Buddhist Warfare, ed. Michael Jerryson and Mark Juergensmeyer (365 Books, Day 29)

A book Thrud brought home for me from the university-- she has always had the habit of bringing home books she does not have time to read herself and seeing whether I will read them and tell her about them, and if I find them interesting I do.

Buddhist Warfare is an anthology about precisely that: the philosophical basis of warfare waged by Buddhists; the theological corollaries of violence; the history of various wars involving Buddhists including wars between sects, wars of suppression both against and by Buddhists, and the role of Zen in World War II; and analysis of the discourses and the written histories surrounding these wars, along with discussion of cultural images of Buddhist pacifism and their relationship to the historical record.

( I know so little about the subject matter of this book that I have to rely entirely on observation of the methodology of the scholarship to tell you whether I think it is any good. )

Buddhist Warfare, ed. Michael Jerryson and Mark Juergensmeyer (365 Books, Day 29)

A book Thrud brought home for me from the university-- she has always had the habit of bringing home books she does not have time to read herself and seeing whether I will read them and tell her about them, and if I find them interesting I do.

Buddhist Warfare is an anthology about precisely that: the philosophical basis of warfare waged by Buddhists; the theological corollaries of violence; the history of various wars involving Buddhists including wars between sects, wars of suppression both against and by Buddhists, and the role of Zen in World War II; and analysis of the discourses and the written histories surrounding these wars, along with discussion of cultural images of Buddhist pacifism and their relationship to the historical record.

( I know so little about the subject matter of this book that I have to rely entirely on observation of the methodology of the scholarship to tell you whether I think it is any good. )

You can comment here or at the Dreamwidth crosspost. There are comments over there.

Thief Eyes, Janni Lee Simner (365 Books, Day 30)

A truly excellent YA based, in part, on Njal's Saga.

Haley's mother disappeared in Iceland, a year ago, so Haley gets her father to take her back there. Then things go pear-shaped. There's generational magic, and good Icelandic countryside descriptions, and various Norse elements used intelligently and in ways that are not cliched. And real characterization. And hard choices. And one choice you expect to be hard, but that is (for a change) not handled stupidly, and so, in fact, isn't.

Also, there is one line that caused me to laugh for quite a while, and then go around and quote it to everyone in the house, and they laughed too. (There aren't, in fact, any wolves in Iceland.)

It's very hard to say much about a book which I enjoyed because it is exactly the sort of thing I like, and about which I wouldn't change a thing. I liked the author's previous Bones of Faerie, too, but this feels more self-assured and tighter, I think. If very hard pressed, I could maybe wish it a tiny bit less tight, more time just to wander around in the mythology, but that might hurt the effect we get now of really cool things half-glimpsed from all sides, so possibly not.

If you are looking for good novels with Norse elements, and they are rare, this one is worthy.

Thief Eyes, Janni Lee Simner (365 Books, Day 30)

A truly excellent YA based, in part, on Njal's Saga.

Haley's mother disappeared in Iceland, a year ago, so Haley gets her father to take her back there. Then things go pear-shaped. There's generational magic, and good Icelandic countryside descriptions, and various Norse elements used intelligently and in ways that are not cliched. And real characterization. And hard choices. And one choice you expect to be hard, but that is (for a change) not handled stupidly, and so, in fact, isn't.

Also, there is one line that caused me to laugh for quite a while, and then go around and quote it to everyone in the house, and they laughed too. (There aren't, in fact, any wolves in Iceland.)

It's very hard to say much about a book which I enjoyed because it is exactly the sort of thing I like, and about which I wouldn't change a thing. I liked the author's previous Bones of Faerie, too, but this feels more self-assured and tighter, I think. If very hard pressed, I could maybe wish it a tiny bit less tight, more time just to wander around in the mythology, but that might hurt the effect we get now of really cool things half-glimpsed from all sides, so possibly not.

If you are looking for good novels with Norse elements, and they are rare, this one is worthy.

You can comment here or at the Dreamwidth crosspost. There are comments over there.

365 Books: First Month

Oh, hey, I've been doing this for a month now, so I only have three hundred and thirty-five books left to read. I probably won't go into spasms of self-analysis about it every month, but I thought I'd take a look at some stats, and how doing this has changed my reading habits.

( Several useless statistics. )

As to how this has changed my life: not much, really. I am reading in some ways faster than previously, but in some ways slower. I find myself reluctant to start a second new book in a day because it means I won't be able to review it except as a bonus review, whereas previously I went through spurts of reading like seven books in a day and then rereading for a while.

I am still not reading all of the books I bring home from the library, which rather surprises me, as I had thought, given that I am counting and bringing home the correct number of books each week, that I would probably wind up reading everything I get. No. I have always had the ability to bring something home and then, for reasons unknown to myself, turn up my nose.

I am reading I think about the same kinds of books I usually read, and I'm not planning ahead or anything like that. I pick up things people recommend or that I find interesting, as usual. Are there any genres I'm conspicuously missing? Could people please recommend me some science books? I have, however, finished a couple of books I might not otherwise have finished in one day, when it is late and I am tired; I would have gone back to them the next day, usually.

The number of books people have given me, offered to give me, etc. since I started doing this is now over thirty, which I am rather amazed by-- I mean, it's been a month, and I had not, actually, been expecting people to send me books at all, because why would one expect that sort of thing. And they've been well-chosen and well-thought-out and I feel really loved, and it has been very pleasant.

In conclusion: if I could catch up on the posting and keep up on the reading through the nasty week of a close relative's funeral, I can almost certainly finish this, and I'm enjoying it so far, and (mostly) happy about the quality of my writing. And I've read some very good books. One month down, eleven to go.

365 Books: First Month

Oh, hey, I've been doing this for a month now, so I only have three hundred and thirty-five books left to read. I probably won't go into spasms of self-analysis about it every month, but I thought I'd take a look at some stats, and how doing this has changed my reading habits.

( Several useless statistics. )

As to how this has changed my life: not much, really. I am reading in some ways faster than previously, but in some ways slower. I find myself reluctant to start a second new book in a day because it means I won't be able to review it except as a bonus review, whereas previously I went through spurts of reading like seven books in a day and then rereading for a while.

I am still not reading all of the books I bring home from the library, which rather surprises me, as I had thought, given that I am counting and bringing home the correct number of books each week, that I would probably wind up reading everything I get. No. I have always had the ability to bring something home and then, for reasons unknown to myself, turn up my nose.

I am reading I think about the same kinds of books I usually read, and I'm not planning ahead or anything like that. I pick up things people recommend or that I find interesting, as usual. Are there any genres I'm conspicuously missing? Could people please recommend me some science books? I have, however, finished a couple of books I might not otherwise have finished in one day, when it is late and I am tired; I would have gone back to them the next day, usually.

The number of books people have given me, offered to give me, etc. since I started doing this is now over thirty, which I am rather amazed by-- I mean, it's been a month, and I had not, actually, been expecting people to send me books at all, because why would one expect that sort of thing. And they've been well-chosen and well-thought-out and I feel really loved, and it has been very pleasant.

In conclusion: if I could catch up on the posting and keep up on the reading through the nasty week of a close relative's funeral, I can almost certainly finish this, and I'm enjoying it so far, and (mostly) happy about the quality of my writing. And I've read some very good books. One month down, eleven to go.

You can comment here or at the Dreamwidth crosspost. There are comments over there.