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What non-mystery books are you reading? (2021-2022)
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Jackie
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Jun 21, 2021 05:42PM
I haven't read Hiaasen for a long time (no idea why!) but I do remember he is funny.
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Me too. I've added Squeeze Me to my TBR.
He is - a friend told me I had to read it, and she was right, it was fun! I always enjoy him and mean to read more of his books, but usually only get to one every couple years.
I never liked Hiassen. Maybe I tried him on the wrong book. It was something about the aftermath of a hurricane. A gift from my sister, a Florida reverse sunbird- she goes back to Indiana every summer to avoid hurricane season.
Jan C wrote: "I never liked Hiassen. Maybe I tried him on the wrong book. It was something about the aftermath of a hurricane. A gift from my sister, a Florida reverse sunbird- she goes back to Indiana every sum..."Smart woman - as we know, Midwestern summers can be lovely! I think that was Stormy Weather, about the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew? I imagine with the snark and quirky characters, he’s either a “love him” or “hate him” author. I love satire, so enjoy his books - I get the feeling he’s that rare species, a native Floridian, that hates the overdevelopment and greed, and it’s effect on his home state.
Leaning into my love of books about books, I recently finished Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops and am now mid-way through Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader. So far I am enjoying the latter better, which is a series of articles written over a number of years, all on book related topics. I love that the author has an "odd" shelf, that doesn't quite fit into her general organizational scheme. I too have polar exploration on my odds shelf.
Tara wrote: "Leaning into my love of books about books, I recently finished Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops and am now mid-way through [book:Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader|468..."I enjoyed them both. Weird Things got tiresome after a while. But Ex Libris was enjoyable (to me) all the way through.
Jan C wrote: "Tara wrote: "Leaning into my love of books about books, I recently finished Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops and am now mid-way through [book:Ex Libris: Confessions of a Comm..."With weird things there were some laugh out loud moments, but a lot that I didn't understand why they were deemed as noteworthy.
Spot on about 'Weird Things' Tara, I thought it was rather hit and miss. I did like it. I loved The Diary of a Bookseller and follow ups ; my favourite in the books about books category and if you've not read them I'd recommend them, though some people do find him a bit too curmudgeonly.I've finish a wonderful book called Old Herbaceous: A Novel of the Garden about a head gardener at a country estate looking back on his life. One that you can just sink into. I'd never heard of the author, Reginald Arkell, but he was local and evoked such a great sense of place, I hope I can find more of his works.
Tania wrote: "Spot on about 'Weird Things' Tara, I thought it was rather hit and miss. I did like it. I loved The Diary of a Bookseller and follow ups ; my favourite in the books about books cate..."Tania, that sounds lovely - and “Old Herbaceous”, great title!
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And Tiny Tales: Stories of Romance, Ambition, Kindness, and Happiness. McCall Smith probably jots off a couple of these during his morning coffee (or tea).
Tania wrote: "Spot on about 'Weird Things' Tara, I thought it was rather hit and miss. I did like it. I loved The Diary of a Bookseller and follow ups ; my favourite in the books about books cate..."Loved Diary of a Bookseller! He is curmudgeon, but thats what makes the book so good. I particularly enjoyed it on audiobook.
I'm also listening to The Home Front: What Was Life Like During World War II? on Audible. So far I am finding it interesting and even-handed in its analysis. It also includes real civilians giving radio interviews, which would have been quite rare at the time.
I agree : ) but I can see why he rubs some people up the wrong way.Home Front sounds really good. I've read a few of the Mass Observation Diaries, the best (and most famous), is Nella Last's War: The Second World War Diaries of 'Housewife, 49' but I thought Blitz Spirit: Voices of Britain Living Through Crisis, 1939-1945 was very good for an overview as the entries were from all sorts of different people, but arranged chronologically. While searching my library for the book you mention, I came across this one, Mrs Miles's Diary: The Wartime Journal of a Housewife on the Home Front which looks like a good one.
Tania wrote: "I agree : ) but I can see why he rubs some people up the wrong way.Home Front sounds really good. I've read a few of the Mass Observation Diaries, the best (and most famous), is [book:Nella Last'..."
