November Reading Thread

HareBrain said:
The Magician's Nephew by CS Lewis.

Jadis totally dominates this story. When she leaves it goes from plot-driven and intense to enchanting but a bit twee. She actually feels much stronger here than as the White Witch in the first book.
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Just love the description of Jadis's arrival back at the house in the hansom cab!

And the description of Charn is, IMHO, one of the best passages that CSL ever wrote, beautifully captured in the Puffin edition by Pauline Baynes - you can almost taste the dust.
 
Pyan said:
Just love the description of Jadis's arrival back at the house in the hansom cab!

And the description of Charn is, IMHO, one of the best passages that CSL ever wrote, beautifully captured in the Puffin edition by Pauline Baynes - you can almost taste the dust.
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Agree to both. I also liked Uncle Andrew's backstory and the Atlantean dust. IMO the story was hamstrung by having to have anything to do with Narnia. I wonder what we could have had if it didn't.
 
Toby Frost said:
Maybe it's just me but blurbs that say "This book is important and deep" really put me off. Likewise, the talk about "stifling regimes" and "the price of freedom" makes me expect that an authorial rant about goddam commies is on the cards.
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100%. Annoying how positive words like 'freedom' get coopted by those who wish to remove protections from the vulnerable majority.
 
Danny McG said:
The same issue four times so far, dude doesn't know the spelling difference between brake and break.
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Travis Starnes, whose series I'm reading at the moment, thinks that you fire large projectiles out of a Canon...

And yet, I read recently that "Star Trek: Picard" is definitely cannon.:rolleyes:
 
I was reading today about a proofreader, who was fired because she insisted on just using "add to dictionary" instead of actually checking the spelling.
 
Hugh said:
I've been catching up on some Beatrix Potter after a gap of more than sixty years, and re-acquainting myself with that unusual area of Cumbria where small animals wear human clothes and sometimes even talk with humans.
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Near where I grew up in Scotland the local tourist industry has been trying to point out the regular family holidays where a young Beatrix Potter spent summers on a local estate and the influence that might have had on her later work. I think they have an uphill task trying to compete with the Cumbrian association, although McGregor is definitely a more Scottish name than a Cumbrian one.
Dave said:
I think they were promotional or given away free stories. I've heard the story behind them but can't remember it. This book sounds like one of those Rarities Music Albums of B-Sides of Singles that never appeared on any album. As you say, for the collector and biggest fans only.
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I think most of them were either 'bonus' stories in special editions of the novels that Waterstones published or originally published on Aaronvitch's website. I agree that none of it seemed essential reading.

I got an e-mail notification today that the next Rivers of London novel, Stone and Sky, is scheduled for publication in July. Apparently, Peter is taking a trip to Scotland.
 
Neuromancer (1984) by William Gibson. Reread of my 1986 Grafton edition, bought new in a bookshop at the top of Park St, Bristol, back in the day.

It is easy to forget just how cool this book was when it came out. It is a decent psychological thriller wrapped up in a vivid, completely depicted near-future cyber world which is both dystopian and thrilling. It takes its obvious predecessors ( Bester, Blade Runner) to the next level. I think Gibson improved as a writer in subsequent novels, but this is a book to return to from time to time.
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~The Thirteenth Child by Erin A. Craig
This is a retelling of the Brothers Grimm fairytale "Godfather Death.” I think this story would have worked better as an adult novel instead of a YA novel that isn't all that dark. In all, I felt the plot and characters were under-developed, and the novel too long for the story told. Mildly entertaining, but ultimately disappointing (especially if you've read the author's other novels). I love the cover, though.
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I finished Erotic Vagrancies: Everything About Richard Burton & Elizabeth Taylor by Roger Lewis.
I have mixed feelings about this book. While it's a fascinating insight into the crazy, indulgent, unpleasant lives of Taylor and Burton, I found it far too long and there's too much personal ruminating by the author for my taste. However, overall I would still recommend it for a glimpse into a world that might as well be another planet!

Next up is Killing Thatcher by Rory Carroll, about the 1984 IRA Brighton bombing.
 
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