What are you reading? Fourth Quarter 2023

[Fragile Bird]

I mentioned Josephine Tey’s The Daughter of Time a while ago, an Inspector Alan Grant novel. I saw that my library had an omnibus edition with all 6 Grant books, and I’ve listened to them over and over with great pleasure. Tey has a beautiful, erudite writing style, definitely a step above a writer like, say, Agatha Christie, probably why Christie sold so many more books. The books, like other novels from the time period (1929 to 1952) reflect the British attitude towards foreigners. She also uses contemporary slang that I had to look up.

I once mentioned in the UK politics thread that the British neighbours we had in my childhood didn’t consider Italians to be white people, and mentioned the slur they used to describe Italians (starts with “d”). In the first Grant book, The Man in the Queue, one of the characters has an Italian mother and therefore darker skin than the usual very white Brit. Grant thinks of him as “the Levant”. It’s quite a clever mystery about a man murdered in the line at a theatre, and somehow no one witnesses the killing. It also shows us how seriously Grant takes his job. Grant apparently is the first main character Scotland Yard detective who’s a regular person, other detectives until then (1929) being amateurs helping the police or lords slumming it.

The next book is A Shilling for Candles, involving a drowned actress found at the base of a sea cliff, from 1936. Grant gets help from the local Chief Constable’s daughter. Alfred Hitchcock adapted the book for his 1937 film Young and Innocent. No, I’ve never seen it, part of his British work before he left for the US. I wonder if it’s on You Tube.

The third book is The Franchise Affair, where a seemingly innocent schoolgirl makes shocking accusations against a woman and her elderly mother, from 1948. Grant is only a minor character in this book, the investigating detective, the book instead is presented from the point of view of the lawyer who is called by the woman after Grant arrives and the claims of the girl are spelled out. It makes an interesting change of pace, as the lawyer desperately tries to help his clients out of a terrible situation.

The next book is To Love and be Wise, where Grant bumps into a young man at a party who is looking for a certain person. Grant makes the introduction, and we follow the young man as he develops relationships with a group of people in a village that has become an artist’s colony, until the young man vanishes one night. Grant is called in to investigate and we get into some very modern themes for a book that came out in 1950. Grant once again proves himself to be a thoroughly decent person.

The Daughter of Time, as I previously mentioned, finds Grant in hospital, laid up after falling through a trapdoor while chasing a criminal. He ends up investigating, as best he can, the accusation made against Richard III, of murdering his nephews in the Tower. This is the book I read as a high school student that made me a life-long believer in Richard’s innocence. The book was named the best murder mystery of the century in Britain. I enjoyed the fact that Tey will drop interesting information in her novels. Here a character brings anemones to Grant in hospital, and another comments she’s brought “lilies of the field”. I never knew the biblical reference wasn’t to actual lillies but anemones that apparently grow wild in great quantities in the Holy Land.

The final Grant mystery, The Singing Sands, was published after her death in 1952. All her Grant books are very different, none are formulaic. The book opens with Grant traveling to Scotland on sick leave, his habit of taking all his cases intensely seriously has led to overwork and a breakdown. He’s developed a serious case of claustrophobia, unable to tolerate confined spaces, the train trip north an absolute nightmare for him. As he leaves the train he sees that a young man in a neighboring compartment has died, and as he convalesces he finds himself wondering about the death. Once again a novel filled with twists and unexpected surprises. Tey was Scottish, and this book and the first book contain evocative descriptions of wild Scotland.

I liked all the books and recommend reading them. They’re well written, witty and clever. Like most murder mysteries from the time period, they’re also relatively short, so easy to read.

[A wilding]

Will happily second any Josephine Tey recommendation. She still has a following in the UK. If you like the Grant books, I would also suggest tracking down her two other crime books, Miss Pym Disposes and Brat Farrar.

[Wilbur]

6 hours ago, Fragile Bird said:

I mentioned Josephine Tey’s...Tey has a beautiful, erudite writing style, definitely a step above a writer like, say, Agatha Christie, probably why Christie sold so many more books...

I liked all the books and recommend reading them. They’re well written, witty and clever. Like most murder mysteries from the time period, they’re also relatively short, so easy to read.

This is a good recommendation.  The librarian at the British Council saw that I had checked out a Margery Allingham mystery and recommended them to 11-year-old me, and so I read the three that they had in the stacks.

Tey has a style that is transparent, a stylist who writes to be easily read and comprehended, smooth and without interruption, very much in the mode of C.S. Lewis.  As an adult, her stories have that underlying theme of right action, or ethics in humanity, that Fragile Bird describes, without being mawkish.

