01-09-2019, 06:31 AM | #27886 |
Nameless Being
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Having finished the excellent Daughters of the Sun and learned a great deal about the MUghal Empire and its notable women, I've now started The Pursuit of Italy: A History of a Land, its Regions and their Peoples By David Gilmour. I really enjoyed his book The British in India, and am looking forward to learning more about the country which completely surrounds the one I think of as my home away from home.
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01-09-2019, 07:17 AM | #27887 | |
Professor of Law
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I have now started listening to Jhumpa Lahiri's The Lowland, which has been on my TBR since 2014 when it garnered a lot of nominations and a few awards. Last edited by astrangerhere; 01-09-2019 at 08:03 AM. |
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01-09-2019, 08:27 AM | #27888 | |
Wizard
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Anyway, I've still got The Odyssey and The Wandering Earth on the go but I'll be starting The Left Hand of Darkness tonight as the NLBC pick for January. |
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01-09-2019, 08:30 AM | #27889 | |
Wizard
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I've borrowed Her Smoke Rises Up Forever from the library a couple of times but I've read less than half the stories. "The Man Who Walked Home" was one of them. Didn't love it, it was OK. |
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01-09-2019, 08:48 AM | #27890 |
Professor of Law
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I would give it a 3ish out of 5. I appreciated the idea of it, but I am not sure how great the execution was.
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01-09-2019, 10:36 PM | #27891 |
Wizard
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I am reading " The Reckoning" by John Grisham. Very good and very different. I am also reading Woman in the Window. I gave up on it but giving it a second chance. Its turning out good but the author draws things out too much by being overly descriptive. For example she spends a paragraph describing the detective turning a page in his notebook. Not necessary in the story.
I believe the next book I will read is The Andromeda Strain , Juror #3, The Regulators. I read Stephen Kings Desperation and found it one of the best horror books I read and The Regulators is supposed to be about the same monster in a parallel universe. The Deep by Nick Cutter is on my list. I read The Troop ( recommended by Stephen King) and that is one of the top horror books I ever read as well. |
01-10-2019, 04:28 AM | #27892 | |
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
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From the afterword I think he wrote it with a co-author, not just with a good editor. But still pretty good. I'd be tempted to buy another one by him. Next up: The Sister Paradox by Jack Campbell. My most recent purchase! |
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01-10-2019, 06:03 AM | #27893 |
Nameless Being
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Continuing with my Allingham re-read, and the gloss continues to come off the rose. The Fashion in Shrouds was toxically misogynistic and (like all her works) casually racist, Traitor's Purse was much better, but Coroner's Pidgin is so empty and incoherent I'm only finishing it because in an hour's time I'll have another one completed for my GR Challenge. Book twelve of nineteen, and so far only two have been as enjoyable as when I read them in my teens, Sweet Danger and Traitor's Purse. Nostalgia is a treacherous tour guide
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01-10-2019, 06:14 AM | #27894 |
eBook Enthusiast
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Strange how our tastes do change with time. I don't enjoy Allingham as much as, say, Sayers, but I still find her books a pleasant way to while away an afternoon. Hope you find at least a couple more that you do enjoy! Have you read any of the "modern" Campions written by Mike Ripley? If not, they may be worth a try.
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01-10-2019, 06:26 AM | #27895 | |
Nameless Being
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Quote:
I've had a similar experience of change, but in a positive way, with some of Ngaio Marsh's books. As a teen, I loved her books for the way she used them to share her primary passion, theatre, especially Shakepeare. But her attitude toward the land of her birth and its indigenous people (from whose language her own name comes) seemed ambivalent at best. Having re-read 10 or so last year, I was intrigued to note that her perspective on these islands and its peoples was much more nuanced and thoughtful than I'd previously noticed. Certainly her views on people genetically blessed with an abundance of melanin are far ahead of those repeatedly expressed by Allingham (whose writings in this specific regard remind me ever more of Enid Blyton) |
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01-10-2019, 06:30 AM | #27896 |
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01-10-2019, 06:37 AM | #27897 |
Nameless Being
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Indeed. I have learned a lot from my recent rereads though. Learned about me, how I've changed, and read the series with a different eye, seeing how the writers developed their voices over the course of time. It hasn't been all bad, and since they're fast reads, it's put me way ahead for my GR challenge, leaving plenty of time for the more challenging new reads lined up.
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01-10-2019, 06:51 AM | #27898 |
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Yes, that's the reason I like to read authors' books in order, because it is interesting to see how they evolve over the years. In recent years, I've read Allingham, Marsh, Sayers and Christie that way and it's been illuminating. I've found Sayers and Christie to be authors whose work has stood the test of time; Allingham and Marsh perhaps less so.
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01-10-2019, 07:04 AM | #27899 |
Nameless Being
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This is good to know, because Sayers is on my list, but not as a re-read, I never got around to her back then. As for Marsh and Allingham, it's become clear to me that their strongest works are when they write about stuff closest to them - the Albert and Amanda pairing is as strong as I remember, and when Marsh writes about theatre, her books come alive, shining with passion.
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01-10-2019, 07:09 AM | #27900 |
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You have a treat in store! Sayers is wonderful. Do read them in order, because although all the "Lord Peter Wimsey" books are of course standalone, there's a great deal of ongoing story development that takes place as the series progresses.
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