What are you reading the week of January 19, 2019?

I've started two books this week. The First Day on the Eastern Front which has been very engaging. The author does a great job of surveying the experiences and attitudes from the political leaders down through the common infantryman. I've also begun Gilgamesh: A Reader, a collection of essays on the Akkadian The Epic of Gilgamesh. I'll probably read an essay or two a week, so it's going to take me some time to finish.

My plan to thin my library is coming along nicely. I gave away two books this week...and bought five. Don't judge me! :-)

Richard, I'm afraid that I have an obsession with learning new things. Years ago a coworker told me, "Have you ever noticed that our conversations always start out the same? I say, 'I saw this television show once...' and you say, 'I read this book once...'." But in a couple of weeks the new Inspector Montalbano translation will be arriving. I'll drop everything else when that arrives. Sadly, there are no new Nero Wolfe stories for me to savor. As I get older, I find that my craving for new information is increased as I feel the pressure of my limited time remaining. This seems to be in sharp contrast to everyone else I know. I had a conversation with another coworker yesterday where we were both lamenting the fact that neither of us really understood how quantum computing was supposed to work. Now I find myself fighting the urge to look for books on the subject. :-)

Enjoying this OverDrive audiobook ~

A Well-Behaved Woman: A Novel of the Vanderbilts by Therese Anne Fowler

(Gilded Age/Alva Smith marries into the Vanderbilt family/old money vs. new money positioning in NY society)

>1 fredbacon: I read the classic N.K. Sandars translation of The Epic of Gilgamesh last year and found it fascinating. Sandars' explanatory introduction added a significant amount of meaning and depth to the reading experience. But that edition was published in the 1970s, if I remember correctly. It would be very interesting to know what new research and discoveries have added to the tale.

Late last week I sped through The Little Buddhist Monk & The Proof, two rather hallucinatory novellas by prominent Argentinian author César Aira.

I'm now about 100 pages into The Life of Andrew Jackson by Marquis James, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 1938. I'll be a while, as the book, actually two books republished together in a single volume, is almost 800 pages long. The first 100 pages have sped along and taken Jackson all the way to prominence in Tennessee and national politics. Things are about to slow down and get much more detailed, as the entire second of the two original books is about Jackson's presidency and late life.

It's my last week to tell everyone I'm reading Caliban's War by James S. A. Corey. I have less than 140 pages left of this chunkster and everything's coming to a dramatic conclusion.

I finished Tessa Hadley's Late in the Day - I thoroughly enjoyed this novel: wise, funny, thoughtful, so well-written. I recommend it as well as her previous book, The Past.

Now I'm reading Elaine Dundy's Elvis and Gladys.

Still reading The Neutronium Alchemist and The Book of Swords, and I added The Fourth Monkey by J. D. Barker to the mix.

I finished reading Michelle Obama's memoir, and I enjoyed it very much. It has left me with a lot to think about.

Now I'm reading (and loving) a true crime novel written by Richard Lloyd Parry, who is the Tokyo Bureau Chief and Asian desk head for the Times of London - an excellent writer with superb research skills. The book, which took him a decade to put together painstakingly is People who Eat Darkness, about the 2000 murder of a British national, a young woman who was working in Tokyo when she disappeared. Saddening, fascinating, intriguing.

I have finished The Exile by Pearl S. Buck a biography of her mother's life as a missionary in China. It is written in the very first person by Pearl however she is strangely missing from story line which I found frustrating, of the seven children that her mother had, four had died leaving three, two sisters are written of, however Pearl was not mentioned as herself in the novel, quite strange although she was there.

I have started on The Book Of Emmett by Deborah Forster.

Love Potion Number 10 – Betsy Woodman
3***

Book two in the Jana Bibi Adventures series begins when Jana is asked to participate in a newspaper interview. Word has gotten out about how she saved her town, Hamara Nagar, with the help of her fortune-telling parrot, Mr Ganguly, and now the Weekly wants to send a reporter to do a feature article. There’s also a gang of animal thieves operating in the district, and Mr Ganguly seems to be their next target. A group of foreign investors has their eyes on the local hotel, looking to refurbish and remodel to make it a luxury tourist destination. And now the local apothecary, Abinath, has created Love Potion Number 10 (LPN10), which has Jana wondering if love is possible again at age fifty-nine.

