2019 Re(ad)treat

Wednesday afternoon, I was looking at my calendar, trying to sort out my weekend.  The boys were going to leave on Friday afternoon, on their way to Enumclaw for the Clan Gathering Saturday, and I'd be all on my own until at least Sunday afternoon.  What to do with myself.

It's just enough time for 2019's Re(ad)treat, which I had yet to plan!  It means I'm taking it at home instead of camping, but since I'm alone, I think it'll work out. And it's less planning time than I like to give myself for an undertaking of this magnitude, but I think I have enough books to keep me busy.

Started at 6:30pm precisely.  One book now down.

Too Wilde to wed by Eloisa James. This female main character was a little more empty-headed, but still likable.  The tension in the relationship (mostly) comes from outside/interpersonal stressors, not a few easily-cleared-up misunderstandings.  The solution seemed a little obvious, and in general the characters seemed more disorganized-- both in that they are disorganized people and that their motives were more whimsical and less planned.  Still top of my list for romance.

2019 Re(ad)treat 2

If you give a pig a party by Laura Numeroff; illustrated by Felicia Bond.  Although I've read Pig a pancake, I don't think I've seen this one before.  The pig is my favorite: she's so amazingly dainty.

If you give a dog a donut by Laura Numeroff; illustrated by Felicia Bond.  Only necessary for die-hard fans.  It is interesting that, in all these, there aren't any adults about but each child (8-ish?) quickly becomes the cook, organizer, and de-facto mom, cleaning up bits trailing behind the distracted animal and becoming more frazzled each page.

Ultra: Seven days by Joshua Luna and Jonathan Luna.  A graphic novel with a female superhero, by the guy who co-wrote that awesome Alex + Ada series?: You'd expect great things!  This is lazy, sexist, and written for frat boys.

Problems are obvious in the first scene when the characters (a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead, because how else are you supposed to tell hot girls apart?) compare their sexual exploits and rib each other in an interaction that only happens in drunken college football fan's wet dreams.  Here, and throughout the book, they and other female superheroes call each other "harlot," "slut," "bitch," "whore," "hoe," and more.  I recognize that we're talking about people with superpowers in some kind of alternate earth, but these women still have jobs.  They have families.  Their world is no so different from ours that it would be unrecognizable; these women aren't women, by definition, based on *every single other woman I've ever interacted with*.  Not only did this book apparently not have a single female beta reader, it seems obvious that whichever writer was the driving force behind these characters never interacted with a woman, like, ever.  No women talk like this.  No friends interact like this.  These characters do not represent anything that looks like a real-life woman.

In my approximately 3 minutes of internet research, one of the lauded points about this book is that the primary character, Pearl is Latina.  It isn't a super-big point in the book, but it's there.  But no one can hold her up as an example of Latinxs being represented in graphic novels or the superhero genre, because she is such a joke.  It would be like a man holding up a brown-haired version of a Barbie and wondering why I'm not happy that "she looks just like me."

I'm really disappointed, because the pacing was awesome and the art was amazing. There were a couple of scenes when at least two of the characters almost had personalities and growth.  Unfortunately, when they're not talking about work, the three female characters talk almost exclusively about guys in general, guys in particular, or themselves in relation to relationships with guys.  They occasionally talk (disparagingly) about other female side characters.  I'd have to say this fails the Bechdel Test.

Also a big fail is the would-be boyfriend, who (spoiler?) takes post-date photos of a sleeping, naked Pearl and sells them to a tabloid, along with private information and a totally false version of the events of their date.  Pearl gets angry and goes to look for him, but gets distracted by saving the world, which hates her now because she's a skank.  Other characters point out his actions were wrong, but the general feeling is a boys-will-be-boys shoulder-shrug; no other characters seek him out, no one suggests legal action against him, and he just fades into the background in favor of the real point of the story-- helping Pearl find "true love."  There's also a short scene where the loser date meets a sketchy guy in a car, who pays for the photos and makes references to taking Pearl down, but there's no information, prior to or after this scene, that would justify the sketchy guy's motivation to make her "burn."

Avoid.

Re(ad)treat: Hour 26.

Well, that was a startling turn events.  The Pacific Northwest does not experience many thunderstorms, as a rule.  It turns out the activity around dinner time last night was only a prelude. Thunderstorms rolled through at 11:30, shortly after 2, and then the granddaddy with accompanying buckets of rain at 4:15.  We get a lot of rain out this way, but it usually takes all day to amount to any accumulation.  There was a bothersome amount of water in the corners of the tent.

