Ask me about books I've read

[reynardo]

Snurched from tree_and_leaf:

Pick a number to get an answer from me. Or give your own answer to someone else's question. Or just borrow the meme and see what comes up.

1. A book that haunts you

2. A book that was an interesting failure

3. A book where you really wanted to be reading the "shadow" version of the book (as in, there are traces of a different book in the work and you would have much preferred to read that one)

4. A book with a worldbuilding detail that has stuck with you

5. A book where you loved the premise but the execution left you cold

6. A book where you were dubious about the premise but loved the work

7. The most imaginative book you've seen lately

8. A book that feels like it was written just for you

9. A book that reminds you of someone

10. A book that belongs to a specific time in your mind, caught in amber

11. A book that came to you at exactly the right time

12. A book that came to you at the wrong time

13. A book with a premise you'd never seen before quite like that

14. A book balanced on a knife edge

15. A snuffed candle of a book

16. The one you'd take with you while you were being ferried on dark underground rivers

17. The one that taught you something about yourself

18. A book that went after its premise like an explosion

19. A book that started a pilgrimage

20. A frigid ice bath of a book

21. A book written into your psyche

22. A warm blanket of a book

23. A book that made you bleed

24. A book that asked a question you've never had an answer to

25. A book that answered a question you never asked

26. A book you recommend but cannot love

27. A book you love but cannot recommend

28. A book you adore that people are surprised by

29. A book that led you home

30. A book you detest that people are surprised by

Comments

[blueinkedfrost]

16

[reynardo]

Probably "Northhanger Abbey" - to remind me that ghosts aren't real.

But who would waste time on a book when you're being ferried on dark underground rivers??

[blueinkedfrost]

Excellent choice! I think I forgot that being ferried on dark underground rivers is not just the province of skeletal boatmen looking out for an unlucky sap to trick into plying their ferry route any more, but rather a fun and entertaining activity in many popular holiday destinations.

[kylinn]

4

[reynardo]

4. A book with a worldbuilding detail that has stuck with you Not just a book but a whole series. Roberta Gellis's "Roselynde" series is set in the time from Richard I to Henry III (and beyond), and while the political intrigue and court machinations are fascinating, it's the "to be a successful, powerful woman in medieval times and yet still fit within the limits of what a woman was allowed to do, here is what you had to know, and had to have been taught from childhood - weaving, sewing, calculating food for winter, keeping the rats out of the kitchen, treating a maid who has eaten the wrong mushrooms, stitching the wounds in your lord's fighting men ..." etc etc etc. Little things like the noble girl who, when buying needles, takes a couple of squares of different fabric down to make sure the needles are smooth yet strong.

Definitely a favourite.

And it meant when I read another author (where the viking captures a woman and takes her home - typical 80s historical romance rubbish) where a woman is angry and rips up the dress her captor's mother made her, it made *me* angry that she didn't value the hours of work it would have taken to weave and then sew the dress. IN the early 1800s well-off women would still gladly accept a handed-down dress because those things were valuable!

[kylinn]

That is the sort of thing that annoys me too, along with characters casually tearing up clothing with their hands (go ahead, try to tear even a t-shirt that isn't worn out!). Oh, and so many heroines who hate embroidery. So very tired of that trope as a shorthand for "she doesn't want to sit around and do girly things; she wants Adventure". Just lazy story-telling.

I won't even go into the many abuses of horses in some author's hands. No, you can't ride them for hours without a rest. No, they don't act like big dogs. No, you bloody well can't cut the girth of a horse you're riding at a gallop and both stay on and not cut the horse. (Just read that one this weekend, gah.) Etc. Etc.

[reynardo]

Heh. In the Novel that WILL BE FINISHED THIS YEAR I PROMISE, the male-presenting heroine quite enjoys needlework, and misses being able to do it openly, whereas the feminine-presenting heroine appreciates the work, can do it if she tries but is unable to be neat and tidy about it.

Ahem. Have to quote from the Lady with whom Louisa is staying before her marriage:

Louisa kept her impatience from showing as she attended her companion and gave advice over the purchase of a fine boiled wool of bright Lincoln green suitable for a cloak, and matching ribbons and trim. To her surprise, Lady Meyrick admitted she would be sewing the garment herself.

"My own dear mother ensured I had the knowledge I needed for any station in life, and it is my own satisfaction to make my cloak. If I start this week, I will have it ready for winter. I do have Ellen to help me with some of the sewing, and send more out, but the occasional item helps me keep my hand in. In fact, I might ask a favour for the evenings."

"I warn you now, my lady, my skills with the needle are barely better than basic."

"Oh, I do not seek your assistance with the sewing." Lady Meyrick directed the clerk to have the parcel sent to the Black Swan, then took her companion's arm and headed back to the street. "I would ask that you read me some light novel or amusing journal while I sew. The task can be tedious, and company of that sort would make the time pass far faster."

[kylinn]

Sounds neat!

And on a related topic:
"Can You Knit, Brave Boys?" by Talis Kimberley : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feDAYgJnFMc
lyrics : https://www.talis.net/can-you-knit-brave-boys/