o frabjous day!

Category: Books

  • In past months…

    Been reading: – Across the Universe by Beth Revis is a YA generation ship story, the first in a series – I thought it explored a lot of interesting ideas, although I felt it suffered a bit from ‘stupid character’ syndrome (ie. the main characters taking ages to figure out something that the reader has…

  • Remembering

    I remember travelling in Bali when I was 13 and reading The Crown of Dalemark by Diana Wynne Jones. I absolutely loved her quartet of Dalemark books, and named a wooden puppet that I bought after one of the characters. I think they remain some of my favourites of her novels (they are much creased…

  • Solutions

    – After listening to this interview with Alain de Botton, I am definitely going to check out a copy of his book, The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work. I have avoided his books in the past because I have always thought they looked like too much hard work, so I think I’m going to seek…

  • Bits & pieces

    Someone has written a sequel to A Little Princess – one of my favourite childhood books.  All about what happens to Ermengarde!  I am going to get my hands on that the moment it’s published. I got a shout out from Galactic Suburbia in their latest episode (because I stalked them at AussieCon.  In a…

  • Tunes

    I spent part of this weekend making a website for the husband’s “band”.  I use the term loosely, because said band really consists of himself and a mate drinking beer and recording mostly improvised instrumental tunes.  Perhaps “duo” would be better, and that’s what I’ve used on the website.  But really, as I think it’s…

  • AussieCon 4 – round up

    Last weekend I was in Melbourne, staying in my aunt’s apartment in the city, and catching the tram every day to go out to the 68th World Science Fiction Convention (or, because it’s the fourth one held in Australia, AussieCon 4). Highlights: seeing Catherynne Valente and Seanan McGuire on a panel “in conversation” – they’re…

  • Reading the Hugo Packet – Part 2

    Part 1 is here. This week, I’ve almost finished one of the novels – Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi, which is about a fantastically disturbing future Thailand, bleak and compelling. I’ve also finished all the short stories except for Kij Johnson’s Spar, and none have particularly grabbed me. I want to move on to the…

  • Reading the Hugo Packet – Part 1

    (The eagle-eyed will spot that this photo has nothing to do with the Hugo Awards. But I think it’s pretty. It’s the sort of photograph that causes my husband to sigh and say, “Oh, another arty one.” He doesn’t like small points of focus. I think they’re fabulous.) I made up my mind to go…

  • Read & Watched in March

    This March: – I watched one and a half seasons of The Tudors for the first time, and am enjoying its lush and lavish scenery.  The frequent nudity is amusing –  I’m sure Cardinal Woolsey often enjoyed nude massages by his mistress.  Henry is now getting a wee bit tired of Anne, and Jane Seymour…

  • Book Round-Up for 2009

    I read 135 books in 2009, much less than the previous two years (183 and 173 respectively). I’m not sure why the numbers have dropped so much – I definitely read less in the second half of 2009 than I have in previous years, and I was less careful in keeping track of what I…