Woodman lived some ten years in India and she writes about 1960s India in a way that honors its past and makes this reader long to experience Jana Bibi’s home. The culture comes alive, especially as Jana – a Scot by birth – is so very fond of her adopted home, and works so hard to preserve the culture as it is.

The characters are charmingly eccentric, the setting is beautiful and exotic, the plot has a few twists and turns, and there are some genuinely funny moments to entertain and delight.

Finished reading the very enjoyable Half a Lifelong Romance by Eileen Chang.

Now I am going to finish reading Notes From The Fog by Ben Marcus.

Eats, Shoots & Leaves – Lynne Truss
4****

Subtitle: A Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation.

Well this was the perfect “geek-read” for me. My writing may not always be correctly punctuated, but I do try to adhere to the general rules of grammar and punctuation. There were more than a few moments when I felt Truss was channeling the good Sisters at Ursuline Academy who first tried to drum those rules into my head.

Truss writes with a delightfully irreverent style, and yet still conveys the seriousness of her purpose. Clearly there is a difference between
A woman, without her man, is nothing.
And
A woman: without her, man is nothing.

It was a fast, enjoyable read, and I think I learned a few things.

The Grand Sophy
by Georgette Heyer
4/5 stars
This is the classic 1950 story from the romance writer Georgette Heyer. Set in 1816, Sophy’s father, the diplomat is traveling so she is sent to stay with relatives with whom she barely knows and vice–a-versa. During her time there she manages to upend all of their lives for the better with all her schemes and finds love herself.

Just finished The Library Book by Susan Orlean.
Currently reading The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict.
Next up Virgil Wander by Leif Enger.

The second best thing about winter? Reading!
The best thing about winter? When it's over!

Feeling the same way about winter perennialreader! My favourite place to read is the lawn chair at our shore property (no cottage, but a great chair!), on a warm, sunny day. In the midst of record-breaking cold, I can dream. I just finished a book that has been classified as Christian fiction. It is Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep by Patricia H. Rushford. I am actually looking for a good Christian fiction book to recommend to a book club, but I don't think this is meaty enough for our group. It was a light and entertaining read, but not one that will make me seek out the next in the series.

Tonight I finished a Kindle Unlimited book, To the Bridge by Nancy Rommelmann. This nonfiction story about a woman who threw two of her three children off a bridge was heartbreaking and infuriating. Not the best writing, but a sad and interesting story.

50% through Iona Whishaw ''s A Killer in King''s Cove the 1st Lane Winslow mystery.. Canadian author and setting in the Nelson area of British Columbia.
British Intelligence retiree following WWI wants the peace and quiet of country life in her new country , not the discovery of a corpse on her creekside property.
I've enjoyed 2 other novels in the series so decided to get the background from the beginning. Good reading and it works for the Canadian Reading group locations as well ;)

HapPy Reading...

The Dog Who Knew Too Much – Spencer Quinn
3.5***

Book four in the Chet and Bernie mystery series. Bernie is hired to be a “bodyguard” for a woman who fears her ex-husband, as she goes to Parents’ Weekend to visit her son at a remote mountain camp. But when they arrive, her ex is no where to be found, and neither is her son, who’s gone missing on an overnight hiking trip. Luckily, they brought Chet along, a great tracking dog (and the narrator of this series).

I love Chet the Jet! Quinn has managed to give him a personality that befits a dog. He’s easily distracted by food or squirrels, given to taking things too literally (still looking for that wild goose that never seems to be present despite Bernie’s commenting on the wild goose chase they’re on), loyal to a fault, and courageous. I find looking at the mystery and the events that unfold through Chet’s eyes simply delightful and fun.

>17 BookConcierge: I read the first book of this series at the urging of my neighbor and was quite surprised to enjoy it.

>17 BookConcierge:, >18 rocketjk: I enjoy the Chet books, too, although I haven't read any for awhile.

I have only 5 or so hours left of the audio of Sarum and started reading Moloka'i. I read it several years ago but I've forgotten most of it and want to read Daughter of Moloka'i when it comes out next month.

