I finished
The Far Side of the World and it was a very good thing I hadn't loaded the next book onto my waterproof mp3 player,* as I'd have been mightily tempted to segue right into it.
I was a little let down with this at first, as I've tended to prefer the "plottier" books and it was obvious that not much was going to happen with this one. But it sneaked up on me. The title tells it; in the age of sail, a trip to the far side of the world doesn't happen in a hurry, and this was the account of the various ways time was killed, from singing to lessons to cataloging beetles to a tragic love affair. And then there was the inventiveness of it; as for example in the hilarious account of Stephen's falling overboard (again) and the repercussions.
For those who haven't read it in a while, this novel is both the halfway mark and the one with the author's note acknowledging that he's running out of war. So he's about to get more creative; I can't help worrying a bit that I won't like the meandering timeline as much as I've liked the books so far. But like them I will, I know.
*Two young girls very nicely drew my attention to it before I got into the water, as they feared I had forgotten it. Kudos to them; even an adult might not make that effort.