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Some time ago a kind soul ([tumblr.com profile] heckofabecca) gave me a brief run-down of the events of chapter 9's dinner party, in preparation for the day when I'd finally get to this book in my read-through of the Vorkosigan Saga. And I am so very grateful, because it means I could just skip that entire chapter to miss all the embarrassment-squick, while still being able to understand the fall-out.

Other than that one chapter (and, okay, a couple pages' worth of misunderstanding in an earlier chapter...and watching Miles make terrible choices in his plans to secretly court Ekaterin), this book is a delight!

I guess these things are spoilers? )

But also: Byerly! Ivan! The Koudelka sisters! Gregor and Nikki! More Ekaterin! Lots of great stuff in this book.
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A children's novel about a boy in an English town that used to be part of the coal-mining industry, around themes of death and of connection to the past. Certainly a well written and well constructed book, but it turned out to not really be my kind of book despite the interesting themes. Ah well.
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This book is first in a series of children's novels about an Anishinaabe girl living in the Lake Superior region during the time of colonial westward expansion in North America. I gather it was written in conscious reaction to the way the Little House series portrays the westward movement by white people as being into empty, unpeopled land. I loved the Little House books growing up, but the racism inherent in them is definitely not great, so I was happy to hear about The Birchbark House.

And it does not disappoint! It's a genuinely good book, engaging and emotional and interesting. It has a strong sense of the importance of the characters' traditional life, and the worries brought up by the westward encroachment by white people. But also it's just a really nice look at a young girl named Omakayas and her family and broader community, all lovingly portrayed as interesting and varied characters with real-feeling relationships with each other. I cared a lot about Omakayas and everyone she loves!

(And there's sequels, which are...in my to read pile...after too many other library books)
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Back in the days after I'd started keeping a list of all the books I read each year but BEFORE I started posting reviews of them, I kept desultory personal notes (ranging from a single word to quite a few paragraphs) on some of the books. And I always vaguely forget I have, and forget where exactly to find them, and I'd like to just have them on my dw so they're FINDABLE again for me. And also some of you might find these interesting/amusing? (N.B. some of these contain what I would now classify as INCORRECT OPINIONS.)

SO HERE'S THREE YEARS' WORTH OF BOOKS IN ONE POST, OKAY GO.

expand this cut to see nested cuts listing all the books )
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I haven't reread the Emelan books in forever and I was in the mood so I reread the five that I own! Which are the four Circle of Magic books plus The Will of the Empress, since I was never as into the Circle Opens books (possibly because they're all about serial killers). At any rate it works very well to read just these five books as a complete set.

thematic spoilers only )
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my goodness it's been like five million years since I've posted a book review. I've read books in the meantime! But somehow not posted about them. Let me start working through the backlog. I'll start with some very brief reviews of a few old favourites.

The Blue Castle, by L.M. Montgomery

As always a total delight to read. However, I had a new thought this time about an aspect that has always vaguely frustrated me but have never been able to articulate before. spoilers for the end )

First Test, by Tamora Pierce

Yeah okay I've got nothing to say about this one. I LOVE IT the end.

Page, by Tamora Pierce

I've come to realize that structurally this book actually isn't super well put together. It's pretty episodic, covering a lot of time without a lot of important events going on. HOWEVER, the important overarching emotional through-line is spoilers I guess )
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Okay here is a book review of a book I just finished yesterday! Even though I still have a backlog of previously-read books to post about! Because WOW. This book: WAY MORE QUEER THAN I REMEMBER IT BEING. And TEXTUALLY queer, even! I was such an oblivious teenager.

Vigilant, by James Alan Gardner )

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