What are you reading? Options

[Decrepit]

I'm currently 20% into a reading of the Kindle e-book edition of The Curse of the Mistwraith, book one of Janny Wurts' The War of Light and Shadow series. I'm blowing hot and cold on this one. To be fair, I'm still battling a severe reading slump and find it hard to maintain focus for any length of time. Since finishing my last read, which I surprisingly devoured, I've abandoned book after book. None lasted as long as CofM has. I'll stick with it as long as I can, and hope for the best. It certainly won't be the first book I've read this year that took awhile to get in to, then became quite enjoyable. Assuming that's what happens with CofM. <crosses fingers>

[Decrepit]

I DNF'd Wurtz' The Curse of the Mistwraith. What I read of it made no impression on me. So little impression that, resuming reading following breaks, I frequently couldn't recall who the characters were or what they had been doing.

Two or three other books were set aside due to lack of focus. I'm not necessarily abandoning any of them for good. They simply don't suit me at the moment.

What finally captured and kept my interest was the Project Gutenberg e-book edition of Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis, as translated by David Wyllie. I consider it akin to Hemingway's The Son Also Rises in that, aside from being well written, I can't quite figure out why I like it as much as I do.

As to what I'll take up next, who knows?

This post has been edited by Decrepit: Dec 14 2022, 10:22 PM

[SubRosa]

I have been diving into a lot of audiobooks that I have taken from YouTube. There are a ton of people like Edward E French and Ian Gordon from Horror Babble who have put up readings of classic science fiction and horror stories. I have been playing them back and saving them as mp3 files, then copying them to my mp3 player to listen to while I do work around the house.

I listened to Who Goes There? by William W Campbell. I read it years ago, so it is not something new. But it was interesting to compare it to the various The Thing movie adaptations.

Algernon Blackwood's The Willows and The Wendigo are also old favorites of mine that I have gotten reacquainted with via this method. Granted, the create he describes in the Wendigo is not a Wendigo. But it is interesting nonetheless.

I tried Arthur Machen's The Three Imposters. But I just could not get into it. It is too fragmented a story, made up of nearly a dozen other, smaller stories, which don't seem to really connect very well. In fact, it is hinted that some might be false. The Novel of the Black Seal and the Novel of the White Powder are in there, and I have read them each as standalone stories before, so I will probably do that, and just skip of the rest of the book.

I also dived into some of the Carnacki stories of William Hope Hodgson. These have been pretty good. I love his electric pentacle, and the whole idea of a magical detective. I also like how not all of his cases turn out to be magical in nature. Some turn out to be hoaxes, that he foils without even the help of a group of meddling kids.

[Decrepit]

At 1959 yesterday evening, 15 Dec 2022, I concluded an initial read of Project Gutenberg's e-book offering of Arthur Conan Doyle's A Study in Scarlet, the debut of Dr Watson and Sherlock Holmes. It at first didn't impress to me, but got better as it progressed. Then, at a chapter change, it morphed into something else altogether. After reading much of the first morphed chapter, I became all but convinced that whoever prepared this e-book had been working on multiple projects and somehow managed to graft part of a totally different title into the Doyle.

I shut down the Paperwhite and returned to the computer to look at the ASiS in its HTML browser version. There, where it is fast and easy to scroll between sections, I saw that the seemingly foreign material is no mistake. Satisfied that it would all make sense at some point, I returned to the sofa and resumed reading. Sure enough, only a few pages beyond where I left off, a few name-drops expose the connection twixt what I was reading and the book's arching storyline. What's more, now that the dust has settled, that assumed foreign material has proven to be my favorite part of the tale. The book's closing section sees a return to Watson and Holmes and the conclusion of the case they investigate.

A good read, especially its middle "foreign" section. Believe it or not, this is my first exposure to Holmes and Watson in written form, though I've seen and enjoyed quite a few of their adventures via movies and television. As to Doyle, it's too soon to say. My only exposure to him is this book and a DNF of The White Company earlier this year, which I might resume at some point.

