January 2013

Stuff I’ve Been Reading: January 2013

1. The Rook – O’Malley, Daniel
2. Quiet – Cain, Susan
3. Drawing Conclusions – Leon, Donna
4. Run – Patchett, Ann*
5. Beastly Things – Leon, Donna
6. Hawkwood – McGee, James
7. Ysabel – Kay, Guy Gavriel
8. The Girl with Glass Feet – Smith, Ali
9. Death of an Englishman – Nabb, Magdalen
10. Invisible Cities – Calvino, Italo
11. Use of Weapons – Banks, Iain M.
12. Ship Breaker – Bacigalupi, Paolo
13. The Unconsoled – Ishiguro, Kazuo
14. The Graveyard Book – Gaiman, Neil*
15. The Name of the Rose – Eco, Umberto
16. Remake – Willis, Connie
17. Speaking from Among the Bones – Bradley, Alan

Asterisks indicate audiobooks. Italics indicate library books. See previous post for this month’s unfinished books.

The best read of the month–and for the foreseeable part of the year–was Speaking from Among the Bones. Upon reflection, I would call it the best Flavia de Luce novel since the first one, and it has a tremendous cliffhanger. Flavia solves the mystery, of course, and with great aplomb, but the story of her family history is yet unfinished. I can hardly wait for the next book!

WWW Wed Jan 30

What are you currently reading? Speaking from Among the Bones by Alan Bradley. After work on Tuesday, when the fifth book in the mystery series starring eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce was released, I raced to the bookstore to pick up my reserved copy and tore it open the second I got home. And I haven’t been disappointed. Only sad that there aren’t ten more.

What did you recently finish reading? Remake by Connie Willis. I found this 1995 short novel at my favorite used bookstore and picked it up, of course, to complete my Connie Willis collection (I’m only missing a handful now). This lighthearted story is about Alis, a girl who wants to dance in the movies–decades after live-action film has given way to computer graphics. I recently recommended Blackout/All Clear to an acquaintance who likes time travel, because you can never go wrong with Willis.

What do you think you’ll read next? A library book, but I’m not sure which one. I have a choice of three good ones, each by an author new to me: The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente (fantasy), Pure by Julianna Baggott (dystopian), or The Revisionists by Thomas Mullen (science fiction).

Weekday Schedule

6:10 AM. When I wake up.

7:05 AM. When I leave for work and listen to my audiobook.

7:50-8:00 AM. When I get to work.

11:30 AM. When I take my lunch break and read my book.

3:30 PM. When I really wish it were five o’clock.

4:00 PM. When I really wish it were five o’clock.

5:25-5:35 PM. When I get home and must be fed dinner immediately.

7:00 PM. When I write for an hour, or at least sit at my computer thinking about writing.

Which author’s rules were these?

1. You don’t have to write.
2. You can’t do anything else.

9:15-9:30 PM. When I fall asleep reading and my husband makes me go to bed.

I like routine. Routine is not boring. Routine makes me happy.

Three abandoned books

This year I’ve already not finished three books.

1. Hawkwood by James McGee. The titular Bow Street Runner was not the Regency James Bond as advertised. In fact, this mystery was full of stupid. Especially the women.
2. Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino. I hate it when a novel is actually a collection of prose poems, don’t you?
3. The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro. In a series of puzzling encounters, the pianist Ryder is trying to figure out what is expected of him for the Thursday night performance. At least by page 123, he hadn’t figured it out yet. (Why he didn’t stop just someone and say, “Hey, what’s up with Thursday?” is beyond my ken.)

So now I’m rereading The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco for consolation after The Unconsoled.

 

WWW Wed Jan 23

Is it Wednesday again? My goodness. Here’s my WWW Wednesday update.

What are you currently reading? Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi, author of, most notably, The Windup Girl, a Nebula and Hugo nominee. This is the first book of his I’ve read, a young adult adventure wherein Nailer, a ship breaker on a light crew (who breaks down old, gutted ships for scrap), finds a lucky break. But the lucky break is a swank who has enemies of her own. It’s engaging but not engrossing; I’m enjoying it, but I may not hurry back for more.

What did you recently finish reading? Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks. This is one of my favorite Culture novels, the story of Cheradenine Zakalwe, a man who is good at making war. He is currently working for the Culture’s mysterious Special Circumstances division, where everyone has his own motivations, including Zakalwe. Beware: this book can be bleak, and the twist is oh-so-gutting at the end.

What do you think you’ll read next? I’ve been meaning to get to The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro ever since I acquired it in September; perhaps it is finally time to commit. Although since February is coming up, I’ll have to start thinking about another nonfiction book–I am trying generally to read one a month. Which is no problem, since I’m sure I’ve got a dozen yet-unread books on writing on my shelf.

But, more importantly, the fifth Flavia de Luce novel, Speaking from Among the Bones by Alan Bradley, is coming out on Tuesday! Next Wednesday, it will certainly be my Currently Reading title.

Apparently you have to make soup twice

This evening I made two soups, one for the second time.

About two weeks ago, I attempted to make Potato and Leek Soup from my new cookbook, How to Cook Everything: The Basics by Mark Bittman. I freely confess my sin: I did not follow the recipe, and the soup was a disaster. Didn’t peel the potatoes, added an extra onion and too much apple cider vinegar. Wrong proportion of water to vegetables. It was inedible. I poured it down the sink.

This evening, I attempted to make Garlicky White Bean Soup. Having learned my lesson, I followed the recipe. (It called for an entire head of garlic.) Only I covered the pot while it simmered, and enough liquid did not boil off, something innocent that turned out to be vital to the overall success of the meal. Therefore, I had extremely watery Garlicky White Bean soup. Alas, down the sink.

So, faced with dinner the same as lunch unless I cooked something else, I decided to give Potato and Leek Soup another try. I read the directions carefully. Did exactly as they said. Also, left the pot uncovered. And you know what?

The second time’s the charm when it comes to soups.

WWW Wed Jan 16

Here’s my WWW Wednesday update.

1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently. I am between books as of noon today. I have almost convinced myself to commit to Death of an Englishman by Magdalen Nabb, a first in a mystery series I ordered through Inter-Library Loan (ILL) on a whim. If the series is good, it might serve to fill the gap left by Donna Leon’s Venice mysteries. We’ll see.

Recently. Today I finished The Girl with Glass Feet by Ali Smith. I didn’t care for it, though I’m not entirely sure why. It was magical realism in that there really was a girl with feet turning to glass, but I found the glacial pace a bit trying, and I didn’t manage to empathize with the main character, Midas.

Next. I also ILLed Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, a thin book, or there is the fat modernist novel The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann, which Ann Patchett likes. Or Ian McEwan’s Sweet Tooth, which another library patron has had the nerve to reserve, preventing me from being able to renew it on the 24th. Hard to know what I will be in the mood for.

Audiobook update. The Hound of the Baskerville discs wouldn’t play in my car, so I switched to Dracula, which is horrible. I can’t believe how stupid Jonathan Harker is, and I can’t believe that this was cutting-edge horror rather than, as it sounds today, melodrama. I will be making the switch tomorrow to Neil Gaiman’s Graveyard Book. Read by the author. Should be better.