#north woods

[johnnyslittleanimalblog]

Soggy and Groggy Black Bear Cub by David & Shiela Glatz Via Flickr: When it started raining, he took a nap in the crook of this tree. This Black Bear (Ursus americanus) cub woke up to find his fur matted and soggy. He also seemed surprised that a couple strange humans were watching as he groggily repositioned himself on the branches and looked for his mom.

[disneytva]

Disney’s Expanded D23 Fan Event: Ticket Prices, On Sale Dates, Day-By-Day Event Focus

Disney has revealed key details about its biannual D23 fan event coming to the Anaheim Convention Center and the Honda Center on August 9, 10 & 11. The company promises “the best of Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and more. This year’s event will feature Disney+ integration with some presentations streamed live, musical performances with world-class artists, special content presentations, a new interactive app, and one-of-a-kind shopping experiences.”

The Honda Center is a new addition to D23 this year and Disney says it “will be home to three nights of marquee showcases—Disney Entertainment, Disney Experiences, and Disney Legends—allowing us to bring bigger shows with more magic to the biggest audience of Disney fans in the world.”

Disney Entertainment Showcase Friday, August 9 – 7:00 p.m. Honda Center Enjoy the magic of Disney Entertainment in a star-studded showcase featuring the best of Disney storytelling onstage and onscreen. Get an exclusive look at the movies, series, and shows fans love, and a glimpse into what to look forward to from Disney’s film studios, television and streaming services, live stage shows on Broadway, and beyond. Join some favorite stars as they give a peek behind the curtain at upcoming projects, never-before-seen footage and art, surprise announcements and special guests, musical performances, and exclusive new content coming to the big screen, to smaller screens, and to the stage… all from Disney Entertainment.

It's unknow if Disney Television Animation will be attending however considering that is the 40th anniversary of the studio, probably will get a separate panel.

[breaking-the-chains]

[wheel-of-fish]

I'm only halfway through North Woods but I've started recommending it to everyone. NORTH WOODS!! READ IT

[lichen-thr0pe]

[i-will-not-be-caged]

I’ve been reading this book the past few days and just finished it this afternoon. It was an oddly comforting thing to be reading during the midst of *gestures* all of this, but I was particularly struck by this line towards the very end:

“The only way to understand the world as something other than a tale of loss is to see it as a tale of change.”

Not really an encouraging quote in the traditional sense, but it did give me some comfort.

[wordsforrain]

Funky weather to the north tonight. The storm is far enough away to see the lightning but not hear the thunder. (Sound up for birds, if you want.)

[bangbangwhoa]

books I’ve read in 2023 📖 no. 104

North Woods by Daniel Mason

“Sometimes, overwhelmed, she retreats into the forests of the past. …and she has found that the only way to understand the world as something other than a tale of loss is to see it as a tale of change.”

[daisywords]

Just finished North Woods by Daniel Mason in an effort to diversify my reading a little bit (and on a rec from a friend who only read litfic) and like. It was fine. The prose was very nice, and some of the characters were intriguing. I just kept hoping that it would all come together more interestingly and satisfying in the end. And then it was...fine.

I'm discovering that as a rule I personally tend to be unimpressed with the kind of novel that's really just a short story collection or a few novellas masquerading as a novel. To me it seems they are always desperately reaching to be greater than the sum of their parts, and they always fail.

Not that books like this can't be good (I liked Cloud Cuckoo Land okay*) but I don't tend to find that the loose connections between narratives really add that much. Like sure, that's a way to explore themes across narratives in a way that you might not be able to do with a more insular story. But I guess I find myself more uncharitable than other people I know with the whole "oooh and the storylines were all connected!" like yeah I know. because the author made them all up and made them connected. Which like, yeah, that's how all fiction works, but like. "They're all connected" isn't enough. They're all connected and therefore What?

Not that books like this don't usually have a "therefore What" in mind, but I have yet to read one that I feel actually accomplishes this as well as it ought, since that's usually their whole Thing™

Something that North Woods did do particularly well with its multiple narratives, in my opinion, is the variety of voice and tone that really embodied various distinct characters and writing styles in a way that felt natural and true to the different formats while still remaining engaging. That's one of the things that was enough to keep me reading to the end, and it's pretty impressive in its own right.

But as I went on, I was only really reading to finish, and then the big finish was. well. spoiler alert but they're all ghosts together I guess. so.

Okay so we just kind of stomped on some of the creepy and subtle ambiguity that lent a lot of charm and interest to the various stories by just completely ripping aside the veil, as it were. That's not an inherently bad choice depending on where we're going with this, but I guess nowhere is where we're going now that we're here. Why demystify your mystery if you're only going to make it boring and not really reveal anything new?

And the whole time I was waiting for what the whole thing with the panther was going to lead up to. Yes, there are two times where a (the?) panther explicitly comes into play, but the other mentions of it are woven so subtly and exquisitely throughout that for a while I thought that was the main throughline we were following, just as much as the house/woods. It's even on the cover! And for what? That it was there throughout? for What????? the vibes??