This post has been edited by Decrepit: Dec 16 2022, 08:57 PM

[Decrepit]

At 0349 this morning, 18 Dec 2022, I concluded an initial read of British author Kenneth Grahame's 1908 children's novel The Wind in the Willows. My copy is a free Project Gutenberg download. I came across this book due to its inclusion in a YouTube booktuber's "10 (or was it 12?) Must-Read Modern Classics" video. I don't see it as a must-read, but it was enjoyable. It takes place on an alternate earth, where animals live and behave much as we humans do, and indeed mix with us on occasion. This world didn't always make sense with itself to me. For instance, much is made of these animals' love of meals. Prepared, cooked meals no different from ours. Meals that include such staples as ham and rabbit.

Another oddity. One of the four lead animal-characters, a toad, is imprisoned in a human jail. He eventually escapes by gaining the sympathy of a certain human female, who has him dress as a washerwoman to slip past the guards. This washerwoman is a relative of the human female, thus human herself. In the book's world, human and animal sizes are the same as on our earth. How did the toad fit into human clothes and fool his jailers into thinking he himself was human?

Speaking of the toad, he/it put me in mind of Tom Sawyer as portrayed in the latter part of Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Self-centered and self-serving, out for his own pleasure regardless of the harm it sometimes causes others.

A good read, but again, for me not a top-10 (or 12) must-read.

This post has been edited by Decrepit: Dec 18 2022, 02:52 PM

[Decrepit]

At 1729 this afternoon, 20 Dec 2022, I concluded a fifth read of Elric of Melnibone, book one of Michael Moorcock's The Elric Saga. Last read at the very end of Dec 2006, its first read occurred Feb 1986, soon after my switch from predominantly non-fiction to almost wholly fantasy. Though I still own my original paperback, this reading took place on my Paperwhite, an omnibus edition of the first four Elric books bought on sale at Amazon a while back. I had not intended to tackle it this year, but fell victim to a severe reading block that I thought I had put behind me a few reads ago. Four or five initial reads ended almost before they began, due to an inability to focus. Knowing that Elric would almost certainly hold my attention from the start, I reluctantly committed myself to it.

As to the book itself, there's little point in me rehashing its plot and merits. It's a well-known commodity, after all. Instead, I'll relate a quirk of mine. Since first picking up this title, I can't for the life of me remember whether its titled character is named "Elric" or "Erlic". While typing this post my old paperback rests beside me, so I can double-check that I type the correct name. It wouldn't surprise me in the least to check back later and discover that I got it wrong at least once.

[Decrepit]

At 1740 this evening, 27 Dec 2022, I concluded an initial read of Paladin's Strength, book 2 of T. Kingfisher's The Saints of Steel series, fantasy with a heavy dose of romance built in, more so than the sort of fantasy I'm used to. I enjoyed it, especially the book's concluding section, which was exciting and suspenseful. As with book 1, there is an interesting chemistry between the two main characters.

No idea what I'll tackle next.

[Decrepit]

At 2102 yesterday evening, 5 Jan 2023, I concluded an initial read of Signal For Vengeance, book thirteen in Edward Marston's The Railway Detective series. This entry varies from the norm in that an ongoing development in the detective's personal/home life receives almost equal footing with the murder he investigates. Also, the superintendent's role is somewhat more prominent than usual, and a bit more fleshed out. While not one of my favorite series entries - they can't all be - it was an enjoyable, easy read.

While on the subject of whodunits, Arthur Conan Doyle's The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes enters public domain in the U.S. this year. I DL'd a free copy from Project Gutenberg a few days ago.

[Decrepit]

At 1419 this afternoon, 19 Jan 2023, I concluded an initial read of William Makepeace Thackeray's 1852-53 novel The Luck of Barry Lyndon, supposedly at least loosely based on the exploits of a real-life individual (of another name), told in first-person narrative. One thing for sure; however many books I read this year, it is extremely unlikely that I will encounter a character as unashamedly odious as Lyndon. Despite, maybe because of, that, I found the work thoroughly engrossing from start to finish. I suspect it will remain a strong contender for 2023's Favorite Read of The Year award. As with so many classic reads, mine is a free Project Gutenberg download. (For what it's worth, I noticed at least one free Amazon Kindle edition.)

