We Want It! - September 2012

[helloladies]

Because we haven't quite managed to work out a way for us to consume ALL the entertainment yet: to keep us from emerging haggard and zombie like after regular all night box set marathons, book splurges and music overload we've set up this monthly space where we can express our pure fannish glee at the fact that so many projects of awesome potential are continually being made. All of our past wants and desires can be found in the We Want It! tag.

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Starglass — Phoebe North: The cover announcement post went live via The Book Smuggers. Is there anyone not excited about this book? I'm excited to read a generation ship story that I might like! I am not very excited about the cover, though, although the colors are pretty. I really don't know what it is; it looks like they were going for a mix of realism mingled with an artistic rendering and it just doesn't mesh well to my eye. It looks like a girl got pasted on a drawing in Photoshop (likelihood given other YA covers: HIGH?). I am hopeful it will look better in person and it's just the digital copy making my eyes go all woozy which happened with the hardcover of Chime. I later ate my reservations over that cover when I touched it.

The last experience I had with generationshipping was Across the Universe by Beth Revis which I found mediocre and unbelieveable and before that Dust by Elizabeth Bear which only succeeded in confusing me. Seriously, I am Too Dumb for Elizabeth Bear. Is it a generation ship thing, perhaps? Do I dislike the trope? Third time's the charm!



Shift — Kim Curran: I first heard of this book via A Fantastical Librarian. The premise sounds great, but I am a little dubious about the manic pixie dream girl nature of the book blurb, which posits that once the protagonists meets a "beautiful and mysterious" lady it's all secret powers, life changing decisions and plot-driving action. This is another book from Strange Chemistry launch (the other being Blackwood by Gwenda Bond, which I'm dubious about given the reaction) and it looks really promising given the premise of a boy with the power to change any decision he has made in the past. I've been really impressed with the topic diversity of the Strange Chemistry books so far and am hoping the books themselves live up to the marketing. :)



The Apex Book of World SF 2 — edited by Lavie Tidhar: I am a definite fan of Lauren Beukes and when I heard she had a story (I think from io9?) in this collection I knew I wanted to read it. On the plus side, every other author is new to me so I will get to experience all of them. I love new authors. :D



After — edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling: SF Signal posted the Table of Contents for the anthology back in January. I had it bookmarked until chrisa511 and I started talking about going to LoneStarCon and he shared all his emotions about Ellen Datlow. So of course I'm going exploring, so thanks for the editor recommendation, Chris!

 

Near + Far — Cat Rambo: I knew as soon as I saw the cover for this I was going to read it. The art is so gorgeous, and I was sold by a summary that included "cats talk". I'm shallow, etc. The artist is Sean Counley and I wish there was a way to subscribe to this artist; does anyone else know where they're active online?



The Raven Boys — Maggie Stiefvater: I never liked the sound of the series about werewolves by this author so I skipped her work until Susan exploded in feelings about The Scorpio Races. I also loved The Scorpio Races so that bought enough goodwill that I'm fascinated to see what Stiefvater does with this story (even though it's a series, sob). Also, look at the texture and movement of the cover art! I wish I could find out who the artist was. :( This book has already been optioned for a film, but I was more excited to see that they've also optioned The Scorpio Races. DEAR WARNER BROTHERS, PLEASE GET ON THAT.



The Dirty Streets of Heaven — Tad Williams: This book is flipping everywhere. My last experience with Tad Williams was a bemusing one and I've never tried again. I kept reading review after review so I decided to give it a shot. I mean, urban fantasy is hit or miss, but this has got to be better than the hot mess that is The Dresden Files. The above is the UK cover because I find the US cover super tacky (I am so judgmental about covers, it's a problem).



The Dog Stars — Peter Heller: I first heard of this title when this first two chapters went up. I didn't get serious about it until I touched the cover, because I am a freak. The dust jacket is just so luxurious. Okay, so most of the time it seems like covers and dust jackets are haphazard affairs, but sometimes I think that publishers and the artists working on dust jackets are sending messages. There's a reason for every choice, right? I consider Chime's cover (although I think you have to touch it and see it in actual light for it to stand out) to be a commentary on its contents. So yeah, once I touched this book in the bookstore I knew I was going to read it: not just for the blurb, but because I want to find out if, like Chime, the cover (and therefore, the artist) comes to say something about the story itself. /complete weirdo

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All the books for me this month:



Strange Evil by Jane Gaskell: A 1957 "weird fiction" novel by Elizabeth Gaskell's great-grandniece, published when the author was only 14. I hadn't heard of it at all until China Miéville mentioned it during his session at the Edinburgh Book Festival and made it sound irresistible.



Silhouette of a Sparrow by Molly Beth Griffin: I can't remember where I saw this anymore, but it sounds right up my alley. It's set in 1926 and the publisher describes it as a coming-of-age story about a search for wildness in a confining time, and a simultaneous quest for security in an era full of unrest. It is the tale of a young woman's discovery of the science of risk and the art of rebellion, and of course, the power of unexpected love. Plus, isn't the cover gorgeous?



The Geek Manifesto: Why Science Matters by Mark Henderson: yay, science! This author is doing an event near me, and I thought it would be fun to read the book beforehand. Sadly the library doesn't have it, but I've requested that they buy it. Fingers crossed!




Feeling Sorry For Celia by Jaclyn Moriarty: Going into bookshops with Ana is a very dangerous thing. She started telling me about Moriarty's series of contemporary epistolary novels, of which this is the first, and now of course I want them desperately.



