three fantasy books

While awaiting jury duty, I read Wizard's Heir by Daniel Hood, sequel to Fanuilh. I want to make a reading list of books that talk about encounters with gods seriously. I find those books to be very interesting. Anyway, I liked the second book better than the first. Four stars.

While sick, I read Od Magic by Patricia McKillip. I liked this book, although it was somewhat moralistic, and the ending was WAY too easy. Three stars, because I still enjoyed it.

For the past few months, I've been slowly working my way through The Empire of Ice Cream by Jeffrey Ford. This was his second anthology of short works, and the first, The Fantasy Writer's Assistant, is now on my to-read list. This book was... strange. Strange like Gaiman. It had a haunting, surreal quality. You wanted to keep reading, but often weren't sure why. I find that intriguing. The stories that I found most engaging were "Botch Town," "Giant Land," and "Coffins on the River." Serious fantasy enthusiasts (both serious enthusiasts for fantasy, and enthusiasts of serious fantasy) should check it out. Three stars.

The recent spate of fantasy reading makes me want to read more fantasy. It's always nice when that happens, even though in this case it's not because the books I read are so good I didn't want to stop. It's more that they reminded me of how good fantasy could be, even though they weren't quite that good.

two graphic novels

I read Hopeless Savages: Ground Zero, and now I have to admit it. I'm definitely hooked on another comic series. This one was all about loooove. But not in a soft fuzzy way. I wish more teenagers would read this book. I wish it had been around to read when I was a teenager. It includes a lot about the crazy stuff that love makes us do as well as how it enriches our lives and what makes it special. Four stars. Great series.

I got Blood Alone out of the library because I thought it looked interesting. It's a vampire manga, featuring a little-girl vampire and her grown male protector, with whom she has a loving but not sexual relationship. I liked it, but not enough to seek out further volumes.

So far, I've liked everything I've gotten from the Million Year Picnic queer comics list. However, the stuff I've tried from their list of comics for girls (The Courageous Princess and Leave It To Chance) has disappointed me. I guess I'll keep focusing on the queer comics list.

upcoming nifty things

So - while at the Cambridge Tealuxe with 7j the other day, I was approached by a staffperson named Aaron, who had noticed that I was knitting. He told me that he is planning to start a knitting circle at Tealuxe, meeting on Tuesday afternoons at three-thirty. I think this sounds really fun, and I'm planning to be there.

Secondly, butch-femme speed dating is coming around again this Saturday at Toast. Would anyone be interested in going with me? As a friend, of course, not a date.

ETA: I've been meaning to mention here that I host a discussion group for kinky women, under the aegis of MOB New England, on the first Mondays of the month. We meet at the Diesel Cafe from seven to nine and discuss topics pertinent to BDSM. This coming Monday will be our next meeting and our topic is Finding Play Partners. The group is open to anyone who's eligible for MOB membership, which these days means any women and any tranfolk who feel comfortable participating in a women's group.