I am now an Old Hand at interviews, having had my second today. It went really well. They slightly misrepresented the position in the advert, which meant that I was better suited to it than a lot of the other applicants they got :-) It's at Thorpe-Bowker, who produce industry resources for the book trade.

As a side note, my newest housemate keeps, argh, the same hours as me. Which means that mornings have turned into a race for the shower. Huh.

And yes, this post is actually about books. I'm being random here to obscure the fact that I really, really haven't been reading. So this is the most pathetic monthly book list imaginable.

___

In January I read:

1. Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

I preferred Ella Enchanted. Ella was a more likable character than Aza, livelier and wittier and with less hangups, and more distinctive, too. And in some ways I felt that Levine didn't make the best use of the Snow White story here. I felt that she missed the point a bit - and I could be being completely unfair and missing the point of fairy tale subversions myself. But for me the most powerful theme of 'Snow White' isn't the danger of beauty and its pursuit, but the viciousness of cross-generational female jealousy within the family. Snow White's predicament is so pitiful because it's her mother - or stepmother, in the edited version - who's doing this to her. And the queen is so pitiful herself because time has replaced her with the new generation, and her evil comes from her trying to hold it back.

However. This was an undoubtedly fun book. I particularly loved the way she used the dwarf subplot. And it was nice to see a bit of backstory for Ella's friend Areida.


Manga

2. Fruits Basket Vols 6-7 by Natsuki Tkaya

I don't really have anything new to say. They're very sweet, and a little bit disturbing, and the David Bowie-lookalike snake brother creeps me out for some reason.


Novel-length Fanfic

3. Black, in the Smothering Dark by faire weather

This is called preslash, simply because the sequel will be H/D, but Draco appears in only one scene and he's not very important to it. Really it's Harry and Sirius gen. Despite the title, it's not dark, as such. Mostly it's just amoral. (And Harry takes tea with Voldemort. No, really.) I think I liked it, but I'm not positive. I think I need to read the sequel so that I can get a clearer idea of where it's heading. Harry starts seventh year with the puzzlingly not-dead re-emergence of Sirius, and some surprising heredity.


FIC RECS

1. 'Best Birthday Ever' by ifyouweremine

Draco/Harry. This is just fun. Er, and apparently I also have something of a schoolgirl kink. Crossdressing and roleplaying. (NC-17)


2. 'But I Have a Penis' by florahart

Harry/Draco. Post-Hogwarts. Mpreg. (Just for you, rigel_7!) C'mon, this is mpreg and I'm rec'ing it anyway. You know you want to at least look at it. Funny but not crack. Nobody warned Harry about the thing with the parseltongue. (NC-17)


3. 'Forbidden Fruit' by Anise

Snape/Harry/Draco. Ficlet. Mm. I love smut in this pairing. Which is obviously not a pairing at all, but... mmm. Damn, Anise is good at this. Draco has a bowl of cherries. (NC-17)


4. 'Dreams and Coconut Crème Caramel' by Lychee

Harry/Severus. This isn't my favourite Lychee fic, but it's kind of gorgeous. Smut and some romance. Harry's drunk, and Severus is probably a dream. (NC-17)


5. 'For the Birds', 'Acropolis' and 'Enfants' by Blythely

Harry/Draco. Sort of. Mostly about owls, actually. Each story is very small, and beyond lovely.


6. 'Hell' by seeker

Severus/Remus, Severus/Sirius. Fun and well-written and, honestly, worth reading just for the ending. Severus goes to Sirius for advice. (NC-17)


7. 'Men Who Had Mothers' by faire weather

Draco/Harry. Post-Hogwarts. This is another one that, given the setup, I'm surprised to be rec'ing. What could be a little creepy feels sad and ordinary and wonderful, and original in a fandom where you could swear everything had been done already. On Sundays, Draco wears his mother's wedding dress beneath his robes. (NC-17)


8. 'Plein Air For Two' by Eloise Lovelace

Percy/Oliver. Post-Hogwarts. I've been reading a bit of Percy/Oliver lately, in large part thanks to this author's rec list - and also, of course, because of the OotP righteous teethgrinding on Percy's behalf. I've found a lot of the time the pairing leaves me cold, but when it hits a particular dynamic between the two of them, or maybe a particular kind of characterisation for Percy, I completely melt. This is the best example of the ship I've stumbled across. If you're hesitant about the pairing, maybe I can tempt you with the fact that it also features portraitsex of the Sirius/Remus variety...? Percy is, while the minister's on maternity leave, the most powerful man in Great Britain. If only he could use his own office. (R)


9. 'Probability' by Eloise Lovelace

Percy/Oliver, Ginny/Pansy. Ficlet. The maths geek inside me got together with the lit geek inside me and had a private cartwheel moment when I read this fic. Just... *grin*. Lots of grin.


10. 'Silver Linings' by mahaliem

Harry/Draco. Ficlet. Another one which is just fun. I defy you to read it and not snicker. Harry doesn't want to die a virgin.


11. 'Treatise on the Effects of Time Travel and Alcohol on the Straight of Teenage Boys' by Marks

Sirius/Remus. Marauders-era. Tel me you don't want to read this just because of the title. I do like drunkfics. This doesn't hang together as an integrated story as well as it might - there isn't a very clear sense of everything being changed because of that drunken night, it feels a little random. But it's delightful fic.

There was a long pause. "Yes, well. Off we go. That's right -- we can only take steps with one leg at a time."


12. 'Warfare Tactics: Clause 6.5' by faire weather

Harry/Draco. There are tears of laughter, seriously. My love for this fic is great. Harry is cleverer than people give him credit for.

     “Granger,” Malfoy growled, striding forward and leaving a little wet trail behind him, “where’s the other two-thirds?”
     One-third of the other two-thirds was currently drooling over the way Malfoy’s robes clung fetchingly to his body. The other one-third was digging through the duffle bag and cocking his weapon—preparing to ambush if Hermione turned out to be a mole.


13. 'Weird' by Thursday St Giles

Harry/Draco. Post-Hogwarts. This is... well, yes, it's weird. But delightful. I love this Malfoy. Malfoy gets mugged, and suddenly he's behaving decidedly oddly.