It’s always puzzled me why “w” doesn’t get its own name, but just gets called “two u’s”. I guess it didn’t need a name until it was written down, and then it does look a little bit like two “u’s” side by side. But in that case, why doesn’t “h” get called “long n” or “stretched n”?
Okay, so that’s a bit of a tangent, but this is the sort of stuff that keeps me awake at night, readers!
And it’s also aimed to be a bit of a distraction from the fact that I’ve stayed on the letter W for an extra week.
I could not tear myself away from Who Runs the World, readers. Virginia Bergin’s latest, it’s a post-apocalyptic treasure. I love Virginia Bergin’s books. The end of the world is real and messy and, in places, very dark. There are no easy answers, and she doesn’t bother with the usual YA fare of “shucks, the world ended, now just overthrow this evil dictator and everything will be fine.” The world ended. ‘Fine’ is going to take a while once that’s happened. There were some good, uncomfortable questions raised here, and River’s assumptions were illuminating in so many ways – as were Mason’s.
And writing in the future enables a sense of distance from now. I got a visceral sense of disappointment when the nudity conversation happened (why do women have to change their behaviour the moment a man shows up?), and River’s sense of puzzlement about how come men had matters stacked in their favour in the past got a wry smile.
I’ve – crikey! – just visited Goodreads and seen that it’s provoking all manner of strong feelings. That’s not a bad thing for a story. For me, I’m strongly on the positive side. Highly recommended!
The Alphabet Challenge
I’m reading my way through the alphabet at present. Nearly at the end – check back next week to see how I got on with my X book: Xoe.
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