>19 TooBusyReading: I’ve been thinking of rereading Moloka’i for the same reason. I’m looking forward to this new one!

After finishing The Power, I needed something a little lighter and fluffier and have settled into Angela Thirkell’s High Rising. It was written in the ‘30s and the casual racism is a bit of a bummer.

>1 fredbacon: Howzabout Quantum Computing Since Democritus, Fred? I live to serve....

It's been horrible hand-pain-wise since Saturday and I'm only now crawling out of the pit. More reading to report soonish.

>7 ahef1963: I read People Who Eat Darkness years ago and still think of it. It is horrific, scary, well-researched and well-written. I've never read such a crime story before or since.

Continuing my ER read The Binding, a highly enjoyable novel.

Just finished reading an electrifying collection of short stories, Notes From The Fog by Ben Marcus.

Next up to read is The Temple of The Golden Pavilion by Yukio Mishima.

I'm starting slow after the hard weekend...The King's Evil, a short weird novel by CanLit biggie David Helwig. Charles I, King of England, lives out his life near Niagara. My WTF bone got tickled by that.

Enjoying this OverDrive audiobook ~

An Anonymous Girl by Hendricks & Pekkanen

(psych suspense/ethics and morality study leads to a twisty cat-and-mouse game/two main characters, authors and narrators)

>19 TooBusyReading: There's a new Chet & Bernie mystery coming out this year!

Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery – Jenny Cogan
Digital audiobook read by Anne-Marie Piazza
3***

Book three in the Little Beach Street Bakery series, featuring Polly Waterford, master baker, her boyfriend Huckle, their friends Reuben and Kerensa, and the residents of Mount Polbearne, the Cornish coastal village in which Polly lives.

This is a fun chick-lit romance with some over-the-top coincidences and new-adult drama. Not much of a spoiler to say that it all works out with a fairytale HEA ending. I didn’t realize it was a series when I picked it up, and I don’t really feel that I was missing all that much for not having begun with book one.

I rather like Polly, though her indecisiveness and hesitancy drove me a little crazy. (I would probably understand her better if I’d read the previous books.) Her friend Kerensa is a mess, though. Polly certainly seemed to have enough on her plate without having to deal with Kerensa’s drama.

Have to say I really appreciated the recipes at the end – especially the hot chocolate!

Anne-Marie Piazza does a find job narrating the audiobook. She has quite a few characters to handle and managed to give them distinct voices. Huckle and Reuben being Americans required some stretch in providing authentic accents, and Piazza did make them sound rather stereotypical. But it was still a fun listen.

Read the poetry collection, Dog Songs by Mary Oliver. A wonderful homage to our dear doggie friends!

Really enjoying The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry

Finished People who eat Darkness - meh. It started out well, and taught me some things about Japan I didn't know, but it really dragged from about the halfway point.

Read The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn. Not a bad thriller, but not great, either.

In hopes of finding something better than mediocre, I'm going to read Oscar and Lucinda next. I've always enjoyed Peter Carey's writing.

>30 ahef1963: Oscar and Lucinda was my first Peter Carey (long, long ago) and I decided right away that this was an author I had to keep an eye on. He always takes you somewhere you haven't been before. I hope you enjoy O&L.

I finished another of Chinua Achebe's novels, Arrow of God. This book presents the conflict of African tribal society with that of the white man and Christianity. It does so from the African point of view concentrating on the efforts of a priest's attempts to deal with the changes.

>26 BookConcierge: Thanks for the heads-up. I'll keep an eye out for the new Chet & Bernie. They are fun, light reads, especially for dog people who can relate easily.

Clarissa Harwood ''s Impossible Saints to start if she''s new to your grour or 2nd book just pub'd Bear No Malice coming to mind.. and Canadian ;)

>14 lamplight: lamplight
Bookclub suggestion..
Clarissa Harwood ''s last year's debut Impossible Saints or just released Bear No Malice ..+ she's Canadian ;)

>30 ahef1963:

Have you read Jack Maggs by Peter Carey I think that it is his best.

