Reading Update

[jaggedwolf]

Hit 20 books this year! :D

Kirith Kirin by Jim Grisley

Fantasy m/m! It was an...okay read? I think there were points I got bored by overly long descriptions of magic and the intricacies of lamp-lighting. I also think the romance itself could have been improved without the awkwardness of haha Kirith Kirin is 23423423 years old and Jessex is not yet 16 and hence not yet a Man In Their World - not even the inherent awkwardness of those facts, just that they had the characters talk about it so awkwardly it threw me off. I really liked the three magic ladies, I wanted to know more about them and the twice-named histories.

Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport

Talked about it before here, but basically Newport argues for using new tech (like social media/texts/etc.) to enhance one's life instead of composing parts of one's life. In other words, instead of incorporating every single platform because it might have a use, only use things that serve specific functions for your life and only use them for those functions.

While his blindspots are obvious - man clearly has never been part of an online community - the book is relentlessly practical about its ethos. None of that vague making you feel guilty bullcrap. It gives one big suggestion: A 30 day detox from all optional new technologies in your life, and then the rest of the chapters are ideas for how to live that more focused life, and practices one can try out to do so. As expected it's mostly backed by anecdata, but since this is a book for individuals, I'm okay with that - folks can figure out what does and doesn't work for them.

Gentleman Jack: A Biography of Anne Lister, Regency Landowner, Seducer and Secret Diarist by Angela Steidele

I meant to read the companion book to the television show, and accidentally bought this instead. I'm glad I did. It's an overview of Anne's life, chaptered by and focused on her relationships with the many, many women that were in her life, and it's unflinching from who she was. As the author says, Lister was a "beast of a women", completely self-involved, but fascinating and remarkable both to her contemporaries and us. I'm curious as to how Gentleman Jack the tv show is going to deal with its Season 2, between the voter intimidation and her attempts to get Walker's money. From the showrunner's own words, it's surprising that S1 was as swooningly romantic as it was.

(I wonder if the show isn't doing the same thing with Lister that Hamilton does with its historical figures - they are more defined by the words left behind than the realities of their personalities, and since it's Lister's diaries being worked off of, the show's characters are defined by her renderings of them.)

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Tropey m/m between the (first female) US president's son and a prince of England. The romance was cute, there was a fun range of characters (even if their characterizations got a bit too earnest at points for me - yes, yes the president's son wants to go into politics because he really cares about people, the secret security agent knits with needles she's stabbed a man with, the friend groups gleefully merge, etc.), and the feel-good ending mostly earned itself. Also it made me tear up at email exchanges and I didn't expect that. Would recommend.