If I Was Your Girl

There has been plenty of time for reading lately, but not for writing—all of that is for school stuff.

Finishing In Code reminded me that I actually have a few hard-copy maths books lying around that I should reread—or read for the first time!—including some more stuff on prime numbers. What I did read though turned out to be extremely helpful (as intended) for the start of the cryptography paper I’m currently taking.

I returned to ebooks, however, and started Austen’s Sense and Sensibility. This book took a really long time to grab my interest, and I might have dropped it entirely if it wasn’t for a rather miserable powercut that left me without much else to do. Backlights are great, let me tell you. After about 30% or so I was hooked into, if nothing else, all the trials and tribulations of the elder Miss Dashwood, and finished the rest in quick order.

The next book I picked up was Deathless, by Catherynne M. Valente. This is a novel about Russian folklore (and Communism), which is a problem because I didn’t get any of the references. It was really enjoyable, however, though it’s a shame that many of the secondary characters weren’t very, ah, persisting. The rule-of-threes parts were also a nice touch.

Following this I went back to Austen, and read Mansfield Park. This was a much more gripping read, if only because Miss Price made for a very compelling main character (at least for me). I liked it all the way to the end, but unfortunately I’m not a huge fan of the end of this one, for reasons.

The book I’m currently reading is If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo, a young adult novel set in the American South following a trans girl who is trying to be stealth in a new highschool in a new town. I don’t normally read YA, partially because I spent my teens thinking I was too good for the genre (among other things, and for that matter among other genres), and partially because they tend to be a bit too real—and that’s not what I usually read for!

Given the latter, this wasn’t the greatest choice to start with. In particular I’ve kind of been waiting for everything to go south for Amanda, the protagonist. It hasn’t yet, but I am concerned. Regardless, I need to read some more books like this.

Or maybe write one?

No, I definitely don’t have the time for that.