timjones in 2014

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timjones in 2014

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1timjones
Dez. 31, 2013, 5:34 am

My 2013 thread topped off at 53 books, one more than I read in 2012. You can find my 2013 thread here:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/147550

My first couple of blog posts for the New Year on my blog at

http://timjonesbooks.blogspot.com

will summarise my reading for 2013, but the very short summary is that for my reading for the second part of the year was dominated by:

* The very large number of individual poems I read in my role as co-editor of "The Stars Like Sand: Australian Speculative Poetry" - none of which appear on my LT reading list, but which do account for the relative dearth of other poetry I read this year.

* Volumes 1-5 of George R R Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire". I knocked these slim volumes off between tea and tiffin.

Further analysis awaits!

2timjones
Jan. 5, 2014, 9:15 pm

1. Feynman by Jim Ottaviani - nonfiction/science/graphic novel (4.5/5)

An enjoyable (if occasionally slightly disjointed) graphic-novel look at the life and career of the great 20th-century physicist Richard Feynman, It told me a lot more than I already knew about Feynman and made me want to read the man's own books, which, I think, was a large part of the intention. If you'd like to get to grips with Feynman and his work, this seems like a fine place to start.

3fannyprice
Jan. 5, 2014, 9:28 pm

That sounds really intriguing, Tim, and as I am interested in learning more about this man everyone adores, I think I will check it out!

4dchaikin
Jan. 6, 2014, 1:34 am

Sounds like you got a lot more out of Feynman (the book) then I did. Glad you enjoyed it.

5timjones
Jan. 8, 2014, 8:01 pm

> #3, fannyprice and #4, dchaikin - thanks for your comments! dchaikin, what didn't you like about the book?

6timjones
Jan. 8, 2014, 8:20 pm

More to follow on these...

2. The Oaks Grove by Michael J. Parry - novel/fantasy/police procedural (3/5) - one I read last year that I forgot to enter - too late to redo that 2013 list now!

3. Dollhouse: Epitaphs by Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen - graphic novel*/science fiction/TV tie-in (4/5) - *more like a graphic short story - is that a 'thing'??

4. Iceland's 1100 Years: History of a Marginal Society by Gunnar Karlsson - nonfiction/history (4.5/5)

7timjones
Jan. 8, 2014, 8:22 pm

I've put up the first half of my review of the books I read in 2013, based on my "Club Read 2013" thread:

http://timjonesbooks.blogspot.co.nz/2014/01/the-53-books-i-read-in-2013-part-1-1...

8AnnieMod
Jan. 8, 2014, 8:39 pm

>6 timjones: more like a graphic short story - is that a 'thing'??
Of course it is :)

9dchaikin
Jan. 9, 2014, 6:37 am

#5 - with Feynman, I knew hardly anything about him. Graphic books can often inspire and can be great places to start to learn about a topic. That is what I was hoping for. I felt the book gave me his life story, but never really brought him to life in any striking way.

10.Monkey.
Jan. 10, 2014, 7:48 am

Oh yes, there's any number of graphic shorts! As with text-editions, I prefer things longer, with more "meat," but they can still be nice. :)

11charbutton
Jan. 10, 2014, 8:00 am

There's a graphic novel/short story linked to Dollhouse??? I can't believe I missed this!

12timjones
Jan. 11, 2014, 9:56 pm

>8 AnnieMod:-11: Thanks! charbutton, there seem to be a number of them, though I've only read the one.

13timjones
Jan. 11, 2014, 9:58 pm

2. The Oaks Grove by Michael J. Parry - novel/fantasy/police procedural (3/5)

I enjoyed this second volume in Michael J. Parry's series of fantasy police procedurals (yes, the two do go together!) about a large troll and a small flying Eleniu who are partners in the City Guard of a trading city with six sentient races.

Having said that, I don't think it's as good in the first novel in the series, "The Spiral Tattoo". That one integrated the fantasy and police procedural elements nicely, whereas this one is a locked-room mystery set on a country estate to which the fantasy element is largely superfluous. Still, it's a fun read, and the two lading characters, Gurt and Elanore, continue to be engaging.

