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fincalian

fincalian

I love to read, and am always looking for new books. Even though I don't participate much, I love discussions about books!

The Goblin Emperor - Katherine Addison

RAHH THIS BOOK GIVES ME FEEEELINGS

The Colette Sewing Handbook: Inspired Styles and Classic Techniques for the New Seamstress - Sarai Mitnick

Good book with tons of great tips.  Unfortunately, none of the patterns were my style.  But still a good reference.

SPOILER ALERT!
Skin Game (Dresden Files) - Jim Butcher

 

I thought this was a nice return to the initial style of the Dresden Files.  The previous three or so books have had a lot of changes, and a lot of new information has been released, and while some new information was discovered in this book, it was mostly a story about Harry, getting himself into trouble, and figuring out how to get out of it again.  Nothing extremely earth-shattering was revealed, which was very nice.  

 

After hearing Jim Butcher plans on releasing a total of something like 30 books, this book helped establish how he's going to handle the second half of this series, which I enjoyed. 

(show spoiler)

 

Interpretation: Techniques and Exercises (Professional Interpreting in the Real World) - James Nolan

This book is also designed with teaching in mind, but it has for more concrete examples/practice exercises to be used in a classroom setting.  Published more recently, a lot of the topics are more up-to-date.

 

Unfortunately, not useful for my purposes, because it's largely composed of exercises for Spanish/French interpreters, and not much theory.  Probably good for those audiences. 

Basic Concepts and Models for Interpreter and Translator Training (Benjamins Translation Library) - Daniel Gile

I got this book because I really need to improve my interpretation skills, thanks to my new job.  There are no reviews of this book anywhere, so I figured it might be nice to put my own thoughts somewhere.  

 

This book was published in 1995, and it really shows its age, especially when it comes to sources to build your knowledge base.  Since we now have plenty of online dictionaries/articles, as well as the ability to contact specialists regardless of where you live, his suggestions for gathering information are not really applicable anymore.  His guidelines for confirming the reliability of your sources is still applicable to internet searches, though, so these sections are still worthwhile.

 

This book is focused primarily on teaching in a classroom setting.  I assumed from the title that it could be used for individual study, and certain parts or chapters have been helpful to me, but there are lists of exercises, and teaching suggestions in every chapter, and a lot of his focus is on providing teachers with good methods.  

 

There is a pretty awesome illustration of capacity required for simultaneous interpretation.  After expressing these capacity requirements as though it were a math formula, the author then includes an illustration, for easier comprehension.  The variables are guests, and the host must provide them with booze.  I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since this author is a French translator/interpreter.  

 

Overall, I think this was a pretty good book, despite being pretty outdated.  I got some useful information about techniques, and some references for the future.  Unfortunately, since the author's B language is French, a lot of the examples and resources he lists are in French.  

2312 - Kim Stanley Robinson

Very standard Kim Stanley Robinson.  Great science fiction, with a great love story. 

A Stranger in Olondria - Sofia Samatar

I first heard about this book from a reviewer on the Tor blog, and she said there were whole pages of this book she wanted to commit to memory, and I agree completely.  Here's the review-->http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/05/review-a-stranger-in-olondria-by-sofia-samatar

 

This is a very different book from what I normally read, but the writing was beautiful.  It was a fantastic piece of work. 

Reading progress update: I've read 30 out of 299 pages.

A Stranger in Olondria - Sofia Samatar
The Invention of Hugo Cabret - Brian Selznick

One of the rare instances where the movie was just as good as the book. 

fangirl

Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell

This is an amazing book, especially as a fan, and I have so many feels. 

Reading progress update: I've read 299 out of 438 pages.

Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell
Seraphina - Rachel Hartman fully deserving of all the all star author reviews on the dust jacket.
Burma Chronicles - Guy Delisle Not as good as Chronicles, but still very interesting. I could feel my own world view expanding along with Delisle's.
Blood of Tyrants - Naomi Novik Shockingly good after the previous two.
The Colette Sewing Handbook: Inspired Styles and Classic Techniques for the New Seamstress - Sarai Mitnick Also need to check this one out again when I'm sewing clothes sometime. The dresses are cute, and I want to try making a dress, but I'm not sure if any of the ones from this book suit me. Even so, there are very useful tips for fitting, and basic sewing of this nature.
Couture Sewing Techniques - Claire B. Shaeffer need to check this book out again when I am sewing clothes as opposed to animals, as it seems really useful and informative.