A disturbing aspect of the book; our modern world contains too many BL emulators, who, like him, achieve fabulous success but, unlike him, rarely get their comeuppance in the end.

[Decrepit]

At 0456 this morning, 23 Jan 2023, immediately prior to shambling off the sofa to prepare breakfast, I concluded an initial read of Adrian Tchaikovsky's standalone fantasy/war novel Guns of the Dawn. This book carries what I suppose is a subtitle, printed in small text below the aforementioned main title, which reads; "The First Casualty of War is Truth", as true here as it is in real life. We have here an interesting cast of characters, an engrossing storyline, plenty of action, and possibly best of all from my perspective, it's, as several characters mouth throughout the novel in response to questioning, complicated. It's the sort of book that keeps me thinking and second-guessing what's really going on and what might happen next. If handled well, as I believe it is here, I like this sort of thing very much. Admittedly, my assumptions generally proved correct in the end, but that's okay too.

This is my second exposure to Mr. Tchaikovsky, having read his three-volume Echoes of the Fall last year (2022). I was favorably impressed by it too.

[Decrepit]

Charged my Paperwhite earlier this afternoon. It was at 66% when I started. I normally allow it to drain much lower before charging. But with a strong chance of power outages through Thursday, I decided to play it safe. Worse come to worst, reading might be the only activity I'm able to do (other than freeze).

After numerous false starts, with no end in sight, I bought Adrian Tchaikovsky's standalone City of Last Chances and am one-third done. A good read. I don't yet know if I'll like it as well as Guns of the Dawn, read last month.

[Decrepit]

At 1402 this afternoon, 3 Feb 2023, I concluded an initial read of Adrian Tchaikovsky's standalone fantasy/dystopian novel City of Last Chances. Like every Tchaikovsky book I've encountered, it is fine reading. This one takes place in a city long controlled by one corrupt, oppressive regime after another: documenting events leading up to a rebellion of sorts against the current regime-in-power, the rebellion (of sorts) itself, and its immediate aftermath. There's a lot more to it than that. As several characters in the last Tchaikovsky novel I read say, "It's complicated." The book follows multiple points-of-view throughout, which fits its purpose admirably. I enjoyed its depiction of the world's gods. It had me second-guessing all sorts of things. One in particular I figured out the gist of, but was still caught utterly unprepared for what is revealed.

I've no idea what I'll take up next. If it's anything like this year's previous reads, I'll make five-ten false starts before settling on something that holds my attention.

[Decrepit]

At 1521 this afternoon, 7 Feb 2023, I concluded an initial read of Oliver Pötzsch's historical fiction whodunit, A Hangman's Daughter Tale 3: The Beggar King. I've mixed feeling about this entry, but find it overall a good read, and essential for those invested in the series due to its development of and insight into several series regulars.

As usual as of late, I've no idea what I'll tackle next.

[Decrepit]

This began life as a post in the wrong thread. I'll now use the space to mention that I used amassed Amazon Kindle Points that earned me $3US credit to buy another Adrian Tchaikovsky title: Elder Race. I'll likely start in on it soon as I've finished my current (non-fiction) book.

This post has been edited by Decrepit: Feb 10 2023, 07:19 PM

[Decrepit]

At 2030 yesterday evening, 10 Feb 2023, I concluded an initial read of the non-fiction title Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862, Kindle Edition, by O. Edward Cunningham; J.D. Joiner & T.B. Smith editors. The two editors are a critical inclusion, as this Amazon quote explains:

"Edward Cunningham, a young Ph.D. candidate, researched and wrote Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862 in 1966. Though it remained unpublished, many Shiloh experts and park rangers consider it the best overall examination of the battle ever written. Indeed, Shiloh historiography is just now catching up with Cunningham, who was decades ahead of modern scholarship. Now, Western Civil War historians Gary Joiner and Timothy Smith have resurrected this beautifully written, deeply researched manuscript from undeserved obscurity. Fully edited and richly annotated with updated citations and observations, original maps, and a complete order of battle and table of losses, it represents battle history at its finest."

