Books 2019 - three more books

Okay, let's catch up again...


This is my second category substitution - First Peson PoV, substituting for Horror, which I had every intention of reading, but I don't particularly like to. And The Lie is a kind of horror even so, about a man haunted by the horror of his experiences in the trenches in World War I, and the deaths in his troop, and particularly of his childhood friend. It's absolutely fabulous, and I do recommend it! It was loaned to me by a friend who loved it, and I've taken long enough to read it that it also counts for my Mount TBR, for which it zooms me up to 11/24.

Mount TBR so far = 11/24
Lj Book Bingo Masterpost

I also read the third book in the Lockwood and Co. series, which I'm still enjoying, but which seem to be getting worse as far as you-can-tell-this-book-was-written-by-a-bloke. The main protagonist is Lucy, and we see Lockwood and Co. through her eyes. But who's on the cover of all three books I've read so far? Lockwood - the boy. And despite Lucy being completely kick-bottom, do we still get things like "You ran like a girl" in the story? Why, yes. Just - things that no kick-bottom girl like Lucy would actually put up with are included as ordinary life, as if they were acceptable to females of any age, and what girls should expect life to be like (technically this is a children's book). Gaargh! Pick up your game, author Jonathan Stroud! You can write - now think as well, please! ... Hmmn, turns out he's a former editor too, so I suppose the fact that he doesn't know better is one of the reasons that such annoyingly sexist books are still being put out and are still on the shelves. It's so annoying - it would be so easy to edit out!

And finally - another one for Lj Book Bingo! I wasn't expecting I could use the book we read for this month's book group, but it was Elena Ferrante's My Brilliant Friend, and it turns out that it's a HBO mini-series for tv, which totally fits one of my squares - TV tie-in/Turned into a TV show!

I almost didn't finish the book though - it felt miserable and grubby and I didn't like any of the characters to start with. I'm not entirely sure I liked them by the end of the book (which turned out not to be the end, but a convenient breaking point before the next chapter book. Gargh!) but something did keep me reading, and not just cos it was a book group book. *g* I suppose I was catching some of the reason that everyone raves about it, but I really was tempted not to keep going after the first chapter or so, so... It'll be interesting to hear the book group consensus!

And that's another Bingo line, too! So now just three squares to go until I've filled the card - and I know my books for two of them. *g*

Icon posting Project - Day 9

Today has been one of those days where every little thing has been just a tiny bit off. Like - I had half-a-day's proofreading, but also more of the fun kid's book proofreading to do, so what happened? I only got the half-a-day's job done, because it just stre-e-e-e-tched out to dullness... (karst. I ask you - karst!) I got my laundry in the washing machine, set it off - and it took three times as long as it was supposed to, and then came out of the machine sopping wet because the spin hadn't worked properly, so I had to faff around with that. The washing line was tipping over again, so I had to hammer the wedges in again before I could trust it. Went to the supermarket and spent twice as much as I meant to, even though I'd planned to spend a fair old amount in the name of stocking up. Driving up the country roads to get there, I had to keep stopping for big fat giant-cars that barely slowed down in the narrow bits, and none of whom waved even a finger thank you. It was supposed to be Writing Group, but Chap 1 had already cancelled, so there'd be just two of us getting ready for the village show on Saturday - exept that Chap 2 cancelled as well. What's the betting I end up doing it on my own again? And... it was just like that, today.

Wow, that was a whinge. On the other hand... Squeeee! I love this icon - I love the joy of it, and the joy of Bodie in the ep, and as always the feel of his hands on Doyle's arms, and just the closeness of them in this scene, because what makes Doyle happy makes Bodie happy, and Bodie's happiness is pretty contagious. *g*


Squee for Pros, and squee for cheering-up messages about Pros fic, and a sudden spark of love for our lads again! So today's icon works perfectly. *g* It was made by probodie, who was one of the very first people I knew in Pros fandom (on lj and in real life, because I met her at the first Nattercon I went to, and then at most gatherings after that), and I still have that sense of disbelief that she died so young. She threw herself into Pros for years, and I have more of her icons to come. I like the idea that maybe we can all live on through Pros a bit, through our stories and icons and art and posts and comments - a bit like GNU Terry Pratchett, flying under the radar, all but invisible, but - A [person] is not dead while [their] name is still spoken.

Here's to all the names being spoken, always.