#its also got me reading a chernobyl prayer by svetlana alexievich

[mediocrefruitlover]

I'm watching chernobyl (have one episode left) and it's sooooooo good. One of the best things I've seen. like there's not a single moment of it where I'm bored or uninterested. And the acting!!! Everyone is phenomenal in it. Obsessed with legasov and Scherbina- their relationship is so important to me. Did not expect to see Izzy Hands but it was a lovely surprise despite fomin brukhaynov being a dick.

[fontainebleau22]

I was tagged by the inestimable @villa-kulla to post my 2022 reading list: it’s taken me an age to respond, but here it is.

A lot of what I read is fairly random, tending to be whatever I can find in the local library, which is better for non-fiction than fiction - so far this year I’ve read Kate Bolick’s Spinster and Caroline Elton’s Also Human: the inner lives of doctors. But these are the books that are on my list to make an effort to read this year.

Neil Clarke, The Best Science Fiction of the Year vol. 6

My partner gives me the latest edition of this anthology every year for Christmas so I can keep current with what’s new - it used to be Best SF of the Year edited by Gardner Dozois, but since Dozois died Clarke has taken over his mantle to good effect. But this year it’s been delayed through publishing holdups, so I’m still waiting for it to arrive.

Svetlana Alexievich, Chernobyl Prayer

I started this last year and stopped halfway, not because it’s not good - it’s brilliant - but it’s not an easy read. It’s a collection of oral testimonies from those caught up in the Chernobyl disaster and is incredibly haunting; I’d like to finish it properly.

Katsuhiro Otomo, Akira

I decided I was late to the party on this one, so I bought the first two volumes and have started in on them. It’s not quite the experience I was expecting, and I don’t know if I’ll get through the whole thing, but I want to round out my graphic novel reading.

Rhian Lewis, The Cryptocurrency Revolution: finance in the age of Bitcoin

Am I turning into a crypto fan? Emphatically no! This is on my list because it was written by my sister in 2014, and embarrassingly I’ve never got round to actually reading it to see what it says. To be fair I don’t think she’s ever read anything I’ve published either, but I think I should show willing.

Dan Ozzi, Sellout

I’d like to get hold of this because the musical era itself passed me by, though I don’t have high hopes of its intrinsic literary quality.

And a recommendation from my partner, Jenny Erpenbeck’s Visitation, which everyone says is excellent, though I’m not wholly sure if I’ll have the will to get to it.

Tagging @poemsingreenink, @inkformyblood, @andrea-lyn, @findswoman, @kinetic-elaboration and @hanajimasama!

[manuscripts-dontburn]

READATHONS: 

Eyreathon (2 books)

Medievalthon (7 books)

Down Among the Sticks and Bones

Author: Seanan McGuire

First published: 2017

Pages: 187

Rating: ★★★★★

How long did it take: 1 day

Given that I was rather underwhelmed by the first book I did not expect any great shakes from its sequel. But I am pleasantly surprised and must say that this one, from the very start to the finish, was just great. I loved the character descriptions and development, and while the first book seemed unremarkable and choppy when it came to writing, here, in a more fantastical setting, the author uses a language so beautiful I could only be amazed.

Wonderstruck

Author: Brian Selznick

First published: 2011

Pages: 640

Rating: ★★★★☆

How long did it take: 1 day

Wonderstruck is a wonderful middle-grade book that can be enjoyed by readers of any age. The format combining very cleverly (beautiful) illustrations with written word add a certain unique quality to a story which is in itself, frankly, perhaps a bit too straightforward and moves forward steadily and with Ben overcoming every obstacle very quickly and conveniently. At the same time if you are looking for a "quiet" book which will warm your icy heart, you cannot really go wrong with this one.

Hamnet

Author: Maggie O'Farrell

First published: 2020

Pages: 384

Rating: ★★★★★

How long did it take: 6 days

Open this book and you open a window through which you will see a moment from a distant past. A family, tightly-knit yet also broken, and how its people came together, lived together, lost something precious and grieved together, yet each on their own. This book is a painting, a portrait of a short span of time, which pulls you within it and fills in all your senses. You see, you hear, you smell, you taste, you touch. You are a part of that moment. You are overwhelmed by the beauty of nature and the depth of feelings. You cry. You hope. You heal. The words dance on the pages. This book, in all its profound sadness, is stunningly beautiful. 

Cybele's Secret

Author: Juliet Marillier

First published: 2011

Pages: 424

Rating: ★★★★☆

How long did it take: 5 days

It was lovely to revisit the world Juliet Marillier has created for Wildwood Dancing. The magic is still there, though it is flavoured with a different setting and vastly different kind of plot. Cybele´s Secret has a very slow first half, which I enjoyed for the most part but I can imagine many others getting restless reading it. The adventure bit was fabulously paced, even if it made me a little dizzy. The ending need not have been that long. Still, this was a very pleasant read.

