audiobook on Victorian London – practical matters, etc. Right now it’s about the construction of the roads, wagon accidents, noise, horse shit (literally), etc.
The Victorian City: Everyday Life in Dickens’ London by Judith Flanders
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To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris.
So far i enjoy it. One thing that i think this crowd would appreciate is this: - the main character is being taunted by someone out to get him. Mainly, the bad guy is posting on line using the main character’s real name. Created a website for his office, commenting on news stories, and also posting in the main guy’s preferred online fora in a style and manner the main guy hates!
So just imagine if one of us had to deal with that…chaos!
I finished Death’s End, the 3rd book in the Three-Body Problem trilogy. It was good and … thorough? It’s one of those books where I kept thinking I was reaching the end, but I was nowhere near the end. The first near-end was probably only about 10% of the way in. As with the 2nd book, I found myself not paying as much attention as I needed to from time to time. I think part of that is thinking it’s gonna wrap up, when it isn’t. The feel is also very much like the 2nd book. As with the 2nd book, there were a lot of science and society “Oh yeah. That makes sense” moments.
I’ve started the 2nd Thursday Murder Club book, The Man Who Died Twice.
I finished The Man Who Died Twice. It wasn’t nearly as good as the Thursday Murder Club. One thing that disappointed me from the start was that this book brings out the spy in Elizabeth. In the first book, there were lots of allusions to her days as a spy, but it didn’t give out many details and it was used pretty much for humor. But once you make it kind of a spy book, the humor is greatly diminished. The second thing is that Ron and, especially, Ibrahim are given fairly small parts in the book. But maybe that’s not so much of a negative, as Joyce and Elizabeth (and Bogdan) are definitely the highlights of the books.
I think I"m going to read The Quiche of Death or Never Let Me Go next
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Started Chesapeake Requiem, a profile of the people and lifestyle of the fishing community of Tangier Island, which is in the Chesapeake Bay but won’t be for too many more decades.
Started Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead. For book club. Not far enough in to know where it’s going.
I finished The Quiche of Death by M C Beaton, the first Agatha Raisin book. I’d seen the first 3 seasons of the TV series, so I knew the premise and this particular plot. It was pretty good for the genre (light and humorous mysteries solved by an amateur) and overall the series was reasonably true to the book.
I think Never Let Me Go is next, although I might bump it if a couple I’ve ordered come in. They’re books that I’ve seen adapted into movies I’ve liked - Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day and Cold Comfort Farm.
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Interested to hear how you like Never Let Me Go. I read it and seven other books by Kazuo Ishiguro last year: couldn’t stop reading them once I started. He is so talented. Klara and the Sun is especially good.
The Imitation of Christ (Thomas a Kempis)-- translation by William C. Creasy, Commentary by Dennis Billy – for Lent
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Yes, klara and the sun was amazing. I aspire to that level of creativity.
I’m listening to Never Let Me Go on audiobook and, as I was listening, the book ended extremely abruptly. It gave me a couple seconds of considering because the very last line was “there was something … that made me think it was not finished with yet”. Some meta message in a book that answered none of the questions it brought up? But, no. I’d ripped the book from CD and somehow the last 2 1/2 CDs of mp3s were missing.
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Next book need a Classic in my genre rotation
To Have And Have Not - Hemingway
Finished “The Great Gatsby.”
An OK story, but well written. Quite dated.
Starting “On The Road” by Jack Kerouac.
Current audiobook is The Book of Lost Names.
I finished Never Let Me Go. I liked it a lot. It’s interesting in that there wasn’t a big suspense or even surprise. I don’t know what you’d call it. Quiet? Simple in a way, for sure. I wasn’t really surprised at all at the revelations at the end and I’m not really sure the author expects you to be. And the characters’ reaction - in a way - seems quiet too. It makes the story more sad.
I’ve started Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day.
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Oh, I also checked out pt 1 of the audiobook of Shantaram. It turns out part 1 is 18 CDs. I’m not sure I’m ready for a 36 CD book right now.
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I have the brick on my shelf downstairs. Definitely worth a read/listen.
Started The Case Against Education: Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money by Bryan Caplan. It’s from an economist’s perspective, so very heavily weighted towards measuring productivity, earnings, etc. Initial reaction is that it’s confirming, in a much more researched way, several thoughts I’ve had for a while. Curious to see if there’s any sort of prescription suggested later to solve the problem.
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We started the Jackpot Trilogy, by William Gibson…
Who continues to be the only scifi author I can stomach as a grown adult.
I recommend it, though warning that the first couple chapters are uncomfortably dense. The rest of the book is a good easy read.