wednesday books are action fantasy
Oct. 7th, 2026 08:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
landofnowhereA Divided Duty, Seanan McGuire. Yay more Toby! I enjoyed how this book is working through how the events of the previous books have impacted all sorts of people. But now I have to wait another year for the next book?
Green and Deadly Things, Jenn Lyons. Partway through. Like everything else I've read by Lyons, this is fun and action-y, will be interesting to see where it goes.
Green and Deadly Things, Jenn Lyons. Partway through. Like everything else I've read by Lyons, this is fun and action-y, will be interesting to see where it goes.
IMPORTANT: Friends list Notification [public entry]
Oct. 8th, 2026 01:56 amsabetheaSo, I have gone through my friends list and made changes to my access and subscriptions to many places.
If someone hasn’t posted in a year and never comments on my life, either here or privately to me, I have removed access to my DW, because I am uncomfortable with people potentially reading about my life when I don’t know whether they are or who they now are as people.
I’ve remained subscribed to some people I’ve known well in the past and would love to see if they ever did return here, and would indeed (assuming they haven’t suddenly turned into neonazis!) be happy to resume mutual access with on such a basis, but I think I’m an optimist there.
Likewise, if you never comment on my life, and I never seem to find that I comment on yours, I may have removed access because I don’t feel like we’re adding anything to each other’s lives. If you would really like to remain in touch, please do leave a message saying, or DM me if you prefer, as I don’t want to miss out on a good friendship!
This is also an amnesty moment for anyone who has secretly wanted to drop my posts from their subscribed list because I’m boring as fuck (fair!) but has felt obliged by politeness not to do so, to do so in mutual good will and likely mutual dropped access (I’m here for reciprocal friendship, not one sided commentary, though I’ve been rubbish living up to my side of the bargain of late).
Much love to all.
If someone hasn’t posted in a year and never comments on my life, either here or privately to me, I have removed access to my DW, because I am uncomfortable with people potentially reading about my life when I don’t know whether they are or who they now are as people.
I’ve remained subscribed to some people I’ve known well in the past and would love to see if they ever did return here, and would indeed (assuming they haven’t suddenly turned into neonazis!) be happy to resume mutual access with on such a basis, but I think I’m an optimist there.
Likewise, if you never comment on my life, and I never seem to find that I comment on yours, I may have removed access because I don’t feel like we’re adding anything to each other’s lives. If you would really like to remain in touch, please do leave a message saying, or DM me if you prefer, as I don’t want to miss out on a good friendship!
This is also an amnesty moment for anyone who has secretly wanted to drop my posts from their subscribed list because I’m boring as fuck (fair!) but has felt obliged by politeness not to do so, to do so in mutual good will and likely mutual dropped access (I’m here for reciprocal friendship, not one sided commentary, though I’ve been rubbish living up to my side of the bargain of late).
Much love to all.
wednesday reads and things
Oct. 7th, 2026 06:31 pmisisAs you might expect, I've been busy busy busy with Yuletide tagmodding - it's a lot of work, but always great fun - but still have had time for some reading and viewing (and a tiny little bit of gaming):
What I've recently finished reading:
A Trade of Blood, the third book by Robert Jackson Bennett in what used to be called the Shadow of the Leviathan series but is now apparently the Ana and Din Mysteries. I liked it! It does lean into the body horror a bit more than I like (well, the whole series does really) but it also has fascinating worldbuilding and fascinating characters. It is not uncommon for me, reading historical fiction, to have the author's notes be one of my favorite parts, but this is perhaps one of the first times I felt this way about fantasy: I had noticed allusions to environmental and ethical issues around agriculture and animal husbandry, and in the afterword Bennett says yup, that's exactly what this book is about, how unnatural real-world agriculture is, and how by exploring how a fantasy empire feeds itself he can also highlight the absurdities of our own agricultural system.
Swordheart and Daggerbound by T. Kingfisher, the first two of what is clearly a planned trilogy. I noticed a whole lot of Yuletide nominations for this series so I figured I'd see what the fuss was all about, and was so glad I did because these were delightful! I'm generally not into romances, and these are certainly romances (first is het, second is m/m) but the fantasy aspect is super fun, and the light humor that threads through these books is a great counterweight for the dire situations the characters find themselves in, and the characters are wonderful and I was absolutely cheering for them to get togetherand have great sex. I have a soft spot for people with mundane professions in SFF whose mundane professional skills are key to Our Heros' success, so of course I loved Zale the Fantasy Priest Lawyer, just as I loved Kris the Space Lawyer in Adrian Tchaikovsky's Final Architecture series. (It's not just lawyers; Ken Liu's Dandelion Dynasty series had a great Fantasy Accountant!)
And in audio, I devoured Dennis E. Taylor's The Infinite Extent, the sixth Bobiverse book, which I apparently forgot to write about when I finished, oops? If you like these books, you'll like this one, though it seemed a bit on the shorter side compared to previous books. I really love how they explore classic SF tropes and ideas, and play a little with the well-known classics and current events. Although sometimes it feels as though life is imitating art!
What I'm reading now:
In text, T. Kingfisher's Paladin's Grace, because apparently I'm on a roll.
In audio, Kyle Chayka's Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture, because I enjoyed his interview on the Ezra Klein show a few years ago.
What I've recently finished watching:
We ended up watching all of the Little House on the Prairie reboot, despite it being incredibly wholesome 🤪 I was a little annoyed by the early episodes, which made Caroline (the mother) seem like a hapless incompetent, but I liked her strong moral center, especially when the show got into more interesting territory. I appreciate that it tackled some hard issues with nuance, for example when the wife of the developing town's most prominent citizen gathers the women together to argue for women's suffrage - but turns out to have racist views. The show also explores the uneasy relationship between the white settlers and the native Osage. Unsurprisingly my favorite character was Lacey Aubert, the not-completely-respectable widow who runs a bar and cardroom outside town. And there are horses, and fancy dresses!
What I'm watching now:
We've seen the first 4 episodes of Star Trek: Lower Decks and laughed ourselves silly.
What I'm playing now:
I am in the endgame of Ghost of Tsushima so I really should finish it, I guess. I also picked up Dressmaker during the Steam sale, because all my fandom friends are playing it, and also it's something I can play on my laptop, which will be my only computer this winter. I'm only halfway through the tutorial, but it's cute!
What I've recently finished reading:
A Trade of Blood, the third book by Robert Jackson Bennett in what used to be called the Shadow of the Leviathan series but is now apparently the Ana and Din Mysteries. I liked it! It does lean into the body horror a bit more than I like (well, the whole series does really) but it also has fascinating worldbuilding and fascinating characters. It is not uncommon for me, reading historical fiction, to have the author's notes be one of my favorite parts, but this is perhaps one of the first times I felt this way about fantasy: I had noticed allusions to environmental and ethical issues around agriculture and animal husbandry, and in the afterword Bennett says yup, that's exactly what this book is about, how unnatural real-world agriculture is, and how by exploring how a fantasy empire feeds itself he can also highlight the absurdities of our own agricultural system.
Swordheart and Daggerbound by T. Kingfisher, the first two of what is clearly a planned trilogy. I noticed a whole lot of Yuletide nominations for this series so I figured I'd see what the fuss was all about, and was so glad I did because these were delightful! I'm generally not into romances, and these are certainly romances (first is het, second is m/m) but the fantasy aspect is super fun, and the light humor that threads through these books is a great counterweight for the dire situations the characters find themselves in, and the characters are wonderful and I was absolutely cheering for them to get together
And in audio, I devoured Dennis E. Taylor's The Infinite Extent, the sixth Bobiverse book, which I apparently forgot to write about when I finished, oops? If you like these books, you'll like this one, though it seemed a bit on the shorter side compared to previous books. I really love how they explore classic SF tropes and ideas, and play a little with the well-known classics and current events. Although sometimes it feels as though life is imitating art!
Somewhat spoilery
The previous book took on the "dangerous AI" trope which, uh, we're living through now. The Infinite Extent seemed to me to have a bit of a nod to the "dangerous dictator who has lost his marbles and is trying to recreate the Glorious Past", which, uh, yeah.What I'm reading now:
In text, T. Kingfisher's Paladin's Grace, because apparently I'm on a roll.
In audio, Kyle Chayka's Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture, because I enjoyed his interview on the Ezra Klein show a few years ago.
What I've recently finished watching:
We ended up watching all of the Little House on the Prairie reboot, despite it being incredibly wholesome 🤪 I was a little annoyed by the early episodes, which made Caroline (the mother) seem like a hapless incompetent, but I liked her strong moral center, especially when the show got into more interesting territory. I appreciate that it tackled some hard issues with nuance, for example when the wife of the developing town's most prominent citizen gathers the women together to argue for women's suffrage - but turns out to have racist views. The show also explores the uneasy relationship between the white settlers and the native Osage. Unsurprisingly my favorite character was Lacey Aubert, the not-completely-respectable widow who runs a bar and cardroom outside town. And there are horses, and fancy dresses!
What I'm watching now:
We've seen the first 4 episodes of Star Trek: Lower Decks and laughed ourselves silly.
What I'm playing now:
I am in the endgame of Ghost of Tsushima so I really should finish it, I guess. I also picked up Dressmaker during the Steam sale, because all my fandom friends are playing it, and also it's something I can play on my laptop, which will be my only computer this winter. I'm only halfway through the tutorial, but it's cute!
Daily Check-In
Oct. 7th, 2026 06:01 pmstarwatcher posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fandom_checkinThis is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Wednesday October 07, to midnight on Thursday, October 08. (8pm Eastern Time).
Poll #35152 Daily Check-in
Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 8
How are you doing?
I am OK.
6 (75.0%)
I am not OK, but don't need help right now.
2 (25.0%)
I could use some help.
0 (0.0%)
How many other humans live with you?
I am living single.
4 (50.0%)
One other person.
3 (37.5%)
More than one other person.
1 (12.5%)
Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.
"That's what character is. It's in the trying."*
Oct. 7th, 2026 07:45 pmmusesfoolLast night, around midnight, I went to take my usual nightly shower and discovered that there was no water! It had been working as recently as around 10 pm, so I did not know what had happened, but I poured out some water from one of my 2 remaining emergency gallons to brush my teeth and wash my face, and set up a handwashing bowl for the overnight, and went to bed.
When I got up this morning at 8:20 am, I discovered that there was still no water, but had received an email (timestamped 2 am, so someone had a worse night about it than I did *wry*) from the building management that the water was out due to a plumbing emergency and plumbers would be onsite today to fix it. So I once again used some of my emergency water to wash and brush.
Thankfully, I recently got a new Keurig, the kind where it has a reservoir for multiple cups instead of having to be filled each time I made a cup of coffee, and the reservoir was filled, and the ice trays were as well, so at least my coffee was not affected. Not knowing the ETA of the repairs, I also put in an Instacart order for 2 more gallon jugs of water to see me through the day if necessary. (Last time, I just ordered a couple of jugs a day each day [as well as one of those 24 bottle packs of bottled water], and there were also short periods where they put the water back on so I was able to fill pitchers and my bucket; that did not happen this time. To be honest, I thought that after that experience in 2023, they'd put in a system where they didn't have to turn the water off for everyone at the same time and could keep it on in the buildings where there wasn't a problem, but I guess not; for those of you who don't know, my apartment building is actually 3 buildings that are only connected on the basement and lobby level, not one big lonesome building.)
The jugs were delivered around 12 pm, and shortly thereafter, as I expected, the water came back on. (I was like, I know if I put an order in, the water will be back too late for me to cancel. I also know that that is magical thinking and nonsense, but...that's what happened today. *hands*)
Anyway! That was my anxiety-inducing overnight/morning.
Work was busy - the turnaround time between the Q3 board stuff (late September) and the Q4 board stuff (early December) is super short, and I am trying to get on top of it. I did watch the season finale of Ted Lasso, and ( spoilers )
Oh, I also watched the season finale of Lanterns, which I liked a lot! ( spoilers )
Now I have a new episode of Slow Horses to watch, so excuse me. *g*
***
When I got up this morning at 8:20 am, I discovered that there was still no water, but had received an email (timestamped 2 am, so someone had a worse night about it than I did *wry*) from the building management that the water was out due to a plumbing emergency and plumbers would be onsite today to fix it. So I once again used some of my emergency water to wash and brush.
Thankfully, I recently got a new Keurig, the kind where it has a reservoir for multiple cups instead of having to be filled each time I made a cup of coffee, and the reservoir was filled, and the ice trays were as well, so at least my coffee was not affected. Not knowing the ETA of the repairs, I also put in an Instacart order for 2 more gallon jugs of water to see me through the day if necessary. (Last time, I just ordered a couple of jugs a day each day [as well as one of those 24 bottle packs of bottled water], and there were also short periods where they put the water back on so I was able to fill pitchers and my bucket; that did not happen this time. To be honest, I thought that after that experience in 2023, they'd put in a system where they didn't have to turn the water off for everyone at the same time and could keep it on in the buildings where there wasn't a problem, but I guess not; for those of you who don't know, my apartment building is actually 3 buildings that are only connected on the basement and lobby level, not one big lonesome building.)
The jugs were delivered around 12 pm, and shortly thereafter, as I expected, the water came back on. (I was like, I know if I put an order in, the water will be back too late for me to cancel. I also know that that is magical thinking and nonsense, but...that's what happened today. *hands*)
Anyway! That was my anxiety-inducing overnight/morning.
Work was busy - the turnaround time between the Q3 board stuff (late September) and the Q4 board stuff (early December) is super short, and I am trying to get on top of it. I did watch the season finale of Ted Lasso, and ( spoilers )
Oh, I also watched the season finale of Lanterns, which I liked a lot! ( spoilers )
Now I have a new episode of Slow Horses to watch, so excuse me. *g*
***
Reading Wednesday
Oct. 7th, 2026 06:54 pmtroisoiseauxContinued my Craig Rice kick with My Kingdom for a Hearse (1957), which is premised on a quaintly old-fashioned take on an issue that certainly has modern resonance, i.e., falsity in advertisement— in this case, a beauty company's spokesmodel is actually an idealized woman created out of a composite of five different models, a plan that falls apart when the models start going missing and bits of them start turning up, uh, unattached. (I feel like her novels are noticeably gorier than other Golden Age mystery writers— the ones I've read, anyway— but it's offset by their screwball vibes?) Of the handful of Rice's mysteries I've read so far, this is the first one where I actually guessed anything about where the plot was going— ( ... )
第五年第二百六十九天
Oct. 8th, 2026 07:46 amnnozomi posting in guardian_learning部首
手 part 38
插, to insert; 扬, to raise; 握, to grasp ( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=64
词汇
航班, flight (pinyin in tags)
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-4-word-list/
Guardian:
我们不能插手他们的内斗, we can't interfere with their internal conflict
[no 航班]
Me:
跟人见面的时候，你会握手还是鞠躬吗？
如果错过登机的话，我们只好坐下次航班。
手 part 38
插, to insert; 扬, to raise; 握, to grasp ( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=64
词汇
航班, flight (pinyin in tags)
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-4-word-list/
Guardian:
我们不能插手他们的内斗, we can't interfere with their internal conflict
[no 航班]
Me:
跟人见面的时候，你会握手还是鞠躬吗？
如果错过登机的话，我们只好坐下次航班。
Chocolate truffle tea and the most interesting cat in the world
Oct. 7th, 2026 06:53 pmrolanniLearning how to fall takes an unexpected amount of courage, if you happen to be a person who has a lifelong commitment to not falling.
In the normal way of things, if I feel myself start to fall, I will twist, and grab at anything to stay upright, which usually, yes, Just Makes It Worse.
Steve -- who wrestled in high school -- would say, "Just fall," like that was something any sane person would do. The ground, my child, is hard. I know this because I've fallen on the ground and I never, ever want to do that again.
Which, honestly? Is probably not a goal that's within my grasp, if I'm going to persist in this Getting Old(er) thing.
So, today at PT? I Just Fell. Onto a (slightly) padded platform, into walls, and doors, into my therapist. Someone else who was taking PT at a station near us said that I reminded him of when he had taken parachute training -- "If you roll after you hit, you'll be OK."
Eeek.
Also?
Ouch.
Lunch is heating up, and I do believe I'll be having aspirin with that.
#
First taste test. Chocolate Truffle Tea, which smells terrific.
. . .
So, the chocolate truffle tea is ... interesting. The taste is dark, or maybe I mean heavy, and a little bitter, like baking chocolate. Not quite what I'm looking for in a "chocolate tea." It's drinkable, but I won't be ordering a full tin.
In other news, I've spent the last hour pinned under a coon cat, who was doing her damnedest to put me to sleep, and, yes, she succeeded.
#
Things I have forgotten to mention today Part One:
For those still interested in yesterday's discussion regarding characters and lit'rachur, and all like that, you will at this link, directly under my post, find the Cereal Theory of Writing from our very own djonn. It's worth reading and a worthy Working Theory
#
Things I forgot to mention today, Part Two:
If you're not following David Mattingly's diary of his career you really ought to do so. As you know, David did many, if not all, of the covers of the novels we did for Baen. I think that's 25 covers. David is not painting anymore, and has turned to writing as an outlet for creation.
You can read past entries and/or subscribe here
#
And, finishing up!
A photo of Rookie doing his impression of The Most Interesting Cat in the World:
[ SECRET POST #7215 ]
Oct. 7th, 2026 06:45 pmcase posting in fandomsecrets⌈ Secret Post #7215 ⌋
Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.
01.
( More! )
Notes:
Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 14 secrets from Secret Submission Post #1030.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
Grandfather clause
Oct. 7th, 2026 08:09 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
slacktivist_feed"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid."
Two New Vids
Oct. 7th, 2026 05:17 pmtafadhali posting in viddingBoth are posted (with more extensive notes) here on my DW.
Title: a better son & daughter
Fandom: 9-1-1
Characters: Buck & Maddie
Music: "A Better Son/Daughter" by Rilo Kiley
Summary:
Your ship may be coming in
You're weak, but not giving in
And you'll fight it, you'll go out fighting all of themTitle: Dawn of Revelation
Co-vidder:periru3
Fandom: Project Hail Mary
Characters: Grace &/ Rocky
Music: "Dawn of Revelation" by The Mountain Goats
Summary:
Title: a better son & daughter
Fandom: 9-1-1
Characters: Buck & Maddie
Music: "A Better Son/Daughter" by Rilo Kiley
Summary:
Your ship may be coming in
You're weak, but not giving in
And you'll fight it, you'll go out fighting all of them
Co-vidder:
periru3 Fandom: Project Hail Mary
Characters: Grace &/ Rocky
Music: "Dawn of Revelation" by The Mountain Goats
Summary:
I will turn these stones to bread
And all who hunger will be fed
Plates will shift and the earth will groan
And no one here is going to die alone
And all who hunger will be fed
Plates will shift and the earth will groan
And no one here is going to die alone
It's a wine cellar
Oct. 7th, 2026 10:04 pmhunninghamSomeone somewhere on the interwebs (tumblr??) I came across the suggestion that you should think of your To-Be-Read pile, not as an obligation, but as a wine cellar full of rich vintages which you were going to enjoy slowly over the course of years, or maybe even bequeath to the next generation.
I am finding this metaphor rather consoling, because right now I seem to be buying books but not doing much of the actual reading.
List of books which I have assembled, and which will provide interest, education, solace, & delight at some future date (and absolutely zero guilt for present moment)
- The Road Through Miyama by Leila Philip (1980s, potter goes to Japan, makes pots)
- Delight by J. B. Priestley (1949, early example of 'pleasure in small things' genre)
- The Solace of Open Spaces by Gretel Ehrlich
- Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
- The Pathless Land - finding a Way Across Ireland by Tim Hannigan
- Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton
- A Different Sound - Stories by Mid-Century Writers ed. Lucy Scholes
- The Dragon Has Some Complaints by John Wiswell
- Salt Wind, Rising Water - Planting a Wood on Ireland's Wild Atlantic Coast by John S. Doyle
- One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad
- Breathe - How to Win a Greener World by Sadiq Khan
She reads Simone de Beauvoir in her American circumstance
Oct. 7th, 2026 05:01 pmsovayTwo days from my forty-fifth birthday, I have been informed that I have teenage hearing, meaning the last three weeks' sensation that someone has stuffed a sock in my left ear should fade once the inside of my head sorts its plumbing out. I appreciate the reassurance and can't wait for a normal internal pressure front.
R.I.P. Eva Marie Saint, iconic and unapologetic.
Courtesy ofmovingfinger: "long live the lesbian shrimps," a story of Yiddish idiom.
I am not sleeping any better, but it does seem that once the weather cools, I walk around more.
R.I.P. Eva Marie Saint, iconic and unapologetic.
Courtesy of
movingfinger: "long live the lesbian shrimps," a story of Yiddish idiom.I am not sleeping any better, but it does seem that once the weather cools, I walk around more.
Wednesday Reading Meme
Oct. 7th, 2026 04:04 pmosprey_archerWhat I’ve Just Finished Reading
After I finished Maryrose Wood’s Bad Badger: A Love Story,asakiyume casually asked if I planned to read the sequel, Bad Badger: A Family Story. I had not in fact been aware there was a sequel, but of course the knowledge sealed my fate.
In the first book, Septimus the badger befriended a seagull named Gully. In this second book, Gully’s eggs have hatched, and Septimus is now acting as co-parent to Gully’s seagull chicks, which honestly seems like a big leap in commitment from sitting on the porch enjoying sunsets together. Possibly the book one subtitle A Love Story should have clued me in that Septimus and Gully were going to become queerplatonic cross-species life partners.
I enjoyed the book, while simultaneously struggling with this aspect. Seagulls are monogamous colonial breeders! They stick with the same mate and the same colony for life! Why is Gully bringing up her chicks in a cottage with a badger rather than down on the beach with her mate and her flock?
I recognize that the answer is that I’m being too literal and there’s a metaphor about cross-cultural relationships here, but also when we got to the part where the raised-by-badger seagull chicks are not interested in flying I was like, okay, listen, I get there’s a metaphor. But the species gap is also simply much wider than a mere cross-cultural gap within the human species could ever be.
…I would read a sequel, though, if another one appears. I just really like the voice. And I am curious why Septimus not only lives in a cottage by the sea rather than a burrow, but in fact fears going underground at all.
I also finally read Susan Fletcher’s The Stuttgart Nanny Mafia, which I’ve vaguely intended to check out for years because it was always listed as “more by this author” on Dragon’s Milk. There is some danger as an adult in reading a book about a bratty kid plotting to get rid of her actually very nice German au pair, but in fact I was totally on Aurora’s side (against her parents rather than against the unoffending au pair). How did they expect Aurora would react when they made her give up her bedroom to some rando who would be “just like a big sister!”, except for how she would also be an authority figure in charge of Aurora, so really not like a big sister at all?
What I’m Reading Now
Daniel Hahn’s If This Be Magic: The Unlikely Art of Shakespeare in Translation. The man loves wordplay. At one point he mentions that he spelled “Shakespeare” with the first letter in each paragraph in the previous chapter. (Of course I had to go back to check, and yes he did.) In his chapter about grammatical gender, he mentions that he underlined every word in a translation passage that shows the gender of the speaker, and then puckishly adds that he did the same when he quoted the original English - the joke of course being that nothing in the English is underlined.
This has suggested to me the thesis that some translators find translation (among other things!) an irresistible word game, like a really high stakes crossword puzzle.
What I Plan to Read Next
I had intended to read Anne Rice’s The Vampire Lestat for Halloween this month, but will I make it? I may have checked out too many books this month…
After I finished Maryrose Wood’s Bad Badger: A Love Story,
asakiyume casually asked if I planned to read the sequel, Bad Badger: A Family Story. I had not in fact been aware there was a sequel, but of course the knowledge sealed my fate. In the first book, Septimus the badger befriended a seagull named Gully. In this second book, Gully’s eggs have hatched, and Septimus is now acting as co-parent to Gully’s seagull chicks, which honestly seems like a big leap in commitment from sitting on the porch enjoying sunsets together. Possibly the book one subtitle A Love Story should have clued me in that Septimus and Gully were going to become queerplatonic cross-species life partners.
I enjoyed the book, while simultaneously struggling with this aspect. Seagulls are monogamous colonial breeders! They stick with the same mate and the same colony for life! Why is Gully bringing up her chicks in a cottage with a badger rather than down on the beach with her mate and her flock?
I recognize that the answer is that I’m being too literal and there’s a metaphor about cross-cultural relationships here, but also when we got to the part where the raised-by-badger seagull chicks are not interested in flying I was like, okay, listen, I get there’s a metaphor. But the species gap is also simply much wider than a mere cross-cultural gap within the human species could ever be.
…I would read a sequel, though, if another one appears. I just really like the voice. And I am curious why Septimus not only lives in a cottage by the sea rather than a burrow, but in fact fears going underground at all.
I also finally read Susan Fletcher’s The Stuttgart Nanny Mafia, which I’ve vaguely intended to check out for years because it was always listed as “more by this author” on Dragon’s Milk. There is some danger as an adult in reading a book about a bratty kid plotting to get rid of her actually very nice German au pair, but in fact I was totally on Aurora’s side (against her parents rather than against the unoffending au pair). How did they expect Aurora would react when they made her give up her bedroom to some rando who would be “just like a big sister!”, except for how she would also be an authority figure in charge of Aurora, so really not like a big sister at all?
What I’m Reading Now
Daniel Hahn’s If This Be Magic: The Unlikely Art of Shakespeare in Translation. The man loves wordplay. At one point he mentions that he spelled “Shakespeare” with the first letter in each paragraph in the previous chapter. (Of course I had to go back to check, and yes he did.) In his chapter about grammatical gender, he mentions that he underlined every word in a translation passage that shows the gender of the speaker, and then puckishly adds that he did the same when he quoted the original English - the joke of course being that nothing in the English is underlined.
This has suggested to me the thesis that some translators find translation (among other things!) an irresistible word game, like a really high stakes crossword puzzle.
What I Plan to Read Next
I had intended to read Anne Rice’s The Vampire Lestat for Halloween this month, but will I make it? I may have checked out too many books this month…
Babylon 5 fic: A Finger's Length of Hair
Oct. 7th, 2026 12:00 pmsholioI wrote a thing! The Whumptober prompts are in the form of four prompts per day - you can use one or more. And the Day 5 prompt set was just so extremely These Guys that I couldn't resist it.
No. 5: Enemy to Caretaker | Imposter Syndrome | Haircut
"I always make things worse."
Posted on AO3 (gen or at least gennish, post-canon fixit 'verse, 1600 wds) or under the cut.
( A Finger's Length of Hair )
No. 5: Enemy to Caretaker | Imposter Syndrome | Haircut
"I always make things worse."
Posted on AO3 (gen or at least gennish, post-canon fixit 'verse, 1600 wds) or under the cut.
( A Finger's Length of Hair )