|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lily Fairbairn
Gondolin
Jan 30 2025, 5:08pm
Post #1 of 4
(1770 views)
Shortcut
|
|
It's the occasional reading thread!
|
Can't Post
|
|
We have almost survived January!
I'm still enjoying the comfort of listening yet again to LotR in Andy Serkis's superb recording. The fellowship is just about to leave Lothlorien.
I started reading a paper copy of The Dante Club, by Matthew Pearl. Unfortunately, the small type and my poor eyesight were not a good combination for a literary mystery that was less the latter than the former, much too slow for my current mood. So this became a DNF. (Did Not Finish.)
I also read The Mystery Writer, by Sulari Gentill, in paper, in thankfully larger type. The Australian author set the story in the US and began with such a large geographical error I'm afraid I was rather put off before properly starting the story. While I did read (quickly) to the end, my ultimate reaction was to roll my eyes and shake my head. It's not a mystery but a thriller, with angst, violence, conspiracy theories, and pages of tell-don't-show. I don't feel I wasted my time, but I'm not exactly whelmed, either.
I went to the library ebook for Everyone This Christmas Has A Secret, by Benjamin Stephenson. This is a very short mystery that takes place not only in Australia in December, but in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains. My husband and I were once there in December and even rode the glass-floored cable car which plays an important part in the story.
I liked the humor and the plays on words, but was a bit dubious about the first-person voice which repeatedly breaks the fourth wall with the reader and seems a bit arch and "look how clever I am." It was indeed a clever story, though, and an entertaining read. I have the previous book in the series in my audiobook collection and will anticipate listening to a (presumably) Aussie narrator somewhere down the line.
I'm now e-reading The Murder of Mr. Ma, by John Shen Yen Nee and S.J. Rozan. This reads like Jackie Chan meeting Conan Doyle in 1920's London.
I listened to Hall of Mirrors, a later entry in Christopher Fowler's Bryant and May mysteries and, sadly, found it disappointing. Bryant and May work for the Peculiar Crimes Squad at Scotland Yard but this entry in the series has nothing peculiar to it---no hints of the occult, no historical arcana. It's a quite respectable country-house mystery so I did finish and (more or less) enjoy it.
Since I'm so obviously deep in my bout of literary dyspepsia, I listened to something I knew I'd relish: Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch. I've already read every entry in the delightful Peter Grant/Rivers of London series on paper, so the audiobook fulfilled my expectations in every regard, an excellent crossover story narrated superbly by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith.
I'm now listening to a lovely Brother Cadfael novel, Brother Haluin's Confession, by Ellis Peters. Amazingly enough, I had never read this one, so I would like to thank whoever it was who recommended this to me when I wrote that The Virgin in the Ice is my favorite Cadfael.
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
Elvenhome
Jan 30 2025, 6:11pm
Post #2 of 4
(1758 views)
Shortcut
|
|
Working my way through the "Rivers of London"
[In reply to]
|
Can't Post
|
|
and enjoying it very much. Peter Grant is, to my mind, a gentler and more likable version of Harry Dresden, and I love all the goddesses. But also: scariest villain ever!
I'm also on a bit of a Jodi Picoult kick. Because she's so popular, I always assumed she was a romance writer, but - no she's not. I'd liken her more ot Barbara Kingsolver, because she takes on the big issues and oh my does she do her research. I read Small Great Things (uncomfortable, rightly so) and then The Book of Two Ways (loved that one, got to remember my studies of Egyptian mythology) and am about to start Wish You Were Here. The one I'm most eager to read is By Any Other Name but there's a long wait at the library.
I'm currently reading Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips, which is fun and so far gets the mythology right.
I'm going to look for The Dante Club. I've taught classes on Dante so I might find it more interesting than you did.
I am a dreamer of words, of written words.
-- Gaston Bachelard
* * * * * * * * * *
NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
(This post was edited by Annael on Jan 30 2025, 6:12pm)
|
|
|
Kimi
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Jan 31 2025, 11:00pm
Post #3 of 4
(1728 views)
Shortcut
|
I mentioned Before You Knew My Name back in this reading thread http://newboards.theonering.net/...latest_reply;so=ASC;. As I said at the time, it took me a long time to get into it, but I was eventually thoroughly hooked, and loved the ending. Now I've read the author's second book, Leave the Girls Behind, and had almost the opposite experience: intrigued almost at once, enjoyed all the way through, but left a little unsatisfied by the ending. But still a good read, and I'd cheerfully try another by this author.
It's about lost girls and serial killers (not gory, though), the damage done to and by the people around them, and about secrets, including those kept from oneself. More on it here. https://www.allenandunwin.co.nz/...Behind-9781760879365
Malice in the Palace and Crowned and Dangerous, two more in the "Royal Spyness" series. I wish there was less overuse of some of the gags (for example a foreign noblewoman whose misunderstanding of English idioms is made fun of quite literally Every Single Time she speaks), and the antagonist s-i-l used to have a somewhat nuanced characterization but is now more of a caricature, but obviously I enjoy these enough to keep reading. The latter I enjoyed quite a lot - it's largely set in Ireland (always a good start), and Darcy is much more present, rather than being mysteriously and conveniently in parts unknown.
Unruly by David Mitchell, as recommended by Ataahua. I thoroughly enjoyed this irreverent potted history of the English monarchy from Arthur (sort of) to Elizabeth I. Many laugh-out-loud bits, along with bits that made me think. Most of the facts I'd heard before (I used to be a royalty nerd), but some were new to me. Most of all, a lot of fun.
Just started: a new Kiwi series called "Bookshop Detectives", a cozy mystery set in a small town bookshop. Enjoying it so far, more to come.
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
(This post was edited by Kimi on Jan 31 2025, 11:04pm)
|
|
|
Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Feb 1 2025, 7:43pm
Post #4 of 4
(1715 views)
Shortcut
|
|
Two things in particular stood out for me in Unruly.
[In reply to]
|
Can't Post
|
|
The first was how the traditions of crowns and sacred anointing came about. The other was the effect that Henry IV's usurpation of Edward II had on future monarchies - not just for the War of the Roses but for social hierarchies and the personal ambitions of the aristocracy in general. (I know that this is David Mitchell's opinion but he made a persuasive argument.)
Unruly will be a really useful reference book for whenever I get my kings mixed up. Which is usually the case for anyone outside the Tudors.
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
|
|
|
|
|
