Book Meme!

I was tagged by Fantasy Writer Guy for this, and I completely forgot to do it! But I do love books, oh yes, so here goes.

Number of books owned:

According to LibraryThing, about 400. Except I haven't updated that in awhile, and that's not counting the three bookshelves still at my parents' house. So I'll say 600 and we'll call it an estimate.

Most recently read:

The Ghost Orchid, Carol Goodman. I randomly picked up one of her other books, The Lake of Dead Languages, a couple of years ago because she was on the local author shelf when I was home for Christmas and also, wow, good title. And now she is one of my favorite authors, if you're into reading about... writers, ghosts, gothic stuff. Which I am. Extra special bonus is that all her books are set where I grew up. There aren't enough Albany shout-outs in literature!

Most recently purchased:

It would be Red Seas Under Red Skies, by Scott Lynch, but it was free, so I'm not sure it counts. Anyway, it was most recently ordered, and I am still not through it because I've had a rather stressful last few weeks at work and haven't had enough time to read. Sigh.

Five most meaningful books read:

Oooh, tough question. These are in no particular order.

1. The Awakening, Kate Chopin.

My feminist sentiments can be traced back to right here.

2. A Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin.

Totally blew my mind in that it was unlike any other fantasy I'd read. Mainly because of what happens at the end and the huge "I can't believe he did that! Did he just do that?" moment. I felt like nothing was sacred or safe anymore.

3. Jitterbug Perfume, Tom Robbins.

Similar to #1, my atheist sentiments can be traced back here.

4. Beloved, Toni Morrison.

This was the first time I read a book and hated it, then went back and read it again, only to have it knock me over with how good it was. I think it was also the first time I appreciated a book as art. Particularly the mix of poetry and prose. It was one of those "I bow before the master" moments. This book is that good.

5. The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien.

The first fantasy book I ever read. Read to me by my dad when I was eight or so. Read over and over as my absolute favorite comfort reading.

"He Was the First Man Among Us"

Robert Jordan, mega-bestselling author of the Wheel of Time series, has passed away at age 58.

Wow. I feel guilty about all those jokes I made about how the Wheel of Time never ends. Jordan began the series in 1990, and was working on what was supposed to be the twelfth and final volume when he died yesterday. I was aware that he'd been diagnosed with a blood disease, but I always liked to think he'd manage to finish it.

I know that, according to his blog (the server is, understandably, experiencing difficulties due to traffic, so it might take a couple of tries), he had made audio tapes and outlines. Last weekend he told his family members the ending. So it seems as if the book will be written after all... by someone. But he will never get the chance to finish his life's work.

I am actually quite upset about this. Sure, I'd criticized the books in recent years, but so have lots of people. But that doesn't change the fact that his books were my introduction to fantasy. I can't really think of my high school reading years without remembering the Wheel of Time. My dad and I would compete to be the first one to buy the new book when it came out. I think we've been reading since about 1994. That's thirteen years.

I can't help thinking that the worst part about it is him not getting to finish what had become the definitive work of his career (and arguably the definitive high fantasy work of the 1990's). Frankly, it terrifies me on a personal level, more than I expected. I'm always putting off writing, pushing it back. This isn't the time to go for the novel, I'm too busy working to write, I've still got plenty of time. Time, time, time.

But it's all bullshit, isn't it? I know many of Robert Jordan's millions of readers will spend this evening flipping through one of his books, in memoriam. It's a worthy thing to do. But not for me.

I will be writing.

Memento mori...

The Harry Potter Drinking Game

Mike came up with it last weekend whilst we were watching Chamber of Secrets. It is simple and fun. And it has only one rule.

Take a drink whenever Ron makes this face.

Media of My Weekend

Books of my Weekend (procured as a present to myself at Barnes & Noble yesterday on the way home from the West Bank):

Sorcery and Cecilia, or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot, by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer

The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova

Kushiel's Chosen, by Jacqueline Carey

The Ghost Orchid, by Carol Goodman

Netflix of my Weekend:

Star Trek: Enterprise Season S Disc 5

Games of my Weekend:

The Longest Journey

O-Bliv: Shivering Isles (of course)

For Those Too Cool To Be Seen Reading Harry Potter...

Harry Potter book disguises. Um, bad language warning. My favorite part is the "reviews" on the back covers. "The most thoroughly disenchanting novel of our time. Utterly mature and high-brow... My kids hate this book." - Chicago Tribune. The blurbs are also great. "They stole his life. He stole their tank." And, "A work of very serious literature."

