Summer Reading

One of the upsides of summer is that I'm not taking Chinese; the summer curriculum for languages runs only single-year-intensive courses that pack three quarters' worth of language classes into, not kidding, 9 weeks. Even if I could imagine myself absorbing Mandarin at that rate I can't take a 9-week vacation to fit in the class time. So, no Mandarin until September, though I did sign up for a language exchange partner through the Educational Outreach, and I'm meeting them for coffee for the first time tomorrow afternoon. In the mean time, I've been totally slacking on even reviewing last year's grammar and vocabulary, and instead catching up on some purely recreational reading. I'm still not a fast reader, so there isn't a tonne of it, but it's nice to have some No Pressure reading for a change.

The Weirdstone of Brisingamen - Alan Garner - I picked this up second-hand a while back at Magus Books because I've read some Alan Garner in the past and enjoyed it, and this book in particular seems to be a touchstone of sorts for many of my UK friends and acquaintances. It also seemed like it had a lot of the sort of elements I often like very much. So, I was curious. Summary reaction: I wanted to like it, but mostly, I didn't.

( Not very spoilery, but just in case )

I keep seeing this book compared to Susan Cooper, but on the whole, I think if one wants a Susan Cooper novel, the best option will be to go re-read some Susan Cooper