Tero
Philosopher
A bunch of European history books. I have five with bookmarks. One is a short history of France that I am reading from the middle ages to Napoleon.
What book is everyone reading at the moment? Part 2.
- Thread starter alex04
- Start date
Just finished this. It's absolutely marvellous. I may be slightly biased because Bryson is one of my favourite authors, but he's deservedly so.
The language and science is accessible and clear. He makes you laugh while teaching the most profound facts.
A book that teaches you not just the facts, but why and how they became facts, and a book that contains the most delightful facts about who discovered them.
alfaniner
Penultimate Amazing
Secret Agents Four by Donald J. Sobol (of Encyclopedia Brown authorship)
Pretty good YA story that would seem to be part of a series but I can't find any evidence of that. I think the artist was the same one who drew the EB pictures.
Four teenagers get involved in a potential disastrous incident and alternately muddle up and fix things along the way. A little more serious than one might initially think, with the kids eventually getting shot at, captured, and stuff.
Pretty good YA story that would seem to be part of a series but I can't find any evidence of that. I think the artist was the same one who drew the EB pictures.
Four teenagers get involved in a potential disastrous incident and alternately muddle up and fix things along the way. A little more serious than one might initially think, with the kids eventually getting shot at, captured, and stuff.
Spektator
Is that right?
House of Many Ways, by Diana Wynne Jones
A YA fantasy and a sequel to Howl’s Moving Castle, this tale centers on Charmain Baker, who is the red-haired daughter of a baker, wears glasses, and reads every book she can get her hands on. She’s a mid-teenager when the local wizard, William Norland, falls seriously ill and her mother and aunt send her to house-sit for the old man when elf EMTs come to take him away for healing. Seems simple on the face of it, but she discovers that the two-room house actually has more space than Mar-a-Lago; when you go through a doorway, you can visit infinite other rooms depending on the way you turn as you step through.
On one level, Charmain is pleased because Great-Uncle William owns shelves of books, treatises on magic, which she can’t wait to read. On the other hand, Charmain’s middle-class but snooty mom has raised her to be a Lady, and she barely knows how to dress herself and has no clue about keeping a house tidy, washing up dishes, or doing laundry. The ailing wizard has left his house in a desperate mess. Oh, well, Charmain can always put on her specs and find a good book. She reads a fairly basic grimoire and decides she’ll cast a spell to let her fly. And to test it, she goes up on a high bluff for her first take-off, the way you do, but before she can leap over it, she comes under attack by a Lubbock, a dreadful purple human-sized insectoid thing. And running from it right off the clff, she discovers she can’t fly but can descend gently.
A little later a boy, Peter, shows up to become Wizard Norland’s apprentice. Alas, he knows no more of housekeeping than Charmain, so they struggle on, gamely trying, but leaving everything in a greater mess than before. They also take care of the wizard’s small dog Waif, who changes gender when he imprints on Charmain and becomes a, you know, lady dog.
Eventually the local king and his court enter the story, Charmain is recruited to help them try to discover the missing Royal Treasury, the heir-apparent, the unpleasant Prince Ludovic, shows up, and Howl and Sophie also come to help out, bringing their toddler Morgan along.
I like the humor and the characters, and it’s pleasant to meet Sophie and Howl again, but when it all comes to a head in the final chapter, everything gets rushed, a villain who’s barely even appeared is polished off perfunctorily, Calcifer the Fire Demon lends a flame, and then it’s over. The different strands of plot seem underdeveloped, so maybe three and a half stars out of five? Nah, make it four. I still love Sophie.
A YA fantasy and a sequel to Howl’s Moving Castle, this tale centers on Charmain Baker, who is the red-haired daughter of a baker, wears glasses, and reads every book she can get her hands on. She’s a mid-teenager when the local wizard, William Norland, falls seriously ill and her mother and aunt send her to house-sit for the old man when elf EMTs come to take him away for healing. Seems simple on the face of it, but she discovers that the two-room house actually has more space than Mar-a-Lago; when you go through a doorway, you can visit infinite other rooms depending on the way you turn as you step through.