It's a good read for those with an established interest in the U.S. Civil War, but may contain too much technical data for the casual reader. As for myself, due to when and where I was born, and the Civil War Centennial, which was treated as a big deal by all and sundry for four solid years, occurring when I was young and impressionable, I was a Civil War Nerd for quite some time. I eventually moved on to other things, but retain a mild fondness for the topic. I still possess a smallish but not negligible USCW library. This is its first addition in decades, except for a couple of free Project Gutenberg downloads I've not yet read.

I should point out that a not-insignificant percentage of the book is devoted to End Notes. For whatever reason, I didn't bother clicking on these while reading the main narrative. Once that ended, my first thought was to skip the End Note section. My second thought was to skim it, which is what I did. As it turns out, I spent hours reading pretty much all of them except those that are obviously nothing more than source citations. I retain enough Civil War savviness to forgo referring to the main text to make sense of those End Notes.

Speaking of Shiloh, it was the closest major U.S. Civil War battlefield to the town I grew up in. It remains closest, despite a change of address. I visited it a number of times during my youth, and at least once in early adulthood. I also visited Forts Donaldson and Henry, which this book covers (but not in great detail). (Fort Henry can be visited in only a loose sense, unless this had recently changed.) As a lad, I witnessed the Centennial reenactment at New Madrid MO, also part of the USCW Western Campaign.

This post has been edited by Decrepit: Feb 11 2023, 02:37 PM

[Decrepit]

At 0841 this morning, 12 Feb 2023, I concluded an initial read of Adrian Tchaikovsky's Elder Race. I'd no idea it was a novella until seeing my Paperwhite's initial assessment of how long it would take to finish. Having paid only $1.07US for it tax included (thanks to a Kindle "credit" valued at $3), I got my money's worth and more. It has an interesting quest-centric plotline and, like all Tchaikovsky novels I am familiar with, is very strong on characters and their interactions. I worried early on, upon realizing it is sci-fi, a genre I am not normally drawn to. Those doubts were soon laid to rest. My eyes misted during its final few pages, a first this year if memory serves.

Much as I like Elder Race, I think the full-length Guns of the Dawn and City of Last Chances are better standalone introductions to Tchaikovsky.

This post has been edited by Decrepit: Feb 12 2023, 04:36 PM

[Decrepit]

At 1359 this afternoon, 14 Feb 2023, I finished Orson Scott Card's Hart's Hope. This book and I have a long relationship. I'm fairly certain I bought it off a circular book rack inside a gas station / convenience store our squadron's bus had stopped at to refuel and give us a chance to stretch our legs, during my long-ago military days. I believe I finished it the following day. Whether true or misremembered, its front cover reverse bears an initial completion of 0932, 20 Mar 1988. I was stationed in Southern California at the time, roughly half a year prior to reassignment overseas. This is its seventh read.

It now holds a new distinction, being the first paper book I've read, while lying on the sofa, since before acquiring a Kindle Paperwhite mid-2021.

This read occurred by sheer happenstance. I'd been thinking about Hart's Hope for some days, after having watched several Booktubers claim that books narrated in second person just don't work. As far as I'm concerned, Hart's Hope lays that opinion to rest. Then, two days ago, not far into the e-book I began soon after finishing Tchaikovsky's Elder Race, my Paperwhite announced that its battery was critically low and in need of recharge. I can, of course, read on it while charging. Klutzy as I sometimes am, I'm disinclined to do so for fear of damaging its mini-USB port.

My original intent was to grab any old paper book of a size I'm still able to comfortably hold lying down, which automatically disqualifies Trade Paperbacks and Hard Covers. I walked to the row of book storage boxes lining one living room wall. (I've never gotten around to buying/building proper bookcases/shelves for the majority of my library, despite living in my current home over three decades.) The very top book of one stack in the first box I stopped at was... Hart's Hope.

I planned to read it only long enough for the Paperwhite to fully charge, then return to my e-book. Instead, I became hopelessly hooked on Hart's Hope within a few paragraphs. As you might image, I think very highly of it. I always have. It's a dark story, and possibly not the best fit for the more prudish among us (if there are any such). Despite that, I can not but give it a solid recommendation.

