I am slogging (and I really mean ‘slogging’) through McMurtry’s “The Berrybender Narratives”. 900+ pages of thoroughly unlikable characters, but I’m closing in on the last 250 pages. Man, this guy can be verbose.
Thanks for the reminder to dip into Wool! You must be a Nick Harkaway fan. I read The Gone Away World, which was unquestionably brilliant in places, but which overall was too aimless for me. I saw enough good in it to be curious about his next work, so I’ll be watching for your response to Angelmaker!
Loved that book! Hope you do, too.
And how many people get bored with Stephen King in favor of Henry James? Not many, I’ll bet. 
I loved Angelmaker. No ninja mimes but there’s plenty of other fantastic stuff and winning characterization. Harkaway likes to go off on tangents but I think his tangents are very entertaining.
I started Dance With Dragons but decided to wait until after the series is finished. I’d forge ahead, but reading the book and watching the TV series at the same time would just confuse me.
Read Stewart O’Nan’s latest, The Odds, which I liked very much. It’s about marriage, accommodation, communication.
Started a re-read of The Autobiography of Henry VIII but put it aside in favor of The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue. It’s based on a court case (divorce) in England in the 1860’s. My god, but we have come a long way!
Today’s mail brought Gods of Twilight, a Civil War novel by Don Robertson. I thought I’d read all of Robertson’s books, but this one slipped by me.
What else was in your Great War kick? I suppose you’ve read Flanders by Patricia Anthony? And Pat Barker’s Regeneration trilogy?
Almost finished with The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell - am quite enjoying it, despite dealing with a klunky e-reader (Overdrive on iPhone - not a fan). The storyline is intricate, the characters (if numerous) very believable and complex, and the environment enveloping. The timeline is a bit difficult to follow at times, but the story is definitely making me want to learn more about Japan’s Opening to the West.
Also working on War Magician by David Fisher. I’d heard about this book years ago, and my memory was sparked by my 19th century magic reading kick earlier this year, as well as mention of Nevil Maskelyne in Thunderstruck. Jasper, Nevil’s son, volunteered his illusionist services to his country during WWII and this book details his efforts at disguising the British military during their Middle Eastern campaign. It’s a little heavier on the actual campaigns that I myself would care for, but interesting reading so far. It was a bit tricky to get a hold of - have it on ILL.
Still enjoying the audiobook of Curse of the Blue Tattoo - Miss Jacky keeps getting in one scrape after another, yet her ingenuity and optimism allow her to soldier on, and even fight for those less fortunate than herself. I’ll definitely be continuing the series, and the narrator (Katherine Kellgren) is AWESOME.
I’m still on the first one, and loving it, but unfortunately this is the only one my library has on audiobook. I’m not planning to go on without Kellgren.
Angelmaker came last night, and I read sporadically, in between feedings of the littlest lebeef.
So far it’s really good. Three chapters or so in, and the descriptions and world Harkaway is building are kinda magical. I envy anyone who has that sort of descriptive wizardry.
I read Buried Prey by John Sandford. I saw a good review of his new Stolen Prey and went to the library for it, but they didn’t have it yet, but I saw that he has a huge number of books in this _______ Prey series and I took this one at random. It was an interesting structure: ambitious uniformed cop gets a chance to be a plainclothes detective when two young girls go missing, and they are never found. Decades later, their bodies turn up, and the cop now is a seasoned detective, and he works the case again, finding the mistakes he made the first time. The best part is seeing what experience and maturity bring to solving the case.
Now reading Blue Monday by Nicci French, another missing-kid mystery (I don’t have a thing for kidnapped kids; this is just how the library had them: I read good reviews on different sites and put in requests at the library).
ETA: Also, I read Satan is Real by Charlie Louvin yesterday. Intense.
Just finished Baa, Baa Black Sheep, the autobiographical account of Greg “Pappy” Boyington’s World War II experience and a few years after. It was clearly not ghost-written, because it read like an amateur’s words. But it was interesting, and not full of self-aggrandizement. I loved it (just like I loved the TV show, which wasn’t “good” either).
Now I’m reading A Country of Vast Designs, a biography of James K. Polk, because he’s generally rated one of our best presidents,m but I’ve never read about him. I like the* They Might Be Giants* song about him, and thought I owed him a bit more in-depth understanding.
I just finished 'The Tenderness of Wolves - it’s a remarkable book, especially for a first novel. She evokes the Canadian North wonderfully.
I have ‘A History of the Christian Church’ by Williston Walker and others. I’m not sure if I’ll read all of it - it’s the first thousand years that particularly interest me.
I signed it out just in the nick of time. Our librarians have just gone out on strike, if you can believe it. Our current mayor brings nothing but disgrace to our city. Fortunately, I also have a Research Reader’s card at the University, though it is further away. Otherwise, I might have to break my New Year’s resolution not to buy any more books.
