What are you reading in 2024?
- Thread starter Nellisir
- Start date
reading Hal Clement's Mission of Gravity. I'm about 35 pages in, and while it's very interesting, not sure how interested I am in continuing...
Alzrius
The EN World kitten
I just finished reading Stephen Slater's 2023 work, The Complete Book of Heraldry, and it was quite a beast to get through!
I say that because this book was cumbersome, not so much in terms of the subject matter as in its physical construction. Being just over eleven inches tall and almost nine inches wide, you wouldn't think this hardcover was too unwieldy. But its two hundred fifty-six pages are all glossy, which makes them far heavier than you'd think. Throw in that it has one of those dust jackets that's not attached to the book, and so slides up the covers when you're holding it, and I found myself repeatedly having to wrestle with this thing as I was trying to read it.
I swear, it's going to be books like this that get me back into the gym.
As far as the subject matter goes, however, I feel confident asserting that this book has no equal. While I haven't read Shaun Hately's A Guide to Heraldry for Roleplayers (affiliate link), I can't imagine that it—or any other work on heraldry—approaches what's here. Even putting aside the sheer number of pages devoted to the subject, and the staggering number of illustrations and photographs, the fact that the author is himself a Council Member of the Heraldry Society of England (and apparently has written several other works on heraldry, as well as lectured) serves to assure prospective readers of his expertise in this field. As one point, Slater actually uses his own crest as an example of the various components of heraldic symbology!
Nor does this book limit itself to a mere dry recitation of facts. Slater opens with a long section about the history and development of heraldic devices, overviews the various ways in which they're displayed, talks about the professionals (both ancient and modern) who oversee their design and assignment, and that's just the beginning. Then we get the breakdown of the various aspects of a particular design, including esoteric subjects such as hatchments (i.e. funerary presentations of heraldry), alterations for illegitimate children, the rules of how heraldic symbols were altered for a woman who was married versus one who stayed single, etc. Nor is that all, as then there's a long section covering the heraldic traditions of various countries and how they differ (which are mini-history lessons in and of themselves). It's an incredibly vast amount of information, most of which can be hard to keep straight as more terms and definitions are introduced (thankfully, there's a glossary in the back of the book).
All of which is to say that this isn't a casual read, but the book has a saving grace that makes it much easier to handle: the layout.
Arranged in a format that Shadowdark fans will find familiar, this book uses a two-page spread for each subject that it covers. There are several instances where this isn't enough space, so the book uses a four- or even six-page spread, but these are distinctly in the minority. It helps to break up what would otherwise be an overwhelming amount of information into a much more manageable series of smaller, clearly-delineated chunks.
I should also mention the incredible amount of illustrations and photographs here. Virtually all of these are presented as examples of something in the text, and each has a caption denoting what it presents. These are ubiquitous to the point where, if I recall correctly, there's not a single page without some sort of picture on it.
I'll close with a personal anecdote: I bought this book just shy of a year ago at Ollie's, back when I (and many other gamers) were hunting for discount D&D products. It's funny how it always seems to come back to gaming in the end.
I say that because this book was cumbersome, not so much in terms of the subject matter as in its physical construction. Being just over eleven inches tall and almost nine inches wide, you wouldn't think this hardcover was too unwieldy. But its two hundred fifty-six pages are all glossy, which makes them far heavier than you'd think. Throw in that it has one of those dust jackets that's not attached to the book, and so slides up the covers when you're holding it, and I found myself repeatedly having to wrestle with this thing as I was trying to read it.
I swear, it's going to be books like this that get me back into the gym.
As far as the subject matter goes, however, I feel confident asserting that this book has no equal. While I haven't read Shaun Hately's A Guide to Heraldry for Roleplayers (affiliate link), I can't imagine that it—or any other work on heraldry—approaches what's here. Even putting aside the sheer number of pages devoted to the subject, and the staggering number of illustrations and photographs, the fact that the author is himself a Council Member of the Heraldry Society of England (and apparently has written several other works on heraldry, as well as lectured) serves to assure prospective readers of his expertise in this field. As one point, Slater actually uses his own crest as an example of the various components of heraldic symbology!
