devises to help her with her fight and the flashy battles. It wasn't terrible, aside from some obvious "twists," but I got really miffed at the cliffhanger - quite literally, the last line is left hanging there, when she's right in the middle of the Big Climactic Battle. I knew it was part of a series, but come on!
All Creatures Great and Small (James Herriot, nonfiction, on Kindle): The classic stories of a vet in the Yorkshire countryside, starting in the late 1930's as he emerges from veterinary school with visions of a nice, clean small animal practice in the city... only to find himself up apprenticed in a rural, rugged land. I've heard of these stories, of course (growing up in a house of animal-lovers, it was inevitable), and saw the TV series ages ago, but never actually read any of Herriot's books until I found a 3-in-1 collection discounted on Kindle. Touching, amusing, and occasionally heartbreaking, it holds up very well, capturing an era as well as the unexpected charms of the countryside and its peculiar inhabitants. I'll definitely be reading more of these in the future.
Currently Reading:
Childhood's End (Arthur C. Clarke, sci-fi, in paperback): In the 1980's, Mankind learns that he is not alone in the universe when gleaming UFOs descend from the heavens to usher in the next phase of humanity. It's a short book with an intriguing core concept, but I keep setting it aside for some reason. Many of its ideas are dated and more than a little reflective of the biases of the era in which it was written. Still, it's not bad.
Moby Dick (Herman Melville, literary, on Nook): The tale of the philosophical seagoing Ishmael as he becomes part of Captain Ahab's maniacal hunt for a notorious whale. It wasn't that bad to start with, if a little convoluted and burdened by the verbose style (not to mention the prejudices) of its era, but boy has it bogged down something fierce. It also seems to think that the audience is dirt stupid, the way it keeps repeating its Profound Metaphors - then breaking them down, in case readers weren't clever enough to analyze the symbolism on their own. Then repeating it all again for good measure, all while barely advancing the plot. But it's part of a reading challenge, so I'm pushing through.
On Kindle, I just started poking at Terry Jones' Barbarians, a nonfiction history setting the record straight on the many cultures who continue to suffer from Roman Empire propaganda smear tactics. I enjoyed the companion volume on medieval times, so I expect I'll read it in full once I get into it, but I've literally just got past the preface.
And I've had to set Wonderbook aside temporarily - writing's kinda fallen on the back burner due to Other Projects that I hope to clear ASAP. Once I get a chance to catch up on some of the exercises, I'll be finishing that one.