1Robertgreaves
After another splurge I am starting another new thread. Everything obtained before 30 June 2026 counts as a ROOT, and I am increasing my ROOT target to 84.
My previous thread is here.
I have already begun 101 books this year, with 53 ROOTS. I have 46 treebooks and 45 ebooks which count as potential ROOTs.
Currently reading "Isis and Osiris" by Plutarch and Sober As A Judge by Henry Cecil.
My previous thread is here.
I have already begun 101 books this year, with 53 ROOTS. I have 46 treebooks and 45 ebooks which count as potential ROOTs.
Currently reading "Isis and Osiris" by Plutarch and Sober As A Judge by Henry Cecil.
2Robertgreaves
Possible reading for July 2026:
3MissWatson
Happy new thread, Robert. There are some gorgeous covers in your line-up.
4Jackie_K
Happy new thread! Are you still in the UK, or are you back home now? I hope wherever you are in the world that you are doing OK.
5Robertgreaves
>3 MissWatson: > 4 Thanks for dropping by, Birgit and Jackie. Yes, I'm back in Jakarta and things are going well.
6Robertgreaves
Starting my No. 102, The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley. This ebook is not a ROOT.
My review of Sober As A Judge:
Roger Thursby is made a judge and we watch him trying some of his first cases, while a former schoolfriend of his tries to trap him into some compromising positions.
Not as funny as I remember it being when I read it as a teenager, but still has its moments.
My review of Sober As A Judge:
Roger Thursby is made a judge and we watch him trying some of his first cases, while a former schoolfriend of his tries to trap him into some compromising positions.
Not as funny as I remember it being when I read it as a teenager, but still has its moments.
7Robertgreaves
Also reading my No. 103, Dangerous Visions by Harlan Ellison. This ebook is not a ROOT.
8Robertgreaves
My review of The Bedlam Stacks:
Convalescing from shrapnel damage to his leg, Merrick Tremayne is persuaded in 1859 to join an expedition to Peru to smuggle out cinchona cuttings to be taken to Ceylon to wrest control of quinine production from the Peruvians.
This book was billed as a prequel to "The Watchmaker of Filigree Street" but I thought it was more a matter of 'set in the same universe as', with one minor character in this book playing a major role in TWoFS. Or perhaps I've forgotten something since I read it.
I found this book rather slow and it was only just holding my interest. It wasn't terrible but I've no urge at the moment to explore the author's work further.
Convalescing from shrapnel damage to his leg, Merrick Tremayne is persuaded in 1859 to join an expedition to Peru to smuggle out cinchona cuttings to be taken to Ceylon to wrest control of quinine production from the Peruvians.
This book was billed as a prequel to "The Watchmaker of Filigree Street" but I thought it was more a matter of 'set in the same universe as', with one minor character in this book playing a major role in TWoFS. Or perhaps I've forgotten something since I read it.
I found this book rather slow and it was only just holding my interest. It wasn't terrible but I've no urge at the moment to explore the author's work further.
9Robertgreaves
Starting my No. 103, The Chinese Maze Murders by Robert van Gulik. This ebook is not a ROOT.
10Robertgreaves
Starting my No. 102, Art Theory: A Very Short Introduction by Cynthia Freeland. This book is my fifty-fourth ROOT for 2026 and brings the treebook TBR shelf to 46.
My review of The Chinese Maze Murders:
Judge Dee takes up a new post in Lan-fang where he has to face not only the usual baffling cases but also the threat of a barbarian incursion from across China's Western border, which may be aided by Chinese traitors from within the city.
I'm not sure I fully followed how the Judge solved the case of the maze but was willing to chalk it up to not really paying enough attention to the scroll painting. I assume the portrayal of lesbians was authentic to the time and place of the original narratives rather than imported by the author's own biases, which became obvious in the afterword, and so just has to be accepted as how life was then.
My review of The Chinese Maze Murders:
Judge Dee takes up a new post in Lan-fang where he has to face not only the usual baffling cases but also the threat of a barbarian incursion from across China's Western border, which may be aided by Chinese traitors from within the city.
I'm not sure I fully followed how the Judge solved the case of the maze but was willing to chalk it up to not really paying enough attention to the scroll painting. I assume the portrayal of lesbians was authentic to the time and place of the original narratives rather than imported by the author's own biases, which became obvious in the afterword, and so just has to be accepted as how life was then.