14AnnieMod
Jan. 11, 2014, 10:01 pm

>13 timjones: That series is going in my wishlist...

15timjones
Jan. 11, 2014, 10:02 pm

3. Dollhouse: Epitaphs by Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen - graphic novel/science fiction (4/5)

I enjoyed this short tie-in graphic novel to Joss Whedon's "Dollhouse" TV series. I thought the series was underrated - it got off to a rocky start, but once it hit its stride (especially in Season 2) it posed some really interesting questions about identity, corporate control and prostitution. The season-ending "Epitaph" episode were the series' best, and this comic is a welcome extension of those.

16timjones
Jan. 11, 2014, 10:05 pm

4. Iceland's 1100 Years: History of a Marginal Society by Gunnar Karlsson - nonfiction/history (4/5)

This is a fairly dry and academic - but nevertheless interesting - history of Iceland from the settlement era through to 2000. Having read about the sagas of the Settlement Era, I wanted something that would bring me up to date, and this book did that - although I would have liked more coverage of the environmental and ecological factors affecting Iceland during that time, which are alluded to but rarely addressed directly.

17ljbwell
Jan. 19, 2014, 10:20 am

I also think Dollhouse was underappreciated. It was a strong concept and good characters. My biggest problem with it, though, was Eliza Dushku.

I remember reading a Serenity tie-in which was part graphic novel, part story, part background, so the Whedon clan seem to have embraced an extended graphic novel format.

18timjones
Jan. 25, 2014, 10:46 pm

>17 ljbwell:, ljbwell: I think Eliza Dushku was excellent as Faith in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", and I think she did well in "Dollhouse" when called on to play an action heroine, but she wasn't as comfortable when called on to play other aspects. As the show expanded beyond its "Active of the Week" beginnings, in the latter half of Season 1 and then Season 2, it became more of an ensemble piece (which is Joss Whedon's strength IMO) and Dushku's acting ability wasn't so much of an issue.

19timjones
Jan. 31, 2014, 7:08 pm

Just realised I hadn't put up the second half of my "Books I Read in 2013" post. Here it is:

http://timjonesbooks.blogspot.co.nz/2014/01/the-53-books-i-read-in-2013-part-2-2...

20timjones
Bearbeitet: Jan. 31, 2014, 7:14 pm

While we're at it, I've also done my usual January blog posts about some of my favourite music from the preceding year. It's in two parts:

Part 1: Pop, Rock and Metal:

http://timjonesbooks.blogspot.co.nz/2014/01/what-i-listened-to-in-2013-part-1-po...

Part 2: Jazz and Classical:

http://timjonesbooks.blogspot.co.nz/2014/01/what-i-listened-to-in-2013-part-2-ja...

21timjones
Jan. 31, 2014, 7:43 pm

5. Shaman by Kim Stanley Robinson - novel/prehistory (4.5/5)

I had a hard time rating this book - the second half was grippingly interesting, but after a strong beginning, the first half didn't always hold my attention. However, the good bits are so good that I felt they justified a high rating for the novel as a whole.

"Shaman" is structured as a classic coming-of-age story: the character coming of age in this case being Loon, a teenager who is being trained as a shaman, mostly against his wishes, for his Ice Age tribe. The key events in the story are two journeys Loon undertakes - the first provides the strong beginning, and the second triggers off a second half to the book that is both exciting and moving.

Kim Stanley Robinson's great strength as a writer can also be his chief weakness: he knows and loves his material so well that he sometimes clogs up the story with it. At times, that happens in the first part of the story - and unlike his Mars books, in which I will happily read any amount of exposition because the material is so interesting to me, I didn't always find the raw material of this novel as interesting. But with that reservation, I recommend this novel to anyone who is interested in prehistory, KSR's work, or a good story.