[maarsen]

On 12/2/2023 at 9:31 AM, ljkeane said:

The Hand of the Sun King by JT Greathouse wasn't particularly good. There's a few interesting ideas but it's not particularly well written and the characters were pretty flat so it didn't really hold my interest. Also when the main focus of the book is the main character having one foot in either side of a conflict making one side pretty unredeemably awful is kind of a boring choice.

I've been reading various different Bosch books by Michael Connelly since I started watching the tv series without really worrying about reading them in order. They're decent, easy read crime thrillers without being anything too special. I read the first one The Black Echo recently. In all the books Bosch is a kind of on the edge, breaking the rules to get job done kind of cop but he's kind of noticeably awful in this one. This was written back when Connelly was a crime reporter with the LA Times who actually spent a lot of time around real detectives so it's little concerning. Maybe it's just early 90s sensibilities of where the line was.

At the moment I'm reading Jade War by Fonda Lee. I enjoyed the first book so hopefully this one should be good too.

 

The early 90s in Los Angeles was not a banner time for the LAPD. The TV show The Shield was set in that time period also and as a story about the insidiousness of corruption is still hard to beat.

[williamjm]

I finished Roger Zelazny's A Night In The Lonesome October, which I thought was excellent. It is definitely a unique book, written as a series of 31 diary entries through the month of October by an unusually intelligent dog who, together with his master, is part of a metaphysical game whose stakes are the future of the world. In his introduction to this edition Neil Gaiman described reading it as being like attending a Halloween party where all the guests have come as famous literary heroes and villains and who are playing a game whose rules you only gradually start to understand. It is a lot of fun trying to work out what is going on and who is on which side (even the competitors don't initially know who their allies or opponents are). There are also some clever twists along the way - just when you think you have started to figured out what is going to happen the picture changes.

It does also have some interesting characters in it, particularly among the animals. Snuff is a likeable narrator and there are some good subplots as he finds himself becoming friends with others when he knows there is a risk they may end up being foes when Halloween comes along.

Edited December 5, 2023 by williamjm

[Wilbur]

Another auto-recommendation from the local library for me was Noble Smith's Sons of Zeus, a first book of The Warrior Trilogy set in Green Platea during the early years of the Peloponnesian War.  The audiobook was read by excellent performer Elijah Alexander.

I would call this a very good adventure story set in Classical Greece.  It is a hearty yarn during the height of the rivalry between Platea and Thebes, within the scope of the overall competition between Sparta and Athens, as well as the deterioration of the Delian League.  It has all the hallmarks of the adventure story surrounding a young man coming of age, and it has reasonable accouterments of the Hellene society of the time.  There are forbidden loves, battles, spies, political intrigue, mysterious strangers, betrayals, etc.

None of what happens is all that very surprising, and the author really loves a fake-out plotline.  However, the main characters have such obvious plot armor that the reader cannot believe anything really bad will happen to them.  Convenient foreign characters appear as metics or slaves or ex-slaves to help the main characters progress toward their goals.  Historical characters are very far in the background, and the action does fall within acceptable historical storylines.

It also suffers from a terrible case of Star Wars syndrome, where almost all of the main characters are either (sometimes secret!) blood relations or have key intertwining backstories.  In a place as large as Greece, surely there are some characters who have not previously loved / hated / been the father of the other characters in the story.  I feel like the story would not have suffered significantly if the characters were NOT connected by some such links.  Authors, it is OK for random people to interact and generate their own drama.

I think that this would work very well for younger readers, however, despite my griping about the technical weaknesses.  Less experienced readers aren't going to notice those issues, and the story moves along with the necessary pace and style to keep the reader turning the pages.  I will definitely read the next book in the trilogy.

Edit for P.S. - Maybe this isn't a great book for all younger readers, as it includes a chapter that has several references to various sexual activities featuring a mixture of participants in about four scenes.  Classical Greeks had some wide-ranging sexual mores, and the author decided to cover most of them seemingly all at once to check it off the list about a third of the way into the book.

Edited December 7, 2023 by Wilbur
Added post script

[Iskaral Pust]

A Litter Of Bones by J.D. Kirk is a police detective novel set in Scotland.  The main character is a curmudgeon, long in the tooth, with a dry sense of humor and disregard for authority.  Sounds a lot like Rankin’s Rebus character (and many more besides in the genre) but this was an enjoyable read in itself.  I’ll look for more from this author.