11Robertgreaves
Starting my No. 103, Sky Full of Elephants by Cebo Campbell. This ebook is not a ROOT. I am reading it now for my book club.
My review of Art Theory: A Very Short Introduction:
This book was first published in 2001 and it shows. It starts off with a quick account of 1990s controversies about artworks. It then explains Hume's and Kant's ideas about art and assigns later thinkers to one camp or the other. It attempts a cross-cultural view and then ponders how museums and other collectors affect art. Next up is a chapter on gender and sexuality, and then a chapter each on cognitive psychology and art and digital art.
The book needed a lot more careful editing. Although there are a fair number of b/w illustrations, there are references to "Plates" which do not exist. The chapter on gender and sexuality in art has a line about Mapplethorpe's photographs and a line saying Schubert may or may not have been gay and that is all the author has to say about sexuality in art. Queerbaiting at its finest.
All in all a disappointment.
My review of Art Theory: A Very Short Introduction:
This book was first published in 2001 and it shows. It starts off with a quick account of 1990s controversies about artworks. It then explains Hume's and Kant's ideas about art and assigns later thinkers to one camp or the other. It attempts a cross-cultural view and then ponders how museums and other collectors affect art. Next up is a chapter on gender and sexuality, and then a chapter each on cognitive psychology and art and digital art.
The book needed a lot more careful editing. Although there are a fair number of b/w illustrations, there are references to "Plates" which do not exist. The chapter on gender and sexuality in art has a line about Mapplethorpe's photographs and a line saying Schubert may or may not have been gay and that is all the author has to say about sexuality in art. Queerbaiting at its finest.
All in all a disappointment.
12Robertgreaves
Starting my No. 104, The Samurai Detectives Volume 1 by Shotaro Ikenami. This book is my fifty-fifth ROOT for 2026 and brings the treebook shelf to 45. I am reading it for the DecadeCAT.
My review of Sky Full of Elephants:
In a USA where all the white people have committed suicide, Charlie Brunton gets a call from his mixed-race daughter he's never met asking him for help. She wants him to drive her to Alabama to find her uncle's wife.
I was getting increasingly frustrated in the first half by the way we seemed to be in a post-apocalyptic world without any interest in or explanation of "the event". Indeed, I had almost reached the point where if it hadn't been a book club book I would probably have DNF-ed it with some muttering about the author's lack of world-building skills.
However, the second half, once we'd reached Alabama, redeemed itself with the main characters opening up to each other and the new characters explaining what had happened, answering most of my questions.
My review of Sky Full of Elephants:
In a USA where all the white people have committed suicide, Charlie Brunton gets a call from his mixed-race daughter he's never met asking him for help. She wants him to drive her to Alabama to find her uncle's wife.
I was getting increasingly frustrated in the first half by the way we seemed to be in a post-apocalyptic world without any interest in or explanation of "the event". Indeed, I had almost reached the point where if it hadn't been a book club book I would probably have DNF-ed it with some muttering about the author's lack of world-building skills.
However, the second half, once we'd reached Alabama, redeemed itself with the main characters opening up to each other and the new characters explaining what had happened, answering most of my questions.
14detailmuse
I keep noting your reviews in the "A Very Short Introduction" series. I recently pulled out my copy of the Literary Theory AVSI and DNFed it. I'm still interested in the series though, and I noted the many ratings and reviews in your catalog (including a low rating on Literary Theory), so that may be a guide for me.
15Robertgreaves
>13 connie53: Thanks for dropping by, Connie.
>14 detailmuse: When I started reading them, back in 2006, there were only 150-odd titles and reading and collecting all of them seemed a reasonable ambition. Now there are something like 800, but I'm still working my way through them.
>14 detailmuse: When I started reading them, back in 2006, there were only 150-odd titles and reading and collecting all of them seemed a reasonable ambition. Now there are something like 800, but I'm still working my way through them.
16Robertgreaves
Starting the next in the series The Samurai Detectives Volume 2, as my No. 105. This ebook is not a ROOT. It fits the DecadeCAT and the Coloured Cover CAT
My review of The Samurai Detectives Volume 1:
Akiyama Kohei, his son Daijiro, and a woman teacher from a samurai dojo, Sasaki Mifuyu, navigate crime and politics in 1770s Edo.