Part of me warred against another part of me in posting this link. At least one of these is seriously offensive in a way I don't think is funny. But the rest of them are funny. So I am just going to pretend I didn't see the bottom one, because I choose not to start off my day on a negative ranting note.

In another funny aside, way to go, spammers. Did you really think I was going to open an e-mail from someone called Luxor Crackspy?

A Really Amazing Article About Race in SF/F

http://www.infinitematrix.net/faq/essays/noles.html

But I remember Dad saying, how come you never see anybody like that in the stories you like? And I remember answering, maybe they didn't have black people back then. He said there's always been black people. I said but black people can't be wizards and space people and they can't fight evil, so they can't be in the story. When he didn't say anything back I turned around. He was in full recline mode in his chair and he was very still, looking at me. He didn't say anything else.

A thought-provoking and, at times, sad read. Someone posted the link at Iris Network, and I was very struck by it.

The Potter

I pulled an all-nighter to finish Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Saturday night, and I still a bit hungover from it. I won't say anything here to spoil the book for those who haven't read it. For those who wanted a more tragic, more avant garde kind of ending, I will say that I think it's been obvious all along from the story J.K. Rowling was writing that it was going to end the way it did. There were intriguing snippets about what was going on elsewhere (where Harry wasn't) that I would have loved to know more about. If I felt the book sort of wandered in the middle, this was a reflection of Harry's being without the guidance of a wise adult and having to make the important decisions for himself. I also thought the epilogue was inadequate in that I wanted to know more about what the characters did with their lives after Hogwarts.

But really, it's hard to come up with decisive thoughts about the book. Because how it ended doesn't matter to me half as much as the fact that it is over. It feels, appropriately, like the mixed feelings you get at a graduation. We won't be waiting for Potter again.

Potterday! The Final Countdown

Some final thoughts:

* I don't think Harry is going to die.
* I think all of the Trio are going to make it.
* I would love for Neville to be the one to kill Bellatrix.
* Draco Malfoy seems like he might get redeemed, but I do not expect him to live.
* Snape isn't evil, because Dumbledore had a good reason for trusting him that he didn't tell anyone.
* But, like Malfoy, I wouldn't put money on him making it out of this mess.
* I think Dumbledore is really dead, but they may be able to communicate with him somehow, like through his portrait in the office.
* R.A.B. is Regulus Black. He is virtually the only R-B combo we've heard about. And he's had at least three throwaway references. J.K. doesn't make throwaway references. See Mrs. Figg way back in Book 1 who shows up in Book 5.
* The locket was at 12 Grimmauld Place. I bet it's one of the things Mundungus Fletcher stole when he looted the house, and Harry got mad at him for selling his stuff. Another throwaway plot point from Book 6 that was never followed up with anything. It could be a red herring, but I'm betting it's another "hey, this rat is missing a toe."
* Since it takes two people to get to the island where the locket was, I bet it was Kreacher who went with Regulus. He is sworn to the Black family and has to do what they say. I think this because Rowling apparently told the director of Movie 5 that he'd be sorry later if he cut Kreacher, so his scenes were left in. Therefore there is something he has to do in Book 7.
* There is supposedly a character who manages to do magic late in life in dire circumstances. I'm going out on a limb and saying I think it's Petunia Dursley.
* At least one Weasley will probably die.
* I hate to say it, but things aren't looking good for Hagrid either. It's one of the deaths that would have major emotional impact for Harry.
* Wormtail will turn on Voldemort.
* I think Ginny will live, because of love being a major theme.

Let's see if I'm totally off. I'm probably going to be signing off the internet soon, because I DON'T WANT TO KNOW! Happy Potterday!

Real Platform 9 3/4

Because I saw it on Wikipedia and thought it was cute.

Sweetie vs. Potter Update:
In a race against time, Mike is now 57 pages into Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Well, not really a race against time when you consider that he most likely won't be getting his hands on Book 7 until Sunday night... maybe Sunday morning. Because I get it first.

I have to work on Saturday, the day the book is delivered, so it really comes down to whether I pull an all-nighter Saturday night to finish it. My informal survey of this week's mail (seriously-- DOES MAIL GET DELIVERED AFTER 8:00 PM IN ANY OTHER CITY IN THE UNITED STATES, I ASK YOU!) does not make me optimistic about the book being delivered before I have to go to work.