22lesmel
Feb. 1, 2014, 10:38 am

21 > You hit all the reasons why KSR drives me batty. The pipeline, so to speak, gets clogged with all the information he knows and wants the reader to know!

23timjones
Feb. 5, 2014, 6:58 pm

>22 lesmel:, lesmel: I agree - but the information in his books is often on subjects I'm very interested in, so I can put up with and even enjoy it. When it's something I'm not interested in, that puts em off.

24timjones
Feb. 5, 2014, 7:05 pm

6. My Life by Li Na - nonfiction/autobiography (4.5/5)

Li Na, winner of the 2011 French Open and the 2014 Australian Open, is my favourite tennis player - I'm not a huge tennis fan, but I do like her on-court skill, determination and power, and her memorable off-court interviews.

Li Na is a stubborn individualist, and that has frequently led to conflict with the all-encompassing state sports system in which she grew up - conflicts documented in this book. But the core of the book is her relationship with her husband Jiang Shan, a former top Chinese player who gave that up to be the tennis equivalent of Li Na's caddy - and also, for a time, her coach, something that wasn't great for her marriage and which they wisely brought to an end.

There are probably stories Li Na could have told about her childhood and her battles with the Chinese tennis authorities that she has chosen not to, but nevertheless, this is an interesting and moving autobiography that you don't have to be a tennis nut to enjoy.

25timjones
Feb. 17, 2014, 1:47 am

7. Animal Wise: The Thoughts and Emotions of Our Fellow Creatures - nonfiction/ethology (4/5)

As a summary of research into the intelligence and emotions of a whole range of species - from ants to whales and dolphins - this book is a bit one-over-lightly at times - but on the other hand, it's also a very readable introduction to a fascinating topic. It was a shame octopi were relegated to a couple of footnotes, though - they are both intelligent and fascinating. (If you're not a fan of octopi, give this book an extra half-star.)

26timjones
Feb. 17, 2014, 1:48 am

8. Three Stations by Martin Cruz Smith - novel/thriller (4/5)

Another strong entry in the Renko series. Arkady Renko is back in his familiar stamping ground of Moscow, embroiled in cases of child prostitution and human trafficking. As has been the case with recent Renko books, the mystery is a little perfunctory, but the rich and, in this case, surprisingly moving characterisation makes up for it. It would be nice to have one Renko book which doesn't open with him having lost his wife/girlfriend and include him finding a new one, though.

27fannyprice
Feb. 19, 2014, 6:37 pm

I really want to read Animal Wise. I'm glad you liked it, though it is a shame octopi weren't given more due. From what little I have read, they are quite cool.

28timjones
Feb. 22, 2014, 9:24 pm

29timjones
Feb. 22, 2014, 9:41 pm

9. Shadows of the New Sun: Stories in Honor of Gene Wolfe - fiction/anthology (3.5/5)

Writing a short story in honour of Gene Wolfe is a tough gig, because Gene Wolfe is one of the best short story writers going around - certainly within the speculative fiction fields - and he doesn't have the kind of immediate linguistic markers in his fiction that make it easy to pastiche his style (other, perhaps, than his most famous work, the four-volume Book of the New Sun).

The stories in this volume, including two by Wolfe himself, are a mixed bag - as one would expect. A few too many never go anywhere much, but there are a few that are worthy additions to Wolfe's worlds. I'd encourage those new to Gene Wolfe's work to go straight to the source, and give existing gene Wolfe fans cautious encouragement to check this out.

30fannyprice
Bearbeitet: Feb. 23, 2014, 12:51 pm

Thanks Tim, I'll check that out!

ETA: Oh! I've read this before! This is a wonderful article - it was my first octopus article.

31timjones
Feb. 28, 2014, 6:27 pm

>30 fannyprice:, fannyprice: It is a great article, isn't it!

