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defrogPicking up the pace again. Isn’t that exciting?
Fierce: Women of the Bible and Their Stories of Violence, Mercy, Bravery, Wisdom, Sex, and Salvation by Alice Connor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is one of those books where I was sold on the premise alone: an exploration of various females mentioned in the Bible (the famous and the not so famous) that not only puts them front and center in whichever narrative they’re a part of, but takes a closer look through a feminist filter and reveals them to be much tougher, resilient and important than traditional takes on these stories make them look. It’s all that – and it’s a lot more personal, passionate and often angrier than I imagined, as Connor is pretty fierce herself (to the point that this is easily the first Christian book I’ve read to date written by an ordained priest with lots of salty language). Which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it does sometimes distract from the stories she is trying to tell (or retell) and their theological message – at least if yr expecting a relatively straightforward Bible-study book, which this isn’t.
In any case, between Connor’s retellings, sweariness and feminist viewpoint, this book obviously isn’t for everyone – people of certain religious and/or political persuasions (and associated opinions about feminism and LGBT issues) probably wouldn’t make it past the first 20 pages. Personally, my two main problems with this book are (1) Connor tends to overdo it with the snarky humor and pop culture references for my taste, and (2) occasionally she pushes her luck by trying to shoehorn otherwise valid points where they don’t necessarily belong (the chapter on Asherah being a case in point). Both of these issues make it all too easy for even well-intentioned readers to misunderstand the overall point she’s trying to make. Starting an argument is great, but it’s pointless if people think you're making a completely different point from the one you're actually making. (Then again, it could just as easily be my problem, not hers, so, you know.)
That said, where the book really succeeds for me is bringing these women to life and humanizing their experience, which is (for me) an important tool for really understanding the deeper point of these stories (through which we understand God) and how they relate to us today. That in itself makes it worth reading – but as I say, it’s best to approach this with an open (and critical) mind, and a willingness to have your preconceptions challenged.
Rocannon's World by Ursula K. Le Guin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I’ve become a fan of Ursula K Le Guin over the past few years, so I was keen to start on Worlds of Exile and Illusion: Rocannon's World, Planet of Exile, City of Illusions, which collects her first three SF novels of the Hainish cycle. This is the first – and it's also her debut novel. The premise: Rocannon is an ethnologist for the League of All Worlds surveying the various indigenous races of the planet Fomalhaut II. His team is killed and his ship destroyed when rebels who oppose the League set up a base on the unsurveyed south side of the planet. As the rebels now possess the only ansible (interstellar radio) on Fomalhaut II, Rocannon must find them so he can access the radio, warn the League and call for a rescue ship.
It sounds like a classic SF yarn, except that it reads more like a fantasy novel, due to the fact that the Angyar – the human-like aliens who aid Rocannon in his quest – are a primitive feudal society, with princes, castles, swordplay, giant flying cats (see book cover) and whatnot. There’s also a legend about a princess seeking a lost family jewel that kicks off the book. Most of the story covers Rocannon’s journey and the aliens he encounters along the way (many of them dangerous). It’s pretty good, but it does suffer in comparison to Le Guin’s later work in that it's a pretty basic adventure story. That said, it’s not dull, and even this early in her career Le Guin could deliver reasonably believable characters, particularly Rocannon. Also, credit for blurring the lines between the SF and fantasy genres instead of sticking to the rules.
Occupy Me by Tricia Sullivan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’ve read Tricia Sullivan twice before and was really knocked out, so I has keen to try this, even though the jacket blurb sounded a bit derivative – operative with no memory of her past chases a killer who occupies other people’s bodies. I should have known better – what Sullivan delivers here is an “angel” named Pearl with hyperdimensional wings working undercover (as a flight attendant) for a secret organization trying to make the world better through small acts of kindness. Then she meets Dr Sorle, the man responsible for hijacking her into our world, and all hell breaks loose. As does a pterosaur in a briefcase.
The resulting story is imaginative, surreal and just plain weird, with the narrative shifting to first, second and third person as required, whipping back and forth through time and hyperdimensional realities as Pearl tries to find out what happened to her and who/what she really is, and what Dr Sorle is up to – or at least the being occupying his body. Sullivan has an accessible, snappy, humorous writing style to keep things as grounded as they can be in a story this weird, but her ideas and concepts are so out there that it does take effort to keep up with her, and a few bits do seem underexplained. Also, I confess the parts with Alison the bad-ass Scottish veterinarian required somewhat more suspension of disbelief than the hyperdimensional physics – and yet Alison is such a likeable character that I didn’t mind giving her the required leeway. Occupy Me certainly isn’t for everyone, but personally I enjoyed this.