The Previews

I generally try to arrive at movies slightly late (not difficult for me, as I tend to arrive everywhere slightly late), so as to miss the previews. But we had to get to the 7:00 showing of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix quite early, to wrestle the parents and kiddies for our seats. (I will say I was quite impressed with the group of kids sitting behind us. Thought it was going to be a nightmare, but I hardly heard a peep out of them once the movie started. Flashbacks to my camp counselor days when I was forced to chaperone my kids into some of the. worst. movies. ever.) So I had to watch the previews, and there turned out to be some interesting stuff there.

The Golden Compass was looking good (see trailer), with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. Everyone British (or British sounding)-- check. Special effects not showing signs of crappiness-- check. I am worried, though, that they'll tone down the parts about "the Church." For me, the fact that the Church ends up having it all wrong is the most interesting part of the books. It's not so much an issue in the first book, but if they make movies of the second and third books (in particular the third), I can see it as being something they will water down to appease the Christian right. And I wouldn't be happy with that. Then again, Philip Pullman has apparently said he's happy with the movie. I want to see it, but I am feeling wary about its potential sequels.

I don't know why Christians get so uptight about stuff like this. It's a parallel fantasy universe, it's not even your Church. It's about people-- in particular, children-- thinking for themselves. It's just this "omigod something called a church is portrayed as bad quick ban the books!!!" attitude that scares me about our country. But there it is.

Also saw the trailer for Becoming Jane, which, as an English major, I will probably have to see too. But that does not mean I have to approve of it. Jane Austen would never sneak off and do improper things in the woods. She just wouldn't.

I Will Not Look at Harry Potter Spoilers

I will not look at Harry Potter spoilers.
I will not look at Harry Potter spoilers.
I will not look at Harry Potter spoilers.
I will not look at Harry Potter spoilers.
I will not look at Harry Potter spoilers.
I will not look at Harry Potter spoilers.
I will not look at Harry Potter spoilers.
I will not look at Harry Potter spoilers.
I will not look at Harry Potter spoilers.
I will not look at Harry Potter spoilers.
I will not look at Harry Potter spoilers.

K. I think I have that under control.

Harry Potter Progress

My esteemed Sweetie is up to Goblet of Fire. He's about 1/3 of the way through.

It appears I underestimated him. Perhaps there will be time for us to discuss our Book 7 theories for, like, one day before it arrives.

Is That a Lightsaber or a Hydrospanner?

Or a post about Mara Jade! By yours truly! Imagine that!

You expect Mara to have a romance with Karrde, her boss, but she doesn't. You expect her to have a romance with Luke, and she doesn't. She's not there for anyone else, but is instead portrayed as a character in her own right, with an emotional arc that has nothing to do with a man. It certainly defied my expectations when I was twelve.

Read the rest here...


(I'm referring, btw, to the nerdiest IM conversation ever, in which my brother and I argued about whether that's a lightsaber or a hydrospanner clipped to Mara's belt, above, in my header. And then felt like huge geeks because we knew what a hydrospanner was. WHICH REMINDS ME. I swear to god, the other week we realized they have hydrospanners on Star Trek too! Or something that also performs a screwdriver-like function that sounds like the characters are saying hydrospanner. And now I'm going to have to go look that up, and I feel like an even bigger loser. THANKS, BLOG.)

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

We thought this was one of the best Harry Potter movies yet. Even I was able to separate myself from the usual voice in my head that says, "They strayed from the book! They strayed from the book!" throughout the whole movie. I liked the dark coloring, the pacing, the adult feel of the movie. Yes, there were things that could have done with more exposition, and there were parts from the book I would have liked to see in the movie... but, as Kingsley Shacklebolt said, you can't deny it had style.

After the scene at the Ministry, I felt rather threatened. I think that scene (gasp! I can hardly type it!) came off better than in the book. When the Order burst onto the scene, it really hit home for me that Harry and his friends had done well in the fight, but these were the big boys. It was impressive, and I think it was necessary. There really hasn't been a scene yet in the franchise showing what full-blown wizards can do. It was a great scene.

Curse You, Potter!

I said I was pretending Harry Potter didn't exist, so as not to spend a week up all night frothing at the mouth and obsessing about the book, like last time a new one came out. But, thanks to Sweetie, that plan is going out the window.

