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Leslie Rocks in 2017
My attempt to define my rating system: I rate by gut reaction & sometimes I will go back and change a book’s rating after some time has passed, based on how it has (or has not) stuck with me. Thus books that I enjoyed at the time may end up lower down on the scale if they are forgettable while books that I didn’t care for very much may rise up in the ratings if they strike me as significant in some way (even if I didn’t like them).
0.5 ★: Utter waste of paper and ink; should never have been written.
1.0 ★: Couldn't finish reading or a very poor read.
1.5 ★: Major disappointment.
2.0 ★: It was OK but either the writing or the plot was lacking.
2.5 ★: Flawed in some way but still enjoyable
3.0 ★: Good, a solid read that I finished but can't promise to remember
3.5 ★: Above Average, there's room for improvement but I liked this well enough to pick up another book by this author.
4.0 ★: A very good read; a book that I think will last
4.5 ★: An excellent read, a book I will remember, recommend and probably reread
5.0 ★: A powerful book, either because it was the right book at the right time for me or because it will stay with me for a long time to come
Some symbols & abbreviations :
·Books with an asterisk (*) are from The Guardian's List of 1000 Novels Everyone Should Read
·Authors with a capital N (ℕ) are Nobel Laureates in Literature
·books sourced as MOB are from my own bookcases; those from BPL are from the Boston Public Library (as opposed to my local library); SYNC refers to audiobooks acquired (for free) through the annual summer program hosted by http://www.audiobooksync.com/
·BoTM means Book of The Month, either for this group or another.
✓Numbered Days by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Books from the Guardian's list that are new to me. Goal=25+ done!
0) The Hanging Garden (1/2)
1) Villette (Kindle & audiobook) (1/8)
2) Moo (1/9)
3) Swann's Way (1/19) (first book in the list's single entry of Remembrance of Things Past)
4) Malone Dies (ℕ) (1/22)
5) The Mill on the Floss (1/26)
6) Sybil, or the Two Nations (2/6)
7) Herland (2/8)
8) Whisky Galore (2/9)
9) A Quiet Belief in Angels (2/21)
10) Howards End (3/1)
11) Eugenie Grandet (3/7)
12) Ennui (3/10)
13) King Solomon's Carpet (3/15)
14) The King of Torts (3/24)
15) The Prestige (3/25)
16) Exit Music (3/27)
17) Vendetta (4/13)
18) Invisible Man (4/13)
19) Invitation to the Waltz (4/27)
20) Within a Budding Grove (5/3) second book in the list's single entry of In Search of Lost Time
21) The Unbearable Lightness of Being (5/5)
22) The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (5/17)
23) A Canticle for Leibowitz (5/22)
24) The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson (5/25)
25) The Neon Rain (6/7)
26) The Savage Detectives DNF - abandoned after ~100 pages (6/16)
27) The Crying of Lot 49 (6/17)
28) Evelina (6/20)
29) The Far Pavilionss (7/7)
30) Brewster's Millions (7/9)
31) Darwin's Radio (7/20)
32) A Heart So White (7/30)
33) Oblomov (8/6)
34) Goodbye to Berlin (8/13)
35) Flashman (9/1)
36) Poetic Justice (9/6)
37) Under the Net (9/9)
38) Under the Volcano (9/15)
39) The Stranger (ℕ) (9/18)
40) The English Patient (9/19)
41) The Swiss Family Robinson (9/24)
42) The Unbearable Bassington (9/24)
43) The Swimming-Pool Library (9/29)
44) The Guermantes Way (10/10) third book in the list's single entry of In Search of Lost Time
45) The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (10/12)
46) The Rainbow (10/25)
47) Adam Bede (10/25)
48) A Voyage to Arcturus (10/27)
49) Atonement (10/29)
50) Blindness (11/8)
51) The Master and Margarita (11/16)
52) The Coming Race (11/19)
53) The Luck of Barry Lyndon (11/27)
54) The Horse's Mouth (12/4)
55) Cities of the Plain (aka [Sodom and Gomorrah]) (12/14) 4th book in the list's single entry of In Search of Lost Time
56) Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia (12/14)
----------
books from Terry Pratchett's DiscWorld series: (another single entry in the list which contains multiple books!)
·Sourcery (2/9)
·Wyrd Sisters (2/24)
·Pyramids (3/8)
·Soul Music (3/23)
·Thief of Time (6/18)
·The Fifth Elephant (8/9)
·Night Watch (8/13)
ABC Boogie by Bill Haley and the Comets
Alphabet Challenge: (mysteries in bold)
A = The Annam Jewel (7/10)
B = The Body In The Library (2/14)
C = Cabal (5/7)
D = The Dance of the Seagull (1/1)
E = *Exit Music (3/27)
F = Find A Victim (1/25)
G = The Girl on the Train (1/14)
H = Heads You Lose (8/14)
I = The Ivory Grin (4/17)
J = Just Add Water (4/9)
K = *King Solomon's Carpet (3/15)
L = The Lonely Silver Rain (10/9)
M = *Moo (1/9) or The Murder at the Vicarage (1/15)
N = Night Waking (3/3)
O = Overture To Death (8/12)
P = The Pusher (3/7)
Q = *A Quiet Belief in Angels (2/21)
R = The Red Thumb Mark (9/26)
S = Service With a Smile (1/12) or The Spia Family Presses On (1/30)
T = A Tan and Sandy Silence (1/20)
U = Unnatural Death (6/15)
V = *Villette (1/8) or *Vendetta (4/13)
W = The Wycherly Woman (2/12)
X =
Y =
Z = The Zebra-Striped Hearse (3/4)
✓These Things Take Time by The Smiths
Kindle books owned prior to 1 Jan 2017: goal=25+ done!
1) Villette (1/8)
2) The Four Feathers (1/16)
3) Swann's Way (1/19)
4) Malone Dies (1/22)
5) *The Mill on the Floss (1/26)
6) The Spia Family Presses On (1/29)
7) *Sybil, or the Two Nations (2/6)
8) *Herland (2/8)
9) Agent of Change (2/20)
10) *Howards End (3/1)
11) The Da Vinci Code (3/3)
12) *Eugenie Grandet (3/7)
13) *Ennui (3/10)
14) Just Add Water (4/9)
15) Death in the Dentist's Chair (4/10)
16) Dubliners (4/22)
17) Dragonfly in Amber (4/27)
18) *Invitation to the Waltz (4/28)
19) Topper (5/5)
20) *Tristram Shandy (5/17)
21) Cousin Bette (5/11)
22) *Puddin'head Wilson (5/25)
23) A Cold Day for Murder (5/25)
24) *Thief of Time (6/18)
25) *Evelina (6/20)
26) *Brewster's Millions (7/9)
27) Miss Mapp (7/30)
28) *Oblomov (8/6)
29) Fledgling (8/7)
30) One for Sorrow (8/29)
31) Fragments of My Time (8/29)
33) September Fair (9/12)
34) Poison Pen (9/17)
35) *The Swiss Family Robinson (9/24)
36) *The Unbearable Bassington (9/24)
37) The Unnamable (ℕ) (10/3)
38) *The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (10/12)
39) A Very Private Grave (10/17)
40) A Very Quiet Guest (10/20)
41) *The Rainbow (10/25)
42) *Adam Bede (10/25)
43) *A Voyage to Arcturus (10/27)
44) [The Queen's Poisoner] (11/5)
45) Henry IV (ℕ) (11/12) {part of omnibus [Three Plays by Luigi Pirandello: Six Characters in Search of an Author; Henry IV and Right You Are]}
46) *The Luck of Barry Lyndon (11/27)
47) Julius Caesar (12/1) {part of my Kindle edition of the omnibus [The Complete Works of William Shakespeare]}
48) The Crime at Noah's Ark (12/10)
49) *Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia (12/14)
✓All Around the World by The Jam
Books in Translation (Read the World): goal=15+ done!
0) The Dance of the Seagull (Italian) (1/1)
1) *Swann's Way (French) (1/19)
2) Modern Scandinavian Poetry (various languages) (currently reading)
·Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Denmark, Finland
3) Creditors (Swedish) (1/21)
4) *Malone Dies (ℕ) (French) (1/22)
5) Snow Country (ℕ) (Japanese) (1/28)
6) *Eugenie Grandet (French) (3/7)
7) Peer Gynt (Danish) (3/20)
8) Treasure Hunt Italian (3/31)
9) The Dark Monk German (4/29)
10) *Within a Budding Grove French (5/3)
11) *The Unbearable Lightness of Being Czech (5/5)
12) Cousin Bette French (5/11)
13) *The Savage Detectives Spanish (Mexico) (DNF 6/16)
14) *A Heart So White Spanish (Spain) (7/30)
15) *Oblomov Russian (8/6)
16) The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared Swedish (8/21)
17) Fragments of My Time Portuguese (Brazil) (8/29)
18) The Terrorists Swedish (9/14)
19) *The Stranger (ℕ) French (Algeria) (9/18)
20) The Physicists German (Switzerland) (9/22)
21) *The Swiss Family Robinson German (set in unnamed island, assigning it to Philippines) (9/24)
22) The Beggar King German (9/29)
23) The Unnamable (ℕ) French (10/3)
24) *The Guermantes Way French (10/10)
25) Angelica's Smile Italian (10/13)
26) George Seferis: Collected Poems (ℕ) Greek (10/19)
27) *Blindness (ℕ) Portuguese (Portugal) (11/8)
28) Henry IV (ℕ) Italian (11/12)
29) *The Master and Margarita Russian (11/16)
30) The Shape of Water Italian (11/26)
31) *Sodom and Gomorrah French (12/14)
And to see my progress in visual form, here is a map:
Books written in English (not set in U.S. or U.K.):
·The Four Feathers (set in England & Egypt) (1/16)
·Flowering Judas and Other Stories (set in Mexico & U.S.) (1/19)
*Ennui (set in Ireland & England) (3/10)
·The Poisonwood Bible (set in Congo) (3/22)
·Zac and Mia Australia (6/14)
*The Far Pavilions (set in India & Afghanistan) (7/7)
·A Caribbean Mystery (set in Trinidad)
·The Faithful Spy (set in Afghanistan, Pakistan & U.S.) (8/25)
·One for Sorrow (set in ancient Constantinople {i.e. Turkey}) (8/29)
·The Heart of the Matter (set in unnamed west African country, I am assigning Sierra Leone) (9/5)
·Death of a Red Heroine (set in Shanghai China) (11/8)
·Glass Houses Canada (11/10)
*Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia (set in Ethiopia & Egypt) (12/14)
✓Watching the Detectives by Elvis Costello
Mysteries
Part a) Mystery paperbacks (& hardcovers) already owned: goal=12 done!