32timjones
Feb. 28, 2014, 6:31 pm

This book was right at the end of my 2013 list, but I've now postd a review of it on my blog, so thought I would share it here too:

Sidelights: Rugby Poems, by Mark Pirie (Wellington: The Night Press, 2013), available via Mark's website, markpirie.com

Sport, a big area of New Zealand life, has formed a surprisingly small part of New Zealand poetry. Mark Pirie has done a lot to remedy that lately, with his NZ cricket poetry anthology A Tingling Catch receiving a lot of very favourable press, not least from the prestigious Wisden Cricketer.

Mark is currently editing an anthology of New Zealand and international poems about football (that is, the round-ball variety). But when I was growing up, the world game was still called 'soccer' in New Zealand, as 'football' was reserved for use to describe the sport that all New Zealanders, and in particular all New Zealand males, were supposed to be obsessed by: rugby union.

I grew up in Southland, where rugby's hold was arguably as complete as anywhere in the country - at Gore High School, it was a source of great embarrassment that those half-despised, half-pitied sooks who played soccer had actually managed to string together a few winning games, while the school's rugby First XV, supposedly the bastion and exemplar of teenage masculinity, was completely useless.

(If women's rugby was played anywhere in New Zealand in the 1970s, it most certainly wasn't played in Gore.)

I only ever played one game of rugby, during which I invented the kicking No. 8 long before Zinzan Brooke had thought of the idea. And, despite my Pommy background and odd haircut, I did eventually get interested in the game and used to watch a lot of it - right up to the point at which the All Blacks won the 2011 Word Cup, at which point, to my surprise, my interest in the game evaporated almost completely. I still watch the occasional All Blacks match on TV, but no longer pay any attention to the domestic or Super 15 competitions.

But I remember those provincial passions, which is why I enjoyed Mark Pirie's Sidelights, and why my favourite poem from it is "The Divided Country", which explores the eternal duality between Hurricanes and Highlanders supporters. "School Days at Wellington College" has a great last line which it sets up perfectly, and I also particularly enjoyed the sequence "Five All Blacks poems", which ends with a poem celebrating the moment All Blacks' captain Richie McCaw lifted the Webb Ellis Cup at the end of the 2011 World Cup tournament - that same moment that something in my brain appears to have decided that enough was enough.

Even in 2014, it's hard to be in New Zealand for long without rugby starting to seep into your life: Sidelights is a good first step towards an understanding; or a valedictory to an era, long lost or recently ended, of liniment, the Sideline Eye, and the crowd rising to "E Ihowā Atua".

33baswood
Mrz. 1, 2014, 5:31 am

Enjoyed reading your thoughts on Sidelights; Rugby Poems. I drift in and out of being a sports fan being mindful of how much time it can result in mindless inactivity.

34timjones
Mrz. 7, 2014, 10:25 pm

>33 baswood:, baswood: I used to be a lot more obsessive about sport than I am now - except for cricket. I'm still obsessive about that. I have had a poem about cricket published, though, so that makes it all worthwhile :-)

Swing

I'm left arm over
I'm the new red ball
I'm the prodding by the batsman
at the green and sweating pitch.

I'm two slips and a gully
I'm a short square leg
I'm the keeper standing back
and the umpire's call of "Play".

I'm the short strides then the long
the rock back and the gather
I'm the front foot thudding down
as the ball departs my hand.

I'm the seam proudly upright
I'm the late movement in
I'm the bat that is nowhere
as the ball hits the pad.

I'm the turn to the umpire
the scream of an appeal
I'm the slowly rising finger
and the batsman's long walk back.

I'm the hugs I barely feel
as I focus on the moment
when for one ball I decoded
the mysteries of swing.

- published in A Tingling Catch

35baswood
Mrz. 9, 2014, 1:35 pm

Nice one Tim

36timjones
Mrz. 12, 2014, 10:41 pm

>35 baswood:: Thanks!

37timjones
Bearbeitet: Apr. 27, 2014, 3:48 am

10. Great House by Nicole Krauss - novel/literary fiction (3.5/5)

11. Down Under by Bill Bryson - nonfiction/travel (4/5)

12. Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain - memoir/social history (4.5/5)

13. Interstellar Overdrive: The Shindig! Guide to Spacerock - ed. Austin Matthews - nonfiction/musicology (4/5)

More to follow...

