'April, April, laugh thy girlish laughter'

[flemmings]

'And the moment after
Weep thy girlish tears.'

Truly there are times I wish the nuns hadn't taught me to memorize poetry.

Is spring. A week ago in winter coat and fleecy and gloves and shivering even in the sun; today in t-shirt and light jacket only because it feels chill when April winds blow, under a light cloud-cover that makes everything look like the humid spring of Tokyo. We shall see how long this lasts.

Started Three Parts Dead which to my delight reads partly like nojojojo and partly like incandescens and my favourite parts of both. Then made me put it down so I could finish the two books due before that, one of which is my French lama and the other of which is Ellen Datlow's Naked City, borrowed because it has about the only Lavie Tidhar that circulates in the TPL system.

Googling about, I find someone grumping, "In an anthology entitled Naked City: Tales of Urban Fantasy, I don’t think it’s unfair for the reader to expect the story stories to be written in the established urban fantasy style." Yes well; if instead it's fantasy set in an urbs, you'll hear no complaints from me. Am very happy to be spared the European vampires and werewolves and fae and abrasive protagonists that are so much a part of established urban fantasy style. Truly, with the ever-honourary exception of Peter Grant, every protagonist, male or female, of every UF novel I've read recently has been a git. Gittishness is the evident default.

Notes
1. Must say that Dresden's notions of what constitutes polite address read very strangely to someone who's been brushing up on their respect Japanese.

2. There *is* a vampire who isn't exactly European, but he isn't his culture's version of a vampire either, which makes me sad. Like, I'm glad you're up on your Finnish folklore and all, but looking a little farther afield wouldn't hurt.

There are, possibly alas, contributions from several people whom I don't read on principle, having been exposed to their LJ entries; also I have no desire to hear more about Richard and Alec at all at all at all. So for practical purposes the book is shorter than it might have been. On the plus paw that means I get to Three Parts Dead faster, but on the minus-- well, so far everything is a much higher quality than I'm used to in anthologies, and I could have wished for more.

Comments

[incandescens]

Hm. Clearly I should look out Three Parts Dead over here. And thank you!

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

In the ten pages I've read I see certain um aspects of um certain of your characters, shall we say.

[incandescens]

Oh dear. Nothing too close to the Library, I hope?

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

Not too close at all, just reminiscent. (It's also reminiscent of what I remember of Read or Die.) Equally possible that I'm misreading the characters. One doesn't learn much in ten pages, after all.

And I hope this doesn't turn into an 'OMG she thinks I sound like that!' moment when you finally get it. Available in Kindle, I see...

[incandescens]

Kindle makes getting hold of books far too easy. It is now downloaded and awaiting reading. :)

[tekalynn.livejournal.com]

"So here we are in April, in showy, blowy April,
In frowsy, blowsy April, the rowdy dowdy time..."

I have always heard this sung to "Waltzing Matilda" in my head.

(Did I just earworm you? Oops. Sorry.)

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

I can happily be ear wormed by Waltzing Matilda* but I can't make that poem scan to the tune.

* Well, almost. Because I hear Rolf Harris singing it and Rolf Harris ewwwww.

[avalonjones.livejournal.com]

Have you ever read any Kim Harrison? A co-worker loaned me about eight of her Hollows paperbacks, and while I'm dutifully churning through them, it's awfully hard to sit on the impulse to slap Rachel Morgan really, really hard for being such a nitwit.

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

Nope. I distinctly remember you warning me off her, though I can't remember where.

[avalonjones.livejournal.com]

LOL! Beaten at my own game! Fair enough--I wouldn't waste my time with them if I were you.

[i-am-zan.livejournal.com]

Will lookout for Three Parts Dead then, in the library. ^_^

Ahahaha and likewise our nuns too have a lot to answer for ... some good some not so. The one I always remember is

"Choosing Shoes"



by Frida Wolfe

New shoes, new shoes,
Red and pink and blue shoes.
Tell me, what would you choose,
If they'd let us buy?

Buckle shoes, bow shoes,
Pretty pointy-toe shoes,
Strappy, cappy low shoes;
Let's have some to try.

Bright shoes, white shoes,
Dandy-dance-by-night shoes,
Perhaps-a-little-tight shoes,
Like some? So would I.

BUT
Flat shoes, fat shoes,
Stump-along-like-that shoes,
Wipe-them-on-the-mat shoes,
That's the sort they'll buy.


...Because it always reminds me of wet monsoon Novembers when we'd have to buy new school shoes and ..yup ... we'd have to by-pass all the pretty little things and by 'stump along like that' shoes. Could be why I'm only good with stump along Doc Marten's and boots now though, and I'm quite thankful that I never got into the pointy toe shoes thing ... it wouldn't have been me at all. ^_^

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

I probably have half that poem in my head now after only one read. The nuns, I tell you, the nuns...

Stumpy shoes are what I had and what I have, and I'm grateful for the support. But I couldn't wear high leather anythings in a TO summer and can't imagine how you do it in LRD.