chicken cacciatore

Just one new dish in August. We had lots of repeat foods, but only one new dish. As far as I know, I didn’t have it until I was an adult and visited my sister-in-law in Long Island. At their favorite Italian restuarant / pizza joint I ordered it once when we were on the restaurant side. This America’s Test Kitchen version was very tasty and I would definitely make it again. Danielle liked it too, but it wasn’t a MUST COOK AGAIN dish with her.

Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 140 by Neil Clarke

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A nice balanced collection. My favorite was Cold Comfort. Below are my per story reviews and/or thoughts.

---—-

A Vastness: A very interesting story of what we do when we’re so driven, we are willing to risk everything. And a great ending that was very unexpected. It felt a bit shorter than these usually are, so it was extra neat to have it work so well.

Rave Master Vol. 9 by Hiro Mashima

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

While this continues the shonen tropes of the hero who can’t be beaten just because of his “can-do” attitude, Mr. Mashima increases the stakes and gives a compelling story behind the rise of Demon Card and the paths of the two Gales. It even has a silly joke to make up for the ridiculous name “Demon Card”. Apparently it was supposed to be “Demon Guard” and a typo messed it up. I wonder if it’s one of those katakana/kanji jokes or not.

Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’m a huge world-building junkie. It’s one of the reasons I love science fiction and fantasy. And, as I realized while writing the previous sentence, it’s also why I love history non-fiction books and podcasts. I love learning about the society and what drives people to act the way they act. Humans are all human and have always had the same desires, but how those manifest and how we react to them are defined within our cultural contexts. An insult that might have demanded a duel in 1800s America might now simply result in a screed on Twitter. So, I loved the first book’s building up of Radchai culture. In the first book, the plot was almost incidental. It was a TRUE trilogy in that it reads, in retrospect, as the beginning of an incredibly long book.

Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 139 by Neil Clarke

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A nice, solid collection this month. Here are my per-story thoughts:

Carouseling: An extremely sad and touching story about a couple and an experiment at a CERN-like lab. Wonder if the story was written/conceived back when everyone was afraid the collider would make a black hole. (That’s not what happens, but I could definitely see it as an inspiration).

Scarlett was practicing coming up with alliteration for each letter of the alphabet. Here’s what she came up with for “F”. I think the drawing makes it almost like a Shel Silverstein poem.

Four filthy fat flamingos fly for freedom from five fat flies from Florida.

Rave Master Vol. 8 by Hiro Mashima

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

We learn a bit more about what’s going on with Rabarrier, but mostly it’s a volume that is the continuation of the fight started in the last volume. (And it doesn’t finish here, either) Manga is the master of decompressed storytelling.

View all my reviews

Rave Master, Vol. 07 by Hiro Mashima

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A nice mix of some silly chapters and finally getting a lot closer to the mystery of Haru’s dad. Actually, with where we are now in the story I’m curious how there are some 20 more volumes.

View all my reviews

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The book that had me saying “wtf?” in a good way from the get-go. The first chapter is like The Princess Bride in that it sets up what I believe is a fictionalization of the author, but not as a forward or introduction - as the first chapter. So for the first few pages I have no idea what’s going on. Once I get it, it’s pretty interesting - especially given the title page and the fact that, apparently, this is officially Slaughterhouse-Five or The Children’s Crusade.

Bound by Donna Jo Napoli

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a much more beautiful Cinderella story than the Disney one and a much less gruesome one than the original German one, even if there was still some foot destruction. First of all, this is my second fairy re-telling by Ms. Donna Jo Napoli, having read Sirena last year or the year before. Both times, she was a master at putting us in the head space of her protagonist and creating a compelling story.