Despite the English title, I would class these loosely strung together tales as adventure stories rather than detective stories. I did find the barrage of Japanese names in the first story difficult to cope with and a lot of them still go in one eye and out the other so I expect I'm missing a lot of cues about each character's social standing and connections. Having said that, I'm happy to continue with the next in the series while I still remember something from this first volume.
My review of The Samurai Detectives Volume 1:
Akiyama Kohei, his son Daijiro, and a woman teacher from a samurai dojo, Sasaki Mifuyu, navigate crime and politics in 1770s Edo.
Despite the English title, I would class these loosely strung together tales as adventure stories rather than detective stories. I did find the barrage of Japanese names in the first story difficult to cope with and a lot of them still go in one eye and out the other so I expect I'm missing a lot of cues about each character's social standing and connections. Having said that, I'm happy to continue with the next in the series while I still remember something from this first volume.
17Robertgreaves
Starting my No. 106, Relight My Fire by C. K. McDonnell. This ebook is my fifty-sixth ROOT for 2026. It fits the SFFKIT.
My review of The Samurai Detectives Volume 2:
Further adventures of Kohei and Daijiro. Mifuyu has a much smaller role in this collection. We see a lot more of Yashichi, an official investigator.
Some stories call back to earlier episodes and again although I remember the incidents I've forgotten most of the names of those involved, not to mention all their affiliations. The third volume is being published later this year but I don't know if I will continue.
My review of The Samurai Detectives Volume 2:
Further adventures of Kohei and Daijiro. Mifuyu has a much smaller role in this collection. We see a lot more of Yashichi, an official investigator.
Some stories call back to earlier episodes and again although I remember the incidents I've forgotten most of the names of those involved, not to mention all their affiliations. The third volume is being published later this year but I don't know if I will continue.
18Robertgreaves
Starting the next in the series, Ring the Bells. This ebook is not a ROOT but still fits the SFFKIT.
My review of Relight My Fire:
When a young man who has temporarily gained the ability to fly crash lands directly in front of Stella when the ability leaves him, the staff of "The Stranger Times" investigate this and other cases of temporary magic powers. Not to mention the cases of graves being robbed of their occupants.
Well up to the standard of the previous entries in this series. I hope we see more of Brian and maybe even Doug.
My review of Relight My Fire:
When a young man who has temporarily gained the ability to fly crash lands directly in front of Stella when the ability leaves him, the staff of "The Stranger Times" investigate this and other cases of temporary magic powers. Not to mention the cases of graves being robbed of their occupants.
Well up to the standard of the previous entries in this series. I hope we see more of Brian and maybe even Doug.
19Robertgreaves
Starting my No. 108, Gunnar's Daughter by Sigrid Undset. It fits the AlphaKIT.
My review of Ring The Bells:
A librarian takes a mysterious book to her book club and reads aloud from it. BIG mistake.
Interesting to get Manny's back story. This brings me up to date with the series, apart from the short stories, but I gather there is at least one more novel in the pipeline.
My review of Ring The Bells:
A librarian takes a mysterious book to her book club and reads aloud from it. BIG mistake.
Interesting to get Manny's back story. This brings me up to date with the series, apart from the short stories, but I gather there is at least one more novel in the pipeline.
20Robertgreaves
Starting my No. 109, Rites of Passage by William Golding. This ebook is my fifty-eighth ROOT in 2026. It fits the AlphaKIT.
My review of Gunnar's Daughter:
This 1909 short novel, almost a novella, tells the story of a rape victim in 11th century Norway, and the effects on her, her family, the son born of the rape, and the rapist and his family.
I enjoyed the spare simple prose in this look back at a time when Norway was Christianizing and the Viking age was coming to an end. I'm looking forward to reading the author's 3-volume masterpiece which was cited in her award of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
My review of Gunnar's Daughter:
This 1909 short novel, almost a novella, tells the story of a rape victim in 11th century Norway, and the effects on her, her family, the son born of the rape, and the rapist and his family.
I enjoyed the spare simple prose in this look back at a time when Norway was Christianizing and the Viking age was coming to an end. I'm looking forward to reading the author's 3-volume masterpiece which was cited in her award of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