After last night's noisy interludes, I slept in until shortly after nine.  I then continued to hide in my sleeping bag reading until a caffeine headache started to threaten.  It took a while to set the campsite to rights, and I had my breakfast sitting in the car, it being the driest place.  

I just checked the forecast again, hoping for enough sun to dry things out a little.  I don't know why I bothered: I checked at 11:30-ish pm-- while it was actively raining!-- and no rain was predicted for the whole night.  Talk about an epic fail.

I did finish a book while eating cereal in my back seat:

Someone to love by Mary Balogh.  Netgalley grab.  I had to look this up several times last night because I could have sworn I read this before.  Everything I've seen though does make it look like a new 2016 title and not a re-release.  Maybe it's a recycled storyline or something like that.  There are only so many possible romance novel scenarios, after all.

This was fair.  My main complaint is that there are far too many unnecessary characters; fewer could have done the job more clearly and with more personality.  The book also starts by introducing a number of these side characters in turn, so it isn't clear for a while who the main characters will turn out to be.

It's clear that this is the first in a new series, with future books focusing on these various family members, but that doesn't really excuse it.

The ending is also a bit of a let-down: the hero is suddenly super-self-enlightened, whereas before he wasn't really in touch with how his feelings were developing.  It is a bit jarring and feels rushed, sloppy.

Romance readers looking for erotic content will also be disappointed.  

2019 Re(ad)treat: 48 hrs + 17 minutes

Unfamiliar fishes by Sarah Vowell; narrated by the author.  I'd like to think I would be good friends with this author, as she's acerbic, but I think she'd get bored: she's so much smarter than me.  There are a great number of historical figures covered in this, even though it doesn't even cover a full century.  History not being my strong suit, I won't take away many specifics, although, between audiobooks and local historical research for work projects, I am developing a better idea of what was going on-- at least in the very western states-- after the Civil War.

I listened to this while doing dishes, hanging up the laundry outside, pruning my roses, and knitting.

The 48 hours is officially up, but I'm still home alone; I might be able to finish that last paperback.

Re(ad)treat: Finals and partials

On the way over to the state park on Friday, I finished the last little bit of The witch's vacuum cleaner and other stories by Terry Pratchett; read by Julian Rhind-Tutt.  This was a fun collection of stories that don't really go with anything else; they don't really match up with what appears in Pratchett's novels, and (*cough*note, publisher*cough*) I'd be even more interested in reading this, or other short story compilations, with an introduction for each story with information and commentary-- the dates the writer worked on it, what else he was working on at the time, if he ever pointed out anything in the story that he thought was interesting or noteworthy, etc.  This was one of the last Sync downloads I grabbed and I've been chipping away at it since July.

Excellent narrator, easy to listen to.

A slip of the keyboard: Collected nonfiction by Terry Pratchett; read by Michael Fenton Stevens.  I listened to this while packing up and driving home today and am only about half-way through.

Everything included here is an essay or article or speech given by the author, so people who compulsively read and have consciously sought out absolutely everything this author has ever written may have already encountered these bits in their original settings.  They are all new to me, though, and I love them.  There are several in a row here towards the middle in which the author talks thoughtfully about genre fiction; I'm bookmarking heavily so I can listen to the segments again when I get back to work and incorporate some into an upcoming Readers' Advisory training.  Meta-readers, readers who think and care about the kinds of things they read, will have much to be interested in.

Another excellent reader, understandable, and, as a change at a constant volume-- it can be difficult to listen to audiobooks while driving because the speaking volume varies too much: if you turn it up loud enough to understand the whispered bits, the shouty bits deafen you; if you turn it down so the loud bits are only minorly uncomfortable, you could miss huge swathes of the story.

I cam home earlier than expected, as posted check-out time for the cabin campers was 11:30.  I thought about getting everything together and then sort of hanging out until I was booted, but if I had done that, then of course the Park Ranger would have shown up (I didn't see him the whole weekend, nor any other park personnel, but Murphy's Law).  I thought to walk along the beach and listen to my audiobook, the weather being actually nice, but the only available beach was directly in front of the park; the rest was cut off by "private property" signs, which I'm not sure is legal.  (My great uncle owned beach-front property farther down the canal when I was younger, and I'm pretty sure the beach itself is public, but I'm the type to follow posted instructions.)  The benches were all wet from overnight rain.  I could have gotten out the camping chair and enjoyed the sunshine, but crowds of people were setting up for a wedding in the park, so it was noisy and there were bunches of unsupervised children and the adults were giving me funny looks since I wasn't with the party.  (Not like it's a public park or anything...)  Having not much else to do, I came home and took a shower and sat on the couch.  Am most of the way through...