In the unlikely event that someone who sees this post has actually read this book, maybe you're going to be like "daisy, that's because you are stupid and don't have reading comprehension and are missing the obvious" okay great well then tell me. I am genuinely asking.

But also I do have to say skimming the goodreads reviews there is a lot of "it has themes of connection because the stories are all connected. this is very profound and also impressive"

And also! I'm going to say it! Some of the storylines are kind of shallow and melodramatic! This could have been interesting if we actually delved into the character more instead of just kind of skimming through their life story, hoping that the combined weight of the other interesting-enough pieces will sink the surface-level stuff into some level of profundity. Very pretty nature writing, though.

Anyway I don't feel bad being uncharitable to this book because I'm pretty sure it's a pulitzer candidate or something and has plenty of good reviews. (And there are a lot of good things about it!) Mostly I'm using it as a poster child for its structure, because the whole loosely-connected-narratives-across-history/place thing I feel like keeps cropping up in the kind of books that my mom's book club reads and that people say are really good but don't really do it for me. (And I feel like this style of book is getting more popular? maybe that's just me?)

Anyway if you're still reading: do you tend to like these types of books? why or why not?

*Cloud Cuckoo Land in my opinion was weakest when it tried to sell us on the connecting threads as well, but that's an idea for another post

[theinquisitxor]

March 2024 Reading Wrap Up

I read 6 books in March, which was a little less than I was hoping for, but I thought the quality of what I read was very good. I read 3 fantasy books, 1 nonfiction, and 2 fiction. I read a few new releases and continued some series.

1.Us Against You by Frederik Backman (Beartown 2), 4/5 stars. I started March with reading the second book in this series, and it was just as emotional and good as book 1. I don't read a lot of fiction like this anymore, but I have been enjoying these books. I'm hoping to finish the series next month.

2. The Poison Prince by SC Emmet (Hostage of Empire 2), 4/5 stars. This is the second book in this courtly political east asian fantasy series. While the first book has bursts of action, this book was primarily no action/just politics. This is really shaping up to be a new favorite series which I hope to finish next month.

3. The Prisoner's Throne by Holly Black (The Stolen Heir Duology 2), 4/5 stars. This was a good conclusion to this duology, and I think I enjoyed this book more than the first. I liked seeing some of the characters from the first series, and get caught up with what is going on in Holly Black's world.

4. Knowing What We Know: The Transmission of Knowledge from Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic by Simon Winchester. This was my nonfiction audiobook for the month, and the author narrated the audiobook himself. This is a huge topic for an author to try and address in one book, and I enjoyed the stories that Winchester tells throughout.

5. An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors by Curtis Craddock (The Risen Kingdoms 1), 3/5 stars. This was my Random TBR Pick for the month of March. This book has been on my tbr since 2018, so I was happy to finally read it. This had a very unique world and setting which was cool to explore. Even though this is a series, I feel like you could read this just as a standalone. As of right now I don't plan on continuing.

6. North Woods by Daniel Mason, 5/5 stars. This was my favorite book I read this month, and a new all around favorite. This is exactly the type of literary fiction I enjoy, and checked so many boxes for me. I'll be thinking about this book for a long time to come.

That's all the books I read in March!

April TBR:

The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown

The Winners (Beartown 3) by Frederick Backman

The Bloody Throne (Hostage of Empire 3) by SC Emmet

Random TBR Pick: The Wall by Marlen Haushofer

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

Nonfiction Audiobook / The Language of Trees

If I have time:

The Hedgewitch of Fox Hall by Anna Bright

Song of the Huntress by Lucy Holland

[somewhat-a-sigma]

[historyhailey]

Happy St Urho's Day!

It's time once again to celebrate Northern Minnesota's favorite fake saint

[disneytva]

Monsters At Work Panel Hints Surprise Announcement From Disney Television Animation

ICYMI: Monsters At Work is having a panel TOMORROW at at 12:00 PM ET in room 405, Disney Branded Television social media announced that besides the panel, Executive Producer Kevin Deters will give a a special announcement alongside the Monsters At Work Season 2 sneak peek.

Likely a Monsters At Work third season renewal OR hoping a series greenlight of a NEW Disney Television Animation - Disney Channel series

[number1omorifan]

Recent pictures I’ve taken

[deathshallbenomore]

things that make my brain go vrrrrrr

[easierwithoutyou]

"Such joy that your sweet company makes, does leave a shadow in its wake.

To think that you were here but a week! -it felt both a minute and a lifetime.

You are like no one else I know, have ever met. My sole consolation, and it is a great one, is the realization of my life's fortune in your friendship, for it is fortune.

To think of all that had to happen so that we might meet, and all that might have happened to prevent it.”

- Daniel Mason, excerpt from North Woods.