Finished Hounded. Much Fun.
Atticus O’Sullivan is a 2000-something year old Druid who has a sword that Aenghus Óg, the Celtic god of love wants.
Atticus reminds me of Harry Dresden, in as much as they both are wise-cracking irreverent magic users. It may take some time for Kevin Hearne to grow into the author that is Jim Butcher, but I enjoyed the first in the series enough that I will be buying the rest.
I finished “Mr. Norell and Jonathan Strange” (I loved everything about it - the somewhat slow pace in the beginning, long footnotes, dry humor). Reading “The Last Samurai” (no relation to Tom Cruise movie) and it makes me want to learn Japanese and a lot of other languages.
You reversed the names in the title, but I’m glad you loved it, as I did. Check out Clarke’s short-story collection The Ladies of Grace Adieu, as I mentioned earlier, for more magical English stories in the same vein.
I’ve been skimming Harold Holzer’s Father Abraham, a short bio of Lincoln as husband, father and family man. Yeesh, he and Mary Todd spoiled their boys rotten! One of his key failings as an individual, but likely a reaction to his own father’s harsh rule.
I’m tagging on to this because I’m just in the middle of Doris Kearns Godwin’s Team of Rivals, the story of Lincoln’s work to integrate his chief political rivals in the Republican party after his election. It’s a good book no doubt, but it’s far more interesting for what it has to say about Salmon Chase and Edward Bates than for either William Seward or Lincoln himself. I didn’t know much about the Chase and Bates stuff, but the relationship between Seward and Lincoln was one of the centerpieces of any Lincoln biography I’ve read, and the episodes Godwin cites to reveal Lincoln’s character in general are all well-known. Okay if you can get it at a closing Border’s for 40% off, I suppose, or if it’s one of a very few Lincoln books you have.
I’m also in the middle of Lydia Millet’s Oh Pure and Radiant Heart. The story itself is interesting: during the Trinity a-bomb test, Robert Oppenheimer, Enrico Fermi, and Leo Szillard are transported to the year 2003–for unknown reasons that they slowly have to work out with the help of a librarian from a small New Mexico town. But I’m very ambivalent about the prose–it often goes into very metaphysical reflections that seem a bit out of place for the characters, and it is fairly slow. Still, I’ll persist.
I’m going to start, since it’s Sunday and I can, Naomi Novik’s finally-in-paperback Tongues of Serpents, the fifth (sixth?) Temeraire book. Looking forward to it.
I’ve finished since I last posted here (choice books only):
George Saunders, The Brief Frightening Reign of Phil. a hilarious satire-allegory about power and demagoguery.
Anderson and Stall’s Night of the Living Trekkies, a quite entertaining zombie novel that takes place at a Star Trek convention; interesting new zombie concept, too.
Bob Fingerman’s Pariah, another zombie novel. This one was outstanding, and actually did have something to say about communal reactions to the extraordinary events. Takes place all within the confines of one apartment building, and there’s very little zombie action, but loads of interesting observations on human behavior. I’d recommend it!
Stephen King’s Cell. Yet another zombie novel–sorta. Also interesting, but not as much as Fingerman’s book, and the plot…lots of bits where suspension of disbelief was really hard. But quite alright, if you can get it.
Robert O’Connell’s Ghost of Cannae. A overview of the entire Punic Wars with an emphasis on Hannibal, of course. O’Connell writes well, and I got the book cheap. I can’t vouch for the veracity of any of it…
Just finished *The Swan Maiden *by jules Watson. I enjoyed it because I am fascinated by Irish legend and history. I’m about to start on the next in the series, The Raven Queen
If you want to read more about Lincoln, here’s IMHO a worthwhile guide to the best of the best of the many books about him: http://www.clevelandcivilwarroundtable.com/articles/comment/lincoln_books.htm
Finished a YA book, More Horowitz Horror, by Anthony Horowitz. Weak short stories, but okay for the pre-King set.
The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough.
A classic of US history writing. Fascinating stuff, very well written.
I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett. But I’ll probably be done by Wednesday.
One of these will be next:
The Power Makers: Steam, Electricity, and the Men Who Invented Modern America by Maury Klein 2009
Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History by Scott Andrew Selby and Greg Campbell 2010
The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M. Edsel and Bret Witter
I read that one last year and liked it a lot–it was very well-written and engaging. I hope you enjoy it.
I’m currently reading the newest book by one of my favorite authors, The Informant by Thomas Perry. It’s the third of his books featuring the titular Mafia hitman way back from his first book, The Butcher’s Boy, and the Justice Department agent trying her best to catch him while he starts another Mafia war. I’m about halfway through so far, and it’s great.
Also on the queue is another new one from another of my favorite authors, The Cobra by Frederick Forsyth. I always love Forsyth.
And finally, the English translation of the fourth Japanese “light novel” in the Haruhi Suzumiya series, The Rampage of Haruhi Suzumiya.
Between those and Glueck Nelson’s Deities and Dolphins, which is considered THE standard work on the Nabateans, I’ve got my hands full.
I just thinking of rereading his The ODESSA File. I remember really enjoying it when I first read it, 30-some years ago.
After much waffling, I decided to read The Three Musketeers next. I started it on the Metro this morning and have had to look up four words already. I love that it’s so easy to do that on the Kindle app!
You might also enjoy this:
Might be too much of a good thing, but thanks!
Heh, true. 
A more enjoyable (and fictional) Forsyth-like thriller set in the same setting is:
More noir-ish than Forsyth - think a cross between Forsyth and Chandler. Fun stuff. In fact, the whole series is good.
Ooo, that does look good - thanks! I’ll add it to my list.
Interesting list in today’s Guardian of the 100 greatest non-fiction books. I mostly read fiction now, so I wasn’t surprised to only have read about 10 of those books, and most of those were in my school days.
A friend just recommended I read World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. I know others here have read it, so tell me what you thought. (edited to add: “Please” 
)
I finished The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin and I definitely recommend it. It’s sci-fi because it involves aliens on other planets, but it’s a heck of a lot more than that.
At the insistance of my wife and a few friends, I’ve started reading *The Hunger Games *by Suzanne Collins. I’ll probablly be able to finish the first book of the series tonight. It’s YA, which means it’s a very easy read. I haven’t read a YA book since, well, since I was a kid, so I don’t know if the writing is on par for the genre or not, but there are lots and lots of unnecessary sentence fragments. Our narrator is a 16 year old girl with, presumably, a poor education, so I guess it’s acceptable. The pace is great and the story is interesting even though it’s wildly unbelievable.