#Dorothy and Jack

[cultivating-wildflowers]

2024 Reading - March

By now it is clear that I will not achieve my arbitrary goal of reading 100 books this year, and that's fine. My overall progress so far is what I really care about. I am confronting my TBR, I've already read a good number of nonfics, and for the most part my reading has been enjoyable.

While I do have some large books coming up on my list, I am hoping to set aside a little time in April to get to a couple of anticipated rereads (finally) because I'm starting to crave a change of pace into something more familiar.

Total books: 4  |  New reads: 4   |   2024 TBR completed: 5 (2 DNF) / 9/36 total   |   2024 Reading Goal: 11/100

February | April

potential reading list from March 1st

#1 - Dorothy and Jack: The Transforming Friendship of Dorothy L. Sayers and C. S. Lewis by Gina Dalfonzo - 4/5 stars (audio)

After the whole Thing with The Mutual Admiration Society, I went into this book with no small amount of trepidation.

I was immediately put at ease.

This was a surprisingly cozy little book that accomplished what it set out to do. It wasn't horribly deep, but it was thorough and heartwarming. And I found myself cheering when I discovered that Sayers and I apparently have the same opinions about a certain aspect of Paradise Lost, so that was fun.

It does lose a star for spending what felt like too long on the Charles Williams scandal. I think the writer was trying to make a point but I'm a bit lost on what it was.

Notes: 1) Do not get the audiobook if you are at all put off by poor pronunciation and enunciation. The narrator couldn't even say "Pevensie" correctly. 2) I have to be objective, since I kicked up such a stink with the last Sayers-adjacent nonfic I tried, and say there is a bit of bias to this one, with the writer coming from an Evangelical background. It's not overpowering but I would say it informs Dalfonzo's approach. (Which...is how writing works. Whatever.)

#2 - Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik - 5/5 stars ('24 TBR)

"There are men who are wolves inside, and want to eat up other people to fill their bellies. That it what was in your house with you, all your life. But here you are with your brothers, and you are not eaten up, and there is not a wolf inside you. You have fed each other, and you kept the wolf away. That is all we can do for each other in the world, to keep the wolf away."

I haven't had much luck with Novik in the past. I read Uprooted probably six years ago and remember it struck me as kind of bland and disjointed. When A Deadly Education was released I picked it up, excited by the premise, but didn't make it through the first chapter. I was starting to think Novik's style just wasn't for me.

Then while chatting with Elsabet (@eddis-not-eeddis), she mentioned how much she loves Spinning Silver and urged me to give it a try, so here we are.

Friends.

I did in fact enjoy it quite a lot.

The standout aspect for me is how Novik writes relationships. Any kind of relationship. Even the little ones that barely get a paragraph's mention. And then we get to see how those relationships build bonds, build links, make their own kind of magic, and I'm sold. This is how you flesh out characters. And this is how you make me care about them and connect with them.

Novik still has a very distinct style that sometimes trips me up, but it works.

(side note: I always forget Novik helped found AO3, and every time I'm reminded I go "oh yeah! good for her!)

More like this: "The Bear and the Nightingale" by Katherine Arden; "Anya and the Dragon" by Sofiya Pasternack (middle grade but the same sort of vibes); "Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow" by Jessica Day George.

#3 - A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan - 4/5 stars ('24 TBR, audio)

Fantastically written, well-paced, with an engaging narrative and a solid cast of characters. However, it works well as a stand-alone and I’m not sure whether or not I’ll continue the series. There was something in it that was lacking for me personally. I would definitely recommend it, though!

More like this: the Emily Wilde series; the Frontier Magic trilogy by Patricia C. Wrede.

#4 - South With the Sun: Roald Amundsen, His Polar Explorations, and the Quest for Discovery by Lynne Cox - 3/5 stars ('24 TBR)

If you’re looking for a book that's strictly about Roald Amundsen, don't start here. This book is half a general history of 19th century polar exploration leading up to Roald Amundsen; and half a recounting of some of Lynne Cox’s swimming accomplishments, which were largely inspired by Amundsen's work and travels.

I also wouldn't recommend this as a starting-off point for people who aren't familiar with the details of Lynne's story, since she ties so much of that into Amundsen's story.

Overall, it was a decent enough read. Lynne's passion and enthusiasm are plain all throughout the story, but her writing voice is lacking and parts of the book--especially those focusing on Amundsen's various expeditions--were clumsily written and difficult to follow. Amundsen finally crossing the North Pole received a grand total of one paragraph and was so unclear that I had to read it twice and then google the details of the endeavor to understand the significance of the dates listed. The last hundred pages are a proper muddle.

DNF

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern ('24 TBR) - Another book that was strongly recommended by a tumblr mutual! I wanted to like this one, and not just for Jules's sake. I gave it about 15% but it wasn’t clicking and I kept getting lost. Some reviews say the first part is rough, so maybe I’ll give this another try later. Don’t hate me, Jules 😅.

A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by C.A. Fletcher ('24 TBR) - I will not apologize for not finishing this one. I'm straight-up ticked off.

The story started out strong (despite me being pathetic and having to really power through the stressful parts). It set a good pace AND the story was straight-forward and compelling. The first red flag was the writing style because my. stars. Did we have to get ominous, melodramatic, foreshadow-y asides practically every single chapter? Could be my fresh-from-DNFing self talking, but the whole voice came off as pretentious trying for profound. [Edit from after browsing 1- and 2-star reviews: it's not just me.]

