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landofnowhereI skipped last week, so now I'm back with some quick reviews to keep up the momentum.
Fugitive Telemetry, Martha Wells. Yay more Murderbot! That was short and enjoyable.
Chaos on Catnet, Naomi Kritzer. A and I agree that this book is most like the second Carls book by Hank Green (A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor), in that it's a sequel that pivots from its fun worldbuilding premise in the direction of Creepy People/Institutions are Creepy. Still good, though!
Siege and Storm, Leigh Bardugo. Just started this one, and it did not start the way I expected, butI don't yet have anything more to say.
Arcadia, Tom Stoppard. Group read-aloud -- I was (type)cast as Valentine Coverly, which was good fun to read-- and I now appreciate him better as a character. He's a type, but a relatable type: the early-career academic with a quiet confidence derived from a combination of belief in science and unquestioned privilege. And he gets to be wroung about things -- his enthusiastic hot takes on how chaos theory is going to change the world feel dated, but also realistically wrong in an "overly enthusiastic grad student" sort of way. Also the way to my heart is apparently to give a character sensory overload (in a way that's plot-thematic). A lot of Stoppard to me feels like he's being Too Clever, but the modern-day academia stuff felt well done and relatable (and yes, Hannah is awesome). (Thomasina I still don't like as much as I wish I did -- she exemplifies a bunch of tropes about genius that I object to. Mathematicians who appear effortlessly good at everything are less interesting than ones who struggle and make mistakes!)
Fugitive Telemetry, Martha Wells. Yay more Murderbot! That was short and enjoyable.
Chaos on Catnet, Naomi Kritzer. A and I agree that this book is most like the second Carls book by Hank Green (A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor), in that it's a sequel that pivots from its fun worldbuilding premise in the direction of Creepy People/Institutions are Creepy. Still good, though!
Siege and Storm, Leigh Bardugo. Just started this one, and it did not start the way I expected, butI don't yet have anything more to say.
Arcadia, Tom Stoppard. Group read-aloud -- I was (type)cast as Valentine Coverly, which was good fun to read-- and I now appreciate him better as a character. He's a type, but a relatable type: the early-career academic with a quiet confidence derived from a combination of belief in science and unquestioned privilege. And he gets to be wroung about things -- his enthusiastic hot takes on how chaos theory is going to change the world feel dated, but also realistically wrong in an "overly enthusiastic grad student" sort of way. Also the way to my heart is apparently to give a character sensory overload (in a way that's plot-thematic). A lot of Stoppard to me feels like he's being Too Clever, but the modern-day academia stuff felt well done and relatable (and yes, Hannah is awesome). (Thomasina I still don't like as much as I wish I did -- she exemplifies a bunch of tropes about genius that I object to. Mathematicians who appear effortlessly good at everything are less interesting than ones who struggle and make mistakes!)