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apple_pathwaysI went to the doctor, and the horrific lump on my forehead is well on its way to vanquishment. (Is that a word?) While it is an infection, it's not anything particularly scary like staph. They numbed up my forehead, drained the lump, and gave me a prescription for antibiotics. (Which I must take every six hours for a week. Any bets on how many doses I'll miss? Also of note: the warning label on the bottle says "DO NOT LIE DOWN WITHIN TEN MINUTES OF TAKING THIS MEDICATION". Um: WTF?! Before I Google the reason for the warning, anyone wanna take any guesses as to what will happen if I disregard the warning?)
So I walked around with a bandage on my forehead all day. Not necessarily because I needed it, but because the lump was particularly unpleasant-looking and I was doing society a favor by concealing it. I got to explain to every single one of my students today why I was wearing it (kids love talking about pus), but the most uncomfortable conversation came from the cashier at Kroger: "Oh dear, what happened?"
"Oh, I had to have a cyst on my forehead drained."
"Oh, my husband gets those all the time. As long as no one's beating you!"
Yeah, knock wood, right?
TOPIC CHANGE! So I am in a serious Book Slump. I can't remember the last thing I read that I just couldn't put down. I really, really need some recommendations or, at the very least, some Lovely Book Chat. So: any recs? Anything new that you've heard is good? Anything old that you've re-read a dozen times? What are you reading right now, and how do you like it? What's next on the list?
As for me, I am reading Armageddon's Children" by Terry Brooks, which I suppose I'm enjoying, but I'm more than 100 pages in (of out approximately 300 or so) and it still feels like the author is setting things up. (It's the first book in a trilogy, so that may be why. Although I prefer series where each book is more-or-less self-contained, and could be read as a stand-alone story.) The world-building is majorly creepy, which I enjoy, and there are some interesting characters. We'll see how it turns out.
I'm also reading The Metropolis Case, the debut novel of Matthew Gallaway. It sounds like a good read: if I can just get into it. Amazon.com has this to say about it: "In his ambitious debut, Gallaway jumps backward and forward in time between two cities, spiraling in on four characters connected by music: Lucien, an opera singer coming-of-age in mid-19th-century Paris; Anna, an opera singer reaching the height of her career in 1960s New York; Maria, an extraordinarily promising young singer but a difficult student; and Martin, an aging lawyer whose love of music might save his life. The ties between them are at first so tenuous that readers may wonder when, how, or if their narratives will converge." This is the point I'm at in the novel. :P
And I just bought this:
It's been awhile since I've devoted myself to a good romance novel, and this series by Madeline Hunter looks good. I've read some of her other books, and I like the way she manages to weave the romance into a larger historical plot.
SO: rec me some books, please and thank you! I can't believe I've gone this long without getting excited about a book...
So I walked around with a bandage on my forehead all day. Not necessarily because I needed it, but because the lump was particularly unpleasant-looking and I was doing society a favor by concealing it. I got to explain to every single one of my students today why I was wearing it (kids love talking about pus), but the most uncomfortable conversation came from the cashier at Kroger: "Oh dear, what happened?"
"Oh, I had to have a cyst on my forehead drained."
"Oh, my husband gets those all the time. As long as no one's beating you!"
Yeah, knock wood, right?
TOPIC CHANGE! So I am in a serious Book Slump. I can't remember the last thing I read that I just couldn't put down. I really, really need some recommendations or, at the very least, some Lovely Book Chat. So: any recs? Anything new that you've heard is good? Anything old that you've re-read a dozen times? What are you reading right now, and how do you like it? What's next on the list?
As for me, I am reading Armageddon's Children" by Terry Brooks, which I suppose I'm enjoying, but I'm more than 100 pages in (of out approximately 300 or so) and it still feels like the author is setting things up. (It's the first book in a trilogy, so that may be why. Although I prefer series where each book is more-or-less self-contained, and could be read as a stand-alone story.) The world-building is majorly creepy, which I enjoy, and there are some interesting characters. We'll see how it turns out.