Lilac Girls

Author: Marthy Hall Kelly

First published: 2016

Pages: 502

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

How long did it take: 4 days

At first, I was rather bored. The book felt exactly like many other (interestingly always American written) run-of-the-mill WW2 novels which are so popular. It felt exactly like the underwhelming Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, it was written in a language as unimpressive as the Bronze Horseman by Paulina Simmons. Then things got more interesting with the introduction of Herta and for a while, I was hoping that getting the story from the point of view of an actual Nazi in opposed to just her victims would turn the whole thing around. Unfortunately, the last part of the book made the whole story just fall apart and there was no redemption to it. The story was told but never "shown". The WHOLE plotline involving Caroline was painfully uninteresting and had she only been introduced as a side character in the final chapters, it would have completely sufficed. What could have been in-depth and heart-wrenching journey into the Ravensbrück hell and the way it functioned was never explored. There is no time given to tell us how the characters learned to live there, how they felt, what their experience was beyond the basic physical realities. Then there were little things I resented. From the use of the extremely formal and detached word "matka" for a beloved mother (Slavic languages have a whole variety of loving addresses for our Mamas) to the thickly-layered sentiment of American culture being everything Eastern Europe craved for (Why would Kassia´s favourite singer be Eddie Fisher? Why would her mother have Gone with the Wind on her night table? Yes, everything American felt exotic and as such was desired, but Polish - and other European - culture is so rich that these mentions felt forced and oh, so very unwanted). This is an example of a good intention of the author to present a case not many people are aware of (and that I definitely count as the biggest positive of the book), but unfortunately, her writing abilities failed to do the topic justice.

Anne of Green Gables: A Graphic Novel

Author: Mariah Marsden and  Brenna Thummler

First published: 2017

Pages: 232

Rating: ★★★★☆

How long did it take: 1 day

The graphic novel reminded me perfectly why I loved the character of Anne so much. The illustrations do full justice to the poetry of nature that L.M. Montgomery captured in the original novel as well. I am not sure how well some of the relationships would translate on the page if I have not already read the book itself though.

The Dream Thieves

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

First published: 2013

Pages: 493

Rating: ★★★★☆

How long did it take: 9 days

At times I had no idea what was going on, but this was entertaining

Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster

Author: Adam Higginbotham

First published: 2019

Pages: 560

Rating: ★★★★★

How long did it take: 4 days

Excellent. Tip: Read alongside The Prayer for Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich to reach the most nightmarish reading experience.

Blue Lily, Lily Blue

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

First published: 2014

Pages: 391

Rating: ★★★★☆

How long did it take: 4 days

This is just such a cool adventure to be on! And that cliffhanger was really unexpected!

Holy Rus': The Rebirth of Orthodoxy in the New Russia

Author: John P. Burgess

First published: 2017

Pages: 280

Rating: ★★★☆☆

How long did it take: 19 days

An interesting look at the current Russian Orthodox life by a Protestant American. On one hand, his Protestantism gives him an unemotional and critical advantage. On the other hand, his Protestantism prevents him to actually experience the orthodox faith and therefore we cannot take his words as anything than that - his own opinion.

Kristin Lavransdatter: The Cross

Author: Sigrid Undset

First published: 1922

Pages: 396

Rating: ★★★★★

How long did it take: 9 days

What a glorious study of human characters this book is! Also: I cried.

Galatea

Author: Madeline Miller

First published: 2013

Pages: 37

Rating: ★★★★★

How long did it take: 1 day

Nobody writes mythology that feels so realistic as Madeline Miller does. And few authors write short stories which are as powerful as a full-fledge novel.

The Raven King

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

First published: 2016

Pages: 439

Rating: ★★★★★

How long did it take: 7 days

Do you also like it when there is a big, unexpected reveal in a book? How about 30-40 of them? Yeah, this whole thing was a wild ride! Beautifully written, super imaginative and completely unpredictable.

The Palace of Illusions

Author: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

First published: 2008

Pages: 360

Rating: ★★★☆☆

How long did it take: 12 days

If nothing else, I am grateful that this book has given me some knowledge and explanation to the epic Mahabharata (which I am not brave enough to read just yet). Unfortunately, this book is more of a telling than a re-telling. The happenings are described only from afar for the most part, some of the most emotional moments are only related in passing. And finally, the main character of Panchaali is without development. She is the same from the first page to the last, which is rather inconceivable given the traumatic events she has to go through. And so I am a bit torn about how to rate this book. The story is stunning, but not the product of the author. I suppose somewhere in the middle of all the possible rating scales will have to be enough.