Author: Nicky

Top Ten Tuesday

Posted February 9, 2016 by Nicky in General / 15 Comments

This week’s theme is a Valentine’s Day related freebie, so I’m going to put together a list of fictional romances I have loved! And probably no one will be surprised by my choices.

Cover of Camelot's Shadow by Sarah Zettel Cover of Chocolat by Joanne Harris Cover of Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey Cover of Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey Cover of Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier

  1. Gawain and Dame Ragnell. Sarah Zettel’s Camelot’s Shadow is the only contemporary book I can think of that uses these two in the way I’d like. I love that, in the original(? oldest extant might be a better word) medieval version, it’s all about equality. Gawain gives Ragnell a choice about her own life, her own body. How can that not appeal?
  2. Roux and Vianne, from Joanne Harris’ Chocolat. I used to think of this book as a guilty pleasure, but having given that whole concept up, I have to cop to this one (and why not?). The undemanding connection between these two really works for me — and reminds me of a favourite song, Suzanne Vega’s ‘Gypsy’.
  3. Joscelin and Phèdre, from Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Dart. I want a Joscelin of my own! Okay, they take some time getting there, but they come to an understanding and they are devoted to each other.
  4. Pilar and Loup, from Jacqueline Carey’s Santa Olivia. They’re just… adorable. Puppy love and all.
  5. Anluan and Catrin, from Juliet Marillier’s Heart’s Blood. A lovely Beauty and the Beast retelling, and I really believed in the way these two damaged people came together.
  6. Marco and Celia, from Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus. This book is just… gorgeous. I need to reread it.
  7. Lord Peter and Harriet, from Dorothy L. Sayers’ Strong PoisonWell, the whole series, of course. The patience he has with her, and the way they finally, finally get together… “If I should once give way to Peter, I should go up like straw.”
  8. Kate and Curran, from Ilona Andrews’ Magic Bites. Again, the whole series. They’re just… such good banter and also passion and irritation and… yep.
  9. Phryne and Lin Chung, from Kerry Greenwood’s Away With the Fairies. I might wish for Phryne to flirt with someone else again, but I do enjoy the bond between these two.
  10. Simon and Baz, from Rainbow Rowell’s Carry On. Okay, I haven’t even read it yet, but I’ve peeked, and eeeeh.

Cover of The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern Cover of Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers Cover of Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews Cover of Away With the Fairies by Kerry Greenwood Cover of Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

And of course, every Georgette Heyer, Mary Stewart and Susanna Kearsley romance feels perfect as I read it — they just don’t tend to stick in my head separately the way these do.

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Blog accessibility

Posted February 8, 2016 by Nicky in General / 14 Comments

It’s time to have a quick chat about something: blog accessibility. It’s particularly important to me because my mother has macular degeneration and I’ve been a volunteer for two charities which advocate for people who have sight-related disabilities, and because I know I have at least one regular reading my blog who uses a screenreader. It’s something you might not be very conscious of — especially if, as I found was pretty common, you assume that people with sight issues don’t (can’t) read.

Well, the technology for disabled people to keep on reading is definitely out there — magnifiers, audiobooks, ereaders, even plain ol’ being read to. And likewise, there’s plenty of assistive technology available for participation online, from screenreaders to browser extensions. I’m willing to bet there are some bloggers who use these technologies, maybe without talking about it, and probably there are people who are frustrated about participating because of issues, like pages with teeny tiny fonts, grey on white text, twiddly fonts, no alt text, etc, etc.

So! What can we do to fix this? It’s a lot of information to take in, but there is a website specifically teaching web accessibility, if you want to go the whole hog: the Web Accessibility Initiative. There’s also an accessibility evaluation tool called WAVE, which might help. And there’s a checklist I run through in my head (which I spent entirely too much time making into an acronym):

ACCESS

  • Alt(ernative) text. If you include an image, describe that image in the alt text. All you need is to add alt=”Description” to the HTML. Then screenreaders will read out the description instead of skipping the image entirely.
  • Contrast and colour. Have you got grey text on a black or white background? If so, there’s a good chance some people can’t read it at all, and others will get headaches trying! Black against white (and white against black) are a good contrast, obviously, and I can’t imagine anyone wants to go with black on neon yellow, which is supposed to be very readable. But try and think about contrast when designing your blog.
  • Ease. Is it easy to find things on your site, or do people have to trawl through miles of menus to find something?
  • Size. This is somewhat adjustable by the end-user, but if you have BIG TEXT for reviews and tiny text for comments, people will need to zoom in and out depending on which part of the page they’re on. Keeping things more or less the same size should help, and you can check this easily yourself by zooming in and out in your browser.
  • Style. If you’re using a font with serifs (little extra strokes on the letters), this can be difficult for people with dyslexia and visual issues. There’s a good page here about font choices and how to present text on your webpage.

