Looking back over the year, I read a lot of "good"s, but not much that stood out.
NF is easy, as I only read a few and The Dawn Of Everything was the best out of them.
For fiction, Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day and Cold Comfort Farm were probably the most enjoyable. For more recent books, Sea of Tranquility and The Thursday Murder Club.
next genre up - Horror.
I have been going small on my reading and will continue to do so
The Island of Dr. Moreau - Wells
I loved Emperor of All Maladies, and really enjoy Mukherjeeās writing style. I just purchased The Song of the Cell.
Been reading a lot of non-fiction lately so just read a fantasy novel for a change of pace: Kraken by China Mieville.
Brilliant novel. Humorous and super weird.
next genre up isā¦
sorry this genre is being preempted by Mystery.
Just borrowed Where The Crawdads Sing from BiLās mother. SiL wants it next and I want to read it before I watch the movie.
So Mystery moves up four slots, and i will continue with Romance next
Have delivered 75 books so far, but just took another box out of FiLās house.
Decided to use a wagon, can deliver many more books and not as much a trudge if have to take some back. This time of year not as many books get taken as well.
HMS Surpriseā¦
ā¦about 50% of the way through, Maturin comes across an Indian insurance guy in Bombay talking about how premiums on marine cover has gone upā¦
so, next up Romance. I believe this is a non-return from the Book Of The Month Club 30+ years ago. If it made it to my shelf, it needs to be read. Besides Romance is hard without forcing it, at least for what i tend to pick up.
The Landower Legacy - Victoria Holt
A winter reading program started up again, so Iām shifting to shorter books again. Iām considering the Enola Holmes books, since I just saw both movies.
I never really got started on Peach Blossom Spring, as I felt I needed to pay a lot of attention to names at the start.
when you read a series, donāt you get tired of a singular author voice?
I have never read a series, one book after another without something else in between
Not really. I used to like series so I knew what to read next after finishing the book I was on. Maybe after 5 books in a row but I think itād be a break of genre and characters more than the authorās voice.
If I like a series and itās finished, Iāll usually stick with it the whole way. Especially if itās one over arching story over multiple books. Iād rather not space it out and āforget thingsā that were in earlier books.
If it isnāt good enough to hold my attention that I want to read the next book, I often just drop the series and donāt return to it.
Depends. A trilogy I can knock out. Longer than that I take a ābreather bookā after every two or three. Usually in a completely different genre. Cleanse the palate and then back at it
finished Night Walk by Elizabeth Daly, and its main interest is that itās set in a place like where I live (backwater in Westchester Countyā¦ and reading the description of the town being centered around people who brought up horses for racing, I seriously think it was about North Salem)
the mystery itself was -meh-
It depends on the series and how long it is. There have been quite a few authors whose books Iāve pretty much read straight through (Verne, Wells, Vonnegut, Tony Hillerman, and probably others) Iāve not read any of these yet, but a quick search showed me theyāre all short enough that, assuming theyāre not all boring, Iāll probably not get bored with 5. But if I do get bored, I wonāt have any problem abandoning the series.
I didnāt get tired of a singular authorās āvoiceā until I started writing 20 years ago. Then I realized, āHey, it looks like Iām trying to write like Stephen King. I wonder why that is?ā Oh, because Iād ingested almost exclusively King novels for the past 10 years. That pushed me to read more broadly (general rule is āNo more than 1 book by any author in any calendar yearā), and it has helped me not feel overwhelmed or over-influenced again.
Funny you use him as an example as I find his novels, donāt have a singular voice or style. Could be a different story with his series though
It dawns on me that there are authors Iāve binged because of the voice. Thatās the case with Alan Bradleyās books.
Back to reading medical tomes. Just finished Dr. Gabor Mateās latest: The Myth of Normal. Much food for thought but he doesnāt have as much scientific discipline as Siddartha Mukherjee in his conclusions.
I finished the first Enola Holmes book, which is the one the first movie is based on. The basic plot was the same but, it being a very short book and it being a potential movie franchise, there were some significant changes.
In the book, Enola wasnāt groomed by her mother, who pretty much left her alone, although Enola did read every book in the library (on her own). That means sheās not good at fighting/self-defense. The lack of grooming made it seem very much more like the momās leaving was planned but not for a cause, although maybe that comes up in a future book. Mom doesnāt appear in the book. Tewksbury, who she insolently keeps referring to as Tewky throughout the book, is younger and twerpier and, at least in this book, not suitable as a love interest. In the book, she figures out who sent the bad guy rather than having it be revealed in a shootout. Thereās no suffragette or āchangeā angle to the book.
Itās all about money instead. And the final scene of the book is so much more satisfying - she brings Tewky to Scotland Yard to turn him in at risk of getting caught and, of course, Sherlock and Lestrade show up. Theyāre walking down the hallway talking about the Tewky case, Tewky hears theyāre talking about him and so draws attention to himself, and when he does this, Enola just quietly slips away without being seen. So Sherlock never sees her in the book after she leaves the house.