I recently finished “The Last Unicorn” and I am now reading “Over Sea, Under Stone” any suggestions for books, anyone read some good books lately?
Book title
Author
Genre
Rating from 1-100
There’s another four in that series (I think the publisher called all five “the Darlk is Rising” series after the first one) if you liked the first: there are two sets of main characters, although the overall plot and many characters overlap. I liked them all, but some more than others.
Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible.
I didn’t read it recently, but The Kite Runner stayed with me long after I finished it. There’s a movie coming out eventually, but read the book first.
Bill Bryson. Neither Here Nor There.
A travelogue of various parts of Europe, described with classic Bryson humor.
Our local bookshop closed down. I don’t get the chance to go to our local library. So I’m currently limited to the Oxfam bookshop, unless I make a special effort.
It’s all second-hand books these days, for me.
But recently I’ve read
“The Vikings” by Johannes Brondsted 7/10. A factual account of the Scandinavian infulence in Europe from about 700 AD to 1200 AD. It goes well read in conjunction with the Laxdaela Saga.
“Biggles of the Camel Squadron” By Captain W.E. Johns. Lurking in a bookshelf. I picked it up and finished it in one evening. Boys’ stories set in the First World War. 8/10 for Boys aged about 12.
“Blue Shoes and Happiness” by Alexander McCall-Smith. Gently-paced detection in Botswana. People who like this sort of thing will find that this is the sort of the thing they like. For aficionadoes, 9/10.
“Tale of a Tub” by Jonathan Swift. Satire from the days of the Glorious Revolution. Hard going but funny in its way. 5/10
“Poems” by Francois Villon, translated by Beram Sklatvala. (Some parallel text). Smashing stuff, especially the account of his life, in the preface. Where are the snows of yesteryear? Where is mighty Charlemagne? Where indeed. 9/10.
“You don’t have to be Evil to work Here, but it helps” byTom Holt.
A sort of sequal to"The Portable Door". Fantasy & Magic in a Bureaucratic Setting. Well, what do you expect from an ex-solicitor? One of the good ones. 8/10.
“When the women come out to dance” by Elmore Leonard. Short Stories from the master thriller. Excellent stuff. 9/10.
Yes, I read a lot. Is that a crime? Sorry, can’t cope with percentages. It had to be marks out of ten.
Some months ago I read “The Time Traveller’s Wife”. That’s a good one.
I recently started reading Tim Powers, the last book was “Declare” which was a mix of WWII espionage and the supernatural. He took real events from the British WWII spy service and weaved an alternate history around it involving D’Jinn living on Mt. Ararat. I’m looking forward to reading more by him.
I also just started reading non-fiction books by Nathaniel](http://www.nathanielphilbrick.com/%22%3ENathaniel) Philbrick, so far I’ve read ‘Mayflower’ about the founding of the Pilgrim Settlement in Plymouth and and “In the Heart of the Sea” about the whaleship Essex which was the basis for Moby Dick. It’s nice to find a non-fiction writer who can make historical events interesting and come alive.
after the quake
Haruki Murakami
A collection of short stories sparked by the 1995 Kobe earthquake. Most of them explore the area between fantasy and reality and dreams. For example, In one of them a human-size frog that may or may not be real and may or may not just be in the main character’s head might have saved Tokyo from a gigantic earthquake. You know, maybe. The point is I’m not exactly sure what parts of the story were real, and which were in the main character’s head (if any).
Great stuff. Definitely recommended.
Yes, very good.
Also I finally got around to reading the Corrections. Very good.
Also if you like short stories that have an odd bent, the journal GUD is available online as a PDF, and you can buy individual stories. www.gudmagazine.com. So for those who cannot get to a library or a bookstore, it’s a good alternative.
I’m currently reading a 4-book series called “Temeraire” by Naomi Novik that I’m finding hard to put down. It’s set in England, China, Africa and France during the Napoleonic wars. What makes it interesting is that all sides involved have dragons, which all of them except China use as an aerial force (some of the dragons are so huge that they carry crews of 10 or more, including gunmen and bombadiers). The dragons are intelligent and can speak like humans, and a theme carried throughout the series is whether it’s ethical to treat them as property. One reviewer describes the series as “Jane Austen meets Ann McCaffery.” I picked up the first book in an airport on my way home from my dad’s surgery, and was so hooked from the first that, as soon as I got home, I went out and bought the rest of the set.
I’m also currently reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in Irish, which is interesting, but probably not what anyone would consider light reading. 
Redwolf
The Venerable Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation.
Only because A) it’s old monkly-scribey stuff from a pivotal point in history (or, maybe, despite that); B) I always vaguely thought I ought to; I mean, when some slob gets called “The Venerable”, even Nano should take heed, right? and C) it was just sitting there to be borrowed. Which goes to show I hadn’t, and probably might never have otherwise, gone out of my way for it. But it’s a 1927 printing of a 1910 publication, so there’s an additional musty uber-retro cool factor going on, too, if musty’s what trips your trigger.
I’m hoping the text’ll be somehow gripping, but I’m not going to build my hopes on that. It’ll be enough to get through it: bragging rights, and all that. The looks of perplexity from those who hear that I actually had read Bede will be a reward in itself.
I have been reading that in my history class from time to time, it is interesting. “The Life of Alfred” by Asser is really good, and also “The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle” is also good
Good to hear. Having looked thru the chapter index, I recall there’s a section where someone gets his hemorrhoids miraculously cured by some sort of relic. Can’t wait. 
The Chronicle’s another one I’ve been curious about.
I would suggest it, came in handy when writing a paper on Vikings, there is a lot of information in there that is not found any where else. If you have the chance get a copy or check it out.
I recently finished -
The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald. fiction/autobiographical rate at 95
I’m currently reading his " The Beautiful and Damned", fiction/autobiographical- rate 50
They just finished one on Radio Reader that I am going to have to buy. It was really great and I highly recommend this book.
My Father’s Secret War: a memoir, by Lucinda Franks, rate 97
I just finished The Lion of Ireland by Morgan Llywellyn. I kind of run hot and cold on her, but greatly enjoyed this one.
Before that I’m a Stranger Here Myself by Bill Bryson.
Currently, Bethel Merriday by Sinclair Lewis. So far it’s absolutely fantastic, and I have no reason to assume it won’t be to the end. He’s my favorite male author by a longshot.
Overalls to Scrubs by CW Pellows. Lots of stories about working on trains from the steam years into early diesel, life out in the bush and in a tiny northern community, and the strange people who used to inhabit such places.
djm
I just finished All the Weyrs of Pern in Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series. I also finished Song of the Sparrow, it’s a free-verse retelling of “The Lady of Shallott”. It is a children’s book, but I really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I haven’t read much else lately; writing has been my priority.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Memories of My Melancholy Whores.
Sandy