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snugglekittyOne queer fantasy with intense themes, one short piece of nonfiction on Amish quilting.
In other news, I am now going to stop using the topical tags at the beginning of my subject lines, now that there are tag tags available that you can search by. I haven't yet decided if I'm going to go back and remove the topical tags and replace them with the new tags, in earlier posts.
Fire Logic was recommended to me by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
7j. I thought it was wonderful. It dealt with elemental magic, but in a way different than I've encountered in the past - not just "earth elements make things grow, fire elements burn things down" kind of stuff.
There were a lot of things that I liked about this book. One was that it had queer characters without talking about people having identity labels based on who they sleep with. Their occupations and national identities are much more important to them. It also dealt with some pretty heavy themes - addiction, dysfunctional relationships, betrayal, guilt, trauma. None of them were belittled or turned into cliches. Very impressive. I can't wait to read the sequels, and apparently Marks has some other books as well. I'm always so happy to find a new author that I like a lot.
Other elemental stuff that I have liked recently includes Mystic and Rider by Sharon Shinn, and the Queen's Quarter series by Midori Snyder. (While we're on this topic, Sharon Green has a series of high fantasy romances around the elements that are TERRIBLE. Don't read them.)
Plain and Simple was recommended to me byan_gadhar. When I was telling her about Knitting Sutra, she was reminded of it. I picked it up after going to see the Gee's Bend exhibit at the MFA with mrpet. This book was strange. I liked a lot of what was in it, but it left me with an odd feeling. It reminded me a bit of Bridget Jones' Diary, actually. By the end of that book, I had to remind myself that I did not have BJ's neuroses. Finishing that book, and realizing that I am already on a "path with heart," and have mostly let go of my insatiable need to make to-do lists, was kind of a surprise.
I feel like she didn't go as deep into the mystery as I would've liked. She didn't give us any answers to the questions she was writing about - perhaps she didn't have them. But she didn't seem to realize even why she had written the book, she was driven to do it... I guess I might have preferred for her to wait a little longer, until she felt like she had more clarity. It seems that she got some kind of peace from her interactions with the Amish, but she leaves the reader with an impression of confusion and emptiness.
I did like the book, it was just unsettling. I especially liked her clearly made point that it is much easier to gain a new understanding, than it is to integrate that understanding into your life.
In other news, I am now going to stop using the topical tags at the beginning of my subject lines, now that there are tag tags available that you can search by. I haven't yet decided if I'm going to go back and remove the topical tags and replace them with the new tags, in earlier posts.
Fire Logic was recommended to me by
7j. I thought it was wonderful. It dealt with elemental magic, but in a way different than I've encountered in the past - not just "earth elements make things grow, fire elements burn things down" kind of stuff.There were a lot of things that I liked about this book. One was that it had queer characters without talking about people having identity labels based on who they sleep with. Their occupations and national identities are much more important to them. It also dealt with some pretty heavy themes - addiction, dysfunctional relationships, betrayal, guilt, trauma. None of them were belittled or turned into cliches. Very impressive. I can't wait to read the sequels, and apparently Marks has some other books as well. I'm always so happy to find a new author that I like a lot.
Other elemental stuff that I have liked recently includes Mystic and Rider by Sharon Shinn, and the Queen's Quarter series by Midori Snyder. (While we're on this topic, Sharon Green has a series of high fantasy romances around the elements that are TERRIBLE. Don't read them.)
Plain and Simple was recommended to me by
an_gadhar. When I was telling her about Knitting Sutra, she was reminded of it. I picked it up after going to see the Gee's Bend exhibit at the MFA with mrpet. This book was strange. I liked a lot of what was in it, but it left me with an odd feeling. It reminded me a bit of Bridget Jones' Diary, actually. By the end of that book, I had to remind myself that I did not have BJ's neuroses. Finishing that book, and realizing that I am already on a "path with heart," and have mostly let go of my insatiable need to make to-do lists, was kind of a surprise.I feel like she didn't go as deep into the mystery as I would've liked. She didn't give us any answers to the questions she was writing about - perhaps she didn't have them. But she didn't seem to realize even why she had written the book, she was driven to do it... I guess I might have preferred for her to wait a little longer, until she felt like she had more clarity. It seems that she got some kind of peace from her interactions with the Amish, but she leaves the reader with an impression of confusion and emptiness.
I did like the book, it was just unsettling. I especially liked her clearly made point that it is much easier to gain a new understanding, than it is to integrate that understanding into your life.
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no subject
Date: 2005-06-16 08:55 pm (UTC)it was like "lalala and now we're going to have meaningless sex!" like, every ten minutes.
no subject
Date: 2005-06-17 07:22 pm (UTC)Also, I have two wedding books for you, if you want them. The Anti-Bride Guide and Simplify Your Wedding. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to use them again. :)