asakiyume | some reading notes, some dashing birds

rachelmanija's great review of Goddess of Yesterday (by Caroline Cooney) made me want to read it too--I did, and I enjoyed it very much. It really truly felt like the story was being told to me by a young girl from Trojan War times. I liked Anaxanadra very much, liked how observant she was, how she learned quickly and worked for her own survival, and that she took a liking to--and then felt loyalty and concern for--the various people she met.

What had absolutely pushed me from "Hmmm, cool book; maybe one day I'll read it" to "I want to read this NOW" was the example Rachel gave of Anaxanadra's wonderment on first encountering a glass container, and I was rewarded with more encounters like that (first time encountering enough of something that you need to use the word "one thousand," first time encountering horses, etc). Even just her ordinary observations had a feel of ancient Greece to them that I loved, as when she describes the sound of water slapping the side of a boat like dogs drinking, or this, describing dolphins:

Dolphins swam alongside. Now and then they would leap out of the water and spin themselves like yarn.

And then

radiantfracture posted a poem the other day, "Pahkwêsikan," by the poet Samantha Nock, that made me want to read the rest of the collection, the author's debut collection. It has a gorgeous cover:

And now I have a copy!

Speaking of images, check out these great dusky swifts (Cypseloides senex), posted by Aves do Brasil, a bot that posts photos of birds of Brazil. Facebook says that the original photo was taken by Frodoaldo Budke.

photo by Frodoaldo Budke

With those intense, deep-set eyes, and clinging to the rock face like that, they seem like a pair of heroes: loyal siblings or friends, or intense lovers, out to redress a wrong. I want to write a story with them as the heroes ... maybe in human form--but that intensity!

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osprey_archer

Goddess of Yesterday sounds so fantastic! I really should read it.

rachelmanija

You should!

I have put a hold on it at the library!

asakiyume

I await your review! (I wrote at more length about it--but not much more length--here)

It sounds so good. I do love it when an author can evoke a character who truly feels like they come from a different time and place than our own.

sovay

With those intense, deep-set eyes, and clinging to the rock face like that, they seem like a pair of heroes: loyal siblings or friends, or intense lovers, out to redress a wrong.

Please write their story. They look, in the archaic rather than colloquial sense, like legends.

If I can snare me a wandering plot, I shall!

I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

Those birds are great. So fierce.

With your book reviews, I get a pret-ty good idea of what ones I'm going to like. This one sure seemed like a winner, and it was!

There's a young librarian in town who's the same age as one of my kids. When she saw me taking this out, she said, "Oh, that one is excellent"--so I was able to tell her when I returned it that yeah, I thought so too.