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

[DJUNGELSKOG]

1. I'm reading (my own paper copy of) The Wheel Of Time. I've tried multiple times to get into it and it has finally worked, I'm actually reading it.

2. I'm reading (a library copy of) The Neutronium Alchemist by Peter F. Hamilton. I really like his writing, thankfully our local library has almost everything that he has written so far.

3. I'm also listening to (a library copy of) Ultra-Processed People audiobook.

These books will keep me busy for a while.

[DJUNGELSKOG]

Originally Posted by HLS

I am on book 2 of the Mistborn Trilogy

I love it!!!

[Uncle Robin]

I finally got a minor issue with my library card sorted last week so now I'm enjoying Volume 1 of The Calleshire Chronicles by Catherine Aird. It's book 1-3 of the series and although I had read the first, The Religious Body, it's not ringing any bells, so I'm pleased I have it as part of the omnibus. My library also has the next two 3-volume sets after this one, too

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Currently reading The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths. A time travel murder mystery.

Which was OK, but I don't think the time travel idea is really worked out enough.

Next I whooshed through Ribbon Dance and Diviner's Bow (which are really one story) by Lee and Miller, great fun "SF" in their Liaden universe.

And also Friends Indeed by David Weber, some more of the early days of the Star Kingdom's interactions with Treecats.

All great fun.

Now reading: Brat Farrar by Josephone Tey.

[Renate]

Reading "England: A Class of Its Own", Detlev Piltz.
I have always had a morbid interest in class and aspiration.

Paul Fussel wrote "Class", which if you got to the end it tells you, "You read this book, therefore you are outside class constraints".

Then there is the "Great British Class Survey".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/2...5093/index.stm
I was rated "precariat" which doesn't really seem to cramp my style.

Eating a hobo stew made of odds and ends and parts of a ferral pig someone caught?
Sure. Why not?
Watching an episode of "America's Funniest Home Videos"?
Just shoot me.
How about opera?
Fine, if you'll let me bring a book.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Now reading: Brat Farrar by Josephone Tey.

A good mystery with a good resolution.

Next up: A re-read for a bookclub: Terry Pratchett: A Life in Footnotes by Rob Wilkins.

[drofgnal]

I finished Gods and Kings by Lynn Austin and I really enjoyed it. I decided to continue with the next book in the series, Song of Redemption.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Then I read Blue Murder, by Emma Jameson. A rather nice police procedural/murder mystery/light romance.

Thanks for that, hadn't run across her before. Not bad at all, I quite enjoyed Ice Blue, the first in the series. I have a compilation of the first three, so I'll be moving on to Blue Murder, the second one shortly.

[Uncle Robin]

I'm currently half way through The Best of Best New Zealand Poetry edited and compiled by Bill Manhire and Damien Wilkins. In his intro, Wilkins said

If I were put against a wall and asked to make any sort of general observation about the poetry here, it would have something to do with, well, fun. Not a very high-minded concept, I know. A kind of buoyancy then. Or lightness

At the halfway point, the recurring themes that have come up most often BY FAr, almost every poem it seems, are aging, mortality and death. Clearly he and I have rather different personal definitions of "fun" and "lightness"

[Uncle Robin]

Back to Dean Street Press now with The Bungalow Mystery Annie Haynes debut novel. First published in 1923, the language seems MUCH older, but will see if the story engages me.

[fantasyfan]

The New Catholic Dictionary
The Universal Knowledge Foundation
New York, 1929

The Dictionary is a superb abridgment of the enormous 15 volume Catholic Encyclopedia but is far easier to use and still covers a great deal of ground. It is filled with excellent black and white illustrations and has fold-out maps.

The preface opens:
“This Dictionary is not an ordinary compilation of knowledge but a book of life, of Catholic life, past and present, in every part of the world.”

It covers “Religion, Scripture, tradition, doctrine, morals, sacraments, rites, customs, devotions and symbolism.” There are articles on “historical events and personages.” It deals with philosophy, psychology, ethics and the Arts.
I was amazed at the sheer variety of vestments used by Clerics from the Pope down to the subdeacon. Further, each individual vestment gets a separate entry to itself. There are entries for the crucifix, the cross, relics, rosaries and liturgical implements.

The Irish Church has an extended article as does St Patrick. The editors cannot resist the St Patrick and shamrock tale, but they do preface it with “St Patrick is said to have plucked a shamrock—“ thereby leaving open the assumption that it is a fable (which it almost certainly is).

The Catholic Dictionary can help one get an historical overview of a specific period. For instance, The Beaufort Tapestry witnessed one of the most turbulent and confusing periods in Church History. Clement VI conceived The Tapestry as a celebration of the Avignon Papacy as well as for the marriage of his nephew. The work portrays symbols of strength, stability and divine and earthly protection. When Clement’s other nephew, Gregory XI, died in Rome the Twin Papal elections led to the Western Schism. Between 1389 and 1417 there were 9 claimants to the papacy—all significant and as many as three simultaneously claiming to be the true Pope.

Fortunately, The Dictionary has entries for both Avignon and The Western Schism. It lists all the papal claimants and gives biographical material for each. Hence, one can get reasonable historical sequence of the events and the main players during the schism.. From there one can go to other sources and in fact, the various articles end with suggestions for further reading.

The one problem of the book lies in its age. The Church has gone down significant new paths since the orthodoxy of 1929. There is a tendency to be defensive and distrustful of ideas we find quite reasonable now (e.g. read the article on Socialism). But the impressive factual material outweighs these limitations. This useful reference book can be downloaded free from Internet Archive.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: A re-read for a bookclub: Terry Pratchett: A Life in Footnotes by Rob Wilkins.

Which was excellent. A fitting tribute to Terry, written by someone who knew him well in the last quarter of his life.

What I had forgotten was how moving the last couple of chapters were. Highly recommended.


Then, as a bit of light relief, I read The Hanging in the Hotel by Simon Brett. A cosy mystery with an unexpected ending. Good!

And now I'm reading What Price Victory? by David Weber et al. the most recent anthology of short stories in his Honor Harrington universe.

[Graham44]

I'm trying to re-read The Winter People by Bret Tallent, it's your typical horror story about monsters that hide within a raging blizzard and feed upon the local residents, the sort of horror story I like. However this is my fourth attempt at reading it and I just can't get into it for some reason, I'm really going to try and persevere this time and see if I can finish it!

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Graham44

I'm trying to re-read The Winter People by Bret Tallent, it's your typical horror story about monsters that hide within a raging blizzard and feed upon the local residents, the sort of horror story I like. However this is my fourth attempt at reading it and I just can't get into it for some reason, I'm really going to try and persevere this time and see if I can finish it!

It might be the writing rather than you. I suggest you consider just abandoning the book as one not written in a style you like.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

What I had forgotten was how moving the last couple of chapters were. Highly recommended.
.

THIS! Those last couple of chapters made damn sure my lacrimal glands got a good refresh