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Apr. 24th, 2004 04:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chelseagirlHaven't done a reading update in awhile, so here goes: taking a break from the Napoleonic Wars (all those Sharpes and O'Brians) and going on a bit of a literary-fantastic short story binge.
First, Mojo: Conjure Stories edited by Nalo Hopkinson. I saw a panel on putting this anthology together at ICFA, so of course I had to make sure I got my hands on a copy. It's short stories in the fantastic genres with a theme of the African Diaspora -- many new writers. Many of the stories deal with voudon and other kinds of folk magic; after awhile the cumulative effect got more same-y than the stories actually were so it's worth taking your time with this one. Favorites were Andy Duncan's about Daddy Mention, a sort of southern trickster figure, and one called Lark 'Til Dawn Princess, about a drag queen and voudon and it really works . . .
Currently reading Novelties and Souvenirs, John Crowley's collected short fiction. Since everything I've read by Crowley is loooooong, it's interesting to see him in a very different mode. "Novelty" is a striking story about a writer's creative process (and coincidentally seems to mirror the conception of the Aegypt series, but so far the first, "Antiquities," is my favorite. Well, if you're going to tell a Victorian ghost story featuring mummified cats, you really *should* set it in Cheshire, and Crowley does. This is the book I splurged on an advance copy of at the ICFA auction; it's coming out in a few weeks so I was silly, but it's terrific -- put it on your lists!
Otherwise: beautiful day, had some quality time with M. before he headed off to work, with a lovely brunch at Bright Food Shop. We found a lady at the 8th Ave. street fair who sells Indian print bedspreads, so we bought a new one as our old one was starting to show and wear and tear. This woman has a shop in Brooklyn and some furniture very much up both our alleys, so we took a card and hopefully will get to pick up a few pieces when we're caught up on some other things.
Feeling a bit hermitish this weekend, but it's just as well with my cold and a lecture to write on Rousseau. Must . . . do . . . that . . . now . . . goodbye!
First, Mojo: Conjure Stories edited by Nalo Hopkinson. I saw a panel on putting this anthology together at ICFA, so of course I had to make sure I got my hands on a copy. It's short stories in the fantastic genres with a theme of the African Diaspora -- many new writers. Many of the stories deal with voudon and other kinds of folk magic; after awhile the cumulative effect got more same-y than the stories actually were so it's worth taking your time with this one. Favorites were Andy Duncan's about Daddy Mention, a sort of southern trickster figure, and one called Lark 'Til Dawn Princess, about a drag queen and voudon and it really works . . .
Currently reading Novelties and Souvenirs, John Crowley's collected short fiction. Since everything I've read by Crowley is loooooong, it's interesting to see him in a very different mode. "Novelty" is a striking story about a writer's creative process (and coincidentally seems to mirror the conception of the Aegypt series, but so far the first, "Antiquities," is my favorite. Well, if you're going to tell a Victorian ghost story featuring mummified cats, you really *should* set it in Cheshire, and Crowley does. This is the book I splurged on an advance copy of at the ICFA auction; it's coming out in a few weeks so I was silly, but it's terrific -- put it on your lists!
Otherwise: beautiful day, had some quality time with M. before he headed off to work, with a lovely brunch at Bright Food Shop. We found a lady at the 8th Ave. street fair who sells Indian print bedspreads, so we bought a new one as our old one was starting to show and wear and tear. This woman has a shop in Brooklyn and some furniture very much up both our alleys, so we took a card and hopefully will get to pick up a few pieces when we're caught up on some other things.
Feeling a bit hermitish this weekend, but it's just as well with my cold and a lecture to write on Rousseau. Must . . . do . . . that . . . now . . . goodbye!
