[identity profile] checkers65477.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] queensthief
Gosh, it's been quiet around here!

What great things have you read recently that are totally obscure?  Something other people are unlikely to ever find on their own?

I'll go first:

Boris by Cynthia Rylant - if you've ever loved a pet, you'll like this one.  So sweet!  And, it's told in verse.

A teen sci-fi series that you'll like if you're a Star Trek nerd * - the Galahad series by Dom Testa.  A comet has infected the earth with a disease that is killing off all the adults.  As a last-ditch effort to save the human race, scientists build a spaceship to travel to another planet, and choose 251 disease-free teens who must learn how to get the ship there, and colonize the planet.  Lots of fun.  The first book is The Comet's Curse.



* No, not me.  Not a bit.

Date: 10/7/12 05:29 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] deirdrej.livejournal.com
Wow! I fell completely in love with Flannery O'Connor's writing in my teens, and I think I've read all her fiction. I still love it! And "The Master and Margarita" is pretty brilliant -- have you read "White Knights?" "Are Women Human" is actually one of my all-time favorites!

I read Kristin Lavransdatter a few years back -- I understand there's a newish translation out now that's supposed to be good. I think people either love that book or hate it -- I thought it was fascinating. :-D

Date: 10/8/12 06:00 am (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
I haven't read Flannery's novels, though they too are on my shelf. I need to re-read her short stories--there's so much there that really requires multiple readings to unpack.

Did you mean White Guard by Bulgakov? (I couldn't find anything called White Knights by him.) It sounded interesting so I made a note of it. I do like me some Russians.

In the past couple years or so, Kristin Lavransdatter has popped up on my radar several times from different sources, so there must be something there. I too have heard that the new translation is supposed to be good. It's the one that is awaiting me.

--Handmaiden

Date: 10/10/12 04:11 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] deirdrej.livejournal.com
Wow, Handmaiden, I am silly! Of course, I meant White Guard! So sorry you were chasing wild geese on my account -- though I am sure, if Bulgakov ever wrote a book called White Knights, it would be awesome.

Date: 10/9/12 03:51 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] freenarnian.livejournal.com
Where do recommend a girl begin, if she wants to be acquainted with the works of Flannery O'Connor? =)

Date: 10/10/12 03:51 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] deirdrej.livejournal.com
Well, her novels are amazing, but she's an absolute master of the short story. The story people tend to make you read is "A Good Man is Hard to Find," which is great....but....I'm not sure I would start with it. The first one I remember reading -- and loving -- was "A Late Encounter With the Enemy." "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" is pretty great, too. Here's the first couple of sentences...

The old woman and her daughter were sitting on the porch when Mr. Shiftlet came up their road for the first time. The old woman slid to the edge of her chair and leaned forward, shading her eyes from the piercing sunset with her hand. The daughter could not see far in front of her and continued to play with her fingers. Although the old woman lived in this desolate spot with only her daughter and she had never seen Mr. Shiftlet before, she could tell, even from a distance, that he was a tramp and no one to be afraid of.

I think her language is beautiful....The stories tend toward the sad and/or macabre, but they give you something to think about, too.

~Deirdre

Date: 10/11/12 04:11 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] freenarnian.livejournal.com
Thanks! :D

I just moved to a new area with a really (really really) small library (like, no selection. at all) from a neighborhood with one of the best libraries in the nation, so I've been feeling a bit book-less and depressed. I bet they'll have FO, though!

Date: 10/15/12 07:18 am (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
Deirdre, have you ever heard Flannery reading "A Good Man Is Hard to Find"? Her reading pace is a little quick, but it's interesting to hear it in her own voice, and with Southern accent. http://www.openculture.com/2012/05/rare_1959_audio_flannery_oconnor_reads_a_good_man_is_hard_to_find.html

--Handmaiden

Date: 10/16/12 04:36 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] deirdrej.livejournal.com
Wow, thank you, Handmaiden! You're right, the accent is great -- and she actually reads really well.

~D.
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