Finished:
The Painted Man - demon infested world. Very easy to read and hard to put down.
First Law Trilogy - joe Abercrombie. Loved it. Another fantasy (bit of a theme atm). Nice characters.
Ran out of Steam:
After Dark - Murakami. Just isn’t grabbing me like the others (Wonderland, Windup bird etc)
Ubik - Philip K Dick. maybe I’m just not in the mood.
The Appeal - Grisham - I was waiting on a delivery of books. Half way through and I’m hard pressed to think of anything significant in the book. Wonder how I got this far… Just entirely forgettable.
Started:
Empire in Black and Gold - Adrian Tchaikovsky - fantasy based on humans taking up Insect Aspects (traits). Really nice idea and compelling.
Next:
Imajica - Clive Barker - seeing as he has released the second one I thought I’d reread this one. Not to be scoffed at for 57 pence.
Reading Michael Palin’s Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years.
The member of Monty Python’s Flying Circus explains at the start of the book he been keeping a handwritten diary since 1969. And his entries for the years listed have been transcribed to this very interesting book.
He wrote his thoughts about all things Python: the TV show, the movies, the albums, the books, promotional tours in America, and more, and also about the other members of the group.
He also discusses his professional work during the period that was independent of the group.
There is also plenty of biographical detail, such as the births of his children, and his father’s decline due to Parkinson’s disease. Those entries about his father are especially touching for me, as my own father has Parkinson’s.
AuntiePam, I ended up liking *Sovereign *more than the second Shardlake book. It is bloated, but it happens to be bloated with the kind of stuff I enjoy. I really like Sansom’s writing, except for his action scenes, which are awkward and unrealistic.
My recent reads:
Kelley Armstrong’s short story collection Men of the Otherworld, which is mostly stories that were previously published online. I liked the older stories but not the newest one, which makes sense because I like her older books much better than her newer ones.
Shannon Hale’s Austenland, which has a great cover but was not a good read.
Patricia Briggs’ new novel Bone Crossed, which I didn’t like quite as much as the earlier books in the series, but it’s a decent read.
I’ve just started another Honor Harrington novel, Ashes of Victory.
Cool. I’ll be getting it then. I agree about his action scenes. They’re stilted, like he’s got some GI Joes and he’s moving them around and writing down what happens to them. Guy’s obviously never been in a brawl.
I just finished Playing For Pizza, by John Grisham, of courtroom novels fame.
It’s a charming little book about a washed-up NFL quarterback who finds redemption playing for the Parma Panthers of the Italian National Football League.
Just finished The Accidental Sorcerer (Rogue Agent). It started slow and I thought it was going to be a typical I’m-a-bumbling-wizard-who-must-save-the-world story, with a lot of silliness. In some ways it was, but about half way through it took a turn that surprised me and in the end was much better than I expected. I have too many books in the queue, but I may add the follow-ups to my list.
I just finished The Circus Fire by Stewart O’Nan. Nonfiction, about the Hartford circus fire in 1944. Heartbreaking (of course) but really well done. I did some googling to see if there was anything new on Little Miss 1565, an unidentified child, and was surprised to see that someone’s using that nickname on Facebook.
I finished Hiassen’s Lucky You. There’s a part at the end where one guy is desperate to get high so he huffs pepper spray. I laughed and laughed and laughed.
Just finished Shop Smart, Save More: Learn the Grocery Game and Save Hundreds of Dollars a Month, by Teri Gault. I didn’t get much out of it. I’m sure if someone wanted to invest the time and energy to follow all her recommendations, they would do well, but I for one don’t plan to go interview the manager of my local grocery store or start a coupon train with my friends. Other stuff was just basic: use coupons with sales, stockpile items when they’re priced low, etc. There were some interesting parts about trends in sales, and some recipes I might have used if I didn’t have such a picky family.
Next up, Buyology: truth and lies about why we buy, by Martin Lindstrom. For some reason, I like to read about shopping but rarely do it.
I read this a few years back and I agree, it’s well written, and horrifying.
About 1/4 into The Grandmothers by Glenway Wescott, and it’s blowing me away. This is another book I picked up only because it was quoted in Wisconsin Death Trip. Maybe I like it so well just because it resonates with my personality and interests, and it’s not objectively good; or why isn’t it better known? I don’t know what “objectively good” means – good by critical consensus, I suppose, and required reading in high school :), and I never even heard of this book outside of WDT.
Also reading Charlatan: America’s Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam by Pope Brock. It’s delightful, and since the title character implanted goat testicles in men as a 1920s-era version of Viagra, there are lots of fun euphemisms and puns.
That’s fairly plausible compared to the scene where our heroes are feeling the effects of some poison, but they are able to hold off an armed attacker while each of them in turn drinks some mustard and vomits up the poison.
I’ve finished The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. It started strong, then dragged severely during the first bits about Oscar’s mother, then picked up the pace again and carried right on until the end. I’m still a bit baffled about all the pop-culture/fantasy/comics references and how and if they tie into a coherent whole, but altogether a fun book to read.
Also finished Douglas Wouk’s Reading Comics, which I would recommend wholeheartedly on two levels: if you have very little knowledge about comics, especially book-length ones, and would like a primer; then don’t be worried that things go right over your head. You’ll get a lot of great recommendations. And if you have read everything there is out there, for a very enlightening interpretation of what you just read.
In fresh starts, I’ve put Washington Irving’s History of New York on the bedside table – that’s an easy and fun read. I’ve also started Denis Johnson’s Tree of Smoke again, hopefully with better luck this time.
