brief book update

[rose_griffes]

Having kept Netflix an extra month after finishing season two of Shadow and Bone, I am slightly embarrassed to report that I watched… basically nothing else. I have a to-watch list on the platform, and a google doc somewhere around here with more things to watch! But apparently I don’t make time to watch stuff unless I really want to watch it.

At least not at this time of year. And with my current schedule. *takes a deep breath*

But I have read some books. There’s an interesting tetralogy or quartet - whatever you prefer, I like both terms - by Jacquelyn Benson. The London Charismatics series features a young woman with visions of the future, a touch-sensitive seer of the past, and several other unusual powers. Starting in 1913 London, the series eventually moves through and beyond World War I.

I liked the female lead, Lily, and her prickly nature. The slow-build romance took the right amount of storyline–not always front-and-center, but still a part of Lily’s evolution in the books.

a few spoilery observations

The weakest point for me, and it’s a big one, is Lily’s relationship with Sam. The author doesn’t build a solid enough foundation in book one to justify what we see between them later.

However, the rest of the story makes up for it. I like the prose, the characters are distinct and well-realized, and the world-building as a whole deserves a solid grade.

I tried reading Matrix, by Lauren Groff. It’s a historical novel about 12th century poet Marie de France and her time as an abbess*. The prose initially intrigued me, but then repelled me. What’s with this no quotation mark style?! I got so frustrated reading it that I gave up. Punctuation such as quotation marks helps with reading comprehension, at least for me.

*Marie de France may or may not have been the Abbess of Shaftesbury. There’s a lot of speculation about her identity; we simply don’t know.

Comments

[elperian]

Question about Netflix - when you cancel your account, when you want to watch something else, do you just log back in with your old username and it repopulates what you had before, or does it create a whole blank new account for you? Guess this question applies to all the streaming services you do this with!

What’s with this no quotation mark style?! I got so frustrated reading it that I gave up.

How bizarre! How are you supposed to tell what bits are dialogue versus not?

[rose_griffes]

Yes, Netflix saves your info, including your watchlist. So if you use the same email, it should all show back up. Disney, too. I don't remember about Hulu, but I think so?

The "this is dialogue and this is not" was reasonably clear (at least for the small amount I read) just based on the writer's style. First, there just WASN'T much actual dialogue. Lots of paraphrasing from Marie's point of view. Even so, without that marker to indicate spoken words, my brain would gloss over the paragraph and not catch some things unless I forced myself to stay ultra-focused. Which wasn't enjoyable.

Also, it felt very... hm. Like a novel about a 12th century character by a contemporary writer. But in a not-good way.

[yourlibrarian]

What OP said -- I regularly rotate among 6 streaming services and several of them do save everything if you restart the old account. In fact some of them used to have the option of putting the account on hold for a 3 month or 6 month period (probably for people traveling, having the service for guests, etc.)

Not all the streamers do save everything, as I've had watchlists lost. However given that they are in flux in terms of content and sometimes functionality, that may be more accidental than standard practice.

[tinny]

But apparently I don’t make time to watch stuff unless I really want to watch it.

Oh yeah, tell me about it. I have a list that keeps growing longer and longer, but all I watch is mindless stuff if I don't feel up to the stuff on the list (which is pretty much never), or the occasional *really important* blorbo-starring thing. Huh.


I'll put the London Charismatic series on my list. I like historical fantasy. (Or any genre mix, really. :D)