June 2013

Stuff I’ve Been Reading: June 2013

1. Wool by Howey, Hugh
2. The Age of Miracles by Walker, Karen Thompson
3. The Return of Captain John Emmett by Speller, Elizabeth
4. Sense and Sensibility by Austen, Jane*
5. The Strange Fate of Kitty Easton by Speller, Elizabeth
6. The Odyssey by Homer
7. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Gaiman, Neil
8. The Long War by Pratchett, Terry and Stephen Baxter
9. Emperor Mollusk Versus the Sinister Brain by Martinez, A. Lee
10. Code Name Verity by Wein, Elizabeth

Italics indicate library books, asterisks indicate audiobooks, and I didn’t finish reading numbers 8 or 9.

Best Read: Wool by Hugh Howey. All of humanity lives in an underground silo. But when the Sheriff chooses death to go outside, he sets in motion a chain of events that just might lead to a revolution and the uncovering of a vast conspiracy.

Next Best Read(s): The Laurence Bertram novels by Elizabeth Speller. I like mysteries, and I like this post-WWI England setting, and I like this introverted, observant narrator. One is a suicide under mysterious circumstances, and the other is a cold case concerning a missing child.

Books Not Finished: Emperor Mollusk was too earnest to be a genuine parody and too silly to be a genuine satire; The Long War ought to have been named The Long Wait, considering that no war was even on the horizon by page 150.

Books Finished, By Golly: The Odyssey may have taken me all month to wade through, but I did read it cover to cover. A favorite sentiment from a book about hospitality–Welcome the arriving and speed the departing guest.

WWW Wed Jun 26

Take a moment to admire the tidy dovetailing of this week’s WWW Wednesdays post with the actual correct day of the week.

What are you currently reading? The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. If having read the first sentence of something can be said to be “currently” reading it, this is my current read.

What did you recently finish reading? The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Robert Fagles. After a laborious month of reading this classic, during which I took a double-mystery hiatus to read Elizabeth Speller’s excellent novels, I have finally concluded my reading of The Odyssey. My prior reading of it in college, I now realize, must have been an abridged or abbreviated version, as I read many parts and tales this time that I had never known before. Is it my favorite book? Well, no, not at all; but I am glad to have read it.

What do you will think you’ll read next? One of the many library books I have checked out, including but not limited to The Long War by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter, Blood and Iron by Elizabeth Bear, or The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan (featuring selkies).

Recently read

As this post bears no relationship whatsoever to Wednesday, I will abandon the traditional “WWW Wed” formula.

Recently I read: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. Or rather, Flo Gibson read it, and I listened to it while driving my car. I do love this story, especially Elinor. I haven’t chosen another audiobook because I fear the next one won’t live up.

And before that I read: The Return of Captain John Emmett by Elizabeth Speller. I learned of this book on the blog of an avid mystery reader, and since it was set in a time period I enjoy (post-WWI England), I picked it up. Captain Laurence Bertram is back from the war but directionless, until the sister of an old schoolfellow asks him to look into his former friend’s death under mysterious circumstances.

And before that I didn’t read: We Are Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler. Having greatly enjoyed the short story collection What I Didn’t See, I thought I would take a look at Fowler’s newest novel, but the first few pages didn’t grip me at all, so I did not properly begin reading it. I returned it to the library instead.

Currently: The Strange Fate of Kitty Easton by Elizabeth Speller. Three years after the events of the first Laurence Bertram novel, the WWI veteran visits acquaintances in the country who are haunted by the disappearance of a five-year-old child, Kitty, almost a decade prior. And then they find a fresh body hidden inside an old church.

WWW Wed Jun 12

What are you currently reading? The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Robert Fagles. My husband adopted a dog, a two-year-old male German shepherd and shar pei mix. He named it Argos. I demonstrated loving support by deciding to read Homer for the first time since my sophomore year of college. This is an engaging translation, which is to say that one hardly notices that it’s poetry.

What did you recently finish reading? Two books so far in June: Wool by Hugh Howey and The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker. In the former, people live in a huge underground silo; in the latter, the earth’s rotation begins to slow down. I liked Wool the better of the two reads, not least because it is partly a mystery, but also because, unlike The Age of Miracles, you find out why things are the way they are.

What do you think you will read next? We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler, a just-released short story collection. Or perhaps Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, a young-adult spy novel set in WWII.

April 2013

Here’s April’s Stuff I’ve Been Reading list.

1. Ironskin by Connolly, Tina
2. The Snow Child by Ivey, Eowyn
3. The Escapement by Parker, K. J.
4. A Hat Full of Sky by Pratchett, Terry*
5. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel by Moggach, Deborah
6. The Golden Egg by Leon, Donna
7. Without a Summer by Kowal, Mary Robinette
8. River of Stars by Kay, Guy Gavriel
9. Wintersmith by Pratchett, Terry*
10. Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Fowler, Therese Anne
11. Pride and Prejudice by Austen, Jane

Italics indicate library books, asterisks indicate audiobooks, and I didn’t finish reading number 10.

The best read was River of Stars by Guy Gavriel Kay, though it had stiff competition. The conclusion to the Engineer Trilogy (The Escapement) was great, but not quite as great as its beginning; and Jane Austen has her own class, of course. The third Glamourist History (Without a Summer) was a very fun read too, but it did not have that sense of destiny, of fatedness, that often attracts me.

Also I’ve listened to so many Terry Pratchett audiobooks excellently narrated by Stephen Briggs that I definitely had at least one dream in his voice.

WWW Wed May 1

I drafted this post on Tuesday for the WWW Wednesday meme, but so much has been going on, I haven’t had a chance to publish it until now. April’s “Stuff I’ve Been Reading” post will also soon be forthcoming.

What are you currently reading? It’s a secret. I will probably be giving this book as a gift to someone who reads this blog. If you receive a book from me, there is a close to 100% chance that I have just finished reading it. But at least you know it has been approved.

What did you recently finish reading? Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I hadn’t read this book in quite a while, but I was surprised to find how much of it was word-for-word familiar. I don’t memorize books, but I do believe I could closely relate every event of this story with some quite similar phrasing to the original. Although my most recently read Austen is always my favorite Austen, I have to say that this one is as close to narratively perfect as one can get. Plus, it always makes me laugh out loud.

What do you think you’ll read next? East by Edith Pattou, as it has a library deadline. Recommended by a friend who read it on recommendation from a friend, this book has the potential for “highly enjoyable,” even though I haven’t read anything by this author before.

And if you were wondering how many boxes it takes to pack every single fiction and reference book I own (excluding my husband’s history section and Among Others by Jo Walton, which I kept out for potential rereading), the number is twenty five (25). Yes, I will be moving shortly, and none too soon. When I told the mover over the phone that we would be vacating a third-floor apartment in favor of a one-story house, he said, “Congratulations.” Why thank you. Thank you very much.

WWW Wed Apr 24

What are you currently reading? Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

What did you recently finish reading? Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler (but I didn’t actually finish it). Before that, River of Stars by Guy Gavriel Kay (which I did finish, and which is a strong contender for best book of the month).

What do you think you’ll read next? Hero’s Song by Edith Pattou, the first in a young adult duology I got from the library.

Bam.