Not quite a book review

My friend Jeanne has a blog that I’d call a book blog. While she dabbles in other topics, she mostly focuses on books and poetry. Even if I don’t share her love of poetry, I am an avid reader and always enjoy her reviews. She’s been generous with me, sending books she thinks I might like, or in the case of one author, a copy of a book she knew I was looking forward to reading once it was published.

She made a comment a week or so ago on her blog (I think? Or maybe it was on Facebook.) about how she likes to know what others think of the books she’s read and recommended. So I thought it was past time to share my take on some she’s sent me.

Gnomon by Nick Harkaway. This is the book I mentioned earlier—I have read his other books (Gone Away World, Angelmaker, Tigerman) and loved them all. They’re well-written, I loved the story arcs and the characters, and could not wait until Gnomon was released. But I really didn’t like this book, and it took me a bit to figure out why. First, the book felt preachy to me. I disliked that about The Handmaiden’s Tale (which I read way back in 1986 when when it was first released), Seveneves was even worse—so bad that I stopped reading it at 94% done according to my Kindle. This book felt that way too.

The second reason surprised me when I finally figured it out. I never really cared about any of the characters and I realized that part of what makes a book compelling and good is when I can sort of fall in love with a character. And I didn’t really care what happened to anyone in this book.

Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty. I enjoyed this book, it was a quick read for me. Basically, it’s a mystery set in space so combined two genres I like. Add in the question of what makes us human, and that made the story line worth reading for me. This was another gift from Jeanne, and one I wouldn’t have picked up without her review and her gift—thank you, Jeanne!

Autonomous by Annalee Newitz. Oh boy. This book falls into the very preachy category for me (big pharma is bad, big government is bad, second class citizens are bad, etc.), with the addition of taking on too many social issues in one book and thus not doing any of them justice. I’m about two thirds of the way through and I don’t think I can finish it. This book also feels very young adult—what I mean is that there’s just so much angst and indecision. Yes, maybe that’s how things are, but I can’t stick with that over the entire course of a book.

All Systems Red by Martha Wells. LOVED this one, absolutely loved it. Again, it’s science fiction but also all about what defines us as human or sentient and looks at what it means to be self-determining. I had seen this book when searching for something to read on Amazon but passed it up because it’s pretty short and the sample shared on Amazon was a bit flip in style. Again, this was another gift from Jeanne and I liked it so much I will get the second book in the series (it’s already out) and almost certainly the third book when it’s published.

I also realized something else while reading these physical, paper books. I far prefer my Kindle. That may be heretical to some but here’s why. My hands aren’t super strong and the way I read is in bed, usually lying down holding the book and turning the pages with one hand. That’s really hard to do with traditional books, and most especially with longer books. The second reason is the lighted screen. I don’t have an especially bright bedside lamp, nor do I want one. But I need more light to read, and the Kindle solves that problem.

Vanity Fair—a third bag

I’ve made this bag three times now—the first time was for me and I’m not sure I ever posted about it. I made it out of a grey fabric that looks like (but isn’t) linen. I didn’t realize at the time, but I actually made it up wrong. You can see the way it’s supposed to look in terms of how it’s pieced together on the outside here, on the pattern envelop.

And here’s the one I made for myself. See the difference? The pattern has the pieces stitched directly under the handles while the one I made for myself has the pieces meeting in the center.

To be honest, I prefer it this way but when I cut out the one for my friend (posted about here), I followed the directions and pieced it together as intended. I was pretty confused as I was sewing it up because it was so different; I had to go get out my own bag to see what I’d done.

I’ve made a third version for another friend. She’s a creature of sunshine stuck in very overcast Ohio so I picked bright fabrics for her and used the same sunny yellow fabric for the lining as I did for the bag I made earlier this year.

I’m not sure if I’ll make this bag again. As with a lot of independent pattern makers, this one gives some pieces and then tells you to cut out a strip in given dimensions. That bugs me, and I think it’s an unfortunate short cut because honestly? I need a pattern piece. Yes, I can (and did) trace out my own but still for the price of the pattern ($10), I want all the pieces.

The words get in the way

I have a friend who has a blog – a poetry and literature blog, mostly. She and I have talked about why poems resonate so much with her and why they don’t for me. Recently, she posted for the National Month-Long Poetry tour and discussed a poetry reading she attended.

But as with almost all poems and almost all writings about poems, I just didn’t get it, and wondered how it was that I was lacking so much . . . Understanding? Empathy? I don’t even know what I’m lacking, I only know that I am lacking something.

Maybe I’m color-blind to poetry.

Or maybe it’s that I don’t speak the language.

Or maybe it’s the words that are just not enough. Or they’re too much, too noisy without saying anything. Case in point, I’d rather hear the song behind the lyrics any day – the tune, the melody, the chord structures, all of those things that do speak to me. That's true for pretty much all genres of music.

Here’s a silly little example, OK two examples:

First the bumblebee:



Now the unhatched chickens:




Can you see them in your mind? 

Would words make the picture any clearer? 

I will keep reading my friend's blog. From time to time, she posts a poem I end up liking a bit. It's as though I've turned my head and somehow heard something from another dimension. It doesn't happen a lot, but it's worth reading all the rest that are just noise to me to find those few.