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Lily Fairbairn
Gondolin
Feb 25 2025, 7:40pm
Post #1 of 10
(17702 views)
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It's the occasional reading thread!
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We've done the usual Texas roller-coaster weather the last month---days below freezing, days above 80F, more days below freezing. A lot of our plants went ahead and greened up, then realized their mistake, poor things. But the beginning of March should launch us fairly into spring, with birds singing and lawnmowers whirring.
I'm still enjoying the comfort of listening yet again to LotR in Andy Serkis's superb recording. Pippin and Merry have survived being orc-dragged across Rohan and are now attending an entmoot.
I can't thank my TORnsibs enough for recommending Unruly: The Ridiculous History of England's Kings and Queens, by David Mitchell. It's a superb book, with great insights into British history, monarchy, and culture. It ends with Elizabeth I. Mitchell says the monarchy changed after that and cites the execution of Charles I as an example.
I listened to the audiobook, beautifully read by the author. Then I recommended the title so highly to friends that two of them bought paper copies. One commented on the clever captions beneath the illustrations and I thought, "Illustrations?" So now I have a paper copy, too, with not only illustrations but family trees and lists of names.
I read the ebook of The Phantom Hollow, by Gerald Verner, first of the Trevor Lowe series from the 1920s-30s. I bought all eleven books (on sale for $1.99) because I enjoy reading Golden Age mysteries. But oh dear, just the first one makes me feel I paid too much. I don't mind the very dated dialog ("Dashed nuisance, old chap!") but the plot is downright pitiful, larded with laughable coincidences.
I also read the ebook of The Dead Man of Storr, by J.M. Dalgliesh, the second in his Duncan McAdam series set on the Isle of Skye. This one, like its predecessor, is a good police procedural with a strong feel for its setting and characters I don't mind spending time with. However, I'm somewhat impatient with the complications of Duncan's backstory.
I started listening to a romance, Dating Dr. Dil, by Nisha Sharma. I have South Asian in-laws, so was looking for a light tale set in the Indian-American community. However, the characters are so raunchy and self-pitying I stopped after three chapters. If this is typical of the Indian-American community then I (and my relatives) are badly out of touch.
I then listened to How to Age Disgracefully, by Clare Pooley, about a diverse group of people (mostly, but not all, old age pensioners) working to save a community center in the London suburbs. What plot there is revolves around the mysterious backstory of one character, but it's the nicely knitted (pun alert!) plot and vivid characters that made the book enjoyable and satisfying.
I'm now listening to Serpent's Point, book 26 of the DI Wesley Peterson mysteries by Kate Ellis. This is another good police procedural in which archaeology plays a role, and is (thank goodness!) not nearly as grim and dark as The Killing Place, which I listened to over a year ago and which turns out to be book 27. The narrator for the audio book is only adequate, I'm afraid.
I'm also reading on paper A History of the World in 6 Glasses, by Tom Standage. This is a well-written and summarized world history based on the discovery and cultural significance of beer, wine, distilled spirits, coffee, tea, and cola in that order.
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....
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Annael
Elvenhome
Feb 25 2025, 9:33pm
Post #2 of 10
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FInally got through "By Any Other Name"
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by Jodi Picoult. A woman playwright in our times writes a play about Emilia Bassano, whom some scholars think wrote almost all of Shakespeare's output. The argument that Shakespeare himself was not educated enough to write his plays and poems, and that none of his friends or family knew him as a playwright, is pretty compelling.
But I didn't enjoy it. I felt a bit like I do when I read Sheri Tepper books: although I agree with her about how bad things can be for certain people in certain societies, her anger over injustice causes her to hammer her points home so forcefully that I feel beaten after a while. I'm not a person who is inspired by anger and hate; those emotions just sap me--and these days, I'm struggling so hard to keep my balance, I just don't have much bandwidth for more outrage. I needed the occasional ray of hope, the occasional respite in a beautiful place--you know, like Tolkien gives us from time to time, while GRR Martin never does, and that's why I couldn't stick with Game of Thrones either. I ended up skimming it and turned it into the library today with relief. The Book of Two Ways remains my favorite by her.
I'm re-reading The Forsyte Sage and also watching the old b&w series of the same on youtube. I didn't like the more recent version; the part of Irene in particular was sadly miscast, and they cut too much; whereas the older one is quite true to the book.
Still plugging through The Extended Mind for my neuroscience. And reading - very slowly - Persuasion in French.
I am a dreamer of words, of written words.
-- Gaston Bachelard
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NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Feb 26 2025, 8:39am
Post #3 of 10
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I'd forgotten about Mitchell's captions in Unruly.
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He really doesn't miss a trick. And I found that list of names invaluable for keeping the various Edwards and Henrys straight. 