On one level, Charmain is pleased because Great-Uncle William owns shelves of books, treatises on magic, which she can’t wait to read. On the other hand, Charmain’s middle-class but snooty mom has raised her to be a Lady, and she barely knows how to dress herself and has no clue about keeping a house tidy, washing up dishes, or doing laundry. The ailing wizard has left his house in a desperate mess. Oh, well, Charmain can always put on her specs and find a good book. She reads a fairly basic grimoire and decides she’ll cast a spell to let her fly. And to test it, she goes up on a high bluff for her first take-off, the way you do, but before she can leap over it, she comes under attack by a Lubbock, a dreadful purple human-sized insectoid thing. And running from it right off the clff, she discovers she can’t fly but can descend gently.
A little later a boy, Peter, shows up to become Wizard Norland’s apprentice. Alas, he knows no more of housekeeping than Charmain, so they struggle on, gamely trying, but leaving everything in a greater mess than before. They also take care of the wizard’s small dog Waif, who changes gender when he imprints on Charmain and becomes a, you know, lady dog.
Eventually the local king and his court enter the story, Charmain is recruited to help them try to discover the missing Royal Treasury, the heir-apparent, the unpleasant Prince Ludovic, shows up, and Howl and Sophie also come to help out, bringing their toddler Morgan along.
I like the humor and the characters, and it’s pleasant to meet Sophie and Howl again, but when it all comes to a head in the final chapter, everything gets rushed, a villain who’s barely even appeared is polished off perfunctorily, Calcifer the Fire Demon lends a flame, and then it’s over. The different strands of plot seem underdeveloped, so maybe three and a half stars out of five? Nah, make it four. I still love Sophie.
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Helen
Implicitly explicit
Reading Bookshops & Bonedust, perfect when you have a cold (or iwhen you don't), well-written and clever fantasy that doesn't take itself too seriously - the best kind of light entertainment.
I'm almost done with William Sheehan's Parallel Lives of Astronomers (Springer, 2024) which compares the lives and works of Percival Lowell Edward Emerson Barnard. It's a wonderful book. Lowell, of course, was the popularize of the ideas that there were canals on Mars that were created by intelligent beings. The canals were optical illusions and to his dying day, in spite of evidence to the contrary, Lowell never ceased to believe. He was from a very wealthy Boston family. He never obtained professional training in astronomy but was a very talented amateur. Barnard, on the other hand, was from an impoverished background. He obtained professional, academic training is astronomy professional astronomer who doubted the reality of the canals all along. Both made major contributions to astronomy. Sheehan weaves the stories of the lives of these two men into the story huge changes that took place in astronomy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The story of how Lowell, and others, continued to see the nonexistent canals is a great example of how perception is constructive and can badly mislead anyone.
Men At Arms by Terry Pratchett, 1993
OK, I admit it. I've never read any books by Terry Pratchett. So I'm remedying that. I thought I'd start with the one with Sam Vimes' theory of boots, since I've read that excerpt at least. Plus, my son played Corporal Carrot in the play of the book, and I'd seen the play, though a number of years ago. I don't often read fantasy/scifi, but I felt my education was lacking in the Discworld department. And I'm enjoying it a lot, savouring Pratchett's insights and humour.
OK, I admit it. I've never read any books by Terry Pratchett. So I'm remedying that. I thought I'd start with the one with Sam Vimes' theory of boots, since I've read that excerpt at least. Plus, my son played Corporal Carrot in the play of the book, and I'd seen the play, though a number of years ago. I don't often read fantasy/scifi, but I felt my education was lacking in the Discworld department. And I'm enjoying it a lot, savouring Pratchett's insights and humour.
Helen
Implicitly explicit
I am soooo jealous of you, to have all of it in front of you - i've read all of them far too many times, and will have to wait at least a couple of years before I have can reread a few favourites (so pretty much all of them) again.
And he is of course not writing fantasy at all, he's clearly just chronicling life on earth
I'm also dipping into:
What If? 10th Anniversary Edition by Randall Monroe (of XKCD fame, another in the echelons of nerd royalty).
Saw this in the bookshop and HAD to have it. Subtitle is, "Serious scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions".
I managed to miss the first edition, but I wasn't reading much at the time, I'd had a failure in concentration span. Anyone else had one of those breaks from reading?
