April is upon us, theoretically it’s supposed to be warming up. However, the Rocky Mountain States have chosen Ragnarok instead. Utha broke the record for snow pack this year exceeding the previous record of 26 inches/66.04 centimeters. If it all melts at once …well yeah it’s going to be wet.
In other news, books are still legal here so whacha all readin?
Khadaji was one of the earlier members of SDMB, and he was well-known as a kindly person who always had something encouraging to say, particularly in the self-improvement threads. He was also a voracious, omnivorous reader, who started these threads 'way back in the Stone Age of 2005. Consequently, when he suddenly and quite unexpectedly passed away in January 2013, we decided to rename this thread in his honor and to keep his memory, if not his ghost, alive.
I have just discovered the talent that is Adam Corolla. Found a book in the library. I actually laughed out loud while reading. I see he has three more books, which I have ordered on the library system.
Today I started on Oh Honey by Emily Austen. It’s the story of a telemarketer who frequently calls the same man, who always flies into a rage. Her life is quite horrific, but compelling, and although there can be no happy ending to this story I still can’t tear my eyes from the trainwreck.
No animals are harmed in this story. Yay!
I’m being a little flippant here because damn. That was dark. Recommended to people who thought The Wasp Factory or The First Day of Spring were too jolly.
I did enjoy the writing, but if I weren’t in such a good mood about the indictment, I would probably be feeling some untoward effects from such a jolt of misery.
I am reading Kate Atkinson’s Shrines of Gaiety, because someone mentioned it here recently and reminded me that I wanted to read it. So far, so good, but I’m only about 10% in.
I believe that was me, and I hope you enjoy it. I’ll be interested to see what you think.
I am reading Deadly Anniversaries, a short story mystery-and-suspense anthology edited by Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini. The overall quality of story is pretty high, I think. About 2/3 of the way in, and the best so far is “Chin Yong-Yun Sets the Date” by S. J. Rozan. The two weakest, interestingly enough, are the ones by the anthologists, Muller and Pronzini. Go figure.
I also read A Quiet Life by Ethan Joella, and I’m not at all sure how I feel about it. It’s well-written, reasonably well paced, and the characters are nicely drawn. Three people in a small city (Bethlehem, PA) have all suffered loss–Chuck’s wife died, Kirsten’s father was murdered, Ella’s husband ran off with their young child–and are understandably having trouble dealing with it. The connections between them at the beginning of the book are minimal, but during the course of the narrative they come together and end up supporting each other through their struggles. As do most of the “supporting” (ha!) characters in the novel, who go out of their way–in some cases, many miles out of their way–to help.
It’s a very compassionate book full of compassionate characters and the focus is very much on the ways that we can connect and make a difference, and it’s well done and I teared up a few times and I (a widower myself) would like to live in that world. But I can’t shake the feeling that the story was too pat, too contrived, too treacly, and that it’s all more complicated than the author thinks. Oh well, it’s possible that my own issues got in the way. I have Joella’s first novel from the library and might–might–try reading that one too. Once I figure out what I really think about this one.
Finished Spilling the Beans: Eating, Cooking, Reading, and Writing in British Women’s Fiction, 1770-1830, by Sarah Moss, which I enjoyed. It reminded me of taking English classes at college, except I didn’t have to highlight anything.
Now I’m reading The Fortnight in September, by R. C. Sherriff.
Just started Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn. I’m two chapters into it and am enjoying it immensely thus far. It’s about a group of four women who have been professional assassins for forty years, but are now being forced to retire by their employer.
I got four rambling, stream of consciousnes pages into * A Ghost in the Throat* by Doireann Ní Ghríofa and peace right out. Not gonna wade through all that burble to find the story.
April is nice and warm, same as the past several months. It did cool off at night almost … almost … to have to close the windows at night this past winter but not quite. It was exceptionally windy for part of last month though, the Trade Winds going into overdrive, but very pleasant now.
Am three-fourths of the way through Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania. Very good, like DZedNConfused said. The torpedo has just struck the ship.
Started today on The Donut Legion, a murder mystery by Joe R. Lansdale. And I love Joe, but he’s inconsistent, and this is painfully bad. I’m hanging around a doctor’s office this morning, waiting for someone, and I’m starting to eye the crappy magazines.
I got the final book in the Vorkosigan series, Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen, from the library on Saturday and I’m going to ditch it two chapters in. It didn’t feel right with the rest of the series, and after looking at a few reviews on Goodreads, I think I know why. According to a lot of people, Bujold did a total retcon on Cordelia and Aral’s relationship and I’m getting the sense Cordelia is getting the Master Robinton treatment. I’ll just consider it done with Cryoburn and move on to the next series.
Finished reading Walter Mosley’s Every Man A King. I had previously reread Mosley’s Easy Rawlins series, which I really enjoyed. His latest book though was difficult to get into initially. There were lots of characters who had overlapping details and very complicated names. They also each had a bunch of nicknames. It wasn’t until the halfway point that I really understood what was going on.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Philip K. DIck
The inspiration for the film Blade Runner . In a post nuclear war dystopia, Rick Deckard, a police officer, is assigned to hunt down a group of androids who are posing as humans. Because the androids look and sound exactly like people, there’s a lot of musing about what is real and what is illusion.
There’s a lot of weird stuff in the book that I don’t remember from the film, like the obsession with animals and the existence of a technology-based religion called Mercerism.
What the Ermine Saw Eden Collinsworth
The long history of da Vinci’s Lady with an Ermine (Lady with an Ermine - Wikipedia) which was lost, reappeared in Poland, was looted by the Nazis, taken back to Poland, taken by the Soviets, and finally brought back to Krakow.