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November Reading 2016


Garett Hornwood

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I finished Inverting The Pyramid, the history of the evolution of soccer tactics.  It really dragged.  I love the topic but a non-fiction book is not the best format -- it calls out for a dynamic tactics board to illustrate the main points -- and it was bloated with irrelevant back story on various individuals.  Yet another historian too love with his own research.  Most damningly, it did too little to explain the dynamics of soccer players on the fields to show how the different formations and tactics interact.

Now reading the third Jackson Brodie novel by Kate Atkinson.  Although nominally a crime/mystery genre fiction, it reads like literary fiction.   Atkinson writes so well but her work is always suffused with really improbable levels of premature bereavement and violence against women and kids.  She seems to embrace the deepest tragedy for her characters, but without any of the nuance that would make it more interesting.  It just is, betraying the character's expectations of normalcy, and leaving them scarred, numb and defined by grief for the rest of their lives.  That would be ok here and there but not for every character in every book (not just this series).  

 

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I enjoyed The Yellow Admiral by Patrick O'Brian more than the previous few novels mainly due to the fact that we got to see a bit more of the families of Aubrey and Maturin.

Now reading Penric's Mission by Lois McMaster Bujold as my commute read.  I'm liking this one the best so far of the Penric novellas.

Okanagan Geology is my bedtime read.  This is what happens when a geologist walks into a winery in the Okanagan (south central British Columbia) and sees a book on the local geology.

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Finished The Phantom of the Opera. I have never seen the film adaptations or the musical, so this was really my first introduction to the story. Erik truly is one of the great villains of literature - actually terrifying in places.

My completed reads for November:

  • The Vampire Lestat, by Anne Rice
  • Let the Old Dreams Die, by John Ajvide Lindqvist
  • Waking Nightmares, by Ramsey Campbell
  • Dark Companions, by Ramsey Campbell
  • The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka
  • The Phantom of the Opera, by Gaston Leroux

Next up is The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson.

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I finally finished The Great Rift. Ugh, according to my GR I slogged through that one for over a month. I should have quit. It was a total waste of time--worse than the first one and had next to no redeeming qualities. Not making the mistake of reading the third one!

Going to read Nemesis Games now. Really looking forward to it, been holding off so I could read right before the sixth one. I found Cibola Burn to be a bit meh, so I am hoping this is not a continuation of a downward trend.

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Haven't read much fiction in the last month and a half. But I realised I have Ian Tregillis' new book on pre-order for December, so I am beginning a quick reread of the first two. I think, having now read the Milkweed Tritpych, I would *just* give the edge to the Alchemy Wars, but it's very close. And, of course, the Alchemy Wars lacks its conclusion. Blew through The Rising way too quickly last year, so fast paced and addictive

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4 hours ago, Starkess said:

Going to read Nemesis Games now. Really looking forward to it, been holding off so I could read right before the sixth one. I found Cibola Burn to be a bit meh, so I am hoping this is not a continuation of a downward trend.

<_<

 

3 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said:

Haven't read much fiction in the last month and a half. But I realised I have Ian Tregillis' new book on pre-order for December, so I am beginning a quick reread of the first two. I think, having now read the Milkweed Tritpych, I would *just* give the edge to the Alchemy Wars, but it's very close. And, of course, the Alchemy Wars lacks its conclusion. Blew through The Rising way too quickly last year, so fast paced and addictive

Between Babylon's Ashes and The Liberation I am soooooo looking forward to December. 

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I read Penric's Mission yesterday. 4 stars because it's LMB, but not as good as the first two, IMHO.

I also finished Perdido Street Station a couple of days ago. I was enchanted throughout most of it. Haven't written a review yet.

And now I'm working on The Legend of Drizzt. Engaging writing, but pretty obvious in plot and message, and often very D&Dish.

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On 27/11/2016 at 9:59 AM, ljkeane said:

It's been a bit of a slow month on the reading front for me but last week I did read Lois Mcmaster-Bujold's Penric's Mission which was good until it just seems to kind of stop halfway through the story.

I just finished this as well. I liked it, Bujold's always good at creating interesting characters and this one is no different. I think it does come to a reasonable conclusion but I think there does need to be a follow-up...

... I think it would be a bit disconcerting if the next Penric story moved on to a completely new setting and didn't feature Nikys and her brother again. If we're comparing this to the Vorkosigan Saga then parts of it were a bit reminiscent of Komarr, and maybe it then needs its equivalent of A Civil Campaign

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Finished The Haunting of Hill House. Probably the best horror novel I have read: Jackson evokes an amazing atmosphere that is both oppressive and unsettling ("...and whatever walked there, walked alone"). Oh, and Mrs Dudley is a truly awesome character. The only weakness was the highly annoying Mrs Montague, but she's only there towards the end.

Next up is Rosemary's Baby, by Ira Levin.

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I've taken a break from Orlando Figes' A People's Tragedy and am now working through the stories in Charles de Lint's Dreams Underfoot. I love urban myths and folklore and these stories really hit the spot. The imaginary setting of Newford, CA is wonderful. I'm also loving all of the pop culture references from the early 90s.

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I finished Desire of the Everlasting Hills by Thomas Cahill, throught-provoking look at Jesus of Nazareth but also has it's flaws.

I've started reading The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 1 by Edward Gibbons, well I say started but I've just read the 54 or 55 pages of introduction, prelude, and author intro which is all numerated by lower case roman numerals so actually tomorrow I'll be actually getting into the text.

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Finished off Wilderness. A bit of inoffensive YA adventure fluff - though I think the story could have benefited from cutting the Dublin storyline with the stepsister, and beefing up the Lapland storyline.

Next up is back to horror - Collected Ghost Stories, by M.R. James.

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I loved the MR James ghost stories. Must have read most of them several times since I had a cheap pbck omnibus edition about 20 years ago. They can sometimes be a little heavy on art history and Latin (betraying the author's professional background) but they are worth it.

I am at 3/4 or so of the latest "Cormoran Strike" novel. My sister likes them and lent it to me. It's not too bad but far too long and I doubt these would be bestsellers if written by a nobody. (For the "atmospheric" quotations a the heads of chapters Galbraith/JKR descended from Virgil and Shakespeare in the first two to Blue Öyster Cult lyrics...).

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Been rather lax about posting this month.  Since the last time I posted I've read:

The Hanging Tree, Ben Aaronovitch

A Woman of the Iron People, Eleanor Arnason

Penric's Mission, Lois McMaster Bujold

Homegoing, Yaa Gyasi

Invisible Planets, edited by Ken LIu

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