I Have Finished The Reread, And All Other Copies Of The Rest Of The Series Are Already Borrowed (good!

I have finished the reread, and all other copies of the rest of the series are already borrowed (good! It is good the library is used!)

- I think it would be cute of Cimorene and Allenora kissed. I'm not saying this would be good or better, just that it would be cute. It would be a very different story, and it would lose the awesome "the princess MC doesn't get married at the end! She stays single and is happy that way!" Ending. And I love endings like that! But also the premise (two princesses, both misfits, both "captive" to dragons, bonding over time) would work for a shipping set up

- the dragons get to choose if they want to be male or female. The King of dragons is always King, regardless of gender, and the Queen is always the Queen.

I love this book. I love this series. There are so many good parts in this series. I like the worldbuilding. I'm so glad the library has copies

I'm revisiting Dealing With Dragons by Patricia C Wrede again. Such a good comfort read. I love this series. I have a feeling I'm about to reread the whole rest of the series too (library permitting)

Illuminations (wrap up)

I liked Illuminations by T. Kingfisher AKA Ursula Vernon!

More thoughts (plus spoilers, for this book and also Minor Mage and Wizard’s Guide) below the jump

It was a little different from the others in the “series.” (By which I mean Minor Mage and A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking.) It felt much more like a kid’s book from the outset--I’m not totally sure why.

It might be the pacing; it got to a slower start than the other two. In the first chapter of Minor Mage, the protagonist is kicked out of his hometown and sent on an age-inappropriate quest in chapter 1. In the first chapter of Wizard’s Guide, the protagonist finds a corpse. In Illuminations, the protagonist Rosa spends most of the first... 5 or so chapters being bored, having a tiff with her friend, and rooting around in the basement.

It might also be because of the plot in general? Rosa spends the book in her family home with her family there; in MM and WG the protagonists are removed from their familiar territory and separated from their families. In Illuminations, Rosa’s family is right there, but she spends the majority of the book not asking them for help because a) she made a mistake and is trying to fix it on her own, and b) her friend asked her not to. Whereas in MM, the adults kick a child out of their town, and then there are murders and cannibals. And in WG there’s a corruption problem, among other issues.

I got the impression that Illuminations was written with “this is a kid’s book” in mind from the outset, and I don’t know if that was the case for MM or WG. That could probably account for why it has such a different feel.

But at the same time, I did enjoy Illuminations. I loved the calendar system. I loved the crow and his spoons. I liked the magic, and I liked Rosa and her family. I think it was a fun read, and I am very satisfied with my purchase of this book. Do recommend :)

Nobody writes like Sir Terry

I was today years old when I realized the "pink novelty [candle]" nanny ogg only brings out for "guests with the right sense of humor" is probably shaped like a penis and not a skull.

Every single time I read these books I realize something new. I've lost count how many times I've read them and there's always something

Late November:

Finished Solstice Wood. It was good, really cooked faster towards the end. Really liked the magic, was pleasantly surprised by the resolution ("maybe we should reexamine our ancient assumptions about the Other")

Still reading The Mountain In the Sea. I really want them to befriend an octopus but it is Not That Kind of Book. The post apocalyptic, capitalist bleakness makes friendship with a cool octopus not possible. Steeling myself for a bleak ending.

Started reading one of Lovecraft's stories kind of by accident. It's good but... long? It feels long. I just finished Act I and it's like okay okay get on with it.

Finished Dracula at some point earlier this month. Loved it. Glad I read it, even when the going was weird and slow. Love the contrast between the vampire stuff, which has percolated into pop culture so much, and the plot, which hasn't. I never quite knew what was going to happen next, even to the end :)

Reread Digger by Ursula Vernon in its entirety. It made me feel things, again. With the benefit of more experience I can see how it's a little wonky--the page layouts, the use of text, etc. But it still made me feel things!

Reread Castle Hangnail, also by Vernon. I needed a comfort read. Also Witches Abroad and Reaper Man, by the one and only Sir Terry. I guess I needed a lot of comfort, haha. Have started re-reading Carpe Jugulum and Maskerade.

Since I finished November's book, I'll have to pick the next one for December...

Ursula Vernon's Illuminations (one single thought)

I'm only 3 chapters in but already it feels much more like a kids book than either Wizard's Guide and Minor Mage, which is interesting. I can't put my finger on why, I think it has something to do with the contours of the early conflict? No one has even died yet!

November's book!

Solstice Wood by Patricia A McKillip

I picked this one up (used of course) on something of a whim. Someone was talking about books where magic was intimately connected to “mundane” and everyday aspects of life (such as in Tamora Pierce’s “Circle of Magic” books, which I love).

In this book, there is a Fiber Arts Guild which, is turns out, is actually a... coven? All the women who are guild members are actually weaving (and sewing and knitting and crocheting haha) spells to keep out the... fair folk.

That part of it, I really like! The rest of it, I’m so-so on. I’ve had this book for a long time and haven’t finished it. We’ll see if I make any more progress this month...