Books!

[Mebediel]

This is late because my laptop broke and because life has been ridiculous recently. Here are the things I read in January and February!

January

• Between Earth and Heaven: Liminality and the Ascension of Christ in Anglo-Saxon Literature by Johanna Kramer: This one ended up being much more focused on early English theology than on physical liminal spaces, but it was still interesting!
• Maps and Monsters in Medieval England by Asa Simon Mittman: Cool book and a good way to start learning about medieval English maps. Mittman later revoked his usage of the term "monstrous races," but the book is still a really interesting and insightful way to learn more about how monsters and spaces worked together in (late) medieval England.
• Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston: This one is an easy read in terms of language, but it deals with some heavy content--namely Japanese internment in the United States during World War II. It's essentially Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston's autobiography, narrating her childhood memories of the internment camp (Manzanar) and her family's adjustment back into American society after the war.

February

• Medievalisms in the Postcolonial World: The Idea of "the Middle Ages" Outside Europe, edited by Kathleen Davis and Nadia Altschul: This is an anthology of academic essays about the ways that people interact with the Middle Ages outside of Europe. As with all anthologies, the essays vary in terms of convincing-ness and accessibility, but it allows the book to cover a wide range of subjects and regions of the world. They do a good job of covering the entire world, and there are essays that touch on Australia, Latin America, Africa, Asia, and North America. The book is divided into four parts, and each part concludes with an essay that responds to each of the chapters in that part, which is interesting because sometimes the respondents disagree with some of the chapters.
• Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm: This one's a dystopian scifi novel about how humanity is able to survive after the apocalypse. I had a lot of conflicting feelings about this one, which probably means it was succeeding in what it set out to do. The novel tackles individuality, what it means to be human, and the classic "has science gone too far?" question.
• Oroonoko by Aphra Behn: This was my second time reading Oroonoko (both times for classes!). It's a novel written in 1688 about an African prince who is sold into slavery in Surinam. It's especially interesting to read if you keep in mind that the book became a large part of the Abolitionist movement in England because it contains a lot of things that would be considered racist by today's standards. It's worth reading if that's an area of history you're interested in!
• Oroonoko by Thomas Southerne: The play adaptation of the book above! Southerne inserts a comic B plot that, honestly, I had a hard time wrapping my head around. It's pretty short, so it's worth reading if you've read Behn's novel before.
• How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi: This is a pretty good book (although the chapters on gender and sexuality were kind of weak, as was the concluding chapter). It is a bit specific to race in the United States, though, although I'm sure there are portions of it that could be extracted and applied to other countries. The language and the concepts are presented very clearly, and Kendi's argument is easy to follow.
• Captain Singletonby Daniel Defoe: I had a hard time finishing this. There are no chapters in this novel. It's a band of pirates meandering aimlessly across the world. Also, there's no real plot. Run and hide.
• Not Afraid of the Antichrist: Why We Don't Believe in a Pre-Tribulation Rapture by Michael L. Brown, Craig S. Keener: This one I listened to as an audiobook while on a long drive, and, full disclosure, I only listened because my uncle is one of the co-authors, so I'm very biased. It's basically a Biblical analysis that argues (respectfully!) why the Left Behind series isn't really based on anything in the Bible.

[Hrollo]

A two-part book series (it is a series) I enjoyed immensely was Nnedi Okorafor's Akata Witch and Akata Warrior. They're. based on African mythology/magic, which is incredibly refreshing, seeing as there are so many tolkien-y fantasy worlds. They're both childrens/YA books (don't remember which), and I'm not sure how widely praised they are, but I really recommend them!!

Noted, thank you for the recommendation.

[thorny]

I don't remember where I originally picked up this recommend, and it may even have been here, but let me drop (possibly again) a strong recommend for Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Science fiction, post-Earth-apocalypse, surviving would-be human colony ship meets -- well, read the book. It's very well done. And apparently there's by now a sequel, which I'm going to have to get my hands on.


(Arachnophobe warning. But if you can stand to, you might want to read it anyway.)

[thegreyarea]

I don't remember where I originally picked up this recommend, and it may even have been here, but let me drop (possibly again) a strong recommend for Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Science fiction, post-Earth-apocalypse, surviving would-be human colony ship meets -- well, read the book. It's very well done. And apparently there's by now a sequel, which I'm going to have to get my hands on.

One more to the List! Thanks!

It's my first time in this thread on the Forum. Why did I came here? Why? I already have a looong list of books to read, and I keep searching for more!

On recommendations right now I'm re-reading* Frank Herbert's Dune, and also David Brin's Startide Rising. Dune most will already know, not so many on Brin's Uplift Universe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uplift_Universe, that is a great set of stories, although a bit confusing sometimes because there are so many characters and races and technologies and... You see what I mean. But it's great anyway!
(It's all SF, but I also read Fantasy, and other genres)

* And why re-reading, you ask, if I just complained about my long list of books to read? Dune because I've read it around 30 years ago, borrowed from a cousin, and now I got my hands on a paperback including the original trilogy. Startide Rising because... the other day I was waiting something and meanwhile wanted to read, and I have the books on my phone so...

[Róisín]

Oh good, someone else who appreciates David Brin!

[thegreyarea]

Oh good, someone else who appreciates David Brin!

Oh yes! Among many things there's the brilliant imagination, including Sentient dolphins that are full characters and not just "the strange being that interacts with the human characters"!

[thorny]

Oh yes, I like Brin.

'What do you miss?'

