tag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:152600a vintage year for scoundrelsnot a glamorous woman at the momentincorrigibly frivolous2015-08-03T10:18:47Ztag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:152600:230352Books and comics read in July 20152015-08-03T10:18:22Z2015-08-03T10:18:47Ztiredpublic17Fear Itself: Heroes for Hire<br />Medieval Women: A Social History of Women in England 450-1500 - Henrietta Leyser*<br />Enemies at Home - Lindsey Davis<br />Saga vol. 5<br />Superman/Batman: World's Finest*<br />The King in the North: The Life and Times of Oswald of Northumbria - Max Adams<br />The Small House At Allington - Anthony Trollope<br />Foxglove Summer - Ben Aaronovitch<br />Rat Queens: The Far Reaching Tentacles of N'rygoth*<br />The Invisible Library - Genevieve Cogman<br />New Teen Titans vol 2<br />Her Smoke Rose Up Forever - James Tiptree Jr<br />Tomboys and Bachelor Girls: A Lesbian History of Post-War Britain 1946-1971 - Rebecca Jennings*<br />Musketeer Space - Tansy Rayner Roberts*<br />Trust Me - Malorie Blackman*<br /><br />Didn't finish: <em>Bel Canto</em> - Ann Patchett. I feel SLIGHTLY guilty for just abandoning this halfway through, but it was annoying me and I have a lot of other things to read, and also I spoiled myself for the end and it didn't seem worth it. It had that literary novel thing where there was a constant subtext of "by the way this is all SUPER MEANINGFUL JSYK", and I didn't like the fact that it was explicitly set in a mishmash of stereotypes rather than an actual South American country, and the few women mostly only got to be seen through the men's eyes rather than having point of view sections and ugh I just didn't care.<br /><br /><a name="cutid1"></a><strong>Medieval Women: A Social History of Women in England 450-1500</strong><br />This felt slightly more like a collection of essays than a book, but the essays were all interesting so I didn't mind! It gave a great insight into the texture of women's lives in the period. <br /><br /><strong>Superman/Batman: World's Finest</strong><br />I think the thing I liked the most about this comic (other than the scene where Clark awkwardly gives Bruce a Christmas present and Bruce awkwardly invites Clark to spend Christmas at the manor, which was a thing of beauty and a joy forever) was the mingling of the supporting cast. Alfred and Lois clearly hitting it off was a highlight, but I also enjoyed Alfred and Clark working together, as well as the dynamic between Bruce and Lois, which I desperately want to see more of. Oh, and I am basically in love with all the very fifties civilian outfits Bruce wore in Metropolis. :D<br /><br /><strong>Rat Queens: The Far Reaching Tentacles of N'rygoth</strong><br />As with the previous volume, this was a bit gorier than I like, but done with such gusto and with such great characters that I didn't mind. I really liked getting to see some of the women's backstories, and seeing them begin to mature a bit: can't wait to see more of them! I also enjoyed Stjepan Šejić's art, which was a really good fit for the book. I'm sad he's not doing any more, but excited to see what Tess Fowler does with it. :D<br /><br /><strong>Tomboys and Bachelor Girls: A Lesbian History of Post-War Britain 1946-1971</strong><br />Fascinating and readable account of lesbian history and culture. I did have one major issue with it, though: the fact that it never mentioned bisexual or trans people. I mean, obviously its major focus was on lesbians and that's fine, but it seemed like a mistake not to at least mention the possibility that women who had relationships with both men and women might have been bisexual, or that people who had male personas and/or lived full time as men might have in fact been trans men, or might have been non binary. Other than that, this was really great!<br /><br /><strong><a href="http://tansyrr.com/tansywp/guide-to-the-blog/musketeer-space/">Musketeer Space</a></strong><br />In which Tansy Rayner Roberts rewrites the Three Musketeers so that it's full of women and queer people and brown people, and also it's in space, and it's AMAZING. :D It's heartbreaking and delightful in equal measures, and, having been reading it as a weekly web serial, I am so sad it's over.<br /><br /><strong>Trust Me</strong><br />This was a quick, entertaining take on the teenage vampire novel, but given the status quo at the end of the book my feelings on it are mostly "I wish this had been the set up for a series." /o\ Also, it's a 2013 edition of book published in 1993, and the text has clearly been modernised, but... in a slightly half-hearted way? It felt like 2003 more than 1993 or 2013: Jayna sends e-postcards but otherwise never uses the internet or email, and there's lip service paid to the idea that she has a mobile phone, but it's only a few mentions and they mostly feel a bit tacked on. It was weird.<br /><br />(Quick housekeeping note: I have run out of room for new tags on LJ, which is why they are a little sparse over there. /o\ Also, because I haven't mentioned this in a while, my decisions about which things I write about are pretty random, feel free to poke me for opinions on things I haven't said anything about if you want! ♥)<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=usuallyhats&ditemid=230352" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments