otislotus

[otislotus]

Christopher Eccleston reads Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est”

This took my breath away.

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i like perusing fragrantica (perfume information website) as a pastime, but the number of people??? who wear perfume??? to bed?? wild

also have seen MULTIPLE variations of "good hiking perfume"/"good going to the gym perfume"?????

WHAT are other people's discretionary funds for fragrance looking like??? that you would have a "hiking" perfume?????

[otislotus]

Rocannon's World

Planet of Exile

City of Illusions

by Ursula K. LeGuin

“…in the beginning the Creator told a great lie. For there was nothing at all, but the Creator spoke, saying, It exists. And behold, in order that the lie of God might be God’s truth, the universe at once began to exist…”

- Rocannon’s World was not at all what I was expecting after reading Semley’s Necklace. I thought there would be more curiosity driven exploration and cultural discovery. Instead, it was kinda tragic. I enjoyed it though and was interested to keep reading the series.

- And if Rocannon’s World was not what I expected, Planet of Exile was even less so. It’s not so much a continuation of the story as another story that happens to take place in the same universe. (To draw a parallel: imagine you had seen Han Solo and thought that Rogue One was its sequel despite not having seen any of the other Star Wars films). I found this one had a very intriguing beginning, but kinda became a slog after the first chapter or two. It also bothered me that Jakob Agat never challenged the patriarchal assumptions of Rolery’s culture and just allowed her to be subservient to him. It just felt icky, and I spent some time imagining their future and how he would challenge those aspects of their relationship after the crisis had passed, but even my imagination felt too idealistic to really fit into the canon of the story.

- I learned to set my expectations aside finally, and City of Illusions was my favourite of the 3 (probably related). I enjoyed the philosophical aspect of Falk discovering himself along with his previous identity and deciphering truth from lies, although some of it felt a bit rushed towards the end. The plot moved fairly quickly event-wise as well, which kept me interested. I’m bothered by not knowing Estrel’s fate, and really the whole conclusion is left to the imagination, because LeGuin could have written another entire book just to tell us what happened next!

- Conclusion: I enjoyed them all, even though they weren’t easy to read. The last was the best (that’s where the quote at the beginning of this review is from), but the ending was not completely satisfying, leaving a lot to the imagination.

Decided to keep track of the books I’ve read this year because I’m always reading something, but can never remember anything when people ask for book recs

These are books I’ve read for myself. I’ll make a separate post for books I read aloud to the kids.

[otislotus]

amen brother…

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The Wind’s Twelve Quarters: Short Stories by Ursula K. Le Guin

What a change from the style of my last few picks!

I picked this up from the library because someone referenced Those Who Walk Away from Omelas to me, and then was surprised that I had never read it in school (homeschooled!)

- That was honestly my least favourite story in the book — not because it wasn’t well written, but because it made me uncomfortable. I can see why high school teachers choose it to study with their classes. I just wasn’t really in the mood for suffering.

- I did enjoy many of the other stories and I know that Le Guin is a staple of sci-fi and fantasy genres, so I don’t know why I haven’t read her before. I enjoyed these so much that I put the Wizard of Earthsea and the Rocannon’s World Trilogy (can’t remember it’s actual name) on hold at the library.

- my favourite story was probably April in Paris as just a silly fantasy where one particular magic spell works in one particular place and several people from very different walks of life get to live happily ever after.

- I think if I were to reread this collection in 5 years I would have a different favourite. Having come from a list of classics, historical fiction, and romances, switching tones was maybe a bit off-putting so the one I liked best was the only historical pseudo romance in the bunch!

Decided to keep track of the books I’ve read this year because I’m always reading something, but can never remember anything when people ask for book recs

These are books I’ve read for myself. I’ll make a separate post for books I read aloud to the kids.

[otislotus]

The Perils of Lady Catherine de Bourgh by Claudia Gray

3rd in the series of A Mr Darcy and Miss Tilney Mystery

I thought this was going to be a trilogy, but based on the ending, there will be at least one more in the series. When I finished, I couldn’t decided if I was disappointed that the romance did not quite conclude, or excited about more books in such a wonderful series! (Plus a little disappointed that this book came out this year, so most likely it will be at least 2 years until the next one)

I wonder if there’s some way to set up an email notification when it comes out?

Decided to keep track of the books I’ve read this year because I’m always reading something, but can never remember anything when people ask for book recs

These are books I’ve read for myself. I’ll make a separate post for books I read aloud to the kids.

[otislotus]

The Late Mrs Willoughby by Claudia Gray

I won’t bother with a summary, since it’s a sequel, but I will say that it was just as good as the first. The first could be read as a stand-alone and be satisfying, but the ending of this one leaves some things hanging even though the mystery was solved. Stay tuned for the next book as well!

Decided to keep track of the books I’ve read this year because I’m always reading something, but can never remember anything when people ask for book recs

These are books I’ve read for myself. I’ll make a separate post for books I read aloud to the kids.

[otislotus]

Love and Freindship (sic) and Other Youthful Writings by Jane Austen

Lady Susan by Jane Austen

I’ve read all of Austen’s 6 novels, and seen many of the adaptations, so I thought I’d finally get around to reading these as well, when I saw some others discussing the movie Love and Friendship which actually follows the plot of Lady Susan.

I enjoyed these as quick reads, but I don’t know if I would have if they were significantly longer like Austen’s other novels.

Part of me finds it hard to believe that Austen wrote Love and Freindship when she was only 14 years old. I’ve reread some of the stuff I wrote when I was 14 and it was all terrible! This was very clever, and the 5th letter, where Laura and her parents are discussing answering the door had me absolutely in stitches (I honestly thought it was so funny, that I went and read it to my dad so I had someone to laugh with!).

