My favorite Scalzi works are those set in the Lock In universe. I hope he writes more of them.
Finished The Audacity of Sara Grayson, by Joani Elliott. Meh.
Now I’m reading In Praise of Walking: A New Scientific Exploration, by Shane O’Mara.
Years ago I watched all four of the Matt Helm movies starring Dean Martin. They are essentially a parody of James Bond and the wave of spy thrillers that was the trend at the time. Perfect for Dean Martin who had the charisma of a ladies man and killer secret agent but instead of having to be serious he got to fool around and have fun.
It wasn’t until fairly recent however that I found out Matt Helm was in fact a literary spy adapted into movies. And after reading into some reviews the book character was nothing how Martin played him in the movies. So with that I have picked up the first Matt Helm book Death of a Citizen by Donald Hamilton. There are 27 books in the series (a 28th remains unpublished apparently). I’m in no rush to go through all these books but I’m always interested in checking out new spy series and in this case an old one that began in the golden age of spy novels.
Well, my goodness. After that auspicious start, things went downhill.
My top problems with this book:
- The content-free, cliche-ridden bickering of the brother and sister. Like watching one of my grandma’s soap operas.
- After about the mid-point, this book was nothing but fight scenes, given in great detail. Tedious.
- After fighting like Terminators, someone who surely seemed to be dead would come back for the next fight like Jason from Friday the 13th. After a while I just rolled my eyes whenever anyone “died”.
- The “happy” ending.
The book wasn’t a total loss, if you dig demon possession and Lovecraftian imagery, and it did keep me reading all the way to the end. I wish it had lived up to its potential.
I read all of those, too, and liked ‘em, but never thought they were among his best. To each their own.
After three duds in a row, I decided to crack open a sure thing. Started this morning on What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher, a retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher. Right away, I have a complaint: it’s too short. Only 176 pages!
My copy arrived last week and I was surprised at how small it was! I’m hoping to get to it this week!
Finished In Praise of Walking: A New Scientific Exploration, by Shane O’Mara, which was okay.
Now I’m reading Reader, I Buried Them and Other Stories, by Peter Lovesey.
River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile Candice Millard
The fascinating history of the Burton and Speke expeditions to discover the source of the Nile river in East Africa, a subject of huge interest in the 1800s. The two men who were chosen to try to resolve the issue, Burton and Speke, were both Britons, but that’s where their similarity ended. Burton was a commoner, and an atheist libertine. He was also so good at linguistics that he journeyed to Mecca disguised as an Arabic-speaking Afghan. Speke was a conservative aristocrat. Of course, they ended up hating each other.
But after unimaginable hardships (Burton was so sick that he had to be carried most of the way and Speke’s eyes were infected so badly that he couldn’t see and he was partially deaf because a bug crawled into his ear and died) they did find Lake Victoria and later confirm that it was the source of the Nile.
Highly recommended
I’ve begun Robert Harris’s The Second Sleep, a novel in which an English priest investigates the death, under suspicious circumstances, of another priest in an isolated Wessex village. The book is apparently set in the Middle Ages, but there are hints along the way to suggest that all is not as it seems. So far, so good.
What Moves the Dead was just lovely. It’ll only take you about an hour to read it, though!
I’ve been in the land of sure things myself lately. On the fiction front, I’m reading Grown Ups by Marian Keyes. This is my seventh book of hers that I’m reading, and aside from one dud, I’ve adored all of them.
On the non-fiction front, I’m reading In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan–my fourth book of his that I’ve read. Sometimes I’m in the mood to discover new authors, but sometimes I just feel like sticking to what I know and love.
YAY!! Looking forward to it!
Finished Reader, I Buried Them and Other Stories, by Peter Lovesey, of which the best story is “A Three Pie Problem”.
Now I’m reading In On the Joke: The Original Queens of Stand-Up Comedy, by Shawn Levy.
I just have to say, I love that title!
So do I!
Getting close to the end of Pauper Auction. She went in some unexpected directions with that.
Next up is a trio of short Jules Verne novels. I like reading Verne in the summer, and one day I swear I will finish reading them all. But they keep finding new Verne works and generating newer and better translations, freeing Verne from impositions by editors and other authors (like his son). But the three I’ve picked up are older ones I simply haven’t yet read, and are probably unfamiliar to most people
The Green Ray
Cesar Cascabel
The Family Without a Name
Started today on Dietland by Sarai Walker, a novel about a woman who joins a group of feminist vigilantes. Not my usual cup of tea, and it’s getting off to a slow start, but I’ll continue.
At 170 pages, more than halfway through Dietland, I give up. Individual scenes are interesting, but somehow it’s not adding up to anything. I can’t identify with the main character at all. I have one more book by this author in the TBR pile, which is now likely to get short shrift.
Finished In On the Joke: The Original Queens of Stand-Up Comedy, by Shawn Levy, which I enjoyed.
Now I’m reading Clarkesworld: Year Twelve - Volume One, edited by Neil Clarke and Sean Wallace.
I finished Criminal Past by Gregory Ashe, the 6th in his Hazard & Somerset series. (The last in the first series as well, he has two succeeding series with the same characters as they open new “doors” in their lives.)
Wow, that book was intense and I now know I can hold a Kindle with my finger curled tightly into my palms. There was finger torture in this book This entry in the series was the best paced book so far, so I have high hopes for ther next series. But first I need some palate cleansers, I’m thinking T. Kingfisher and Mrs. Pollifax.
EDIT: Damn sorry, I messed up the spoiler.