Reading Wednesday on a Thursday

[auroracloud]

I never remember to do a Reading Wednesday when it's actually Wednesday, but whatever, I'll do it now because I feel like talking about my recently read things. I'm on +2 GMT, so there are still time zones when it's Wednesday. Questions swiped off umadoshi's recent Reading Wednesday post.

What did you recently finish reading?

Ann Leckie's Ancillary Mercy, the third and final book of the Imperial Radch trilogy that started with Ancillary Justice. And oh, was it brilliant! I'm a latecomer to these books, but I love them and the whole strange misfit crew of characters blasting their way through an epic space empire adventure with lots of heart and meaning, and this was a very satisfying conclusion. I may want to ramble about that series at some point because I love it.

I also recently finished Ursula Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness, which I hadn't read before. I'm on a roll! I originally had a hard time getting into that one, probably because my brain early this year couldn't quite handle the level of concentration required by Le Guin's elaborate prose, and it also takes some time to learn how the world works and how to read through the main character's narration. But I'm glad I picked it up again, because eventually I loved it. After several decades, it's still a deep, moving and thought-provoking book.

What are you currently reading?

Hahahaha. A shitload of books!

Well, you see, I'm basically the bookish Jack Harkness. I'm reading all the books mostly at the same time. Well, not quite, but I'm still in a constant state of book orgy, which sounds a lot fancier than just plain "I've easily got 10 unfinished books going on at the same time, and then I start another anyway". There are some actual reasons for this, such as the fact that I read a lot of nonfiction as well, and not all of it is suited for gulping down in the sort of quick intense read that many fiction books get from me. But I also read multiple fiction books at the same time, because I'm totally dependent on having the right mood to read a particular book. Also there are many books I haven't quite managed to consign to the "did not finish" pile, but also am taking time to actually get through them, for whatever reason.

So anyway, if I just look at the ones I've been reading the most recently, there's a bunch of nonfiction books, especially about history and about environmental and climate change things, such as Elizabeth Kolbert's The Sixth Extinction. And there's a Finnish fantasy YA book which I'm trying to get through because I generally like it, but it's not sucking me in enough to get it finished very quickly.

What do you think you'll read next?

Nnedi Okorafor's Binti: The Night Masquarade; I've got the e-book from my e-library, and need to read it before the loan period is up! I loved the previous two and had to wait quite a while for this one, but I had some issues with my e-reader when the loan period started. After that, I'd like to dive into one of the historical novels I've been carrying home from the library recently. And I'll keep going on with the other unfinished books, hopefully dwindling down their numbers a bit...

Comments

[luzula]

I'm so glad you liked The Left Hand of Darkness! It's one of my favorite books ever, and I see new things in it every time I reread.

[auroracloud]

I definitely feel like it would benefit from a reread or a few! It's clearly one of those books where there's so much to discover. The worldbuilding in itself is endlessly fascinating. I'll need to buy my own copy, certainly (now I was just renewing a library copy for ages).

[navaan]

I love both Ancillary Mercy and The Left Hand of Darkness A LOT. I'm glad you enjoyed them ad got into the later despite it taking some time getting into it.

[auroracloud]

I was feeling like such a bad sci-fi fan for not being able to progress on it for some time - but seeing how happily I consumed the second half once my brain started feeling better rested, it was just a case of not being able to read that level of prose in the state of mind I was in. Er, not that anyone needs to feel like a bad fan of a genre if they have problems with a particular book - nobody's writing style is for everyone. But it was most certainly worth the effort, so I'm glad I kept renewing the library loan until it was the right time to finish it! I'll definitely have to give it a reread.

And the Radch books - so much love! I adore them so much, no wonder so many people have been praising them for years!

[liadt]

I hope you get through the e-library book before it expires!

[auroracloud]

Thanks! I started, but then I realized it's not a good time to read that one - it's a bit too dark for me right now, and I'd also just finished a thought-provoking sci-fi book and it was a bit too soon for another. Ah well, that's the risk with waiting for library books rather than buying your own - I'll be able to get it another time when it's a better time for it, I'm sure.

[liadt]

That's true and you don't have to make a trip to get ebooks out.

[st_aurafina]

Yay for finishing the Radch books! I love them so much.

[auroracloud]

They're fantastic! And aah, I see you wrote fanfic about them in Yuletide! Now that I've finished the trilogy, I can read the fics...

[thisbluespirit]

Well, you see, I'm basically the bookish Jack Harkness. I'm reading all the books mostly at the same time. Well, not quite, but I'm still in a constant state of book orgy

LOL, that is a great way to put it!

[auroracloud]

Heh, it feels very apt sometimes! And sounds more entertaining than some more obvious ways I could put it. I'm constantly running out of bookmarks, though!

[foreverdawning]

Nnedi Okorafor is one of my favorite authors! I especially was fond of her book Zarah the Windseeker as a kid.

And oh my goodness, if you're reading a Finnish YA book that I've been looking for for years it'll be such a coincidence. Is it about a kid whose grandmother is teaching her Finnish spells? I've been looking for the name of that book for years. I read it as a kid and have been on the hunt for it for awhile.

[auroracloud]

I've only recently started reading her books, but she's fabulous! Zahra the Windseeker is totally on my list of her books to read. I also really enjoyed Akata Witch, should check out the sequel some time!

The book I'm currently reading is a very new book, and a very different one than what you described, so it's not the one you've been looking for. Being Finnish and wanting to keep my own language in shape as well as my English, I read (or at least try to read) a fair amount of Finnish YA, since I enjoy it more often than the adult fiction written over here. I can't immediately think of a book that matches your description, but I could ask around - I have lots of other Finnish SFF geeks among my friends, so somebody's likely to know it. Which language did you read it in? And do you remember any other details about it?

[foreverdawning]

I need to read Akata Witch! I've seen such great reviews for it.

And the language I read it in was English. I remember there might have been a cat(?) and the grandmother warned the protagonist against using strong magic but taught it to her anyway. That's all I got unfortunately.

[ysilme]

But I also read multiple fiction books at the same time, because I'm totally dependent on having the right mood to read a particular book.
I totally get that, I'm the same, with the addition that often when I'm deeply invested in some writing I can't read certain kinds of fiction at the same time. I might spend most of some reading time just trying to choose what to read... although these days, it's mostly fanfic of one kind or another, with not so many printed books at once.
I've started to use the library again a few months ago, but so far, e-books didn't really make it onto my reading piles, as although the online part spans the whole metropolitan region with about 133 libraries, their offers are too mainstream for my usual reading taste. Eveything I'm interested in they either don't have or I've already read it. *g* Audiobooks, though... I'm making my way through a pile of Rebecca Gablés historical novels I never got round to read before, although it's a bit weird to get read most of them by Commander Riker. As in, the German voice actor dubbing Riker is doing them, and the voice is quite distinctive and recognisable. (If I'd had a choice, I'd choose Picard, though. ;o) )
Anyway, enjoy the diversity!

[tinny]

The Radch books are amazing! I loved the first, liked the second, and absolutely adored the third. So very well written, such an amazingly unreliable narrator (how I love those), and scifi that is about people and not space battles. (well, people. yes. they are people.)