The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling) is the latest in the Cormoran Strike mystery series.  As ever, the book is extremely long and deeply immersive with the two main characters.  This time the plot resolves around a cult, which feels like a swipe at Scientology and perhaps others (Nxivm?).  It was a pretty good installment in the series, and improved on the prior book about online trolls.  But be prepared for a very protracted and slow moving immersion.  The central character pair are more likable after seeing their portrayal in the TV adaptation.

Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis is a satire about life in academia in post-war England.  The prose contains lots of dry humor as it swings through a litany of farces.  It’s an enjoyable read in its own right but probably more impactful when it was published as a social commentary about the stuffy world of academia.

I also reread the entire Generation V tetralogy by M.L. Brennan, an urban fantasy series about the coming-of-age of an ethical vampire struggling against his nature and destiny, represented as a nebbish, push-over vegan whose moral convictions eventually lend him a backbone, not to mention a kitsune friend and sidekick.  It’s definitely not high literature but it’s fun and light, and something about the changing season made me reach for it.

[Zorral]

16 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis

I read and re-read Lucky Jim over and over in high school and undergrad days.  Always I laughed out loud frequently, loudly.  I remember my grandmother's incomprehension when one afternoon I was breaking up on her couch while reading the book. I read what what was making me laugh, and she said, "That doesn't make any sense."  Which made me laugh even more.

I read all his other books too, but nothing was as brilliant as Lucky Jim.  Gotta say though, mostly Amis's work reads very differently to me now.  So does his son's.  There are attitudes, shall we say, that only gradually revealed themselves to me as time went on.

[williamjm]

I read Morgan Stang's Murder at Spindle Manor. I saw one review describing it as 'fantasy steampunk Poirot' and I think that's mostly an apt comparison, although I don't remember Poirot being so heavily armed. The protagonist is a Huntress, employed to track and kill dangerous magical creatures. She tracks a shape-shifting monster to a remote inn, but her mission becomes more complex after one of the inn's other guests is the victim of a more conventional murder. In classic murder mystery fashion all of the travellers at the inn have dark secrets of their own and potential motives to wish each other dead. The twin mysteries are both well constructed and although the book almost entirely takes place in one building the bits of world-building about the wider world are interesting. The characters are memorable, although there's not a huge amount of depth to any of the characterisation. I think it could have sometimes done with a bit more proof-reading since there are some awkward sentences.

I thought it was an enjoyable story and I will pick up the sequel at some point.

[Peadar]

I have just started Ascension by Nicholas Binge.

[unJon]

I enjoyed the latest KJ Parker trilogy (Saevus Corvax). While it was more of the same with his protagonist (too clever by half sympathetic sociopath archetype) I thought the trilogy overall had emotional impact and depth that some of his recent works lacked. I still yearn for the high points of Folding Knife and Sharps, or the insane twists of Belly of the Bow or The Hammer, but this latest was a local high point for me. Recommended for fans of his work. 

[Fragile Bird]

I just finished the most recent Richard Osman book, The Last Devil to Die, and while I saw a number of people thought the Thursday Murder Club was getting long in the tooth, I mainly enjoyed it, and found the chapters dealing with dementia to be quite moving. The theme of antique and art forgery was also pretty timely. As it happens, 7 people involved in the biggest art forgery in Canadian history are being sentenced today. Famed native artist Norval Morrisseau painted in a style quite easy for a creative person to copy, like the Picasso forgeries in the book.

The book also has the funniest quote about Canadians I’ve seen in years: God cries every time someone lies to a Canadian. It’s especially funny because a lying, thieving Canadian forger says it. Murderous too.

In addition I’ve discovered Japanese mystery writer Keigo Higashino, apparently the most popular mystery writer in much of Asia, and Detective Kyochiro Kaga his most popular character. I’ve read the first two books in his series, Malice and Newcomer and am waiting for the third book from the library. The library doesn’t have the fourth, most recent book, which just came out this week I think, but apparently it wraps up the series. Too bad. But he has another series which I am waiting on, and some standalone books I think. 

Malice is almost Columbo like, most chapters given from a PoV and Kaga’s in Chapter 2 reveals he’s pretty sure who the murderer is. In Newcomer chapter after chapter discusses the investigation of various suspects from their point of view. Kaga reminds me of Josephine Tey’s Inspector Allan Grant, in that both are relentless and compassionate.

Edited December 14, 2023 by Fragile Bird
Double word

[Derfel Cadarn]

Managed several pages of Sharpe’s Command (the new one).