38timjones
Apr. 4, 2014, 10:03 pm

Am having a very busy couple of months, with three big projects on the go at once - for more on my mini-hiatus, see

http://timjonesbooks.blogspot.com

39timjones
Apr. 27, 2014, 3:40 am

One of those major projects I mentioned above has now borne the first signs of fruit: it's the soon-to-be-published anthology The Stars Like Sand: Australian Speculative Poetry:

http://ipoz.biz/Titles/SLS.htm

Once this has been launched in early June, I should have some time to catch up with LibraryThing! But more placeholders in the meantime...

40timjones
Apr. 27, 2014, 3:49 am

14. Cinema by Helen Rickerby - poetry/collection (5/5)

15. Planting the Olives by Pat White - poetry/collection (4/5)

16. The Land Across by Gene Wolfe - novel/fantasy (4/5)

41dchaikin
Apr. 27, 2014, 8:35 am

Congrats Tim!

42timjones
Bearbeitet: Mai 2, 2014, 11:51 pm

>41 dchaikin:: Thanks!

43timjones
Mai 2, 2014, 11:55 pm

17 . The Summer Book by Tove Jansson - novel/autobiographical fiction (5/5)

Will post a review when I have time, but just wanted to say that this is an outstanding short novel - of the books I've read so far this year, this and Helen Rickerby's "Cinema" (#14 above) have been the highlights, with Li Na's autobiography and Kim Stanley Robinson's novel Shaman not far behind.

44timjones
Mai 4, 2014, 4:18 am

18. Through the Evil Days by Julia Spencer-Fleming - fiction/thriller/police procedural (4.5/5)

It's rare for me to enjoy more than a couple of novels in any thriller series, because the law of diminishing returns tends to kick in quite quickly with these series. But Julia Spencer-Fleming is a fine writer and does an excellent job of keeping this series fresh. This one is less about detection and more about survival - and to say any more would be too big a spoiler!

45timjones
Mai 10, 2014, 9:50 am

Time to start catching up on the books I only had time to list over the past couple of months:

10. Great House by Nicole Krauss - novel/literary fiction (3.5/5)

I know a lot of people really like this book, including several members of the book club for which I read it, but I was only interested in "Great House" in fits and starts. It's a sectional narrative, or rather a number of linked narratives, and the problem I had was that, though a number of those narratives interested me, others did not - so that it felt like reading a collection of novellas of varying quality rather than a novel. I think the fault lay largely with me - this just wasn't the ideal book for a very busy time in my life.

46timjones
Mai 10, 2014, 10:14 am

11. Down Under by Bill Bryson - nonfiction/travel (4/5)

A nice relaxing read while on holiday at my Dad's house. Bill Bryson is a wonderfully funny and observant travel writer whose books are sometimes let down, in my view, by too large an element of "look at the funny foreigner". But this books is more generous of spirit, and it gives a more memorable and engaging account of Australia and Australian life than a more sober-sided travelogue would.

47timjones
Mai 10, 2014, 10:57 am

12. Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain - memoir/social history (4.5/5)

The core of this book is Vera Brittain's account of her service as a nurse during the First World War, during which time she lost her lover, her brother and another close male friend in the fighting. It's an account that points up the horrible stupidity and futility of that war - men dying in their hundreds of thousands for the sake of a few miles of trench - and of war in general. Not an easy read, but highly recommended.

48rebeccanyc
Mai 10, 2014, 12:25 pm

Well, I'm one of the people who loved Great House, but I can see that you would need time to concentrate to best appreciate it.

49kidzdoc
Mai 10, 2014, 6:28 pm

What Rebecca said. I enjoyed Great House, too.

50timjones
Mai 11, 2014, 8:57 pm

>48 rebeccanyc: and >49 kidzdoc:: It's probably a book I should try again when I'm less busy.

