Thanks for the heads up.
I finished Black Ajax. I don’t give a tinker’s damn about boxing, but I was never bored. George MacDonald Fraser was just that good an author.
Started today on Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson. TBH, I’m finding it rather irritating so far. I had never heard of this book before, now I think I see why. But, you know, Shirley Jackson, so I’m going to hang in there.
Bring souvenirs back!
Ron Chernow’s biography on Ulysses Grant is quite good. He mostly defends Grant’s presidency pointing out he made major efforts to protect the rights of Blacks in the South which ultimately failed after he left office. Some bad appointments in an era where the size of government increased but he always prosecuted but he never really seem to realize people weren’t as honest as he was.
I’m 99% certain I read that, and I found it annoying too. But it’s been 30+ years…
I’ve been meaning to get to that book. Chernow’s Washington and Hamilton bios are both excellent.
And I hope you noted Flashman’s father making an appearance.
Yep, good ol’ Buck, fucking things up.
DZedNConfused, I’m up to page 69, still annoyed!
:mad: Grrrrr
Just finished* The Russian Endgame* by Allan Topol. Not recommended.
Just started When the Trees Say Nothing: Writings on Nature, by Thomas Merton.
Woah. Does Jackson realize that pronouns have antecedents? Or that the word “comprehensible” has a meaning–one that applies neither to the sight of mountains nor to that sentence?
I finished The Pharaoh Key by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child. It’s the last volume of their Gideon Crew series, and I can’t say I’m going to miss Gideon too much.
The story should have been right up my alley: Gideon & company solve an ancient code and go off to a remote corner of Egypt to find a treasure. The problem is, the treasure hunt part of the story is almost non-existent. They use a computer to solve the code at the beginning of the book, which takes all the fun out of that aspect of the hunt, and then they spend almost the entire remainder of the story getting sidetracked on their way to the treasure. Just about every plot padding device imaginable is used: duplicitous native guides, corrupt officials, almost dying from thirst, mysterious femme fatales showing up out of nowhere, and lost tribes of primitive hunters who almost kill our heroes at first but wind up worshiping them. And of course at the end, with the treasure in reach, comes the ultimate cliche conclusion, which I won’t reveal even though it’s lame as hell.
I’ll read anything by Preston & Child, but this kind of lazy writing really tested my patience.
Finished When the Trees Say Nothing: Writings on Nature, by Thomas Merton. Some beautiful prose, very reminiscent (unsurprisingly) of Robert Frost’s poetry.
Started The Big Chunk of Ice: The Last Known Adventure of The Mad Scientists’ Club, by Bertrand R. Brinley. It’s fun so far.
The last time I posted (in last month’s thread) I’d just started Mishell Baker’s Borderline, the first book in the Arcadia Project series. Back in May, Left Hand of Dorkness reviewed/recommended the third book in the series; when something sounds good, I like to start at the beginning if I can. 
Two months ago, DZedNConfused posted that based on the Goodreads blurb it sounded “a bit like The Rook with more schizophrenia and fewer vampires.” I kept feeling that it was something like The Rook meets Harry Dresden, if Harry were a chick. And an amputee. Anyway, I finished it about a month ago and liked it very much! In fact, I immediately bought – but haven’t yet started – the second book in the series.
After Borderline I tackled Stephen King’s latest, The Outsider. I’m a huge King fan, but – like FoieGrasIsEvil – I found the overall story to be a little meh. No twists or surprises. And the inclusion of Holly Gibney seemed to be somewhat gratuitous. I also agree with Dung Beetle (not surprisingly!). I don’t regret reading it or anything, though.
After finishing King (five days ago) I was up for a political thriller, so I dove into The President is Missing – by James Patterson and Bill Clinton. No opinion yet, because I’m not very far into it: the president is still present and accounted for.
In a related aside, I’ve been unemployed all month* but surprisingly I haven’t been reading any more than usual! I still tend to only read in bed, right before I fall asleep. I’ll be going on vacation at the end of the month – a trip to the Seattle area to see some friends and go to a small jazz festival – and I’ll read in the airports/on the planes, so I’m hoping to finish the Patterson book before this month/thread ends.
*I quit my job; my last day in the office was 7/2. I’ve had the Seattle trip planned for a while, and I’m in a position to be able to cover some time off, so I decided to take the whole month. Happily I’ve already received/accepted an offer for a new job, which will start on 8/6.
I just finished Christopher Greyson’s Jack Stratton book 2 Jack Knifed. Loved it! Gonna start on the third book soon!
Personally, I especially enjoy mystery/crime fiction heavier on the character stories than the mystery itself. Greyson’s book have a great combo of both.
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You will need to be very very very very patient.
Finished Hangsaman, at last. It was absolutely awful. Shirley Jackson wrote one of my favorite books of all time, but I’m kind of mad at her right now.
Which one?
The Haunting of Hill House. A masterpiece! 
Ahhhhhh, I adore We Have Always Lived in the Castle.