What If? 10th Anniversary Edition by Randall Monroe (of XKCD fame, another in the echelons of nerd royalty).
Saw this in the bookshop and HAD to have it. Subtitle is, "Serious scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions".
I managed to miss the first edition, but I wasn't reading much at the time, I'd had a failure in concentration span. Anyone else had one of those breaks from reading?
Helen
Implicitly explicit
I haven't had breaks from reading, but my habits vary, depending on what is going on around/inside me; if things are bad, I read for comfort only, so either old favourites (Pratchett has gotten me through some really bad times), or the kind of books that do not demand anything of me, excrpt for following the words. But then I need to read in order to concentrate when I feel as if I'm coming apart - watching or listening doesn't work, I need words on paper or a screen.
I think I self-soothe with books. This year has been a bit of a shitstorm, and I have kept buying dead tree, as well as e-, books; having loads of unread books makes me feel safe.
Anyway, I'm glad to hear that you are reading again, Orphia, hope you never have to take a break from books again
I think I self-soothe with books. This year has been a bit of a shitstorm, and I have kept buying dead tree, as well as e-, books; having loads of unread books makes me feel safe.
Anyway, I'm glad to hear that you are reading again, Orphia, hope you never have to take a break from books again
xterra
So far, so good...
I just lent a friend my physical copy of Randall Munroe's What If 2. He had never heard of Munroe or xkcd.
I'll be interested in his opinion....
@Orphia Nay, note the correct spelling of his last name.
I'll be interested in his opinion....
@Orphia Nay, note the correct spelling of his last name.
Spektator
Is that right?
Kiki’s Delivery Service, by Eiko Kadono, translated by Emily Balistrieri
I’ve seen the Studio Ghibli animation, and now I’ve read the novel that Miyazaki kinda-sorta adapted into the film. In both media, Kiki’s adventures have their charms, and I’m not sure that they aren’t equal.
Miyazaki’s version is visually beautiful with stunning backgrounds and characters who are offbeat (in a non-wacky way) and a through story focusing on flying sequences. On the other hand, Kadono’s novel has its own quirky rewards and reads more like a sequence of short stories than a novel.
Kiki is a Japanese girl (in an alternate-universe Japan) who is turning thirteen. Since she’s the daughter of Okino, a folklorist and an ordinary human male, and Kokiri, a kindly witch who specializes in flying and in healing. Kiki, too, is destined to become a witch, and as such she must by tradition leave home at the age of thirteen, move to a different town or city, and develop her own witchy talents. Though she chooses to move to a distant coastal city, she won’t be lonely, because her talking cat, Jiji, will go with her and anyway she can always phone home.
Since witchy powers take their own sweet time to develop, at first Kiki has only one talent: She can fly. With her mother’s old broom, she makes her move, finds a friendly couple who own a bakery, and arranges to rent a small attic room in the flour storage building next to their business. Kiki stumbles into a job she can do. Soon enough, she opens the titular delivery service, providing quick-service deliveries and getting to know the town and its people. Among others, she delivers art for an artist, a knitted belly band for a grandmotherly lady (it fits a steamboat), and a birthday gift from a girl about her own age to a boy about a year older, learning about crushes and flirting. She also has to rescue her broom when an awkward, nerdy boy, Tombo, steals it for a joyride because he’s crazy about the idea of flying.
It's a very pleasant read, and the banter between the young girl and her cat is both funny and endearing. No big-bang adventure, no crescendo of an ending, but as the book closes, Kiki is a year older, back home for a visit, and looking forward to returning to her business, seeing Tombo again, and learning more about life.
I’ve seen the Studio Ghibli animation, and now I’ve read the novel that Miyazaki kinda-sorta adapted into the film. In both media, Kiki’s adventures have their charms, and I’m not sure that they aren’t equal.
Miyazaki’s version is visually beautiful with stunning backgrounds and characters who are offbeat (in a non-wacky way) and a through story focusing on flying sequences. On the other hand, Kadono’s novel has its own quirky rewards and reads more like a sequence of short stories than a novel.
