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Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven
Dec 4 2012, 2:42pm
Post #1 of 25
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The is-it-December-already reading thread!
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I suppose many of us are now reading reviews for The Hobbit---I know I am. I'd just as soon be spoiled, thank you.  But for those of us who are also reading books, magazines, etc....
I'm still going through the John Mortimer's Rumpole of the Bailey stories for the magazine article, and have actually made a start! Boy, should I ever have told the editor I'd do this after the first of the year, not that I don't have other things promised for then. Ah well.
Here's the long paragraph that starts off the first Rumpole story, originally published in the 70s. It could be used in a creative writing class as an example of effective narrative and the power of voice:
“I, Horace Rumpole, barrister at law, 68 next birthday, Old Bailey Hack, husband to Mrs. Hilda Rumpole (known to me only as She Who Must Be Obeyed) and father to Nicholas Rumpole (lecturer in social studies at the University of Baltimore, I have always been extremely proud of Nick); I, who have a mind full of old murders, legal anecdotes and memorable fragments of the Oxford Book of English Verse (Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch’s edition) together with a dependable knowledge of bloodstains, blood groups, fingerprints, and forgery by typewriters; I, who am now the oldest member of my Chambers, take up my pen at this advanced age during a lull in business (there’s not much crime about, all the best villains seem to be off on holiday in the Costa Brava,) in order to write my reconstructions of some of my recent triumphs (including a number of recent disasters) in the Courts of Law, hoping there by to turn a bob or two which won’t be immediately grabbed by the taxman, or my clerk Henry, or by She Who Must be Obeyed, and perhaps give some sort of entertainment to those who, like myself, have found in British justice a life-long subject of harmless fun.”
What have YOU been reading?
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Alcarcalime
Tol Eressea
Dec 4 2012, 5:14pm
Post #2 of 25
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This is the *It certainly is December* reply!
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This year has flown by. The days crawled, but the year has flown!
I am still immersed in the free books on my Kindle. I read Booker T. Washington's autobiography (really good), Letters of a Woman Homesteader (way too short, but very good), The Burgess Animal Book for Children by Thornton Burgess. I read his series of books when I was about 8. My sister and I used to go to the library and get 6 books and have them read and back in the required two weeks. I loved this as much as I did almost 60 years ago. I read The Innocence of Father Brown and enjoyed the stories.
I am currently reading House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. I read the Age of Innocence previously and didn't like the ending, but I am enjoying the House of Mirth and hope it has a happy ending. A not-so-young 29 year old thinks she has to find a rich man to marry, but finds she is attracted to a poor man. So far she is finding herself sliding into the gossip of her set and she doesn't seem to be able to stop it. I hate to put it down, but actually do need to do other things than read.
At night while my Kindle is charging, I am reading essays by Isaac Asimov. I have LOTS of his books of essays. Actually, I have LOTS of his books of any kind.
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Ardamírë
Valinor
Dec 4 2012, 5:40pm
Post #3 of 25
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But the semester is almost over and I have a few things on my list!
"...and his first memory of Middle-earth was the green stone above her breast as she sang above his cradle while Gondolin was still in flower." -Unfinished Tales
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Magpie
Immortal
Dec 4 2012, 6:05pm
Post #4 of 25
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very, very slowly at Game of Thrones.
My son left it laying around, partly in case I wanted to read it after watching the DVDs. I'm enjoying the book quite a bit but not only do I not allow a lot of dedicated sit-in-a-chair reading time. When I want to read is while I eat breakfast or maybe lunch (if I'm at home) and that book is impossible to read one or no handed (because it's so freakin thick!). It's one time that I can see where a Kindle would come in handy. :-)
LOTR soundtrack website ~ magpie avatar gallery
TORn History Mathom-house ~ Torn Image Posting Guide
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Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven
Dec 4 2012, 6:18pm
Post #5 of 25
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You could keep on reading his fiction and non-fiction for many Decembers to come, I imagine.
I have a new tablet with a Kindle app, which I haven't done anything with yet---we'll see if I go overboard stacking up e-books to read like I've done stacking up paper books to read.