So much of war coverage is on the battlefields (as it should be), that often people are unaware of the impacts to people at home. I recently read a rather comprehensive WWI book, and I learned for the first time that people in England were starving, due to the prioritization of other commodities over food. The "book" I'm listening to actually sounds like a series of podcasts (it is broken out into episodes), so not sure if your library would have it, but there are probably some really good alternatives out there.
Just started SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome
this evening. I’m reading a few books right now, but plan to concentrate on the library books first, since they must be returned!
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this evening. I’m reading a few books right now, but plan to concentrate on the libr..."Those library return dates are why I never get to the books I own.
Yes! Well, our library shut down for a big part of the pandemic, then reopened but with limited hours/services (no browsing, etc), so I was reading from my own library and Scribd or Audible. Now, they are open without restrictions, so I’m borrowing books I wanted to read during the pandemic, but couldn’t get otherwise!
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Had to laugh at this GR recommendation: "Because you are currently reading Chocolat (Chocolat, #1):
Chocolates and Confections: Formula, Theory, and Technique for the Artisan Confectioner by Peter P. Greweling." I might be enjoying this novel, but I don't intend to set up as a chocolatier myself! ;)
They do come up with some funny recommendations but that one is downright wierd. I love Chocolat and its sequels, but I don't remember too much about them either; a re-read would be nice, apart from The Lollipop Shoes, I read them as they came out, so it would be nice to read them all together.Yesterday I read The Late Mrs. Prioleau which read like a mystery, it had a fantastic opening with the narrator meeting her husbands family for the first time at his mothers funeral. She is a mystery writer, who then starts to piece together the story of why her mother-in-law became such a monster. Not a cheerful read, but it was certainly compelling.
Judy wrote: "I'm rereading Chocolat by Joanne Harris at the mo, because I want to read the sequels but don't remember the original book well enough. Had to laugh at this GR recommen..."
Gosh, are you sure?! Some of those recommendations are way off course, aren’t they? I remember in high school, a lot of friends in another grade were reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values. I wonder if they decided to take a trip down memory lane and reread it, what recommendations would the logarithms churn out? 🤪
Sandy wrote: "I have hopes of reading Bleak House this month. Aim high!"Bless you - I have been trying to finish that for years off and on! I started listening to the audiobook in hospital for a surgery, but kept falling asleep! Forgot where I left off - I have a used paperback as well, but the print is so tiny! So, I had it on my phone for future hospital stays, but same result! So, I can say unequivocally, if you’re having trouble sleeping, crank up the Dickens (well, Bleak House, anyway…)
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Bless you - I have been trying to finish that for years off and on! I started listening to the audiobook in h..."
Oh dear. I'm already prone to unscheduled naps.
I loved Bleak House, and I'm not a huge Dickens fan, I tend to prefer Trollope. Perhaps it's a case of right book at the right time. Good luck! : )
I love Bleak House too, that and Our Mutual Friend are probably my favourites. But the BBC adaptation of Bleak House is excellent, not sure if this is heretical but maybe ditch the book and watch that instead!
Alwynne wrote: "I love Bleak House too, that and Our Mutual Friend are probably my favourites. But the BBC adaptation of Bleak House is excellent, not sure if this is heretical but maybe ditch the book and watch that instead!"Haha, total heresy, Bleak House is my favourite Dickens so read the book AND watch the BBC :))
I loved the BBC adaptation too, and in this case I'd already watched it, which may have coloured my opinion.
I'd read it at least twice before I saw the adaptation, so not necessarily! But I like that it's so long and full of sub-plots and mystery, a good book to sink into. But at the same time Susan if you've tried it several times and it doesn't capture your interest then that's probably enough! Or like Tania suggested this just might not be the right time for it. I've come back to books I've abandoned and loved them, and come back to books I've loved and found they just didn't work for me anymore. But I have to be in the right mood for doorstep like Bleak House, I'll probably reread it at some point but definitely not in the right mood for it at the moment.
Sandy wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "Sandy wrote: "I have hopes of reading Bleak House this month. Aim high!"Bless you - I have been trying to finish that for years off and on! I started listening t..."
😂
Tania wrote: "I loved Bleak House, and I'm not a huge Dickens fan, I tend to prefer Trollope. Perhaps it's a case of right book at the right time. Good luck! : )"Me, too! Prefer Trollope, that is. Yes, I definitely believe in right book, right time - I just have to choose a time when I’m sitting upright, preferably with a cup of coffee, and well rested!
