I’ve just finished…

I've just finished Nicola Griffith's _Hild_, which was well worth the rather long time it took. I have to say, after reading this book, I have a LOT more sympathy for all the people who complained that it was hard keeping track of the character names in Bodies in Motion. Yes, my editor was right to make me change the names in the family which originally had six daughters who all started with 'L'. Yes, dear reader, you can have a family tree, you can have all the family trees, to help you keep them straight. I'm sorry, I'm sorry -- I didn't invent the Sri Lankan Tamil names, they're just there. And often very long, as Sugi Ganeshananthan will vouch for. Did I mention my father's first name is Navaratnasingam? I didn't make you read that thirty times, did I?

Anyway. _Hild_ is lush and gorgeous and slow like an endless summer day, the kind of day that you spend out in the woods, or on the river, with the sun beating down and the dragonflies rising from the water, sweet mead in one hand and a luscious slab of cheese in the other. The main character is utterly appealing, and I must figure out how to write a character like that. I eagerly await the next book about Hild, and when it comes, I will set aside three lovely days to read it. I am cracking the whip here, Nicola!

And now I am on to Heather Ross's _How to Catch a Frog_, which is a delightful little memoir that offers stories of growing up in an eccentric family of artists and idealists in a rural corner of Vermont during the 1970s. Most chapters have detailed instructions at the end for a crafting project you can do that picks up a story from the chapter. From the jacket: "According to Heather, that environment was defined by stunning natural beauty, creative and innovative living, and daily lessons in self-reliance. It also included equal parts of general dysfunction, a self-imposed but nearly inescapable poverty, and little exposure to basic life skills."

I'm enjoying it a lot.

This is going to be my summer-of-books, so expect more reviews. (To that end, less Facebook/internet. I know, I know, why am I even here? -- the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.) Also, I watched The Lego Movie with the kids this afternoon, and I fell asleep a few times, so now I'm not as tired as I'd normally be at this hour. Still -- back to reading.

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