0) *The Hanging Garden (1/2)
1) A Tan and Sandy Silence (1/20)
2) Find a Victim (1/25)
3) The Wycherly Woman (2/12)
4) The Scarlet Ruse (2/17)
5) The Zebra-Striped Hearse (3/4)
6) The Turquoise Lament (3/20)
7) *Exit Music (3/27)
8) *Vendetta (4/13)
9) The Dreadful Lemon Sky (4/19)
10) The Empty Copper Sea (6/1)
11) The Doomsters (6/8)
12) *The Crying of Lot 49 (6/16)
13) Mystic River (6/17)
14) The Far Side of the Dollar (7/13)
15) Time and Again (7/19)
16) The Green Ripper (7/25)
17) Black Money (8/16)
18) Appleby's Other Story (8/21)
19) Free Fall in Crimson (8/26)
20) From London Far (8/30)
21) Cinnamon Skin (9/10)
22) The Galton Case (9/19)
23) Picture of Guilt (9/21)
24) An Awkward Lie (10/5)
25) The Lonely Silver Rain (10/9)
26) The Instant Enemy (10/15)
27) The Goodbye Look (11/6)
28) Death at the Chase (11/22)
29) Some Buried Caesar (12/5)
30) The Open House (12/8)
31) *The Long Goodbye (12/14)
Part b) miscellaneous mysteries/thrillers/suspense books
·The Dance of the Seagull {audiobook} (1/1)
·The Girl on the Train (1/14)
*The Murder at the Vicarage {audiobook} {reread} (1/15)
·The Spia Family Presses On (1/30)
·Death at the Bar {audiobook} {reread} (2/2)
*Death at the President's Lodging {reread} (2/6)
·The Body in the Library {reread} (2/14)
*A Quiet Belief in Angels {audiobook} (2/21)
·The Da Vinci Code {audiobook} {reread} (3/3)
·Night Waking (3/3)
·The Pusher (3/7)
·The Moving Finger {audiobook} {reread} (3/9)
*King Solomon's Carpet (3/15)
·The Bookseller's Tale (3/30)
·Just Add Water (4/9)
·Death in the Dentist's Chair (4/10)
·The Ivory Grin (4/17)
·The Doorbell Rang {audiobook} {reread} (4/24)
·The Dark Monk (4/29)
·A Murder is Announced {audiobook} {reread} (5/4)
·Cabal (5/7)
·Fen Country (5/16)
·A Cold Day for Murder (5/25)
*The Neon Rain (6/7)
·Unnatural Death {audiobook} {reread} (6/7)
·4:50 From Paddington {audiobook} {reread} (6/15)
·Stop Press (7/4)
·The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side {audiobook} {reread} (7/5)
·The Annam Jewel (7/10)
·Cat and Mouse (7/20)
·The Novice's Tale (7/31)
*The Case of the Gilded Fly {reread} (8/3)
·A Caribbean Mystery {audiobook} {reread} (8/5)
·Overture to Death {audiobook} {reread} (8/12)
·Heads You Lose (8/14)
·The Faithful Spy (audiobook) (8/25)
·Whodunnit? Murder on Mystery Island (audiobook) (8/24)
·The Glimpses of the Moon {reread} (8/25)
·3 Truths and a Lie (audiobook short story) (8/26)
·One for Sorrow (8/29)
·Fool Errant (8/31)
·The Man Who Knew Too Much (audiobook) (9/1)
·A Woman's Place (9/2)
*Poetic Justice (9/6)
·At Bertram's Hotel {audiobook} {reread} (9/9)
·September Fair (9/12)
·The Terrorists (9/14)
·Poison Pen (9/17)
·The Red Thumb Mark (9/26)
·The Beggar King (9/29)
·The Dry (10/4)
·They Do It With Mirrors {audiobook} {reread} (10/9)
·Angelica's Smile (10/13)
·A Very Private Grave (10/17)
·Dark Nantucket Noon (10/18)
·A Very Quiet Guest (10/20)
·Ashenden or the British Agent (10/24)
·Artists in Crime {audiobook} {reread} (10/26)
*Blood Shot {reread} (11/1)
·The Smiler With the Knife (11/2)
·A Pocket Full of Rye {audiobook} {reread} (11/3)
·Death of a Red Heroine (11/8)
·Glass Houses (11/10)
·No Wind of Blame {audiobook} {reread} (11/13)
·Last Ditch {audiobook} (11/17)
·Too Many Cooks (11/19)
·Laura (11/24)
·The Shape of Water {audiobook} (11/26)
·L.A. Dead {audiobook} (11/29)
·The Con Man (12/3)
·Nemesis {audiobook} {reread} (12/6)
·The Crime at Noah's Ark (12/10)
Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) by David Bowie
Science Fiction & Fantasy
·The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (1/28)
*The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (audiobook) {reread} (2/5)
*Herland (2/8)
*Sourcery (2/9)
*Prince Caspian (audiobook) {reread} (2/12)
*The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (audiobook) {reread} (2/20)
·Agent of Change (2/20)
*Wyrd Sisters (2/24)
*The Silver Chair (audiobook) {reread} (2/26)
*The Horse and His Boy (audiobook) {reread} (3/5)
*Pyramids (3/8)
*The Magician's Nephew (audiobook) {reread} (3/12)
·The Curse of Chalion (audiobook) (3/12)
·Paladin of Souls (audiobook) (3/17)
*The Last Battle (audiobook) {reread} (3/19)
*Soul Music (3/23)
*The Prestige (audiobook) (3/24)
·The Hallowed Hunt (audiobook) (3/26)
·The Sin Eater's Daughter (audiobook) (4/5)
·Dragonfly in Amber (audiobook) (4/27)
*Brave New World (audiobook) {reread} (4/20)
·Conflict of Honors (5/16)
*A Canticle for Leibowitz (audiobook) (5/22)
*Thief of Time (6/18)
*Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (audiobook) {reread} (6/23)
·Carpe Diem (6/24)
·Plan B (7/13)
*Darwin's Radio (audiobook) (7/20)
·Time and Again (7/19)
·Fledgling (8/7)
*The Fifth Elephant (8/9)
*Night Watch (8/13)
·The Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent (audiobook) (8/16)
·A Rare Book of Cunning Device (audiobook short story) (8/17)
·The Last Unicorn (8/23)
*Eric (9/25)
*A Voyage to Arcturus (10/27)
·Feed (10/28)
*Dracula {audiobook} {reread} (11/1)
·The Queen's Poisoner (11/5)
*The Coming Race (11/19)
Memories Can’t Wait by The Talking Heads
Proust's *Rememberance of Things Past series:
1) Swann's Way {Kindle & Simon Vance audiobook} (1/19)
2) Within a Budding Grove (5/5)
3) The Guermantes Way (10/10)
4) Cities of the Plain (aka Sodom and Gomorrah) (12/14)
August: I am giving up on this challenge! While I didn't dislike the first 2 volumes, I did find them slightly dull. At least I have read enough to have a feeling for Proust's writing.
September: I am trying again. We'll see...
Join the Club by Reel Big Fish
Group Reads & readalongs
January:
·The Girl on the Train (AAB group fiction) (1/14)
*Swann's Way (AAB group challenge/readalong) (1/19)
·Creditors (AAB group drama focus play) (1/21)
February:
Night Waking (AAB group fiction) (3/3)
March:
The Poisonwood Bible (AAB group fiction) (3/22)
April:
*The Unbearable Lightness of Being (AAB group fiction) (5/5)
*Brave New World (AAB group classic) {reread via audiobook} (4/20)
May:
*Within a Budding Grove (AAB group challenge/readalong) (5/3)
The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus (AAB group drama focus play) (5/22)
June:
July:
A Raisin in the Sun (AAB group drama focus play) (7/31)
August:
A Tale of Two Cities (AAB group classic) {reread via audiobook} (8/5)
The Chimes (AAB group fiction) (8/18)
September:
October:
The Dry (AAB group fiction) (10/4)
The Guermantes Way (AAB group challenge/readalong) (10/10)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (AAB group classic) {reread via audiobook} (10/14)
November:
The Master and Margarita (AAB group fiction) (11/16)
December:
Sodom and Gomorrah (aka Cities of the Plain) (AAB group challenge/readalong) (12/14)
In A Stage Whisper by Superchunk
Plays/Drama: goal=10+ Done!
1) Creditors by August Strindberg (1/21)
2) Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen (3/20)
3) The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus (5/22)
4) The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial (7/10)
5) A Raisin in the Sun (7/31)
6) Stick Fly (8/13)
7) Ceremonies in Dark Old Men (8/25)
8) The Physicists (9/22)
9) Henry IV (ℕ) (11/12)
10) Julius Caesar (12/1)
After All the Roads Have Led to Nowhere by Sugar
Catch-all: nonfiction, poetry, short stories, etc.
Short Stories:
·Flowering Judas and Other Stories by Katherine Anne Porter (1/19)
·The Unreal and the Real: The Selected Short Stories of Ursula K. Le Guin (2/27)
·The Rose Garden : Short Stories (3/22)
·Dubliners (4/22)
·Fen Country (5/16)
·A Rare Book of Cunning Device (audiobook) (8/17)
·Bartleby, the Scrivener (audiobook) (8/22)
·3 Truths and a Lie (audiobook) (8/26)
·The Man Who Knew Too Much (audiobook & Kindle) (9/1)
·Ukridge (audiobook) (9/7)
Poetry:
·Modern Scandinavian Poetry (2/3)
·House of Light (2/25)
·Collected Poems of Emily Dickenson (6/1)
·George Seferis Collected Poems (ℕ) (10/19)
Nonfiction:
·Homicidal (2/4) {true crime}
·The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial (7/10)
·Symphony for the City of the Dead (11/24)
Updated my categories, including two mysteries finished in 2017 but read mostly in 2016.
I found writing up a post for each book as I finished it was exhausting me so I am going to try writing weekly updates instead. I will be keeping the lists under my categories up to date this year (which I didn't manage to do last year!).
Leslie , you do rock ! Such a cleverly created challenge.
This first "weekly roundup" is actually two weeks since I didn't get the idea until today!Books read 1-15 January:
First were 2 mysteries finished in early January but mostly read in 2016, and thus I counted these in my 2016 challenge:
1.
The Dance of the Seagull by Andrea Camilleri (translated by Stephen Sartarelli} format/source = audiobook/BPL, narrated by Grover Gardner; date finished = 1 Jan; 3½★
Categories: Watching the Detectives, All Around the World
Country: Italy
2.
*The Hanging Garden by Ian Rankinformat/source = hardcover/MOB; date finished = 2 Jan; 4½★
Categories: Watching the Detectives, Numbered Days
Country: Scotland
Now for books that started in 2017:
3.
*Villette by Charlotte Bronteformat/source = Kindle/girlebooks.com & audiobook/Audible, narrated by Davina Porter; date finished = 8 Jan; 3½★
Categories: Numbered Days, These Things Take Time
Country: England & France
I would probably have liked this better if I understood French - substantial untranslated passages in French (and a few in German) were an annoyance though I was still able to get most of the gist. Davina Porter does a fabulous narration of this classic. Persevere past the first few chapters as the story picks up after the first section of her somewhat priggish youth.
4.
Money in the Bank by P.G. Wodehouseformat/source = audiobook/Hoopla, narrated by Simon Vance; date finished = 7 Jan; 3★
Categories: ABC Boogie (Jan: M & S)
Country: England
Simon Vance does an okay narration for this stand-alone Wodehouse novel. The book itself is not one of Wodehouse's best but was still an agreeable way to spend a snowy day.
5.
*Moo by Jane Smileyformat/source = paperback/MOB; date finished = 9 Jan; 4★
Categories: ABC Boogie (Jan: M & S), Numbered Days
Country: U.S.A.
I love satires & satires about academic institutions are among my favorites so I wasn't surprised to find myself enjoying this one. However, perhaps my expectations were too high after reading the powerful A Thousand Acres last year -- this novel doesn't reach that same level.
6.
Service With a Smile by P.G. Wodehouseformat/source = audiobook CDs/library, narrated by Martin Jarvis; date finished = 12 Jan; 4½★
Categories: ABC Boogie (Jan: M & S)
Country: England
This one not only had Lord Emsworth & his pig but also Uncle Fred -- a delightful combination! While I still have a slight preference to hear my Wodehouse narrated by Jonathan Cecil, Jarvis did an excellent job with this 9th entry in the Blandings Castle series and 4th (and final) book in the Uncle Fred series.
7.
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkinsformat/source = hardcover/library; date finished = 14 Jan; 4★
Categories: Watching the Detectives, Join the Club (Jan group fiction)
Country: England
I don't know what I had expected but the format and beginning of the book took me by surprise. I found that this novel drew me in and became increasingly suspenseful as I progressed. While Rachel wasn't someone I would want to know personally, I thought her character was well written and completely believable.
8.
*The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie {reread}format/source = audiobook/SYNC, narrated by Richard E. Grant; date finished = 15 Jan; 4½★
Categories: Watching the Detectives, ABC Boogie (Jan: M & S)
Country: England
I reread this as part of a Miss Marple challenge I am participating in elsewhere & found it just as good this time around :)
Angela M wrote: "Leslie , you do rock ! Such a cleverly created challenge."Thanks Angela :-)
Leslie wrote: "This first "weekly roundup" is actually two weeks since I didn't get the idea until today!Books read 1-15 January:
First were 2 mysteries finished in early January but mostly read in 2016, and th..."
I agree about The Girl on the Train - I anticipated another overhyped letdown but it was very gripping and I did end up with some sympathy for Rachel by the end even though she was a real pain for about the first half of it.
Books finished between 16-22 January:9.
The Four Feathers by A.E.W. Masonformat/source = Kindle/Project Gutenberg & audiobook/Hoopla, narrated by Ralph Cosham; date finished = 16 Jan; 4★
Categories: ABC Boogie (Jan: M & S), These Things Take Time
Country: England & Egypt
I picked up this Kindle book back in 2012 when I first discovered the wonders of public domain ebooks & Project Gutenberg based on positive memories of the 1939 film adaptation (which can be seen here: https://archive.org/details/TheFourFe...). And I followed up reading the book by rewatching the film - interesting to see what had been changed with all the details fresh in my mind.
Thus I read this already knowing the basic plot but found that the book, slightly different in mood & details from the film, was a little less exciting adventure but much realistic. In particular, Ethne & Durrance were different and (view spoiler) I am glad I finally got around to reading this classic!
10.
Flowering Judas and Other Stories by Katherine Anne Porterformat/source = hardcover/library; date finished = 19 Jan; 3★
Categories: After All the Roads Have Led to Nowhere,
Country: U.S.A. & Mexico
This book is the first by Porter that I have read but I have heard that she was a master at short stories. Maybe that made me expect too much or maybe her style wasn't one that I admire. Some aspects of the writing appealed to me and reminded me of Willa Cather and Katherine Mansfield (mostly the descriptions) but the stories themselves struck me as pointless and bleak (the sort of thing that made me dislike O. Henry). I am glad I tried this but I won't be in a hurry to read more.
11.
