Welcome to Litsy!

I re-read this today and it still made me sad. I want to listen and read more of Hawthorne's work, he was my favorite author in high school. I always enjoyed his commentary on women's agency and rights and their treatment by men/the patriarchy. (The Scarlet Letter/Young Goodman Brown are also great examples of this.)

This short story at its core is about the ethical use of science and I find that interesting.

Listened to Levar Burton read this short story about a girl asking for a miracle.

It's part of the Dead Djinn Universe; steampunk Cairo where mechanical Angels, Djinn and, amongst others, boiler-plate eunuchs live among the human inhabitants of the city.

#SeriesLove2024 @TheSpineView @Andrew65
#OutWithTheOldInWithTheNew #YearEnd #20in4 #readathon

The second prequel story to A Master of Djinn. An introduction to the strange and mysterious "angels" and an emotional trial for a young girl.

https://reactormag.com/the-angel-of-khan-el-khalili-p-djeli-clark/

I love the thought of dystopian stories but they rarely meet my expectations. This was a short audio; at only 4 hours it‘s hard to do much world building and character development. For most of the story tough girl Reid is hog hunting?? I mean that was fine but too drawn out and she didn‘t even start her journey that we hear so much about. Interesting illness though: “cad” is a fungi infecting most of the humans left and influences their behavior.

It was not instantaneous, the end of the world... And, of course, the world did not end at the same time for everyone... It was slow enough that for a long time, it did not seem truly dire... Till suddenly, the feedback cycles tipped over, became too front-heavy to regulate themselves... And then, the lights went out. Flickered feebly back on as governments and billionaires threw money at the problems... And at last, the lights went out for good.

On a near-future Earth, society and infrastructure have largely collapsed. Ree gets an exciting opportunity and we see how those around her respond to it. I liked this slim book, but I wanted it to be a bit meatier. I found this future Earth interesting and wanted to see more of it. (There‘s now a book 2, but still.)

I have been keeping a record of books featuring magpies on their cover art, not counting nonfiction about magpies or birds in general. Here they are. Can you think of others?

Sandy book #1

Thank you Donna for the card and little goodies for my birthday! Thanks for bringing me a birthday smile 😊.

I‘m about to head out for a day of hiking to waterfalls with some good friends. It‘s a beautiful day!