compassionate and pragmatic (and well-written!) discussion of mortality<\/a> and what people face as we reach the end of our lives. I avoided reading it for years, but it turned out to be incredibly reassuring, even the parts that are so uncomfortable to contemplate. We are all headed in the same direction, and it helps to be clear-sighted about our ultimate end.<\/p>\nPhilip Reeve\u2019s Railhead trilogy<\/b> is ostensibly Young Adult, but the incredible world building with sentient trains that travel between worlds and the youth who gets caught up in a revolt against the Powers That Be dazzles me. I\u2019ve recommended it successfully to both younger and older readers.<\/p>\n
Audre Lorde\u2019s \u201cSister Outsider\u201d<\/b> is a collection of incisive essays and speeches about identity, race, feminism, motherhood, and so much more. When I first read it many years ago as a young woman, it hit me hard, and I have come back to it again and again, as one returns to a wellspring.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors\u201d by James D Hornfischer<\/b> is a history book my dad recommended to me (and to my Navy son). It covers World War II\u2019s Battle off Samar in which an overmatched USA squadron of destroyers and small escort carriers went up against a powerful Japanese force off the Philippines. So well researched (based on first-hand accounts), so readable, grabs you by the throat and doesn\u2019t let up. A story of ordinary men displaying extraordinary courage and resolve.<\/p>\n
Rosemary Kirstein\u2019s The Steerswoman books<\/b>. I wish these novels (starting with \u201cThe Steerswoman\u201d) were more widely known. They\u2019re so well observed. I can\u2019t say more because this is one of the very few series that truly it is best to go into without knowing anything much about it, simply because the discovery element is so worthwhile.<\/p>\n
Q. What are you reading now?<\/b><\/p>\n
Ned Blackhawk\u2019s \u201cThe Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of US History.\u201d<\/b> An eye-opening re-vision of how we look at American history, and in this case through the lens of how the long interaction between the Indigenous people and the settlers (and then government of the U.S.A.) has driven, and created, so many of the institutions and iconic narratives of this nation in a way most histories overlook, ignore, or don\u2019t even recognize.<\/p>\n
\u201cThinking, Fast and Slow\u201d by Daniel Kahneman<\/b>, about the two systems that drive the way we think. This book was recommended to me, and I was a bit apprehensive that it might be a tough read with a lot of science jargon, but it is so fluidly written that the pages fly past. Fascinating and illuminating.<\/p>\n
As for novels, I just finished reading Vasily Grossman\u2019s masterpiece \u201cLife and Fate\u201d <\/b>(set during World War II and written by a Soviet journalist who reported through the war) and Ken Liu\u2019s forthcoming near-future tech thriller \u201cAll That We See or Seem,\u201d<\/b> which was too short; I wanted more! I\u2019m about to start M. H. Ayinde\u2019s debut fantasy, \u201cA Song of Legends Lost.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n
Q. How do you decide what to read next?<\/b><\/p>\n
My TBR pile is more of a shelf. Or shelves, to be honest. I am an obsessive book buyer (who needs shoes when you can have books?), so I always have plenty of unread titles at hand.<\/p>\n
Sometimes I find out about a book and just have to read it right away. Sometimes I finally grab a book I bought five years ago and fly through it because the writing hits me just right or the subject matter becomes incredibly timely. Sometimes I read a book because it\u2019s needed research for what I\u2019m writing just now. Sometimes the next installment in a multi-book series that I love arrives, so I have to read it immediately (for example, Juliet McKenna\u2019s \u201cThe Green Man\u2019s Heir\u201d<\/b> contemporary fantasy series).<\/p>\n
Q. Do you remember the first book that made an impact on you?<\/b><\/p>\n
Thornton W. Burgess\u2019s Mother West Wind\u00a0series<\/b>, a gentle children\u2019s book series about anthropomorphic animals in a woodland setting, with low stakes, and cute animals, written at the early chapter book level. The books were originally published in the early 20th century, and my dad read them as a child. In my childhood home we had three volumes of the stories. I was obsessed with them in early elementary school, reading them over and over.<\/p>\n