Kiki is a Japanese girl (in an alternate-universe Japan) who is turning thirteen. Since she’s the daughter of Okino, a folklorist and an ordinary human male, and Kokiri, a kindly witch who specializes in flying and in healing. Kiki, too, is destined to become a witch, and as such she must by tradition leave home at the age of thirteen, move to a different town or city, and develop her own witchy talents. Though she chooses to move to a distant coastal city, she won’t be lonely, because her talking cat, Jiji, will go with her and anyway she can always phone home.
Since witchy powers take their own sweet time to develop, at first Kiki has only one talent: She can fly. With her mother’s old broom, she makes her move, finds a friendly couple who own a bakery, and arranges to rent a small attic room in the flour storage building next to their business. Kiki stumbles into a job she can do. Soon enough, she opens the titular delivery service, providing quick-service deliveries and getting to know the town and its people. Among others, she delivers art for an artist, a knitted belly band for a grandmotherly lady (it fits a steamboat), and a birthday gift from a girl about her own age to a boy about a year older, learning about crushes and flirting. She also has to rescue her broom when an awkward, nerdy boy, Tombo, steals it for a joyride because he’s crazy about the idea of flying.
It's a very pleasant read, and the banter between the young girl and her cat is both funny and endearing. No big-bang adventure, no crescendo of an ending, but as the book closes, Kiki is a year older, back home for a visit, and looking forward to returning to her business, seeing Tombo again, and learning more about life.
Spektator
Is that right?
The Silent Bullet, Arthur B. Reeve
Once a fictional detective rivaling Sherlock Holmes, Craig Kennedy is a forgotten figure. He was the first scientific detective in American mystery literature, a professor of chemistry at Columbia University and a frequent consultant of the NYPD. This initial collection of stories, first published in 1912, is narrated by journalist Walter Jameson, long-time friend of Kennedy and reasonable facsimile of Watson.
The stories mostly involve murders committed by unusual means (arcane poisons, the titular bullet somehow fired without sound, etc. Scientist Kennedy rapidly deduces the chemical and physical properties behind the criminal's methods and thereby identifies the culprit.
Some of the science is faulty, few of the characters have any depth, and the tales become too pat. Worth reading if you are interested in the history of the genre, though.
Once a fictional detective rivaling Sherlock Holmes, Craig Kennedy is a forgotten figure. He was the first scientific detective in American mystery literature, a professor of chemistry at Columbia University and a frequent consultant of the NYPD. This initial collection of stories, first published in 1912, is narrated by journalist Walter Jameson, long-time friend of Kennedy and reasonable facsimile of Watson.
The stories mostly involve murders committed by unusual means (arcane poisons, the titular bullet somehow fired without sound, etc. Scientist Kennedy rapidly deduces the chemical and physical properties behind the criminal's methods and thereby identifies the culprit.
Some of the science is faulty, few of the characters have any depth, and the tales become too pat. Worth reading if you are interested in the history of the genre, though.
Safe-Keeper
My avatar is not a Drumpf hat
Trying to get into The Women by Kristin Hannah, about female nurses in the Viet Nam war. I've read enough of her books to know they can get pretty emotional, so I'm kind of apprehensive 
.
.xterra
So far, so good...
Ship of Destiny, by Robin Hobbs, 2000. The third book in the Liveship Trilogy.
I'm incredulous that I missed the trilogy when it was first published.
I'm incredulous that I missed the trilogy when it was first published.
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I haven't had a lot of time over Christmas/New Year for reading but I'm about to begin An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro, and I have the January book club read which I need to get on with prior to the meeting - Philippa Gregory's The Last Tudor about the Grey sisters and particularly Mary Grey.
I also have the Rev Richard Coles' Murder Before Evensong and A Death in the Parish to read but they look like easy quick reads.
I'm so envious of you having the whole of Pratchett in front of you, Orphia!
I also have the Rev Richard Coles' Murder Before Evensong and A Death in the Parish to read but they look like easy quick reads.
I'm so envious of you having the whole of Pratchett in front of you, Orphia!
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I keep hearing about that one. Will be interested to hear what you think of it.Trying to get into The Women by Kristin Hannah, about female nurses in the Viet Nam war. I've read enough of her books to know they can get pretty emotional, so I'm kind of apprehensive
I myself am daunted by having 40 more books left to read in the Discworld series. I'm not sure I'll read them all.
