Welp, I did not post these as regularly this year as I'd hoped but I can at least round out 2025 with a final, on-time entry. I hope everyone is had/is having/will have a good end to 2025, as appropriate for your part of the world!
What I Finished Reading This WeekHolly, Reindeer, and Colored Lights - Edna BarthThis book is a nostalgic holiday reread for me. It's part frustrating (no, druids did not worship Thor or Odin) and fascinating (as a snapshot of what popular knowledge about niche topics looked like in the pre-Internet age). While the presumed audience and focus is largely continental North American christian culture, these books may very well have been the first place I ever heard about Puerto Rico, or Bolivia, or the Sami, and therefore played a part in interesting me in the world. “In the African Republic of Ghana, groups of Christian families buy cows, sheep, and goats to be slaughtered for the Christmas feast. Among Christians of Abyssinia a favorite Christmas dish is raw meat” reads one paragraph in the nine-page “Christmas Feasting” chapter. As a child, Abyssinia would have seemed like an impossibly far off place, wondrously unlike anything in my daily life. Today, I know that Abyssinia is just Ethiopia and Eritrea and the “raw meat” from that Christmas dish is just kitfo, and I can walk out my front door and order it at over half-a-dozen restaurants in less than 15 minutes. Which is in itself its own kind of wondrous.
Irish Tin Whistle Tutorial vol. 1 – Mary BerginMary Bergin is one of the marquee players of this instrument. As this is just the first volume of three, I can't meaningfully compare her entire method to other tutors on the market, but it is hands down the most thorough introduction to tonguing patterns anywhere--a vital element that's often given short shrift by other instructors.
Irish Legends for Children – Yvonne Carroll & Lucy SuThis book contains six retellings of Irish legends, including The Children of Lir, two from the Ulster Cycle, and three from the Fenian Cycle. The retellings are nicely done and a good way to introduce the stories to younger readers, and the illustrations very attractive. Carroll gives the names in Irish with proper diacritics and doesn't bother with a pronunciation guide, a refreshing or frustrating choice, depending on the reader.
Guarded Time 2 - Stephanie HansenThis book opens
in media res but doesn't follow up with much explanation for dozens of characters, concepts, and situations--not even an information dump, let alone subtler explication woven into the story. And while this is the second volume in its series, it's the seventh in the "suggested reading order" of Hansen's previous books, and given that multiple chapters in Guarded Time begin with epigraphs from those books, anyone who really wants to know whats going on probably would need to read those as well. Hansen clearly loves her characters and plot, but potential readers should probably start at the top of that list.
Ruby and the Stone Age Diet – Martin MillarI opened 2025 by reading Millar's
second novel and closed it by reading this one, his third. It's a much trickier novel than its predecessor: like most of Millar's works it
seems straightforward, even superficial, until you start to realize how deadly clever it is. Almost too clever in places; Millar's satire can deadpan I suspect it's flown over the head of many an oblivious reader. He's also starting to experiment this with themes and elements that will pop up again in his later works, and while they don't always work as well here, it's very cool to see them in their embryonic forms. This is definitely worth reading, and I will definitely read it again.
The Tailor of Gloucester – Beatrix PotterProbably my favorite of Potter’s books. The illustrations are just stunning.
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever – Barbara RobinsonAn annual reread. There are many people in the world right now who I think need to read this book...alas, they wouldn't get the point even if they did.
Nimona – ND StevensonBeing a graphic novel in which Severus Snape teams up with a Murder Pixie Dream Girl to fight the system. As I was in a "fuck the system" mood all week, this suited me perfectly. It is one of those books that somehow transcends the sum of its parts, and I'm glad I finally read it. As a bonus, the omake at the end make it a seasonal read too.
Celtic Knotwork Handbook – Sheila SturrockI don't recommend starting with Sturrock's method when learning to draw Celtic knotwork, as it's prone to generating knots with inconsistent cord widths and interlacing that violates design conventions in historic examples. That said, it is useful for plotting groups of connected panels with negative space between them. And it absolutely shines when drafting zoomorphic patterns; in fact, it's the best method for doing so that I've found anywhere.
What I Am Currently ReadingThe Stations of the Sun – Ronald HuttonThe first chapters start ahead of the Christmas season, so I'm a bit behind, but that's fine.
The Bright Sword – Lev GrossmanThis is looking to become one of my annual winter reads.
Hymn to Dionysus – Natasha PulleyThree chapters in I'm liking it quite a bit.
What I’m Reading NextThis week I acquired Peter Heller's
The Dog Stars Ronald Hutton's
, Coinneach MacLeod's
The Scottish Cookbook, Mike Parker Pearson's
Stonehenge: A Brief History, and Malene Sølvsten's
Mannaz.
これで以上です。
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