The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life by James Martin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I had several motivations for reading this: (1) my bride is also reading it for an assignment, so she’s the one who hipped me to it, (2) I’ve always been curious about the Jesuits, and (3) I just happen to follow the author on Twitter. In any case, this book is basically a summation of the practical spirituality taught by St Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society Of Jesus (a.k.a. the Jesuit order), and how you can apply it to your own life. It’s also written for a mainstream audience, not just Jesuits, Catholics or Protestant Christians – in fact, according to Father Martin, you don’t have to be a Christian or even religious to understand and apply Ignatian spiritualty, and he intended to write it so that even non-believers could get something out of it.
That said, this isn’t a secular book by any stretch, so while it’s not preachy, non-believers will have to reconcile themselves with lots of talk about God and Jesus – if that’s a roadblock for you, then you're not going to get much out of this, although if nothing else you’ll learn a lot about St Ignatius and the Jesuits (and you’ll learn some good Jesuit jokes). I'd recommend it for that alone, but personally I got much more out of it in terms of spiritual guidance and development, so I’ll recommend it for that, too.
Maigret and the Headless Corpse: Inspector Maigret #47 by Georges Simenon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
In which Inspector Maigret investigates the discovery of a man’s dismembered corpse in a canal. All pieces are recovered except the head, which makes identification tough. And the only lead (and a weak one at that) seems to be Madame Calas, an alcoholic who runs a nearby bistro whose husband is away on business. As is true of most of the Maigret novels I’ve read so far – but particularly the later ones in the series – the emphasis isn’t on the crime so much as various characters Maigret encounters, their psychological makeup and the situations they find themselves in. For Maigret, the real mystery isn’t whodunit but why – or rather, what makes the suspects tick, particularly Madame Calas, whose mannerisms don’t fit in the context of the case at all if she were the culprit, and yet Maigret can’t help thinking she’s involved somehow. As always, Simenon provides an entertaining read if you like yr detective stories laconic and ponderous as well as/rather than hard-boiled action-packed melodrama.
View all my reviews
Don't lose yr head,
This is dF
Fierce: Women of the Bible and Their Stories of Violence, Mercy, Bravery, Wisdom, Sex, and Salvation by Alice ConnorMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is one of those books where I was sold on the premise alone: an exploration of various females mentioned in the Bible (the famous and the not so famous) that not only puts them front and center in whichever narrative they’re a part of, but takes a closer look through a feminist filter and reveals them to be much tougher, resilient and important than traditional takes on these stories make them look. It’s all that – and it’s a lot more personal, passionate and often angrier than I imagined, as Connor is pretty fierce herself (to the point that this is easily the first Christian book I’ve read to date written by an ordained priest with lots of salty language). Which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it does sometimes distract from the stories she is trying to tell (or retell) and their theological message – at least if yr expecting a relatively straightforward Bible-study book, which this isn’t.
In any case, between Connor’s retellings, sweariness and feminist viewpoint, this book obviously isn’t for everyone – people of certain religious and/or political persuasions (and associated opinions about feminism and LGBT issues) probably wouldn’t make it past the first 20 pages. Personally, my two main problems with this book are (1) Connor tends to overdo it with the snarky humor and pop culture references for my taste, and (2) occasionally she pushes her luck by trying to shoehorn otherwise valid points where they don’t necessarily belong (the chapter on Asherah being a case in point). Both of these issues make it all too easy for even well-intentioned readers to misunderstand the overall point she’s trying to make. Starting an argument is great, but it’s pointless if people think you're making a completely different point from the one you're actually making. (Then again, it could just as easily be my problem, not hers, so, you know.)
That said, where the book really succeeds for me is bringing these women to life and humanizing their experience, which is (for me) an important tool for really understanding the deeper point of these stories (through which we understand God) and how they relate to us today. That in itself makes it worth reading – but as I say, it’s best to approach this with an open (and critical) mind, and a willingness to have your preconceptions challenged.
