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In between holiday activities and prepping for the zombie apocalypse, here’s what we’ve been reading this month. What have you read lately?
Laura highly recommends Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt. Set in the late 1980's, this book is told through the eyes of a teenaged girl who had a close relationship with an uncle who recently died of AIDS. A few days after his funeral she receives a strange package, an artful teapot she and her uncle always used when they got together. It was sent by a mysterious man who asks to be her friend. And so begins an unusual relationship that teaches the girl, her family, and this man more than they might have imagined about forgiveness, love, adventure, and being true to oneself. Compellingly written and insightful, this story lingers. She's also started reading, with great anticipation, The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and co-author Stephen Baxter. It's packed with nice juicy chunks of science stretched into scifi. It all starts with an invention called a "stepper," a device simple enough to be made by a child and cheap enough to run on potato power. Once the plans are on the web, children become the most eager adopters of the technology. It allows them to step into the multiverse. Entire mobs of street children from poor areas start disappearing into parallel worlds. Eventually an expedition is sent to the farthest reaches, the "long earth." One of the main characters on that trek is a human reincarnated into a computer. Not your typical Pratchett book, but chances are it'll make the reader want his or her own potato-powered stepper.
Rebecca Angel finished up two good books this month. Many years ago, Rebecca's aunt gave her A Knight in Shining Armor
Corrina went to a book signing for Lois McMaster Bujold in November and came away with a signed copy of Captain Vorpatril's Alliance, the latest in Bujold's galactic Vorkosigan series. Captain Vorpatril's Alliance was one of those books that when she finished, she hugged it, and immediately began re-reading. Part of it is that this is the long-awaited book about Ivan Vorpatril, a supporting character through much of the Vorkosigan series. Part of it was that it brought back many characters she loved and added much more to them. And part of it was that this is a science fiction book that has, as its core, an "accidental marriage" plot. Great writing + favorite characters + awesome science fiction setting on the world of Barrayar + romance = reader bliss.
For those unfamiliar with the Vorkosigan series, it begins with Cordelia's Honor, as the clash between the cultures of a free spirited, science-based world clashes with a militaristic, paternalistic once-isolated world, personified in the two lead characters. Some people have compared this to David Weber's Honor Harrington series, but Corrina says the Vorkosigan series is deeper thematically, the characters are far more shaded and three-dimensional, and there's Miles. Miles Vorkosigan is hard to describe but just think of Tyrion from George R.R. Martin's series and that provides a start. The very first person to recommend these books to her was a pre-Harry Dresden Jim Butcher, many years ago on a Yahoo message board that no longer exists. Butcher was right back then. Go read these. The full collection of Bujold books can be seen at the Baen site.
Looking ahead to springtime planting, Kris has been spending much of her reading time thumbing through the latest Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog, marking the varieties that she'd like to add to her garden. When she starts to fear for her bank account, she puts the catalog away and is making her way through Roma by Steven Saylor. A novel of ancient Rome, the saga takes readers from its beginnings as a salt route in 1000 BC to its eventual place in history as a powerful empire. Genealogists will appreciate the way this story weaves generation after generation together as the political structure of Roma shifts from a simple tribal system to a more complicated republic. It's an interesting story but a bit slow going, so Kris plans to pick up something light and easy to start the new year.
Sophie is currently reading The Hundred-Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of a Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonassen, the first book chosen by the newly formed book club in her village. It has a similar vibe to Forrest Gump as protagonist Allan finds himself at the periphery of many major world events in the past century. These stories alternate with Allan's current life as he finds himself on the run during a series of increasingly crazy events about which he is surprisingly blasé.
Sophie bought her husband Darth Vader and Son by Jeffrey Brown for Christmas which has been entertaining her whole family, and she received Firefly: A Celebration for Christmas and is looking forward to getting started on it in the new year.