I was a bit disappointed by Pratchett's token female character, but I did give Men At Arms 5 stars on goodreads despite that, because of his amazing insights into life in general.
JimOfAllTrades
Master Poster
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The Martian by Andy Weir.
I got three Andy Weir books as a gift, and I started with this one. I'm about halfway through and I'm quite liking it. More detailed than the movie naturally, but very quick to read. Looking forward to finishing and getting into the others .
I got three Andy Weir books as a gift, and I started with this one. I'm about halfway through and I'm quite liking it. More detailed than the movie naturally, but very quick to read. Looking forward to finishing and getting into the others .
Helen
Implicitly explicit
If you want good female characters, try the witches (Wyrd sisters, Witches abroad, Lords and ladies, Maskerade, Carpe jugulum, and the ya books about Tiffany and the wee free men). Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, Magrat and Tiffany are absolutely fabulous
as are the women in his later watch books. And in Monstrous regiment!And i'd i suggest that you don't read any of his books after Wintersmith (except for I shall wear midnight). Read about the witches, and the watch, and if you get hooked, as so many of us are, then perhaps continue with Pyramids and Small gods (by then you'll probably be addicted, and read every word he ever wrote, but the later books, after Wintersmith, are just sad; they were written after his alzheimer's set in, and it's quite obvious).
Spektator
Is that right?
The Lone Ranger Rides, Fran Striker
This isn’t the first novel about the masked man written by Fran Striker. In fact, it came out in 1941, five years after the first book, by Gaylord Dubois (The Lone Ranger), and after Striker himself had published four additional novels about the Ranger. Those first five were all aimed at a younger audience and published by thrifty Grosset and Dunlap, as were thirteen later Grosset titles by Striker. All are adaptations from radio scripts written by Striker. The Lone Ranger Rides came out from the more upscale publisher G.P. Putnam’s Sons and probably was intended to introduce a series for an adult readership.
Now, about the lead character: Fran Striker had begun as a Buffalo, NY, newspaper writer and playwright. During the Depression, he moved into writing for radio and soon became a story machine, producing hundreds of scripts for dozens of radio shows each year. Typically, the man wrote 60,000 words a week, including the radio scripts, a daily cartoon strip, biographies, nvoels, and newspaper work. One of his earlier continuing series was Covered Wagon Days, a Western.
Eventually Striker wound up working exclusively for George Trendle, co-owner of WXYZ in Detroit and of a nascent Midwestern radio network. Paid $7.50 per script, or $37.50 a week for a half-hour series, Striker juggled five or six series at a time. The fourth or fifth he created for Trendle recycled the Covered Wagon Days plots but centered on the Lone Ranger. It made an immediate hit, and in 1934 Trendle pressured Striker to sell him full rights in the show and the character for a magnificent $10.00. By 1939 The Lone Ranger alone brought Trendle a million dollars a year in profits, while Striker continued to work on straight salary, no royalties, not even for his newer show The Green Hornet, featuring the great nephew of the Ranger.
This is more interesting than the novel. As with comic-book superheroes today, the Ranger was rebooted over and over again, and the novel is at least the third re-telling of the character’s origin. Some elements remain the same in each iteration: Six Texas Rangers ambushed, five killed, one barely surviving and rescued by indeterminate-tribe Native American Tonto (“You Lone Ranger now”), and a villain named Cavendish is behind it all. Details are all over the map. The book’s plot is messy, with not just one Cavendish but a whole passel of ‘em. The Ranger is repeatedly wounded, shot in the thigh and foot, ribs broken, and so on, but Tonto has miracle good medicine, and after a night of rest he’s right as rain. There’s a maiden in distress, about ten bad guys who aren’t always bad but only going along with the gag, just pretending to be bad for, uh, reasons. The Ranger is always jumping into the saddle and riding off to somewhere or other, usually on a hunch, and his hunches are always right. Plot threads dangle at the end, but the damsel’s OK.
