Let's pretend it's just a normal Wednesday, shall we?

Recently acquired: My lovely cjwatson gave me a book he's excited about as an anniversary present: Deathless by Catherynne M Valente (catvalente). I have mixed feelings about the Valente I've read so far, particularly Palimpsest which I really really wanted to like. Her prose is gorgeous, and she's really good at evocative depictions of otherworldly settings and generally slightly creepy takes on fairy tales. But for reasons I find it hard to put my finger on I find her a bit morally repulsive; I think it's that she seems to have a bit too much sympathy with the Fae, with the idea that beauty is somehow more important than morality. Anyway I really like it when people I love give me books, so I'm looking forward to this one.

Recently read:

• Táin Bó Cúalnge. I was checking the pronunciation of the name Méabh (in order not to annoy a student by that name) and I have the kind of friends who understand that I'll appreciate it when they answer my questions with links to comprehensive detail of the origin of the name. I mean, skimming a fairly scholarly edition is perhaps not the best way to engage with a 13^th century epic (and I kind of skipped some of the long lists of clothes or battles), but it was quite fun. Any recommendations of fantasy novels that draw on this kind of thing but with modern storytelling sensibilities?
  
  
• The sisterhood by Penelope Friday. (c) 2016 Penelope Friday; Pub Bella Books Inc, 2016; ISBN 978-1-59493-508-4. This was lent to me by angelofthenorth who knows the author. And I really enjoyed it, it does pretty much everything about period romance right, and all the characters seem real, and it never felt jarringly anachronistic.

Currently reading: In theory In a time of gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor, but I'm not sure I can cope with 1930s Europe right now.

Up next: Something escapist, Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie maybe?

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