Easier was not the same as better
Apr. 13th, 2021 04:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dolorosa_12Coming back to work was a bit of a shock to the system, but thanks to the heroic efforts of my coworker there was at least no deluge of emails waiting for me to deal with, which was a big relief. There was still time for all the nice bits of working from home — coffee breaks with Matthias, the ability to lie on the couch for five minutes or so if I needed a rest, the garden just through the kitchen door, etc, etc. I'm still absurdly grateful for all that, more than one year on from when I first started working from home in the first lockdown.
Today's books meme prompt asks for:
13. A book with a premise you'd never seen before quite like that
I'm cheating a bit here and answering with an author — Frances Hardinge — rather than a single book. It's hard to really summarise Hardinge's stories, but suffice it to say that she writes middle-grade fantasy novels which are so brimming with empathy and compassion for their characters, and so original in the ideas and worldbuilding (I would describe her books as 'quirky', but I do not mean that in a negative way) that they completely blow me away, every time I read one of her novels. Usually her characters are survivors of some kind of trauma, but the books are not misery porn, and instead focus on the ways these characters dig through the layers of things that cloud their judgement or weigh them down, until they arrive at a kind of truth and sense of personal integrity. Nothing happens in a straightforward way in Hardinge's books, and they are wise and kind and generous to their readers and characters in a way that I find hard to articulate.
My favourites are probably Cuckoo Song and A Skinful of Shadows, but really, I love all her books.
14. A book balanced on a knife edge
15. A snuffed candle of a book
16. The one you'd take with you while you were being ferried on dark underground rivers
17. The one that taught you something about yourself
18. A book that went after its premise like an explosion
19. A book that started a pilgrimage
20. A frigid ice bath of a book
21. A book written into your psyche
22. A warm blanket of a book
23. A book that made you bleed
24. A book that asked a question you've never had an answer to
25. A book that answered a question you never asked
26. A book you recommend but cannot love
27. A book you love but cannot recommend
28. A book you adore that people are surprised by
29. A book that led you home
30. A book you detest that people are surprised by
Today's books meme prompt asks for:
13. A book with a premise you'd never seen before quite like that
I'm cheating a bit here and answering with an author — Frances Hardinge — rather than a single book. It's hard to really summarise Hardinge's stories, but suffice it to say that she writes middle-grade fantasy novels which are so brimming with empathy and compassion for their characters, and so original in the ideas and worldbuilding (I would describe her books as 'quirky', but I do not mean that in a negative way) that they completely blow me away, every time I read one of her novels. Usually her characters are survivors of some kind of trauma, but the books are not misery porn, and instead focus on the ways these characters dig through the layers of things that cloud their judgement or weigh them down, until they arrive at a kind of truth and sense of personal integrity. Nothing happens in a straightforward way in Hardinge's books, and they are wise and kind and generous to their readers and characters in a way that I find hard to articulate.
My favourites are probably Cuckoo Song and A Skinful of Shadows, but really, I love all her books.
14. A book balanced on a knife edge
15. A snuffed candle of a book
16. The one you'd take with you while you were being ferried on dark underground rivers
17. The one that taught you something about yourself
18. A book that went after its premise like an explosion
19. A book that started a pilgrimage
20. A frigid ice bath of a book
21. A book written into your psyche
22. A warm blanket of a book
23. A book that made you bleed
24. A book that asked a question you've never had an answer to
25. A book that answered a question you never asked
26. A book you recommend but cannot love
27. A book you love but cannot recommend
28. A book you adore that people are surprised by
29. A book that led you home
30. A book you detest that people are surprised by