What are you reading the week of March 2, 2019?

I'm about two thirds of the way through Ancient Mesopotamia: Portrait of a Dead Civilization, and I should finish it this week. The past few weeks have been a little rough as I decided to give up smoking cigars. I'm now three weeks without a cigar. Yeah! Unfortunately, without being conscious of it, I've apparently been eating more junk food and gaining weight. Boo! Giving up bad habits is like squeezing a balloon. You reduce a problem one place, and it pops out somewhere else. Unfortunately, that isn't just a metaphor in this instance. :-)

Good for you for giving up cigars Fred! Try sugarless gum, mints or fresh veggies to get you through the rough spots

Great work, Fred, it's hard to give up tobacco use. >2 cdyankeefan: has some good ideas there.

I'm not sure I want to read The Golden Tresses of the Dead yet. It's likely the last book in the series, and I'm not sure I want to let go yet. So there's a reading crisis...I have no idea which of the thousand-plus books I own should be next up, or should I finish one of the thirty-plus I've started and stalled out on, or just watch trash on Netflix....

Fred congrats on 3 weeks cigar less. It's tough to do. For me giving up or decreasing my sugar intake has been so hard. Cdyankeefan has great suggestions. Also try going for a quick walk every time you crave a cigar.

I am reading Pachinko which is very good so far.

Enjoying this OverDrive audiobook ~

As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by Alan Bradley

(Flavia de Luce mystery series/1950s/girl busybody and sleuth/sent abroad to a Canadian boarding school/I adore Entwistle's voice performance)

Just finished an enemy at Green Knowe by L.M. Boston.

Now reading warlight Michael Ondaatje.

Thanks as always for starting us off, Fred, and kudos on the cigar quitting. I can think of a vice or two that I more or less lost interest in and drifted away from, but I can't offhand think of one I've been able to quit on purpose. As to your current reading, though, is it really a "portrait of a dead civilization"? I mean, isn't it a portrait of a living civilization that has since died? Ha! I crack myself up.

I need the levity, in that I am just past the halfway point of Yugoslavia: Death of a Nation by BBC correspondents Laura Silber and Allan Little. It is an admirably well-organized and clear account, given how complicated and multi-faceted the whole mess was. One thing the book lays to rest is the "myth" (the authors' word) that all the fighting was the inevitable result of ancient ethnic hatreds that boiled over once Tito died. They pretty much consider Slobodan Milošević's desire for power to be the catalyst for the whole tragic mess, with help at crucial moments by the folly of the European community's would-be peacemakers.

Lisa's Legacy Trilogy: Slip-Cased Lisa's Legacy Trilogy Containing All Three Cloth Editions
Tom Batiuk
4/5 stars
This trilogy is actual taken from the comic series Funky Winkerbean and revolves around the love story between Les and his wife Lisa and her struggles with breast cancer and what happens beyond that. As a regular reader of the comic strip which I have followed for years, I thoroughly enjoyed this series but if you read it you may want to get some tissues.

Still reading The Neutronium Alchemist, Shogun, Alliance Rising, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction May/June 2018, and Python Programming: A Step By Step Guide From Beginner To Expert. Still feeling the reading slump.

Well done, Fred!

In addition to Asimov's Galaxy, I've also started Change!: seventy-one glimpses of the future, which is a collection of his columns for American Airlines' inflight magazine. They're shorter than the Asimov's editorials, and don't seem to have the same spark. But then, even a consummate master can't turn out 24 karat gold all the time.

Need to find a novel or volume of short stories, and have the same problem as Richard. Do I start something new, or return to one of the many books I've started and gotten distracted from?

>1 fredbacon: I'm impressed at your three weeks without a cigar. Great work! If you do decide to use mints as >2 cdyankeefan: suggested, please make sure they're sugarless. My ex-husband quit smoking after we got married and chomped mints with sugar when he craved a cigarette. A year later we had a ton of expensive dental work to pay for!

Lack of concentration continues. I've started about three books this week and not gone any further than a chapter or so. Today I found a book that "sticks", so I'm reading Voss by Patrick White, who is an author I admire greatly.

I'm afraid I didn't get very far with The Bridal Wreath despite everyone's enthusiasm about Kristin Lavransdatter. I'll try again in a few months.

>12 ahef1963: I read Voss in, I think, 2017. I found some parts hard to get through, but overall it was a rewarding reading experience for me.

Finished listening to the absolutely wonderful Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine.

Next up for listening is Give Me Your Hand by Megan Abbott.

>11 Catreona: I'm depressed to report that I ended up watching trash on Amazon Prime. At least it wasn't Netflix.

I did start a trashy romantic novel called Any Old Diamonds which presents precisely zero challenges.

Now reading the house of the scorpion by Nancy Farmer.

And only just realized there is a sequel, the lord of opium.

Award-winning YA sci fic

>12 ahef1963:

May I suggest The Tree Of Man by Patrick White it was a very special read for me.

And now the review of Any Old Diamonds is up. Really really enjoyable, though not remotely challenging.