A kiss at midnight by Eloisa James.  This is another one of those authors that, for some reason, I tell myself I like alot more than I actually do.  If I were going to truly enjoy a romance novel, it would probably be this author.  Her characters aren't silly-stupid, just willful or short-sighted.  This title, obviously, is a Cinderella retelling and not bad.  I like that from this author I can usually expect full sentences, not too many dropped plot elements, and a reasonable number of characters.

final time: 50 hours, 13 minutes.

2019 Re(ad)treat wrap-up

stats and such:

2016
I called my final count 8 books:
GN: 2
Audio: 2
novel: 2
partial novel: 1
novella: 1

2017
GN: 2
Partial audio: 2
novel: 3
partial novel: 1

2018
oo, 8 and 1/2 this year:
GN: 2
Audio: 1
novel: 2 + 1/2 + 1 Juv
picture books: 2

I just (belatedly) finished up The Alpine Advocate by Mary Daheim, which I read fully half of during the Reading Weekend.  I liked this more than I thought I would, for a small-town cozy mystery.  There are a ton of minor characters, too many to keep straight, but I'm sure they become bigger and more defined in future series installments.  I was annoyed because I had (what I thought of as) a pretty good guess as to the who and what, but I was wrong; the answer was one of those out-of-left-field, zero in-text hints so, while it made sense based on the explanation provided after the revelation, it didn't make sense in the story.

Re(ad)treat: Hour 6

St. Lucy's home for girls raised by wolves by Karen Russell.  First book down!  Hurrah!

I have enjoyed several of this author's works, but she also makes me wonder a bit.  Her stories are so hopefully dark.  It makes me worry a little about her mental health and her childhood.  I usually find myself wishing the stories were longer so we could better explore the world but the shortness of the stories is what makes them as creepy as they are.  The author gives just enough information to make the reader uncomfortable; more would be more satisfying in both a good way and a bad way.

Already had a few camping snafus: it was pretty breezy but I managed to get my campfire started.  But then it was too windy to stay out and enjoy it for as long as I'd like, or to roast marshmallows: the ash kept getting kicked up.  Then, I went to trade my quarters for shower tokens, and the machine only takes bills.  I'm pretty sure the machine at Dosewalips takes quarters.  So I had a bit of a wash out of a bucket.

On to book two.

Re(ad)treat: the 11th hour

No new books finished, although I'm making steady progress on a romance novel.  My steam kind of petered out for a little while around 9: I came out of the tent after the thundershowers passed and managed to get a fire going.  I read by the fire but once it got too dark, I ended up sitting by the fire doing absolutely nothing for a little while. It was very pleasant.

One of the nice things about these state parks is that you can have a hot shower: three minutes for $.50. It's nice to get the bug spray off before going to bed.

Back in the tent once again and ready to read into the night.  The head-mounted flashlight my husband bought for last summer's light spelunking trip is finding new uses.

Re(ad)treat: Hour 7

I had just sat down to dinner (one-pot Mac n cheese made over the one-burner propane stove, turned out quite well) when I heard rain drops patter on the canopy.  So this

quickly became this

It's raining a bit more earnestly now, drumming on the tent. A breeze would be very nice at this point.

Archetype by M.D. Waters.  I started this yesterday but was only 50 pages in.  Done now!  

This takes place in a futuristic/alternate-present dystopian world that is unfortunately not fully explored.  For the first two thirds of the book, it's very unclear what is going on and how the characters are connected. This is probably supposed to be because the main character herself is unclear on these points, so the reader can make the journey with her.  However, giving the reader more information would have allowed more focus on the character's development. The story would've been less a mystery and more about her self-discovery.  The ending was a bit rushed, but ok.  Three and a half stars.

Fry's English delight, series 4, with Stephen Fry.  (428.1)  This was my audiobook for today's drive and camp set up. I have definitely listen to at least part of this before, although I don't think I finished.  Short and interesting, always good for a solo drive.

Re(ad)treat: Start

I am half-way through a week's vacation at this moment.  My husband had a few days off, so Sunday through Wednesday, the family camped along the Dosewalips River.  (The state campground there is wonderful, by the way: very big, private campsites, and plenty of full-hook-up camper sites, if that's your thing.)

I didn't want the last couple of my days off to be a stay-cation that accidentally devolves into nothing but chores.  So after years of watching other bloggers take part in the annual 48-hour reading challenge, I set up my own.

This morning, I dropped my son off with his grandparents and, at 10:54 am, I began 2 days of reading in the forest.  I listened to my audiobook on the last part of the drive and while setting up my campsite (see below).