Utter dogshit, Cornwall is either no longer capable or no longer interested. It’s set two weeks after Sharpe’s Company where he regains his captaincy.

Except now he’s a major, which doesnt happen until the next book. And a character who died in the chronologically earlier Sharpe’s Battle is now alive and with a changed history. 

I checked online to find out if I was misremembering the rank, and learned of the other chronological errors.

The series has always been iffy on continuity, especially wilhen the India prequels started, but it’s time for me to time out and send this book back to Amazon

[Pellert]

Sorry, I am a bit in a rush, hoping to get some quick input. 
 

I am thinking to start on R. Scott Bakker this holiday, is there a particular reading order or one series/book that should be read before another? 
 

My assumption is to just start with tPoN and move on to tAE (pending that I like them), correct? 

[Larry of the Lawn]

38 minutes ago, Pellert said:

 

 

My assumption is to just start with tPoN and move on to tAE (pending that I like them), correct? 

Yes.  I would not recommend reading out of order.  

[Pellert]

4 minutes ago, Larry of the Lawn said:

Yes.  I would not recommend reading out of order.  

Thanks, wasn’t planning anything out of order, just doublechecking I had the right order  

[TheLastWolf]

The Snowman by Jo Nesbo

Just two sittings

Spoiler

Mould man? Who is he? Revealed in further books or legit? If so why no one at the association knew? Too sus

Also need help IDing a book from long back, memory fails, scandinavian author, similar nordic noir crime thriller mystery but with a religious cult of light or something, girl escapes at the end with the help of a boy in the end, big fire iirc...AI bots failed. I think it was a Konrad Sejer one by Karin Fossum but the descriptions don't match. The girl and boy's names had a prominent L. Vague i know but help a mate out if you can...

[Larry of the Lawn]

Currently reading Pynchon's Against The Day, as I needed a winter doorstopper to get me through these long nights.  

Impressions so far - some truly zany characters, pretty loaded with labor issues and the usual critiques of capitalism, industrialization, and the doomed American project.  And then all of a sudden you get a really moving paragraph that is some of the best prose you've ever read.  

The characters so far seem much more human than the caricatures we get in Gravity's Rainbow and V.  Not quite so personal or poignant as in Vineland or Mason and Dixon, but I'm not even 200 pages in yet, so hoping it continues in this vein.  

I haven't read a whole lot of fiction set at the very end of the 19th century, but loving the immersion in this time period so far.  

Next in the library queue is Julia Armfield's Our Wives Under the Sea .

Edited December 19, 2023 by Larry of the Lawn

[ljkeane]

On 12/15/2023 at 7:12 PM, Derfel Cadarn said:

Utter dogshit, Cornwall is either no longer capable or no longer interested.

I think this book was delayed because his wife has cancer so that might be a factor.

I haven't read the most recent one but this return to writing Sharpe books doesn't especially interest me. There isn't really anywhere left to go with them that hasn't already been covered. It just seems like he doesn't really want to commit to starting anything new having finished the Saxon books.

Jade War was pretty good. It's a bit more of a slow burn than the first book and it's definitely setting the scene for the final book in the series but the gangland fantasy is still quite an interesting and unusual take for the genre. I like the contrast between the internalised view of themselves the characters have within their honour code and taking a step back and thinking about how they're actually all kind of awful.

[mcbigski]

On 12/5/2023 at 5:39 PM, williamjm said:

I finished Roger Zelazny's A Night In The Lonesome October, which I thought was excellent. It is definitely a unique book, written as a series of 31 diary entries through the month of October by an unusually intelligent dog who, together with his master, is part of a metaphysical game whose stakes are the future of the world. In his introduction to this edition Neil Gaiman described reading it as being like attending a Halloween party where all the guests have come as famous literary heroes and villains and who are playing a game whose rules you only gradually start to understand. It is a lot of fun trying to work out what is going on and who is on which side (even the competitors don't initially know who their allies or opponents are). There are also some clever twists along the way - just when you think you have started to figured out what is going to happen the picture changes.

It does also have some interesting characters in it, particularly among the animals. Snuff is a likeable narrator and there are some good subplots as he finds himself becoming friends with others when he knows there is a risk they may end up being foes when Halloween comes along.

I will second this.  Read it probably in the previous century, but parts of it still stick with me still.  Fine read.

In some ways it's probably dated, because it's old.  Also it struck me because the heel turns and anti-heel turns were much less obvious in that era.  I blame GRRM and Jamie Lannister.  Zelazny had more than his share of ambiguous characters, but I feel like he was breaking tropes here before it was cool.