August 2013

Stuff I’ve Been Reading

1. Murder Must Advertise by Sayers, Dorothy L.
2. Black Glass by Fowler, Karen Joy
3. The Southern Gates of Arabia by Stark, Freya
4. The Nine Tailors by Sayers, Dorothy L.
5. World Made By Hand by Kunstler, James Howard
6. Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Garcia Marquez, Gabriel
7. An Artist of the Floating World by Ishiguro, Kazuo
8. The Winter Prince by Wein, Elizabeth
9. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Doyle, Arthur Conan*
10. Unnatural Death by Sayers, Dorothy L.
11. The Night Circus by Morgenstern, Erin
12. Clouds of Witness by Sayers, Dorothy L.
13. Zoo Station by Downing, David

Italics indicate library books, asterisks indicate audiobooks, and I did not finish reading number three.

It seems to have been a month of mysteries. I confess: I read four Lord Peter Wimsey novels and a John Russell thriller. The other books on the list, while very good, especially The Night Circus, were judiciously inserted between Sayers novels chiefly so that I didn’t gobble up the entire series in a month.

As I’m still reading through the stack of books I bought at the library sale or was given by my parents, I only read three library books this month. Nor do I expect that number particularly to rise during September, when I plan to reread Megan Whalen Turner’s four-book series about Eugenides, and at least two more Sayers books. I will probably also tackle Legend by Marie Lu, and, if it’s as good as I hope, I will want to read the sequel Prodigy right away. So that’s eight books already on the agenda for September, to say nothing of Blood of Tyrants by Naomi Novik, book eight of the Temeraire series, which I have just picked up from the library (where I have three more books on hold, eek).

Plus, September is the month of my birthday, and I anticipate gifts of books, book money, gift cards for books, or, if all else fails, self-indulgent book-buying (Shift and Dust by Hugh Howey, I’m looking at you).

I am a bibliophile, I am a bibliophile, I am a bibliophile. There are too few waking hours in the year to read all I wish to read. The end.

WWW Wed Aug 28

What are you currently reading?

Zoo Station by David Downing. The first in a six-book series about John Russell, this novel is set in pre-WWII Berlin. The protagonist is a journalist who wants to stay in Germany to be near his son and thus agrees to do some spying. This will be my 100th book in 2013.

What did you recently finish reading?

Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers. Lord Peter Wimsey’s powers of detection are tested to the limit when his elder brother is accused of murder. This is the case that will establish his career–if he can solve it in time.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Two ancient magicians have a longstanding competition: they will raise up proteges who must compete strictly within an established venue until one is proved the victor. Celia and Marco are the proteges, and the Night Circus, the mysterious and exotic Circus of Dreams, open only from dusk to dawn, is their venue. The competition is going well until Celia and Marco fall in love and must save themselves and the circus from their own games.

What do you think you’ll read next?

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon. Soon enough it will be due at the library, although my having learned that it is the first of a seven-book fantasy series does not, in fact, encourage me. I might very well return it unread and wait until the first three or so books have come out before taking on another series that will be a decade to complete. If I decide to wait, I might give Legend by Marie Lu a try–it’s only three books long, the second one is already available, and it comes highly recommended.

Audiobook:

Speaking from Among the Bones by Alan Bradley. This is the fifth book of the Flavia de Luce series, which ended on such a cliffhanger!–I can hardly wait to read the sixth one, due out in January.

WWW Wed Aug 21

What are you currently reading?

Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers. It’s a perfect crime–an old woman dies of natural causes. But Lord Peter Wimsey suspects murder: he just has to find the murderer, motive, and means of death. As he picks away at the layers, he hopes to discover any of the above to vindicate his hunch.

What did you recently finish reading?

An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro. Ono, a retired artist, reflects on his life and art during the marriage negotiations of his second daughter. He wonders whether he did right supporting an imperial worldview that has been rejected by the post-WWII Japanese youth. If you liked the circuity of Remains of the Day, you will like this cerebral novel.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Any of the following, courtesy of my parents, who should vacation proximate to Powell’s at least every month:

• Legend by Marie Lu
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
• Three more Dorothy L. Sayers novels: Busman’s Honeymoon, Clouds of Witness, Have His Carcase
• The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner (in hardback, to match A Conspiracy of Kings)–although I think I’ll reread the series for my birthday in September

And also waiting for me at the library:

• Zoo Station by David Downing
• The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

So I have plenty of choices for what to read next!

WWW Wed Aug 14

What are you currently reading?

Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I have read the first two pages–the novella has only 113 more–I have the morning to myself–and this slim book will probably soon graduate to recently finished. The average person reads 300 words a minute (very roughly, a page a minute); I read at least twice that (2-3 pages a minute, depending on the type of book). So I have a pleasant hour of reading before me.

What did you recently finish reading?

