Books: What are you reading tonight?

Pilgrim Spokes by Neil M. Hanson.

This is the second book about his cross-country bicycle trip. This book covers the part from central Kansas to Annapolis, MD, which was done in two segments.

Mostly riding with his friend Dave, though there was a piece in the middle he was solo.

As with many travel books, it's not about the trip itself, but about the people he meets and experiences he has, and his thoughts on those things.

A nice read. Sometimes melancholy, sometimes uplifting. I think he does a good job of getting the reader to understand his mood.

The Bedside Companion to Sherlock Holmes by Dick Riley and Pam McAllister.

Lots of information here about the great detective, Arthur Conan Doyle, and the canon in general. Despite its strange title, it was fairly interesting. Slight recommend for those who are into Holmes; not so much for anyone who's not.

Few very different books I've finished recently.

The Gone World - Tom Sweterlitsch
Dark sci-fi thriller. Starts off a murder mystery, then gets into time travel, alternative lines, and an upcoming apocalyptic event. Ngl, had to ask chatgpt for a bit of hand a couple of times - which I see a positive thing in this kind of book.

Tress of the Emerald Sea - Brandon Sanderson
Fantasy about a girl who joins a group of pirates to sail across magical oceans to save her love. One of Sanderson's 'Secret Project' books he wrote during covid. Easy light read, fun characters and interesting world. Story was pretty standard.

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Solider - Ishmael Beah
Harrowing true story of a young boy's experiences during the brutal civil war in Sierra Leone. Often a very tough read, but also full of moments of goodness.

Cosmos: Possible Worlds by Ann Druyan

The companion book to the mid-2010s TV show. Reading it stirred some reminders of some episodes. I'm not sure whether there is any new information here if one watched the series, or vice versa.

Never Flinch by Stephen King is truly awful. Stopped about a quarter way through and tried to skim but couldn’t even do that. He even admits it’s not good in the afterword. Certainly no Hackney Diamonds moments here for this oldtimer.

Reading the Ballard books (starts with The Late Show) by Michael Connelly (author of the Bosch novels) in preparation for watching the series Ballard on Prime. Light and airy detective novels that are fun and easy escapism.

IMO Connelly hasn’t knocked one out of the park for awhile now—maybe for quite awhile—but his OPS w/RISP is still dependable. Same with Val McDermid’s latest Past Lying.

But obviously theyÂ’re two of the alltime greats, and arenÂ’t going to publish their Twitter feed, unlike certain New England horror writers I could name.

BTW Past Lying is VERY Covidy/lockdownish, but because itÂ’s set in Scotland by a Scottish writer, itÂ’s not hamhanded like an American author or film director would splash around.

Lombardi: Winning is the only thing, edited by Jerry Kramer.

Kramer, and Lombardi-era Packers guard and Hall-of-Famer, interviewed many people close to Lombardi, and compiled the results here. Mostly, the interviews were conducted just before the time Lombardi was dying, but nobody knew that when the interviews were happening. Lots of the old Packers, but also family, other coaches, Washington players from the short time he spent there, and Giants players from his assistant coach job before Green Bay.

It's pretty interesting for a Packers fan. Lombardi's a bit before my time, but I grew up in that era right after him, so heard lots of stories about how great they had been.

There are quite a few funny stories in there as well, but what comes across is how much all of these people respected and loved him.

I have the book on hold at the library. I might have to skip it. I've read all the Holly stories, so I don't know if I'll be able to skip it.

I just finished The order of the day by Eric Vuillard. It's mostly set pieces leading up to the anschluss (when Germany annexed Austria on March 12, 1938). The writing is superb. It's very short and it's a bit hard to describe, but I highly recommend it. I read a translation to Spanish because the person that recommended was worried it would be hard to translate from French to English and I figured French to Spanish might be easier to keep all the imagery in the sentences, so I am not sure how well it reads in English.

I’ve read them all too. I didn’t bother with Cell, Billy Straight, or Fantasy, based on the descriptions, but this is the first one I’ve quit on, and I hated Dreamcatcher, Buick 6, Dome, The Institute, and Holly.

Stopped after Holly first meets Kate & Corrie, left it on a bus stop bench walking to work. Was leery about it, but couldn’t help myself when I saw it for under $20.

