Last: Stephanie Barron’s latest Jane Austen mystery: *The Barque of Frailty. * The plots keep getting more mechanical–think I’m losing interest in the series. But it may be that I’m losing interest in the author: A “teaser” for her next book was included–a mystery set in Victorian days. The dashing hero wondered whether he should retire from detecting (or whatever) & take a safe seat in Irish Parliament. Apparently this writer of Historical Fiction never heard of the bloody Act of Union!
So I’d rather count Roger Zelazny’s wonderful A Night in the Lonesome October. I usually reread this grisly little gem before Halloween.
Currently:Madame de Pompadour by Nancy Mitford. (Insipired by a certain episode of Doctor Who.) Delightful.
Next: I’ve got several worthy tomes to begin–or resume. But first I’ll take time for Michael Chabon’s Final Solution: Story of a Detective. About Sherlock Holmes…
If you’re not partial to **Stegon66’**s review, I have read all English translations of Murakami, and I found Wind-Up Bird Chronicle to be my favorite. I also liked Norwegian Wood, and the sheep one (name escapes me for the moment).
Last book: Me Talk Pretty One Day
Current: Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Next: Naked (assuming my Amazon order arrives soon; otherwise I’ll have to pick something else)
Last: Making Money, by pTerry. Finished last night.
Current: Wintersmith by ditto. Was part way through, then swapped it out when Making Money came.
Next: Finish Cryptonomicon. Halfway through.
And I have only three chapters left on the book I’m reviewing.
Last book: The Satanic Scriptures by Peter H. Gilmore, the head of the Church of Satan. It’s a book of essays and thoughts on Satanism and the modern world, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Current: Shogun by James Clavell. A novel set in the 16th century about an English pilot who gets stranded in feudal Japan and gets pulled into their society and intrigues. It’s pretty good but goes on a bit, I think a bit of editing could have reduced it from the 1100 pages it stands at.
Next: Hopefully if it comes in time The Fire Within by Magister Nemo of the Church of Satan. Again, another set of essays and modern Satanic thought. If it doesn’t arrive by the time I’ve finished Shogun then I’ll probably read Grass for his pillow by Lian Hearn, second in the tales of the Otori trilogy. It’s a novel set in a quasi-mythical Japan about a young boy who is part of a clan of assassins with special powers. The first book was very good so I expect high things of the second.
To those reading the Illuminatus Trilogy and Cryptonomicon, if it’s for the first time then I’m trés jealous!
Last Book:
**Treasure Island ** by Robert Louis Stevenson. A fun summer book to read. I think everybody knows the story so I’m not gonna annotate this one. Not one of the best books he wrote though, I think. Current Book: The Thrill of Fear: 250 Years of Scary Entertainment by Walter Kendrick. A history of what scares us from Graveyard Poetry to Grand Guignol to Hammer Films to E.C. Comics to Stephen King and lots more. It’s written by a college professor so it’s wordy and kind of convoluted, but it still has a ton of good info. I’ve read this one before but I really like it. Next Book:
Forget it. I’m buried in paperwork right now. Maybe when I take time off for Christmas I can squeeze a Lawrence Sanders murder mystery in.
Last: The Winner, by David Baldacci. It’s a compelling suspense novel, and I recommend it. A dirt-poor waitress is picked to win a fixed national lottery. She’s very wealthy, but can never go home again.
Present: The Seven Pillars Of Wisdom, by T.E. Lawrence. Written in 1926 (?), it has never been out of print since his death in 1935. It is now required reading for the entire US State Department.
Next: Two Trains Running, by Andrew Vachss. His Burke character is a gritty, underground detective whose prey is those who exploit kids and underage hookers.
Just finished **Death In Yellowstone (Accidents and Foolhardiness in the First National Park)-- ** a strange book which chronicles every death by accident in the more than 100 years of the Park’s existence. Shootings, climbing accidents, bears and other wildlife, being boiled alive in geyser pools-- a bit on the grim side.
Currently reading a whodunnit by Jefferson Parker, The Fallen Man, and Lamb, by Christopher Moore. The book tells the story of Christ’s “missing years” as told by his boyhood pal, Biff. Try to imagine an angel of the lord showing up to announce the birth of Christ, but ten years late because he got caught up in a card game with the archangel Michael, and just lost track of time.
Next, possibly Bill Bryson’s Notes From a Small Island. Or maybe not.
Last: Cat in a Red Hot Rage, Carole Nelson Douglas. Terrible. I don’t know why I keep reading the damn things.
Current: The Game, Laurie R. King. A re-read, and a lot of fun. It’s from her Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series, and this one had Kipling’s Kim in it, too.
Next: Sex, Economy, Freedom, and Community, Wendell Berry. To up the intellectual tone a bit.
I’m buried in paperwork right now. Maybe when I take time off for Christmas I can squeeze a Lawrence Sanders murder mystery in.