Yes, I came home last night to find my significant other reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

For the first time.

"Wait-- are you reading Harry Potter?"

"Oh-- yes."

"You manage to successfully avoid Harry Potter for the past ten years, and you're starting it now?"

Oy. I like to think I could have managed to forget about Harry Potter till at least next week. But not while it's being flaunted right next to me. That's just not fair! He finished it earlier this afternoon. Now he's gone out for groceries, having looked up the hours of our local bookstore before he left. I strongly suspect he will come home toting the second Potter book (the only one I don't already own).

Stephen King has a great column about the end of the Harry Potter books. It's not just the end of the series, it's the end of a shared cultural experience. When since Star Wars have we waited in line at openings? I wonder if I will be sad.

I refuse to ponder the significance of the final Harry Potter right now, because I'm still gamely forging ahead with Not Thinking About Harry Potter.

Although the game might... be up.

Yay Books!

Although I suck at winning stuff in the real world, I'm quite good at it in the blog world! I'm getting a free copy of Tobias Buckell's Ragamuffin, through his blog.

I love that he's writing SF with a much-needed dose of diversity. Ragamuffin actually has a female protagonist of color. I'm not sure I've even seen one of those in space opera. And personally, any books that have things like zeppelins, parrots, and a guy with a hook on the front covers are all right with me (Crystal Rain, the first book in the series, on right). Not that authors usually have much say in their cover art, but I really like those parrots.

Lest You Say Waitstaff Are Burnouts

I suspect many people took the first part of this week as a long weekend, since they have the day off tomorrow for the 4th of July anyway, so the restaurant was less than busy yesterday at lunch. Therefore everyone was reading a book.

I was impressed by the variety of books being read. One server was reading Little Children, by Tom Perrotta. Someone else was reading a script for a play she was in. Another was reading Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future. That's, ya know, some pretty good reading material.

Where was I in this equation, you ask? I was bringing up the rear with InStyle Magazine.

Speaking of books, there are three I need to have this summer: Ragamuffin by Tobias Buckell, Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch, and the new Harry Potter. The only one out thus far is Ragamuffin (it's a sort-of sequel to Crystal Rain, which was one of my favorite books from last year), which I'm not hugely desperate about buying this second because Tobias Buckell has 1/3 of it on his website as a sampler, and I haven't finished reading those chapters yet. Don't get me wrong, I'm going to buy the book. I certainly wouldn't want to discourage authors from putting up free samples, because I loooove free samples. Also, from what I've checked out so far, the book looks great. (If you want to get in on the free sample action, read the first 1/3 of Ragamuffin here.) But that's three books in hardcover and there's that whole me having zero dollars thing.

I just remembered I have that free book coupon from SFBC though. Hmmm... I must choose, but choose wisely.

I Respond to the Haters

Well, not really, because there aren't a lot of haters in this discussion, just a couple of people who are offended by the thought that they might be (however unconsciously) perpetuating gender stereotypes. I have made posts further down in the threads, which people might have missed, in clarification of the views expressed in my original post. A roundup here:

Re: me being a fangirl whining about how people don't like my favorite character,

I'll admit that Brienne is not the most charismatic character. I totally respect people's rights not to like her. But it is just frustrating that on the whole, when you look at which characters seem to draw the most vitriolic responses from the fan community, those characters are female. Dany, Catelyn, and Sansa also get their fair share of the hate. (And for that matter, Cersei, who gets the most hate, with perhaps the greatest reason, but also with the most pathos… if she'd been born a man, what a different situation her life would be.) What is up, for instance, with people who can't seem to get their heads around Danaerys simply being queen of Westeros, without having to "share" with Jon (the most popular theory) or Tyrion or another male character? Now, I'm not necessarily saying she'll be queen in Westeros, as I think the situation is more complicated than that, and GRRM is not as black and white as that, and Dany's own motives for going there are questionable and it's clear she hasn't put a lot of thought into them. It's just an example.

I believe GRRM has a good variety of interesting female characters, yet they seem to polarize the fan community the most. Why can't we read more into this? What's wrong with having a discussion about how maybe– just maybe– it's because it's not customary for female characters in fantasy to play so many different roles? Look at The Wheel of Time, where the female characters are largely the same personality with different names and hair. The women in ASOIAF are differentiable, and for whatever reason that polarizes people in a way that just does not seem to happen to the same level with the male characters.

