Sorry not to have updated for a few days. I’m in the middle of two thick books – one on Arctic exploration, one on the life of Beatrix Potter – and I was waiting to finish one or the other before I wrote anything. Instead, I think I’ll try to keep things fresh on a [...]
Archive for April, 2008
The Rottweiler
Posted in Fiction, Mysteries on April 30, 2008 | 1 Comment »
The Impossible Journey of Sir Ernest Shackleton
Posted in History, Nonfiction, Travel/ Exploration on April 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
For years, I’ve loved reading about Arctic and Antarctic exploration. There’s something about true north – the ice-clogged oars, the chapped and salty lips, the perfectly clear and germ-free atmosphere (when it is not opaque with howling storms), the brutal stripping away of personal possessions and good sense until only the naked, the mad, and [...]
Excellent Women
Posted in Fiction on April 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Excellent Women is the first book I’ve ever read by Barbara Pym. I’ve seen her recommended in dozens of places, referred to casually by my favorite authors and critics, and generally beloved all around, but I never picked up anything by her. She seemed to fall into a category of beloved women authors I haven’t [...]
The Killing Doll
Posted in Fiction, Mysteries on April 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I started this book several months ago after I got it from Bookmooch. I’m a huge fan of Barbara Vine’s how/what/whendunits (you almost always know who, in these stories), but even though theoretically I should also love Ruth Rendell’s books, since she’s the same person, I haven’t read many of them. However, eventually I ran [...]
The Untouchable
Posted in Fiction on April 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I got a recommendation for this book from Nancy Pearl’s Book Lust. (I have to say that although her books always inspire me with the desire to read far and wide, I haven’t struck gold on any of her recommendations yet. I fully expect to, though.) I had never read anything by John Banville, so [...]
Awake in the Dark
Posted in Fiction on April 14, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I have been trying to collect my thoughts on Shira Nayman’s Awake in the Dark, a collection of stories about the children – well, the daughters – of Holocaust survivors. Putting my reaction into words has been harder than I thought it would be. The stories aren’t superficially difficult; the writing is simple and direct. [...]
Foreign Devils on the Silk Road
Posted in History, Nonfiction, Travel/ Exploration on April 13, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Foreign Devils on the Silk Road, by Peter Hopkirk, is a wonderful book, but I never would have read it if it hadn’t been for one of those book trails that leads us on from author to author, teasing our interest and taking us places we otherwise never would have gone. Last year, I read [...]
Bellwether
Posted in Fiction, Speculative Fiction on April 11, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Bellwether is the fifth book I’ve read by Connie Willis, and once again, I’m struck with how different her books are from each other. Several have been profoundly sad; most have something to do with science or research or both; this one was light-hearted and whimsical. The only things they appear to have in common [...]
The Sisters
Posted in Biography, Nonfiction on April 10, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The Sisters, by Mary S. Lovell, is a biography that proves what I’ve suspected for a long time: the living get more influence than the dead. Lovell writes about the Mitford sisters (and, tangentially, their brother): six girls from an aristocratic British family who fought and flaunted and danced and went to prison and knew [...]
What the Dead Know (abandoned)
Posted in Abandoned, Mysteries on April 10, 2008 | 1 Comment »
I read about a hundred pages of Laura Lippman’s What the Dead Know before I gave up. I’d never heard of her before, but this appears to be my fault: she’s written ten books or so, most of which are P.I. mysteries starring Tess Monaghan and the city of Baltimore. This particular book also takes [...]
