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Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven
May 24 2016, 2:50pm
Post #1 of 15
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It's the, good heavens, May is slipping away, reading thread!
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I don't know what it is about 2016, but my family and I seem to be competing to see who can do the most things and go the most places. Whew!
When I have a chance, I've been listening to The Red Hat Club Rides Again by Haywood Smith. Which is clearly a sequel, but she gets us into this story very smoothly, perhaps because, so far, there's not a lot of story, just a lunch shared by a group of high school friends who are still together 30-35 years later.
It's amusing, with a strong voice, and the narrator is doing a good job holding my interest.
On CD I'm still listening to McCall Smith's The Charming Quirks of Others, an Isabel Dalhousie story which is, well, charming and quiet. In this installment, Isabel has been asked to meddle in an incipient scandal at a boy's school.
Having been rushing around madly recently, I haven't read anything on paper more than the daily newspaper and the odd catalog, and am trying to decide which of the 40 books sitting on my coffee and side tables I want to pick up next.
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....
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Annael
Immortal
May 24 2016, 3:02pm
Post #2 of 15
(418 views)
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A Most Dangerous Method by John Kerr
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the movie "A Dangerous Method" was based on this book, but only on part of it. The book itself is far more than the story of Freud, Jung, & Sabina Spielrein; it's basically a history of the birth of the field of psychology. Extremely erudite, packed with tons of information . . . and slow going. But interesting! I've been having an argument with a friend about how psychology is not a "science" - an argument in the sense that while we both agree it isn't, he's of the opinion that since you can't do statistically significant studies using the "gold standard" of double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized studies, it means the entire field is bogus. My opinion is that because people are so wildly different it's impossible to control all the variables in a psychological study, so of course the results won't be statistically significant, but that means the method is the problem. This book makes it clear that psychology was actually an offshoot of philosophy--the art of observing human behavior and thinking about what it means--but because it came into being right about the time of Pasteur & Koch when medical thinking was being revolutionized by germ theory, the physicians treating people with "nervous disease" of course applied germ theory to this disease as well and tried to be very scientific about it--to make it a "science." All along there have been people saying "no, no, that doesn't work, it's really more of an empirical art." But I can't get my friend to even entertain that idea, I suspect because the counselor he's been seeing with his wife has been saying stuff he doesn't want to hear, so he has to discredit the entire field to reassure himself.
I am a dreamer of words, of written words. I think I am reading; a word stops me. I leave the page. The syllables of the words begin to move around … The words take on other meanings as if they had the right to be young.
-- Gaston Bachelard
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NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
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a.s.
Valinor
May 24 2016, 10:15pm
Post #3 of 15
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The Little Red Chairs by Edna O'Brien
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Haunting and lyrical and rather mystical, at times. O'Brien really found a way to make vicious war crimes that happened "to other people, not us" understandable on a visceral level. Really, one of the best books I've read this year.
Next up: LaRose, the newest from Louise Erdrich.
a.s.
"an seileachan"
"A safe fairyland is untrue to all worlds." JRR Tolkien, Letters.
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Old Toby
Grey Havens
May 25 2016, 3:07pm
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A wonderful novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. I was surprised to learn he has lived in Britain since the age of 6 - hence his thorough knowledge of the culture. This is a marvelous little story about the life of a butler, as told from his perspective. I understand it was a film starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson. I'll have to find that one, since the book upon which it's based is so good.
"Age is always advancing and I'm fairly sure it's up to no good." Harry Dresden (Jim Butcher)
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Ciars
Rohan
May 25 2016, 5:59pm
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All the light we cannot see : Anthony Doerr
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A great read! It's set in France just before,
during and after World War 2 and revolves around the lives of Marie and Werner, a French girl and German boy. It really examines the tragedy of war and the line between what is good and bad, their stories interweave until they have to make decisions for themselves. A great read , showing how the human spirit can overcome or at least try to overcome difficulty.
(This post was edited by Ciars on May 25 2016, 6:01pm)
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dernwyn
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
May 25 2016, 6:15pm
Post #6 of 15
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It's a dangerous business, Lily, going on a walk
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with the first grade classes to the town Library. You step inside its door, and if you don't keep your head, you end up browsing the rack of 3-for-$2 hardcovers!
Well, our first graders now all have their town Library cards, and I have two James Patterson adult books (our school library has a collection of his awesome junior-level books) and the one I've started to read, Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer's "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society".
I know a book is going to be great, when I find myself grinning and chuckling aloud when I'm only on page 5!
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"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
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Meneldor
Valinor
May 25 2016, 7:54pm
Post #7 of 15
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by David Dalglish. Science fantasy story about a world of islands floating in the sky and soldiers called Seraphim who strap on high-tech wings to do battle. I liked the concepts a lot, and the writing was pretty good. Aerial combat was vivid. Interesting plot with several intriguing mysteries, most of which are unsolved in this volume. The sequel is scheduled to come out in November and I preordered it from Amazon.
