True North: A Journey into Unexplored Wilderness, by Elliott Merrick. This is a memoir that was written in the 1930s by a man who walked away from his job as an ad man in New Jersey and moved to Labrador to live in the wild. In my opinion, the writing in this book is on a par with Thoreau, Emerson and John Muir. Merrick had an acute sense of the beauty of nature and a deep appreciation for the simple life. His writing style is lyrical and evocative.
I highly recommend this for anyone who would like to gain some peace of mind in a chaotic world.
I just finished ‘The Spy’s Wife’ by Reginald Hill. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
I’ve two books on the go right now - ‘Unleashed’ by Sina Queyras, which is a compilation of her blogs on poetry, art, LitCrit and miscellany. It is very interesting and thought provoking, and it’s very odd to be reading somebody’s blogs in print form.
I’m also reading through ‘Eunoia’ by Christian Bök. This is the collection of poems from last year where each of the five chapters uses only one vowel. It’s a remarkable acheivement - the constraint is as challenging for the reader as it was for the poet. It is sometimes difficult to get past the staggering technique and simply appreciate the poet’s choice of words as one would in any other piece of poetry. There is so much to appreciate in the pure ‘crossword puzzle’ craftsmanship, though. Certainly worth the reading.
Blood Red Roses by Margaret Lawrence. Her writing takes turns between being appealing and annoying. This is the second in a mystery series set in post-revolutionary Maine.
The Outcast Dove by Sharan Newman. I loved the early books in this series and get frustrated with the later books. I can’t explain why. Mystery series set in medieval France.
Death at the Bar by Ngaio Marsh. Mystery series from the Golden Age. Marsh isn’t as appealing to me as either Sayers or Christie.
Hee, I had a similar reaction to some of Dragon Tattoo - silly logistical things that just didn’t ring true in the somewhat incidental Australian setting. Like: there’s no “sheep ranches” in northern Australia, it’s too wet for sheep and they get foot rot. Also, we don’t use the term “ranch,” they are called cattle “stations.” I think one Lisbeth’s hacker buddies also used a phone number’s area code to hone in geographically to where it was likely to be - but the 08 area code is shared by Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory - a pretty large area, to say the least
Oh, I just finished China Mieville’s Kraken at the urging of my husband. That man has a pretty intense imagination. I didn’t see the twist coming, but was quite underwhelmed by it, maybe because I have a background in zoology and museums.
What next? My book club has been a little lax in choosing our next month’s title, I will have to email them to chase up.
Still jumping around in Tony Blair’s A Journey, his autobiography. Very interesting. He’s remarkably candid about his own political klutziness early in his career; admits to serious self-doubt before becoming the Labour Party leader, and falling prey to borderline alcoholism by the time he left office; generously appraises Gordon Brown’s virtues but scathingly lists his faults; praises George W. Bush’s moral clarity and support for democracy while acknowledging that they disagreed on most environmental and social issues. Anyone interested in British politics should take a look.
Right now I’m taking a short break from Mike Carey’s *Felix *books and working through Robert J Sawyer’s *Quintaglio *series. Because I just finished John Ringo’s *Posleen *books (barring the Cally books) and Charles Stross’s *Laundry *series.
Just finished Songs for the Missing by Stewart O’Nan. It’s about a 19-year-old girl who goes missing, and the effect on her family. Some Amazon reviewers complained about the mundanities – they wanted to know more about what happened to the girl – but that’s not what the book was about. Don’t read it expecting a standard whodunnit, but for insight on how a family gets through it.
Tried to read A Dark Matter by Peter Straub, but the characters were annoying and he was using too many adjectives. Why did I think Straub’s style was spare? It ain’t, probably never was. So I went to Amazon and read enough one-star reviews to confirm my decision to dump it. Maybe I’ll re-read Ghost Story.
Actually, the book mentions that the guy driving Blomkvist out in the pickup tells him about the setup out there to pass the time while driving and does finally mention they’re called “stations” and not “ranches.” But I was wondering about the authenticity of the Australian setting.