*Swann's Way by Marcel Proust (translated by C.K. Scott Moncrieff)format/source = Kindle/Amazon & audiobook/BPL, narrated by Simon Vance; date finished = 19 Jan; 3½★
Categories: ABC Boogie (Jan: M & S), Join the Club (group challenge), Numbered Days, All Around the World
Country: France
Proust's lush descriptions and long sentences were not my predilection but I found many of his ideas thought-provoking. Overall the characters and plot were interesting enough that I will continue to the next book in the series.
Simon Vance did a fine job narrating this but I had trouble keeping my focus on the audiobook (my mind would wander & then I would get lost). What worked best for me was to listen & simultaneously skim the text on my Kindle.
12.
A Tan and Sandy Silence by John D. MacDonaldformat/source = paperback/MOB; date finished = 20 Jan; 3★
Categories: ABC Boogie (Jan: M & S), Watching the Detectives
Country: U.S.A. {FL} & Grenada
Not one of the best McGee books in my opinion. Less humor & more gritty than those I like better.
13.
Creditors by August Strindberg (translated by Edwin Björkman)format/source = Kindle/Project Gutenberg & audiobook/LibriVox, narrated by a full cast; date finished = 21 Jan; 4★
Categories: In a Stage Whisper, All Around the World; Join the Club (Group Play)
Country: Sweden
After I listened to the audiobook of the play, I went back and reread some sections in my Kindle edition of "Plays by August Strindberg, Second Series" and read the introduction to the play as well. One important fact that the introduction provided was that Strindberg wrote this play "... only a year before he finally decided to free himself from an impossible marriage by an appeal to the law...". Even with the wife Tekla clearly being portrayed as the "bad" one in the marriage, I noticed that there was a strong vein of feminism (similar to Ibsen's Hedda Gabler in many ways). For example, Tekla saying to her second husband:
"Isn't that lovely! Women can be stolen as you steal children or chickens? And you regard me as his chattel or personal property. I am very much obliged to you!"
The 'creditors' of the title are Tekla's former & current husbands as described in this passage:
Adolph: "To love like a man is to give; to love like a woman is to take. -- And I have given, given, given!"
Tekla: "Pooh! What have you given?"
Adolph: "Everything!"
Tekla: "That's a lot! And if it be true, then I must have taken it. Are you beginning to send in bills for your gifts now? ..."
And indeed he is, egged on by Gustav (view spoiler).
While none of the characters are completely 'true to life', they act out a situation & emotions that are. A thought-provoking play that I need to ponder further...
14.
*Malone Dies by Samuel Beckett (ℕ) (translated from French by the author)format/source = Kindle/?? & audiobook/BPL, narrated by Sean Barrett; date finished = 22 Jan; 4★
Categories: ABC Boogie (Jan: M & S), Numbered Days, All Around the World, These Things Take Time
Country: Unspecified
Beckett is a master of absurdist fiction & if you have ever read any, you will understand the difficulty I have in describing either the book or my reaction to it! Malone is a bedridden old man who doesn't know where he is or how he got there. While he waits for death, he rambles to himself. Interspersed with his wondering about his present condition are stories. Are these stories about himself (memories of his life) or are they about people he knew (which is how Malone presents them) or are they just made up stories he is using to while away the time? The stream-of-consciousness writing is confusing at first but as the book progresses, the reader starts to get his own ideas of what the stories may represent.
As for the audiobook, Sean Barrett does a marvelous narration in his wonderful Irish accent. My Kindle edition (transposed from a pdf file whose origin I don't remember) has some formatting issues (such as all the double l's have been converted into a single l {all becoming al }) so it was extremely helpful to have a narrator who put in the pauses where breaks in the text occurred etc.!
Books finished 23-28 January:15.
Find a Victim by Ross MacDonaldformat/source = paperback/MOB; date finished = 25 Jan; 3★
Categories: ABC Boogie, Watching the Detectives
Country: U.S.A. {CA}
This entry in the Lew Archer series was a bit too hardboiled for my tastes. However, the ending was surprisingly heartrending so maybe it deserves another star...
16.
*The Mill on the Floss by George Eliotformat/source = Kindle/girlebooks.com & audiobook/Hoopla, narrated by Nadia May; date finished = 26 Jan; 2★
Categories: Numbered Days
Country: England
While I immediately disliked the way everyone except her father treated Maggie, I was mildly enjoying this classic about the struggles of a middle class family in Victorian England until the final 2 books (about the final 20%). I found Maggie's behavior in these final sections so intensely irritating that it ruined the book for me.
This is the 3rd George Eliot book I have read & overall I haven't been a fan. Guess I will skip Daniel Deronda and Adam Bede (both on the Guardian's list) at least for the near future!
Nadia May was excellent even though I didn't care for the book & I would recommend her narration.
17.
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinleinformat/source = audiobook/Hoopla, narrated by Lloyd James; date finished = 28 Jan; 4½★
Categories: Scary Monsters
Country: N/A (the Moon)
I don't know what I had expected from this Hugo award-winning science fiction novel but it was so much better than I had anticipated! The main reason I didn't give it 5 stars is that Heinlein's personal views on politics (as voiced by Prof) were a little too pushy & some of the Earth politics was dated. However, it remains an insightful look at colonialism & revolution despite those flaws. And I loved the look at how the Luna colonists handled marriage as well as other aspects of life there. To top it all off, there is Mike -- the computer who has become sentient though nobody except Manny knows it at the start of the book!
Lloyd James does an excellent narration & I particularly liked his Russian accent for Manny (though I don't know if a character who is 3rd generation Luna with a name like Manuel Garcia O'Kelly-Davis is supposed to be Russian!).
18.
Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata (ℕ) (translated by Edward G. Seidensticker)format/source = paperback/MOB; date finished = 28 Jan; 3★
Categories: All Around the World
Country: Japan
I just didn't get this book. It was beautifully written and easy to read but the characters, especially Komako, made no sense to me.
Books finished 29 Jan - 4 Feb:19.
Sir Philip's Folly by Marion Chesney (aka M.C. Beaton)format/source = Kindle/Amazon Prime lending library; date finished = 29 Jan; 2★
Categories: none !!
Country: England
I found the writing in this entry of the Poor Relations Hotel series not up to the quality I had come to expect. For example:
"Lady Fortescue, who had overheard the aside, reflected that no one could ever call Miss Tonks pretty, and yet the new hair-style made her look undoubtedly interesting and mundane."
Interesting and mundane!!?! Mundane means 'lacking interest'!
I also found that this Kindle edition has several noticable formatting/proofreading errors, the worst one being a sentence which was clearly made by combining two different sentences with who knows how much omitted in between!
"Arabella sat and quietly ate another cake before stand-yet, why should he worry? he wondered." (he being Sir Philip, who was not in the scene with Arabella just prior to this!).
20.
The Spia Family Presses On by Mary Leoformat/source = Kindle/Amazon; date finished = 30 Jan; 2½★
Categories: These Things Take Time, Watching the Detectives
Country: U.S.A. {CA}
This was a decent mystery though it lacked clues for the reader to solve it independently. The 'cozy' background was unique in that it involved a family business (growing olives & pressing them into olive oils) but one that was owned & run by "recovering" Mafia family members (ones out of prison & others all going straight). While I found the recipes at the end of the chapters sounded good, I would have preferred having them all at the end of the book where they didn't interrupt the flow of my reading.
21.
Death at the Bar by Ngaio Marsh {reread}format/source = paperback/MOB & audiobook/Hoopla, narrated by Wanda McCaddon; date finished = 2 Feb; 4★
Categories: Watching the Detectives
Country: England
While I knew that I had read this entry in the Inspector Alleyn series, as I have read all the Marsh books on my shelves at some point in the past 35 years, when I saw the audiobook on Hoopla & read the blurb it didn't sound familiar. Once I started listening though, it came back to me. Ironically, I spent about 2/3 of my time listening to this mystery sure I knew who the murderer was only to find it was someone else!
Wanda McCaddon does an excellent narration and this Golden Age mystery stands up to the test of time well imo.
22.
Modern Scandinavian Poetry edited by Martin Allwood (multiple translators)format/source = hardcover/library; date finished = 3 Feb; 3★
Categories: All Around the World, After All the Roads Have Led to Nowhere, Join the Club (AAB seasonal poetry theme)
Country: Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland
Too much for a two week library loan (even with a renewal!) but I appreciated experiencing such a variety of poems & poets from all the various Scandinavian countries.
I was surprised to find that taken as a whole, the Icelandic poetry section was the one I liked best! I also really was moved by the WW2 poetry from Norway.
23.
Homicidal by Paul Alexanderformat/source = audiobook/Audible, narrated by Paul Christy; date finished = 4 Feb; 2½★
Categories: ABC Boogie; After All the Roads Have Led to Nowhere (nonfiction)
Country: U.S.A. {CA}
I hadn't realized when I picked up this freebie from Audible in 2013 that it was a true crime story (not a genre I care for much). However, I found this captured my interest, at least in part because I lived in L.A. during the 1980s so remembered some of the news from that time. Paul Christy did a good narration.
One negative worth mentioning though: the book jumps around in time a bit abruptly. A few extra sentences connecting the previous chapter with the new one might have helped in this regard.
Not such a great week!
Books finished 5-11 February:24.
*The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis {reread}format/source = audiobook/LearningOutLoud.com, narrated by Chrissi Hart; date finished = 5 Feb; 5★
Categories: Scary Monsters
Country: N/A
Maybe only 4.5* for this podcast/audiobook...
It has been many decades since I read this series of books and over a decade since I saw the movie so when I found this audio version, it seemed like it was time for a reread.
Chrissi Hart does a good job with the narration. The breaks at the end of each podcast (~2 chapters each in length) was a minor annoyance and worth getting this whole series for free!
As for the book: when I read this as a teenager, I ignored all the religious allusions & themes and just enjoyed the fantasy adventure. Now as an adult, I still enjoy the fantasy adventure parts but can appreciate the themes of the book more. Personally, I am culturally Christian but basically areligious/agnostic so books about faith and religion are not particularly my kind of thing. However, I found that while the allusions to Christianity are quite obvious in this, it never felt 'preachy' to me.
25.
*Seven Suspects by Michael Innes {reread}format/source = paperback/MOB; date finished = 6 Feb; 4★
Categories: Join the Club (Feb. BoTM of another GoodReads group)
Country: England
February 2017 -- I found this less slow this time around and more fun! Here is my previous review:
Review from March 2013:
Seven Suspects is the American title of Michael Innes' first Inspector Appleby book Death at the President's Lodging. The murder of a university president forms the basis of this version of a locked room mystery.
I found the beginning slow going, mostly due to Innes' style of prose. However, once I became accustomed to the style & the plot began to unfold, the story quickly engrossed me. I don't think this is the type of mystery where the reader can figure out who is guilty before the detective (I certainly didn't!) but Innes plays fair - there are no hidden clues or evidence only the detective is privy to. All in all, an excellent example of this genre of mystery.
26.
*Sybil, or the Two Nations by Benjamin Disraeliformat/source = Kindle/Amazon & audiobook/LibriVox, narrated by Nicholas Clifford; date finished = 6 Feb; 4★ for the book & 3½* for the audiobook
Categories: Numbered Days; These Things Take Time
Country: England
If you don't like politics or satires, this is not the book for you. While I am not very political myself, I like satires very much. This one uses a variation of Romeo and Juliet as a framework: Charles Egremont, newly-elected aristocratic Member of Parliament, meets and falls in love with the beautiful poor Chartist Sybil Gerard. Disraeli used little subtlety in making his point of England being "Two nations; between whom there is no intercourse and no sympathy; ... THE RICH AND THE POOR." and amidst the humor and the romance, there are strong indictments about a government that allows the terrible conditions of the working classes. The book covers the conditions of farming labourers, mill workers, miners and metalworkers - each suffers in a different way but all suffering.
I particularly liked the satire of the political hostesses & the names Disraeli used for the minor characters (such as Lord Muddlebrains, Lady Firebrace, Colonel Bosky, Mr. Hoaxem etc.). I had a little bit of familiarity with the way aristocratic women sometimes figured as political hostesses before this & so Disraeli's lampooning of them struck me as very funny, such as Lady St. Julian's belief that all that is necessary for the party to secure a Member's vote on some particular issue is to have "asked some of them to dinner, or given a ball or two to their wives and daughters! ... Losing a vote at such a critical time, when if I had had only a remote idea of what was passing through his mind, I would have even asked him to Barrowley for a couple of days."
Nicholas Clifford gave an adequate narration in the LibriVox recording but it is an uninflected one - I prefer to have the different characters to have at least slightly different voices. I found this audiobook sometimes hard to focus on & it worked best for me if I switch to listening after spending some time reading the Kindle edition first so that my brain was already involved in the story.
27.
*Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilmanformat/source = Kindle/Project Gutenberg; date finished = 8 Feb; 4★
Categories: Scary Monsters; These Things Take Time
Country: N/A
I was taken by surprise to find that this feminist classic is told from the point of view of a man! However, the approach of 3 men experiencing this all-female society (and of course, the women are experiencing their first men!) worked very well. The book itself is an easy & fast read.
28.
