Whatcha Readin' Dec 09 Edition

Cafe Society
101

I have finished ‘Still’ by bp nichol. I really didn’t enjoy it and don’t recommend it. Interestingly, none of its faults stem (as far as I can tell) from the fact that it was written in 3 days. No, it is the fact that there are these descriptive interpassages of 2 to 3 pages that do absolutely nothing but describe the house, in painstaking detail, that grate. Then, there is the conceit of having only two characters, unnamed and never described in terms of gender, conversing about the state of their relationship for the remaining interchapters. I suppose on some level I cannot honestly say I finished reading the book, as I was skimming through the descriptions of the house and its grounds solely for some clue as to why they were included. None was found; a disappointment, especially as I have extremely limited time to devote to fiction.

Next up - “Larry’s Party” by Carol Shields. I read “The Stone Diaries” about 12 years ago and loved it.

Non-fiction - I’ve re-located my copy of “Getting Things Done” by David Allen, so I’m finishing that. (Yes, there is a delicious irony to not finishing an organizational self-help book called “Getting Things Done” because of losing track of it in the chaos of our home.) It’s a tough slog because I just don’t speak Modern Business English.

Why is it that I just can’t get enough of this sort of thing -

but sentences like this -

make me want to slap the writer with “The Practical Stylist”? At any rate, I’d better become capable of getting some f@cking amazing sh#t done to have made it worth wallowing through sentences like that!

102

I gave up on Willa Cather’s My Antonia, which my book club was reading, after 60 pages. Despite some nicely evocative scenes of the Great Plains and its brutal weather, there just wasn’t enough to keep me going.

103

I finished my audio book, The Girl With No Shadow by Joanne Harris. For those who don’t know, it’s the sequel to Chocolat. I liked it, but it wasn’t fantastic. It was kind of hard to follow The Godfather and Lady Susan, which were my last two audio books, though, so I kind of feel sorry for this one. It is a good choice to read around Christmas, though, so that made it kind of fun. Anyway, I’m on to The Pillars of the Earth. It’s 32 discs long, so I’m thinking I’ll finish it sometime around 2012.

I’m nearing the end of Mrs. Lincoln: A Life (finally—growing weary of this one) and plugging along when I have time on The Count of Monte Cristo. I don’t want to hurry that one. It’s special, so I feel the need to savor it.

104

Just reread Conan Doyle’s “The Blue Carbuncle,” the only Sherlock Holmes story set around Christmas. It’s become a delightful little holiday tradition of mine.

105

Heh I just saw the Jeremy Brett film version of this story last night. The reunion at the end is very heart-warming! :slight_smile:

106

I’ve been sick recently, which has meant a lot of time in bed reading books.

I’ve finished:

Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins. I enjoyed this, but it didn’t have the impact of The Hunger Games. The last page spurred my interest and now I’m desperate for the last book in the trilogy.

The Lost City of Z, by David Grann. Which was good, but suffered a bit for not being great. The hype had been built up too much for me; this book was on many, many “Best of 2009” lists. I enjoyed learning more about Percy Fawcett, one of the last of the great Victorian explorers, but Grann never really brought him alive for me.

Blood and Iron, Elizabeth Bear. A mediocre urban fantasy novel. A hodge-podge of every Arthurian and faerie legend out there. Bear would have better served her readers by concentrating on her own plot, instead of trying to incorporate the plot of every myth and legend she’s ever read.

Delores Claiborn, by Stephen King. A surprising gem. A tense drama with no supernatural elements. I’m always impressed by King’s characterizations.

The Magician’s Assistant, by Ann Patchett. A lovely character piece, with beautiful poetic language.

Sabine, the titular magician’s assistant, has spent her life placing her own ambitions, desires, and dreams on the back burner, happy to follow her life-mate-but-not-lover’s path. After his death, she discovers that the past he told her about didn’t exist. That the family that died in an accident decades ago is actually alive and well in Nebraska.

The plot was a little “meh,” but I enjoyed the book anyway.
Now, I’m listening to the audiobook of Sarah Water’s The Little Stranger. An atmospheric gothic ghost story. It’s a bit slow going, but the plot and language are wonderfully crafted.

107

Just started S.M. Stirlings’ “In The Courts of the Crimson Kings.” An alternate universe where Mars and Venus have intelligent life and humans have voyaged to both planets. Set on Mars.

108

A new thread about your fave five books read this year: Your top five reads from 2009 - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board

109

I would have sworn I had read all of the original Holmes, but I do not recall that one. I will have to look i up.

Yeah, I’ve been meaning to (and been too lazy to) go through all our threads and try to pick. My memory is swiss cheese these days and so I can’t just recall.

110

I’ve only read a few Holmes stories, but I’m going to pull out my Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes and look for that one.

111

Good idea - I just reserved the video at our library, and should be able to pick it up Saturday.

112

If you’d like other recommendations, ask me here or PM me! I’m a Holmes fan from 'way back.

113

I just started Six Fang Marks and a Tetanus Shot - the word on the street is it was written by someone who was or is a member here.

So far it’s really readable - very quick action, and smooth. Set in South Africa and Amsterdam (so far).

114

I’m almost ashamed to say I bought the whole series on DVD. :o

115

Nonsense. Say it loud and say it proud! :smiley:

116

If I say it too loud, my wife might hear. :wink:

117

I finished Mrs. Lincoln: A Life by Catherine Clinton. It was, as can be imagined, rather depressing. I’m now concentrating full-time on The Count of Monte Cristo. I’m over halfway through the (600 page) first volume. I also need to squeeze in a reading of A Christmas Carol sometime in the next week.

118

Christmas is coming up, and with it a couple of hopefully quiet days. So I’ve got a bunch of reads lined up:

Jasper Fforde’s Shades of Grey. I’ve been urgently looking forward to another Fforde, but I’m only thirty or so pages in right now. It’s different, but good so far. Setting up the new background story takes a while. I hope he’s going to get behind writing more Thursday Next asap.

John Ajvide Lindqvist’s Let the Right One In. Now a motion picture! I had no idea it was, and didn’t know this book…but I read his Handling the Undead, which was a remarkably good story. If his vampires are as unique as his zombies, this is going to be good.

James M. Volo’s Blue Water Patriots. A history of the Revolution at sea. Pretty good so far.

Neil Gaiman’s Smoke and Mirrors. Good collection of short stories, but I didn’t like the long poems as much.

119

Castles of Steel with the new edition of The Road to Serfdom on deck.

120

Just finished Knights in History and Legend, ed. by Constance Brittain Bouchard. It’s a big, richly-illustrated coffeetable-style book with anything you’d ever want to know about knighthood, chivalry, armor, weapons, heraldry, the Crusades, etc.

The chapter on tournaments was particularly interesting. The best story was about Sir William Marshal, one of the most famous English knights, who won every tournament he ever entered in the late 1100s. At one, the king was going to award him the prize but Marshal couldn’t be found. Then someone checked with the local blacksmith; the knight was there, having his helmet removed. He’d been so bashed up that he couldn’t remove it on his own, and it had to be cut off of him!