What are you reading now?: 4/26/2025

Wrapping up The Great When (somewhat underwhelmed). Complicated Game, To A Distant Day, and Jade War will follow.

Having finished my reading plan for April, I'm now well into After 1177 BC, with Woken Furies to follow.

started this Regency audio via hoopla ~

Suddenly You
by Lisa Kleypas

I'm on the 4th and final novella in Strange Weather by Joe Hill. The whole collection has been a wild ride!

This Is Going to Hurt – Adam Kay
Book on CD narrated by the author
3***

Subtitle: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor (or “..of a Medical Resident” in the USA)

Adam Kay wanted to be a doctor. He was drawn to the idea of helping people in distress. When he was a medical student and a “junior doctor” (residency in the USA), he kept a diary of his experiences. This memoir is based on those entries.

I’ve always been interested in medicine and the work done by medical professionals. This promised humor along with information. He delivered on both those promises, but …

I really didn’t much care for the format of diary entries. It lacked narrative flow for me. The last chapter is an essay on the aftermath of a horrendous case that changed his outlook forever. Kay is no longer a practicing physician, but instead makes his living as a comedian and writer for television and film.

Kay narrates the audiobook himself. He was quite effective. Though for American ears, there are some acronyms he uses that took a while for me to figure out. (A&E in the British term for ER; “accident & emergency” = “emergency room”) The audio also includes a bonus section of additional diary entries that didn’t make the cut in the first edition. It served to bring the humor back in focus, rather than ending on a down note.

I'm currently reading The Diabolic, it's really interesting and I hope I'm able to finish it soon.

>4 BookConcierge: I enjoyed Adam Kay's book!

"Ach! - gibt es denn eine Kluft, ueber die die Liebe mit starkem Fittich sich nicht hinwegschwingen koennte. Was ist fuer die Liebe der Raum, die Zeit! - Lebt sie nicht im Gedanken, und kennt der denn ein Mass?" My translation: "Ah! - is there a chasm over which love cannot, with strong wings, vault over. What is space and time to love? - Does it not live in thought, and does it know a measure?" Interesting that such passionate words over the theme of love occur in a book in which E. T. A. Hoffmann wove a tale out of his obsession with a doppelgaenger: Die Elexiere des Teufels.

The Man Who Died Twice – Richard Osman
Digital audiobook performed by Lesley Manville
3***

From the book jacket: Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim – The Thursday Murder Club – are still riding high off their recent real-life murder case and are looking forward to a bit of peace and quiet at Coopers Chase, their posh retirement village. But an unexpected visitor arrives, desperate for Elizabeth’s help. He has been accused of stealing diamonds worth millions from the wrong men, and he’s seriously on the lam. Then a body is discovered, and the group soon find themselves up against a ruthless murderer who wouldn’t bat an eyelid at knocking off four septuagenarians. Can our unlikely friends catch the killer before the killer catches them?

My reactions
This series has the major hallmarks of a cozy mystery – amateur sleuths too nosey for their own good and a cast of eccentric characters that help or hinder. But the crimes are more front-and-center than most cozies.

I really loved the initial book in the series but was less enamored with this sophomore effort. I’m sure it’s partly due to all the stuff going on in real life right now which keeps my brain occupied elsewhere than in the pages of a good story.

Still, the group is just as endearing as they were in the first outing, and, of course, they still get the best of the bad guys. There are some moments of humor to break the tension, and a very satisfying ending.

Lesley Manville does a marvelous job of narrating the audiobook. She has a lot of characters to handle, and she is up to the task.

I have started reading the third and last book of The Lost Queen trilogy. The Shadowed Land by Signe Pike I have enjoyed this series of a bygone era

The new thread is up over here.