I finished Her Majesty’s Will by David Blixt. I t was an amusing view of Will Shakespeare & Kit Marlowe’s first meeting and a plot to assassinate Elizabeth I. Not bad at all.
I am currently reading The Killer Collective by Barry Eisler, the 10th John Rain book. He has brought together the characters of all his different series, it a lot of folks to juggle but he’s doing it quite well.
So as I’ve mentioned before on these boards (probably to everyone’s chagrin by now), I’m finishing up an MA in history. This naturally necessitates reading numerous monographs each semester, almost all of which are too boring or too pedantic IMO to post here. One significant result to this reading is that I’m finding it exceedingly difficult to start new books that aren’t directly related or necessary for my degree. Thus, the last several books that I’ve mentioned in these threads—including the ones I started over Christmas break—I never finished.
However, this semester my work load is somewhat lighter—or at least, it is at this point in my schedule and thus I’m determined to start and finish a book that isn’t related to school. If I suceed it’ll be the first time in a year or two that I’ve manage to do that :o . To that end I’ve began [URL=“https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1397981.Snowbound”]Snowbound by Ladd Hamilton. It’s the true story of a hunting party that sets off into the Bitterroot wilderness of Idaho in September of 1893. Winter arrives early that year and the party is snowed in, miles from civilization. They must use their wits, cunning, and questionable morals if they are to get out alive.
What makes this story so interesting and, frankly, gut-wrenching is that
[SPOILER] one of the men in the party becomes increasingly ill and, eventually, the decison must be made whether to continue to attempt to be rescued / find their way back to civilization with their sick man, possibly dooming them all to death, or hiking out without him, leaving him to die on his own.
What makes this story double-gut-wrenching for me personally is that
Yes, they left their man behind. A year or three later a survey crew found his body and buried it on a bluff above the river where he was found. The thing is, I’ve actually visited his gravesite, albeit somewhat unintentionally. On a road trip to Montana ca. 2000 my dad and I decided to cut through Idaho using the same route Lewis and Clark too, which today is highway 12. We stopped at the gravesite, which today has a small parking lot a few yards west, stretched our legs, and wandered around a bit. That’s when I first learned this story. Now I’m getting the full story, or at least as much as can be known from survivor-only accounts.
You can see the grave on Google street view. And when you switch it to Earth and zoom out a bit, you can see why these guys were well and truly fucked—even today, there’s a whole lotta nothing for miles and miles and miles in any direction. And this part of the country is some of the coldest in the lower 48 states.
[/SPOILER]
I’ve toyed with the idea of reading this series for years. I watched the Russell Crowe movie of course and while it wasn’t the worst movie ever made I’m not sure I want to wade through something like 20 books to get the jist of the story I already know. Maybe someday I’ll start it. Let us know what you think when you’re done with it.
Started today on my most anticipated book of 2019, The Hod King by Josiah Bancroft. This is the third book of his series The Books of Babel, about a man progressing up the Tower of Babel in search of his missing wife. These are among the best books I’ve read in years.
Almost done with Meddling Kids. Picked up a lot of books cheap or for free at Boskone this weekend. I’m going through Lin Carter’s anthology of classic fantasy Dragons, Elves, and Heroes from 1969. In trying to give you a sample of a lot of things it abbreviates some things pretty heavily (like Beowulf), but it makes up for it in the breadth of material. (It’s the only place I’ve ever seen excerpts from James MacPherson’s forged Ossian)
On Audio I finished Cussler’s Shadow Tyrants and am re-listening to Heinlein’s Rocketship Galileo. spider Robinson has an excellent reading voice and style. He should read more of the Heinlein juveniles. No sure what to listen to next.
I finished two books over the weekend. Hurricane Season is a charming Southern story with a good beginning and a good ending, but the middle part was a bit slow-paced for my liking. Overall it gets my seal of approval, though. Thinking in Numbers was a fun collection of essays. Nothing mind-blowing, but the essays were pretty solid across the board.
The movie has elements of that book, and others. You certainly don’t have to wade through 20 books, though, if you don’t want to. Try the first, Master and Commander, and if it’s to your liking, proceed to the others with pleasure, as I have!
Finished The Road to Little Dribbling: Adventures of an American in Britain, by Bill Bryson. I enjoyed the historical anecdotes he related a lot. I didn’t like his frequent descriptions of how uncomfortable he was (especially after drinking) and how judgmental he was of other people.
Now I’m reading Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial? And Other Questions From the Astronomers’ In-Box at the Vatican Observatory, by Guy Consolmagno, SJ and Paul Mueller, SJ.
I read Every Heart a Doorway, which is a charming little story about magic and alternate universes. Recommended.
Also attempted Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking has Undermined America. Didn’t finish it because while the premise made it sound like it had the potential to be a fascinating read, it wound up reading more like one big complaint than anything.
After abandoning it, I went on to read The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. In some ways, I think it has a similar premise because it also encourages you to stop plastering a smile on your face and use your pain to guide you through your choices. But it reads like less of a complaint and more of a primer for how to use something other than positive thinking to guide you to make smarter decisions, so I like this one better.
I read one story in that collection quite recently. It was for professional reasons–an anchor text for a high school literature curriculum I was working on. Till then I’d been entirely unfamiliar with her work. I thought it was extremely well written, the characters were very well drawn, and the situation was almost painfully real. But the whole thing didn’t quite work for me, not entirely sure why not. I came way thinking “She’s got some great stuff going for her–but this isn’t the one.” Too bad. Maybe I’ll try something else of hers; then again, maybe I won’t.
I am also really liking this one. Funny, wistful, reflective, and downright depressing at times: the human condition. Though “The Perfect Fit” didn’t appeal to me, I very much appreciated (don’t know that I can say “enjoyed”) “Now We Are Five” and “Why Aren’t You Laughing?” Also “The Silent Treatment,” about his complicated and often rocky relationship with his father. I haven’t finished yet, so there might be further gems toward the end.
Completely agree with your last line.
Finished Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial? And Other Questions From the Astronomers’ In-Box at the Vatican Observatory , by Guy Consolmagno, SJ and Paul Mueller, SJ. Enjoyed it.
Now I’m reading Middlemarch, by George Eliot.
The Swamp: The Everglades, Florida, and the Politics of Paradise Michael Grunwald
History of South Florida, concentrating on the futile, sometimes tragically flawed, efforts to drain the Everglades, and the realization that draining the Everglades was a terrible idea for the environment.
Michael Grunwald is a talented writer, and this is potentially an interesting topic, but the book gets rather bogged down (pardon the expression) with descriptions of committee meetings and budgets.
Not recommended
Neanderthal Man Svaante Paabo Memoir of the Swedish scientist who led the effort to decode the Neanderthal genome. Written for a general audience, but I was often lost. I guess biology was not my best subject.
Not recommended.
Thanks. Here’s a separate thread on “Now We Are Five” and the Sedarises: David Sedaris writes about the suicide of his sister Tiffany - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board
Oops!
New thread: Well, look it’s snowing…AGAIN. I want my spring, dagnabit!