I am sure there’s a ton of stuff which that leaves out, but it’s a good jumping off point, I think, along with using evaluation tools. The benefit of all this is that your site will look good to all your visitors, if you plan for them in the first place, and more people can participate in our community and share their views and experiences. Can’t see a downside to (book) blog accessibility!

As for my own blog accessibility, I have already worked on it somewhat (with my mother’s feedback and web evaluation tools), and I’m always open to making more modifications, too. My skills with css and coding and so on are non-existent, so I might be limited in exactly what I can do. Still, that’s what the internet/my techy partner is for, and I will do my best to accommodate any disability needs!

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Review – Arrows of the Queen

Posted February 8, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 4 Comments

Cover of Arrows of the Queen by Mercedes LackeyArrows of the Queen, Mercedes Lackey

I’ve always vaguely known about Mercedes Lackey’s work, but rarely read any, so this was my first experience with Valdemar. I’m aware that there are tons of problematic things about Mercedes Lackey’s body of work, though I haven’t looked at details. Still, Arrows of the Queen is a book I wish I’d had when I was younger. It has a couple of queer characters, who are treated pretty much like the other characters — okay, things aren’t all rosy for them, but not for other characters, either. And the main character is a young girl who loves books, and turns out to belong to something bigger than herself — that scullery maid to (almost) princess sort of transition which can be so fun (and which so often brings forth cries of “Mary Sue” when the character is female, and yet no such complaint is made if the character is male).

It’s fun, and Talia is capable and compassionate, while also learning and growing throughout the book. There are some things which jar a little now, for example her casual use of corporal punishment with the spoilt young princess, even after coming from a rather abusive background herself. It’s pretty commonly agreed now that corporal punishment doesn’t really go any good, but here it’s treated as a valuable tool in the arsenal of unspoiling a child. I’m dubious, and I’m sure there are people who would hate that section, but at least Talia has a general common sense approach to dealing with the Brat.

On the less positive side, the writing seriously falls down in places. Large chunks of time fly by, without any real framing, so that you think she’s been at the school for a month and it turns out it’s been a year, and such things. Worse, Lackey is — at least at this point in her career — very prone to “telling, not showing”. This sometimes wrecks the pacing and makes sections seem rather dry and didactic.

Still, I read it in one go and did enjoy it, and I’m planning to read more in the Valdemar universe. And I still wish I’d actually picked this up as a kid, and given it to my sister too. It might have made us feel less alone.

Rating: 3/5

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Review – The Collectors

Posted February 7, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Cover of The Collectors by Philip PullmanThe Collectors, Philip Pullman, read by Bill Nighy

I don’t think I knew when I picked this up that it was part of the His Dark Materials world, but it doesn’t really matter that it is. It does add another dimension if you can identify why certain things go together, but it works as an atmospheric creepy story, too. Especially as read by Bill Nighy — I don’t often read something only as an audiobook, but this seems very much designed to be an audiobook. The action is almost entirely in dialogue.

The feeling of the story… it’s something like Neil Gaiman’s style, now I think about it. And it feels more like Clockwork, of Pullman’s work, than His Dark Materials. That’s not a criticism, despite the fact that Clockwork is aimed at a younger audience. I think both capture something creepy and bring it across in just the right number of words.

For an audiobook I got for free, this is definitely worth the half hour’s listening. Especially if you are a fan of Pullman in general.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – Rose Cottage

Posted February 6, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of Rose Cottage by Mary StewartRose Cottage, Mary Stewart

Rose Cottage is a quiet mystery/romance, not too heavy on either, with no dramatics of the sort you find in The Gabriel Hounds or Touch Not the Cat. It’s all fairly quiet and peaceful; a restful sort of book, with only brief moments of unease, no madly evil people (though one at least who is very flawed), no great tragedy, and an ending that brings everyone neatly together in a perfect reunion.

Given that I’d definitely choose the word “gentle” to describe it, and the romance is just barely there in the last half, this isn’t the most pacey, exciting story. It’s a cosy one, of homecoming and heart-healing and family, needing and wanting no heroics. It’s a post-war story, but the war is just a shadow in the background; it’s a family mystery, but the important thing is not so much the mystery, the not-knowing, but almost the end of the story, when people come together.

This all might sound like faint praise, and it’s true that Rose Cottage isn’t one of my favourite of Stewart’s books. But it’s enjoyable, and especially good if you don’t want high drama, just some village life and a happy ending.

Rating: 3/5

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Stacking the Shelves

Posted February 6, 2016 by Nicky in General / 23 Comments

This is definitely not an unstacking week! I bought five books this week, and received one to review as well. And I didn’t get much reading done at all… oops!

Received to review:

Cover of Dreams of Distant Shores by Patricia McKillip

I’m quite excited about this one! I love McKillip’s work.