A Breath Of Snow And Ashes – Diana Gabaldon
Book on CD narrated by Davina Porter
3***

Book six in a time-travel series I swore I’d never read, but have become strangely addicted to.

This one is heavy on the history of the years leading up to the American colonies declaring independence from Britain. Jamie and Claire find themselves smack dab in the middle of the uprising and having to carefully manage to avoid completely alienating either of the opposing factions. They have some hard decisions to make and find themselves in multiple dangerous situations.

Gabaldon hardly lets the reader rest and enjoy the love between these two central characters. There are beatings, rapes, arrests, near lynchings, fires, blizzards, and mayhem a plenty. Steven Bonnet, that nasty but charming pirate, can’t seem to keep away. Claire continues her medical experiments – inventing ether and perfecting her penicillin injections (love that she uses rattlesnake fangs as her needles!).

The younger generation have a lot to contend with. Ian is grieving the loss of his Mohawk wife. Fergus needs to find a way to provide for his growing family. And the many new settlers on Fraser’s Ridge need help organizing their new lives in this wild and unpredictable country.

Breanna and Roger play a significant role in this episode and I found Bree just a tiny bit less irritating. Though for the life of me I can’t understand how that woman hasn’t gotten herself into more trouble given her inability to hold her tongue and her penchant for talking about things that don’t exist yet (and won’t for a couple of centuries), and trying to invent “modern” conveniences (Indoor plumbing? Repeating rifles?) Roger is almost as bad, carving cars for the children to play with!

I marvel at the detail that Gabaldon manages to include in these books, and am interested to learn more of 18th century life. That being said, how many times does she have to tells us how everyone smells “of sweat and of horse”?

I’ve gotten way ahead of the TV series, so I think I’m going to give the series a rest for at least a year … if I can stay away …

Davina Porter is nothing short of perfection in her performance of the audiobook. I love the way she voices the various characters. She brings out both Bonnet’s charm and oily nastiness; makes Claire both vulnerable and iron-strong; and helps the listener fell the pain of Ian’s loss.

I'm reading The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden. It's been a fast-paced adventure so far!

I finished Born A Crime. Born of a white father and an amazing black mother in Apartheid South Africa. A revealing account of South African history and culture along with sometimes humorous, sometimes appalling account of his life. I wish the book had address how he turned from hustler to comedian, but perhaps that's another book.

Reading Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon. Read it first when I was a teenager. Also, reading The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead.

>19 BookConcierge: wrote
"A Breath Of Snow And Ashes – Diana Gabaldon
Book on CD narrated by Davina Porter
3***

Book six in a time-travel series I swore I’d never read, but have become strangely addicted to."

I understand too well. I listened to the first one because my sister got it for me on Audible, and I keep listening. I think I would not have enjoyed it as much if I read it instead of listening to Davina Porter's excellent narration. I love hearing her voice. Of course, the whole series is completely unbelievable, and does get repetitious despite the historical events but that hasn't stopped me. I haven't tried the TV series because I'm comfortable with the images in my brain and don't want to confuse them.

Alice Payne Arrives is fast-paced, so much so that I'll finish it today! (After starting it today, to be clear.)

>21 snash: I started that on audio, read by the author, but got turned off by his utter callousness and disregard for any other living being, with the possible exception of his parents. May return to it at some point...

Finished The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction May/June 2018 edited by C. C. Finlay. Enjoyed it overall.

I have been reading memoirs lately. Just finished Blue Nights by Joan Didion (which I had read some years ago) and am starting Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover.

Another that might interest you Paula by Isabel Allende, about the death of her daughter. Powerful story, amidst the Chilean 'revolution'

I just started reading Wife Between Us.

Over the weekend I returned to and finished Andersen's Fairy Tales. Childhood favorites "The Ugly Duckling", "The Little Match Girl" and "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" remain favorites. I remembered loving "The Snow Queen" but couldn't remember the story. Rereading it was a great pleasure. Among those never before read, "The Fir Tree", which is very sad, and "The Elder Tree Mother", which is very lovely, are new favorites. Curiously, "The Little Mermaid", another childhood favorite, was not included in the volume. Overall it was an enjoyable read.

>15 richardderus: Richard, I couldn't find the book you mentioned at either BARD or Audible. While searching, though, I found a couple of juvenile mysteries and a book by Victoria Holt at BARD and a radio series called Richard Diamond, Detective starring Dick Powell at Audible. Not too shabby a haul. Haven't read Victoria Hold in a good forty years. That's the one I'm going to download and start tonight.

Finished listening to the very good Give Me Your Hand.

Next up for listening is Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli.

I finished and reviewed the fun time-travel novella Alice Payne Arrives.

>30 Catreona:

My favorite Andersen tales from childhood were
"Big Claus and Little Claus" and
"The Traveling Companion" from a 1946 edition my father gave me when I was about 5. I have it still.

I'm reading The night diary by Veera Hiranandani.
J/YA historical novel set in India/Pakistan in 1947.
Told in a series of letters.