Rocannon's World by Ursula K. Le GuinMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I’ve become a fan of Ursula K Le Guin over the past few years, so I was keen to start on Worlds of Exile and Illusion: Rocannon's World, Planet of Exile, City of Illusions, which collects her first three SF novels of the Hainish cycle. This is the first – and it's also her debut novel. The premise: Rocannon is an ethnologist for the League of All Worlds surveying the various indigenous races of the planet Fomalhaut II. His team is killed and his ship destroyed when rebels who oppose the League set up a base on the unsurveyed south side of the planet. As the rebels now possess the only ansible (interstellar radio) on Fomalhaut II, Rocannon must find them so he can access the radio, warn the League and call for a rescue ship.
It sounds like a classic SF yarn, except that it reads more like a fantasy novel, due to the fact that the Angyar – the human-like aliens who aid Rocannon in his quest – are a primitive feudal society, with princes, castles, swordplay, giant flying cats (see book cover) and whatnot. There’s also a legend about a princess seeking a lost family jewel that kicks off the book. Most of the story covers Rocannon’s journey and the aliens he encounters along the way (many of them dangerous). It’s pretty good, but it does suffer in comparison to Le Guin’s later work in that it's a pretty basic adventure story. That said, it’s not dull, and even this early in her career Le Guin could deliver reasonably believable characters, particularly Rocannon. Also, credit for blurring the lines between the SF and fantasy genres instead of sticking to the rules.
Occupy Me by Tricia SullivanMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’ve read Tricia Sullivan twice before and was really knocked out, so I has keen to try this, even though the jacket blurb sounded a bit derivative – operative with no memory of her past chases a killer who occupies other people’s bodies. I should have known better – what Sullivan delivers here is an “angel” named Pearl with hyperdimensional wings working undercover (as a flight attendant) for a secret organization trying to make the world better through small acts of kindness. Then she meets Dr Sorle, the man responsible for hijacking her into our world, and all hell breaks loose. As does a pterosaur in a briefcase.
The resulting story is imaginative, surreal and just plain weird, with the narrative shifting to first, second and third person as required, whipping back and forth through time and hyperdimensional realities as Pearl tries to find out what happened to her and who/what she really is, and what Dr Sorle is up to – or at least the being occupying his body. Sullivan has an accessible, snappy, humorous writing style to keep things as grounded as they can be in a story this weird, but her ideas and concepts are so out there that it does take effort to keep up with her, and a few bits do seem underexplained. Also, I confess the parts with Alison the bad-ass Scottish veterinarian required somewhat more suspension of disbelief than the hyperdimensional physics – and yet Alison is such a likeable character that I didn’t mind giving her the required leeway. Occupy Me certainly isn’t for everyone, but personally I enjoyed this.
The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life by James MartinMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I had several motivations for reading this: (1) my bride is also reading it for an assignment, so she’s the one who hipped me to it, (2) I’ve always been curious about the Jesuits, and (3) I just happen to follow the author on Twitter. In any case, this book is basically a summation of the practical spirituality taught by St Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society Of Jesus (a.k.a. the Jesuit order), and how you can apply it to your own life. It’s also written for a mainstream audience, not just Jesuits, Catholics or Protestant Christians – in fact, according to Father Martin, you don’t have to be a Christian or even religious to understand and apply Ignatian spiritualty, and he intended to write it so that even non-believers could get something out of it.
That said, this isn’t a secular book by any stretch, so while it’s not preachy, non-believers will have to reconcile themselves with lots of talk about God and Jesus – if that’s a roadblock for you, then you're not going to get much out of this, although if nothing else you’ll learn a lot about St Ignatius and the Jesuits (and you’ll learn some good Jesuit jokes). I'd recommend it for that alone, but personally I got much more out of it in terms of spiritual guidance and development, so I’ll recommend it for that, too.
Maigret and the Headless Corpse: Inspector Maigret #47 by Georges SimenonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
In which Inspector Maigret investigates the discovery of a man’s dismembered corpse in a canal. All pieces are recovered except the head, which makes identification tough. And the only lead (and a weak one at that) seems to be Madame Calas, an alcoholic who runs a nearby bistro whose husband is away on business. As is true of most of the Maigret novels I’ve read so far – but particularly the later ones in the series – the emphasis isn’t on the crime so much as various characters Maigret encounters, their psychological makeup and the situations they find themselves in. For Maigret, the real mystery isn’t whodunit but why – or rather, what makes the suspects tick, particularly Madame Calas, whose mannerisms don’t fit in the context of the case at all if she were the culprit, and yet Maigret can’t help thinking she’s involved somehow. As always, Simenon provides an entertaining read if you like yr detective stories laconic and ponderous as well as/rather than hard-boiled action-packed melodrama.
View all my reviews
Don't lose yr head,
This is dF