I'm currently reading The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson, about Abraham Lincoln and the build-up to the Civil War. I was buying a book for my brother for Christmas (about Russia's counterstrike against Germany towards the end of WWII - he's a big war buff) and I spotted this book on the same shelf. I know nothing but the basics about the American Civil War and this looked like a good read, so I grabbed it for myself. I'm only a handful of chapters in (Fort Sumpter is under threat) and the way Larson is presenting the story is making it a fascinating read. I'm so glad I picked this up.
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
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Meneldor
Doriath
Feb 28 2025, 4:17am
Post #4 of 10
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by M R Forbes
A bicycle courier gets in trouble with the law, stumbles into a Welsh cavern, and discovers that the legends got an awful lot wrong. Arthur was an alien, Merlin is an AI, and Excalibur is a starship. Adventures ensue, predictably. It's a fun enough light read, well written without a lot of depth. I'd have been happy with it as a one shot, but it's first in a series and ends on a cliffhanger. The sequel releases Saturday, and I liked it enough that I'll see what comes next.
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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Annael
Elvenhome
Feb 28 2025, 3:36pm
Post #5 of 10
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still waiting for "Unruly" to come to my library
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They didn't have it, I recommended it, and got an email thanking me for telling them about a book they clearly need to get and telling me they'll let me know when it's in. That was a month ago! Guess the library wheels move slowly. And now I'm wondering if I should just buy a copy. And thinking about my mom, who enjoyed reading about the British monarchy and would have loved this book by the sounds of it.
I am a dreamer of words, of written words.
-- Gaston Bachelard
* * * * * * * * * *
NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Feb 28 2025, 7:30pm
Post #6 of 10
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I love it when libraries do our buying for us. :D
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A few times I've used the library interloan service (getting a book sent by a library elsewhere in NZ) and what do you know? Sometimes those books pop up later in my library as new buys.
I've also occasionally outright requested a book purchase by them and they've come through. Librarians are awesome.
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
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Kimi
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Mar 1 2025, 4:15am
Post #7 of 10
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with being away on holiday for half the month, out and about most of the day and ready for sleep rather earlier than usual, is that I haven't done much reading. Not that I'm complaining :)
What I've read: something old, something new.
Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett - Discworld's story of Holy Wood/Hollywood. As usual, lots of fun, very clever, and with bits that make you go "hmm" in a good way.
Dead Girl Gone, the first in a new (very new - the second book is coming out later this year) series called "The Bookshop Detectives". Very much in the cozy line, set in a small town in Aotearoa New Zealand with lots of local colour and plenty of quirky characters. The town is a real one, and to some extent so are the title characters - it's written by a couple who run a real bookshop in this real town, real names Gareth and Louise, character names Garth and Eloise.
Let me start by saying I did enjoy it, and I look forward to reading the next one. I did have reservations, though (apart from not usually enjoying present tense, but that's a personal preference), the main one being that I guessed the mystery about a fifth of the way in, and then thought it was so obvious that 1) I berated myself for not guessing even earlier; 2) I decided there must be a twist with a completely unexpected ending. Reader, there wasn't. To be fair, though, there were details and sub-plots that I certainly hadn't predicted. And as I say, a fun read, and I'd like to read on in the series.
And now I'm thinking I need to check out the paper version of Unruly to see these illustrations and captions!
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
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Meneldor
Doriath
Mar 4 2025, 4:51am
Post #8 of 10
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Starship in the Stone book 2 by MR Forbes
More world-building, new characters, and the plot wasn't quite so predictable as the first. Action scenes seem a bit repetitious and vague. OTOH, I prefer vague action to overly specific action written by people who don't understand how action really works.
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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Meneldor
Doriath
Mar 11 2025, 3:19am
Post #9 of 10
(17094 views)
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Balloonists, Barnstormers, and Stunt Pilots by Don Dwiggins
Stories about flyers who flew to entertain spectators with risky maneuvers, starting with the first French balloonists and describing various colorful characters and their exploits right up to the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels of the mid-60s. There's even a mention of The Four Horsemen, a US Air Force airshow team flying formations and maneuvers in 4 C-130s. But my favorite chapters are about the barnstormers and movie stunt pilots of the 20s and 30s.
My local library had a copy of this one when I was a kid and I must have read it half a dozen times as a tween. When I found a copy recently, I thought I'd give it another look and see if it held up. Sure does. As a kid I liked a lot of the stories and remembered many, and now I can see that it's written in a very lively, entertaining style. The author was clearly devoted to the subject matter, and personally knew some of the pilots whose stories he told. It's not "important" history, but it sure is fun to read. This one will stay on my shelf; I expect I'll want to read it yet again.
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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Greenwood Hobbit
Doriath
Mar 11 2025, 1:05pm
Post #10 of 10
(15542 views)
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I've just ordered 'How to age disgracefully' -
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sounds like fun, and the mention of knitting was intriguing! Thanks for the recommendation.
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