Another thing I found amusing about Paolo Roberto is the way Larsson always, and I mean always, uses his full name. It’s never just Paolo or Roberto, but always Paolo Roberto, just like that one guy is always calling Bill Murray “Bill Murray” in the movie “Coffee and Cigarettes” (2003). Seems to do that with Miriam Wu, also. Sure he does it sometimes with Blomkvist and others, but for those two he did it nonstop.
I thought it was his worst book, AuntiePam, really dreadful. In fact, when I found out what actually happened in that field, it’s was so lame, so utterly ridiculous, unscary and poorly imagined, I snorted my coffee laughing. There really aren’t enough :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
I’m reading Where is the Mango Princess?, by Cathy Crimmins, about her husband’s brain injury after he was run over by a speedboat. It’s an absolute page turner, so immediate and accurate that the part I’m reading now is almost excruciating. Anyone who has recently spent time in an ICU awaiting news about a loved one will recognize the experience right down to the description of “Dr. Asshole” and the rack of informational pamphlets by the waiting room phone.
I finished Just After Sunset by Steven King last week, and I’m disappointed. Like most of his books since that car accident a decade ago, it just wasn’t very good. The only one published since then I really liked was Blaze, and he wrote the initial draft decades ago.
I also finished Broken by Kelley Armstrong this week. Besides the fact that I really dig her heroines, I also love how she weaves historical characters into some of the stories. Haunted had the ghost of Lizzie Borden as an informer inside a hell dimension, and Broken had Jack the Ripper as a person stuck in a time portal until someone got blood on the In Hell letter and turned him loose in modern day, along with a couple of zombies.
Next up: the first two books in the Mediator series by Meg Cabot (I read the first one years ago and forgot about since the library didn’t have the others then) for a bit of seasonally themed entertainment; Turncoat by Jim Butcher though I’m getting sad that there’s only one more book after this so far; and Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs.
I am re-reading the Kenzie/Gennaro series by Dennis Lehane in anticipation of the November release of the sixth book, “Moonlight Mile”. I finished “Darkness, Take My Hand” last night and am ready to start “Sacred” tonight.
Now that would have been a satisfying conclusion! I’ve tried to block the whole thing, but IIRC, our intrepid young hippies all
join hands in a circle with their smarmy guru, light candles, chant Kumbaya and conjure up a Hell dimension populated by the cast of Clash of the Titans and the icon from a discarded Underwood Deviled Ham can.
“Patti LuPone: A Memoir” by, duh, Patti LuPone. Kind of interesting, though unsatisfying because a lot of it is technical and she doesn’t go into much depth or share any juicy stories, which I do appreciate in a Hollywood autobiography (and the Broadway actors are mostly unknown to me). Her chapters on Evita are rather… trying. SO much went SO wrong, a lesser woman would have given up.
Dragon Strike: Book Four of the Age of Fire by E. E. Knight Dragon Rule: Book Five of The Age of Fire by E. E. Knight The Magicians’ Guild (The Black Magician Trilogy, Book 1) by Trudi Canavan Cirque Du Freak by Darren Shan ~ ugh. This was a hand-me-down from a friend. I see why! A Stainless Steel Rat Is Born by Harry Harrison ~ apparently this wasn’t the first of the series. Oops! They’re all out of print right now so I won’t be exploring the series any further for now. Stormlord Rising by Glenda Larke ~ I really liked this fantasy. The third isn’t in print yet so I will have to be patient. There Will Be Dragons by John Ringo ~ decent start but pulled one of those ‘end of the world as we know it’ twists where the Renn folk are the only ones who can take the changes. Excuse me? Most Renn/SCA people would starve to death arguing about who has to do what and what sort of recognition they’d get if they did it… Let Me In by John Aivide Lindqvist ~ decided to give it a shot and wish I hadn’t. Should have known better. I just couldn’t handle the cat thing.
Added to my list. Life isn’t so good right now and some peace of mind would be nice.
AuntiePam, how was the latest David Mitchell book? I have it, but haven’t picked it up yet. I’m a little nervous about it, not sure why,
In the meantime, I just finished book two of The Strain trilogy. Not bad, but not great.
I’ve also picked up Sandman Slim on recomendation of someone here, just started it, and although I don’t generally like the “Urban Fantasy” genre, this looks to be pretty good.
Of course, this is all just place filler until the 28th, when the new Culture Novel comes out.
