October 2022 Reading Thread

[The Judge]

I'm on a re-read of Carol Berg's Collegia Magica books, starting with The Spirit Lens -- as ever with her work, the writing is a bit mannered, but the characters are well-drawn and the story moves quickly, pulling one into her world.

What are you reading this month?

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I re-read those very same books early last month.

 

[HareBrain]

It's an interesting idea for a thread, actually - guilty pleasure books you know deep down are not Chekhov or Henry James, but they just do it for you.

@Bick, there is a long-dormant one:

Guilty Pleasure Books: Tell us yours

This thread is for those of us who occasionaly read titles and authors that are, how shall I say, not quite the best of breed? The requirements are that you admit to your vice and list at least one title for others of us who occasionaly indulge in the formulaic, the action for actions sake...

www.sffchronicles.com

I don't see any harm (in this case, for any habitual thread-necrophiles reading) in reviving it. Or start a new one if you prefer.

As for my reading, I've finished Broken Ground by Lu Hersey, a YA eco-fantasy featuring crop circles, a Celtic goddess, fracking, and lots of nice natural elements. Right up my street, except for the somewhat workaday prose (in first-person present, needless to say) which rarely soared as I wanted it to.

Now 1/3 through The Apparition Phase, by Will Maclean, which I was given by a friend. For anyone who was a young Brit in the 70s, and has any interest in the supernatural (but which young Brit in the 70s didn't?) this book is for you. Brilliant so far.

 

[Dave]

I've been on holiday, which is always my chance to get off the internet and read some books.

I started off with M*A*S*H (1968) by Richard Hooker (aka MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors) which is the novel that began the whole franchise, and which came before the film, that long-running TV series, and several sequel novels of varying worth. I'd really recommend this novel however.

Next, I read War of the Wolf (2018) by Bernard Cornwall which is another of his Saxon Chronicles books (they are now called the Last Kingdom series after the TV series.) The TV series has finished now, but this book is set following the events of that. I'm confused to what I have and haven't read now. I've read the book following this one, but not the 12th and latest book. It is exactly what you expect to get and an easy read.

Then I read Carrie by Stephen King. I've decided I really like Stephen King, so thought I would start at the beginning with his first published novel. I have seen one of the various film adaptations, but having read the novel I'm not sure that a film could ever do it justice.

I will return to more Stephen King, but next on my pile is Slow Motion Ghosts (2019) by Jeff Noon. No idea what it is like, I picked it up as a second hand hardback. I read Jeff Noon's first three novels back when they were very first published, and really liked them for being unlike anything else.

Now 1/3 through The Apparition Phase, by Will Maclean, which I was given by a friend. For anyone who was a young Brit in the 70s, and has any interest in the supernatural (but which young Brit in the 70s didn't?) this book is for you. Brilliant so far.

This does sound like being my kind of thing. There really are, however, too many books to read.

 

[HareBrain]

This does sound like being my kind of thing. There really are, however, too many books to read.

When I've finished, I'll let you know if I think it's worth putting at the top of the list.

 

[Guttersnipe]

I'm going to write a review of The Black Phone: Stories by Joe Hill soon. Unfortunately, it's not the same as 20th Century Ghosts, so it doesn't include "Scheherazade's Typewriter," which I was looking forward to. The name alone is exciting.

 

[Ian Fortytwo]

I'm reading Taste, by Stanley Tucci. It's a fantastic read, not a book I would normally read, as it was one of our book group choices I thought I would give it a try. I'm quite glad I did.

 

[Elentarri]

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward.
A slow starting, psychological thriller/horror novel that I didn't particularly enjoy. The author can write, but this just didn't appeal to me.

 

[williamjm]

I read Guy Gavriel Kay's All The Seas of the World. I always enjoy Kay's books and this was no exception. The appearance of some characters from A Brightness Long Ago and (to a lesser extent) Children of Earth and Sky but most of the focus of the plot was on new characters and a new plotline. I did like the references to the previous books and seeing what had happened to some characters. Like Kay's other books in this setting it's very close to being historical fiction (with the names and some details changed) with only minor fantasy elements. It perhaps lacks something that would really make it stand out from Kay's other books but it was still a good story.

I'm now about halfway through Tamsyn Muir's Nona the Ninth. So far it's not nearly as disconcertingly confusing as Harrow the Ninth was, although despite being much easier to follow there's still a lot I don't understand yet. Nona is a likeable protagonist, hopefully that will still be true once she figures out who she is.

 

[Hugh]

Frederik Pohl & Jack Williamson "Wall Around a Star"
Conclusion of the two part Saga of the Cuckoo.
Flows well in parts, but I think could have been developed much more effectively. Important elements of the background plot are very poorly presented. For instance, interstellar travel is by Tachyon Transport whereby a duplicate of yourself complete with all memories up to this point in time is created at the other end of the transport and walks out of the booth as if nothing's changed at all, just a different environment. Fair enough, but there's very little concerning people's ambivalence re sending what is essentially themselves to extreme discomfort and possible death. Likewise minimal ethical discussion on the 'Purchased People' whereby criminals are sold to aliens who take over their minds and use them to perform menial tasks. A pity, as there's much here that's good.

And I finished Rudyard Kipling's Stalky & Co. What a strange time capsule of a book! Published in 1899 when Kipling (aged thirty four) was at the height of his fame, the book is set in a streaming school for would-be army officers hoping to enter Sandhurst or Woolwich, and focuses on three schoolboys who consistently outsmart the institutionalised pomposity of their teachers and prefects, and who, Kipling indicates, are exactly the type of person the Empire needs. There are currents of casual sadism in the prevalent bullying - at one point the three protagonists torture two older boys they have tied up until they break down, the excuse being that they are giving the bullies their own medicine. There is no mention of women at all, or any desire for a future involving women, other than a scene where the three show their manly sophistication by flirting with a cafe maid in the nearby town. The future to which they aspire is one of army action and possible death. One particular time capsule moment - the three are out shooting rabbits when they see a cat - no hesitation - they shoot and kill the cat as if this is totally acceptable, which I guess it probably was at the time.

