One book I’m in right now is The First Patient by Michael Palmer, M.D. (Palmer was a doctor in the Boston area before he became a writer, and he wrote quite a few medical/hospital thrillers, 5 of which I’ve read and enjoyed [first one I read was Flashback from 1988, which I got at a thrift store in Alabama when I was staying with my sister]).
Since then, I’ve read four more, and have been truly enjoying that genre.
1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created, by Charles C Mann – sequel, more or less, to his earlier book, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
Agent Zo: The Untold Story of a Fearless World War II Resistance Fighter, by Clare Mulley – biography of Elżbieta Zawacka, the second female brigadier general in the Polish army.
Finished The Human Comedy, by William Saroyan, which I enjoyed. I was struck by a couple of parallels between this book, a 1943 bestseller, and The Catcher in the Rye, which (according to Wikipedia) was partially serialized in 1945-46 and published as a novel in 1951. Saroyan’s protagonist is named Homer Macauley, while Salinger’s is named Holden Caulfield. Saroyan’s protagonist says, “…I’m going to go to work and do something for the kids everywhere. All kinds of kids having all kinds of trouble…”
Caulfield says, “Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around - nobody big, I mean - except me. And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff…”
I think, consciously or not, Salinger was influenced by Saroyan’s book. I googled, but didn’t find any mention of this online. The characters are otherwise very different.
Next up: Beijing’s Imperial Palace: The Illustrated Guide to the Architecture, History, and Splendor of the Forbidden City, by Yang Zhigang, and A Rover’s Story, by Jasmine Warga.
I’m just about finished with the Harry Harrison and David Harris conclusion to the Bill the Galactic Hero saga. It’s hit-or-miss humor, and basically just a bit of fluff, but Bill the Galactic Hero : The Final Incoherent Adventure is worth it, if only for this brief bit. Bill has been injured, and is lying in a hospital bed.:
After this it’s back to Adrienne Mayor’s Amazons, or maybe a side trip to Kevin J. Anderson’s anthology War of the Worlds: Global Dispatches
On audio I’m almost finished with Terry Pratchett’s The Hogfather. I picked up a collection of used audiobooks at a salvage store, and I’ll get into one of those.
I think I’ve read four books since I last posted:
Navola, by Paolo Bacigalupi. A low fantasy set in a Venice-like Renaissance city full of warring families and economic shenanigans. Very bloody, very grim; someone described large sections of it as torture porn, which I think is overboard, but it’s not always fun reading. But it’s beautifully written, with a main character alternatingly infuriating and pathetic and deeply relatable, and that complexity makes me respect the book, even if I’m not sure I’m up for the inevitable sequel.
We are Legion (the Bobiverse), by Dennis Taylor. This was for a book club. It’s a story about a guy who dies, has his head cryogenically frozen, and is woken up as the AI in charge of von Neumann Probes–reproducible spacecraft designed to explore the stars. It’s pleasant enough popcorn, as long as you can turn your brain off enough not to notice the plot holes and flat characters and blithe sexism and general Barry-Sue-ness of the protagonist and the protagonist’s incessant Simpsons and other pop culture jokes. I was unable to turn my brain off enough, and consequently spent much of the book being irritated.
The Dissonance, by Shaun Hamill. Owing a huge debt to It, this book features a bunch of adults traumatized by the supernatural happenings of their teen years returning to their hometown to confront the evil once and for all, along with some gratuitously graphic teen sex. A bit flat in terms of characterization, but a decent romp of a horror fantasy.
City in Glass, by Nghi Vo. Hot damn, this is a novel! A demon watches her pet city destroyed by righteous angels, and spends the rest of the book reckoning with its loss, and with the angel who’s cursed to wonder about his actions. Nghi Vo is a phenomenal author, and if you haven’t read her yet, you’re in for a treat! Earlier this year I read Witch King, another book with a demon protagonist who confronts angelic beings who are way more sinister than the demons–but City in Glass does everything right that Witch King did wrong. This book is beautiful, elegant, and weird in all the right ways. I dunno if it’ll be on my best-of-2025 list, but it seems likely.
I also finished this last week or so, and while I found it mildly amusing overall, I disagree about the ending. It was much too deus ex machina for me, and I found it disappointing. Overall, I’m not sad I read it or anything, but it landed with a wet plop for me.
I’ve just started Reykjavik: A Crime Story by Ragnar Jónasson and Katrín Jakobsdóttir. Too soon for any judgment.
I’m not a voracious reader but definitely read more in the winter than the rest of the year.
In the past couple of weeks I’ve reread a couple of childhood favourites; Bunnicula and the sequel Howliday Inn. Both were entertaining and lived up to my expectations, particular the first of the two. Still a favourite.
I just finished reading The Fragile Threads of Power by VE Schwab. I pretty much love everything this author writes, and this one is no exception. It’s the first of a sequel trilogy to The Shades of Magic trilogy and I can’t wait for the next installments!
