What have I read this week?
F, M or Other: Quarrels with the Gender Binary
This is an anthology of works by various authors relating to gender. They span a range of different types: fiction, essays, poems, comics, but they are all interrogating gender and/or gender roles. I enjoyed this – I found it interesting and thought-provoking.
Hole by Ellie Kendrick
I saw a performance of this last week and bought a copy of the text. I have to say I enjoyed the text more than the play: it seemed more complex and richer.
Penric and the Shaman by Lois McMaster Bujold
This is a novella set in the same world as The Curse of Chalion. It is the second in a series about a sorcerer named Penric and the demon who gives him his powers, Desdemona. I really enjoyed it, and will definitely read the rest of the series.
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
This is a novel. It is told alternately by three different women, Rachel, Megan and Anna. It’s one of those unreliable narrator novels, and I didn’t like it because it was so obvious that things were being hidden, purely for the sake of a reveal at the end.
Winged Magic by Mary H Herbert
This is a fantasy novel. It’s the last of a series. It revolves around a sorceress and healer who is kidnapped in order to help an evil man take the throne of a neighbouring kingdom. It wasn’t bad, although I could have done without the whole “you will be my bride” part of the plot.