Nor does this book limit itself to a mere dry recitation of facts. Slater opens with a long section about the history and development of heraldic devices, overviews the various ways in which they're displayed, talks about the professionals (both ancient and modern) who oversee their design and assignment, and that's just the beginning. Then we get the breakdown of the various aspects of a particular design, including esoteric subjects such as hatchments (i.e. funerary presentations of heraldry), alterations for illegitimate children, the rules of how heraldic symbols were altered for a woman who was married versus one who stayed single, etc. Nor is that all, as then there's a long section covering the heraldic traditions of various countries and how they differ (which are mini-history lessons in and of themselves). It's an incredibly vast amount of information, most of which can be hard to keep straight as more terms and definitions are introduced (thankfully, there's a glossary in the back of the book).
All of which is to say that this isn't a casual read, but the book has a saving grace that makes it much easier to handle: the layout.
Arranged in a format that Shadowdark fans will find familiar, this book uses a two-page spread for each subject that it covers. There are several instances where this isn't enough space, so the book uses a four- or even six-page spread, but these are distinctly in the minority. It helps to break up what would otherwise be an overwhelming amount of information into a much more manageable series of smaller, clearly-delineated chunks.
I should also mention the incredible amount of illustrations and photographs here. Virtually all of these are presented as examples of something in the text, and each has a caption denoting what it presents. These are ubiquitous to the point where, if I recall correctly, there's not a single page without some sort of picture on it.
I'll close with a personal anecdote: I bought this book just shy of a year ago at Ollie's, back when I (and many other gamers) were hunting for discount D&D products. It's funny how it always seems to come back to gaming in the end.
Ralif Redhammer
Legend
I finished reading Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. Powerful, powerful stuff. The way she describes the external and internal aspects of oppression is just so vivid and thought-provoking.
Now I'm onto lighter fair with Joan Vinge's Psion.
Now I'm onto lighter fair with Joan Vinge's Psion.
Finished We Solve Murders, which is the first of a new series by Richard Osman, an English writer best known for his Thursday Murder Club books. The latter are a pleasant enough mystery series with a quartet of elderly protagonists who solve murders from their retirement community. This new book is rather more jet-setting, with exotic locales, bodyguarding, cash-smuggling, and so on. It’s fine, I’ll probably read the next one.
The primary pleasure reading Osman is the authorial voice. Delicious phrases fall out of his writing like prizes from a kid's cereal box. I've read the this and The Thursday Night Murder Club, and they were both pleasant reads and did a good job of setting up their series, but I'm not a big fan of indeterminate series, so I haven't (and likely won't) read further. (That last is a me thing, and isn't judgment on people who write or read series.)
For what it’s worth, the Thursday books get much better after the first one, with actual decent plotting and character development, which is why I read the others. I’m actually finding Osman’s authorial voice and cheap tricks rather more tiresome now because it’s very obvious, but the characters are fun and I will probably read the next one.
Fair. My wife is reading the Thursday books. It's possible I'm more susceptible to drollery and well-turned phrases than you are. I cannot see continuing to read a series where I found the authorial voice tiresome, but that's just another difference.
It could be worse - he could be Mick Herron. Speaking of cheap tricks, I meant more the cliffhangers and misdirections than the drollery, which is fine.
Alzrius
The EN World kitten
I just finished reading How to Get Laid in Fairy Tales, by Dr. Jeana Jorgensen, and my initial reflection is that this is a work which has suffered from its transition from one format to another.
To reiterate, this was apparently a talk that the author gave several years ago, and decided to polish up and turn into an ebook (which, in full disclosure, I converted to a PDF after I got my copy). It's quite short, being only forty-four pages long, with over a dozen of its pages being devoted to the bibliography, acknowledgments, copyright info, etc. This is, in other words, more of a paper (or perhaps it's more apt to call it an article) than a book per se.