I'm also reading The Metropolis Case, the debut novel of Matthew Gallaway. It sounds like a good read: if I can just get into it. Amazon.com has this to say about it: "In his ambitious debut, Gallaway jumps backward and forward in time between two cities, spiraling in on four characters connected by music: Lucien, an opera singer coming-of-age in mid-19th-century Paris; Anna, an opera singer reaching the height of her career in 1960s New York; Maria, an extraordinarily promising young singer but a difficult student; and Martin, an aging lawyer whose love of music might save his life. The ties between them are at first so tenuous that readers may wonder when, how, or if their narratives will converge." This is the point I'm at in the novel. :P
And I just bought this:
It's been awhile since I've devoted myself to a good romance novel, and this series by Madeline Hunter looks good. I've read some of her other books, and I like the way she manages to weave the romance into a larger historical plot.
SO: rec me some books, please and thank you! I can't believe I've gone this long without getting excited about a book...
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no subject
Date: 2011-06-10 01:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-10 01:57 am (UTC)aside from the stuff in book club (much of which is of the literary-but-good-lord-I-could-write-better genre)
This is why I've never been able to successfully join a book club: they insist on reading crap. For me, The Memory-Keeper's Daughter was the last straw!
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Date: 2011-06-10 01:56 am (UTC)This is where I hope you read scifi/fantasy.
I'm still trying to push The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms into everyone's hands: it's a fantasy novel, about a young warrior princess getting sucked into the politics of the capitol while trying to avenge her mother's death. It's one of the few fantasy novels I've read recently where I was actually surprised by the plot twists-they made sense in retrospect, but they weren't something I saw coming. You can read sample chapters here to see if you're interested.
Last really good book I read was probably The Vintner's Luck. A man is visited by an angel once a year in 19th century France. Eventually, they fall in love, or something like it. Pretty, pretty language, interesting metaphors. There's a sequel, but it's hard to get in the states.
I've also been reminded how much I like Lynn Flewelling's Tamir trilogy. I mean, I like the Nightrunner series fine-it's cute, but Tamir is just slightly darker and heavier (it's still not, like Song of Ice and Fire dark). It takes place in a formerly matriarchal society-except the current King usurped the throne from his sister and is killing all of the high born females. The main character is born a princess, but they use dark magic to disguise her gender. Complications ensue.
The first one is the Bone Doll's Twin.
Right now, I'm reading Sweetness and Power, an ethnography that focuses on the role of sugar in Carribean and European cultures, and how the slave trade changed that role in the 18th and 19th centuries. It's kind of dense.
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Date: 2011-06-10 02:09 am (UTC)The Tamir trilogy sounds really intriguing! Definitely going to put that on my list. (You never have to worry about reccing anything 'dark' to me--I love dark literature!) I'm always a sucker for gender topics explored in literature, too.
Glad to hear it was only a cyst! Also, that you aren't being beaten.
Yes, well thank goodness the cashier at Kroger was concerned enough to ask! :P
no subject
Date: 2011-06-10 02:34 am (UTC)Uh, speaking of entertaining gender issues through literature, have you read any Joanna Russ? The Third Man is probably the most famous, but kind of heavy handed. But definitely interesting, and definitely worth reading.
One of my favorite short stories ever is Breathmoss, which is this really lovely coming of age story featuring an all-female society, with one immigrant male father and son. It's lovely, lovely prose. This isn't the full text, but it's enough to give you and idea on the rest.
An interesting counterpoint to it is The Matter of Seggri-which also features a society which is 90% female, 10% male, and how that imbalance affects the culture. . . . and I thought the full text was available online (it used to be), but I can't find it now. It's in The Birthday of the World short story collection.
I'm just sort of assuming you've read the Left Hand of Darkness. You have, right?
Also, you can always look through the list of Tiptree award winners. Also, James Tiptree herself. She's the author who I just want to take all of her titles and snuggle with them and name all my prog rock bands after.
