Just finished Songs From the Stars by Norman Spinrad. I last read it in Jan 1981 when it came out, and I’m glad I’ve held onto it over the years. Several hundred years after ‘the Smash’, civilisation consists of a very ‘green’ bucolic society, assisted behind the scenes by the last remnants of hi-tech and science. Clear Blue Lou, a Judge of sorts, and Sunshine Sue are entangled in the scientists’ grand plans… I enjoyed it a lot, although it’s showing it’s age a little.
Also dipping into Michael Swanwick’s new collection, Not So Much, Said the Cat. Good stuff.
And I’m also about 1/3rd of the way through Lament for the Fallen by Gavin Chait. In a future, devastated Nigeria, a capsule containing a mysterious stranger falls from space and lands near a village, which also has it’s own secrets to hide from the roving bands of mercenaries and bandits. Really enjoying it so far.
I’m reading Jeffrey Toobin’s Patty Hearst book, American Heiress. It’s thorough, and seems to try very hard to be objective, but given that Patty Hearst is alive and well and has written about her kidnapping herself, some of the passages about what she was thinking and feeling seem, I dunno, …presumptuous. It’s also an oddly flat book, IMO, with few new revelations or insight for anyone who followed the story. All the reviews I’ve read like it a lot more than I do, though. …so there’s that.
Finders Keepers, by Stephen King. It’s the second in the Hodges trilogy. I’m not particularly impressed with it, and am somewhat annoyed by the narration style for some reason. Instead of saying something like “Billy drove home at a rapid pace.”, he writes “Billy drives home at a rapid pace.” The entire book is written in a manner that sounds like a movie script.
Why do I fail to keep up with these threads? I really like them! Bah.
I’m halfway through the third book in Martha Well’s “The Fall of Ile-Rien” trilogy. She’s become one of my new favorite authors with this series. So that’s my second new favorite author in the past few months. Carol Berg has also entered that category with her “Lighthouse” duology.
A recent thread about cozy mysteries reinspired my latent love of those fluffy things, so I’ve been picking up my mystery reading. So far, no winners, though.
I was also amused to find not one but two historical mystery series set in Gilded Age Newport. The first one was mediocre, sadly.
Last month, I read my first Edith Wharton, The House of Mirth. I found it astonishingly good. If someone wants to suggest which Wharton I read next, I’d be delighted.
I liked “The Age of Innocence” as well, but those are the only two books of hers that I’ve read.
I just finished reading “The Rainbow” by D. H. Lawrence; the rural setting gave it a kind of “D. H. Lawrence does Thomas Hardy” vibe. I liked the story, but I sometimes found myself skimming through the multi-page mystical poetic descriptions of romantic and religious desire; I’m not an intensely romantic or religious person, so they were kind of lost on me. That was my main turn-off when I read “Sons and Lovers” as well.
Finished the King novel and never did get into it. I just started Bill Bryson’s The Road to Little Dribbling. Hopefully it’s not as bad as some Amazon reviewers seem to think.
I gave up on the Grisham book (Gray Mountain) and started An Innocent Client, by Scott Pratt. The author is new to me; this book is the first in a series about a lawyer named Joe Dillard. I only just started it a few nights ago, so I have no real impression yet other than it’s already better than the Grisham! From Amazon:
“A preacher is found brutally murdered in a Tennessee motel room. A beautiful, mysterious young girl is accused. In this Mystery Readers International finalist for ‘Best Debut Mystery’, criminal defense lawyer Joe Dillard has become jaded over the years as he’s tried to balance his career against his conscience. Savvy but cynical, Dillard wants to quit doing criminal defense, but he can’t resist the chance to represent someone who might actually be innocent. His drug-addicted sister has just been released from prison and his mother is succumbing to Alzheimer’s, but Dillard’s commitment to the case never wavers despite the personal troubles and professional demands that threaten to destroy him.”
Currently reading The Brothers Cabal by Jonathan L. Howard, which I am enjoying quite a lot. It is sorta on the border between fantasy, horror and humor - set in a steampunk-y world setting. Reminds me a bit of Terry Prachett, though with rather a lot more H.P. Lovecraft in the mix.
Still drilling slowly through this one. It’s pretty good. The stories are fairly short and not too difficult even for a novice sci-fi reader such as myself. It is a big unwieldy bastard though, which is a drawback if you’re going to tote it around like I do.
I finally finished Dead Wake by Erik Larson. I’ll be honest, I had a hard time getting into the book, I’m not sure if it was because of the spoiler effect of knowing ahead of time that the ship would sink or if it was the narrative pace in general. I did enjoy all the vignettes about passengers, though it did make it harder to read after getting to know them, knowing that most of them were about to die.
I’m about a third of the way into Johannes Cabal… I had a personal tragedy over the weekend and I needed something to engage my brain and stop me from staring at walls crying… so far it’s working.
OMG, so did I…and I’ve had the same “stare at the walls crying” thing. You certainly don’t need to share but in my case a good friend took his own life. I find that at night I can read and be nicely distracted and become too physically tired to hold the Kindle anymore, but as soon as I put it aside my brain goes right back to him. I’ve gotten crappy sleep all week. Anyway, I am so sorry for whatever you’re going through.
Yep, drop the book I’m so tired. Lay it down intentionally and close my eyes and I’m back to beating myself up. I am SO VERY sorry about your friend, Misnomer, remember them with love and eventually a smile. My mother always advocated planting a rose bush or some other flowering plant as a reminder. It gives you something beautiful to tie to their memory.
In my case, it was my dog, who was hit by a car. He was my best friend and closest companion for the last couple of years. It’s strange how horribly empty my house feels without him here.