*Something Fresh by P.G. Wodehouse (audiobook) {reread}format/source = Kindle/Project Gutenberg & audiobook/Hoopla, narrated by Jonathan Cecil; date finished = 8 Feb; 5★
Categories: Join the Club (Feb. BoTM for another GoodReads group)
Country: England
This review is for this audiobook edition only. For my thoughts on the book, see my Kindle edition of Something New (alternate title).
I love Jonathan Cecil's narration for Wodehouse & this is no exception. One aspect I noticed is that Chapter 9 & 10 differed a fair amount from the text in my Kindle edition from Project Gutenberg -- I wondered if the Gutenberg edition was a revised 'American' edition... a friend pointed me to this info from Wikipedia:
"There are some significant differences between the US edition and the later UK edition, though they do not affect the main plot.
Something New includes a lengthy scene in which Baxter finds a paint-splashed lady's shoe in the library after the theft and attempts to identify its owner: this scene was omitted from Something Fresh; Wodehouse had previously used the same sub-plot in the second part of the school novel, Mike. ..."
29.
*Sourcery by Terry Pratchett (DiscWorld #5)format/source = Kindle/BPL; date finished = 9 Feb; 4★
Categories: Scary Monsters; Numbered Days
Country: N/A
Such fun! The more I read the Rincewind books, the more I love the Luggage.
30.
*Whisky Galore by Compton MacKenzieformat/source = hardcover/MOB; date finished = 9 Feb; 3½★
Categories: Numbered Days
Country: Scotland
I waffled between 3 & 4 stars so I guess 3.5* is the right rating... The reason I waffled so much is that I found the plot hilarious but had some trouble with the Scot dialects (I have trouble reading dialects of all kinds). The interspersed Gaelic didn't give me as much trouble as my edition had a glossary of Gaelic terms with how to pronounce them & their meaning.
Here are some examples of the dialect (these are fairly clear as to their meaning but illustrate the way the dialects were written):
" 'I'm sorry, Captain MacPhee, but unless the peer comes by Monday's poat the peer will be where the whisky is, and that's nowhere at all' said the big hotel keeper."
" 'Chorge will neffer be having the courage to tell Mistress Campbell he's going to be married to her. Neffer!' he declared. 'Not unless he'd trunk a tram the size of Loch Sleeport itself, and then I believe it would turn to water inside his stamac when he saw his mother gazing at him.' "
" 'A Dhia, Dhia, don't be saying that, Hugh. The crapefruits wass never in poxes. Chust lying on the traìgh. Crapefruits chaca!' "
I have been out of touch for a bit as my dad unexpectedly went into the hospital last week -- he is home now & seems to be recovering well but he had to have a pacemaker installed. Anyway, with trips to the hospital to see him and then to my mom to help out, I had little time for the computer but lots of driving time to listen to audiobooks! Because I am still a bit tired out, I am just going to list the basics for now & hope to come back and expand as my energy increases.Books completed 12-26 February:
31.
The Wycherly Woman by Ross MacDonaldformat/source = paperback/MOB; date finished = 12 Feb; 4★
Categories: Watching the Detectives
Country: U.S.A. {CA]
32.
*Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis {reread}format/source = audiobook/LearnOutLoud.com, narrated by Chrissi Hart; date finished = 12 Feb; 3½★
Categories: Scary Monsters
Country: N/A
33.
The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie {reread}format/source = paperback/MOB; date finished = 14 Feb; 3½★
Categories: Watching the Detectives; Join the Club (Feb BoTM in another GR group)
Country: England
34.
The Scarlet Ruse by John D. MacDonaldformat/source = paperback/MOB; date finished = 4 Feb; 3½★
Categories: Watching the Detectives
Country: U.S.A. {FL}
35.
The Winds of War by Herman Woukformat/source = audiobook/Audible, narrated by Kevin Pariseau; date finished = 18 Feb; 4½★ for the book, 5★ for this audiobook edition
Categories: After All the Roads Have Led to Nowhere
Country: multiple (U.S., Germany, Russia, England, France, Italy, Hawaii)
36.
*The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis {reread}format/source = audiobook/LearnOutLoud.com, narrated by Chrissi Hart; date finished = 19 Feb; 3★
Categories: Scary Monsters
Country: N/A
37.
Agent of Change by Sharon Lee and Steve Millerformat/source = Kindle/Amazon; date finished = 20 Feb; 4★
Categories: Scary Monsters, These Things Take Time
Country: N/A
38.
*A Quiet Belief in Angels by R.J. Elloryformat/source = audiobook/Hoopla, narrated by Mark Bramhall; date finished = 21 Feb; 4* for this audiobook edition; 3½* for the book itself
Categories: Numbered Days, Watching the Detectives, Join the Club (Feb BoTM in another GR group)
Country: U.S.A. {GA}
39.
*Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett {DiscWorld #6}format/source = Kindle/library; date finished = 24 Feb; 4½★
Categories: Scary Monsters, Numbered Days
Country: N/A
40.
House of Light by Mary Oliverformat/source = hardcover/library; date finished = 25 Feb; 4★
Categories: After All the Roads Have Led to Nowhere {poetry}
Country: U.S.A.
41.
War and Remembrance by Herman Woukformat/source = audiobook/Audible, narrated by Kevin Pariseau; date finished = 26 Feb; 4★
Categories: After All the Roads Have Led to Nowhere
Country: various (see #35)
42.
*The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis {reread}format/source = audiobook/LearnOutLoud, narrated by Chrissi Hart; date finished = 26 Feb; 3½★
Categories: Scary Monsters
Country: N/A
Books finished between 27 Feb - 5 March:43.
The Unreal and the Real: The Selected Short Stories of Ursula K. Le Guin by Ursula K. Le Guinformat/source = hardcover/library; 715 pages; date finished = 27 Feb; 4★
Categories: After All the Roads Have Led to Nowhere {short stories}
Country: some U.S., mostly N/A
As with most collections, this one had its highs & lows but overall, I really liked them. Le Guin generally makes me think about various issues in her writing and many of these stories did that :)
44.
*Howards End by E.M. Forsterformat/source = Kindle/Project Gutenberg & audiobook/LibriVox, narrated by Elizabeth Klett; 340 pages; date finished = 1 Mar; 4★ for the book, 4½* for the audio
Categories: Numbered Days, These Things Take Time
Country: England
I thoroughly enjoyed this 1910 classic! I had (of course) seen the Merchant-Ivory film adaptation before but I found the book had more depth to it. The film was true to the plot but the book contained some philosophical themes, such as what things are worth striving for in life, which the film understandably couldn't portray as well (or at all).
45.
The Orenda by Joseph Boyden {abandoned on page 53}format/source = hardcover/library; 435 pages; date gave up = 2 Mar; ★
Categories: After All the Roads Have Led to Nowhere (Feb recommendation swap)
Country: Canada
Well written but not the right book for my current mood, I guess. The French missionary is, I am sure, correctly portrayed but I couldn't take his attitude towards the native Americans. And the realism was more grisly than I could take...
46.
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brownformat/source = Kindle/Amazon & audiobook/Audible, narrated by Paul Michael; 489 pages; date finished = 3 Mar; 3½★ for the book, 3* for the audiobook
Categories: Watching the Detectives, These Things Take Time
Country: France & England
One morning last week, I found myself in the car without an audiobook ready to go. This thriller, which I picked up in a Whispersync deal back in March 2013, was already downloaded to my phone so I started listening to it... Paul Michael did a good narration, especially with the French bits. I was a bit surprised that the text of this audiobook edition was slightly different than the Kindle edition. It was almost as if the Kindle edition (which matched my memory of my brother's paperback I read back before I kept records of my reading) was a later revised edition. For example, early in the story in the audiobook Langdon talks about seeing the museum in the glow of "infrared light" (which is ridiculous as the human eye can't see IR) but in the Kindle edition this has been corrected to read "red service lighting".
Perhaps this is one reason the audiobook was so cheap! Another minor irritation with the audio edition is that it is one in which the so-called chapters have no relationship with the chapters of the text (presumably they were the number of tape cassette sides before the recording was digitized...).
This book is so silly in so many ways but yet it is thrilling and kept me listening to it in preference to other, better written books awaiting me that in the end I had to give it 3½*!
47.
Night Waking by Sarah Mossformat/source = paperback/library; 375 pages; date finished = 3/3 Mar; 4★
Categories: Watching the Detectives, Join the Club (Feb BoTM)
Country: Scotland
I wasn't sure that I was going to like this book after I read the first few chapters. Anna didn't seem like a very attractive character & the alternating chapters of late Victorian letters broke up the flow of the story. However, by the middle of the book I was drawn into life on the Hebridean island of Colsay (both past & present). By the end, the format of the book made sense and the Victorian letters, Anna's current life and her research into the death of a young girl during WW2 formed an intricately twined tripartite view of life of women & children over the years, highlighted by Anna's scholarly work on children and parenting that she is desperately trying to complete in her few snatched minutes of privacy.
48.
The Zebra-Striped Hearse by Ross MacDonaldformat/source = paperback/MOB & audiobook/Hoopla, narrated by Grover Gardner; 224 pages; date finished = 4 Mar; 3½★
Categories: ABC Boogie, Watching the Detectives
Country: U.S.A. {CA}
Pretty good P.I. mystery but the solution became clear to me about 80% through (which I view as a negative in a mystery book).
49.
*The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis {reread}format/source = audiobook/LearnOutLoud, narrated by Chrissi Hart; 217 pages; date finished = 5 Mar; 3½★
Categories: Scary Monsters
Country: N/A
This one struck me as more of a straightforward fairy tale though Aslan does play a part.
Books finished between 6-12 March:50.
*Eugenie Grandet by Honore de Balzac {translated by Katherine Prescott Wormeley}format/source = Kindle/Project Gutenberg & audiobook/LibriVox, narrated by Bruce Pirie; 244 pages; date finished = 7 Mar; 4★
Categories: These Things Take Time, Numbered Days, All Around the World
Country: France
My first foray into Balzac & his La Comedie Humaine... I was a bit nervous as I have had mixed reactions to French classics, loving some (such as The Three Musketeers) and disliking others (such as Madame Bovary) I was pleased to find that this is a great book! The excellent LibriVox recording by Bruce Pirie is worth 4½*.
Balzac's characters were all well written (even though not all were very nice) & the prose was extremely readable. I found the ending rather sad... I am now looking forward to reading more Balzac :)
51.
The Pusher by Ed McBainformat/source = Kindle/Amazon Prime lending library; 198 pages; date finished = 7 Mar; 3½★
Categories: ABC Boogie, Watching the Detectives
Country: U.S.A.
If you liked the TV show Hill Street Blues, you'll probably enjoy this series. Ed McBain invented the police procedural subgenre in which a whole precinct is the hero rather than an individual detective and that provided the basis for such ensemble TV shows...
In this 3rd book in the series, we meet again Detective Steve Carella who was featured in the first book but the story really revolves around his boss, Lieutenant Byrnes. The plot could have been set last year instead of in 1956; it is rather a sad commentary about drug use in the U.S. that this is so...
52.
*Pyramids by Terry Pratchettformat/source = Kindle/BPL; 321 pages; date finished = 8 Mar; 3★
Categories: Scary Monsters, Numbered Days
Country: N/A
Poor Teppic, just qualified to be a member of the Assassin's Guild, has to leave Ankh-Morpok to return to his home, the kingdom of Djelibeybi (quasi-Eqypt), when his father unexpectedly dies. Some interesting ideas about belief and ritual... I found this one less humorous but maybe that is because I don't know a lot about ancient Egypt. As always, I love the footnotes in Pratchett's books!
53.
The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie {reread}format/source = audiobook/BPL, narrated by Richard E. Grant; 200 pages; date finished = 9 Mar; 3½★
Categories: Join the Club (for another GR group); Watching the Detectives
Country: England
I am slowly rereading the Miss Marple books this year. This 3rd one barely qualifies as a Miss Marple as she doesn't make an appearance until about 80% of the way through. Of course, she quickly solves the case once she appears on the scene! It is almost as if Christie's publisher talked her into adding in a familiar sleuth rather than making it one of her stand-alone mysteries...
Richard E. Grant is marvelous in his narration of the audiobook. I really appreciated all the different voices he did for the different characters!
54.
*Ennui by Maria Edgeworthformat/source = Kindle/manybooks; 217 pages; date finished = 10 Mar; 3½★
Categories: Numbered Days, These Things Take Time, Join the Club (for another GR group)
Country: England & Ireland
This satire on early nineteenth century society, published as part of Edgeworth's series Tales of a Fashionable Life in 1809, pokes fun at a pose commonly held in the high society of the time - that of being bored of everything. In addition to lampooning the rich, Edgeworth includes some social commentary about the Irish (and the Anglo-Irish landlords). A quick and easy read that has grown on me a bit since I finished it. I may end up increasing my rating at some time...
55.
