fun

“Ancillary Justice” by Ann Leckie

October 14, 2015 by Sonia Connolly 2 Comments

Recommended to me by: Sam L-G

I loved this book. I saw it recommended all over the place as unusual for space opera, but it took a friend loaning me his copy, and some spare time, to sit down with it. It opens with what seems to be a dead body, so I almost put it down again, but then I found myself on page 80. I finished it the same day. I used to inhale science fiction like that when I was growing up, but I’ve gotten a lot pickier over time.

Default pronouns are female, no matter what the person’s gender. It’s not the mismatch that interests me, but the up-front declaration that this isn’t just about young white men. In fact, the protagonist and her companion have brown skin. Sensory details are described with creative care. Details of relationships, not just heterosexual pairings but working relationships, negotiations, friendships, carry this book.

Power and privilege and favoritism aren’t just taken for granted, but clearly described and taken into account. I didn’t feel erased by this book. It brought up my own feelings of being stranded, isolated, and stubbornly trying to make things better one step at a time.

Highly recommended, when you have a chunk of time to spare.

Available at bookshop.org.

“A Wrinkle in Time” by Madeleine L’Engle

April 8, 2015 by Sonia Connolly Leave a Comment

I clearly remember not wanting to turn the light out, the first time I finished reading this book, spooked by mind control. I was around 9 years old, new to having my own room, lined with bookcases of my parents’ books.

Rereading it now, it’s interesting to see which parts I could practically recite, and which parts I had forgotten, but then remember liking, like Meg being cared for by Aunt Beast. This 50th Anniversary Edition includes a biographical essay about Madeleine L’Engle, written by her granddaughter, Charlotte Jones Voiklis.

There was a discussion about how evil is defined in this book, whether it was removing people’s individuality. I think evil is more about control, erasing people’s power of choice. Pure evil is pure control, pure selfishness, pure disregard for the will of others.

Available at bookshop.org.

“Mass” by Leonard Bernstein

October 9, 2014 by Sonia Connolly Leave a Comment

I heard Bernstein’s Mass on the radio as a kid and was hooked by both the words and the music. I bought the double CD set at some point, but hadn’t listened to it for years. I got it out recently, thinking about interfaith. It’s a theater piece of a full Latin mass, interspersed with more modern songs and commentary, written by a Jewish man. It still grabs me, and to my amazement large parts of it are stored in my head.

The odd rhythms struck me, and I looked on Multnomah County library’s website. Lo and behold, they have sheet music for the entire Mass (3 copies), including stage directions. The part that I thought was in 7/8 was in 5/8, and other parts are written in combination 3/4 and 3/8, or 12/8 with a few measures of 6/8 interspersed. I can imagine what the singers and musicians thought as they were learning their parts!

The Multnomah County library has a CD of the music too.

“Sea Change” by S. M. Wheeler

October 4, 2014 by Sonia Connolly Leave a Comment

Recommended to me by: s.e. smith at this ain’t livin’

This wild fantasy felt true to me, true to inner journeys and struggles and transformations. It has violence in it, but not a lot compared to the modern fashion, and deaths are grieved instead of being passed over without comment. Heroes, villains, and monsters alike are complex, whole people. Friendships are important enough to endure loss and hardship for.

Definitely worth spending an afternoon on the porch in the sun with this book!

Available at bookshop.org.

“The Stone Lions” by Gwen Dandridge

November 28, 2013 by Sonia Connolly 1 Comment

Recommended to me by: Knowing the author and reading early drafts long ago

I expected this book to feel a little repetitive since I read so many early drafts. Instead, it was riveting! I found myself not wanting to stop to go to bed, and wanting to pick it up again the next morning instead of working. (I did exercise some self-discipline.)

I sent off that copy to my sister for her kids, and ordered a few more to give to families with kids of the right age. I love that it centers on girl and women characters, as well as teaching about Muslim culture, the Alhambra, and a little math.

The only issue I had is that even though characters advocate for mercy toward the villain, we only see him acting in evil ways. In my experience, the worst villains are nice most of the time, especially to people with more power. One-note evil breaks my suspension of disbelief more than mathemagics.

Highly recommended for girls, boys, and anyone who is tired of the same old tropes in fantasy.

Content Note: Some cruelty to small animals, and off-stage violence at the end, so not appropriate for very young readers.

Available at bookshop.org.

“What Every Singer Needs to Know About the Body” by Malde, Allen, Zeller

September 21, 2012 by Sonia Connolly 2 Comments

Authors: Melissa Malde, MaryJean Allen, Kurt-Alexander Zeller

I read this as a followup to What Every Musician Needs to Know About the Body, since I’m a singer, not a musician. I expected it to be similarly playful and filled with illustrations more than words. I also expected it to cover very similar material.

I was wrong on both counts. In careful detail, this book covers the anatomy and mechanics of breathing, phonation (making sound with the vocal cords), articulation (forming words with the mouth and tongue), and stage presence. Even the general material on the body is covered in more detail than in the Musician book.

Did you know that your tongue is rooted far below your teeth, extends to the back of your throat, and is much larger than that part you can see? It’s made up of many muscle fibers that can act independently of each other.

Did you know that if a letter sounds different in another language, it is made with different movements of the tongue and mouth? It makes sense, but I had never thought about it. The American English ‘T’ sound is made with the tongue touching the upper teeth. In Spanish (and other Romance languages), ‘T’ is made with the tongue touching farther back on the hard palate. I speak both languages, and had never been aware of that.

Did you know that your ribs are attached in back at your spine, and in front at your sternum, and move up and out as you breathe in, like bucket handles? I had heard that many times, but hadn’t felt the movement clearly.

Did you know that your ankle is in front of your heel, not right over it? Your heel forms part of a triangle that supports your weight, and your leg bones come down inside the triangle, not on the back point. Check your own foot and see. I’ve worked on a lot of feet, and never consciously noticed that.

This book is amazing. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to understand their body better from the inside and improve their singing along the way.

Available at biblio.com.