I always like to read children's books- here a couple that were so sweet.
Alma and How She Got Her Name
Juana Martinez-Neal
5/5 stars
Sweet picture book with wonderful drawings about a young girl who’s name will be a reminder of her family and their stories.

Elmore
Holly Hobbie
4/5 stars
This is a wonderful picture book about making friends when it is hard to make friends. Great drawings!

>36 aussieh: I admire Jack Maggs, too. Another favorite is Parrot and Olivier in America.

The King's Evil, page 57: We're reading excerpts from Eikon Basilike, allegedly penned by Charles I though widely presumed to be ghosted for him, in an annotated 18th-century copy, over main character Dross's shoulder:
Freedom, Moderation and impartialitie are sure the best tempers of reforming Councels, and endeavours; what is acted by Faction, cannot but offend more than it pleaseth.
And in the eighteenth-century (is it?) hand is written beside this and along the bottom of the page.
Hard words. He would take from Man what no man has ever agreed to give, and can never, without being less than Man.
***
Written in 1980s Canada. Author Helwig saw today plainly, based on this evidence! Or is it merely the case that humanity isn't all that original in its collective thinking?

I finished Elaine Dundy's Elvis and Gladys -- a fascinating look back at people and events I had mostly forgotten, or perhaps never really knew. I was a teenager when Elvis became famous and though I liked his music I was never a big fan of his films and I was never particularly interested in learning more about his life I chose this book more because I've become interested in the author and her books, but I enjoyed this chance to revisit the past and to learn more about Elvis and his mom.

Next up: Marion Winik's The Glen Rock Book of the Dead.

I finished listening to Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami. It was marvelously mysterious, lyrical, and thought provoking.

Next up for listening is the 10th installment of the Flavia de Luce series, Golden Tresses of The Dead by Alan Bradley.

>41 hemlokgang: My daughter always sends me as a gift the Flavia books whenever the author releases a new one- just got the latest in the mail yesterday!

I posted a TL;DR teaser for my review of The King's Evil by CanLit leading light David Helwig. I'm still wrestling on the blog itself to get that bad boy to the ground. It was an intense read and I want to get all the way into it, wrench open the cupboard doors and saw the green logs into what *I* see as their proper form...and I know how MEGO-inducing that is for others...and I still want to...and round and round we go.

So I'm taking an hour off the romp among the threads.

I read two books by Lucy Worsley this week:
Queen Victoria: Twenty-Four Days that Changed Her Life (US edition)
The biography focuses on 24 significant days in Victoria's life beginning with her parents' marriage to her death.
My Name is Victoria (teen)
Victoria Conroy, called Miss V by her family, goes to be a companion to Princess Victoria at Kensington Palace.

I finished The Glen Rock Book of the Dead and now I'm reading Our Spoons Came from Woolworths.

The new thread is up over here.

>3 rocketjk: I've read a couple of different translations of Gilgamesh over the years, including the original Sumerian story cycles on which it was based. The more I read about it, the more fascinating it becomes. My previous dog was named Enkidu after Gilgamesh's companion, and he lived up to his name. My current dog is named Dante. Which is kind of funny since I once told my college literature professor that I found Dante morally despicable. He laughed and changed my essay assignment to Sartre's No Exit instead. But who wants to name their dog Sartre? :-D

>46 fredbacon: "But who wants to name their dog Sartre?" :-D

Ha! You may be amused to know that my wife and I named our dog Yossarian.

A House That Once Was
By Julie Fogliano
5/5 stars
This is a lovely picture book about children exploring an abandoned house and imagining what had happened there. Wonderful writing and illustrations.

We Don't Eat Our Classmates
Ryan T Higgins
3.5/5 stars
Penelope is a dinosaur, who is starting to go to school with a class full of humans. Unfortunately, she likes to eat humans but an incident with the school fish turns her attitude around and she learns how to make friends.

Mariah Mundi: The Midas Box
by G.P. Taylor
3.5/5 stars
Mariah Mundi is sent away from home to work in The Prince Regent, a hotel. His job is to assist the magician in the magic show. Unfortunately, the previous assistants have all disappeared and it takes Mariah and Sacha, a co-worker to find out what happened in this sinister and magical tale.