Q. Is there a book you\u2019re nervous to read?<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cMoby Dick,\u201d<\/b> but my eldest says I have to because it\u2019s wickedly funny as well as brilliant. I\u2019m going to venture a read-along with friends next year. Wish me luck.<\/p>\n
Q. Do you listen to audiobooks? If so, are there any titles or narrators you\u2019d recommend?<\/b><\/p>\n
I don\u2019t process audiobooks well because I can\u2019t pay attention to the story. What\u2019s interesting is that I love storytellers and storytelling, but oral storytelling creates a different rhythm than book narration. That said, I think audiobooks are a great medium for many readers, and I\u2019m glad technology has made them so accessible to so many.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m delighted to have had such great narrators for my books, including Shiromi Arserio\u2019s magisterial narration of my seven volume \u201ceverything but the kitchen sink\u201d epic fantasy \u201cCrown of Stars\u201d; Natalie Naudus\u2019s impressive skill in dealing with a complex story and cast of thousands for my space opera trilogy, the Sun Chronicles; Zehra Jane Naqvi\u2019s incredible attention to detail in the dense world of the Crossroads Trilogy; and Georgia Dolenz nails the tone I\u2019d hoped for with the Court of Fives (YA) trilogy. And more besides these! I\u2019m so excited to see what Ella Lynch does with \u201cThe Witch Roads\u201d (the audiobook is coming in August) after she and I had a great exchange via email about names and accents. The voice actors I\u2019ve interacted with have been so dedicated and skillful. We are really in a golden age for audio in so many venues and media.<\/p>\n
Q. Is there a genre or type of book you read the most \u2013 and what would you like to read more of?<\/b><\/p>\n
I read a lot of history. My dad taught history so I grew up with it as household conversation, and that\u2019s probably why I love it to this day. History is a window onto the past that always surprises and amazes me.<\/p>\n
My favorite fiction genre is science fiction and fantasy (which I lump together). I couldn\u2019t tell you why; I\u2019ve loved SFF since I was a child.<\/p>\n
Mostly, I\u2019d like to read more of the as-yet-unread books on my shelves. Everything; I just want to cram everything into my brain.<\/p>\n
Q. What do you find the most appealing in a book: the plot, the language, the cover, a recommendation? Do you have any examples?<\/b><\/p>\n
In fiction, I love best when the story evokes a place so deeply and effectively that I feel as if I am there, that I have experienced that place alongside the characters. For example, J.R.R. Tolkien\u2019s \u201cThe Lord of the Rings\u201d<\/b> is set in Middle Earth, a place that feels \u201creal\u201d to me as a reader, as if it could have (and should have) existed. Ken Liu\u2019s Dandelion Dynasty epic fantasy series<\/b> also creates a fully-fleshed out fantastical world and a century\u2019s worth of incredible technological and cultural changes as seen through its many people from all walks of life, total catnip for me as a reader.<\/p>\n
I also love vivid characters whose personalities and journeys I remember years and even decades after I\u2019ve read their story. Characters I still think about include (but are not limited to) Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy from Jane Austen\u2019s \u201cPride and Prejudice\u201d<\/b>; Tremaine and Ilias from Martha Wells\u2019 \u201cThe Fall of Ile-Rien\u201d<\/b> trilogy; the members of the Kaul family, leaders of the No Peak clan, whose lives we see unfold over decades in Fonda Lee\u2019s Green Bone Saga<\/b>.<\/p>\n
Q. If you could ask your readers something, what would it be?<\/b><\/p>\n
Selfishly, I would love to ask my readers (those who enjoyed a book of mine): what scene or moment has really stuck with them, that they still think about months or years (or decades!) later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the past 30 years, Kate\u00a0Elliott\u00a0has written fantasy, science fiction, space opera, Young Adult fantasy, as well as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":181774,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3938],"tags":[3444,77,74714,6417,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-181773","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-the-book-pages","11":"tag-things-to-do","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114677526680998338","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181773\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/181774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}