I don’t think it’s any kind of spoiler to say that he’s lost control of the wildly outdated cultural references, one of the characters talks exactly how some of his others did when he was at the height of his cocaine addiction, the logistical minutiae is unbearable, Holly imo does not act consistently with her established behaviors & skills, and he really needs to stop writing about black people. And I thought Billy Straight was his abortion novel? The hip replacement & loss of his longtime friend & ‘editor’, combined with the usual Trump TDS really derailed him here.

Do you mean Billy Summers? That one is a bit strange in how it completely shifts midway through, but the first half is quite interesting following a sharp-shooting assassin.

I started with Billy Summers and Outsider (based on recommendations from my favorite comic book author: Ed Brubaker), then because I liked the Holly character in Outsider, I went through the Bill Hodges trilogy, Holly, and the short story that has Holly in it. I also didn't like Holly that much, but didn't mind reading it. I guess life is too short to try Never Flinch. I did get it from the library, but I think I'll read something else instead.

Reading some early Patrick Modiano. Really enjoyed Young Once, his breakthrough.

Read Get Carter for the first time. Recommend.

Tried an Eliz Peters, do not recommend.

Currently reading City of Bohane, interesting so far.

Read The Eighth Circle by Stanley Ellin, reprinted from decades ago. Very much recommend for mystery lovers, he was a grandmaster of the myster writers guild, won the Edgar Award for it.

I just finished watching Ballard and I thought it pedestrian. Also be warned, it ends with a huge (and unnecessary) cliff-hanger, though it has not yet been confirmed for next season.

Yes, Billy Straight is a great crime novel by Jonathan Kellerman. I’m getting old.

If it’s fictional assassins you’re interested in, you can pretty much begin and end with the Keller series by Lawrence Block.

I'm reading Jack London's novel Martin Eden because it doesn't seem very trendy, and because all the words to it, in the right order too, are freely available at Project Gutenberg. Books for free, go figure.

For some reason the title Martin Eden has stuck 40+ years with me from Tom Wolfe's use of it ("Martin Eden searching hick") to describe a young Ken Kesey in Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.

Wolfe was a great writer but Charlotte W was another book I gave up on early, really early in fact. Like King, he seemed to lose his ear for how people normally talk. Age, wealth, fame, and being able to get one’s laundry list published & feted will understandably do that.

I thought Joe College while imperfect was pretty accurate.

I’m very intrigued. The Only Good Indians was great.

Lol thanks

Reading 11/22/63 now as it came up early on the waitlist. Only 20% in but soooooo good so far.

Home Sweet Anywhere by Lynne Martin.

This is the story of she and her husband selling their house and going "homefree," traveling and staying in longer-term rentals instead of owning a home to go back to.

Didn't really resonate with me. She wrote about each of their stays, transatlantic cruises, and visits back to the US. Some (mis)adventures, but everything worked out.

Thought there might be more of "this is how we did it." There's some of that at the end of the book, but really, this is a travelogue. I think part of why it didn't click for me is that she mentions astrology, being a foodie, and fine wine, none of which are my thing.

Anyway, some interesting stories about their travels, but not something I'd go back to.

I just learned that in 2010 Peter Straub published a limited edition “uncut” version of his novel A Dark Matter called The Skylark. Basically what Stephen King did with The Stand.

As with most of Straub’s books aside from Ghost Story & KoKo, opinions of ADM varied widely. I really liked it. My favorite character is in an insane asylum who speaks almost exclusively in quotations, and jealously guards and hides his most prized possession—an extremely rare, perhaps totemic—book of obscure words.

I learned a new one today: Immane which best describes,
Something of monstrous character?
A coastal topographical feature?
A facet of Scandinavian agriculture?
Or
A quality in domesticated felines?

According to Merriam Webster's online dictionary, it rhymes with washerwomen; information I found quite useful.

“immane,” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary,

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/immane

merriam-webster

Definition of IMMANE

Well, I wouldn’t have guessed that, you learn something new every day.

The Best American Travel Writing 2001, edited by Paul Theroux.

I've read several of these annual anthologies. Like most, some stories didn't interest me, some were fine. An excellent story (as you'd no doubt expect) by Salman Rushdie on his return to India. (Remember, this was about the time of the fatwa on him).

Some other interesting tales. A couple I didn't finish because they were dragging on and too political about the place they traveled to.

More or less ok, I guess. Not something to rush out and get, but read if you come across it.