Bought:

Cover of Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff Cover of Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton Cover of Soundless by Richelle Mead

Cover of The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski Cover of Defy by Sara Larson

I’ve heard mixed things about Defy and Soundless, but I was curious anyway and had leftover euros to spend. So hurrah! And hey, I went three months without buying books…

Read this week:

Cover of The Midnight Queen by Sylvia Izzo Hunter Cover of Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre

Reviews this week:

Kingfisher, Patricia McKillip. Her first novel in a long time, everyone’s very excited about this. And I think she delivers. 4/5 stars
Queen of the Flowers, Kerry Greenwood. Fun and more personal/involving than the last couple of books. 4/5 stars
Time’s Anvil: England, Archaeology and the Imagination, Richard Morris. A bit prone to rambling and tangents, but interesting. 3/5 stars
Dreamsnake, Vonda N. McIntyre. A reread for me. Worth the second visit, though there’s a lot of things I’d still like to know! 4/5 stars
Signal to Noise, Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Interesting ideas — magic in pop music and vinyl! 3/5 stars
Flashback Friday: Camelot’s Honour, Sarah Zettel. Maybe the most influenced by Welsh mythology of the whole series, this is a comfort read for me. 4/5 stars

Other posts:

Unpopular Opinions TagWant to know what series I think is overrated? Oh, and there’s an interesting discussion in the comments about the Grisha trilogy!
ShelfLove Challenge UpdateHow am I doing on my yearly goals? Quite well, so far!
Top Ten Tuesday: Historical Settings I LovedWhat it says on the tin.
February TBR. I’m planning to read a lot this month. Let’s see how laughably wrong my TBR pile is!

How’s everyone been this week? Reading more than me, I hope!

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Review – Camelot’s Honour

Posted February 5, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of Camelot's Honour by Sarah ZettelCamelot’s Honour, Sarah Zettel

Originally reviewed in February 2010

The first time I read this series, I wasn’t all that impressed. There are still things I’m not so keen on — the love at first sight, for one thing, doesn’t ring very true, and also the books could do with better proofreading. There’s punctuation missing, and I’m pretty sure “grieves” and “greaves” don’t mean the same thing. But, this time, I found myself a lot more interested. I preferred Geraint to Gawain, I think, and I was interested in him and his feelings about his relationship to Morgaine, and his way of dealing with his legacy from his father — and his love for Elen.

I don’t know if the story of Elen and Geraint is based on any legend, Arthurian or otherwise, although I suspect that the story of Gwiffert, at least, has some kind of link to existing mythology. Still, it’s nice to see a lot of mythology together and coupled to the Arthurian mythology, to make something new. The ongoing story of Morgaine is interesting, too: I can’t actually remember very well how that’s resolved, and I forgot that she seemed genuinely in love with Urien.

I originally didn’t like Elen much, but there is something compelling about her, too, and her struggle, and Collanau. I wished the book had more about the Lord, the Lady, and Elen’s family. As far as I remember, the Lord and the Lady don’t come into it again, which is a shame.

(Erec and Enide is, of course, where I think this comes from. It doesn’t follow it directly in plot, but I think the idea of the bird came from there.)

[Note in 2016: I know much more about the various sources now — The Mabinogion is a big one.]

Rating: 4/5

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Review – The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club

Posted February 4, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy SayersThe Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, Dorothy L. Sayers

Featuring Ian Carmichael as Lord Peter Wimsey, Peter Jones as Bunter, and Gabriel Woolf as Inspector Parker

This has never been my favourite of the books, though it does touch on some of the horrors of war (in the figure of George Fentiman) and there are some interesting moral issues — particularly because this is one of those books in which Peter chooses to offer someone a “gentlemanly way out”. On the one hand, it bothers me because the guy is basically painted into a corner: his guilt has been figured out, and now here comes Lord Peter to make him write a full confession and then gently hint that he should shoot himself, rather than face due process and be condemned by a jury. Of course, the death penalty is probably his ultimate destination, and yet… who is Lord Peter to decide? To offer a way round the law?

It’s one of those stories in which Peter is asked whether he’s a detective or a gentleman, and he pretty much dodges the issue.

The radioplay is a fun enough adaptation, though the pacing is bizarre. Just as you think it must be approaching the denouement, it turns out that no, there’s still half the story to go. It feels very odd, even when you know it’s coming.

As usual, the voice acting is pretty excellent, and there was no desperate overacting by extras in this one, either. Hurrah.