I very much enjoyed the parts of Bleak House I remember- like Dickens’ brilliant take on the charitable impulses of well-off ladies while their own house was in ruins…
Alwynne wrote: "I love Bleak House too, that and Our Mutual Friend are probably my favourites. But the BBC adaptation of Bleak House is excellent, not sure if this is heretical but maybe ditch the book and watch t..."Hmmm, now there is a thought! I do love a good historical costume drama…
Alwynne wrote: "I'd read it at least twice before I saw the adaptation, so not necessarily! But I like that it's so long and full of sub-plots and mystery, a good book to sink into. But at the same time Susan if y..."You are so right, I’ve found that as well - books I loved years ago might be “meh” on a reread, and vice-versa. I did like parts of it, and agree you have to be in the mood to commit to a doorstop of a book - I’ve learned I often prefer reading a physical book while listening to the audiobook, keeps me moving along at a good clip to complete the book, get it back to the library on time - or just finished before the lovely “lost in an immersive story” becomes “ugh, I’ll never finish this book!”
I know that feeling, when finishing's more chore than pleasure, although the libraries have been closed so much here it's not as frequent as it was!
I'm not sure if your libraries still stock DVDs like here but if so maybe they'd have the BBC version? Or could look on YouTube, it's not on archive.org but a lot of other good, free stuff. I don't know how easy or expensive it is to find BBC stuff online where you are.
Tania wrote: "I loved Bleak House, and I'm not a huge Dickens fan, I tend to prefer Trollope. "Yes, I'd read Trollope over Dickens any day. With Dickens, I keep thinking I should read him, more than that I want to read him. He's such an institution that I feel that I should be able to enjoy the books. I regularly hear other people say how wonderful his books are. And actually I have enjoyed Bleak House and Great Expectations in the last couple of years. But they seem to demand more concentration or to be harder work than Trollope, or many other authors from that period.
I'm not sure about this, but I do wonder whether some authors remain "popular" just because of the education infrastructure. Books are on school reading lists, so they continue to be published in huge numbers, so they are cheap to buy. My copy of Bleak House cost £2 I think, brand new! But, if his books were being published for the first time today, would anyone read them?
Sue wrote: "I'm not sure about this, but I do wonder whether some authors remain "popular" just because of the education infrastructure."Sue, you're absolutely right and that's why there have been challenges to the idea of the 'canon' by feminist/queer/non-white and other scholars. The 'canon' is not something that evolves naturally, it's something deeply embedded within social and cultural power structures. We have inherited a literary tradition made up of archetypal 'dead white men', something which Virginia Woolf was already keen to point out in her A Room of One's Own, a hundred years ago.
I love Dickens but it's worth being self-conscious about the politics of literature. It's only fairly recently that we've been seeing change.
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This year, in A Level English, my son has studied, "A Thousand Splendid Sons," "The Picture of Dorian Gray," "Tess of the D'Urbervilles," "Othello," and "A Streetcar Named Desire," so far. I think that's a fairly good mix. I did "Pride and Prejudice," at school and it was my first introduction to Jane Austen, and still one of my favourite novels of all time.
Susan wrote: "Ooh, contentious talk!" ..."Well now, I don't mean to start any fisticuffs. :-)
Roman Clodia, at school (1970s) I remember doing Shakespeare, Thomas Hardy, George Elliot (The Mill on the Floss and Charlotte Bronte (Jane Eyre). So I suppose the literary tradition, as it was taught to me, was as much dead white women as dead white men. I'm not saying that's an awful lot better, mind you. It was still quite a narrow field of literature. We certainly didn't look at works in translation, for example.
Susan, it sounds like the field has widened a bit since then, thank goodness.
5 out of 5 male authors, though, on your son's syllabus ;)
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Susan wrote: "they didn't really get the idea of 'letter writing..."That made me smile, Susan!
I was just thinking about the fact that I went to an all-girls school, and I wonder if that affected the gender balance of the authors chosen by my teacher (all the teachers were women at my school). My brothers, for example, went to an all-boys school, and I imagine that they were more likely to be given male authors to read. Sadly, they are not around to check with, so I'm just speculating here!
