BookWyrm

TaxideaDaisy reviewed Gempedia by Rui Galopim de Carvalho

Rui Galopim de Carvalho: Gempedia (Paperback, Anchor Editor)

a glossary with more than 7300 entries related to gemstones and gemology aimed at students, …

Attractive & Useful Reference Book

5 stars

Gempedia: A Comprehensive Glossary for Gemstones and Gemmology is a friendly & useful reference book. We say “friendly” because while it’s substantial indeed (over 7,300 entries), it’s also easy to hold in one hand while flipping through the pages, and has good-sized print and nice margins. Entries include trade names, organization names, technical terms, and more. There is a section at the back for numerical entries, and a final short section for symbols.
This book is text-only. It is not a coffee-table picture book. It is, however, a good companion to all of those coffee-table books, as it can provide one with definitions and context for all the unfamiliar words in their captions and blurbs. It would also make an excellent gift.

TaxideaDaisy finished reading Skyfire by Jess E. Owen (The Summer King Chronicles, #II)

Jess E. Owen: Skyfire (Paperback, Five Elements Press)

No rating

Shard is a gryfon in exile from the pride of the Silver Isles. After learning …

I would have loved to have found this series when I was a youngster, 3rd through 7th grade especially. With the various species and their interconnections, and the songs, it still reminds me, a little, of The Jungle Books. The plotting is spot on, characters varied and personable (or unpleasant), and while there is hunting and fighting, no gratuitous gore, yet fights and hunts are well described (no small feat when the combatants are angry gryfons). Owen describes characters and landscapes in fine detail, which younger me especially would have savored. Her worldbuilding is thoughtful, the various peoples and places interconnected. The story pacing is restrained, no rushing -- and the main characters make their share of blunders, large & small. There is a gentleness & a nobility of spirit underlying the narrative, which feels familiar and right, and so gracefully done that the "message" (if any) never overwhelms the …

I would have loved to have found this series when I was a youngster, 3rd through 7th grade especially. With the various species and their interconnections, and the songs, it still reminds me, a little, of The Jungle Books. The plotting is spot on, characters varied and personable (or unpleasant), and while there is hunting and fighting, no gratuitous gore, yet fights and hunts are well described (no small feat when the combatants are angry gryfons). Owen describes characters and landscapes in fine detail, which younger me especially would have savored. Her worldbuilding is thoughtful, the various peoples and places interconnected. The story pacing is restrained, no rushing -- and the main characters make their share of blunders, large & small. There is a gentleness & a nobility of spirit underlying the narrative, which feels familiar and right, and so gracefully done that the "message" (if any) never overwhelms the narrative, which has been the demise of too many otherwise fine novels & series.

[Shard’s quest is not at all the same as Jonathan Livingston Seagull’s was, and yet somehow during this book “Jonathan Livingston Gryfon” became a mantra that wouldn’t leave for a while. You’re welcome.]

There are too many typos though, many of which seem to be of the sort you get while editing -- a word missing when a phrase is cut/moved, say -- or spellcheck fails. Would be great if these could be fixed and the e-books, at least, updated, maybe POD books too? Leaving as five stars though because imo this series should be in every school & public library.

TaxideaDaisy started reading Skyfire by Jess E. Owen (The Summer King Chronicles, #II)

No rating

Shard is a gryfon in exile from the pride of the Silver Isles. After learning …

(moving right along)

TaxideaDaisy finished reading Song of the Summer King by Jennifer Miller (The Summer King Chronicles, #I)

Jess E. Owen, Joshua Essoe, Jennifer Miller, Terry Roy: Song of the Summer King (Paperback, Five Elements Press)

No rating

ONE WILL RISE HIGHER . . .

Shard is a gryfon in danger. He and …

Started out with a lot of visual description, more than we're used to these days, and then we remembered how many books we loved as a younger person were similar ... then the story itself picked up and we continued to enjoy it.
Especially enjoy it because while it's a book about gryfons (and wolves) it's not a paranormal romance about humans and werewolves.
Straightforward YA story/series, glad we purchased the set all at once so didn't have to wait to start the next one.