*The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis {reread via audiobook}format/source = audiobook/LearnOutLoud, narrated by Chrissi Hart; 186 pages; date finished = 12 Mar; 4★
Categories: Scary Monsters
Country: England/Narnia
maybe even 4½* for the book itself
This sixth book in publication order is the creation story of Narnia. Excellent entry in the series & one I had no memory of whatsoever! While I suppose that you could read this one first I think that some of the nuances of the story (such as (view spoiler)) would be lost if you weren't familiar with The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe...
56.
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujoldformat/source = audiobook/Hoopla, narrated by Lloyd James; 496 pages; date finished = 12 Mar; 4★
Categories: Scary Monsters
Country: N/A
This first book in the World of Five Gods series is the first non-Vorkosigan book by Bujold I have read. Unlike the Vorkosigan books, this one is strictly fantasy (rather than science fiction). As I had expected, Bujold does a great job with the world-building and her characters are well developed. I was intrigued by the Quintarian religion: they worship The Father, The Mother, The Son, The Daughter and the Bastard (and by the Roknari variant which omits The Bastard).
In her sci fi epic Vorkosigan series, Bujold often presents us with ideas about how society & women's lives might be different if procreation was assisted by technology in various ways (such as the Uterine Replicator); it appears that in this series, the theme will be theological. That theme is of less interest to me but Bujold still wraps her ideas in exciting stories with some humor & some romance.
In addition, this tale, though in a completely fictional world, mirrors the real-life story of Queen Isabelle of Castile which adds some fun to the reading. (view spoiler) There are some other parallels if you look for them.
Lloyd James did a good narration. He was particularly good as Cazaril but yet I missed Grover Gardner who was so magnificent in the Vorkosigan books...
Books finished during the week of 30 April - 6 May:Hot Water by P.G. Wodehouse, audiobook borrowed through Hoopla. 3*
Within a Budding Grove by Marcel Proust, Kindle (& hardcover edition borrowed from my dad). Not bad but a book that required more attention than I am currently capable of... 2*
A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie, reread via Overdrive audiobook. Good fun! 4*
Topper by Thorne Smith, Kindle (& audiobook CDs borrowed from the library). Significantly different from the Cary Grant movie, a satire on a NY banker's mid-life crisis (complicated by ghosts) from the 1920s. 4*
*The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera, hardcover borrowed from the library. 3½*
I don't have the energy or time to fill in all the missing weeks but here is at least a list of my most recent books...I am going to keep up my lists at the beginning of the challenge so those missing weeks will at least be represented somewhere.
I am hoping to update my lists at the beginning of the challenge with the past several months of books. It will be slow going, so bear with me...Challenge #1 (Guardian's list) has been updated and the challenge has been completed (30/25) :)
I have updated challenges #2-7 (ABC, already owned Kindle books, books in translation, mysteries, sci fi & fantasy, Proust). I am giving up on the Proust challenge (#7), at least for now.
Challenges 3, 4, 5 goals have been met :)
I have updated all but challenge #8 now...
Books finished 27 Aug - 2 Sept:
Friendly Air by Elizabeth Cadellformat/source = hardcover/library; 218 pages; date finished = 27 August; 4★
Country: England & Portugal
A light-hearted romance with no sex scenes, thank goodness! I am so tired of reading "romance" novels that turn out to be soft-core porn. This book was the first I have read by Cadell but I am sure that I will be seeking out more of her work.
Professional Integrity by Michael J. Sullivanformat/source = audiobook/Audible, narrated by Tim Reynolds; 35 pages; date finished = 27 August; 3½★
Categories: Scary Monsters & Supercreeps; After All the Roads Have Led to Nowhere (short story)
Country: N/A
I thought that this short story was well done & you don't need to be familiar with the series to enjoy it.
Fragments of My Time by Geraldo Pereiraformat/source = Kindle/Sensational Books; ?? pages; date finished = 29 August; 2★
Categories: Around the World; After All the Roads Have Led to Nowhere (short story)
Country: Brazil
If this Kindle book, which I got for free from http://ebook.visitbrasil.com/index.html, had been better translated and/or edited I might have given it 2½*. The stories are reminiscences of Recife and if I knew the city or even the country, I might have enjoyed them more.
One for Sorrow by Mary Reed & Eric Mayerformat/source = Kindle/Amazon; 302 pages; date finished = 29 August; 3½★
Categories: These Things Take Time; Watching the Detectives
Country: Turkey (ancient Constantinople)
A good mystery set in the time of Justinian at Constantinople (~550 A.D.). I liked the setting and the main character John, Lord Chamberlain for Justinian. I also had a fondness for the bull dancers from Crete which reminded me of Mary Renault...
From London Far by Michael Innesformat/source = paperback/MOB; 304 pages; date finished = 30 August; 4★
Categories: Watching the Detectives
Country: England, Scotland & U.S.A.
Erudite and bizarre mystery about art theft. Richard Meredith, a middle-aged scholar of Juvenal and literary criticism, is catapulted into this adventure by mischance - don't worry if the first chapter puts you off as the story really starts with the second one; the first one makes more sense later on.
Although Inspector Appleby isn't in this book, it did remind me of a few of his adventures in both writing and the bizarreness! However, unlike Appleby, Meredith (and his young female companion) are amateurs, civilians caught up in unravelling a criminal organization.
Fool Errant by Patricia Wentworthformat/source = ebook/Hoopla; 310 pages; date finished = 31 August; 4★
Categories: Watching the Detectives
Country: England
Good thriller, much better than her earlier The Annam Jewel. It is one of the 'innocent gets caught up with villians' type books such as Mary Stewart and Helen MacInnes wrote, only the innocent this time is a man instead of a girl. Nature gave Hugo Ross the appearance of a fresh, innocent, gullible boy; luckily for him, he was smarter than he looked and goes to Benbow Smith for advice. I do love this kind of story!
The Man Who Knew Too Much by G.K. Chestertonformat/source = Kindle/Amazon & audiobook/Audible, narrated by Harold Wiederman; 182 pages; date finished = 1 September; 2½★ for the book, 2* for the audio
Categories: Watching the Detectives; After All the Roads Have Led to Nowhere (short story)
Country: England
There is something about Chesterton's writing style that I don't quite like. I noticed this before in reading some of the Father Brown stories. The plots are interesting enough yet I can't say that I like them.
I didn't much care for Wiederman's narration either, which forced me to resort to following along or rereading certain sections in my Kindle edition in order to understand what was happening. Oh well, it was free so nothing lost!
*Flashman by George MacDonald Fraserformat/source = Kindle/library; 260 pages; date finished = 1 September; 4★
Categories: Numbered Days
Country: England, India & Afghanistan (in 1836-1842)
It was sheer coincidence that I read this only a few months after The Far Pavilions... For those unfamiliar with either of these books, they both deal with 19th century British army in India & Afghanistan. Flashman is involved in the first Anglo-Afghan war while Ashton Pelham-Martyn was present for the second Anglo-Afghan war; neither of them were typical British Army but otherwise they are quite different characters!!
Flashman could be called an anti-hero I suppose; he certainly describes himself that way, as a coward & scoundrel. His actions, particularly in regard to women, are awful but the reader can't help liking him. Perhaps it is because he is so open about all his weaknesses that one prefers him to the braver but stupider (or hypocritical) soldiers around him. In any case, as in Far Pavilions, the reader is left shaking his/her head at the incredible incompetence and arrogance of the leaders in the British army.
A Woman's Place by Linda Grantformat/source = hardcover/library; 261 pages; date finished = 2 September; 3½★
Categories: Watching the Detectives
Country: U.S.A. {CA}
Creepy story about a female PI who draws the attention of (view spoiler)… As for the mystery - it was really only a mystery for the first half of the book, the second half being a thriller. The author throws in a twist at the end but it was easy enough for me to see it coming (though not the actual identity of the killer). Being a woman, I found parts frightening and (sadly) believable but not enjoyable to read! A reader who is less easily frightened would probably give this a higher rating.
All my categories are now updated! Posts 3-12 now have current lists of all the books I have read in each category to the best of my knowledge.
Books finished 3-9 September:
Under a War-Torn Sky by L.M. Elliottformat/source = audiobook/SYNC, narrated by Elizabeth Wiley; 288 pages; date finished = 5 Sept.; 3★
Categories: none
Country: Switzerland, France, U.S.
The story of a young Virginian pilot shot down during WW2 and his experiences while he tried to make it back to Allied territory. The writing is definitely YA (which is its target audience) which to my adult ears was a little annoying at times but overall not bad. Elizabeth Wiley does a very good narration which rather surprised me as the main character is male.
The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greeneformat/source = paperback/library; 255 pages; date finished = 5 Sept.; 4½★
Categories: none
Country: unnamed west African country, commonly attributed as Sierra Leone
Not a review, just some random thoughts upon completing this novel. Scobie is such a tragic figure! And I can't help wondering how autobiographic his struggles with love & religion were since both Scobie & Greene converted to Catholicism. The broken rosary Scobie kept meaning to have repaired is a symbol that sticks in my mind... Another thing that struck me was encapsulated in the phrase:
" - that no human being can really understand another, and no one can arrange another's happiness."
Despite the religious aspects running through this book, it seemed almost existentialist in tone.
*Poetic Justice by Amanda Crossformat/source = Kindle/BPL; 218 pages; date finished = 6 Sept.; 4★
Categories: Numbered Days; Watching the Detectives
Country: U.S. {NY}
Maybe even 4.5*, just because I do so love an academic setting for a mystery!
An academic mystery which deals with the internal politics & struggles of the faculty of a major (unnamed) New York city university is the kind of mystery I would have loved to write myself. Written in 1970, student unrest provides the background to the situation but as anyone who has been a college or university professor knows, the factions & committees etc. could have been taking place at any time. I had a few laughs (such as at the doctoral dissertation defense meeting & the professor describing a recent play he had attended) as well.
I loved the Auden quotes at the start of each chapter & throughout the text; I will have read his poetry for myself sometime soon!
Ukridge by P.G. Wodehouseformat/source = audiobook/Hoopla, narrated by Jonathan Cecil; 219 pages; date finished = 7 Sept.; 4★
Categories: After All the Roads Have Led to Nowhere (short stories)
Country: England
3.5* for the book, rounded up to 4* due to Jonathan Cecil's narration.
While having a friend like Ukridge would make life interesting, I am sure glad that I don't have such a friend!
Private by James Patterson & Maxine Paetroformat/source = audiobook/Audible, narrated by Peter Hermann; 385 pages; date finished = 8 Sept.; 3★
Categories: Watching the Detectives
Country: U.S. {CA}
2.5* for the book; 3* for the audiobook edition.
Not bad but not great. Some sections seemed to me to be padding but Peter Hermann's narration pulled me through those. If you like Patterson, you would probably give this a higher rating.
At Bertram's Hotel by Agatha Christie {reread}format/source = audiobook CDs/library, narrated by Rosemary Leach; 180 pages; date finished = 9 Sept.; 3★
Categories: Watching the Detectives
Country: England
While Miss Marple is present through most of the book, she doesn't really contribute to the solution in the way I expected. This reread has made me reconsider my rating & I have changed it from 4* to 3. In particular, I didn't care for the ending.
Rosemary Leach does a fabulous narration.
*Under the Net by Iris Murdochformat/source = Kindle/library; 253 pages; date finished = 9 Sept.; 3★
Categories: Numbered Days
Country: England & France
Not particularly humorous; the inclusion of this novel under the Comedy section of the Guardian's list made me anticipate something funnier. That said, I did enjoy it and perhaps if you are a writer, Jake might seem more comic.
I liked Murdoch's writing style & look forward to reading some of her other books such as The Sea, the Sea.
I just realized that it is almost exactly 5 years ago that I first discovered the Guardian's list of 1000 novels. At that time I had read only 145 of them, which somewhat shocked me as I thought of myself as well read. Now, after working on reading books from the list for 5 years (60 months!), I have read 456 of them. While that is better, I still haven't read even half! :/
Leslie wrote: "I just realized that it is almost exactly 5 years ago that I first discovered the Guardian's list of 1000 novels. At that time I had read only 145 of them, which somewhat shocked me as I thought of..."It's pretty good going though Leslie. Doubt if I've read anything like that.
Thanks Pam - I do get a tad obsessed with lists but I don't plan on finishing this one!
Books finished 10-16 September:
Cinnamon Skin by John D. MacDonaldformat/source = paperback/MOB; 275 pages; date finished = 10 Sept.; 3½★
Categories: Watching the Detectives
Country: U.S.A.
A solid entry in the McGee series. This one could be read as a stand-alone but benefits if the reader is familiar with the previous book, Free Fall in Crimson. Only one more McGee book left unread on my shelves!!
Project Alpha by D.J. MacHaleformat/source = audiobook/Random House, narrated by Robbie Daymond; 224 pages; date finished = 11 Sept.; 1★ for the audiobook, ½* for the book itself
Categories: Scary Monsters & Super Creeps
Country: U.S. & outer space
See my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
September Fair by Jess Loureyformat/source = Kindle/Amazon; 270 pages; date finished = 12 Sept.; 2½★
Categories: Watching the Detectives; These Things Take Time
Country: U.S.A. {MN}
This cozy mystery, set in Minnesota, avoids most of the pitfalls (or more accurately my pet peeves) of this subgenre by which so many of the recent examples I have read are plagued. The writing could be better but I wouldn't mind reading another in the series.