The reason I bring this up is because Dr. Jorgensen's writing still sounds like a talk, despite being a paper, and while I suspect this says more about me than about her, that just rubbed me the wrong way. While I have no doubt that the frequent use of the first person, snappy asides, and pointed comments would work great in an oral presentation, their use here struck me as off-putting in what was otherwise a research paper on various aspects of sexuality in fairy tales. I suppose it's just my expectations, but while I can appreciate someone bringing charisma to a spoken lecture, I prefer a more staid presence in academic writing; to do otherwise strikes me as the difference between watching an episode of Seinfeld versus reading the script for it.
That's unfortunate, because Dr. Jorgensen clearly has some insights to make into the nature of sexuality in fairy tales, noting several types of patterns and contrasts, e.g. how fathers who make incestuous advances on their daughters rarely meet with a bad end, whereas mothers who do the same to their sons usually experience a grisly death. Likewise, the use of cross-dressing as (not-so-)subtle instances of homoeroticism between characters, or the differences in how men approach serial monogamy in fairy tales versus how women do, etc.
Ultimately, however, it's not the irreverant tone that undercut this paper/article for me (though that's something I've complained about before), but simply the overall brevity. Dr. Jorgensen has several books to her name (a few of which are currently sitting on my shelves, waiting to be read), and that's the length that this particular topic necessitates, with what's here being too short to act as anything other than an appetizer to the topic of sexuality in fairy tales.
Instead, we get an almost lightning-round-esque take on several different instances of sexual motifs coming up in various stories, along with some extremely light inquiry as to the values they reflect/promote, along with a few nods at other authors in this field that she either agrees with or disagrees with, and then the entire thing ends. I'm sure it makes for a good TED Talk (or wherever she originally gave this), but as a piece of writing it's more of a sampler of her work than anything else.
To reiterate, this was apparently a talk that the author gave several years ago, and decided to polish up and turn into an ebook (which, in full disclosure, I converted to a PDF after I got my copy). It's quite short, being only forty-four pages long, with over a dozen of its pages being devoted to the bibliography, acknowledgments, copyright info, etc. This is, in other words, more of a paper (or perhaps it's more apt to call it an article) than a book per se.
The reason I bring this up is because Dr. Jorgensen's writing still sounds like a talk, despite being a paper, and while I suspect this says more about me than about her, that just rubbed me the wrong way. While I have no doubt that the frequent use of the first person, snappy asides, and pointed comments would work great in an oral presentation, their use here struck me as off-putting in what was otherwise a research paper on various aspects of sexuality in fairy tales. I suppose it's just my expectations, but while I can appreciate someone bringing charisma to a spoken lecture, I prefer a more staid presence in academic writing; to do otherwise strikes me as the difference between watching an episode of Seinfeld versus reading the script for it.
That's unfortunate, because Dr. Jorgensen clearly has some insights to make into the nature of sexuality in fairy tales, noting several types of patterns and contrasts, e.g. how fathers who make incestuous advances on their daughters rarely meet with a bad end, whereas mothers who do the same to their sons usually experience a grisly death. Likewise, the use of cross-dressing as (not-so-)subtle instances of homoeroticism between characters, or the differences in how men approach serial monogamy in fairy tales versus how women do, etc.
Ultimately, however, it's not the irreverant tone that undercut this paper/article for me (though that's something I've complained about before), but simply the overall brevity. Dr. Jorgensen has several books to her name (a few of which are currently sitting on my shelves, waiting to be read), and that's the length that this particular topic necessitates, with what's here being too short to act as anything other than an appetizer to the topic of sexuality in fairy tales.
Instead, we get an almost lightning-round-esque take on several different instances of sexual motifs coming up in various stories, along with some extremely light inquiry as to the values they reflect/promote, along with a few nods at other authors in this field that she either agrees with or disagrees with, and then the entire thing ends. I'm sure it makes for a good TED Talk (or wherever she originally gave this), but as a piece of writing it's more of a sampler of her work than anything else.
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