World Made by Hand by James Howard Kunstler. After the bombing of the capital and the death of electricity, the New York small town of Union Grove decayed into a complacent status of getting by. But when Robert Earle, a former executive turned carpenter, witnesses a murder; and when a new religious group comes to town; and when lawlessness comes too near their homes–Robert decides to shake off his lethargy and get things done. A literary fiction novel tracing the changes in the town and in Robert, this book keeps company with The Dog Stars by Peter Heller, another well-crafted novel about what happens afterwards and who will survive.

What do you think you’ll read next?

While I am waiting for a package from Powell’s in Portland, courtesy of my parents who traveled there, I will busy myself with more of my recent acquisitions. Having finished all my Dorothy L. Sayers mysteries (one of which I actually solved) and having abandoned Freya Stark’s travelogue halfway through, I can choose from two Kazuo Ishiguro books and a handful of new-to-me authors.

WWW Wed Aug 7

What are you currently reading?

The Southern Gates of Arabia by Freya Stark, a European woman who traveled alone through Arabia in the 1930s searching for a city described only in poems and legends. She has a very engaging voice and a lovely way with description, and seems to be disposed to enjoy and admire new sights and experiences. I like this travel narrative so far.

What did you recently finish reading?

Black Glass by Karen Joy Fowler, an early collection of short stories by an authors whose short stories I prefer to her novels. Considering that I typically do not care for the short story, I liked quite a few of these, most of which had a speculative element of some kind.

What do you think you’ll read next?

The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers, probably. The only book that might distract me from my Lord Peter Wimsey mystery binge is An Artist of the Floating Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro, which I’ve been wanting to read for a while. As it treats musicians, I wonder how it will compare to An Equal Music by Vikram Seth, which I enjoyed, although moderately. Not being a musician myself, I am at times fascinated and bemused by characters who are music makers.

Recent Acquisitions

Here is a list of some of the books I have recently acquired, one set through trips to Half Price Books and to Recycled, the other via the gigantic Plano Friends of the Library book sale. This is probably more money than I have spent on books all year; even so, I am proud of my economy.

• Four Dorothy L. Sayers novels: The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, Five Red Herrings, Murder Must Advertise, and The Nine Tailors ($2 each)
• The Southern Gates of Arabia by Freya Stark, a travelogue from the 1930s ($1)
• Two Kazuo Ishiguro novels, the last two of his I haven’t read: A Pale View of Hills and An Artist of the Floating World ($1 each)
• Katherine by Anya Seton, a historical novel set in the 14th century ($1)
• Pavane by Keith Roberts, an alternate-history steampunk novel ($1)
• World Made by Hand by James Howard Kunstler, an alternate-history no-electricity novel set in a small town in New York ($2)
• Karma and Other Stories by Rishi Reddi, a short-story collection by a new-to-me-author who has been published in Best American Short Stories ($1)
• Memories of my Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a novella by the master of the novella ($1)
• Galileo’s Dream by Kim Stanley Robinson, in which Galileo gets kidnapped by someone from the far future ($8)

For a Grand Total of $25, I am now thirteen books richer. That’s at least a month’s worth of reading for less than a dollar a day. Which is what I call a Win.

July 2013

Stuff I’ve Been Reading: July 2013

1. The False Prince by Nielsen, Jennifer A.
2. City at the End of Time by Bear, Greg
3. Inside Job by Willis, Connie
4. Lexicon by Barry, Max
5. Appointment with Death by Christie, Agatha*
6. The Brides of Rollrock Island by Lanagan, Margo
7. Death of a Red Heroine by Qiu Xiaolong
8. Gunpowder Empire by Turtledove, Harry
9. The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Sayers, Dorothy L.
10. Five Red Herrings by Sayers, Dorothy L.
11. 2312 by Robinson, Kim Stanley
12. Northanger Abbey by Austen, Jane*

Italics indicate library books; asterisks indicate audiobooks. I didn’t finish numbers 2, 6, or 8.

Mysteries. I read the first mystery by Qiu Xiaolong, and while it was enjoyable, I did not adopt it as my series-to-read-straight-through. That honor goes to Dorothy L. Sayers, although I haven’t been reading the Lord Peter Wimsey novels in publication order: I haven’t been able to find some titles and will have to wait on requesting them via interlibrary loan.

Hard SF. Although I didn’t care for (or understand) Greg Bear’s novel, I quite liked this year’s Nebula Award-winner by Kim Stanley Robinson. After an attack destroying the only city on Mercury, the eccentric, artistic Swan Er Hong travels the solar system to try to understand what happened and to carry on her grandmother’s political career.

Audiobooks. It would be hard to choose between such a classic Agatha Christie novel and Jane Austen’s first-written-posthumously-published Northanger Abbey, a Gothic-novel parody. Both narrators were excellent, and the stories had me laughing. I think I will attempt the 16-disc Fellowship of the Ring next.