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Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven
Dec 4 2012, 6:18pm
Post #6 of 25
(409 views)
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...the end of the semester will bring a sigh of relief
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Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven
Dec 4 2012, 6:19pm
Post #7 of 25
(440 views)
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The one time I started listening to an audio book, when I was recovering from minor surgery, I kept getting impatient---I can read for myself so much faster than someone can read to me. And it's a lot easier to stop and savor a lovely bit of prose when you have the words on a page (of some sort) in front of you.
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Ardamírë
Valinor
Dec 4 2012, 6:30pm
Post #8 of 25
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I'm very much looking forward to a break. Especially a break filled with reading and, of course, the Hobbit! 
"...and his first memory of Middle-earth was the green stone above her breast as she sang above his cradle while Gondolin was still in flower." -Unfinished Tales
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Elberbeth
Tol Eressea
Dec 4 2012, 6:39pm
Post #9 of 25
(417 views)
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which is the third book in the Temeraire series. Still loving it.
"There are some things that it is better to begin than to refuse, even though the end may be dark."
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Aunt Dora Baggins
Immortal
Dec 4 2012, 6:42pm
Post #10 of 25
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I've been reading one of Dreamdeer's novels
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The Harvest of Young Minds. She writes stories and novels based on her dreams, which is an amazing thing to do. I'm only about halfway through, but it's pretty intriguing so far.
Other than that I'm still re-reading some Jane Austen (Emma) and enjoying it. .
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"For DORA BAGGINS in memory of a LONG correspondence, with love from Bilbo; on a large wastebasket. Dora was Drogo's sister, and the eldest surviving female relative of Bilbo and Frodo; she was ninety-nine, and had written reams of good advice for more than half a century."
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"A Chance Meeting at Rivendell" and other stories
leleni at hotmail dot com
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Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven
Dec 4 2012, 8:21pm
Post #12 of 25
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I wonder if Novik read The Hobbit and Horatio Hornblower during the same week and was inspired 
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Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven
Dec 4 2012, 8:22pm
Post #13 of 25
(456 views)
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My dreams are usually much too chaotic to turn into fiction, although I suppose both my dreams and my fiction echo my interests. In old houses, for example. Well done, Dreamdeer!
You can't beat Austen for a good read.
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One Ringer
Tol Eressea
Dec 4 2012, 11:03pm
Post #14 of 25
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Letters From Father Christmas, The Three Musketeers
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I had gotten LFFC last year for Christmas, and although I started reading it, I thought it better to wait until this season to read it in rhythm with the holidays. So far so good. I'm reading it extremely casually so it'll last. As always Tolkien has an excellent way of providing history to his characters, and I find it pretty funny how much effort he puts into the realism aspect (note the cold and shaky handwriting).
I've also started reading The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. Man, what an awesome book! I just love its language and overall character. It feels like the swashbuckler I've been in need of. I'm a little over a hundred pages in, and loving every word of it.
FOTR 10th Anniversary Music Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33xJU3AIwsg
"You do not let your eyes see nor your ears hear, and that which is outside your daily life is not of account to you. Ah, it is the fault of our science that it wants to explain all; and if it explain not, then it says there is nothing to explain."
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Eowyn of Penns Woods
Valinor
Dec 5 2012, 3:00am
Post #15 of 25
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*Finally* made it through The Worm Ouroboros.
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I could appreciate the language, the descriptions, the Tolkien-ish similarities...but good grief, did it ever take its time getting the story moving along into something that could eventually hold my interest! Much better when it become more character-focused and quest-driven.
My inner nerd felt like it was almost required reading for Tolkien geeks, and now I can finally check it off the list. Yayyy!
**********************************
NABOUF
Not a TORns*b!
Certified Curmudgeon
Knitting Knerd
NARF: NWtS Chapter Member since June 17,2011
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Starling
Half-elven
Dec 5 2012, 7:29am
Post #16 of 25
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I was just thinking about her the other day. I was reading an old thread on which she posted a wonderfully insightful comment that helped me a lot at the time. Reading it made me wonder if she is still around, because I haven't seen her on the boards for ages. She must be too busy writing.