I'm sorry, I'll stop editing everything now, but I can't believe I left out Octavia Butler. Um, start with the Lilith's Brood trilogy. Or maybe Fledgling, which is a science fiction vampire story.
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Date: 2011-06-10 02:56 am (UTC)There's this one novel I remember reading as a teenager that was about a future society where the women have taken over and exiled all the men to live in the wilderness outside the walled cities. Girls are selectively bred, and in order to continue the species, certain women are selected to bear sons, raise them to the age of six, and then give them up to be raised by the men. In the novel, a young woman is banished to live among the men, she falls in love, blah blah. I don't remember it being particularly good, but it was certainly interesting. And I cannot for the life of me find the name of it.
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Date: 2011-06-10 03:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-10 03:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-10 02:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-10 02:13 am (UTC)I will check out the other two! It's been awhile since I've devoted myself to reading anything really challenging. Gonna have to dive back in sometime!
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Date: 2011-06-10 02:20 am (UTC)Those two are the ones I suggest to just about everyone who I think is smart enough to enjoy them. I think they're truly fabulous. I would also suggest Kevin Wilson's Tunneling to the Center of the Earth. It's a collection of short stories that are odd and utterly brilliant. I adore Kevin Wilson. He called me weird after reading a draft of one of my stories and I almost cried with joy.
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Date: 2011-06-10 02:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-10 05:42 pm (UTC)Also, will you share your spreadsheet when you finish making it? I bet that you've gotten a ton of good suggestions and would love to steal them.
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Date: 2011-06-10 02:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-10 02:25 am (UTC)HIGH FIVE, my brain twin! (I'm gonna see if I can find the rest of the series for cheap online.)
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Date: 2011-06-10 02:51 am (UTC)Julia Quinn's Just Like Heaven will be wonderful since I really like her.
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Date: 2011-06-10 02:49 am (UTC)ANYWAY, like I was saying, I am currently reading Game of Thrones, which is an excellent book, although it is part of a series and each of them are 800+ pages. But I really enjoy them, plus it's a good show!
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Date: 2011-06-10 02:58 am (UTC)Man, I don't know if my brain is up for 800+ books right now! But my entire f-list is buzzing about the...TV series? Is that what it is? What channel is it on?
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Date: 2011-06-10 02:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-10 03:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-10 02:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-10 03:00 am (UTC)I'm happy everyone has recs at the ready! If you asked me to recommend something right now, I don't know what I'd come up with...
Also, that book I'm reading--Armageddon's Children--seems like something you would enjoy. (Dystopian, post-apocalyptic, etc.) Have you read any Terry Brooks before?
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Date: 2011-06-10 03:17 am (UTC)I've heard of it. The only Brooks I've read was "The Sword of Shannara" and the less said about that horrible Tolkien ripoff the better. Postapocalypse yes! What kind of characters does it have?
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Date: 2011-06-10 03:31 am (UTC)The other main character, Logan Tom, is a Knight of the Word. The post-apocalyptic world is inhabited by Demons and all sorts of twisted and mutated humans called Once Men. Logan travels around in an armored vehicle killing Once Men and battling Demons, freeing the humans they've enslaved, until he's given the task of finding this magical child (who is Hawk, I'm pretty sure) who will save the human race.
It's pretty good so far, but like I said: I don't feel like the story's properly gotten started yet, and I'm 100 pages in. But: it's the first book in a series, so I think that might be why.
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Date: 2011-06-10 03:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-10 08:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-10 02:35 pm (UTC)But I wanted to chime in and say "happy benign tumor!" I suspect you are not supposed to lie down because you will get nauseated and/or heart-burn, and most likely there's something in your medicine that isn't good for the tissues of your esophagus, which is terribly delicate.
I had actually composed a very long response the other day while I was in the gym about your previous discussion on femininity, but now that just seems so long ago. Time is flying, no?
