Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading?

[sealbeater]

Currently reading "In the Garden of Beasts" by Erik Larson. Pretty good!

[AgedAngel]

Finished R. F. Delderfield's wonderful Long Summer Day, the first book of his A Horseman Riding By trilogy.

I haven't read Delderfield in a long time, so I found this hint intriguing. I read the first couple of pages of "Long Summer Day" using Amazon's "look inside" feature, and decided to take the plunge again.

Currently, I'm reading Robertson Davies' "The Deptford Trilogy", which I read years ago (and therefore probably missed a lot of). Had to get it in a dead trees edition because Amazon seems woefully unimpressed with Davies' work. The Folio Society edition I'm reading is illustrated with full color tarot-card-style impressions of the events of the novels...and are enough to give one nightmares.

In my humble opinion, "The Deptford Trilogy" is one of the classics of 20th century fiction. It's a pity that it languishes in such obscurity.

My inch-through-it-one-paragraph-at-a-time project is "Dereliction of Duty", by H. R. McMaster (ebook). It's an analysis of what got us so deeply into that Tar Baby called Vietnam. Very dense reading, not to mention disillusioning and discouraging...hence, "inching through". (The government really played that fast and loose with people's lives? I should be surprised?)

I've been reading a lot of Stephen King recently. I'm not overly taken with his "horror" horror, but his borderline stuff, even including "The Stand", is very good. Wonderful thing about King: from the first paragraph, I know I'm in the hands of an accomplished storyteller, and that he won't let me down with cheap tricks or hand-waving. I enjoy his asides and quirky sense of humor, too. ("Hearts in Atlantis", I should mention, is a true gem.)

AA

[CRussel]

After finishing R. F. Delderfield's A Long Summer Day, a bit of a break back to a nice, simple, murder mystery. Well, OK, maybe not so simple, since it's P.D. James. Currently reading her 6th Adam Dalgliesh book, Death of an Expert Witness, while listening to a Jack Campbell Fantasy of no particular merit.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by AgedAngel

In my humble opinion, "The Deptford Trilogy" is one of the classics of 20th century fiction. It's a pity that it languishes in such obscurity.

It had been decades since I devoured Robertson Davies, until last summer when I listened to the entire Salterton trilogy and the first of the Cornish trilogy, all read by the incomparable Frederick Davidson. Once I finish the Cornish books I'll move on to Deptford (his masterwork), which isn't available as an audiobook which might be just as well.

I think of Davies as the greatest Canadian author, but I've seen assessments that describe him as old hat and obviously he's been somewhat obscured by the lustre that attaches to Margaret Atwood.

[bfisher]

Originally Posted by issybird

It had been decades since I devoured Robertson Davies, until last summer when I listened to the entire Salterton trilogy and the first of the Cornish trilogy, all read by the incomparable Frederick Davidson. Once I finish the Cornish books I'll move on to Deptford (his masterwork), which isn't available as an audiobook which might be just as well.

I think of Davies as the greatest Canadian author, but I've seen assessments that describe him as old hat and obviously he's been somewhat obscured by the lustre that attaches to Margaret Atwood.

I read Fifth Business as part of the reading list for a CanLit course 45 years ago - the prof presented him as the peak of CanLit. Atwood and Munro were only starting to get established at that point. Sadly, I don't remember much of the book; for me, that semester was all about the joys of Dickens, Trollope and Thackeray.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Next, a more recent purchase, Shadow's Edge by Brent Weeks his second in the Night Angel series.

This book suffers from "sophomore blues." Not much going on until the second half and then a few surprises. However, I was having difficulty keeping track of everyone and that lowers my enjoyment. Rated C [3 stars].

Next TBD.

[mlewis78]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Finished R. F. Delderfield's wonderful Long Summer Day, the first book of his A Horseman Riding By trilogy. This was a wonderful examination of Edwardian England, with the majority of the story taking place in Shallowford, a rural valley in Devon, but with the forces from the Suffragette Movement and the looming war with Germany impacting even this protected valley.

