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sept to dec round up
Jan. 1st, 2024 04:47 pmi seem to have read 21 books (7+5+4+5) between september and now, which i haven't posted about. that's quite a lot! it's enough that i thought a highlights list would suit as a summary - and then i could cut out the boring ones, or the ones i read for work. and then i looked again and it seemed to be mostly boring, work ones.
still, having picked through it again, i did read some books i've wanted to read for a while, even if i didn't love them, and others which surprised me, so that i liked them more than i thought i would. with that in mind, here are quick (sentence-ish) summaries of the more interesting stuff what i've read. no particular order:
catriona, rl stevenson - the sequel to kidnapped, and a quite charming cross-genre genre novel: i had a really good time with it, although you have to read the first one first, and you have to know some scottish history to do that.
the well of loneliness, radclyffe hall - it's clear why it was historically important, and also why it's underread in the present (dense and kind of dull).
perfume, patrick süskind - a total rejection and send-up of the superpowered hero trope, in the guise of a historical novel set in 17th century france.
memoirs of a spacewoman, naomi mitchison - what if arrival was set in star trek times, but specifically the bit of star trek times written in the 60s, which can only imagine so much gender freedom.
the master and margarita, mikhail bulgakov - fun but at times near-incomprehensibly soviet
adventures of tom sawyer and huckleberry finn, mark twain - the most incredibly written boys adventure books. if i ever write a child character i'm rereading these. but the language is rough, so that i wouldn't actually give these to a child.
the master, colm tóibín - if you have the slightest interest in henry james, this is worth your time, although i don't know if that is an interest to cultivate: i have thought about henry james a lot since reading this, but his books are conspicuously absent here, huh (i did read some of james' short stories though, most vividly 'the birthplace' and 'the real right thing'; i like his work but it's a commitment)
the man in the brown suit, agatha christie - a bit of a non-christie that i picked up very cheap and ended up really enjoying; it's her doing a spy thriller, basically, and it's very fun, albeit also very mid-century british.
warlord chronicles, bernard cornwell - read the last two of the trilogy this quarter, and loved them. these are like, what if arthurian legend was historically accurate, and so they take place in this historical moment where invaders and christianity are sweeping through a land already filled to the brim with religion, superstition and ruins. there's all the magic and conflict of the stories, but complicated and unclear and real. really something special.
still, having picked through it again, i did read some books i've wanted to read for a while, even if i didn't love them, and others which surprised me, so that i liked them more than i thought i would. with that in mind, here are quick (sentence-ish) summaries of the more interesting stuff what i've read. no particular order:
catriona, rl stevenson - the sequel to kidnapped, and a quite charming cross-genre genre novel: i had a really good time with it, although you have to read the first one first, and you have to know some scottish history to do that.
the well of loneliness, radclyffe hall - it's clear why it was historically important, and also why it's underread in the present (dense and kind of dull).
perfume, patrick süskind - a total rejection and send-up of the superpowered hero trope, in the guise of a historical novel set in 17th century france.
memoirs of a spacewoman, naomi mitchison - what if arrival was set in star trek times, but specifically the bit of star trek times written in the 60s, which can only imagine so much gender freedom.
the master and margarita, mikhail bulgakov - fun but at times near-incomprehensibly soviet
adventures of tom sawyer and huckleberry finn, mark twain - the most incredibly written boys adventure books. if i ever write a child character i'm rereading these. but the language is rough, so that i wouldn't actually give these to a child.
the master, colm tóibín - if you have the slightest interest in henry james, this is worth your time, although i don't know if that is an interest to cultivate: i have thought about henry james a lot since reading this, but his books are conspicuously absent here, huh (i did read some of james' short stories though, most vividly 'the birthplace' and 'the real right thing'; i like his work but it's a commitment)
the man in the brown suit, agatha christie - a bit of a non-christie that i picked up very cheap and ended up really enjoying; it's her doing a spy thriller, basically, and it's very fun, albeit also very mid-century british.
warlord chronicles, bernard cornwell - read the last two of the trilogy this quarter, and loved them. these are like, what if arthurian legend was historically accurate, and so they take place in this historical moment where invaders and christianity are sweeping through a land already filled to the brim with religion, superstition and ruins. there's all the magic and conflict of the stories, but complicated and unclear and real. really something special.
