“Braiding
Sweetgrass” by Robin Wall Kimmerer. My first encounter with this
book was from my sister, who had a copy signed by the author, who she saw
speak. We share some minor amount of 1st nations ancestry, so
associate with this sort of thing perhaps. My sister gave me a section to read,
which was brilliant. Then, some months later Terri Windling did a few pieces
with quotes, and I remembered, and I can take a hint, so I got it out of the library.
It made me a little regretful of what I said about Canada geese a couple of
months ago.
This was an interesting thing to be reading while Canada was going
through its report from the Truth and Reconciliation commission. It left me
feeling there is a way forward. But it’s not easy. I wished she wrote more
about plants and less about people. It seemed a little long.
“Dragon”by Steven Brust. Book 8! Vlad goes to war! He wasn’t impressed. Entertaining as
usual. You can see SB messing with time transitions.
“HighDeryni” by Katherine Kurtz. Or, as my slightly deaf friend said when I told her what I was reading, "Catholic Curse?" Which is funny considering what seems Catholic and Jewish about the story.
I’m actually
starting to like these. Supposedly back in the 70’s Ursula K LeGuin dissed KK,
and I remember reading that essay when I was in high school (!). IIRC she said
the dialog didn’t sound like fantasy. I can see her point, but really the
problem is the endless descriptions of what people are wearing. I like clothing
more than most but wow. I did a big push through to the end, and fortunately
noticed that there was a glossary of characters at the back, which once I knew
it was there I needed constantly. The ending caught me by surprise.