The story centres around Paul Craddock, a city-bred Lieutenant invalided out of the Boer War with a near fatal injury, who takes his inheritance from a scrap metal yard and buys a thirteen-hundred-acre estate in rural Devon that has been allowed to run down and become rather derelict. As the new squire, he knows nothing of farming, but through hard work, and the generous application of cash where (long) needed, turns around both the estate and the lives of his tenant farmers.

While the principal story revolves around rural England, Craddock and Shallowford aren't divorced from the forces shaping England and the world in the Edwardian Era. It essentially starts with the coronation of Edward VII (1902), and ends with the coronation of George V (1911), and encompasses the rise of the Women's Suffrage movement, substantial changes to the tax code by the Liberals, and the increasing naval might and militancy of Germany.

This is a wonderful example of R. F. Delderfield's ability to tell a story about people, places and times. The writing is elegant without being frothy, and always a delight. As Books and Bookmen says: "It is always a pleasure to read R F Delderfield, because he never seems to be ashamed of writing well". This was an absolute delight, and goes right up near the very top of books I've read this year. Highly recommended.

ETA: There is an Audible version, but it's no better than so-so. Really, I'd suggest sticking to the eBook. It's KU in the US, and only £3.99 in the UK. And worth every penny.

Thanks for recommendation. I just purchased for $1.99 in the U.S. (Amazon)

[Dngrsone]

Finished Stiff by Mary Roach. Very interesting, entertaining even.

Now reading The Rebels of Gold by Elise Kova.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by bfisher

I read Fifth Business as part of the reading list for a CanLit course 45 years ago - the prof presented him as the peak of CanLit. Atwood and Munro were only starting to get established at that point. Sadly, I don't remember much of the book; for me, that semester was all about the joys of Dickens, Trollope and Thackeray.

Well, joys indeed! (And I've revisited all three gentlemen this past year, so that's a recent reaction.) I'd be curious to know what other than Davies featured in a CanLit course of that era. Here I'm showing my ignorance; I can only think of Margaret Laurence as fitting into that time frame. Not counting Lucy Maud, of course.

[bfisher]

Originally Posted by issybird

Well, joys indeed! (And I've revisited all three gentlemen this past year, so that's a recent reaction.) I'd be curious to know what other than Davies featured in a CanLit course of that era. Here I'm showing my ignorance; I can only think of Margaret Laurence as fitting into that time frame. Not counting Lucy Maud, of course.

There wasn't much to work with in 1972. Other than Davies (Fifth Business was basically hot off the press then) , I can vaguely recall E.J. Pratt, Morley Callaghan (Such Is My Beloved), Sinclair Ross (As For Me and My House) and Mordecai Richler (The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz).

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

Checked out a paper version of Patrick Modiano's Nobel Prize Winner Missing Person. I'm finding it very atmospheric so far, though I suspect that I am losing something in the translation.

Finished this and quite enjoyed it. 4/5 for what is likely my last book of the year.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

TNext up: F&SF, Nov/Dec 2017

Which was an enjoyable issue.

Then I read A Pig of Cold Poison by Pat McIntosh. The seventh in her Gil Cunningham series set in mediaeval Glasgow.

Most enjoyable, and I even got the main solution early on, although not all the details, of course.

And now I'm reading The Vesuvius Club by Mark Gatiss. Subtitled "A Bit of Fluff", I'm hoping for a quick, fun read.

[ReadingManiac]

Decided it's time for some time travel.

First Epiphany Of The Time Vandal
by Harry Bowling

Just getting into it but it seems good so far.

[kansaskyle]

I finished my last book of the year, The Scarlett Pimpernel, which was an exciting historical fiction tale set during the French revolution.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

And now I'm reading The Vesuvius Club by Mark Gatiss. Subtitled "A Bit of Fluff", I'm hoping for a quick, fun read.

Which I'm abandoning. Just not to my taste, unfortunately.

Next up: Not sure.