Read thru the Kindle version of Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s - this edition also included the short stories “House of Flowers,” “A Diamond Guitar,” and “A Christmas Memory”.
I’m still getting caught up on Capote - started with In Cold Blood & next up was The Complete Stories of Truman Capote - I actually knew very little about the story of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, going into it, other than Miss Golightly’s name as I’d never seen the movie, either.
It’s a slice of life story about a young writer (quite possibly Capote, but probably not) who meets a lovely young woman who is “traveling” through New York City thanks to the men she meets and greets. Holly Golightly befriends the narrator and as he learns more about her, is both repelled and attracted by her apparent lack of morals. There is drama, there is heartbreak, there is an unresolved ending. Capote’s ability to create characters of a certain sort is wonderful, and he’s quite the storyteller. I also quite enjoyed my re-read of “A Christmas Memory” & am considering re-reading it every holiday season.
Finished with The Life of Objects by Susanna Moore (who also wrote The Postmistress). It’s about a young Irish girl who goes to live with a wealthy German family in 1938. When the Nazis requisition the family home in Berlin, they move to their country home. It’s well-written but I never connected with the characters. No tension, even with threat of deportation (the wife had a Jewish grandmother) and the advance of the Russian army.
I kept reading mostly because I enjoyed the day to day details of survival, tea made from nettles and a pain killer made from willow bark, etc. I don’t think I’d recommend it.
Next up is probably Wool, which y’all keep raving about.
I just read John Scalzi’s novella The God Engines, and I was pleased to find that I liked it. (I’m one of the rare few who was unimpressed with Old Man’s War.) It’s the story of the captain of a spaceship powered by an enslaved god, set in a universe where religious faith has literal, tangible power.
Now I’m in the middle of Joe Abercrombie’s fantasy novel The Heroes, which takes place over three days of a great battle, and is written from the points of view of several people on both sides. I love Abercrombie and this is really good, but as with all his work, it’s relentlessly brutal. And I can’t take a break from it for fear of losing track of the myriad of characters.
I’m probably 2/3 through Lonesome Dove and I’m very much enjoying it. Just looking at the ratings for its sequels and prequels, it looks like McMurtry wasn’t able to quite achieve what he did with LD, so I probably won’t continue with the series. But man, what a good book so far.
Flew thru the library’s Kindle copy of Amped by Daniel H Wilson earlier this week. Once again - Wilson explores the plot of technology vs humanity, this time in the form of “amped” people - those who have received neural implants (often augmented with retinal displays and even exoskeletons and/or prosthetics) that make them smarter, faster and/or stronger. After trial runs (including the one our protagonist, Owen Gray is involved in), the government implements an Uplift program, where the disadvantaged receive implants. Not surprisingly, there is a backlash, with the non-augmented starting a movement, which is co-opted by a charismatic politician, Joseph Vaughn. The minority “amps” are soon the objects of discrimination, fear and hate.
While the basic concept is intriguing, especially as we learn more about the capabilities of Owen’s implant, the story itself is a bit clunky. The exploration of who the “good guys” are could be a bit less heavy-handed, and Owen himself is not that well drawn a character -reacting to his situation vs taking action. Lyle Crosby was an interesting character, and I really liked the kid, Nick. The last third of the book feels rushed, and the resolution unsatisfying.
It’s worth a library read if you’re into the more techy side of SF and enjoy action-oriented stories with a bit of preachiness on the side.
I have largely finished reading Life After Murder: Five Men in Search of Redemption by Nancy Mullane. A fascinating look at our very flawed criminal justice system.
Fundamentals is about a guy whose two young children were killed in an accident that he feels responsible for (haven’t gotten to the details yet). It’s been two years and he’s pulling himself out of his – what’s a more appropriate word for “funk”? Anyway, he takes a 28-hour course in the Fundamentals of Caregiving and gets a job as a caregiver (not a “carer” - I hate that word and Evison doesn’t use it) for Trevor, a teenager with Duchennes Muscular Dystrophy. There’s a road trip in their future – I love road trip novels.
It could be sappy but it’s not, and I’m really liking it.
I love these threads. I go through 'em and add things to my Amazon Wishlist and/or put them on hold at my local library. Then I have a big long list of stuff to read!
As for me, I picked up The Physician a few weeks ago when it was the Kindle Daily Deal. Finally got around to reading it, and loved it. I wouldn’t call it a great, perfect book, but it was a very fun read and I recommend it.
I bought the same author’s Shaman, and it’s good, but I don’t think it’s quite as good as The Physician.
I’d be interested if anyone else has read anything by Noah Gordon, and could recommend some of his other books. I fear that he goes downhill after The Physician - I can see traces of shallow characters and a little too much sex showing up in Shaman, but it could be just that book.
I’m all-too-quickly coming up on the end of King’s 11/22/63. It’s a bit long, but that’s King for you. Besides, can I really complain when I’m looking likely to finish it in a week?
I picked up The Odd Clauses: Understanding the Constitution through Ten of Its Most Curious Provisions by Jay Wexler and the new emberverse book, Lord of Mountains by S.M. Stirling a couple of days ago.
I finished The Dog Stars. I didn’t love it as much asI wanted to, but it was still really good. Now onto Into Thin Air. I’m definitely drawn in already.
Just finished Across the Great Barrier by Patricia Wrede, sequel to Thirteenth Child. I reread some of The Shadow of Saganami and Soon I Will Be Invincible, and just started Kevin Hearne’s urban fantasy Hounded. I’m just in the middle of the second chapter but it seems good so far.
Finishing up the audio edition of World Without End, the sequel to Ken Folett’s Pillars of the Eartrh. The Conquering Sword of Conan, the last of the Wandering Star/Del Rey edition of the complete Conanan stories of Robert E. Howard, complete with unfinished drafts and notes, and without L. Sprage de Camp’s rewrites.
Philip Jose Farmer’s The Mad Goblin (having read the other half, Lord of the Trees. I’ve been curious about this ever since I was a kid. They’re obvious pastches of Doc Savage and Tarzan, but I was surprised to learn that Farmer wtrote them as G-rated sequels to an X-rated original (a freast Unknown, which I read many years ago). He claims it’s the only time that’s been done.
Still reading the collected Clark Ashtron Smith on our Nook.