This post has been edited by Decrepit: Feb 15 2023, 12:01 PM

[Decrepit]

At 0735 this morning, 17 Feb 2023, I concluded an initial read of Russell Martin's Beethoven's Hair. A non-fiction work, its focus is the lock of hair taken from Ludwig van Beethoven's head, soon after his passing, by Ferdinand Hiller, a young musician introduced to the still-alive Beethoven only a few days prior. The book covers its topic in an interesting way. We get a chapter devoted to Beethoven's early life, followed by a chapter relating what is known about the lock in the early years following its taking, followed by a chapter relating to the lock under its most recent / current ownership, a chapter on Beethoven a bit later in his life, and so on. Much time is spent on the still not totally solved mystery of who delivered the lock into the hands of a certain physician in Denmark in 1943. It is thus a bit of a detective story. We also get what I assume is the latest testing on the hair, which reveals that the most likely cause of B's various ailments, hearing loss included, was a highly excessive amount of lead in his system. Before beginning the book, I assumed my report would label it something only those with a keen interest in Beethoven will enjoy. Instead, it now seems to me that a good many general readers will enjoy it too.

This post has been edited by Decrepit: Feb 20 2023, 12:56 PM

[Decrepit]

At 1331 this afternoon, 21 Feb 2023, I concluded an initial read of The Adventures of Peter Pan, a compilation housing the following J.M. Barrie titles: The Little White Bird; Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens; Peter and Windy; Peter Pan, or the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up; When Wendy Grew Up; The Story of Peter Pan and The Peter Pan Alphabet. I read the bulk of these not quite a year ago, then finished the rest over the past week.

I was and remain utterly impressed with The Little White Bird, expecting something along the lines of Baum's Oz series, which I had finished just prior to acquiring TAOPP. TLWB is a far deeper, more adult title than any Oz entry. I never finalized my "2022: A Year of Reading" write-up. As I recall, TLWB came away with two "awards"; favorite single-volume novel of the year, and favorite male character of the year. Who is not, btw, Peter Pan. In fact, Peter has relatively few chapters of his own.

Peter Pan in Kensington Garden is basically an extraction of those TLWB Peter Pan chapters with just enough alterations to allow them to stand on their own as a separate book. I skipped it. (But nothing else.)

The remainder are, for the most part, good solid reads. There is some redundancy within these separate tales. The Lost Boys story is given three renderings; two standard prose narratives and one play script. I enjoy the first prose narrative and the play script but find the second prose narrative lackluster. Likewise, I prefer the first of two tellings of Wendy and her descendants' further contact with Peter. The Peter Pan Alphabet is "cute" fluff and an ultra-quick read.

I bought the collection for-a-song off Amazon. Had I been a bit savvier at the time I'd have simply DL'd individual titles free-of-charge from Project Gutenberg.

I almost failed to mention that the Peter Pan of The Little White Bird and the earliest versions of several other tales is a very different creature from, and in my opinion superior to, the one seen in Disney adaptations.

[Decrepit]

I'm officially in the midst of an initial read of Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers. Between it and an aborted stab at The Count of Monte Cristo last year, I begin to suspect that Dumas is not my cup of tea. Yesterday afternoon, I felt a short break from Musketeers was needed. Something to clear my head. Something short and lighthearted.

I remembered a recent addition to Project Gutenberg. It is by its very nature short, taking me only about as long to read as it takes Steve Donaghue to complete War and Peace. As to lighthearted; well, one out of two ain't all bad. The title in question is Petition and Memorial of David Quinn, asking for the re-establishment of Negro slavery in the United States. Birth and death dates are not given for Mr. Quinn. His "active" dates are given to be 1850-1869. The petition was completed in 1866, not more than a year following the textbook end of the U.S. Civil War. To give the gentleman his due, he has a fine grasp of the English language, and a gift for gab. Otherwise, it's more or less exactly what you'd expect it to be, laid on thick and heavy. It was hard-going for me in spots. I doubt I could ensure a novel-length book so laser-focused on this topic. While glad it survives and is available for download by the public at large, I most emphatically do NOT endorse its message.

I suspect and hope that those who read Petition and Memorial do so for its historical value and as a reminder that "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."