I decided to put up with it because I honestly did want to know how the story would end. But it just dragged on and on with no direction. Stuff just...happened. And I got bored.

So I looked up reviews. And found spoilers. And rage-skimmed the last few chapters.

Friends. If you can get to the half-way mark in the story you're telling without even a hint of setting up for a stunt like that ending, you're doing it wrong.

Don't read this book. It's dumb.

Currently Reading:

Recorder by Cathy McCrumb (reread)

[devonsawas]

RETURN TO OZ | 1985 ↳ Directed by Walter Murch

[missfisherandjack]

Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries (2012-2015) ↳ 2x13 Murder Under The Mistletoe

[demonvicstudios]

HI GUYS thought you all might like the little character arts I made for an Oz themed one-shot I prepared for my birthday :)

[jackie-gremlin-ghost]

When the Sunshine Character™️ snaps… you know you messed up.

[gameraboy2]

Lobby card for The Wizard of Oz (1939)

[didanagy]

THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)

dir. victor fleming

[atomic-chronoscaph]

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

[emiko-matsui]

sometimes a family isn't a mom, dad, and kid. sometimes it's a lady detective, a deceivingly badass catholic, a butler named mr. butler, two inseparable commie taxi drivers, a ruggedly handsome divorcee, a himbo, a lesbian doctor, a 14 year old kleptomaniac, and aunt prudence

[furiouskettle]

My friend recommended me the wizard of oz anime. "Oh, it's cute! Idk if im gonna watch the whole thing though" I said, before promptly spending the next two weeks watching the entire thing and liveblogging it to them

[djkerr]

Press photos for The Gilded Age Season 3 ep 1

(1 of 4)

[ladylunamis]

Ozma of Oz :D

…aka Dorothy’s girlfriend! I think? I have no idea. I haven’t read the books so I dunno who Ozma is. All my knowledge comes from being traumatized by Return to Oz as a child and thinking she was so pretty 💀

[tummyisyummy]

Art dump

I’m in the process of making pfps of the captains rn I would’ve finished yesterday but I had to sleep early

[missfisherandjack]

Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries (2012-2015) ↳ 2x03 Dead Man’s Chest

[incorrectssr]

Thinking about how Peggy never asks for Dottie’s real name or ever seeks out any identifying details about her this evening. It’s something that has always puzzled me about the interrogation scene. Considering that they’re looking at Dottie as a permanent fixture in their prison system, it seems peculiar that there is little to no interest in using her to uncover more about what they found of the Red Room in Belarus (knowing, based on reliable similarities, that Dottie comes from the same or at least a very similar background) and the type of person they need to look out for (and also… you lived next to this woman for weeks, if not months Peg).

But then I think of how Peggy approaches Dottie. “Fear is the one chip that little girls who grow up handcuffed to their beds learn to trade on. And I, for one, am not afraid of you.” And she uncuffs her. In full respect to Peggy, Dottie doesn’t try anything and, based on the conversations had on the other side of the mirror, they’re at it for a long time.

This idea of fear in mind, I wonder then if Peggy doesn’t inquire about anything personal about Dottie because she knows that there is very little that’s real about Dottie. Even just in her time in New York, she has been Ida Emke and Dottie’s whole monologue about ‘girls like you’ and how ‘now I can be anybody I want’ shows how transient the idea of identity is to Dottie and it’s a detail that Peggy has not missed. It’s even possible that Dottie doesn’t know who Dottie is and such a possible line of questioning could bring her even further from her goal (neutralising Soviet threats on US soil) than where she began. It’s not like Dottie really ought to be going anywhere anytime soon, and thus it is a line of inquiry that can be tabled for later.

And that is the difference between how Peggy and Jack approach her. Peggy outlines exactly what she wants from Dottie without flinching, knowing that there is more beneath the surface and respecting that that is a rough topic that is not conducive to her objective or her subject’s mental state. The subject is more likely to get cagey and evasive if asked about personal matters, so she asks about something solid, something she knows Dottie knows and something that opens a line of more personal communication wherein Peggy is in charge and control.

Jack, on the other hand, doesn’t know what he’s asking Dottie. He’s mimicking what he’s seen Peggy do but he doesn’t know why he’s doing it and that’s why Dottie can see right through him. He’s the stick and Dottie has been raised knowing only the stick.

Goodness I love this show.

[yellowbrickramble]

The top scene is, naturally, supposed to mirror the Scarecrow's imagined fate of Dorothy and Toto on the previous page. Fans of the books may recognize the American friends from the later stories despite my creative reinterpretations.

From left to right: Cap'n Bill, Button-Bright, Trot, Billina the chicken, Toto & Dorothy of course, Eureka the kitten, Zeb Hugson, and the Shaggy Man.

Button-Bright's one of the more interesting characters in the Baum's Oz despite being a non-magical kid from Philadelphia. I gave him the outfit he wears in the later books rather than his iconic sailor suit from Road to Oz.

Baum's first published book was a nonfiction book on raising Hamburg chickens, so I thought it'd be fun to model Billina on a Hamburg as an homage.

I can't very well make pre-fairyland Eureka pink, but I gave her pink attributes.

I gave the Shaggy Man a fur coat here because it conveys shagginess really well. If I ever do a comic with him in it, I may opt for something else, but it works for a single panel fantasy scene.

If you like my comics, please check out my Patreon! (link in bio) Every little bit helps!