Reading and such
Sep. 24th, 2017 08:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yuuagoIt isn't Wednesday, but who's counting? ;V
Recently Finished: Packing for Mars by Mary Roach. I've read one of her other books, Stiff, which is about the use of cadavers in science; Packing for Mars, on the other hand, deals with the ins and outs of space travel, both in historical and future context. It was interesting, though I didn't like it as much as Stiff, which was more within my typical niche. ...Also, there are some chapters dealing with bodily functions in detail and in the end I just had to skip through that stuff because it was just more than I ever wanted to know about shitting in space.
Also Finished Reading: Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. I love the film, so it was interesting to read the novel that inspired it. Overall, I feel that I like the film better - it had a more fun and magical atmosphere than the novel, I think. ...I also found almost everybody in the novel unlikeable, with the exception of Grant and Sattler, so that didn't help much. ;p Upside of reading this: I finally have the context I was missing for the Jurassic Park game I had as a kid on Sega Genesis; there was a lot of stuff in the game that wasn't in the film. Turns out, those scenes were inspired by the novel.
Currently Reading: Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton. This one is a historical novel centred around the rivalry between palaeontologists Marsh and Cope, told from the point of view of a student working with them. Overall, I'm liking this one more than Jurassic Park - then again, I do so love reading about the Bone Wars and other bits of early palaeontology. :D
Also Currently Reading: IT by Stephen King. This is one King novel that I've never managed to get around to, and with the film remake and so on, I was curious. So far, I'm enjoying it, but oh man, it's... longer than I expected it to be.
Anyway! Aside from the above, I bought some books in Victoria....
Most of the books that I brought home with me were second hand, and it's all stuff that I wouldn't have been able to find at home, so... yes.
* Grave Goods by Ariana Franklin. Crime novel set in England in 1176. I haven't read a lot of historical mysteries, so this should be interesting. Death and arson! Fun!
* Seaweed on the Street by Stanley Evans. Crime novel set in Victoria, BC. The protagonist is Coast Salish, which is neat, though the author isn't FN himself. I've been meaning to read this series for a while - unfortunately, the local library doesn't carry it... if I like this one, I'll see if I can get them to bring it in.
* Thirty-seven Small Songs & Thirteen Silences by Jan Zwicky. Poetry. The volume itself is beautiful (ahhh, Gasperau Press, I'd expect nothing less). A flip through tells me that I'll love it. Some of the poems remind me a lot of Hauge's work, like this really short one -
"Small Song: Sandwiches"
So: we are alive!
Bread, and between it
slices of summer afternoon. Coffee,
talk, ash trees leaping into the astonished sky.
* The Sunday Before Winter by Marilyn Bowering. Poetry. Canadian. I'm unfamiliar with this poet's work, but flipping through, it looks promising. Maybe I'll find a new favourite?
* Witness, I Am by Gregory Scofield. Poetry. This collection is centred around Canada's missing and murdered Indigenous women*. It explores this through a retelling of the sacred story of Muskrat Woman. I really love Scofield's work a lot, so I'm glad that I was able to get my hands on this.
* A Discovery of Strangers by Rudy Wiebe. This is a novel about one of John Franklin's northern expeditions - not the final, fatal one, but the Coppermine River expedition (1819-1822). This one won the Governor General's award, though that of course doesn't guarantee that I'll like it. It'll be interesting to read something about Franklin that deals with something other than his final expedition - a lot of works (both historical and fictional) focus on it, for obvious reasons, but his earlier travels were plenty gruesome as well; several people died during the Coppermine Expedition.
* Ukraine: Birth of a Modern Nation by Serhy Yekelchyk. I was dearly hoping to find a book on Ukraine's history, and I had two options. Can't remember the title of the other one that was available. Anyway, I chose this one because, aside from the more general history, it also covers the Orange Revolution. We'll see how this one turns out. It'll probably be interesting, and even if it isn't, I expect that I'll find lots of things to look up for more information.
The Boreal Herbal: Wild Food and Medicine Plants of the North by Beverley Gray. An essential for any witch living in the northern boreal part of North America, I would say. ;V The author is from the Yukon; the book also includes contributions from the Northwest Territory, and northern Alberta. It's so nice to have a reference book with a focus that is actually relevant to my environment - I know that I won't find any prairie or Rockies stuff here (which would be inevitable if I tried to find something Alberta-specific).
Recently Finished: Packing for Mars by Mary Roach. I've read one of her other books, Stiff, which is about the use of cadavers in science; Packing for Mars, on the other hand, deals with the ins and outs of space travel, both in historical and future context. It was interesting, though I didn't like it as much as Stiff, which was more within my typical niche. ...Also, there are some chapters dealing with bodily functions in detail and in the end I just had to skip through that stuff because it was just more than I ever wanted to know about shitting in space.
