The "I am currently reading" thread

[wearysmith]

Gone for a complete sea-change opposite from last week's read.

 

One of the very few politicians I ever wanted to meet.

 

[metalman]

This month's round-up of crime and science fiction:

 

Kate Ellis - An unhallowed grave. DS Wesley Peterson and his boss find a woman hanged from a yew tree in a village churchyard - could it be linked to a woman hanged from the same tree centuries ago?

Kate Ellis - The funeral boat. The disappearance of a Danish tourist and the discovery of a possible Viking boat burial are the two parallel investigations in this one.

Kate Ellis - The bone garden. Skeletons unearthed during restoration of a lost stately home garden and the murder of a man in a caravan park are occupying DS Peterson here. As you can probably tell from the fact that I've read three of them this month, I'm really enjoying this series.

Mark Mason - The importance of being trivial. A book about how trivia annoy some people and fascinate others. OK, but in the end I found it all a bit, well, trivial.

Thomas Burnett Swann - Green phoenix. In the 60s and early 70s, Swann wrote a number of fantasy novels involving the twilight of the old inhabitants of Earth such as dryads, centaurs etc. as they are gradually driven out by humans. This one concerns the meeting of the dryad Mellonia with Trojan hero Aeneas. I really rate them all; it's a great pity his career was cut short when he died of cancer in 1976 aged 47.

Julia Chapman - Date with evil. The eighth instalment of the Yorkshire Dales-set cosy crime series satisfyingly ties up all the loose ends from the previous books and sees the main villain get his just desserts. I've enjoyed this series and I thought that might be the end of it but she's recently published the ninth volume. 

Anthony Horowitz - Close to death. The latest book in which detective Daniel Hawthorne is shadowed by a writer conveniently named Anthony Horowitz, except in this one he isn't really. Hawthorne has a different sidekick as he investigates the murder of a nuisance neighbour in an exclusive gated community in Richmond on Thames.  Still excellent though.

John Brunner - The infinitive of go. A matter transmitter leads to problems with parallel universes. OK.

Emily St. John Mandel - Sea of tranquility. A time travel novel with more than a hint of Cloud Atlas about it. Canadian Mandel is one of the new stars of science fiction and it's easy to see why from this one. Highly recommended.

Norman Hunter - Professor Branestawm's great revolution. An amusing quick read, but it was one of the later ones from the 70s so it wasn't quite as inventive, as it were, as the early ones.

M. D. Lyon - A village match and after. Totally obscure comedy thriller from 1929 featuring cricket and horseracing. The author was a wicketkeeper for Somerset, and famous batsman Wally Hammond found it uproariously hilarious in his introduction, whereas I found it mildly amusing. Nice illustrations though.

Ross Macdonald - The barbarous coast. Private eye Lew Archer looks for a missing woman, and finds several murders. Up to the usual standard.

 

[metalman]

Since we can now post pictures... 

[hauxwell]

Lesley Pearse, The Woman In The Wood.

In this fiction story we have 13 year old twins, a boy and girl, there mother is taken to an asylum.  A cold hearted grandmother, a lady who is a recluse who lives in a cabin in the woods and a serial  killer.
Not bad but the story is predictable. 
 

 

 

 

[wearysmith]

Go ahead.....convince me.....

 

 

[wearysmith]

On 31/05/2024 at 16:23, metalman said:

Since we can now post pictures... 

Always been able to post pics as far as I know. Don't think it's a new thing.

[wearysmith]

Given that the Euros are currently on, time to hit my Father's Day present from m'boy.

 

Written in '73 - when footballers were 'real' men 😀.

 

Gawd......I miss this era.

 

[wearysmith]

Nice little find in the Co-op on White Lane.

Was a big fan of this series when I was a nipper.

 

[metalman]

Here's my round-up for June. 

 

Kate Ellis - A painted doom. The murder of an ageing rock star shot in a field is linked to the discovery of a medieval church painting in a barn. Another excellent entry in this series.

Susannah Clarke - Piranesi. The title character inhabits a vast deserted, partially flooded, mansion filled with statues. Gradually he comes to understand his environment. Clarke's long-awaited second novel is nothing short of brilliant.

Michael Wood - For reasons unknown. The first in the series featuring Sheffield cop DCI Matilda Darke. Having suggested this series to someone who wanted a locally set crime novel, I thought it was about time I got round to reading it myself and fortunately I thought it was pretty good. Here she's investigating a cold case murder of a couple slaughtered in front of their young son.

Mark Forsyth - The etymologicon. A book about the connections between words and their derivations, originally a blog. I always find these sorts of books really interesting but it may not be everyone's cup of tea.

Stephen Booth - Already dead. More locally set crime. Ben Cooper's still on compassionate leave so Diane Fry takes charge in this one to investigate a man drowned in a shallow Peak District stream. As good as usual.

Stephen Booth - The corpse bridge. Cooper's back on the job now with a case involving a woman murdered on a track on the Derbyshire/Staffordshire border. Again really good.

George Bellairs - A knife for Harry Dodd. Dodd, a man with some unconventional living arrangements,  receives the said utensil in the back after a night at the pub. Inspector Littlejohn tackles the case with his usual Maigret-like thoroughness. Excellent.

Richard Osman - The last devil to die. Pensioners investigate murdered antique dealer and a vanishing consignment of heroin. Once you accept that any connection to reality has long since vanished from this series, it's still an enjoyable read.

Doris Piserchia - The dimensioneers. This months SF book: a teenage girl and a telepathically-linked big cat travel to other worlds by hopping dimensions. Good fun.

Alan Garner - Treacle Walker. Economically told mystic  fable about a boy and a rag and bone man. He's been writing these strange, memorable books since the 60s and is still brilliant at it.

 

[wearysmith]

Just picked this up from the library. Looking forward to another nostalgia wallow.