 

[HareBrain]

When I've finished, I'll let you know if I think it's worth putting at the top of the list.

I really enjoyed 90% of The Apparition Phase, and I'm not sure if I felt the ending to be a slight let-down which didn't really fit with the rest, or if it actually made sense of the whole thing. Either way, it's one of the most interesting novels I've read in years, and very well-written. If you liked, say, The Stone Tape, I'd definitely recommend it.

 

[Moonbat]

I'm current on The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmonds. It's ok but I think the first book titled Hyperion was considerably better even if only through the multiple storyteller format. I have I know why the caged bird sings by Maya Angelou waiting in the wings which should be a nice change of pace. I also want to try the new Andy Weir book Hail Mary Project - but I've not actually got it yet.

 

[Danny McG]

they shoot and kill the cat as if this is totally acceptable

It's ok, it's still got another 8 lives

 

[Dave Vicks]

Currently Dorthy Sayers, Jill Paton Walsh mystery. THRONES,DOMINATIONS.

 

[AE35Unit]

Also reading  Midflinx by Alan Dean Foster in which Philip 'Flinx' Lynx has to stop his minidrag Pip becoming part of a zealous collector's zoo.

 

[HareBrain]

Tolkien's The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. I'm not sure I've actually read this through since I was a kid. A few affecting pieces, but not to the standard of his prose (nor, sometimes, the standard of the rhymes scattered through LOTR).

What I found interesting was the blurb note inside the jacket that this collection would be of interest to readers while they waited for another instalment in "the Hobbit epic". Bombadil was published in 1962, well after LOTR. I guess this might have been when Tolkien was still toying with the idea of a Fourth Age sequel.

 

[Foxbat]

Finished the War Of Spanish Succession 1701 - 1714 and learned an awful lot in the process. It’s been described as the first global war and, given that battles took place in Italy, Holland, France, Spain, the Rhineland and North America, it’s probably an accurate description.

Now starting Why The Universe Exists. It’s a New Scientist publication with a number of authors.

 

[Hugh]

Tolkien's The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. I'm not sure I've actually read this through since I was a kid. A few affecting pieces, but not to the standard of his prose (nor, sometimes, the standard of the rhymes scattered through LOTR).

What I found interesting was the blurb note inside the jacket that this collection would be of interest to readers while they waited for another instalment in "the Hobbit epic". Bombadil was published in 1962, well after LOTR. I guess this might have been when Tolkien was still toying with the idea of a Fourth Age sequel.

I think it's said that it was in response to a request from his aunt and cobbled together fairly quickly. I've probably said this before here - I was unexpectedly given it for Christmas when it first came out and was truly delighted with first sight of the cover then sadly disappointed with the content.
"The Hobbit Epic" is an interesting choice of words - I wonder if anyone today refers to LOTR as "The Hobbit Epic".

 

[HareBrain]

I think it's said that it was in response to a request from his aunt and cobbled together fairly quickly. I've probably said this before here - I was unexpectedly given it for Christmas when it first came out and was truly delighted with first sight of the cover then sadly disappointed with the content.
"The Hobbit Epic" is an interesting choice of words - I wonder if anyone today refers to LOTR as "The Hobbit Epic".

I wonder if by "the Hobbit epic" they meant The Hobbit and LOTR combined?

As a kid I was utterly enthralled by The Mewlips, and the end of The Sea Bell still really moves me, but it doesn't surprise me to learn that it was rushed together. Although there was time for Pauline Baynes to do her usual marvellous work, so you'd have thought Tolkien would have a bit of time to work on his scansion?

 

[Hugh]

I wonder if by "the Hobbit epic" they meant The Hobbit and LOTR combined?

As a kid I was utterly enthralled by The Mewlips, and the end of The Sea Bell still really moves me, but it doesn't surprise me to learn that it was rushed together. Although there was time for Pauline Baynes to do her usual marvellous work, so you'd have thought Tolkien would have a bit of time to work on his scansion?

Here's the Tolkien Gateway (grammar could have done with revision):

J.R.R. Tolkien's aunt Jane Neave enjoyed the figure of Tom Bombadil and asked him if he could make a book out of him that would make an affordable Christmas present. Tolkien didn't feel that anything more could be told about Tom, but considered his earlier poem about him, that would be made into an illustrated booklet, thinking about Pauline Baynes. Rayner Unwin suggested to him to collect more poems with it so as to be a more publishable book, and Tolkien researched some older, half-forgotten poems the value of which he doubted but as he wrote to his aunt, he enjoyed rediscovering and rubbing them up and took a lot of work to re-write them.

Tolkien thought (and Baynes agreed) that the poems didn't fit together as a collection. Tolkien worked a lot to make them fit with each other and into Hobbit-lore; he decided including a Foreword that would make this connection, and wrote a second poem with Tom in order to fit him better into the world of the Shire and Hobbits.

The Illustrations
Despite Baynes suggested that his poems were rather "felt", Tolkien insisted that his images were definite, clear and precise. He instructed Baynes that the illustrations "shouldn't be comical". Then she collaborated with art editor Ronald Eames, and finished six illustrations by August 1962. Though there were some criticism from Tolkien to Baynes' work, in the end, Tolkien credited for a large part Baynes for the commercial success of the book.

Link here:

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book is a 1962 collection of poetry by J.R.R. Tolkien. The book contains 16 poems, two of which feature...

tolkiengateway.net