I intend to eat snacks, drink wine, sit by the fire, and maybe take a nap in the sun.  Reception seems good so I'll post regularly, or until my battery runs out.  Now a quick exploratory amble, and then it's time to hit the books.  

Sounds like vacation to me.

Re(ad)treat: Final

The backup waiting for the bridge closure allowed me to finish my audiobook and seemed a good time to officially tie up the project.  Official time: 10:54 am Thursday to 1:16 pm Saturday, or about 50 hours and 20 minutes.  Total count: 8 books.

(When we did finally cross the bridge, we could see the top bit of a submarine sticking out of the water as it moved down the Canal, so that was cool.)

Jeeves and the tie that binds by P.G. Wodehouse, read by Frederick Davidson.  These are pleasant for drives and such: nice, and I had something to listen to while trying to wrestle the tent back into its case.  This narrator was alright; not my favorite, but ok.  I was unfamiliar with the story for this one, so hurrah there as well.

Belfair State Park, of the Washington State Park System.  I chose this park for one reason exclusively: it was the closest campsite to where I was stashing my child.  It was a very short drive to my in-laws, and conveniently three and half miles from a grocery story in case of food emergency.  If you are looking for anything else, as we usually are, when choosing a campground (such as views, site spaciousness, site privacy, hiking opportunities inside the campground, other recreation outlets inside the campground, or proximity to hiking/recreation nearby outside the campground), Belfair SP would severely disappoint.  The campsites are much smaller than other state parks we've camped in and there is nothing except a few ferns between each site, affording zero privacy.  A few sites on the edge have a nice view and easy access to the water and beach, but most are back under the trees (where it is humid).  The frequently-placed water spouts in my loop were all out of order.  There is a token-operated shower, but the shower room has only one bench (dirty) with no hooks, and it had a bug problem.  I cannot recommend this park.  Fortunately, it met my limited criteria, which pretty much involved being a place where I could toss up a tent and build a fire. 

Re(ad)treat: Hour 25

Lords of the middle dark by Jack L. Chalker.  This is the series I was thinking of when I read the Well World series last year.

Although still clunky in several ways, the writing in this book is smoother than the earlier series.  It can still be choppy-- dialogue is either curt and modern or overly romanticized.  There is an insane amount of information to set up the universe and it's often clumsily handled, one character lecturing another.  But for a series launch, there is quite a bit of action.

I'm pretty sure I discovered this author on the Friends book sale self at the Silverdale branch of the Kitsap Regional Library.  I tended to pick up romances and sci-fi/fantasy because mass-market paperback's were half the price of hard covers. Many of the things I brought home, certainly including the autjor, are not wonderful examples of literature. The author tends to include scenes or opinions of his female characters that are not at all flattering.  I'm never sure if they represent a personal fantasy, simply the thinking at the time, or evidence something a little broken about him.

In camping adventures, my planned morning walk was thwarted by rain, which has also made my afternoon fire done nothing but sputter.  Two books in 24 hours doesn't seem very impressive; in addition to sleeping longer than originally planned, this book had tiny print.

Re(ad)treat: Hour 41

I read these yesterday afternoon, after the rain left off and I got the fire going.

R.I.P.D. by Peter M. Lenovo, Lucas Marangon, and Randy Emberlin.  The illustrations are too cartoony for me taste.  My guess is they are like that on purpose to lighten the dark, gory subject.  The balance is off.  Interesting but not great, the world building is a bit clunky.

Bayou, vol. 1, by Jeremy Love.  Much darker and creepier than I was expecting from whatever review I scanned.  The coloring in the illustrations is very beautiful and I like how many textless cells there are, letting the illustrations carry more of the story.

Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.  I had hoped to finish it last night but didn't quite make it.  This is an interesting utopia and social commentary.

While many people think there would be less of it, an all-female society would surely have some crime and infighting.  To paint women as naturally flawless does just as much disservice as do the "popular" views represented by one of the characters.

The book would be considered dry by many readers-- not much action, mostly social commentary-- but is an interesting thought experiment.  Highly recommended for fans of classical literature and early books that inspired science fiction.

2019 Re(ad)treat: 3.5 hours to go

I've read seven books, just cracked an eighth, and I have one track to go on my audiobook.

Dealing with dragons by Patricia C. Wrede.  I must've read this half a dozen times, but all more than 10 years ago. This series is quick and fun.  It doesn't quite go to the point of satire, but it is maybe self-aware of the role of the fairy tales.  All the characters regard the normal fairy tale plot lines as cultural traditions and good manners.  The main character is strong without being sassy.

Always highly recommended.