Rating: 3/5

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February TBR

Posted February 3, 2016 by Nicky in General / 8 Comments

I don’t know why anyone believes the TBR stacks I make, since I so often randomly deviate and wander off. Nonetheless, I’m behind on my reading goal already and need, to catch up, to read 37 books in February. Eek. So here’s a somewhat random selection, for inspiration if I’m wondering what to read…

Already reading:

  • The Tiger and the Wolf, Adrian Tchiakovsky. Also a review copy and due out in a few days, so yeah, hurry up, self.
  • Song for the Basilisk, Patricia McKillip. I’m quite a way through this, so it should be easy to finish!
  • Georgette Heyer: Biography of a Bestseller, Jennifer Kloester. Partway through this, and I believe the library wants it back. So hurry up, self!
  • Shiver, Maggie Stiefvater. This is a really fast read for me and I’m not sure why I haven’t finished it already. Got distracted, I guess…
  • The Genome, Sergei Lukyanenko. I was pretty captivated by this a few weeks ago, so hopefully I can get back into it and eat it up.
  • Guardian of the Dead, Karen Healey. Though the library hasn’t called to ask when the hell I’m going to return this, they’d have a perfect right…

ARCs/new releases:

  • Dreams of Distant Shores, Patricia McKillip. Even my review isn’t due until May 10th, but shush. I want to get to this one.
  • Different Class, Joanne Harris. Got this for review, and I typically eat up Harris’ prose, so…
  • City of Blades, Robert Jackson Bennett. have to read this, omg.
  • Lois Lane: Fallout, Gwenda Bond. Slightly demanding email saying my deadline is 15th February for a book I won, but okay.
  • Rebel of the Sands, Alwyn Hamilton. Found in a Belgian bookshop in advance of the release date, so it’s fate, right?

Argh, read some books you already own:

  • Saints Astray, Jacqueline Carey. Should be a fast read, judging from how fast my sister tore through it, and it’s why I reread Santa Olivia…
  • Library of Souls, Ransom Riggs. Finishes up the trilogy!
  • Death by Water, Kerry Greenwood. It’s inevitable I’m going to read at least one Phryne book, let’s be honest.
  • The Boy Who Lost Fairyland, Catherynne M. Valente. I’ve been craving this for a while, it’s about time.
  • Dreamer’s Pool, Juliet Marillier. Before the people waiting for me to read it eat me or something.
  • The Wrath & the Dawn, Renee Ahdieh. People have ARCs of the next book. Clearly it is time to get off my butt.
  • Carry On, Rainbow Rowell. I need to stop just admiring the cover and peeking at the end.
  • A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, Becky Chambers. I am so sold on this book, you don’t need to say a word more. I’m convinced I’ll like it.
  • Companion to Wolves, Sarah Monette & Elizabeth Bear. I love both authors (or at least, Monette’s work as Katherine Addison). It’s time!
  • Six of Crows, Leigh Bardugo. Everybody seems to love this even more than the Grisha books. So okay, it’s time!

Obviously, I’m hoping to read a lot more than this. But if I manage to read this bunch, I’ll be happy!

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Review – Signal to Noise

Posted February 3, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Cover of Signal to Noise by Sylvia Moreno-GarciaSignal to Noise, Sylvia Moreno-Garcia

Someone in my book club in Cardiff mentioned Signal to Noise to me with some enthusiasm, and I’d already looked at it speculatively a few times, so I was quite eager to give it a go. Music and magic being linked is hardly a revolutionary idea for me: Orpheus, the enchantment of a good song, the Pied Piper… But this uses music like Bowie and Nina Simone; songs like ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’. Popular music, recent music. It’s an accessible sort of magic, and the perfect kind of magic for a teenager to use.

The characters are very teenage: a mismatched group who don’t get along with other people so well, at least as teens; who grow apart, as adults, so that the first moment of recognition is a strange one. The pushy prickly leader and the gentle follower, the bond between a boy and a girl of understanding, of seeing a future… The teenage versions of the characters definitely work well, though as adults there’s still something so teenage about them — or at least about Meche, Mercedes, the main character.

The two plots run parallel: Meche, Daniela and Sebastian as teens, casting spells using vinyl, and then the same characters as adults, grown far apart — wrenched far apart, it turns out, by what happened when they were teens. That plot is kind of interesting, though I didn’t really feel Meche’s power trip. It got way too menacing too fast, and after that I couldn’t understand Sebastian and Daniela still wanting to be anywhere near Meche. Sure, the spells she wanted to cast were understandable — but also manipulative, and in one case, really dangerous. It doesn’t feel like Meche deserves Daniela and Sebastian’s patience and forgiveness, however close Sebastian and Meche were before.

I found it an overall entertaining story, but not as great as I’d hoped. I liked the fact that it was set in Mexico City, and the little flavours of food and stories which reminded you, every now and again, where the characters were and what shaped and constrained their lives — those subtle differences from the typical American teenagers. It’s not a hugely marked thing, though, now I think about it in retrospect — the story could be the same without the setting, I think.

Rating: 3/5

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