Wednesday Reading Meme
Feb. 5th, 2025 06:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
What I've Just Finished Reading
Four books this week! First up: the Ted Scotts.
I read The Lone Eagle of the Border, Over the Jungle Trails, and Lost at the South Pole. Unfortunately at this point the shine has very much worn off the Ted Scott... coin...? and therefore I am slowing down in my consumption of this formulaic children's adventure series, possibly to a full stop. These three were variously annoying and racist, although I did enjoy South Pole for what it was. As always, the subject of the title came into play about 2/3rds of the way through, and the whump potential of getting lost at the South Pole was resolved in maybe half a page despite them being lost for THREE DAYS!!!
They have also been getting progressively less amusingly homoerotic and more focused on American Exceptionalism, which, ick.
On the plus side, I also returned to the warm, comforting embrace of & Co with Biggles Takes Charge.
tweague was singing its praises on the Discord some time ago (echoed by many others!) but my copy was stuck at my parents' house after a late eBay delivery, so I was only able to get my grubby hands on it this past weekend.
Friends, this book is SO good. A podcast I like once described the experience of watching a poorly remastered film as like 'watching Seinfeld while sitting in an inch of ice-cold water', and I thought about that simile a lot while reading Ted Scott. Ultimately the trappings of Ted Scott are the ice cold water which reminds me constantly that instead of Ted I could be reading about BIGGLES and ALGY and THE REST OF MY GOOD FRIENDS. It was a genuine joy to follow Algy on his trip to La Sologne, where he got rapidly involved in countering an assassination plot involving - who else? - Erich von Stalhein, in one of his many 'fuck I hate my life' appearances in the series. They got some quality hate-flirting in early on, and I was absolutely screaming over the scene where Algy calls Biggles just to have him persuade EvS that Algy's not fibbing about his purpose in being in France.
Just an absolute blast end to end with some delightful subterfuge and a general commitment to the bit which I really, really missed.
OH ALSO: we finished reading The Strangeworlds Travel Agency in class. The children seemed to like it well enough but - predictably - are much more openly enthusiastic about the next reading book (Who Let the Gods Out by Maz Evans), which features extensive fat jokes in the first chapter. Not really feeling it but I didn't choose the books, so I'm soldiering on.
What I'm Reading Now
Technically Sergeant Bigglesworth, C.I.D., although I haven't touched it much since before I started Takes Charge. And I did get Edward Said's Orientalism off the shelf again, although that does not serve as a guarantee that I'll read any of it.
What I Plan to Read Next
Some more Biggleses! I am behind and wish to submerge myself in the oeuvre once more. I also have a deep desire to reread the first few Worralses, again inspired by the Discord, hence the icon.
Four books this week! First up: the Ted Scotts.
I read The Lone Eagle of the Border, Over the Jungle Trails, and Lost at the South Pole. Unfortunately at this point the shine has very much worn off the Ted Scott... coin...? and therefore I am slowing down in my consumption of this formulaic children's adventure series, possibly to a full stop. These three were variously annoying and racist, although I did enjoy South Pole for what it was. As always, the subject of the title came into play about 2/3rds of the way through, and the whump potential of getting lost at the South Pole was resolved in maybe half a page despite them being lost for THREE DAYS!!!
They have also been getting progressively less amusingly homoerotic and more focused on American Exceptionalism, which, ick.
On the plus side, I also returned to the warm, comforting embrace of & Co with Biggles Takes Charge.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Friends, this book is SO good. A podcast I like once described the experience of watching a poorly remastered film as like 'watching Seinfeld while sitting in an inch of ice-cold water', and I thought about that simile a lot while reading Ted Scott. Ultimately the trappings of Ted Scott are the ice cold water which reminds me constantly that instead of Ted I could be reading about BIGGLES and ALGY and THE REST OF MY GOOD FRIENDS. It was a genuine joy to follow Algy on his trip to La Sologne, where he got rapidly involved in countering an assassination plot involving - who else? - Erich von Stalhein, in one of his many 'fuck I hate my life' appearances in the series. They got some quality hate-flirting in early on, and I was absolutely screaming over the scene where Algy calls Biggles just to have him persuade EvS that Algy's not fibbing about his purpose in being in France.
Just an absolute blast end to end with some delightful subterfuge and a general commitment to the bit which I really, really missed.
OH ALSO: we finished reading The Strangeworlds Travel Agency in class. The children seemed to like it well enough but - predictably - are much more openly enthusiastic about the next reading book (Who Let the Gods Out by Maz Evans), which features extensive fat jokes in the first chapter. Not really feeling it but I didn't choose the books, so I'm soldiering on.
What I'm Reading Now
Technically Sergeant Bigglesworth, C.I.D., although I haven't touched it much since before I started Takes Charge. And I did get Edward Said's Orientalism off the shelf again, although that does not serve as a guarantee that I'll read any of it.
What I Plan to Read Next
Some more Biggleses! I am behind and wish to submerge myself in the oeuvre once more. I also have a deep desire to reread the first few Worralses, again inspired by the Discord, hence the icon.
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Date: 2025-02-05 09:05 pm (UTC)Sergeant Bigglesworth is a good one, recommended.