TaxideaDaisy wants to read Murder in Old Bombay by Nev March

Nev March: Murder in Old Bombay (Paperback, 2022, Minotaur Books)

(recommended by E.Shallcross/Brodnax)

TaxideaDaisy wants to read Menewood by Nicola Griffith

Nicola Griffith: Menewood (Hardcover, 2023, MCD)

In the much anticipated sequel to Hild, Nicola Griffith’s Menewood transports readers back to …

(good words from Charles Vess and Caitlín Matthews)

TaxideaDaisy wants to read Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality by John Boswell

John Boswell: Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality (Paperback, 2004)

John Boswell's National Book Award-winning study of the history of attitudes toward homosexuality in the …

the description sounds good, and I like the bunny on the cover :-D

TaxideaDaisy reviewed A Furry Faux Paw by Jessica Kara

Jessica Kara: A Furry Faux Paw (Hardcover, 2022, Page Street Publishing Company)

Online, MauveCat (a cool, confident, glittering pixie cat) has friends and a whole supportive furry …

Poignant, real, interesting & enjoyable

5 stars

This seems like a book one could read in one sitting, on one of those long days devoted to reading. As it is, we stayed up much later than intended to finish it. I found the painful parts manageable and the fun parts only a little on the giddy side -- suitable to the teen POV, at least how we remember those years being more intense than these much later decades. We accompany Mauve/Maeve to her first furcon, a lively gathering (convention) where fans and artists gather and enjoy shared hobbies and interests. (If you've ever dressed up for a renaissance fair, you might relate.)
I'm not a teenager, nor a furry, but you don't have to be either to enjoy this story. Even if you aren't familiar with words like "fandom" or "con" or "fursona," if you've had favorite pop stars, TV shows, cover artists, you'll probably pick up …

This seems like a book one could read in one sitting, on one of those long days devoted to reading. As it is, we stayed up much later than intended to finish it. I found the painful parts manageable and the fun parts only a little on the giddy side -- suitable to the teen POV, at least how we remember those years being more intense than these much later decades. We accompany Mauve/Maeve to her first furcon, a lively gathering (convention) where fans and artists gather and enjoy shared hobbies and interests. (If you've ever dressed up for a renaissance fair, you might relate.)
I'm not a teenager, nor a furry, but you don't have to be either to enjoy this story. Even if you aren't familiar with words like "fandom" or "con" or "fursona," if you've had favorite pop stars, TV shows, cover artists, you'll probably pick up the general lay of the land quickly enough. Definitely recommended, both for pleasure reading on its own merits, and for parents, grandparents, etc.

TaxideaDaisy finished reading A Furry Faux Paw by Jessica Kara

Online, MauveCat (a cool, confident, glittering pixie cat) has friends and a whole supportive furry …

I think if more people read stories like this one, this poignant, sweet, relatable story, there might be less fear and misunderstanding of furry culture and fandoms generally. Stayed up

TaxideaDaisy wants to read Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (Imperial Radch, #1)

Ann Leckie: Ancillary Justice (Paperback, 2013, Orbit)

On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing …

there were several entries for this title, all with the same publication date but showing two different covers (with and without the gold award sticker), different page numbers, and different numbers of reviews. Suspect they're all the same book though. :-/

TaxideaDaisy commented on Dark Castle, White Horse by Tanith Lee

Tanith Lee: Dark Castle, White Horse (Paperback, DAW)

No rating

IN DARKNESS SHE WAKES -- a beautiful young woman, forever imprisoned in the Castle of …

Interesting feature of our copy of this book: on page 285 Lee appears to refer to [the] Nulgrave as "Tarshish" as well as Nulgrave.
(First DAW printing, March 1986. DAW Collectors Book No. 665) Oh, this is handy, a google books view of the page in question. Could not seem to "Update" with the link intact, so close the spaces: http s://www.google.com/books /edition/Dark_Castle_White_Horse/DFGJEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Tanith+Lee+%22Nulgrave%22+%22Tarshish%22&pg=PT269&printsec=frontcover

TaxideaDaisy finished reading Dark Castle, White Horse by Tanith Lee

No rating

IN DARKNESS SHE WAKES -- a beautiful young woman, forever imprisoned in the Castle of …

About the most unusual thing we've read in a while, especially the 2nd story. Pretty good though; would recommend.

TaxideaDaisy commented on Gempedia by Rui Galopim de Carvalho

a glossary with more than 7300 entries related to gemstones and gemology aimed at students, …

brand new & looks like a winner! author website: ruigalopim.com/ publisher website in book listing also available from Gem-A hmm I think the editor name is meant to be in Portuguese & I picked up an autotranslation

TaxideaDaisy commented on Women's Work by Elizabeth Wayland Barber

Elizabeth Wayland Barber: Women's Work (1995, Norton & Company, Incorporated, W. W.)

Twenty thousand years ago, women were making and wearing the first clothing created from spun …

(added to TBR after Kate at The Vagabond Tabby mentioned it as a favorite.)

TaxideaDaisy wants to read The singers of time by Frederik Pohl (Bantam spectra book -- 29432-6)

Frederik Pohl: The singers of time (1991, Bantam books)

No rating

See openlibrary.org/works/OL60914W/The_Singers_of_Time

(saw on a Michael Whelan post and it sounded interesting)