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It's the occasional reading thread!

Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven


Oct 3, 3:15pm

Post #1 of 11 (5224 views)
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It's the occasional reading thread! Can't Post

The Halloween decorations are appearing! I'm hoping that autumn won't be too far behind---it's still in the 90s here in Texas.

On paper I read How to Stop Time, by Matt Haig, who is also the author of The Midnight Library. The books both have fantasy premises but are not related---except in quality! In Time, the protagonist is not so much immortal as ages very slowly, so even though he was born in 1581 he appears to be only about forty years old today. We see his life through the years and how immortality is more of a curse than a blessing, especially when he meets up with other "immortals". But Haig does provide us with a happy ending. And there's a passage about political history that I thought so highly of I copied it out and sent it to friends. But---politics. I will not repeat it here.

Also on paper I read The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharpe, by Leonie Swann. Agnes and her friends are elderly people living together in her family mansion, forced to come to terms with the issues of their earlier lives when a series of murders occur in the area. I found Swann's depiction of the infirmities of age, both physical and mental, to be accurate (and accordingly depressing) to a certain extent, but as a forty-something herself she attributes more frailties to people sixty and above than is necessarily the reality.

I'm now reading An Atlas of Extinct Countries, by Gideon Defoe, a non-fiction collection of short essays about small countries that have come and gone over the years. This is not only informative but written with great wit and style. From the introduction: Countries die. Sometimes it's murder. Sometimes it's an accident. sometimes it's because they were too ludicrous to exist in the first place. Every so often they explode violently. A few slip away unnoticed. Often the cause of death is either "got too greedy" or "Napoleon turned up". Now and then they just hold a referendum and vote themselves out of existence.

I'm still listening the The Other Side of History, a series of lectures from The Great Courses. We're winding up how ordinary people lived in classical Greece. The lecturer/author, Robert Garland, is a good speaker with an appreciation of our modern sensibilities and a subtle sense of humor.

I listened to a novella by Ben Aaronovitch, The Masquerades of Spring, which is sort of a prequel to the Peter Grant series. Here, Peter's mentor Thomas Nightingale is on a mission to New York in the 1930s. The narrator is a character straight out of Wodehouse, and the plot is light but entertaining.

I also listened to A Comedy of Terrors, by Lindsey Davis, ninth in her second ancient Roman mystery series. This one stars Flavia Alba, daughter of Falco, the protagonist of her first ancient Roman mystery series. I think Davis has somewhat run out of steam, and find the Flavia books to be less well-plotted but still entertaining. This one takes place during the excesses of Saturnalia.

I also listened to How to Survive History, by Cody Cassidy, a group of essays about dire events of the past---Pompeii, the Titanic---and how a time traveler might survive them. Obviously, this is just an excuse to explore the details of each event, but the presentation is entertaining and the narration by Dennis Boutsikaris is nicely done.

So what have you been reading?

Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?
Where is the hand on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing?
Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?
They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow;
The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow....


Annael
Immortal


Oct 4, 3:48pm

Post #2 of 11 (5187 views)
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hmm, shall have to look for How to Stop Time [In reply to] Can't Post

I've just acquired Eligible by Curtis Sittenfield, another entry in the "imagining a modern-day Pride and Prejudice" genre. This one has many rave reviews and so far seems to be well-written.

I finished The Book of the Ler by M.A. Foster. Foster, it turns out, has one plot: a male character who stumbles onto a long-standing secret plot to control the population, and even though he is young & inexperienced, figures it out from very few clues and ALSO turns out to be the very person who can fix it all for everyone. Also, there's a female character who has the very skills to help him and is young & sexually open and becomes his lover. By the third book this was just a bit too much male fantasy wish fulfillment for me. But Foster is very good at coming up with fascinating cultures and worlds - for example, one book is set on a planet where the axis so tilted, they have eight seasons a year.

I found myself re-reading Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold, one of my favorite books EVER. The characters are fully realized and I love many of them, especially Ista, the extremely reluctant heroine, and Bujold has invented a religion that I would join in a nanosecond.

