#jo walton
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There's a sunrise and a sunset every single day, and they're absolutely free. Don't miss so many of them.
~Jo Walton
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Bonus 82: Frak, smeg, and more swearing in fiction - Ex Urbe Ad Astra interview with Jo Walton and Ada Palmer
The words that a culture considers taboo or obscene can tell us things about what that culture considers important or profane. For example, many swear words in present-day English relate to sex and body functions, while historically in English we've also had more religious swears, like "God's blood" and "God's teeth". In fiction, authors can use invented swear words to get around censorship, like "frack" in Battlestar Gallactica and "frell" in Farscape, as well as to create a sense of a particular culture, such as "smeg" in Red Dwarf, which then sometimes take on new lives of their own among fans.
In this bonus episode, Gretchen gets enthusiastic about swearing (including rude gestures) in fiction with science fiction and fantasy authors Jo Walton and Ada Palmer, authors of the Thessaly books and Terra Ignota series, both super interesting series we've ling-nerded out about before on the show. We talk about fictional substitutes for the F word, expletive infixations like abso-bloody-lutely, sweary lexical gaps (why don't we swear with "toe jam!") and old fashioned swears in English. We also talk about learning real-life swear words without full awareness of their emotional valence by reading fiction (such as how Gretchen and Ada don't find "bloody" as taboo as Jo does), cultural differences in taboo gestures such as pointing with the middle finger in real life and teeth-baring smiles in Arkady Martine's A Memory Called Empire, and an extra bonusy bit about recording emotional punctuation in the audiobook of Because Internet.
Content note: Lingthusiasm episodes about swearing contain real swears! If you typically play this podcast around kids, for example, it's up to you whether you want to have that conversation with them.
Also note that this conversation was first recorded as an interview with Gretchen for Ada and Jo's podcast, Ex Urbe Ad Astra, where it will one day appear in longer form, but they've kindly let us share some of Lauren's favourite snippets from it in advance (plus a few comments from her at the end!).
Listen to this episode about swearing in fiction, and get access to many more bonus episodes by supporting Lingthusiasm on Patreon.
#linguistics#language#lingthusiasm#bonus#bonus episodes#bonuses#patreon#podcast#lingfic#linguistic fiction#scfi#fantasy#Ex Urbe Ad Astra#Jo Walton#Ada Palmer#Arkady Martine
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“It doesn't matter. I have books, new books, and I can bear anything as long as there are books.”
― Jo Walton, Among Others.
#books#booklr#bookblr#fiction#book#quotes#book quotes#quotations#quote#book quote#jo walton#among others#new books#bookboost#bookbuzz#booknerd#read#reading#readers#booksbooksbooks#bookshelf
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“People tell you to write what you know, but I've found that writing what you know is much harder than making it up. It's easier to research a historical period than your own life, and it's much easier to deal with things that have a little less emotional weight and where you have a little more detachment. It's terrible advice! So this is why you'll find there's no such place as the Welsh valleys, no coal under them, and no red buses running up and down them; there never was such a year as 1979, no such age as fifteen, and no such planet as Earth. The fairies are real, though.”
Authors Note by Jo Walton from Among Others
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Round 1
Change can kill. Devastate. Destroy. But it can also save.
-Branded by Fire, Nalini Singh
The unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone.
-The Last Unicorn, Peter S. Beagle
The first I knew about the civil war was when my sister Aurien poisoned me.
-The King’s Name, Jo Walton
#books#polls#reading#round 1#tournament poll#branded by fire#nalini singh#the last unicorn#peter s beagle#the king’s name#jo walton
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#robin hobb#sa chakraborty#jo walton#tawney man#the daevabad trilogy#among others#round 1#polls#fantasy book tournament
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vote yes if you have finished the entire book.
vote no if you have not finished the entire book.
(faq · submit a book)
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A signed-book-haul that I recently got from Dreamhaven, one of my favorite bookshops in the Twin Cities.
🦞 Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton
🪽 Growing Wings by Laurel Winter
🦋 Little (Grrl) Lost by Charles de Lint
#godzilla reads#book haul#signed books#book blog#book addict#growing wings#laurel winter#tooth and claw#jo walton#little (grrl) lost#Charles de lint#bibliophile#bookworm#booklr
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Then they came walking up the dramroad out of the valley through the twilight. They were ghosts, I suppose, the procession of the dead. They weren’t pale kings and pale maidens, they were work-worn men and women—perfectly ordinary people, except for being dead.
among others by jo walton
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Twenty Books Challenge, Part 2
Hypothetically, you are only able to keep 20 of your books. Only one book per author/series. So what books are you keeping?
