Book round-up: February 2023
Mar. 13th, 2023 06:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sixthlightA Month That Occurred. Floods! Cyclone! My wife got COVID! I had a bunch of pregnancy bullshit (spoilers: it worked out OK) that I didn’t need! Read some good books though, and both fiction books were cracker series-enders which is always very satisfying.
Fiction
The Ivory Tomb (Melissa Carusco)
Final book in the Rooks and Ruin trilogy. Took me a little bit to get into because it had been nearly a year since I read the first two and this started DEEPLY in medias res with no breather but also, A+ sticking the landing on the trilogy, A+ Disaster Bi4Bi romance, this is exactly the kind of crossover political-high fantasy that is up my alley. Not a gourmet meal but certainly a very well executed burger and fries, to get metaphorical about it.
The World We Make (N K Jemisin)
Second book in the Great Cities duology, which I swear was originally a trilogy. Executes the central fighting-the-end-of-the-world plot very well and I very much enjoyed all the cameos from other cities (although as always, the premise of the series leaves my part of the world out somewhat), but I would have enjoyed a whole other book hanging out with these characters just…like…dealing with less world-threatening scenarios. I assume the author decided there wasn’t enough There there for that, and you know what? I respect it.
Non-fiction
The Climate Dispossessed: Justice for the Pacific in Aotearoa? (Teall Crossen)
BWB short text (novella-length non fiction) discussing the legal basis for Aotearoa New Zealand (as a nation) mitigating or assisting in adaptation for the effects of climate change on Pacific nations and peoples. Ultimately a little too focused on legal principles for my taste (they’re made up, we can change them, or we won’t if the right levers of power are not pulled) but thorough if that’s your point of interest.
Escape from Model Land (Erica Thompson)
What are mathematical models, why do we rely on them, what dangers does this present in modern society, and how can we use them most effectively? Covers these questions with a special emphasis on COVID-19 and climate models. The central conclusion - that models are in fact narratives and should be treated as such - is something I’m still turning over in terms of its implications.
How Far The Light Reaches (Sabrina Imbler)
A memoir about growing up queer and biracial, interpreted through the biology and life history of ten sea creatures (well, stretching the point to include goldfish). Very good and lyrical but deals with some challenging stuff, particularly sexual assault and eating disorders.
The User's Guide to the New Zealand Baby (Nicola Miller-Clendon)
Pretty good age-by-age guide to child development. Spoiled somewhat by including regular sections “for mothers” which turned out to be…an exercise programme and a bunch of low-calorie recipes, the two things of most concern to people who have just given birth to a whole human, obviously.
You Simply Can't Spoil A Newborn (Dorothy Waide)
Focused entirely on development up to 12 weeks. Stretches out one major point (that babies under 3 months only have needs, and your job is to meet them) into a book, but it’s a good point. Helpful to focus on when, to draw an example at random, your newborn is breastfeeding every hour for twelve hours.
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Date: 2023-03-17 03:52 am (UTC)