Sue wrote: "Tania wrote: "I loved Bleak House, and I'm not a huge Dickens fan, I tend to prefer Trollope. "Yes, I'd read Trollope over Dickens any day. With Dickens, I keep thinking I should read him, more t..."
That's interesting, I've never been able to finish anything by Trollope, I've only tried two or three though, but I've read all of Dickens's novels, and several more than once. I even enjoyed the more obscure ones like Barnaby Rudge, and Martin Chuzzlewit. I think if Dickens's were writing today he'd be more likely to be writing for television, a long-running drama would be the closest contemporary equivalent to the kind of serialised, popular form he adopted. Shows like 'The Wire' remind me a lot of his work, exposing/focusing on social inequalities, looking at institutional power and how the way it's exercised impacts on individuals, an array of characters from lawyers, teachers, senior officials through to people living in poverty on the streets.
Dickens's books are cheap because they're out of copyright so they can be published by any and all, so there are a plethora of editions covering a range of price points, but I agree with the wider point about canonical texts, and in the UK figures like Leavis were very instrumental in how what was/wasn't considered worth reading, and then there were generations of teachers influenced by Leavis's work directly/indirectly. And of course tie-ins with the idea of culture as a means of control, so that books/writers that reflected certain values were the ones that were taught in colonies even after the Empire was pretty much done and dusted. Rather like the way that the U.S. used Hollywood films, American culture during their post-WW2 strategies in Germany as a tool to spread American values, or abstract art was exploited as a symbol of democratic freedom during the Cold War. Culture's never really neutral, it's always embedded in wider social/political structures, and as RC suggests the question is what/whose interests does the promotion of particular cultural products serve? And who/what is or has been excluded?
Alwynne wrote: "I think if Dickens's were writing today he'd be more likely to be writing for television..."Yes, he would have a terrific cliffhanger at the end of every episode!
I agree that the matter of copyright influences the price of books. I also think that the vast quantities sold by those authors on the national curriculum probably has a big effect. Along similar lines, I used to work at a major Roman villa in the south of England and they always said that, if the government took the Romans off the curriculum, they would be dead in the water. Half their visits were school parties "doing the Romans".
Thanks for mentioning Leavis, I hadn't heard of him and just spent a welcome half hour down that particular rabbit hole. :)
If you're interested in Leavis, look up his wife Queenie, she was quite a character and wrote a book that was equally influential at the time, Fiction And The Reading Public, if I recall correctly she was very vocal about the supposed damaging effects of reading "popular" and "middlebrow" literature!
Alwynne wrote: "I'm not sure if your libraries still stock DVDs like here but if so maybe they'd have the BBC version? Or could look on YouTube, it's not on archive.org but a lot of other good, free stuff. I don't..."Thanks, Alwynne, I’ll have a look around the inter webs! We have BBC America, and a lot of streaming sites with British stuff available.
Alwynne wrote: "If you're interested in Leavis, look up his wife Queenie, she was quite a character and wrote a book that was equally influential at the time, Fiction And The Reading Public, if I re..."Thanks Alwynne, I'll take a look.
Sue wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "I think if Dickens's were writing today he'd be more likely to be writing for television..."Yes, he would have a terrific cliffhanger at the end of every episode!
I agree that th..."
Quick question on your education system- I’m in US, and we have high school, four years, roughly age 14-18. I’ve seen many references over the years to A and O levels - what are those? I know it’s an exam, is it used to decide which kids go to which schools, like to college prep if they are “university material”?
Alwynne wrote: "Sue wrote: "Tania wrote: "I loved Bleak House, and I'm not a huge Dickens fan, I tend to prefer Trollope. "Yes, I'd read Trollope over Dickens any day. With Dickens, I keep thinking I should read..."
Interesting point, about Dickens writing for television nowadays, it’s true, he was ahead of his time, addressing social issues and inequalities. It’s funny that you haven’t been able to finish Trollope, I have always enjoyed him and found him more accessible than Dickens. Reading the academic commentary in my used editions of Trollope books, they often say he had real insight into female characters, and he was ahead of his time in this way. I agree, I’ve always felt he “gets“ women, especially those living such circumscribed lives in Victorian times.
Reading the Detectives
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