Also Finished Reading: Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. I love the film, so it was interesting to read the novel that inspired it. Overall, I feel that I like the film better - it had a more fun and magical atmosphere than the novel, I think. ...I also found almost everybody in the novel unlikeable, with the exception of Grant and Sattler, so that didn't help much. ;p Upside of reading this: I finally have the context I was missing for the Jurassic Park game I had as a kid on Sega Genesis; there was a lot of stuff in the game that wasn't in the film. Turns out, those scenes were inspired by the novel.
Currently Reading: Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton. This one is a historical novel centred around the rivalry between palaeontologists Marsh and Cope, told from the point of view of a student working with them. Overall, I'm liking this one more than Jurassic Park - then again, I do so love reading about the Bone Wars and other bits of early palaeontology. :D
Also Currently Reading: IT by Stephen King. This is one King novel that I've never managed to get around to, and with the film remake and so on, I was curious. So far, I'm enjoying it, but oh man, it's... longer than I expected it to be.
Anyway! Aside from the above, I bought some books in Victoria....
Most of the books that I brought home with me were second hand, and it's all stuff that I wouldn't have been able to find at home, so... yes.
* Grave Goods by Ariana Franklin. Crime novel set in England in 1176. I haven't read a lot of historical mysteries, so this should be interesting. Death and arson! Fun!
* Seaweed on the Street by Stanley Evans. Crime novel set in Victoria, BC. The protagonist is Coast Salish, which is neat, though the author isn't FN himself. I've been meaning to read this series for a while - unfortunately, the local library doesn't carry it... if I like this one, I'll see if I can get them to bring it in.
* Thirty-seven Small Songs & Thirteen Silences by Jan Zwicky. Poetry. The volume itself is beautiful (ahhh, Gasperau Press, I'd expect nothing less). A flip through tells me that I'll love it. Some of the poems remind me a lot of Hauge's work, like this really short one -
"Small Song: Sandwiches"
So: we are alive!
Bread, and between it
slices of summer afternoon. Coffee,
talk, ash trees leaping into the astonished sky.
* The Sunday Before Winter by Marilyn Bowering. Poetry. Canadian. I'm unfamiliar with this poet's work, but flipping through, it looks promising. Maybe I'll find a new favourite?
* Witness, I Am by Gregory Scofield. Poetry. This collection is centred around Canada's missing and murdered Indigenous women*. It explores this through a retelling of the sacred story of Muskrat Woman. I really love Scofield's work a lot, so I'm glad that I was able to get my hands on this.
* A Discovery of Strangers by Rudy Wiebe. This is a novel about one of John Franklin's northern expeditions - not the final, fatal one, but the Coppermine River expedition (1819-1822). This one won the Governor General's award, though that of course doesn't guarantee that I'll like it. It'll be interesting to read something about Franklin that deals with something other than his final expedition - a lot of works (both historical and fictional) focus on it, for obvious reasons, but his earlier travels were plenty gruesome as well; several people died during the Coppermine Expedition.
* Ukraine: Birth of a Modern Nation by Serhy Yekelchyk. I was dearly hoping to find a book on Ukraine's history, and I had two options. Can't remember the title of the other one that was available. Anyway, I chose this one because, aside from the more general history, it also covers the Orange Revolution. We'll see how this one turns out. It'll probably be interesting, and even if it isn't, I expect that I'll find lots of things to look up for more information.
The Boreal Herbal: Wild Food and Medicine Plants of the North by Beverley Gray. An essential for any witch living in the northern boreal part of North America, I would say. ;V The author is from the Yukon; the book also includes contributions from the Northwest Territory, and northern Alberta. It's so nice to have a reference book with a focus that is actually relevant to my environment - I know that I won't find any prairie or Rockies stuff here (which would be inevitable if I tried to find something Alberta-specific).
Yuu. Fic writer & book lover. M/Canada.
no subject
Date: 2017-09-25 05:06 pm (UTC)Usually I am not a fan of remakes but for this movie I will make an exception. Not sure if someone can top Tim Curry as Pennywise but the new way he looks looks pretty cool
no subject
Date: 2017-09-28 11:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-09-28 05:33 pm (UTC)Today I had a bunch of posts from the remake on my dash and I am sure I will either go and watch in on Saturday or when I am onvacation next week. Dunno I love to go into the cinema when I am somewhere I have never been before.
To bad the first movie as longer than the new one O.o