Tearing up the ‘D’ column of my bingo card–I finished The City & the City by China Miéville, Mad Hatters and March Hares ed. by Ellen Datlow, and Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne.
I really liked The City & the City, but it took a good long while before I felt like I was getting a handle on how the society worked, and I’m still not convinced I fully grasped it properly by the end. But it was twisty and turny and enjoyable to read. Also, the first (maybe only) book I’ve read this year that required the Merriam-Webster website on my phone nearby (I learned “encomia”, “rood”, and “machicolation”. Also “grosstopically”, but that was just made up for the book, apparently.)
Mad Hatters and March Hares was easier for me when I read a few stories and then switched to longer works in between to break it up. Some of the stories were pretty creepy, but I enjoyed the theme of the anthology.
Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea would work for either the Cozy Read square or the LGBTQIA+ square, and was very light and quick for me to get through. I had fun with the characters, and would read more by this author as a palate cleanser.
I’ll be starting Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand this evening, and I picked up 1066 and All That from the library on a recommendation from the bingo recs page, just because it sounded neat, so that should be coming up this week.
…Hard for me to answer that, as I’m still wrapping my head around it, but I’m going to say yes, as while I haven’t seen the adaptation, you almost certainly get a lot more of the main character’s thoughts and point-of-view, as well as more worldbuilding. The way the city (and the city) work is clearly integral to the plot, but I didn’t feel cheated by it, in any case.