A Pelican at Blandings by P.G. Wodehouse {reread}format/source = audiobook/Hoopla, narrated by Nigel Lambert; 224 pages; date finished = 14 Sept.; 4★
Categories:
Country: England
Nigel Lambert does a very good job narrating this 11th entry in the Blandings Castle series. Plus it has a lot of Galahad, which means plenty of classic Wodehouse craziness! :-)
The Terrorists by Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo (translated by Joan Tate)format/source = Kindle/library; 305 pages; date finished = 14 Sept.; 4★
Categories: Watching the Detectives; All Around the World
Country: Sweden
Very good final entry in the Martin Beck series. I wish there were a few more of these to read!
*Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry format/source = audiobook/library, narrated by John Lee, & ebook/Hoopla; 375 pages; date finished = 16 Sept.; 3★
Categories: Numbered Days
Country: Mexico
3½* for the book itself
I really liked John Lee's narration but found this book was very difficult for me to process in audio form. The text is often stream-of-conscience style and jumps about & rambles. And such long sentences! I am glad that I got the ebook as well as the audiobook.
Example:
"The flare lit up the whole cantina with a burst of brilliance in which the figures at the bar -- that he now saw included besides the little children and the peasants who were quince or cactus farmer in loose white clothes and wide hats, several women in mourning from the cemeteries and dark-faced men in dark suits with open collars and their ties undone -- appeared, for an instant, frozen, a mural: they had all stopped talking and were gazing around at him curiously, all save the barman who seemed momentarily about to object, then lost interest as M. Laruelle set the writhing mass in an ashtray, where beautifully conforming it folded upon itself, a burning castle, collapsed, subsided to a ticking hive through which tiny red sparks like worms crawled and flew, while above a few grey wisps of ashes floated in the thin smoke, a dead husk now, faintly crepitant..."
Plus there's a fair amount of Spanish since it is set in Mexico.
I can see why this is considered a masterpiece and I may end up changing my rating. However my initial reaction was that it was evocative but of a distasteful experience. Plus, I wished that there was a short section at the end tying back to the beginning with Jacques Laruelle.
A bit late with my update this week but here it is.Books finished 17-23 September:
*Before Lunch by Angela Thirkell {reread}format/source = audiobook/Hoopla, narrated by Wanda McCaddon; 322 pages; date finished = 17 Sept.; 4½★
Categories: none
Country: England
Publisher's blurb says: "Published in 1939, Before Lunch is a portrait of the charming English community of "Barsetshire." When the erection of a tea shop and garage threatens to spoil the bovine pastures of Pooker's Piece, Lady Bond and Lord Pomfret unite with the Middletons and the Stoners to stop it. In the meantime, the young and the not-so-young all fall in love—though not always with the right person—and sort out their affairs in a hilarious welter of cross-purposes. For those who have read and reread Austen, Trollope, and Dickens, discovering a novel by Angela Thirkell is akin to finding gold in an abandoned mine. Long out of print, her novels are currently enjoying a minor renaissance."
My 2012 review of my mother's hardcopy was "This entry in Thirkell's Barsetshire series is more bittersweet than the previous ones..."
This reread was very enjoyable, and Wanda McCaddon did an excellent narration. I think I found more humor in it this time (maybe because I am just dipping in to the series rather than reading them in order as I did the first time).
Poison Pen by Sheila Loweformat/source = Kindle/Amazon; 306 pages; date finished = 17 Sept.; 3★
Categories: These Things Take Time, Watching the Detectives
Country: U.S.A. {CA}
Publisher's blurb says: "Lindsey Alexander, a top Hollywood publicist, has apparently committed suicide. Her friend and business manager isn’t so sure, and he retains Claudia to examine the purported suicide note. Claudia was well acquainted with Lindsey, having experienced her ruthless self-promotion first-hand. As the story progresses, Claudia discovers Lindsey’s secret side business, and the questions begin to mount, along with possible suspects who include a U.S. senator and a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon. Claudia meets up with Detective Joel Jovanic, whose skepticism about handwriting analysis immediately puts them at odds."
My thoughts: I liked the forensic handwriting aspect of this cozy. A bit too much about the love life of the protagonist but that seems to be the norm these days... I did manage to figure out who the culprit was about three-quarters of the way through but the true motive escaped me completely.
*The Stranger by Albert Camus (ℕ) translated by Matthew Wardformat/source = hardcover/library; 123 pages; date finished = 9/18; 5★
Categories: Numbered Days, All Around the World
Country: Algeria
Publisher's blurb says: "Since it was first published in English, in 1946, Albert Camus's extraordinary first novel, The Stranger (L'Etranger), has had a profound impact on millions of American readers. Through this story of an ordinary man who unwittingly gets drawn into a senseless murder on a sun-drenched Algerian beach, Camus was exploring what he termed "the nakedness of man faced with the absurd." "
My thoughts: Wow, I can see why this novel is so highly regarded! While Camus conveys some serious ideas about existentialism, he & his characters never pontificate. Camus is a master of "show, don't tell" in this short novel.
Translation by Matthew Ward was very easy to read - I have no way of knowing if the claim to being 'truer to the original' than the previous English translation is correct.
*The English Patient by Michael Ondaatjeformat/source = paperback/MOB; 320 pages; date finished = 19 Sept.; 2★
Categories: Numbered Days
Country: Italy
Publisher's blurb says: "With unsettling beauty and intelligence, Michael Ondaatje's Booker Prize-winning novel traces the intersection of four damaged lives in an abandoned Italian villa at the end of World War II. The nurse Hana, exhausted by death, obsessively tends to her last surviving patient. Caravaggio, the thief, tries to reimagine who he is, now that his hands are hopelessly maimed. The Indian sapper Kip searches for hidden bombs in a landscape where nothing is safe but himself. And at the center of his labyrinth lies the English patient, nameless and hideously burned, a man who is both a riddle and a provocation to his companions—and whose memories of suffering, rescue, and betrayal illuminate this book like flashes of heat lightning."
My thoughts: I found this too slow-moving for my tastes -- it bored me so much that by the time anything interesting started to happen, I no longer cared.
This book had been on my shelf so long that I thought I had already read it, so I started it the other day thinking it would be a reread. By the time I reached Chap. 2 I realized that I never read this, just watched the movie.
The Galton Case by Ross MacDonaldformat/source = paperback/MOB; 186 pages; date finished = 19 Sept.; 4★
Categories: Watching the Detectives
Country: U.S.A. {CA}
Publisher's blurb says: "Anthony Galton disappeared almost twenty years ago. Now his aging and very rich mother has hired Lew Archer to bring him back. What turns up is a headless skeleton, a suspicious heir, and a con game whose stakes are so high that someone is still willing to kill for them."
My thoughts: A very good entry in the Lew Archer PI series with an extra twist at the end. This one would be a good one to choose if interested in sampling Ross MacDonald's work.
Picture of Guilt by Michael Innesformat/source = paperback/MOB; 189 pages; date finished = 21 Sept.; 4★
Categories: Watching the Detectives
Country: England
Publisher's blurb says: "Over a period of twenty years, a series of highly elaborate art hoaxes have been perpetrated at carefully time intervals, and in each case, the victim has a very good reason for keeping quiet. Inspector Appleby's interest is kindled by an amusing dinner-party anecdote - when he enlists the help of his wife and son, the ensuing investigation is truly a family affair. The scenes shift swiftly between glorious stately homes and the not-so-glorious art gallery of the irrepressibly dubious Hildebert Braunkopf."
My thoughts: Nice entry in the series, with Appleby's son & wife taking a significant part (hence the original title, A Family Affair). This mystery is not a murder mystery but one about art theft (a favorite topic of Innes') in which the thefts are intertwined with practical jokes.
The Physicists by Friedrich Durrenmatt translated by James Kirkupformat/source = paperback/library; 94 pages; date finished = 22 Sept.; 4★
Categories: All Around the World; In A Stage Whisper
Country: Switzerland
Publisher's blurb says: "The Physicists is a provocative and darkly comic satire about life in modern times, by one of Europe's foremost dramatists and author of the internationally celebrated The Visit.
The setting: a madhouse. The principal characters: three male patients, all nuclear physicists. One, Herbert George Bentler, believes he is Newton; a second, Ernst Ernesti, thinks he is Einstein. Both are fairly recent arrivals at the asylum. The third, Johann Wilhelm Mobius, who has visions in which King Solomon appears to him, has been there for fifteen years. In charge: the efficient, aristocratic, hunchbacked woman-psychiatrist, Fraulein Dr. Mathilde von Zahud. To this, add the Aristotelian unities of place, time and action ("The action takes place among madmen and therefore requires a classical framework," the author notes), and one has the basic ingredients of one of Swiss dramatist Friedrich Durrenmatt's most ambitious plays."
My thoughts: Thought-provoking play and quite funny too!
I have finished my 2017 GR challenge to read 200 books!
LauraT wrote: "Really well done Leslie!!!!!!"Thanks Laura!
Books finished 24 - 30 September:
*The Unbearable Bassington by Sakiformat/source = Kindle/Project Gutenberg; 153 pages; date finished = 24 Sept.; 3½★
Categories: These Things Take Time, Numbered Days
Country: England (& a bit in Africa)
Publisher's blurb says: "Alone among Saki's works in being almost entirely located in London, this novel focuses on the Mayfair scene of bridge afternoons, dinner parties & concerts. At the center of a group of brilliantly depicted bores & savage wits is Comus Bassington, "the beautiful wayward laughing boy." "
My thoughts: While I could see that this novel was a social satire, I failed to find much humor in it. Saki's short stories are much more amusing! Comus & his mother are in the end more tragic figures than figures of fun. Still worth reading for the social commentary though!
*The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss unknown translatorformat/source = audiobook/BPL, narrated by Frederick Davidson, & Kindle/Amazon; 280 pages; date finished = 24 Sept.; 4★
Categories: These Things Take Time; Numbered Days; All Around the World
Country: unnamable Indonesian island (I assigned this to the Philippines)
Publisher's blurb says: "Swept off course by a raging storm, a Swiss pastor, his wife, and their four young sons are shipwrecked on a strange, uncharted tropical island. This timeless, classic story of survival and adventure has fired the imaginations of readers since it first appeared in 1812, and it reads just as fresh as if it were written today. The natural wonders of the lush, exotic land make for an unforgettable setting, and the family itself will find a place in the listeners' heart.
As they struggle to survive in the wilderness, the Robinsons discover their own amazing ingenuity and courage, each of the sons utilizing his own unique nature as their adventures lead to difficult challenges and fantastic discoveries. Although they have lost almost everything in the shipwreck, they are so resourceful that, when rescue finally comes, they decline to leave the happy life they have constructed for themselves in their exotic haven."
My thoughts: I often follow the course of audiobooks with my Kindle edition if I have one. In this case, I discovered at about a third of the way through the book that the two were no longer tracking. This wasn't just a case of different translations but they became two completely different plots! The audiobook, for example, had a chapter or two about a beached whale while in the Kindle text a British merchant ship was blown off course during a storm & met the Robinsons, carrying the father's notebook & family greetings back to Europe.
Blackstone Audio, who produced the audiobook edition I listened to says: "Inspired by Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, this classic story of invention and adventure has fired the imaginations of readers since it first appeared in 1812. Freely translated over the years, with major sections excised and new subplots added, the novel is published here in its original English translation." (my underlining)
Certainly, the plot in the audiobook conforms to that given in synopsis on Wikipedia. However, I felt that the Kindle edition's language and plot both seemed more in keeping with the style & tone of the early nineteenth century. In any case, I enjoyed them both even though I hadn't anticipated reading 2 books for this one entry!
*Eric by Terry Pratchett (DiscWorld publication order #9) format/source = Kindle/library; 148 pages; date finished = 25 Sept.; 4★
Categories: Numbered Days; Scary Monsters & Supercreeps
Country: N/A
Publisher's blurb says: "Discworld's only demonology hacker, Eric, is about to make life very difficult for the rest of Ankh-Morpork's denizens. This would-be Faust is very bad...at his work, that is. All he wants is to fulfill three little wishes:to live forever, to be master of the universe, and to have a stylin' hot babe.
But Eric isn't even good at getting his own way. Instead of a powerful demon, he conjures, well, Rincewind, a wizard whose incompetence is matched only by Eric's. And as if that wasn't bad enough, that lovable travel accessory the Luggage has arrived, too. Accompanied by his best friends, there's only one thing Eric wishes now -- that he'd never been born!"
My thoughts: I enjoy Pratchett's sense of humor & this entry in the Discworld series was not an exception. I was a bit sad that the Luggage didn't play more of a role, or to be more precise, that the Luggage had travelled with Rincewind for more of the journey rather than following after him. I particularly liked Rincewind's finding his ancestor in the section parodying the Trojan War!
