Recent reading

[troisoiseaux]

Read Stories I Tell Myself by Juan F. Thompson, his memoir about growing up as the son of writer Hunter S. Thompson. This was obviously interesting to read after seeing The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical, but what really struck me is how Thompson wrote about his volatile childhood, and the relationship he built with his father over the years, through a lens of being both his father's son and a father himself.

Started reading Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers by Caroline Fraser (whose biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder I read a few years back) and I'm curious to see where she's going with this, because there seem to be a couple of main threads emerging: her central argument appears to be that the reason the Pacific Northwest had so many serial killers in the 70s-80s was childhood exposure to lead poisoning and other toxins, but she's also writing a lot about the other ways the PNW can kill you - so far, poor bridge construction and earthquakes - and has started to weave in references to her own childhood on Mercer Island, near Seattle.

For a completely different vibe, I've been re-reading In Defiance of All Geometry and World Ain't Ready by idiopathicsmile, because I rewatched the Les Mis 25th Anniversary Concert and was immediately slammed with teenage fandom nostalgia. It occurs to me that the appeal of both idiopathicsmile's fics (+ the Les Mis fandom on Tumblr circa 2013-15 in general, really) and my favorite actual published YA in high school (Maggie Stiefvater's Raven Cycle) was the premise of having a close-knit group of friends who are deeply passionate about something (social justice! quest for a magical dead Welsh king!) and all a little bit in love with each other. I also discovered from a friend with an AO3 account that our mutual favorite author of canon-era Les Mis fic did not delete her fics, just made them private, so after a decade+ of lurking I finally signed up for an AO3 account, or rather for an invitation(?) to make one, which I will hopefully receive... some time next week?

Comments

[sovay]

so after a decade+ of lurking I finally signed up for an AO3 account, or rather for an invitation(?) to make one, which I will hopefully receive... some time next week?

Cool! Please point me toward your handle should you post fic of your own or just recommendations. I have the same name and write at incredibly idiosyncratic intervals.

[troisoiseaux]

Thanks to chestnut_pod, I was able to make an account!! My go-to username and all obvious variations were already taken, so I went with 3oiseaux. I'm definitely just going to continue lurking (and leave comments/kudos on all the fics I should have commented/left kudos on years ago) but I'll check out your fics!

[sovay]

My go-to username and all obvious variations were already taken, so I went with 3oiseaux. I'm definitely just going to continue lurking (and leave comments/kudos on all the fics I should have commented/left kudos on years ago) but I'll check out your fics!

Lurking is a legitimate use of your time! It is mostly what I do with my own account! May you enjoy whatever of mine you read!

[snickfic]

Ooooh, that second book sounds really interesting. Adding that to my tbr list. Thank you!

[troisoiseaux]

So far it's not exactly what I expected based off of the headlines/reviews, but it's really interesting.

[lunabee34]

Oh yay! I'm glad you'll be able to read your favorite author's stuff again.

[troisoiseaux]

I'M IN and I genuinely feel like a kid in a candy shop haha.

[lirazel]

I never put it together that the Murderland lady was also the Prairie Fires lady! Now I'm looking forward to Murderland even more!

[kore]

It's _really_ good.

[chestnut_pod]

Oh, idiopathicsmile! I loved a Les Mis modern AU back in the day, including hers.

BTW, I have an AO3 invitation I could send you directly via the site, if you'd rather not wait. I'd need the email address you're planning on using for the account in order to send it.

[troisoiseaux]

BTW, I have an AO3 invitation I could send you directly via the site, if you'd rather not wait.

I didn't realize that was an option! Thank you so much, that would be fantastic— I'll message you my email.

[chestnut_pod]

Sent! I've actually never used one of my invites before; I would be interested to hear about what the process looks like from your end.

[kore]

I just finished Murderland and it was really compelling, despite the "Serial killers caused by lead poisoning!!" lead clickbait media went with, when it's really much more about wholesale environmental destruction and poverty and family abuse. But that's not a snappy headline. Her other book, about children, medicine and Christian Science (she was a CS kid) is also very well-written.

[troisoiseaux]

I was initially surprised by how disparate the topics of her books seem - as well as serial killers, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Christian Science, she has one on conservation efforts for endangered species - but I'm beginning to see how there could be common threads. (I may be mixing it up with something else, but I think Prairie Fires also had an element of, like, "human impact on the environment" to it...?)

[kore]

Oh yes! For me it's also a lot about stories, false narratives -- as a CS kid, listening to your parents go on about how you're not _really_ sick is kind of wrenching. And PF had the whole narrative of the West built up over decades, and Murderland is REALLY about the PNW in a way you don't often see. Not grunge, heroin, tech, coffee (she even says that). A lot of it's about land, and people, who are considered worth killing for money. _And_ she takes on the Dark Prince Ted story with such cold contempt it's riveting.

And she's such a great writer, her prose is mesmerizing.