I was tagged by @the-forest-library. Thank you! I’m opting to do it in two parts because I wanted the chance to reuse some old photos I’ve taken of the individual books (and tumblr only allows ten pictures per post–booooo!!!). Here are books 11 to 20. You can find the first ten here.
11. Different Seasons by Stephen King - This is a collection of novellas contains an absolute favorite book of mine, The Body. It’s extremely sentimental to me, and I’ve owned this copy since I was in middle school.
12. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara - This is just another of the best books I’ve ever read that I need to reread.
13. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire - My brother, Robert, gave this to me when I was definitely not old enough to read it. It’s always been a favorite mine, and it’s particularly special to me now because Rob passed away in August.
14. Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones - This is probably my favorite fantasy book. I just love it so much and can’t be without it.
15. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine - This is one of my absolute favorite fairy tale retellings. It’s such a joy to reread. Plus I’ve had this copy since I was young, so I’m quite attached to it.
16. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke - This is another of my favorite fantasies. The worldbuilding is spectacular, and it is absolutely worth keeping and rereading.
17. Among Others by Jo Walton - Another wonderful fantasy that I want to reread. What I especially love about it is that it’s a love letter to the fantasy genre, and it includes a bunch of things I love: books, boarding schools, and fairies.
18. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale - Another of my favorite retellings that I like to go back to periodically.
19. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien - This is a childhood favorite of mine, but this copy has also been in my family for a few generations. It originally belonged to my mom and my uncle when they were kids, then it went to my brothers, then it went to me. It’s falling apart, but I absolutely would have to keep it!
20. The Brontës by Juliet Barker - This is my favorite work of nonfiction. It is the definitive biography of the Brontës, and there’s just so much information in it! Plus I got my copy at the Brontë Parsonage Museum on my first visit. It has a stamp inside to prove it!
I have no clue who else has done this, so sorry if you already have! I’m tagging: @dauen, @ninja-muse, @moderngothicbooks, @bookcub, and anyone who wants to do this!
#booklr#tagged#book photography#books#twenty books challenge#different seasons#stephen king#a little life#hanya yanagihara#confessions of an ugly stepsister#gregory maguire#wintersong#s jae-jones#ella enchanted#gail carson levine#jonathan strange & mr. norrell#susanna clarke#among others#jo walton#the goose girl#shannon hale#the brontes#juliet barker
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read among others by jo walton, tam lin by pamela dead, and ballad by maggie stiefvater all in the span of a week and so now my brain is a nice smoothie of thoughts about books about creepy faeries causing trouble for characters away at school
#normally i don't have much time to read during the semester#but i am taking the bus twice a week for a class so i can read on the commute it's very nice#pie says stuff#books#pie reads#among others#jo walton#tam lin#pamela dean#ballad#maggie stiefvater
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From Jo Walton’s Lent (not necessarily a book I would recommend, but the premise is fun and Ficino does make an appearance)—pretty sure Ficino being a sodomite was considered confirmed fact and not just a rumour, Savonarola
Savonarola: I hear a rumour that he’s a sodomite!!
Poliziano: … I… I wouldn’t call that a rumour
Sav: oh! Is that a calumny then?
Poliziano: Ummm noOoOo… I would call it a, uh, fact
Sav: horrors!
Poliziano: I’ve got some news for you about me! …and Pico…and Lorenzo when he’s bored and his mistress isn’t available…and that weird little man called Machiavelli…and our ambassador to Rome…
Sav: it’s a den of inequities over here in Florence I swear
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Reading right now.
Lecturas actuales.
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Queer reads: My Real Children, by Jo Walton
For day 19, I bring you My Read Children, by Jo Walton.
(this cover is not the US one, obviously, but look at it! It’s so cool!)
Jo Walton is a fantastic writer, and I recommend everything she’s written. She has a lot of range, and does stuff that straddles the line between fantasy and literary fiction, and also, Among Others is responsible for getting me into LeGuin and Delany, as well as starting a book club with @higgsboshark . Maybe we’ll start that up again, but not at a white-dude-bro-bar. What do you think, Q?
Anyway, My Real Children is about a woman named Patricia Cowen who is an old lady with memory issues. She’s in an assisted living situation, and her children come to visit her. Only, sometimes it’s different children. Sometimes she remembers one life, and sometimes another. As her memory flits between two possible pasts, we get some gorgeous writing, wonderful characters, and intriguing alternative history. Also, Patricia is queer. In one timeline, she marries a dude, and in another, a lady.
I want to reread this now. You should read it too. And Among Others.
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