The Red Thumb Mark by R. Austen Freemanformat/source = Kindle/Amazon; 233 pages; date finished = 26 Sept.; 3★
Categories: Watching the Detectives; ABC Boogie
Country: England
The publisher's blurb says: "The clever and thrilling debut of literature’s first forensic detective.
In all of London, there are few who know more about science than Dr. John Thorndyke, and fewer still who know more about crime. A “medical jurispractitioner” equally at home in the lab or the courtroom, he has made his name confronting the deadliest criminals in England with irrefutable proof of their guilt. In the case of the red thumb mark, however, Thorndyke must set his singular mind to saving an innocent man.
A cache of diamonds has been stolen out of a shipping firm’s safe, and the only evidence is a perfect thumbprint left in a pool of blood. The print is a match to Reuben Hornby, nephew of the firm’s owner. Hornby insists that he had nothing to do with the theft, however, and asks Dr. Thorndyke to find the real culprit. With all the evidence pointing in one direction, only he is brilliant enough to look the other way.
This ebook features a new introduction by Otto Penzler and has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices."
My thoughts: While the 'who' in this case seemed quite obvious to me, the 'how' baffled me. I got the strong feeling that Freeman's mysteries will mostly focus on the method of the crime (which is okay with me!).
Rose in Bloom by Louisa May Alcottformat/source = audiobook/LibriVox, narrated by Marie Therese, & Kindle/Amazon; 336 pages; date finished = 27 Sept.; 3½★
Categories: none
Country: U.S.A.
Publisher's blurb says: "Opening several years after the close of Eight Cousins, we find Rose coming home fresh from a voyage overseas, to find much changed about her. Now of a marriageable aged and heiress to a fortune, Rose finds joy,sorrow, and finally love await her -- as the Rose is finally ready to bloom into a good, strong, sweet and true woman." http://librivox.org/rose-in-bloom-by-...
My thoughts: 3.5* for this audiobook edition but 4* for the book itself. Marie Therese did an adequate narration but mispronounced certain words which bothered me a little (for example, "vague" with a short a to sound like bag instead of a long a).
I did enjoy the story despite the moralizing streaks.
*The Swimming-Pool Library by Alan Hollinghurstformat/source = Kindle/library; 336 pages; date finished = 29 Sept.; 3½★
Categories: Numbered Days
Country: England (and a bit in Africa)
Publisher's blurb says: "Young, gay, William Beckwith spends his time, and his trust fund, idly cruising London for erotic encounters. When he saves the life of an elderly man in a public convenience an unlikely job opportunity presents itself - the man, Lord Nantwich, is seeking a biographer. Will agrees to take a look at Nantwich’s diaries. But in the story he unravels, a tragedy of twentieth-century gay repression, lurk bitter truths about Will’s own privileged existence."
My thoughts: I read this in a buddy read with a couple of friends. I found it vividly brought to my mind the 1980s (and London's gay scene must have been quite similar to Los Angeles where I was at that time). The graphic sex scenes were not offensive to me but there were lots and lots of them. I think I can honestly say that all of us doing the buddy read felt that these scenes were our least favorite parts of the book.
Will comes across as emotionally immature or closed off. As the book progresses, I began to feel that Will's best friend James & Charles Nantwich were really the characters of interest. The reader slowly discovers more about (view spoiler)
The best parts for me were the diaries & interviews Will does looking into Nantwich's past. It brought home to me how the illegality of homosexuality encouraged the culture of anonymous sex.
Mary Poppins by P.L. Traversformat/source = audiobook/library, narrated by Sophie Thompson; 206 pages; date finished = 29 Sept.; 4★
Categories: none
Country: England
Publisher's blurb says: "Mary Poppins is like no other nanny the four Banks children have ever seen. She whirls into their home and "spit-spot," she works her inimitable brand of magic to make even the bland seem extraordinary. An endless source of fascinating adventure, she slides up the banister, produces an array of tricks from her seemingly empty carpetbag, and ensures the Banks' lives will never be the same."
My thoughts: Having grown up with the Disney film version of this children's classic, I was surprised by how different the book was from the movie. Mary Poppins is less nice but more magical & the events of the movie are covered in the first few chapters so there were lots of new adventures for me to enjoy. Plus, there are two more children in the Banks family - twins under 1 year old.
The Beggar King by Oliver Pötzsch (translated by Lee Chadeayne)format/source = Kindle/Amazon Prime Lending Library; 514 pages; date finished = 29 Sept.; 3★
Categories: Watching the Detectives, All Around the World
Country: Germany
My thoughts: As with the previous books in this series, I felt that this was overly long but I did like the fact that the hangman's daughter played a bigger role in this entry. The historical fiction is more interesting than the murder mystery (which in my eyes is a minus).
Books finished 1 - 7 October:
The Unnamable by Samuel Beckett (ℕ) translated by Samuel Beckettformat/source = audiobook/library, narrated by Sean Barrett, & Kindle/??; 186 pages; date finished = 10/3; 4★
Categories: All Around the World; These Things Take Time
Country: unspecified
Publisher's blurb says: "Few works of contemporary literature are so universally acclaimed as central to our understanding of the human experience as Nobel Prize winner Samuel Beckett's famous trilogy. Molloy, the first of these masterpieces, appeared in French in 1951. It was followed seven months later by Malone Dies and two years later by The Unnamable. All three have been rendered into English by the author.
The Unnamable is the third novel in Becket’s trilogy, three remarkable prose works in which men of increasingly debilitating physical circumstances act, ponder, consider and rage against impermanence and the human condition. The Unnamable is without doubt the most uncompromising text and it is read here in startling fashion by Sean Barrett."
My thoughts: Sean Barrett's narration made it possible for me to read this - and I did read it as well as listen to it (doing an 'immersion' read). I found the previous books in this trilogy (Molloy and Malone Dies) challenging but they were not a patch on this one! Yet, despite the fact that it was very difficult to understand, Beckett still makes it somehow compelling.
Because I had such difficulties understanding this novel (?!), I did a little digging on the internet to see if I could find anything to help me. I knew that Beckett was considered an exponent of absurdism (the idea that there is no meaning in the world beyond what meaning we give it) so I started with that:
"Absurdist fiction is a genre of fictional narrative (traditionally, literary fiction), most often in the form of a novel, play, poem, or film, that focuses on the experiences of characters in situations where they cannot find any inherent purpose in life, most often represented by ultimately meaningless actions and events that call into question the certainty of existential concepts such as truth or value." (from Wikipedia)
And that is a good description of the first 2 novels of the trilogy but didn't seem to really fit this one. The term that occurred to me to best describe The Unnamable was surreal:
"Surrealism, n. Pure psychic automatism, by which one proposes to express, either verbally, in writing, or by any other manner, the real functioning of thought. Dictation of thought in the absence of all control exercised by reason, outside of all aesthetic and moral preoccupation."
That well describes the kind of writing one encounters in this book! Beckett has written about identity before but in this book, he seemed to me to be taking Descartes' idea "I think therefore I am" to its extremity. The main character is asking "who is thinking?" When you hear that voice in your head, who is it? And if the one speaking is "you" then who is listening to it? Is that you too?
A illustrative passage:
"How many of us are there altogether, finally? And who is holding forth at the moment? And to whom? And about what?"
and to hark back to Descartes' reductionism in trying to find a basis for reality, Beckett rejects any use of externals to help identify self:
"Ah yes, all lies, God and man, nature and the light of day, the heart's outpourings and the means of understanding: all invented, basely, by me alone (with the help of no one, since there is no one), to put off the hour when I must speak of me. There will be no more about them."
Add to this the fact that language, words, were something that was learned, then who were you before there were any words? He calls the version of himself that existed before words (in the womb & possibly after) "Worm" and other older versions "Mahood" and sometimes "Molloy" & "Malone" (!) and seems to be trying to get back to Worm's state of wordlessness. But questions arise about the nature of silence & if it is possible to still his current version's voice...
"Your thoughts wander, your words too - far apart. (No, that's an exaggeration: apart.) Between them would be the place to be: where you suffer, rejoice (at being bereft of speech, bereft of thought), and feel nothing, hear nothing, know nothing, say nothing, are nothing. That would be a blessed place to be: where you are."
This whole aspect of trying to achieve silence reminded me of yoga meditation. I wonder if Beckett was familiar with that?
The Dry by Jane Harperformat/source = hardcover/library; 326 pages; date finished = 4 Oct.; 3½★
Categories: Watching the Detectives
Country: Australia
Publisher's blurb says: "WHO REALLY KILLED THE HADLER FAMILY?
It hasn't rained in Kiewarra for two years. Tensions in the farming community become unbearable when three members of the Hadler family are discovered shot to death on their property. Everyone assumes Luke Hadler committed suicide after slaughtering his wife and six-year-old son.
Federal Police investigator Aaron Falk returns to his hometown for the funerals and is unwillingly drawn into the investigation. As suspicion spreads through the town, Falk is forced to confront the community that rejected him twenty years earlier. Because Falk and his childhood friend Luke Hadler shared a secret, one which Luke's death threatens to unearth ..."
My thoughts: I liked the setting of this contemporary Australian mystery. I am less sure that I liked the flash back sections; they were important to the overall plot but didn't quite fit the third person narrative style of the contemporary sections. If they had just been Aaron's memories of those times, it would have been OK but we got slices of perspective from other people which Aaron could not have known about (or at least not in full).
An Awkward Lie by Michael Innesformat/source = paperback/MOB; 165 pages; date finished = 5 Oct.; 3★
Categories: Watching the Detectives
Country: England
Publisher's blurb says: "Sir John Appleby's son, Bobby, assumes his father's detective role in this baffling crime. When Bobby finds a dead man, in a bunker on a golf course, he notices something rather strange - the first finger of the man's right hand is missing. A young girl approaches the scene and offers to watch the body while Bobby goes for help, but when he returns with the police in tow, the body and the girl are missing."
My thoughts: This entry in the Appleby series again features Sir John's youngest son Bobby; in fact, Sir John is very much in the background. At this time, Bobby has graduated from Oxford & become a novelist. While visiting his family home, he discovers a dead body during an early morning round of golf - and a beautiful girl too.
I don't want to say more as it is impossible to go on without spoilers. Bobby is shaping up into a good replacement protagonist for his father!
That's all for this week!
What a bizarre divergence with Swiss Family Robinson! I remember a Saturday afternoon tv series of The Swiss Family Robinson when I was a child. They lived in the most spectacular tree house, and I wished I could go visit!
I remember that! The tree house was amazing :)
Leslie wrote: Numbered Days by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones ... books from Terry Pratchett's DiscWorld series:I've read most of these, but not Eric. I'm not a huge fan of the Rincewind books (I stopped reading them after Sourcery) but I do like the Luggage.
I've read all the Death books (my favorites are Mort and Hogfather) but I don't remember Thief of Time as well as the others for some reason. I might reread it.
Night Watch is one of my favorite Discworld books, along with the first Watch book (Guards! Guards!). I like all the City Watch books I've read, but I never got around to the ones after Night Watch.
I enjoyed the Witches books, at least the ones I've read, but I don't think I've read the last two.
Small Gods is my favorite of the standalones, I think.
Beth wrote: "Leslie wrote: Numbered Days by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones ... books from Terry Pratchett's DiscWorld series:I've read most of these, but not Eric. I'm not a huge fan of the Rincewin..."
The City Watch ones are my favorites - I just love Carrot and all the other repeating characters!
Books finished 8 - 14 October:
They Do It With Mirrors by Agatha Christie {reread}format/source = audiobook CDs/library, narrated by Joan Hickson, & paperback/MOB; 207 pages; date finished = 10/9; 3★
Categories: Watching the Detectives
Country: England
Publisher's blurb says: "Responding to a friend's urgent invitation, Miss Jane Marple arrives at her sprawling estate. To Marple's surprise, it's been turned into a home for delinquent boys-and a handful of greedy relatives. In this group, murder comes as no surprise.
So few authors are producing the pure puzzle-novel, and no one does it better than Christie. (from The New York Times)"
My thoughts: While I enjoyed this entry in the Miss Marple series, it was just "good" not great as some of Christie's are. Given Miss Marple's oft pronounced maxim of never believe anything anyone says without confirmation, she seemed (view spoiler).
Joan Hickson's narration was unfortunately spoiled for me by the poor shape of the CDs I borrowed from the library. Perhaps if that hadn't been the case, I might have gone up to 4 stars for this audiobook edition.
The Lonely Silver Rain by John D. MacDonald format/source = paperback/MOB; 277 pages; date finished = 10/9; 3½★
Categories: Watching the Detectives; ABC Boogie
Country: U.S.A. {FL}
Publisher's blurb says: "Searching for a wealthy friend's yacht, Travis McGee puts himself square in the center of the international cocaine trade, and finds himself the target of some of the most ruthless villains he's ever met. Contemplating his own mortality for the first time, Travis McGee discovers amid all the danger the astonishing surprise behind the cat-shaped pipe cleaners someone is leaving at his door. This is vintage McGee in a novel that confirms John D. MacDonald's reputation as one of the greatest storytellers of all time."