Enjoying this OverDrive audiobook ~

The Dark Lake (Gemma Woodstock Book 1) by Sarah Bailey

(police procedural set in Australia/Aussie author and narrator)

I finished Yugoslavia: Death of a Nation by Laura Silber and Allan Little. This history by two BBC correspondents does a very good job of presenting the chronology and events of this massive deadly tragedy. The book deftly separates the many different threads of nationalism and nation building that led to the multi-faceted years-long conflict with horrifying atrocities that gave the world the term "ethnic cleansing." My more in-depth review can be read on the book's work page or on my 50-Book Challenge thread.

Next up for me will be a mystery: Night Sins by Tami Hoag

I'm reading The Last Policeman by Ben Winters, It was recommended by author Raymond Khoury, and I'm finding it fascinating! It's about how people react to knowing a meteor will be striking and wiping out our planet in 6 months. For one policeman it's about continuing his job and trying to solve a crime. This is the first in a trilogy.

I am very deeply stuck in a reading slump so I'm resorting to a favorite fallback. All the other books are on hold until I finish A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie.

>33 nrmay: Don't remember "The Traveling Companion". I'll have to go back and check, but I don't think it was in the 1945 volume from BARD.

>38 seitherin: Old favorites are such a comfort!

I've been struggling too, but finally found a new read that holds my interest. It's The Secret Woman by Victoria Holt and I'm loving it.

Now devouring The Silence of the Girls. I love Pat Barker!

>29 LadyRakat: I was a little disappointed in that book, maybe because I was expecting more of a thriller. But my opinion seems to be in the minority. Enjoy!

Finished A Caribbean Mystery. Still a favorite.

Finished rereading Teacher Man by the great Frank McCourt in a day. I still have a few half-finished ones to finish.

Started Between Two Shores by Jocelyn Green
The novel is set in Quebec during the French and Indian War.

I finished Unique Eats and Eateries of Philadelphia. The book comments on over 200 eateries (some bars, groceries and miscellaneous), The focus of each short entry is on the history and people, with only a nod to the food. It's missing some I think should be there and including a few don't, but overall the author does a good job. Probably every person living in Philadelphia would have a few squabbles and they'd all be different.

When reorganizing some of my bookcases I discovered a book I had forgotten all about Enhancements a Novel by Kathryn Harrison. I guess it's like finding some extra money in your wallet. How did I miss reading this book about Rasputin's daughter? Well, I am setting things straight by starting to pick it up right now and have a go at it. A lucky day!

The End of the Affair – Graham Greene
Audible audio performed by Colin Firth
3.5***

Maurice Bendrix recalls the affair he had with the married Sarah Miles. Bendrix is a writer, and he uses his experience exploring characters’ motivations and emotions to look at the attraction, passion and ultimate love-hate relationship he had with Sarah.

And that push-pull of the love-hate relationship is at the center of this little novel. Greene repeatedly has Bendrix reference it:
“So this is a record of hate far more than of love, …”
“Hatred seems to operate the same glands as love; it even produces the same actions.”
“I became aware that our love was doomed; love had turned into a love affair with a beginning and an end….It was as though our love were a small creature caught in a trap and bleeding to death; I had to shut my eyes and wring its neck.”
“My desire now was nearer hatred than love,..”
(All these quotes are in the first 50 pages.)

And this pretty much describes my relationship with this novel. On the one hand I love the way Greene writes, and the way he draws these characters, revealing them little by little, so that the reader eventually forms her own opinion about them. They are complex and conflicted, sometimes obtuse, often wary and prone to prevarication.

On the other hand, I really disliked all of them. I didn’t care about Bendrix and his obsession with Sarah (whether to love her or to hate her). I didn’t understand Sarah’s motivations at all. Always dissatisfied and constantly searching for “something more, ” she seemed to just walk through life, leaving a trail of destruction behind her. And yet, I’m supposed to believe that she was deeply religious – or becoming so – and sought atonement and forgiveness.

Colin Firth does a fine job narrating the audiobook. He’s a talented actor and breathes life into Bendrix’s sad tale of obsession and loss. He almost made me like Maurice!

Decided to read another Agatha Christie before I tackle my current reading rotation again. This time it's Endless Night.

Started on My Antonia by Willa Cather , I really enjoyed my previous reading of O Pioneers! by Willa.

Dropped everything to leap onto Murmur by Will Eaves, an LTER selection.

Starting this OverDrive audiobook ~

The Healer's Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson

(Hagenheim Castle Series, Book 1/reimagining of the Sleeping Beauty fairytale/historical fiction/Christian YA)

Finished Endless Night and about to start N or M? by Agatha Christie.

It has been a while since I stopped by - so fun to see what everyone is reading!

In fiction, I am finishing Asymmetry and hope to start The Atlas of Reds and Blues.
In nonfiction / audio (my commute book) - I am listening to the engaging and frustrating The Fall of Wisconsin.
Current poetry is Lord of the Butterflies.

The new thread is up over here.