Bloody Nasty People: The Rise of Britain's Far Right by Daniel Trilling: I don't know if this book is actually any good, but I found this article by the author really interesting. Earlier this year I read Owen Jones' Chavs and was somewhat dissatisfied with how he addressed the intersection of race and class; Trilling's book might make an interesting counterpoint and help fill some of the gaps Jones left in Chavs.

The other reason why I want to read it is more personal: I'm an immigrant myself, although as an educated white middle-class woman I'm nearly as privileged as it gets. I don't want to appropriate the experiences of people of colour or to pretend that I understand them, but I have to admit that despite all my privilege when I hear people on the far right express anti-immigration sentiments I feel... implicated? vulnerable? scared? very, very small? This is made even worse by the fact that I'm a) out of work and b) from one of the countries the Eurozone crisis has hit the hardest, and which many people blame for "bringing the rest of Europe down". I know there are a few people out there who think someone like me is an opportunist abandoning the boat now that it's sinking, off to crowd better off places and add to their levels of unemployment, and this knowledge gives me... well, a lot of feelings. I suppose it's time I process them instead of silently choking on them, and a political book like Trilling's might be helpful and provide some comfort and support.



Bad Pharma: How drug companies mislead doctors and harm patients by Ben Goldacre: I absolutely loved Goldacre's Bad Science and can't wait to see what he has to say about the pharmaceutical industry.



Finally, there's Thorn by Intisar Khanani, a retelling of "The Goose Girl". Aarti's A More Diverse Universe tour added plenty of books to my wishlist, but this one, reviewed by Tanita S. Davis at Finding Wonderland, just might be the one that appeals to me the most.

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Music

'The Second Law' — Muse: I've heard this is mostly a re-tread of past Muse themes and sounds. While I know that one of the UK's finest well known bands settling into a groove is bad news artistically, I am personally quite happy listening to decent explorations of the same kind of stuff that 'Muse' has put out in the past. Their sound connects with me. It's been hideously overplayed in the UK, but shall we all listen to 'Survivor' together?

Books

'Tell the Wolves I'm Home' — Carole Rifka Brunt: Jenny wrote such a great review of it that I just can't resist.



'Bayou Vol 1.' — Jeremy Love: Aarti's review for the 'Diverse Universe' blog tour showed off some of the lovely artwork from this graphic novel. I'm terrible at talking about why I like art, so I'll just say that something about the tones of the colour palette and the lines drags my eye in.



'In the Time of the Blue Ball' — Manuela Dragaer: 'Of Books and Bicycles' wrote a post that led me to Kate Zambreno's blog and from there to Dorothy Press. And look, what do have we here on their list but a book blurbed by China Miéville! It sounds weird. Good.



'Rosemary and Rue' — Seanan McGuire: Meghan recommended that I try Mcguire's October Daye books, now that I've finished the Newsflesh trilogy. This will be my first go at reading urban-fantasy in a long time and I'm excited to try out the genre with an author whose work I already like.



'The Professor's Daughter' — Joann Sfar & Emmanual Guibert: I spotted this on the Ballou book drive list. A reawakened mummy falls in love with the Victorian girl who wakes him. Doesn't that sound like a gloriously dorky, fantasy take on the Victorian fascination with Egypt?. I'm hoping for fun times.



'The Age of Desire' — Jenny Fields: I almost bought this one while I was in Canada, but decided against because it was still only in hardback. It's about Edith Wharton's affair with a young journalist, which sounds interesting, but I was really attracted by that rich coloured cover.



'The Place Has No Atmosphere' — Paula Danziger: I read quite a bit of Paula Danziger when I was growing up, but because I was kind of addicted to contemporary stories about awkward girls at the time it seems I missed this piece of comic SF. This bit from the blurb shared by 'The Booksmugglers' made me nostalgically d'aww:

'Aurora is sure she will hate life on the moon, because there are only 750 people in the whole colony. What if none of them is a boy her age?'

Comments

This is Phoebe

[(Anonymous)]

<3 <3 Thank you for being awesome, Renay (and yeah, the girl on the cover is pretty 'shopped.)

I would love for you guys to read/review Starglass (or, if that's weird for you, we could do an interview or chat or some such about issues in the book, SF, YA, whatever). If you're interested, would you mind filling out this form (https://docs.google.com/a/phoebenorth.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dC1wTGRUeDEtckV5cjRES3pOcy1Jemc6MQ) so I can forward your information on to my publicist?

Re: This is Phoebe

[renay]

Thank you for being awesome and writing what sounds like a super cool book. I am pretty sure we are all planning to give you our dollars when the book comes and and review it around the internets ourselves, but I may or may not have some insidious plans about a podcast shaped project, and would love for you to save me an interview spot if there's one available after we get going, if you're cool with that sort of thing!

[(Anonymous)]

I also loved The Scorpio Races, and up until then hadn't had any interest in the author, thinking it was yet another teen romance fantasy malarky. Haven't gone back and read them either, but I might be tempted at some point.

I have the Apex book of world SF waiting for me on the kindle, so looking forward to getting to that soonish...

Loved Seanan McGuire's Rosemary & Rue series, just got another three in the post this week, so yet more to read :)

fence - http://www.susanhatedliterature.net

[renay]

The Scorpio Races had just the right touch of angst and perfect amount of romance. Ugh, that book makes me have so many emotions.