FF: This Is It!
Roary Considers the Problem of Keeping WarmPrioritizing holiday stuff and writing, back and forth as the demands of one take over from the other, hasn’t left as much time for writing as I’d like. But I’m still writing!
For those of you unfamiliar with this column, the Friday Fragments lists what I’ve read over the past week. Most of the time I don’t include details of either short fiction (unless part of a book-length collection) or magazines. The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list. If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive recommendation list, you can look on my website under Neat Stuff.
Once again, this is not a book review column. It’s just a list with, maybe, a bit of description or a few opinions tossed in.
Recently Completed:
The Affair of the Blood-Stained Egg Cosy by James Anderson. Published in the mid-seventies, this is both an affectionate homage to the classic detective stories of the 1930’s, and a good yarn in its own right.
Prisoner’s Base by Rex Stout. Audiobook. One of Archie’s attempts to prod Nero out of his typical lethargy has unexpected consequences, and Archie ends up as the client. A good story, although sadder than many.
In Progress:
The Wood Wife by Terri Windling. A lovely book of mythic fantasy that is also a tale about the cost of inspiration. Despite being firmly rooted in a specific time period and a specific setting, it does not seem in the least dated.
The Tower of Nero by Rick Riordan. Audiobook. Apollo and Meg return to Manhattan where their journeys began. Possibly the oddest thing about this book is the repeated mentions that only six months have gone by since the first in this series. These kids should have seriously PTSD with what they’ve been through. And, perhaps they do.
Also:
Holiday prep and writing haven’t left me a lot of reading time, so other than glancing at a few magazine articles and often re-reading the same paragraphs over and over, this is it!