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NottaSackville
Valinor
Dec 5 2012, 12:48pm
Post #17 of 25
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Book 3 of The Awakened trilogy by Jason Tesar
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Hands to Make War: The Awakened Book Three by Jason Tesar. This series is OK, especially considering the first book was free and the next two were about 3 US dollars on Amazon. The book starts out with hints that it is going to explore the fabled "there were Giants in the Earth" reference in the bible along with some mysterious time/dimension travel between Roman-esque times and our own time, with a side of natural apocalypse in our time thrown in. Instead, it has turned out to be a fairly typical young boy turns out to be an awesome chosen one with special powers and beats everyone else story - there has been almost no exploration of any of those intriguing topics mentioned above. I'm about 2/3 of the way through the last book, so it's possible the last third is filled with tons of wild and exciting stuff, but I'd have preferred a more steady mix throughout the series. Nevertheless, for an average of $2/book, I'm not disappointed.
Oh, and I'm 2 for 2 now on free fantasy series from Pixel of Ink where the protagonist develops special mystical powers and uses them to mentally explore his own body and actually move things around/reconnect things to heal his injuries. That amused me a bit.
And what's this about it being December? It's still just October, right? Yikes!
Notta
 Happiness: money matters, but less than we think and not in the way that we think. Family is important and so are friends, while envy is toxic -- and so is excessive thinking. Beaches are optional. Trust is not. Neither is gratitude. - The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner as summarized by Lily Fairbairn. And a bit of the Hobbit reading thrown in never hurts. - NottaSackville
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Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven
Dec 5 2012, 3:53pm
Post #18 of 25
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. . . not that anyone here would dispute that! And while Dumas may be out of fashion now, it's hard to beat a good swashbuckler. The Three Musketeers is a classic for a good reason.
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Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven
Dec 5 2012, 3:54pm
Post #19 of 25
(364 views)
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I never did make it through that. Ah well....
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Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven
Dec 5 2012, 3:55pm
Post #20 of 25
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. . . if you get what you're paying for with some of these books. But then, it's hard to come up with anything new in fantasy.
October? Time you were clearing away the pumpkins and skeletons, Notta.
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NottaSackville
Valinor
Dec 5 2012, 7:08pm
Post #21 of 25
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The skeletons are staying firmly where they belong - in the closet.
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The kinda sad thing is, it seemed like Mr. Tesar had come up with a pretty interesting and new premise at the beginning but then never did anything with it.
Ahh well.
Still, I don't regret the time or the money.
Notta
Happiness: money matters, but less than we think and not in the way that we think. Family is important and so are friends, while envy is toxic -- and so is excessive thinking. Beaches are optional. Trust is not. Neither is gratitude. - The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner as summarized by Lily Fairbairn. And a bit of the Hobbit reading thrown in never hurts. - NottaSackville
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zarabia
Tol Eressea
Dec 6 2012, 6:12am
Post #22 of 25
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The King of Elfland's Daughter
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I've just started this. I actually bought it several years ago, but didn't have time to read it at the time, so it got stuffed away on an overcrowded bookshelf. I've only recently unearthed it. Anyway, It's by Lord Dunsany and was published in 1929. I had never heard of it or him before, but I was intrigued by the name and drawn by the cover which is Waterhouse's La Bell Dame Sans Merci. But the clincher was that the introduction for this edition is by Neil Gaiman. So far, it looks promising.
BTW, I've never read Rumpole before, but after reading that opening paragraph, I think I'll have to start. Love paragraph-long sentences. 
"The question isn't where, Constable, but when." - Inspector Spacetime
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zarabia
Tol Eressea
Dec 6 2012, 6:17am
Post #23 of 25
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I love Asimov's non-fiction essays
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I think I've read more of his non-fiction, essays, and anthologies than I have his SF novels, though I like them as well.
"The question isn't where, Constable, but when." - Inspector Spacetime
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Alcarcalime
Tol Eressea
Dec 6 2012, 11:04am
Post #24 of 25
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Asimov is my favorite author and I have as many of his books as I could find and afford. One of my biggest regrets is that I never got to meet Asimov. OhioHobbit did, however, at a SF convention. Picture me green with envy!
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Annael
Immortal
Dec 7 2012, 3:16am
Post #25 of 25
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wow. WOW. Butcher just gets better with each book. He has mad plotting skills, too, laying clues far in advance in earlier books that finally acquire meaning in this one.
The way we imagine our lives is the way we are going to go on living our lives.
- James Hillman, Healing Fiction
* * * * * * * * * *
NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
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