Re(ad)treat: Hour, um, 39

Sleep donation by Karen Russell.  Technically a novella, I think.  The short format works surprisingly well.  There obviously isn't space to get into the nitty-gritty of the sci-fi-esque problem, so it feels completely natural to totally accept it and get on with the story.

The main character's voice is authentic, relatable, empathetic.  The writing has areas that are nearly poetic and are beautiful and add to the narration.

After finishing Sleep donation and letting the fire go out, I circumambulated the campground for a bit of movement.  My spot is back under the trees, on the far side of a loop, but if one is lucky-- or plans far enough ahead-- many spots are right on the water.

A symphony of echoes by Jodi Taylor.  There is a small problem with this book, as there was in the first installment: namely, if the timeline will protect itself by killing the good guys if they so much as step on a snail by accident, why does it let the bad guys do whatever they want? Ignoring that flaw, this is a better bit of storytelling than book one: less (poorly-handled) messy personal stuff, sticking tighter to the book-specific adventures and the series-long narrative arc conspiracy story.

The head lamp still is working beautifully. I heartily recommend one, even for regular home in-bed reading.

Forgive any sentences that make no sense: it's 3 minutes to 2 and my 5 cups of coffee have worn off.  See you in the morning!

2019 Re(ad)treat, hour 27 and a quarter.

The birchbark house by Louise Erdrich.  I saw this title pop up a few times last year, and then I saw it a few more times recently in discussions related to the renaming of the Laura Ingalls Wilder award.

The two books really aren't comparable.  The writing is jerky; the sentences don't flow.  The characters' relationships aren't shown, only narrated about: the main character is super-sad after the death of a minor side character; only after her death do we hear how close the two were.  It makes no sense.

The book does a good job of showing daily life for a one family in the identified culture throughout the year, but the writing is nothing special.

Troublemaker, vol. 1, by Janet Evanovich and Alex Evanovich; art by Joelle Jones.  The big number 1 on this graphic novel's spine is very misleading: turns it it's volume 1 of this particular story, which happens to be series installment number 3.  Confusingly, books 1 and 2 are just novels-- no GN adaptations anywhere to be seen-- and book 3 (this) is just a GN-- no novelization floating about.  That seems poorly planned.

This doesn't make quite as much sense without information from the first two books.  The boyfriend sure is easy on the eyes, but he alone isn't reason enough to crack open volume 2.  The format makes it pretty obvious that at least two of the side/friend characters are build on the same basic framework of thin stereotypes used in the Stephanie Plum novels.

Pass.

Re(ad)treat: Hour 3

Saga, volume 6, by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples.  This is so much better than the previous volume-- not so much purposeful gore, and the story feels exciting and hopeful again.  If you've made it this far in the series, it's worth continuing.

It was a bit muggy in here under the trees, but now that it is officially afternoon, there's a nice breeze off the water.

Re(ad)treat: Hour 30.

I had some audiobook time this afternoon while spending more time drying things out.  We now have one thin ray of sunshine, and I managed to get the fire going a while ago despite the dampness.  The afternoon was warm, at least, and I've been able to sit by the fire, although my plan to sit on the beach in the sun has yet to be implemented.

Paper girls: 1 by Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang.  This is kind of weird.  It's not at all clear what is actually going on-- there are several possibilities based on the little information given-- although the young teen girl characters are very likable.  It would perhaps be best to wait until several volumes are available and read them together.

Re(ad)treat wrap up

To wrap up, first, stats and such

2016
I called my final count 8 books:
GN: 2
Audio: 2
novel: 2
partial novel: 1
novella: 1

2017
I think I can call this 8 as well:
GN: 2
Partial audio: 2
novel: 3
partial novel: 1

Kitsap Memorial State Park:  I've never reserved a State Park cabin before; it was more spacious than anticipated and the heater kept it nice and warm.  However, for how much it cost, I can't recommend it.  A mid-week off-season hotel in Ocean Shores can be found for a similar price (and even less!) and would include a number of nice things the cabin lacks: running water, adjacent bathroom, cleaning.  The cabin was not cleaned between users, the bathrooms had obviously not been cleaned in days, and they were not cleaned all weekend. There wasn't a view of the water, nor the mountains, or anything except the playfield (see photo below), which you'd have a decent chance of getting on the coast.  It's nice to have a firepit, but I was barely able to use it for the rain.

The rest of the campground was nice enough.  The tent camping spaces all seemed small, but there were long and narrow with actual forest between spots, so there would be a nice amount of privacy.  Unfortunately, they are all back off the water, so they probably get muggy.

I've gone back through my phone-posted ...posts... and fixed errors, added photos, and tacked on tags.

Re(ad)treat start

The 48 hours start now.

(In retrospect, I was rather overambitious.)