Hmm?

Darkborn, by Alison Sinclair
It took me a few chapters to get past my innate "but this author writes SCIENCE FICTION and it's really GOOD science fiction and FULL OF CRUNCHY BITS and THIS IS NOT THAT" reaction. Once I simmered down, I thoroughly enjoyed this fantasy story. The worldbuilding is well-worked out but didn't get in the way of what is essentially a character drama. Excellent, and I'm looking forward to sequels.
(210/275)

Dawn Light, by Diane Ackerman
I don't think I gave this book its due. I usually love Diane Ackerman's highly digressive, adjective-laden style, but most of her books that I've read tie that style to a very strong through-line and this one is, instead, very short pieces tied together by nothing more pervasive than a meandering seasonal progression through very many dawns, and ideas somehow connected to morning or the sun or dew or ... I needed a sharper focus than this book had, but I don't feel like it's the book's fault. If I was in a more meditative, in-the-moment, sort of mood when I read it I would have liked it more. There were a few pieces which grabbed my attention and made me swoon: one on flying with cranes, one on rain, and a couple about bees. Still, I think even if I weren't all distracted, I would rather have read another one of her books that DO have the strong throughline... good thing I have a (small) unread hoard of those upstairs.
(211/275)

Current Mood: feeling sorry for Mister Baseball who is being pathetic
Current Music: "I Wish I Never Saw the Sunshine," Beth Orton

Christmas: A Candid History, by Bruce David Forbes
A charming, crisp, and concise book about the history of Christmas. I've read about a lot of this stuff before but the author still made interesting to rehash those topics (especially since several times he mentioned competing theories I hadn't come across the first time), plus there were some things I'd never heard about before at all (eg the bit about Washington Irving). Right on target.
(209/275)

Current Mood: amused
Current Music: KMRB, "Cornflake Girl," Tori Amos

Goth, edited by Lauren M. E. Goodlad and Michael Bibby
A mix of some very personal and more very academic/dry/specific essays about aspects of Goth culture. The topics (and occasional photographs) were very interesting even when the writing left me cold. And *some* of the writing was exceptionally good.
(206/275)

Bright Dark Madonna, by Elizabeth Cunningham
I love this series. It's a goofy premise - Mary Magdalen was actually a divinely-gifted priestess of Isis who originally came from Celtic Britain and was named Maeve - but the story as a whole (starting with Maeve's childhood in the first volume, and continuing through to her post-child-bearing years with this 3rd one) is so well told, so funny and strong and self-aware and elegantly articulate, that I can't help but be completely won over from one brilliant moment to the next. And the characters are totally endearing, which never hurts.
(207/275)

The Secret Mitzvah of Lucio Burke, by Stephen F. Hayward
Historical fiction set in Toronto, in the 30s. So witty and wry and charming and full of believable people in implausible but powerful situations that it almost made me like Toronto. Considering my longstanding irrational grudge against the place, that's particularly impressive.
(208/275)

Current Mood: happy
Current Music: KMRB says "Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson"

If I were a Springer-Verlag Graduate Text in Mathematics, I would be W.B.R. Lickorish's An Introduction to Knot Theory. I am an introduction to mathematical Knot Theory; the theory of knots and links of simple closed curves in three-dimensional space. I consist of a selection of topics which graduate students have found to be a successful introduction to the field. Three distinct techniques are employed; Geometric Topology Manoeuvres, Combinatorics, and Algebraic Topology. Which Springer GTM would you be? The Springer GTM Test

Current Mood: amused
Current Music: damn you k'tepi, i have the theme to the wonder years stuck in my head