December Reading Thread

The Judge

The Judge

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Well, I barely picked up a book last month. About the only thing I read was the introduction ("The Skeleton") of Written in Bone by Professor Dame Sue Black, a noted forensic anthropologist -- the subtitle of "hidden stories in what we leave behind" gives an idea of what this is about, and very useful, too, for those of us wanting to write about remains being dug up!

I don't hold out any hope of reading more in the following weeks either, as December is always so busy-busy, but what are you reading this month?
 
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Reading Peter Duck by Arthur Ransome, yet again. I can remember being terrified by the sand-crabs at the end when I was a nipper...
 
I'm finishing Come, hunt an Earthman by Philip E High...not as good as I remembered it from decades ago.
At the same time I was plodding my way through Nether Station by Kevin J Anderson - it got very dull but I persevered to see what happened at the end, and I got a weird cliff hanger and a "to be continued in the next book"
Nah, f*** you Mr Anderson, I hate authors who pull stunts like that, if it was clearly stated on the cover or the blurb that it was a book one then fair enough, but you're trying a sh*t manipulation to get readers to buy another book.
You've now made it into my "never again" list
 
No time for sergeants by Mac Hyman

I remember the TV series from way back when, but I didn't know it was based on a book until this morning.
 
~A Short History of the World According to Sheep by Sally Coulthard
A better title for this book would have been "A Short History of the British Isles According to Sheep". Coulthard starts off with ancient history - the domestication of wild ovines in the Middle East and the uses that people got from these sheep, such as meat, milk, cheese and wool. The book then progresses, piecemeal, to how sheep products influenced the economy, textile manufacture, laws, trade, wars, food, and the daily life of those living in the British Isles (with a passing mention of other bits of the world). The information provided is mostly new to me and I found it interesting. The development of felt and knitting, the sheer number of sheep required to keep the Celts, Roman and Vikings in cloth, and the properties of wool were particularly interesting. In short, this is a jaunty but interesting, if somewhat casual look at how sheep influenced humanity, with heavy emphasis on the British Isles.​
 
Danny McG said:
No time for sergeants by Mac Hyman
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Danny McG said:
Rereading The boys from Brazil by Ira Levin
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Danny, I will mention an 'It's a small world' moment in reference to these two books you referenced.

I was curious about the TV series of No Time for Sergeants after seeing your post - I'd only heard of the 1958 movie staring Andy Griffith, and hadn't known there was a TV series.

It turns out that Ira Levin in 1955 wrote a Broadway-play version of No Time for Sergeants based on Mac Hyman's novel, and it seems the play was the main source material for both the Griffith movie and the TV series. Levin has a writing credit for both the movie, and all 34 episodes of the TV series, because of the play.

Just a small thing to note, a coincidence of timing and connections, about the two books you've recently read. :)
 
Finally finished Crazy Rich Asians. It started out very slow and uninteresting and I almost didn't finish it. It got better at the end, but nearly all the characters are cruel and unlikable and remain so throughout the book. I never really found any humor in it. I don't plan on reading anymore, though I may watch the movie as I heard it's better than the book.

Now I'm reading Snowed In For Christmas by Sarah Morgan. I'm hoping for a cozy, feel good read for this month of December.
 
Hm, Me think it should be Books Plural for December. :unsure: :)

The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut Jr This is one book ive been meaning to read . :)
 
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This weekend finished Malpertuis by Jean Ray (trans. Iain White; afterward by Scott Nicolay). First published in 1943, it wasn't translated into English until the 1990s. Malpertuis is the house in which a family is held by the will of the deceased owner, if they want a share of their inheritance. Gothic with a capital GOTHIC, it's a haunted house novel that turns into something quite different by the end, a dark fantasy inflected with moments of horror.

Ray was sometimes called the Belgian Poe or the Belgian Lovecraft, and this doesn't fully support that parallel. But I do think someone who enjoys Clark Ashton Smith or, more recently, Thomas Ligotti, might find this one intriguing.
 
Taking a break about half-way through Tim Powers's Declare, not from any fault of the book (which is brilliant) but from a sudden desire to have another go at Wuthering Heights, despite finding nothing but negative opinions about it recently and dropping it instantly when I tried it a few weeks ago. For some reason I got straight into it this time, and about a hundred pages in am hooked.
 
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