I finished Farthing by Jo Walton which left me with a stunned feeling. Like Dominion, Farthing is an alternate history with the premise that Britain negotiated a peace with Hitler.
The books are very different despite the similar premise. I actually like Farthing better, but I'm not quite ready to dive into Ha'Penny, described as a companion book to Farthing. I need to allow Farthing to settle a bit. Sometimes the abuse of power can be a bit too much, even in an alternate history.
Lots of reviews to write. Nothing new there.
I've been busy cleaning out the attic and trying to rescue my studio from absolute chaos. It is really difficult to do anything creative in the disaster that room has become. The attic opens from the studio and the area is very small, but I've used it to stash anything I didn't want to deal with at the moment. Trying to go through and empty as much as possible so I can fill it up again. Endless cycle.
Around Christmas I started making hearts stuffed with lavender and flaxseed, then added more before Valentine's Day. Because they are small and made with scraps of fabric and yarn, I've just continued making them in a kind of meditative way.
My clay figures, half a dozen or more, have been sitting around for months now, but when I finally get the studio back in some kind of order, I'll need to work on finishing them.
-------------Cool Stuff-----------------
Ekaterina Panikanova makes collages using old books.
Bibliomaton (Jeffrey Maib) makes wonderful automata from books.
Check him out on Etsy.
Wow, you zoomed through Farthing quickly - I was curious to know how similar it was to Dominion, and now I know! I still have to read the rest of the Farthing series too.
ReplyDeleteI really have to get around to reading Jo Walton! We have an attic and a basement we are working on cleaning up and organizing. A year ago we had the basement in good shape and somehow it didn't manage to stay that way! Good luck with all your cleaning!
ReplyDeletevicki - Both are good and both make you think of the possibilities that might have occurred!
ReplyDeleteStefanie - I don't have the "keep up with it" gene. I'm afraid that everything that isn't immediately visible slides into forgetfulness. :) Hope you are more successful!
I very much enjoyed 'Farthing' but Walton's books have not proved easy to get hold of in the UK and I haven't yet found a copy of 'Ha'Penny' but I shall keep looking because I think she had a lot of interesting things to say about current politics as well as what happened during the war.
ReplyDeleteI very much enjoyed 'Farthing' but Walton's books have not proved easy to get hold of in the UK and I haven't yet found a copy of 'Ha'Penny' but I shall keep looking because I think she had a lot of interesting things to say about current politics as well as what happened during the war.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you liked Farthing! I still haven't read the other two books because they were out-of-print for a while in Canada. I noticed the other day I could get them, but I haven't splurged yet!
ReplyDeleteAlex - Farthing is one of those books that will be hard to forget. The Kindle version of Ha'Penny is available now on Amazon, and I think you can get a paperback copy as well. Hmmm-- but that's the U.S. Amazon, not Amazon U.K.
ReplyDeleteHT - I'm glad the powers that be have decided to republish these novels. I have so many books in the TBR pile, that I haven't splurged on Ha'Penny yet, either!
Farthing's my favorite of the series, but Ha'Penny's pretty good too! If you do move on to that one sometime soon, I hope you enjoy it. I did, quite a bit. (Half a Crown's slightly not as good, I'm afraid.)
ReplyDeleteJenny - I do plan to read Ha'Penny because I really liked Farthing, even if Carmichael's situation disturbed me. I'm slowly reading the essays in Walton's What Makes This Book So Great.
ReplyDeleteRead Carson's translation of Sappho's poems, but haven't reviewed it yet. Thanks for the recommendation!
I feel kinda of the same with some of my books. I think most of my books in progress are good though so not quite ready to move some to the DNF pile. who knows I may change my mind by tomorrow :)
ReplyDeleteLove the collage of old books. Wonderful. Hope you get your studio in order so you can continue crafting. I totally understand how that is!
Iliana - I don't hate any of the books in progress, but for they don't hold my interest for long, and I move on to something that does. I suspect I'll get back to some, but not all of them. :)
ReplyDeleteI am working on my studio, a bit at a time. Here is a great post about the problem with crafters and creators: Big Fat Lies I Tell Myself. I posted part of it on my other blog because it hit home!