The reason the novel didn’t have adult-level sequels, I expect, is that writing at the pace he did, Striker created very pulpy prose. Tonto’s a stereotype, speaking in that awful mock-Indian dialect (“You thinkum he guilty?”). Coincidences appear on every other page. A guy named Wallie in one place is Willie in another. And it all ends in an improbable shoot-out, of course. Differences between this version and earlier ones are everywhere (no Butch Cavendish here, no Kemosabe nickname, the Ranger gets no name at all*, there is no slaughtered brother to avenge. Alternates to all these feature in the radio show). I think these just might have been Striker’s way of reclaiming some ownership of the concept and earning a bit of money without Trendle taking the lion’s share.
-------------------
*Trivia question: what is the Lone Ranger’s real name?
A: Allen King. Bill Andrews. Luke Hartman. No-First-Name Reid. John Reid. Each of these is mentioned as the Ranger’s true identity in various media.
This isn’t the first novel about the masked man written by Fran Striker. In fact, it came out in 1941, five years after the first book, by Gaylord Dubois (The Lone Ranger), and after Striker himself had published four additional novels about the Ranger. Those first five were all aimed at a younger audience and published by thrifty Grosset and Dunlap, as were thirteen later Grosset titles by Striker. All are adaptations from radio scripts written by Striker. The Lone Ranger Rides came out from the more upscale publisher G.P. Putnam’s Sons and probably was intended to introduce a series for an adult readership.
Now, about the lead character: Fran Striker had begun as a Buffalo, NY, newspaper writer and playwright. During the Depression, he moved into writing for radio and soon became a story machine, producing hundreds of scripts for dozens of radio shows each year. Typically, the man wrote 60,000 words a week, including the radio scripts, a daily cartoon strip, biographies, nvoels, and newspaper work. One of his earlier continuing series was Covered Wagon Days, a Western.
Eventually Striker wound up working exclusively for George Trendle, co-owner of WXYZ in Detroit and of a nascent Midwestern radio network. Paid $7.50 per script, or $37.50 a week for a half-hour series, Striker juggled five or six series at a time. The fourth or fifth he created for Trendle recycled the Covered Wagon Days plots but centered on the Lone Ranger. It made an immediate hit, and in 1934 Trendle pressured Striker to sell him full rights in the show and the character for a magnificent $10.00. By 1939 The Lone Ranger alone brought Trendle a million dollars a year in profits, while Striker continued to work on straight salary, no royalties, not even for his newer show The Green Hornet, featuring the great nephew of the Ranger.
This is more interesting than the novel. As with comic-book superheroes today, the Ranger was rebooted over and over again, and the novel is at least the third re-telling of the character’s origin. Some elements remain the same in each iteration: Six Texas Rangers ambushed, five killed, one barely surviving and rescued by indeterminate-tribe Native American Tonto (“You Lone Ranger now”), and a villain named Cavendish is behind it all. Details are all over the map. The book’s plot is messy, with not just one Cavendish but a whole passel of ‘em. The Ranger is repeatedly wounded, shot in the thigh and foot, ribs broken, and so on, but Tonto has miracle good medicine, and after a night of rest he’s right as rain. There’s a maiden in distress, about ten bad guys who aren’t always bad but only going along with the gag, just pretending to be bad for, uh, reasons. The Ranger is always jumping into the saddle and riding off to somewhere or other, usually on a hunch, and his hunches are always right. Plot threads dangle at the end, but the damsel’s OK.
The reason the novel didn’t have adult-level sequels, I expect, is that writing at the pace he did, Striker created very pulpy prose. Tonto’s a stereotype, speaking in that awful mock-Indian dialect (“You thinkum he guilty?”). Coincidences appear on every other page. A guy named Wallie in one place is Willie in another. And it all ends in an improbable shoot-out, of course. Differences between this version and earlier ones are everywhere (no Butch Cavendish here, no Kemosabe nickname, the Ranger gets no name at all*, there is no slaughtered brother to avenge. Alternates to all these feature in the radio show). I think these just might have been Striker’s way of reclaiming some ownership of the concept and earning a bit of money without Trendle taking the lion’s share.
-------------------
*Trivia question: what is the Lone Ranger’s real name?
A: Allen King. Bill Andrews. Luke Hartman. No-First-Name Reid. John Reid. Each of these is mentioned as the Ranger’s true identity in various media.
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