Last week was an average of 20F (or -7 for the rest of the world) This week is going to hit 61F (16). Mother Nature is drunk posting again…
Daffodils are coming up and soon the days are going to get longer!!! (Snoopy dance)
Currently I am reading:
In print, Trusted like the Fox by Sara Woods. It’s the 6th book in the Antony Maitland series. The format is different and her writing stye is more wordy than the previous books. It’s been hard to get into but I’m enjoying it nevertheless.
On Kindle,Reckless Conduct by Parker St John, the 4th Cabrini Law firm book. I’m not far enough to have an opinion, but I’ve loved the main character in the previous 3 books.
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’m currently on a Colette deep dive. After watching the charming but thin biopic Colette with the not so much miscast as undercast Kiera Knightley, and learning that Colette is one of the most fascinating characters in the last century or so of letters, culture, history, I’m reading what I can find in English. Unfortunately that’s not a lot. So I’m taking the opportunity to dust off my high school French. Bit of a bataille ascendante, but I’m pretty determined.
From an awareness no deeper than “Didn’t she write Gigi?” to learning that she was a major figure in fin de siecle art and theater, and at least a century ahead of her time re: sex and gender/queer issues (her kissing a trans man on the stage of le Moulin Rouge caused a riot that nearly brought the house down), and that her husband published her writing as his own, so she never received a centime for her work until she divorced, I feel liked I’ve discovered a whole new world to explore.
Started today on The First Day of Spring, a novel by Nancy Tucker. First line: “I killed a little boy today.” The narrative voice reminds me of The Wasp Factory, another story told by a very damaged child.
I FINALLY finished The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris. Three observations:
I obviously was not part of the intended audience.
The multiple flashbacks in the book were more confusing than enlightening.
The ending left me wondering what just happened.
Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, Sabine Baring-Gould. Still working on it. Fascinating stories. I didn’t know the bit about the fake letter from Prester John in Umberto Eco’s Baudolino was based on an actual fake letter.
The Island of the Mighty, Evangeline Walton. A retelling of the fourth branch of the Mabinogion written in surprisingly readable High Forsooth.
The House of the Seven Gables, Nathaniel Hawthorne. This is the book that redeemed Hawthorne for me after having The Scarlet Letter forced down my throat in school. I love the description of Hepzibah’s store, the name Hepzibah, and the Parade o’ Ghosts that cart the Judge off to his doom.
The Golem and the Jinni, Helene Wecker. I’ve only read the first chapter but so far so good.
Last Act in Palmyra, Lindsay Davis. Falco goes on stage!
The Sword-Edged Blonde, Alex Bledsoe. Because I needed another mystery series in my life.
The First Four Years, Laura Ingalls Wilder. The final and most honest Little House book.
I zipped through I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid in just a few days, even though they were busy days. The book is a short and incredibly engrossing psychological thriller. Recommended.
I’m about a quarter of the way into an audiobook of The Longest Day, Cornelius Ryan’s much-praised history of the WWII D-Day landings. It’s remarkable how many of the German commanders in the region, from von Rundstedt and Rommel on down to local generals, were away from their posts on June 6, 1944, in part because the grim weather forecast made everyone doubt the Allies would attack then.
Still enjoying Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun by Rhoda Blumberg, a Newbery prizewinner about the U.S. 1853-54 diplomatic initiative to open Japan to foreign trade.
Now and then I return to John Scalzi’s sf novel Zoe’s Tale, about a hidden planetary colony being searched for by hostile aliens. Very good stuff.
I don’t think I’ve written in one of these in awhile. I’ll skip over some humdrum stuff I’ve read, and mention:
The Only Good Indians: My brother-in-law is a big horror fan, and he gave this to me for Christmas. It’s a classic monster-revenge story starring four dudes, all members of the Blackfeet tribe, who get what’s coming to them. Beautifully written, and holy shit, I’m not sure how much horror I want to read like that, but if you like horror, track this down.
I’m rereading Watership Down to my 13-yo daughter. It’s one of my all-time favorites, but the gender stuff really doesn’t hold up. I remembered that the sausage-party rabbit warren went to find some does, but I hadn’t notice on previous readings how completely like property the male rabbits consider the female rabbits. Boy howdy does Richard Adams have some weird ideas about women, reflected in his bonkers imagining of rabbit society.
And now I’m reading Bone Ships Wake, the final (?) book in the amazing Bone Ships series. I read a lot of fantasy, like, a lot; and this is probably my favorite series of the last five or ten years. It’s lyrical and beautiful and funny, and the battle sequences are badass as hell, and the world is weird and compelling, and I just love everything about it.
Finished Surgeon in Blue: Jonathan Letterman, the Civil War Doctor Who Pioneered Battlefield Care, by Scott McGaugh, which was interesting. Recommended for anyone interested in the American Civil War or in medical history. Letterman also vastly improved the standard of living for Union soldiers off the battlefield, including better food, sanitation, and housing, which saved lives that otherwise would have been lost to illness.
Now I’m reading a medieval morality play, Everyman. The playwright’s name has been lost. This version was translated by E. Talbot Donaldson.
If you go to Salem, Massachusetts, you can visit the actual house the book is supposed to be based on. The house was long ago bought and restored to look the way it did when Hawthorne wrote his novel, so it now again has seven actual gables (as technically defined. I’d always through of seven “gables” as seven “dormers”, but the house has nothing like that), and they’ve set up a part as “Hepzibah’s store”.
Just finished The First Day of Spring by Nancy Tucker. It’s the story of a child murderer, and it was absolutely brutal. At times I was surprised at myself for wanting to go on, but it was sort of over the top like a Tarantino movie. This could not possibly happen. Also, no animals get hurt. I see some of the reviewers at Goodreads complain that nothing happens in this “thriller”. True, there is no mystery to solve…you are inside this kid’s head. Anyway, I found it very un-put-downable.
The chicken ate the gingerbread, and now it’s eyeing you up, because it’s still hungry.
Directly across the street from the House of Seven Gables is Ye Olde Pepper Companie, which claims to be the oldest continually-operating candy company in America (since 1806). They’ve fixed it up some since then.
You can still buy “Gibraltars” there, which are a kind of candy flavored with lemon or peppermint. They have a huge jar of them on display which hasn’t been opened in God knows how long. Maybe since 1806.
In any event, Gibraltars are made of cream of tartar and sugar and flavoring. They taste just like those cheap after-dinner mints that melt in your mouth. Worth a visit, though. And they have lots of other kinds of candy. And fudge. No gingerbread or chickens, though.
Started today on A Lullaby for Witches by Hester Fox. It purports to be a mystery about the fate of a girl with strange powers who lived in the 1800s, with a modern day historian following up the clues, but it’s really just a thinly veiled romance novel. I read at least half of it because it was the only book I had with me, but I’m ditching it now.
The Glitter in the Green: In Search of Hummingbirds Jon Dunn
The author, a passionate British naturalist (at one point after seeing an unusual hummingbird he was “overwhelmed with happiness” feeling a joy he had not felt since childhood) explores the world of hummingbirds. These birds occur only in the Americas, so he travels from Alaska through Latin America all the way to the tip of Argentina, describing various species and their ecology. The book also explores the human relation to these birds, from the native Americans through the feather craze of European fashion to modern birders.