I am a dreamer of words, of written words.
-- Gaston Bachelard

* * * * * * * * * *

NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967


Kimi
Forum Admin / Moderator


Oct 5, 9:05pm

Post #3 of 11 (5038 views)
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Cozy and not so cozy [In reply to] Can't Post

I've read the fourth (and most recent) in the "Thursday Murder Club" series The Last Devil to Die, and will eagerly look forward to the next. The author has said this will be some time away, as he wants to take a break and give the characters a break after putting them through the mill. I thoroughly enjoyed the read. This book has more sadness in it than the earlier ones, but is overall uplifting and suffused with warmth - and much of the time very, very funny. I did guess what was going on from fairly early, but that didn't diminish the experience.

Richard Osman has begun a new series, and I read the first one, We Solve Murders. A bodyguard and a famous novelist are being hunted by killers against the background of a plot involving using social media influencers for nefarious purposes. A little harder-edged than TTMC, but still in the cozy space. It took me a little while to get into, and to get all the characters straight, but I ended up very much enjoying it - and I didn't guess who was behind it all! I think I'll enjoy future ones even more, as there'll be less setting up needed.

Heirs and Graces. Another fun romp in the "Royal Spyness" series, somewhat marred for me by a very strange plot device - particularly strange from an author who's so careful with the niceties and shibboleths of British nobility. [Spoiler follows] An English title cannot be passed on to some random unrelated person just because the current holder decides to on a whim (and because he dislikes the actual heir, who's just been discovered). The family would know this! Especially since they've been desperately worried that the title will die out for the lack of an heir. Instead they spend the entire book worrying about this proposed disinheriting, and only find out the actual legalities (from their lawyer) at the very end. The current holder also could not leave an estate that's actually described as entailed to said unrelated rando. I had to approach the rest of the book with an "Apart from that, how did you enjoy the play, Mrs Lincoln?" attitude. I did enjoy the book overall, but that seriously grated.

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson - again, the first in a series. Three apparently unrelated crimes over decades may be linked, and former policeman, now investigator, Jackson Brodie is looking into it. Disclosure: I almost gave up on this fairly early on, as it seemed so gloomy, with everyone in a dark space, including unhappily divorced Brodie. But it's a very clever plot, and the characters are intriguing, albeit often very uncomfortable to share a head with. A third of the way through so far, and will continue.

Tangential thoughts brought on by some recent reading experiences: yes, there's darkness and sadness and ugliness in the world, and people take each other for granted and put each other down and exploit the vulnerable and sometimes are actively cruel. There's also love and kindness and caring, and people who give without measuring the return. People who find friendship or a loving family when they had become resigned to dragging themselves through life with neither. Exploring the dark can be beguiling, but I really don't understand why exploring light and love and goodness are so often disparaged as somehow less worthy.
/rant over


The Passing of Mistress Rose
My historical novels

Do we find happiness so often that we should turn it off the box when it happens to sit there?

- A Room With a View


Annael
Immortal


Oct 6, 2:16am

Post #4 of 11 (5006 views)
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I agree with your rant! [In reply to] Can't Post

Also, had the same problem with Heirs and Graces. If we colonials know how the peerage works, there's no excuse for a Brit to get it wrong!

I am a dreamer of words, of written words.
-- Gaston Bachelard

* * * * * * * * * *

NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967


Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven


Oct 6, 2:47pm

Post #5 of 11 (4928 views)
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Well said! [In reply to] Can't Post


In Reply To
Tangential thoughts brought on by some recent reading experiences: yes, there's darkness and sadness and ugliness in the world, and people take each other for granted and put each other down and exploit the vulnerable and sometimes are actively cruel. There's also love and kindness and caring, and people who give without measuring the return. People who find friendship or a loving family when they had become resigned to dragging themselves through life with neither. Exploring the dark can be beguiling, but I really don't understand why exploring light and love and goodness are so often disparaged as somehow less worthy.
/rant over


I agree with you one hundred percent! Was it here or somewhere else someone was saying h/she was tired of mystery/detective stories where the protagonist is as badly messed up as the villain? There's something to be said for Donna Leon's Brunetti and Louise Penny's Gamache, both of which have positive lives outside the (sometimes horrific) crimes they investigate.