Your comments about Brienne? I could definitely have a conversation about them, because they have to do with the text. And you have a good argument. What I resist is the idea that, in order to talk about the character in many threads, you usually have to sift through umpteen snarky comments about how she's big and ugly. I think there is something about her ugliness combined with her heroism (or would-be heroism, whichever you prefer) that makes many readers distinctly uncomfortable.

I'm much more interested in that than in "fangirling" her.

And re: me 'bashing' that particular forum,

And, to everyone more generally, my Brienne post was planned to be the first in a series. Because, as I mentioned above, I don't think it's just Brienne. I think it's Catelyn, Sansa, Dany, etc. Oh, I'm not done! There's a trend of female characters being either put on a pedestal or demonized. I think this is a larger issue in society in general than a few idiots at one board, and I think it's indicative of gender stereotypes that are deeply ingrained in us. Woman characters across many different types of media are typically responded to by being placed on a romantic pedestal or seen as evil. In hindsight, I think this article might have been poorly written, because I've really brought up two issues at once. People are focusing on the part about the forum, which I think is somewhat distracting from the other point I made about Brienne. Admittedly, this is my fault for putting the two issues into one post. When I wrote it, I wasn't sure how much intro the topic of Brienne needed.

When I talk about gender stereotypes being deeply ingrained, I'm going to give a personal example. When my posts come under scrutiny, there is a part of me that squirms uncomfortably and wants to placate people. Why is that? I certainly stand by my opinion. I believe it's because as women we're raised with more of an emphasis on pleasing people, on compromise, on being communicators and peacemakers. We're trained that we're supposed to interact more passively with the world around us. Why is it that, even though I think I'm right, a small part of me feels badly about being offended by stuff I saw in a forum? Like, "Oh, sorry guys, I'm going to shuffle off now, it must be my fault that I'm offended, never mind…"

I am a feminist, with majors in Philosophy and English and a minor in Gender Studies. And I'm putting out there that I fight against feeling this way even though I realize I, as a woman, am conditioned by society to feel this way. If I struggle against feeling like the mean girl who ruined people's fun, imagine all the women who aren't aware of what's going on and how it feels to them. "Oh, I guess every other woman ignores rape jokes by idiot 13-year-olds because it comes with liking fantasy novels. There must be something wrong with me because I'm offended. It's my fault for reading 'boy' books."

OK, so some of us might not want heavier forum moderation. But me? I don't want any woman reader to feel the way I just described. As I said, larger issues at play here than one forum.

By the way, my favorite character in ASOIAF is in fact Jaime Lannister. Should I put that in bold? People seem to keep assuming something I never actually said. Brienne's probably in the top 5, but still.

Harry Potter Fug

GFY fugged the Harry Potter kids yesterday. And it is truly hilarious. And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming of not talking about Harry Potter. Because until I pre-ordered it the other day, I totally forgot that the new Harry Potter book was coming out in less than one month. I tricked myself into forgetting, see. By a strict policy of continuing to play video games and read other series. The plan is it will sort of just sneak up on me... and oops, what's this? Guaranteed release day delivery from Amazon! Is that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on my doorstep?

Or at least that is the plan. So. Back to that.

What Harry Potter kids? What movie? What book?

When Fanboys Attack: ASOIAF Version

I posted on Hathor Legacy today about the rampant Brienne hatred among George R.R. Martin's fans.

There is a disconnect between the way male characters described by Martin as ugly (and there are lots) are regarded by fans, and how Brienne is regarded. To illustrate how ridiculous the bias is, consider the example of the POV character Tyrion.

Tyrion is a vastly popular character. He is also a dwarf, with a giant mass of scar tissue where his nose used to be. In a recent book, he was placed in an arranged marriage to a 13-year-old girl who wouldn't consummate the marriage because she was terrified of how ugly he was. I have actually seen many posters say, "OMG I hate Sansa! What a ___. How could she do that to Tyrion he's all kinds of awesome, I hope she gets raped by a ____." And then they'll be like, "I think Martin should hook Tyrion up with (insert beautiful female character) or (insert beautiful female character)." Yet if someone mentions Brienne hooking up with someone, anyone, there's an outcry of fan eeeeew that derails entire threads.

Yeah. Because every beautiful woman wants to have sex with a noseless dwarf just because it's your favorite character. But an unattractive woman doesn't deserve love.

The rest is here.