EPBOT Readers discussion

Hi all,

Actually squeezing a post in! Teddy did not end up starting radiation this week, the results in his scan were delayed. So he'll be starting this Monday. Both frustrating and a relief, because i'm glad he got a week of a break, not having to do a long car ride and a scary medical visit. But also just kind of want to get the whole process started and over with. The good news is, he's feeling totally fine. He's happy, snuggling, eating well, not sick at all. Most of this is cleaning up stray stuff from the surgery, to make sure nothing will come back and form in the future.

this week I finished:

Clytemnestra - this was a good, if a bit of a tough read. Her story has a lot of brutal elements in it, but I think the author did a good job of handling them, focusing on her rage, her strength, her power rather than on the actual acts. I read it in part inspired by the book nerds prompt fiction book inspired by a nonfiction read. After reading Pandora's Jar, i was really interested in the character and looked up to see if there was a retelling of her, and saw there was one due out in May. So here we are in may! Managed to get it from the library fairly quickly.

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London - this is the book club read, so i went ahead and got started on it. I put my thoughts over in the book club thread. There's also some reading questions if anyone cares to answer any. It was a nice fast read.

Currently reading:

Cat's Cradle - doing a audio re-read of this for the popsugar book I haven't read in over 10 years. I rated it 5 stars back when I read it. I'm definitely not feeling that way now. I think I'm just a lot more aware of inherent sexism/racism than I was back then, and I've read a lot more stuff in general since then. So it's not BAD, but it's not like a knock my socks book anymore. Rolling my eyes every time a woman character gasps and feels faint at the mention of science. Or how often Newt, an adult man who happens to be a little person, is referred to as "Little Newt" like he's a child.

A Dead Djinn in Cairo - quick read, will probably finish up at lunch.

QOTW: borrowing popsugar's question of the week. Does it bother you if a book's cast is all male, or all female?

I prefer all female (or mostly female) over all male, just because i've had enough of male dominated casts over the course of my life. Or the token female being mostly a flat character of Girl or the the Love Interest or there to die to motivate the hero etc. But in general I like my casts to have SOME mix up if they're taking place in the real world, unless there's a specific reason otherwise. Like "this is an all girl's school" or some sort of dystopian/utopian thing where the author is playing with gender. Like I read We Ride Upon Sticks, where the main cast was the girl's hockey team. But there was still Boy Corey on the team, there were dads involved, brothers, male teachers, boys they had crushes on, other students in the school etc. I've read some old sci fi/fantasy where it's like "how are they ONLY encountering men on their travels? are all the women in hiding or something?" or the women are barely even mentioned, not even named in the slightest beyond "tavern wench" etc.

I'm glad Teddy is feeling better, Sheri, and I hope his treatment goes well.

I'm back in the office on Thursdays, and it's kind of a pain. I have a much easier time staying focused at home vs. in the office around other people.

Finished:
Little Thieves by Margaret Owen - 5 stars - for Popsugar's book you wish you could read for the first time again. I loved it just as much the second time through. Honestly, my favorite part is the character voice, which just comes alive. Which leads me to...

Painted Devils by Margaret Owen - 5 stars - for Popsugar's book bought from an independent bookstore. I marathoned this book, finished it by 4PM on its release day, and then went to an author event at the independent bookstore that night to get my copy signed. I think I still loved the first one a little more, but this was still great, sets up a book three, and I just loved getting to see my favorite horrible maid and her human civics primer again.

Comics & manga:
Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon, Vol. 1
Queen's Quality, Vol. 17
Natsume's Book of Friends, Vol. 28
WITCH WATCH, Vol. 3: Dogs and Raindrops
Persona 5, Vol. 6
Honey and Clover, Vol. 1
Honey and Clover, Vol. 2
Lovesick Ellie, Vol. 3
Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 24
Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun, Vol. 1

Currently reading:
Mika in Real Life by Emiko Jean - for Popsugar's celebrity book club pick. So far, I'm enjoying it. The main character is a likable mess, and I can just see this situation waiting to blow up in her face.

Upcoming/Planned:
Last Canto of the Dead by Daniel José Older (not currently for a prompt, but I may try to fit it in afterward)

QOTW:
I definitely prefer female-majority casts between the two. I tend to lose intertest in anything that is all or almost-all male characters, which is why I bounced off Tolkein, for example. If there's a reason for it, such as an all-boys or all-girls school, I have an easier time with it.

Sheri, glad to hear Teddy is doing well this week. Good luck with the upcoming treatments.

This week I started listening to The Left-Handed Booksellers of London for this next book club selection. It is less than half my previous audiobook so it is going to fly by! Enjoying it so far.

I'm still reading The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race for my neighborhood book club. I'm enjoying it more as I get into it. I like the science in it. It will be interesting to hear what the other club members think about it because it is very different from what most of them typically read and more in my science-oriented wheelhouse. I was not the one who suggested it.

QOTW:
I definitely prefer female majority or balanced casts. I think it is one reason I like John Scalzi. Several of his books the gender of the main character is not actually known (Lock In & Head On). They're given an ambiguous name, Chris, and they're never referred to by any gender. He even had two audiobooks made, one with Wil Wheaton as narrator and another with a woman.

Similarly, the gender of Murderbot in Martha Wells' books is also unknown.

Glad Teddy is feeling better - thank you for keeping us posted, we're all rooting for the little guy!

Last week I finished Network Effect and it was just as good as the novellas - I was wondering if Murderbot would keep its charm in a full length novel and am pleased to report that they are just as lovable as ever :)

I also read How to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organizing after hearing it recommended a bunch of times and it was SO helpful. And incredibly validating.

I just picked up The Left-Handed Booksellers of London from the library, so that's next!

QOTW: I definitely prefer a mixed-gender cast over any other option. It doesn't bother me to have an all-male or all-female group if there is a plot or setting reason that explains why - as some of the rest of you have said - but otherwise it is ridiculous to expect that the group will NEVER encounter anyone of any other gender. And when I say mixed-gender, I mean that everyone is a fully realized character, not just having a token female in the party to cook dinner for the men - ugh.

The Mind of a Bee - This was directly up my street. The author discusses what we know about bee sensory and perception and cognition, the experiments done to discover this information, and the people who performed them, so there's a bit of history of science as well. It gets reasonably technical, but the author gives a lot of good analogies, so I never felt totally lost or talked down to. Really a near-perfect book for me.

QOTW: I agree with everyone that there should be a reason for having a non-representative gender ratio, but I think it might bother me less than it does other people.