There was a short TV series based on the Kate Atkinson books, starring Jason Isaacs, which was entertaining. But when I went to read one or two of the books I simply couldn't---they were way too grim and dark for me.

As for Heirs and Graces, you and Annael are far from the only people who've rolled their eyes at that particular plot twist!

Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?
Where is the hand on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing?
Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?
They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow;
The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow....


Annael
Immortal


Oct 7, 6:51pm

Post #6 of 11 (4035 views)
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re Eligible [In reply to] Can't Post

I've now read it (couldn't put it down!) and am re-reading it. So many witty observations in passing. Mr. Bennet's "mordant humor" is well in evidence.

I am a dreamer of words, of written words.
-- Gaston Bachelard

* * * * * * * * * *

NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967


dernwyn
Forum Admin / Moderator


Oct 8, 5:20pm

Post #7 of 11 (3793 views)
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Mostly nautical [In reply to] Can't Post

I attempted James L. Haley's "A Darker Sea", his Master Commandant Putnam and the War of 1812 novel. Excellent descriptions of life in those times, but this novel requires far more knowledge of nautical and seafaring terms than I shall ever acquire. I need to "visualize" what I'm reading, and had to put it down over half-way through as I was no longer able to understand what was happening.

"Two Tankers Down: The Greatest Small-Boat Rescue in U.S. Coast Guard History" by Robert Frump. Now THIS I could not put down, having already read "Their Finest Hours" (and seen the movie based on it several times, and hubby having Chatham (Cape Cod) family history makes it real to us). This is the full story of the two tankers that split in half during the 1952 storm. It begins with describing these types of oil tankers and their construction history in laymen's terms, so by the time they get to Cape Cod you know that they are disasters waiting to happen. The four rescues - three mostly successful, one not at all, at the bows and sterns of both ships - are described so well that you can envision yourself there. Not surprising, since the author interviewed many of the survivors. And then he continues with how much the press and Coast Guard made of the pilot who led the boat handling the Pendelton stern rescue's "heroism", singling him out, that it negatively affect his career.

"The Hunt for Red October" by Tom Clancy. Very interesting how this is similar and very dis-similar from the movie, but overall a good fun read.

"Making It So" by Patrick Stewart. A pleasant and candid read, Stewart writes like a story-teller. Of course there was not as much Ian McKellan in there as I should have liked! Laugh

Currently reading "A History of the World in 12 Shipwrecks" by David Gibbins, which details shipwrecks discovered throughout the world and what they prove or disprove about the cultures of those times. A bit heavy, but fascinating.

"Atlas of Extinct Countries" piques my curiosity, it's going on my long "To Be Read in Retirement" list, thank you!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I desired dragons with a profound desire"


(This post was edited by dernwyn on Oct 8, 5:24pm)


Meneldor
Valinor


Oct 10, 6:53pm

Post #8 of 11 (2233 views)
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Risky Reading [In reply to] Can't Post






They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. -Psalm 107

(This post was edited by Meneldor on Oct 10, 6:54pm)


Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven


Oct 10, 7:03pm

Post #9 of 11 (2222 views)
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I love it! // [In reply to] Can't Post

 

Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?
Where is the hand on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing?
Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?
They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow;
The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow....


Ataahua
Forum Admin / Moderator


Oct 11, 12:39am

Post #10 of 11 (2164 views)
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*snert* :D / [In reply to] Can't Post

 

Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."

"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.


Fantasy novel - The Arcanist's Tattoo

My LOTR fan-fiction


CuriousG
Half-elven


Oct 17, 1:03pm

Post #11 of 11 (1557 views)
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Things you say on a 1st date that [In reply to] Can't Post

You pray are never fact-checked later. :)

 
 

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