Also, the line (again in the 5th letter) of “no sooner did I first behold him, than I felt that on him the happiness or misery of my future life must depend.” reminded me of Marianne in Sense and Sensibility so much so that I tried searching through the ebook because I thought She had something of a similar sort about Willoughby but I couldn’t find anything (perhaps it was in one of the film adaptations). It reminded me a little of Mr Collins as well: the “almost as soon as I had entered the house… companion of my future life” speech.

The style is so over the top (which I know was the point to make fun of people who thought this sentimentality was romantic) but it was a little grating after a while.

I read through the rest of the early works too, even though I don’t generally enjoy reading unfinished things. They were interesting. I really wish Lesley Castle had been finished. I quite enjoyed that one and I might try to find some fanfiction that finishes it or something.

Lady Susan I couldn’t have dealt with being longer simply because she was so awful! How could she do that to her own daughter!? And the manipulations were so blatant but the men kept falling for them anyway (except Mr Johnson, thank goodness there was one man with sense lol).

I did enjoy it, but I was also glad when it was over. I also really liked the not-quite-happy ending for Frederica. That she had family who cared for her and were willing to put her in the path of a man she fancied, and hope for an eventual marriage, but not try to make her decisions for her. It was a very sweet ending for that poor girl.

I’d like to watch the movie now, but it’s not on any of the services my family subscribes to.

Decided to keep track of the books I’ve read this year because I’m always reading something, but can never remember anything when people ask for book recs

These are books I’ve read for myself. I’ll make a separate post for books I read aloud to the kids.

[otislotus]

The second time I went to Vancouver island, we went on a short hike with my nieces (who were 4 and 6 at the time). I was looking at some rocks when I hear the 6-year-old behind me, “Awwww! Aunty, look! I found a slug!” in the same tone most kids would use to describe a kitten.

I turned around to find her like 6 inches behind me holding a banana slug bigger than both her hands up towards my face. I jumped so high, lol. It was a beautiful slug though!

[otislotus]

The Murder of Mr Wickham by Claudia Gray

Summary (from the publisher):

The happily married Mr. Knightley and Emma are throwing a party at their country estate, bringing together distant relatives and new acquaintances—characters beloved by Jane Austen fans. Definitely not invited is Mr. Wickham, whose latest financial scheme has netted him an even broader array of enemies. As tempers flare and secrets are revealed, it’s clear that everyone would be happier if Mr. Wickham got his comeuppance. Yet they’re all shocked when Wickham turns up murdered—except, of course, for the killer hidden in their midst.

Nearly everyone at the house party is a suspect, so it falls to the party’s two youngest guests to solve the mystery: Juliet Tilney, the smart and resourceful daughter of Catherine and Henry, eager for adventure beyond Northanger Abbey; and Jonathan Darcy, the Darcys’ eldest son, whose adherence to propriety makes his father seem almost relaxed. In this tantalizing fusion of Austen and Christie, from New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray, the unlikely pair must put aside their own poor first impressions and uncover the guilty party—before an innocent person is sentenced to hang.

- I enjoyed this so much, that I put both sequels on my holds list at the library before I even finished it!

- Although the language is modernized, the flow and pacing suit Austen’s style very beautifully.

- the murder mystery aspect was really well done. I guessed the perpetrator only a bit before they were revealed, which is probably what the author hopes for (that last clue!). And there weren’t any really obvious red herrings (like when the author really wants you to guess wrongly which I find a little insulting really)

- I enjoyed the neurodivergency of Jonathan Darcy. I thought it was really well represented in a historical time and style where autism had not been described and named.

- I suspect that the author was not a big fan of Mansfield Park because the portrayal of Fanny and Edmund Bertram were less than stellar (but perhaps I’m reading too much into it because I don’t like Edmund much either). I also thought the characterization of the Wentworths was a little flat, but also I have only read Persuasion once, so maybe I was missing some subtleties.

- I didn’t enjoy the marital strife depicted among some of the couples (especially the Darcy’s and the Brandon’s) because I really like to imagine happily ever after for my blorbos, but I have to admit that it really suited the story and was very realistic.

- overall I loved it and I’m hoping hard the sequel gets delivered to my library in time for me to pick it up before out road trip next week!

Decided to keep track of the books I’ve read this year because I’m always reading something, but can never remember anything when people ask for book recs

These are books I’ve read for myself. I’ll make a separate post for books I read aloud to the kids.

[otislotus]

I cannot believe that the rivalry is pre-colonial!? I’ve lived here basically my whole life and did not know that!

The only thing in that article besides sports that I remember is the “cultural capital of Canada” prize, and it was a common refrain in the Edmonton area (famous for arts support because of the fringe festival, etc) that Calgary won because they needed the grant money, otherwise they had no “culture” at all.

With regards to sports, a common refrain in Edmonton is ABC (anybody but Calgary).

What does the emerald tablet say about connor mcdavid

Hang on lemme Google something

The Emerald Tablet doesn't have much to say about any member of the Edmonton Oilers. Sorry.

[otislotus]

😊🌟 grandpas on adventure

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the problem with watching doctor who as a child is that a small part of your brain can never completely give up the idea that the doctor exists. if i saw a blue police box materialize out of thin air i would not be anywhere near surprised enough.

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i will never risk saying this in an actual gaming server but I don’t think constantly screaming out of anger when you’re playing is good

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Fruit studies 🎨

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Fishs cross the road.

Anabas is a genus of climbing gouramies native to southern and eastern Asia.