'shark    shark'


(not exact quote, I don't think)

[thegreyarea]

Hi fellow book lovers!

I just thought that you would like to know that Tor.com, the site of Tor publishers (focused on Science Fiction and Fantasy), have this nice feature that gives away a free e-book every month. It's completely free and has no annoying DRM, so you can just read it anywhere. You just have to sign up with an e-mail account and indicate your country. (I don't know if there are country restrictions. It works for Portugal - see EDIT bellow). Of course they give "older" books to promote their authors and new books, and I even bought 2 thanks to that, but you have no obligation to buy anything. I've been a member for more than a year and had no problem. You can even choose to get, or not, their newsletter.

Usually they give good quality stuff. This month they are giving John Scalzi's Redshirts.  The site is: https://ebookclub.tor.com/

EDIT: I tried to register with another e-mail. they have 3 options for Country: US, Canada and Other. If you choose other you get a message stating that their offer is valid only for US and Canada. However if someone accidentally selects US the system allow to sign in. (I don't recall, back when I first signed, that this restriction existed. And no, I'm not masking my IP with a VPN).

[thegreyarea]

Hi fellow comic book lovers!

As before, I found that there's some unknown company (Marvel, I think) that's giving digital comics for free because they want us to cope with social distancing and of course to promote their other titles... I saw no country restriction. You have to create a comixology account https://www.comixology.com before, and then go to this link https://www.comixology.com/Marvel-Free-Comics/page/23611 to "buy" the comics for zero euros, or dollars, or whatever. I tried, bought all the free Marvel comics and had zero problems.

Then they go to your library in the site, and you just have to click in read. Seems that it's the only way to read them, but since it's free...

Good reading and stay safe.

EDIT: That offer is valid until May 4, 2020, I believe. Also, that site has a ton of other (non-marvel) free comics (check the "free" tab), tough they usually let just the intro (#0 or #1) free, hoping that you will later buy the following numbers, which is fair.

[Fluffyfinance]

I dunno if this has been suggested already but one of my all-time favorite books is Martin Marten, by Brian Doyle.

I'm pretty sure the book is a mix of fiction and nonfiction but I'm not entirely sure... So I'll just say realistic fiction?

Anyways it's about a 14-year-old boy named Dave and a newly born marten (called Martin) and how their stories intertwine throughout the book as they both grow up in a small town tucked in Mount Hood in Oregon along the Zigzag River. It is told through a mixture of all the personal stories of the people (and various but important wildlife) that live in and around the small town so that by the end of the book you feel like part of the strange and beautiful community. I can hardly begin to tell you what a great storyteller Brian Doyle is. He really draws you in, makes you think deeply, and skillfully encapsulates human emotion while making it a little poetic all at the same time.

[Lenny]

So, I've read a lot of Terry Pratchett. And I have read The Fifth Elephant many, many times. The Scone of Stone features heavily in it as the coronation seat of the king of the dwarfs, and its authenticity is a plot point (established since the start, so if spoiler, extremely minor). It's not actual stone, it's dwarf bread (very little difference).

Only today did it click.

Scotland, and now the UK, has the Stone of Scone (actually made out of stone, limestone, and kept in a place called Scone before it got sacked). The authenticity of which has been contested for about 200 years. And since it got stolen and then returned in the 1950s it's been rumoured to be a copy.

I knew about the Stone of Scone years ago, I can't believe I didn't make the connection until now. I GREW UP playing the William Wallace campaign on Age of Empires II a billion times and looked into the historical stuff yeeeeears ago. Reading The Fifth Elephant again is going to be trip.

[Róisín]

Yeah, funny connection. The story in druidic and British pagan circles is that the coronation stone which used to be  (dunno if it still is) under the English coronation throne where the ruler is crowned is actually the Lia Fáil. Back in the 1970s two idiots of my acquaintance made a serious attempt to ‘reclaim‘ it, and actually got it as far as the abbey door before being caught, having gone in with dustcoats, clipboards and a sack truck, looking official. They were noticed by an alert cleaner, fortunately for them, and stopped. Some people do the silliest things.

[RanVor]

Okay, so, after a long, long period of on-and-off reading, I finally finished The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo and I gotta say, it's not a classic for nothing. It's not an easy book to get into by any means, but it rewards those who put in the effort in most unexpected ways, particularly with the gorgeous description of fifteenth-century Paris in book III. I definitely recommend you to check it out if you haven't yet.

[mchristiana]

Hey Minnions! I was thinking of buying a book of Norwegian fairytales, and thought I would consult your expertise.

Do you know any good collections translated into English?

I found this one at target that looks pretty, but I might want something more authentic?
https://www.target.com/p/nordic-tales-tales-of-hardcover/-/A-76503295

[Alkia]

oo, that book looks great, although I have no idea how authentic Scandinavian it is
I am by no means an expert in this field, and this next recommendation isn't a book, but here goes anyways. I found this:
http://folkeeventyr.no/
great website of Norwegian fairytales, which I've been mostly using to practice my Norwegian reading, but I think it's possible to translate into English using the little Google Translate button (although I'm not sure of the quality of that translation 😅).

Other than that, I have this exact book but in German, but a little googling revealed it is also available in English:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/A-Time-for-Trolls-Fairy-Tales-from-Norway-by-Asbjornsen-and-Moe/302423841497

Either way, the website and the book both have the same sources, namely the authors named Asbjørnsen and Moe, so if you look those two up there's probably other good results as well 

Good luck!! and also, since i see this is your first post, WELCOME to the Forum!!!