2020/145: Tales from the Folly -- Ben Aaronovich

2020/145: Tales from the Folly -- Ben Aaronovich

Hail Dominic and Victor, the foxes had hailed us, soon to be blessed above all other minor landowners in Herefordshire and the wider border regions. The little bastards could have given us more of a warning.

‘He seems like a good little chap,’ said Victor.

‘Victor,’ I said slowly. ‘He’s the god of the River Lugg.’ [p. 205]

An assortment of short stories and vignettes set in the world of the Rivers of London series. The first six stories are told from Peter Grant's viewpoint: the others by more-or-less minor characters, or characters who don't appear in the novels.

( no spoilers )

2020/146: Voyage of Innocence -- Elizabeth Edmondson

2020/146: Voyage of Innocence -- Elizabeth Edmondson

'...I can see that when everything grinds to a halt, as it will have to, and the sources of supply are taken over but aren’t working properly, and the rich are holed up in their castles, then no duck nor cat nor even dogs will have a hope.’
‘I don’t think anything would induce an English person to eat his dog.’
‘No, most Englishmen would probably rather devour their children.’ [p. 266]

I've enjoyed almost everything I've read by Elizabeth Edmondson (who also wrote as Elizabeth Pewsey), and this -- after a slow start -- was no exception.

The novel opens in 1938, on board the SS Gloriana, bound from Tilbury to India. Verity -- known as Vee -- is fleeing undisclosed dangers; Lally, her American friend who happens to be on the same ship, is going out to join her husband; and Claudia, Vee's cousin who joins the ship at Lisbon, needs to be out of Europe now that she's 'come to her senses'.( no major spoilers )

2020/147: The Echo Wife -- Sarah Gailey

2020/147: The Echo Wife -- Sarah Gailey

It was one of the things that made my work legal and ethical: each duplicative clone was an island, incapable of reproduction, isolated and, ultimately, disposable. It was bedrock. Clones don't have families. [loc. 468]

Excellent, dark and thought-provoking novel from the author of River of Teeth and Taste of Marrow. The first-person narrator of The Echo Wife -- a scientific genius and a woman who has put her career before everything -- is a compelling creation, and the story unfolds as weightily as a Greek tragedy.

Thanks to Netgalley for this advance review copy: proper review coming nearer UK publication, which is due on 18th February 2021.

(Meanwhile it's about time I read Gailey's Magic for Liars...)

Reading Women Challenge 2020

I completed the Reading Women Challenge 2020. Some books are better than other books, and some books are more to my taste than other books ...but this has really broadened my reading this year.
Links are to my reviews on this Dreamwidth blog.

I recommend this as a reading stretch: you don't have to be on Goodreads / listen to the 'Reading Women' podcast to do it. Next year's is here ... I am already planning!

√ 1) by an Author from the Caribbean or India - The New Moon's Arms -- Nalo Hopkinson
√ 2) Translated from an Asian Language -- Strange Weather in Tokyo -- Hiromi Kawakami (translated by Allison Markin Powell)
√ 3) About the Environment - Surfacing -- Kathleen Jamie
√ 4) Picture Book Written/Illustrated by a BIPOC Author - Sulwe -- Lupita Nyong'o (illustrated by Vashti Harrison)
√ 5) Winner of the Stella Prize or the Women’s Prize for Fiction - The Museum of Modern Love -- Heather Rose
√ 6) Nonfiction Title by a Woman Historian - Women & Power: A Manifesto -- Mary Beard
√ 7) Featuring Afrofuturism or Africanfuturism - The Stone Sky -- N K Jemisin
√ 8) Anthology by Multiple Authors - Consolation Songs: Optimistic Speculative Fiction For A Time of Pandemic -- ed. Iona Datt Sharma
√ 9) Inspired by Folklore - The Silver Bough -- Lisa Tuttle
√ 10) About a Woman Artist - Blood Water Paint -- Joy McCullough
√ 11) Read and Watch a Book-to-Movie Adaptation -- Little Women (Alcott) and Greta Gerwig's 2019 adaptation.
√ 12) About a Woman Who Inspires You - Our House Is on Fire: Scenes of a Family and a Planet in Crisis -- Malena Ernman, Greta Thunberg
√ 13) By an Arab Woman - A Pure Heart -- Rajia Hassib
√ 14) Set in Japan or by a Japanese Author -- Convenience Store Woman -- Sayaka Murata
√ 15) Biography - The Perfect Gentleman: The remarkable life of Dr. James Miranda Barry - June Rose
√ 16) Featuring a Woman with a Disability - Broken Places & Outer Spaces: Finding Creativity in the Unexpected -- Nnedi Okorafor
√ 17) Over 500 Pages - The Lost Future of Pepperharrow -- Natasha Pulley
√ 18) Under 100 Pages - Madame Two Swords -- Tanith Lee
√ 19) Frequently Recommended to You - The Ten Thousand Doors of January -- Alix E Harrow
√ 20) Feel-Good or Happy Book - Network Effect -- Martha Wells
√ 21) About Food - A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking -- T Kingfisher
√ 22) By Either a Favorite or a New-to-You Publisher -- The Wild Swans -- Peg Kerr
√ 23) By an LGBTQ+ Author -- Tentacle -- Rita Indiana
√ 24) From the 2019 Reading Women Award Shortlists and Honorable Mentions - Frankissstein: A Love Story -- Jeanette Winterson

Bonuses:
√ 25) Toni Morrison - Beloved
√ 26) Isabelle Allende - A Long Petal of the Sea