My thoughts: A fitting way to end the series.
*The Guermantes Way by Marcel Proust translated by C.K. Scott-Moncrieffformat/source = audiobook/Hoopla, narrated by Neville Jason, & Kindle/Feedbooks; 602 pages; date finished = 10/10; 2½★
Categories: All Around the World; Numbered Days; Memories Can't Wait
Country: France
Publisher's blurb says: "Remembrance of Things Past is one of the monuments of 20th century literature. The Guermantes Way is the third of seven volumes. The narrator penetrates the inner sanctum of Paris high society and falls in love with the fascinating Duchesse de Guermantes. Marcel Proust describes vividly the struggles for political, social and sexual supremacy played out beneath a veneer of elegant manners. He also finds himself pursued by the predatory Baron de Charlus."
My thoughts: Proust is too long-winded for my tastes hence my lowish rating. When I finish reading/listening a bit, I would paraphrase what had happened during that section & the plot, such as it is, was interesting to me but it was like panning for gold to get to it. Neville Jason did a fine job with the narration - it isn't his fault that the book kept sending me to sleep!
*The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle by Tobias Smollettformat/source = Kindle/Amazon & audiobook/LibriVox, narrated mostly by Martin Gleeson; 805 pages; date finished = 10/12; 3½★
Categories: Numbered Days
Country: England
Publisher's blurb says: "The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle is a picaresque novel by the Scottish author Tobias Smollett (1721 – 1771), first published in 1751, and revised and reissued in 1758. It is the story of the fortunes and misfortunes of the egotistical dandy Peregrine Pickle, and it provides a comic and caustic portrayal of 18th century European society. (Summary by Wikipedia)"
My thoughts: I found the second half of this novel dragged a bit (due to the inclusion of some fairly lengthy side stories not involving our hero) but overall this satire was a fun look at society & life in the later part of the eighteenth century. Peregrine at times was cruel in some of the jokes he played (especially on the Commodore) and arrogant in his dealings but underneath he has a good heart & he does eventually learn his lesson.
For the first Volume, I listened to the LibriVox recording. Martin Gleeson, who narrated most of the chapters (though not all), did a very good job.
Angelica's Smile by Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelliformat/source = audiobook/Hoopla, narrated by Grover Gardner, & Kindle/my dad's Kindle; 290 pages; date finished = 10/13; 3½★
Categories: All Around the World; Watching the Detectives
Country: Italy
Publisher's blurb says: "A rash of burglaries has got Inspector Salvo Montalbano stumped. The criminals are so brazen that their leader, the anonymous Mr. Z, starts sending the Sicilian inspector menacing letters. Among those burgled is the young and beautiful Angelica Cosulich, who reminds the inspector of the love-interest in Ludovico Ariosto’s chivalric romance, Orlando Furioso. Besotted by Angelica’s charms, Montalbano imagines himself back in the medieval world of jousts and battles. But when one of the burglars turns up dead, Montalbano must snap out of his fantasy and unmask his challenger. "
My thoughts: I listened to the Grover Gardner audiobook, while periodically glancing at the Kindle edition's notes. Gardner is a marvellous narrator so I would give the audiobook edition a boost to 4*.
This entry in the series had a bit less about Montalbano's food (which was a shame as I love that part). He is struggling with aging & as he is about my age I can sympathize with that. However, I thought that the mystery part was not one of Camilleri's better efforts. Not bad but not as engrossing or puzzling as in some of the previous books.
*The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain {reread}format/source = audiobook/SYNC, narrated by Robin Field; 319 pages; date finished = 10/14; 4★
Categories: Join the Club AAB Group Classic
Country: U.S.A. {MO}
Publisher's blurb says: "Mark Twain’s brilliant 19th-century novel has long been recognized as one of the finest examples of American literature. It brings back the irrepressible and free-spirited Huck, first introduced in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and puts him center stage. Rich in authentic dialect, folksy humor, and sharp social commentary, Twain’s classic tale follows Huck and the runaway slave Jim on an exciting journey down the Mississippi."
My thoughts: While I can understand why this novel is considered to be more important than its predecessor, [The Adventures of Tom Sawyer], as a story I have always preferred Tom Sawyer. I reread Tom Sawyer via audiobook last fall & thought it was time to revisit this one to see if I felt differently about it now, especially as I owned an audiobook edition of it that I hadn't listened to yet!
Well, it seems my tastes remain the same. I can appreciate this novel & its social satire but I found that my favorite parts were the ones that Tom was in! Tom's imagination & desire for adventures are so much fun that it makes me understand why Huck would go along with his incredibly silly schemes.
Robin Field did an excellent narration in this audiobook edition.
Books finished 15 - 21 October:222.
The Instant Enemy by Ross MacDonaldformat/source = paperback/MOB; 201 pages; date finished = 10/15; 3★
Categories: Watching the Detectives
Country: U.S.A. {CA}
Publisher's blurb says: "Generations of murder, greed and deception come home to roost in time for the most shocking conclusion ever in a Lew Archer novel.At first glance, it's an open-and-shut missing persons case: a headstrong daughter has run off to be with her hothead juvenile delinquent boyfriend. That is until this bush-league Bonnie & Clyde kidnap Stephen Hackett, a local millionaire industrialist. Now, Archer is offered a cool 100 Gs for his safe return by his coquettish heiress mother who has her own mysterious ties to this disturbed duo. But the deeper Archer digs, the more he realizes that nothing is as it seems and everything is questionable."
My thoughts: I didn't care for this one as much as some of the other Archer books, maybe because the people Archer is working for were all so unpleasant.
223.
A Very Private Grave by Donna Fletcher Crowformat/source = Kindle/Amazon; 389 pages; date finished = 10/17; 2½★
Categories: Watching the Detectives; These Things Take Time
Country: England & Scotland
Publisher's blurb says: "Felicity Howard, a young American studying at the College of the Transfiguration in Yorkshire, is devastated when she finds her beloved Fr. Dominic bludgeoned to death and Fr. Antony, her church history lecturer, soaked in his blood ... A Very Private Grave is a contemporary novel with a thoroughly modern heroine who must learn some ancient truths in order to solve the mystery and save her own life, as she and Fr. Antony flee a murderer and follow clues that take them to out-of-the way sites across northern England and southern Scotland. The narrative deftly mixes detection, intellectual puzzles, spiritual aspiration, romance, and the solving of clues ancient and modern."
My thoughts: The plot is very similar to that of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code though more in the style of a murder mystery rather than a thriller. A small group (in this case 3 people) are guarding a secret relating to the Christian church; one of the group is murdered but leaves behind cryptic clues which a man and young woman try to unravel, travelling from place to place while others try to stop them. This plot is more believable but the identity of the bad guys seemed pretty obvious after the halfway point. I learned a lot about early English church history (more than I really wanted to!) including who the Venerable Bede was (previously just a name to me).
224.
Dark Nantucket Noon by Jane Langton {reread}format/source = paperback/MOB; 293 pages; date finished = 10/18; 3½★
Categories: Watching the Detectives
Country: U.S.A. {MA}
Publisher's blurb says: "Poet Katharine "Kitty" Clark came to Nantucket to watch the eclipse, and ended up kneeling on the beach at the base of the Maria Mitchell Observatory, next to the body of Helen Green. Kitty's knife was found buried in the sand nearby. Accused by a bystander of having killed Helen, Kitty replies "No. It was the moon, you see. The moon did it." Then Homer Kelly shows up at the jail where she is being held, and tells her he is her attorney. Homer's approach is unorthodox, but maybe that's for the best."
My thoughts: During the few minutes of darkness during a total eclipse of the sun, a young woman is murdered on Nantucket Island. Discovered standing over her is the poet & college professor Kitty Clark, spurned lover of the dead woman's husband. Will Homer Kelly be able to convince a jury of Kitty's innocence?
Probably this mystery only deserves 3* but being from Massachusetts, I loved all the details and the line drawings about Nantucket in the book.
225.
George Seferis Collected Poems by George Seferis (ℕ) translated by Edmund Keeley & Philip Sherrardformat/source = paperback/borrowed from my dad; 550 pages; date finished = 10/19; 3½★
Categories: All Around the World; After All the Roads Have Led to Nowhere
Country: Greece
Publisher's blurb says: "This new bilingual edition of George Seferis: Collected Poems both supplements and revises the two earlier editions published in 1967 and 1969. It collects for the first time the complete "Notes for a 'Week,'" Three Secret Poems and three later poems that were not collected by the poet himself but whose English translation he authorized during his lifetime.
Long recognized as the leading contemporary Greek poet, George Seferis was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1963. As the translators suggest in their introductory essay, Seferis's contribution to Greek poetry lies both in his capacity for creating those universal metaphors that illuminate the deeper meaning of our times and in his stylistic purity, allowing no imbellishment beyond that necessary for precise poetic statement.
In this new edition, some changes have been made in the tranlations of the 1924-1955 poems, in the hope of achieving both greater accuracy and greater stylistic decorum; the Bibliographical Note and the Biographical Note have been brought up to date; and the notes have been added to the new translations."
My thoughts: While I liked some of the poems very much, overall Seferis didn't really speak to me. I prefer Cavafy...
226.
A Very Quiet Guest by Stella Staffordformat/source = Kindle/Amazon; 160 pages; date finished = 10/20; 1½★
Categories: Watching the Detectives; These Things Take Time
Country: England
Publisher's blurb says: "Following the events in Did Anyone Die? Elodea, Barnabus, Priscilla and Angel are launched unwillingly on another crime trail. Elodea is in danger from an unknown assassin. Who can it be and why are they trying to kill her? Is it Ustin, back from the dead? Do the local jackdaws hold the clue? Are Elodea's other children involved in the mystery? This book should also answer all the trailing queries that the observant reader still held at the end of Did Anyone Die?"
My thoughts: I got this Kindle mystery as a freebie back in 2012 & am glad I didn't pay for it! I didn't know that it was the second book in a series but now that explains some of the problems I had with the book. The author drops the reader into an ongoing situation with very little explanation of what is going on or who the characters are. For example, in the very first paragraph, there is an unexplained abbreviation which I did eventually make a guess at: O.L.I.S. for Oxford Library Information System (?) -- at this point in the book I didn't even know what country it was set in! There were disconcerting jumps from current events to past events (apparently being revisited in the mind of one of the characters though that doesn't get explained until after the fact). The big suspenseful scene at the end of the book is so artificially contrived as to beggar belief.
Ah well, at least it is no longer taking up space on my Kindle.
Leslie wrote: "Books finished 24 - 30 September:Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
format/source = audiobook/library, narrated by Sophie Thompson; 206 pages; date finished = 29 Sept.; 4★
Categories: none
Country: England
Publisher's blurb says: "Mary Poppins is like no other nanny the four Banks children have ever seen. She whirls into their home and "spit-spot," she works her inimitable brand of magic to make even the bland seem extraordinary. An endless source of fascinating adventure, she slides up the banister, produces an array of tricks from her seemingly empty carpetbag, and ensures the Banks' lives will never be the same."
My thoughts: Having grown up with the Disney film version of this children's classic, I was surprised by how different the book was from the movie. Mary Poppins is less nice but more magical & the events of the movie are covered in the first few chapters so there were lots of new adventures for me to enjoy. Plus, there are two more children in the Banks family - twins under 1 year old."
I read Mary Poppins last year, and wow do I prefer the disney movie. Mary Poppins was just plain old unlikable! How is an unlikable nanny beloved by the children...even if she does do magic? I still don't get how children would enjoy reading the book where the main character acts like that.
Did you watch the Saving Mr Banks movie? Apparently P.L. Travers hated what Disney did in his adaptation, but if the P.L. Travers character is anything like the real P.L. Travers, I could see how Mary Poppins turned out so unlikable.
All About Books
Books mentioned in this topic
The Winds of War (other topics)On the Jellicoe Road (other topics)
The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries (other topics)
The Wee Free Men: The Beginning (Discworld, #30 & #32) (other topics)
The Crooked Wreath (other topics)
More...
My theme for 2017 is based on song titles. Since I can't handle 17 categories, I will be doing 10 since conveniently 2+0+1+7=10.
These are the categories I am planning on:
✓1. Numbered Days by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones: new-to-me Guardian books (goal = 25+)
2. ABC Boogie by Bill Haley and the Comets: Alphabet challenge
✓3. These Things Take Time by The Smiths: Kindle catchup (goal=25+)
✓4. All Around the World by The Jam: Books in Translation (read the world)
✓5. Watching the Detectives by Elvis Costello: Mysteries (emphasis on already owned books & BoTMs)
6. Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) by David Bowie: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
7. Memories Can’t Wait by The Talking Heads: Proust Remembrance of Things Past series
8. Join the Club by Reel Big Fish: Group reads & readalongs
9. In A Stage Whisper by Superchunk: Plays/drama
10. After All the Roads Have Led to Nowhere by Sugar: catch-all (nonfiction, poetry, short stories, etc.)