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
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Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven
May 25 2016, 9:11pm
Post #8 of 15
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There is great peril in book sales, oh yes //
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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....
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Aunt Dora Baggins
Immortal
May 26 2016, 8:48pm
Post #9 of 15
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Looking for Mary by Beverly Donofrio
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This was a memoir by a woman who was a lapsed Catholic who went on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje. She ostensibly went as a journalist, but she also wanted a spiritual experience. She had been doing a series for NPR about Virgin Mary appearances.
I'm not Catholic or even Christian, but I find stories like this interesting . This one was well-written and entertaining.
Also still reading "War and Peace".
Oh, and I listened to my kindle read "The Little Prince". It was my mom's favorite book, and I'd been missing her.
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GNU Terry Pratchett
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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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(This post was edited by Aunt Dora Baggins on May 26 2016, 8:49pm)
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Omnigeek
Lorien
May 29 2016, 12:57am
Post #10 of 15
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Rereading The Dragonriders of Pern series
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I gave one of my nephews the Dragonriders of Pern omnibus (first three books) for Christmas and realized not only had I not read a Pern book in years but I had some of the more recent books sitting in my "to read" pile and I really wanted to see how Anne McCaffrey's son, Todd, measured up in taking over the wonderful world she created. I started rereading the series sequentially, am now up to #15 or thereabouts (The Skies of Pern), and have fallen in love with that world all over again.
On iPod, I'm listening to the Baen Free Radio Hour podcast -- catching up to the present -- and the Star Trek Axanar podcast while I commute.
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Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven
May 31 2016, 2:35pm
Post #11 of 15
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It's the end-of-May reading thread!
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My goodness, Off Topic is moving slowly these days. But then, so am I. 
I'm still listening to The Charming Quirks of Others, which, I have to admit, I'm not finding quite as, well, charming as the previous ones in the series. Isabel's constant over-thinking is getting just a bit silly. Still, it's a pleasant listen.
I'm also still listening to The Red Hat Club Rides Again. After two CDs of set-up, the old friends are finally away to Las Vegas to help a former member of the group. I'm still enjoying the voice of the narrator and laughed out loud during a scene where she visits an "adult toy" shop. 
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....
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Annael
Immortal
May 31 2016, 3:15pm
Post #12 of 15
(247 views)
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still trudging through A Very Dangerous Method
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the amount of research John Kerr must have done - a lot of it in German - is astounding. I'm learning a lot! But it's not exactly a page-turner.
I also picked up a book I'd stalled out on months ago, "Fool's Assassin" by Robin Hobb. I liked her "Assassin's Apprentice" trilogy okay and I LOVED her "Tawny Man" trilogy - the character of the Fool is one of the most interesting & compelling characters ever put down in print, I think - but this first book in the third trilogy of FitzChivalry & the Fool got off to a v e r y s l o w start; things only began to pick up in the last couple of chapters of a LOTR-sized book. The problem is that while I love plenty of description and detail, Hobb is WAAAAAY over on the end of the continuum. She describes things in such minute detail that it's almost like a narration of an actual life. So you get every single second of the person's day, what they did, what they thought, what they saw . . . it's excruciating at times. A little balance would be good!
I'm also reading Aristotle's Poetics, because I never had and every writer should. My Oxford edition has a nice long intro by the translator (Anthony Kenny) and essays on the Poetics by Sir Philip Sidney, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Dorothy Sayers, who argues that Aristotle would have loved murder mysteries if they'd been around in his day.
I am a dreamer of words, of written words. I think I am reading; a word stops me. I leave the page. The syllables of the words begin to move around … The words take on other meanings as if they had the right to be young.
-- Gaston Bachelard
* * * * * * * * * *
NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
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Old Toby
Grey Havens
May 31 2016, 3:38pm
Post #13 of 15
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This is the second book in Charlaine Harris' Midnight Crossroads series. Lots of fun with some characters from the Sookie books popping in. I ripped through this one in two days, it was such a fun read! I love her little, weird community of Midnight, Texas.
"Age is always advancing and I'm fairly sure it's up to no good." Harry Dresden (Jim Butcher)
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sevilodorf
Tol Eressea
Jun 1 2016, 2:41am
Post #14 of 15
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Let us know your opinion of Todd's work//
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Fourth Age Adventures at the Inn of the Burping Troll http://burpingtroll.com
Home of TheOneRing.net Best FanFic stories of 2005 and 2006 "The Last Grey Ship" and "Ashes, East Wind, Hope That Rises" by Erin Rua
(Found in Mathoms, LOTR Tales Untold)
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Meneldor
Valinor
Jun 4 2016, 5:37pm
Post #15 of 15
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by Murray MacEachern. First book published by the author, who is a history professor, not a novelist. It's a fictionalized tale of a boy who begins as an apprentice carpenter for the Royal Navy and goes on to serve with Admiral Nelson at the Nile and Trafalgar. I learned a lot about the skills and duties of a navy carpenter.
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
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