Not sure what I’ll do for some lighter fiction…
Politzania and Dung Beetle, that series sounds interesting to me, since my great-grandmother, as a child, sailed on her father’s Merchant Marine ship in Scotland, as the only female on board. That captured my imagination as a child, and still does. I don’t like audiobooks, so am wondering if you think the story would be as interesting for an adult reader in print.
I’m currently reading The Gun Seller by none other than Hugh Laurie. Yes, that Hugh Laurie. So far it’s been a fantastic read. To quote from Amazon (linked above): "Hugh Laurie concocts an uproarious cocktail of comic zingers and over-the-top action in this “ripping spoof of the spy genre” (Vanity Fair) – the irresistible tale of a former Scots Guard-turned-hired gun, a freelance soldier of fortune who also happens to be one heck of a nice guy.
Cold-blooded murder just isn’t Thomas Lang’s cup of tea. Offered a bundle to assassinate an American industrialist, he opts to warn the intended victim instead – a good deed that soon takes a bad turn. Quicker than he can down a shot of his favorite whiskey, Lang is bashing heads with a Buddha statue, matching wits with evil billionaires, and putting his life (among other things) in the hands of a bevy of femmes fatales. Up against rogue CIA agents, wannabe terrorists, and an arms dealer looking to make a high-tech killing, Lang’s out to save the leggy lady he has come to love…and prevent an international bloodbath to boot."
I read that last year. I thought is was pretty damn good. A spy novel where you don’t even realize the hero is of spy-hero quality for half the book. It was weird, in that I was picturing Laurie as the protagonist, right up until about page 10 where I realized quickly it was more of a George Clooney type role.
Anyway … I enjoyed it very much.
I’m a little backed up at the moment…
[ul][li]deliverance - dickey[/li][li]free will - harris[/li][li]the power of habit - duhigg[/li][li]profiler - my life hunting serial killers and psychopaths[/li][li]tea party and the remaking of republican conservatism[/li][li]ted books - launching the innovation renaissance[/li][li]a universe from nothing - krauss[/li][li]facing the ultimate frontier - neil degrasse tyson[/li][li]here be dragons - the scientific quest for extraterrestrial life[/li][li]life in the universe - bennett (3rd edition)[/li][li]the astronomy revolution: 400 Years of Exploring the Cosmos[/li][/ul]
I’m going back to Discworld. I’ll be reading my first Rincewind, actually the first Rincewind ever- the first Discworld ever. That’s right, I’m reading The Color of Magic next.
That was good. Excellent twist at the end. They’re (Nicci French is a husband-and-wife team) setting up a new series, so also a bit of a cliffhanger. Now starting Priest by Gerard O’Donovan, about a serial killer in Dublin. No missing kids that I know of.
I just finished Zeitoun by Dave Eggers, and what an amazing book it was. Zeitoun (pronounced more or less like “stay tuned”) is a Syrian immigrant who runs a successful house painting business in New Orleans. In the immediate wake of hurricane Katrina he is arrested as a looter and suspected Al Qaida terrorist and jailed in almost inhuman conditions.
The book is a condemnation of several things: FEMA comes in for a lot of heat, and the War on Terrorism doesn’t do much better. And of course racism is here, too. And all in all, it is hard to envision how the powers that be could have coped with a disaster of this scale much better than they did, given the magnitude of the event.
Zeitoun is eventually released and returned to his loving and desperately supportive family, and rebuilds his business. And in spite of all that has befallen him he never gives up on the American Dream, battered and bent as it is.
A wonderful book.
I read the first in the series - Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary “Jacky” Faber, Ship’s Boy in print format (technically e-text) and found it quite engaging - tho Jacky’s “voice” took a bit of getting used to - self-talk, etc. There’s an occasional suspension of disbelief, and the teenage romance was a bit :rolleyes: but overall think it’s worth at least a library read.
Did your great-grandmother write any memoirs? I think a real-life experience would be **fascinating! ** I recall reading a supposedly true story about a girl growing up on a sailing ship - her father was a widowed sea captain - as a child & would love to find & read it again.
Working on the Kindle version of Hedy’s Folly: The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World by Richard Rhodes and finding it relatively interesting; tho Rhodes is spending at least as much time so far on George Antheil, the avant-garde composer she worked with to create & submit the patent on jam- proof radio guidance system for torpedoes. I’ve heard conflicting reports on just how much Hedy contributed to the research; so am curious to see where Rhodes comes down on the topic.
I just finished** Daughter of Smoke and Bone** by Laini Taylor, which I recommend to anyone who likes fantasy. The author’s great at unveiling just enough plot information to lead the readers to one conclusion, which she than completely flips on its ear. In a genre that can be so predictable sometimes, I was impressed by the surprises and originality.