I finished re-reading Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness. I enjoyed it, but I think I’m a bit Lovecrafted out.
Also finished The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan. It’s good swift fun, if you’re willing to accept its implausibilities; especially considering its age.
And The Man With Two Left Feet, and other stories by P.G. Wodehouse. There’s some excellent writing, as you’d expect, but I didn’t find most of the stories very satisfying. There’s one with an early incarnation of Bertie Wooster that stands out, and one told from a dog’s point of view that I liked.
I’ve had fun reading the first couple of Iron Druid books by Kevin Hearne. The experience of reading these is like spending a few days with a couple of really fun, clever friends.
I just startedUse of Weapons, a Culture book by Iain M. Banks. Wow. From the very first pages I was jolted into remembering how great writing can make you feel confident that you’re good hands as you head into the unknown. I can’t wait to read more.
I have two books on my TBR list that I’m really looking forward to, and I wonder if anyone here has read them. First Life After Life, by Kate Atkinson, which sounds fascinating. Also, A Tale for the Time Being, by Ruth Ozeki, who doesn’t write many books, but when she does, they’re great.
Finished Wilkie Collins’ The Woman in White. It’s a surprising easy read for a Victorian novel as well as being a great mystery story. It’s a nice break from the Ellery Queen books that are ticking me off.
I finished Richard Ford’s Canada, which was an okay read but I don’t know, I didn’t love it. Nothing wrong with it, it kept my interest well enough, but at the end I’d be hard pressed to pinpoint anything I thought was great about it. Novel about a teenager in the 1950s who ends up in a tiny Canadian outpost when he tries to avoid being put into the U.S. foster care system after his parents commit an impulse crime (that’s put out there in the first paragraph, so I don’t think it’s a spoiler).
I’m just about done with How to Be Black by Baratunde Thurston. It’s funny, obviously – he’s a comedian and pop culture commentator, and he’s also a very smart guy so there’s some more thoughtful content in there as well.
I enjoyed *Wintersmith *- just delightful. Tiffany Aching is such a good character, and there can’t be too much Granny Weatherwax. One advantage to reading several thousand pages of Jamie Fraser in the *Outlander *series is that the Feegles in *Wintersmith *were clear as day.
I blew through Red Shirts recently, too. That was a fun read.
I’ve recently started Past Imperfect by Julian Fellowes. So far, it is ambling along. I enjoy his leisurely writing, dry wit, and insight into the British class system.
In the middle of 3 big books at the moment - one on Kindle, one on audiobook & one dead-tree version.
The Kindle read is The Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson (Michael Meyer, translator), thanks to Eleanor of Aquataine’s recco. The novel follows Orm the Red, a native of Scandia(Scandanavia) during the later Viking age. Through various adventures (and misadventures), he’s been to Andalucia, where is enslaved by a Moorish ruler of the Iberian peninsula, visits a King of Denmark and just now has made his way back home after several years. There’s a lot of dry humour in this book, with the interplay between Orm and his compatriot Toke, and their observations on the societies they find themselves in.
Still working on The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America Taft’s proving his lack of backbone while we learn more about some of the men who fought fires during the Big Burn - Italian immigrants, Buffalo soldiers and more.
In preparation for a trip later this spring, I picked up The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914 by David McCullough, on recommendation from people who’d taken the transit cruise previously; also I really enjoyed McCullough’s Mornings on Horseback. I was vaguely aware of the basics of the building of he canal & have enjoyed the detailed account quite a bit so far (tho I have skimmed a bit here & there) I’ve made it thru the French attempt at building the canal, and Congress just approved altering the US plan from Nicaragua to Panama. T.R. was just elected president, so I’m eager to see the extent of his involvement. It’s interesting to be reading books that deal with the two main historical achievements of Roosevelt’s presidency - conservation/national forests and the Panama Canal, as in some ways they seem quite at odds with one another.
Also did a quick read-thru of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Ian Fleming to prep for a project. I’m sure I must have read this at some point in my life, but I honestly don’t recall the story. It varies considerably from the movie - the wife of Caractus Potts is alive and well, and the main adventure deals with gangsters, not spies and dictators - and has some excellent dry British wit. Having recently read two James Bond novels (Casino Royale and Live and Let Die) - also for the first time, I could see some similarities, but not as many as you might think. It’s a fun little read & definitely recommended to fans of British whimsy.
Finished Great North Road by Peter F. Hamilton. Better than average novel by him, but not his best. Fans of his work, go ahead and get it you’ll enjoy it. If this is your first exposure to PFH, I suggest Pandora’s Star, imho his finest novel to date (but understand that PS is the first of a two-parter. Consider yourself warned.)
GNR deals with two main plot lines: a detective story set in Newcastle, UK and an expedition to a planet orbiting Sirius. There are a number of ancillary “stories” and details that feed into the main plots and, like usual, I find many of these to be of more interest than some of the main plots.
Fans of PFH knows he has a bizarre tendency to turn to a deus ex machina in his endings and I can’t say he didn’t completely do that here (though nowhere near as blatant as in his Night’s Dawn books.) A couple of times I thought I knew where the story was going and I was wrong on my guesses, so that’s good. But the resolution of Angela’s story, and why she did what she did, was a little too treacly.
Regardless, those are minor flaws for Space Opera buffs and PFH fans. For you, I recommend this book whole-heartedly, without reservations.
Fun fact: There actually is a “Great North Road” in Newcastle. Yes, I looked at maps of Newcastle while reading the book… wait, why are y’all staring at me like that? Doesn’t everybody do that?
Can’t let this go without again mentioning my favorite bit of meaningless trivia: that “Bluetooth” technology got named “Bluetooth” because the developer of it was a fan of this book.
Is it worth reading until the end? ~800 pages is a commitment. Like I said, I’m enjoying the first 100 pages so far, so if it stays consistent I’m good to go.
A strange book. It’s not really a novel, nor a play and not a philosophical tale either. It’s a little bit of all of that and something more.
Some scenes are very powerful and Flaubert’s style is impeccable, as always. I wouldn’t say it’s his greatest work but it’s definitely unique and makes quite an impression.
I’m almost finished with The Accounting by William Lashner. It’s about three kids who rip off drug dealers and succeed – for awhile. Now it’s 25 years later, one of the culprits is dead and another is on the run.
I would love for this to be a movie, because I’ve just met a character who’s a perfect fit for Conchata Ferrell (Berta on Two and a Half Men). She’s the leader of a biker gang and every word out of her mouth could have been said by Berta.
I recently read three (enormous) books of historical fiction by a Japanese writer, Eiji Yoshikawa:
Musashi
Taiko: An Epic Novel of War and Glory in Feudal Japan
The Heike Story: A Modern Translation of the Classic Tale of Love and War
All three were excellent (though my favorite was Taiko; I found the characters in the Heike Story unlikable). Anyone interested in Shogun would love these - they are the ‘real deal’ as far as Japanese historical fiction goes. Well writen (even though in translation), and great on conveying the atmosphere of feudal Japan.
Though part of the deal as far as Western readers are concerned is that they have a somewhat alien point of view; the notion, expressed so clearly in Musashi, that one could and should achieve a form of enlightenment by going around killing people (albeit with great artistry) is a bit difficult to accept …