Not sure what I’ll read next, likely something light. I often pick up whatever my 10 year old has finished reading…there’s an Investi-gators graphic novel I haven’t read yet, should be good for an evening.
I think that’s wonderful. And then you guys talk about it, right? 
The Sunday Philosophy Club Alexander McCall Smith
A mystery set in Edinburgh. A man mysteriously falls to his death from the upper balcony of an auditorium. Just an accident or something more sinister? A book editor who witnesses the tragedy decides to find the answer.
Interspersed with the mystery is a slice-of-life look at middle class Scotland through the main character’s friends and relations.
Enjoyable book
Yes, of course! He likes to tell me his favourite parts, or show certain details in illustrations. He reads quite a lot, and while a lot of it is still silly, there are some pretty good stories. At least enough to pass the time between me reading more serious books.
I love to read, but a lot of my job is reading technical reports and so I don’t always feel like getting into heavier stories.
I love hanging out with my son, he’s an awesome person.
Finished Beijing’s Imperial Palace: The Illustrated Guide to the Architecture, History, and Splendor of the Forbidden City, by Yang Zhigang. It had some excellent photos and interesting information, but it was greatly in need of an editor, due to numerous typos and grammatical errors.
Also finished A Rover’s Story, by Jasmine Warga. It’s a book intended for young readers (8-12) about a fictional Mars rover which is (unknown to the engineers) sentient. The book is very enjoyable and I’d recommend it to young readers interested in science–the author did her homework.
Still reading The Oxford Book of Theatrical Anecdotes, edited by Gyles Brandreth.
Next up: Empresses of Seventh Avenue: World War II, New York City, and the Birth of American Fashion, by Nancy MacDonnell, and The Case of the Drowsy Mosquito, by Erle Stanley Gardner.
Finished The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Sixteen. This was a pretty good one in the series, having only a couple of duds in the nineteen stories contained therein. One was Dodger, by Carly Holmes. This was one of those stories where things are just weird, and then at the end you say huh? Plus this one had some child abuse. I felt worse for reading it. The other dud was Lover’s Lane, by Stephen Graham Jones. It was so long and boring I began to skim, then just skipped ahead.
Started today on Trainspotting, by Irvine Welsh, a novel about Scottish heroin addicts. I have some vague recollection of having seen the movie long ago, but the real delight of this book is the dialect it’s written in. It’s slow going, and disgusting of course, but I’m very pleased with it.
I remember when the movie came out, some critic suggested it should have been released in the US with subtitles, so impenetrable were the characters’ accents.
Finished Empresses of Seventh Avenue: World War II, New York City, and the Birth of American Fashion, by Nancy MacDonnell, which was interesting, but would have benefited from illustrations and/or photographs of the garments described. Also finished The Case of the Drowsy Mosquito, by Erle Stanley Gardner, which I enjoyed quite a bit.
Still reading The Oxford Book of Theatrical Anecdotes, edited by Gyles Brandreth.
Next up: We the Scientists: How a Daring Team of Parents and Doctors Forged a New Path for Medicine, by Amy Dockser Marcus; and What Does It Feel Like?, a novella by Sophie Kinsella.
I finished The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis a few days ago. By and large, I enjoyed but Lordy, she needs an editor: so MANY scenes of people walking from one place to another and then standing around talking on the phone. Why does she have freaking time travel but everyone is still using landlines?
I am also reading (am more than halfway through) Arthur Hailey’s first book, a medical novel from 1959 called The Final Diagnosis; after I finish this one, I’m planning to read more of his work, like In High Places from 1962, Airport from 1968, The Moneychangers from 1975, and Overload from 1979.
Finished We the Scientists: How a Daring Team of Parents and Doctors Forged a New Path for Medicine, by Amy Dockser Marcus which was interesting and well-written. Also finished What Does It Feel Like?, a novella by Sophie Kinsella, which was okay. The latter is a fictionalized memoir by the author about her own battle with brain cancer.
Next up: One Day We Had to Run!: Refugee Children Tell Their Stories in Words and Paintings, edited by Sybella Wilkes; and Hench, by Natalie Zina Walschots.
I’m not a big fan of history books, but I do like books on politics, which often contain history in them and show how history contributed to the modern state of affairs. I have a Goodreads bookshelf labeled “Political or Political Undertones” with 50 books on it. Here are some of my recommendations from that shelf:
Because it was written in 1992? While cell phones technically existed, very few authors (or tv shows) predicted the smart phone.
Digital cordless phones apparently weren’t commercially available until 1994.
That said, I also really enjoyedThe Doomsday Book despite feeling that it suffered due to the technology level. I loved To Say Nothing of the Dog even more, as it doesn’t have much “modern day” content and it’s more light hearted.
I’ve never read the last one in the series. I should see about getting it from the library.