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Date: 2011-06-12 01:19 am (UTC)Yeah, the heartburn/acid reflux reason occurred to me only later! I just think it's funny the strange warning labels they'll slap on medications without explaining them at all--often seemingly at random. I've been taking one prescription for 10 years, and every so often they'll slap a new, non-sensical warning label onto it. (Perhaps when they run out of the "Do not drink alcohol while taking this medication" labels?)
Gah, I did NOT devote the proper time I should have to that post on femininity! Everyone had really interesting stories and explanations for how they felt they fit into the gender spectrum, and I just ran out of time to reply thoughtfully to everyone! I swear, someday I am going to turn all of the meaningless research I've done on this journal into a book. :P
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Date: 2011-06-12 01:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-10 06:26 pm (UTC)One of the best horror/ghost stories I've read is Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill. An old rock star who collects creepy, morbid, grotesque objects (a snuff film is part of his collection, for example) buys a dead man's suit online with the promise that the man's ghost is with it. He thinks it's just a joke, but it turns out the ghost is very real and wants to kill him. It was seriously creepy, the pacing was perfect, I can't rec it enough.
I second the rec for Vintner's Luck, I read it last year and really enjoyed it.
The book I'm currently reading is The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. It's set in post-WWII Spain, where this kid is taken by his dad to a special library where rare books are taken to be protected from being lost forever. He's told to pick one book, and he reads it and falls in love with the story. But then he finds out that it's very, very rare - someone has been burning all the copies of the author's books. I haven't gotten very far into it yet, but it looks promising.
Hopefully you'll find something there you'll enjoy!
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Date: 2011-06-12 01:00 am (UTC)Have you read any China Mieville yet? I've only read Perdido Street Station so far, but I have The Scar and fully intend to read it soon, and I'm excited to get my hands on, like, EVERYTHING he's written. Perdido was a cannot-put-down book for me and my mom and a few of my friends, but some of my other friends were like, "meh". That seems to be the pattern; people are either foaming-at-the-mouth-OMG for China, or decidedly unimpressed. He does this sort of dark, grimy, creepy, science fiction-fantasy stuff, with exciting plots and interesting characters, and his world-building is rich and intricate and unique. I adore him.
My favorite ever book ever in my life EVER is Watership Down by Richard Adams. As Sawyer from Lost aptly put it, "It's about bunnies." Adams gives his rabbits language and culture and mythology and laws and politics without really anthropomorphizing them; he creates a solid and interesting world with great characters and a narrative comprising friendship, adventure, danger, horror, violence, and a wee tiny bit of romance... all with wild English rabbits. I've been reading it over and over again since I was in elementary school, but it is plenty complex for adults and, actually, too complex for the vast majority of children of that age.
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Date: 2011-06-12 01:14 am (UTC)That is honestly the first thing that came to my mind! I've been very, very careful, though: I wait at least fifteen minutes before going to bed after I take my last dose! /s-m-r-t
He does this sort of dark, grimy, creepy, science fiction-fantasy stuff, with exciting plots and interesting characters, and his world-building is rich and intricate and unique.
Ok, yeah, that sounds pretty much exactly like what I'm into! AWESOME! Definitely going to put that on the spreadsheet, just as soon as I get around to making it. :P
You know, I have never read Watership Down! But I do know a lot of people who cite it as one of their favorite books. To be honest, I'm just the tiny bit hesitant to read it, because...well, regular readers of my journal will know that I have a moderate-to-occasionally-severe case of anthropomorphobia. (I wouldn't call it an actual phobia: more of a squick. One of my only ones! And yet people never think to warn for talking animals! *shakes fist*) It's rather unpredictable what will set it off. (Except for animal puppets. Those are pretty much always Minions of Satan.) BUT, since you say he doesn't really anthropomorphize them, I'll have to give it a go...
Thanks for the recs!
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Date: 2011-06-12 01:37 am (UTC)Why don't I have an icon that is about books?