Reading Wednesday

Finished reading: Apollo's Angels: A History of Ballet by Jennifer Homans. It's what it says on the tin: the history of ballet from its Italian court beginnings to the modern age. This covered a whole bunch of stuff that I had absolutely zero idea about, and it was fascinating. (Among other things, it left me curious to learn more about Bournonville-style ballet, which seems to be kind of... fossilized, for lack of a better word.) I could have done without the random snarky digs at feminism, though.

Currently reading: One of the Captain Kit Brightling novels, A Swift and Savage Tide by Chloe Neill. Set in a slightly alternate version of our world/history, featuring a badass female naval captain who uses sea-based magic to chase after totally-not-Napoleon. (And some other stuff happens, but that's the gist.) I almost didn't pick this up, because it's the second book in a series, and also because the summary implied there would be some romance in it. But I'm glad I did check it out, because it's so relevant to my interests, and the romance isn't that distracting. This novel ain't deep, but it's fun, pretty tailored to my tastes, and I'm having a good time.

Reading next: The Bright and Breaking Sea by Chloe Neill. This is the first in the abovementioned series. I'll have to catch up on what I missed. ;p

Aaand since I'm on the subject, I'll just re-state that I love love love female characters who know their way around ships. Naval captains, pirates, women who work on fishing boats, it's allll good. So if any of you have recs for more novels with that sort of thing, they'd be very appreciated. :D