51timjones
Mai 11, 2014, 8:59 pm

13. Interstellar Overdrive: The Shindig! Guide to Spacerock - ed. Austin Matthews - nonfiction/musicology (4/5)

Spacerock is hard to define: think Pink Floyd before they settled down and got respectable, or Hawkwind’s mix of hard-rock riffing and spacey synthesisers. It’s progressive rock without the sonata structures; it’s heavy metal on helium. As a Seventies teenager, I have a taste for this sort of thing, and this book thoroughly covers beginnings (Telstar; the Dr Who theme*), main practitioners and byways. It’s especially good on European bands: any book that can have me searching Slow Boat Records for old Amon Düül II albums has done its job.

*The section on the Dr Who theme and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop made me think that a whole book could be devoted to that remarkable institution - I must try to find one.

52timjones
Mai 11, 2014, 9:00 pm

14. Cinema by Helen Rickerby - poetry/collection (5/5)

Wellington poet Helen Rickerby just keeps getting better. Her best work is moving, funny, and thought-provoking without being “difficult” – and Cinema is full of her best work. This collection is all directly or indirectly about the silver screen. It includes poems about the art-form itself, poems about the effect cinema has had on the poet’s life, and a series of poems about the lives of Helen’s friends as if directed by various famous directors. (I’m still hoping for one about my life as directed by a tag-team of Sofia Coppola and David Lean.) Great stuff!

53Poquette
Mai 11, 2014, 11:54 pm

Hi Tim! Just spent a few minutes catching up with your thread after being away for a while. Glad to see you are still talking about sci-fi poetry! ;-)

As you may recall, I am a big Kim Stanley Robinson fan, Red Mars being one of my all-time favorite novels. Unfortunately, Shaman doesn't sound like it is quite up my street. But I agree that Robinson's exposition is terrific. Who can forget his memorable descriptions of the Mars landscape?

I heartily agree with your sentiments re Vera Brittain's Testament of Youth.

54timjones
Bearbeitet: Mai 13, 2014, 3:44 am

>53 Poquette:: Thanks, Poquette! KSR is still KSR, and even though Shaman might nominally be a fantasy, it has very much the feel of his other books: an intense focus on landscape and on what it feels like to try to survive in a world other than our own (in this case, other in time). So I think any fan of KSR, who will be untroubled by the occasional info dump, should give it a try.

55NanaCC
Mai 13, 2014, 9:23 am

Lots of great reviews, Tim. I plan on borrowing The Summer Book from my daughter, and Testament of Youth has been getting such great buzz because of the WWI theme that I have added it to my wishlist. I haven't started the Julia Spencer-Fleming series, but have it tagged as one to start soon. You have just pushed it further up the list. Thank you.

56timjones
Bearbeitet: Mai 19, 2014, 7:57 am

I'm not sure if this is the right place to mention this, but long-time members of Club Read may remember the "Esenin Translation Project", for non-professional translations of poems by the early-twentieth-century Russian poet Sergei (Y)Esenin. Following an enquiry from user DimNick, who translates from Russian into English and Greek (impressive!), this topic has been revived as a separate group, and you can help it take its first steps at

https://www.librarything.com/groups/esenintranslationpro

57timjones
Bearbeitet: Mai 19, 2014, 8:59 am

19. Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees - novel/fantasy (4/5)

This 1926 fantasy novel combines much of the language of 19th-century English fantasy with some 20th century preoccupations. It stops at the point when many a fantasy novel would be just getting started, but its tale of the relationship between the humdrum world and the faery world, told almost entirely from the mundane side of the line, still packs a thought-provoking punch - and is told in some beautiful language.

58timjones
Mai 19, 2014, 9:01 am

Happy to say that I can now add The Stars Like Sand: Australian Speculative Poetry, edited by Tim Jones and P. S. Cottier, to LibraryThing's database! Copies have been seen in the wild in Australia - mine should be with me soon.

59timjones
Mai 24, 2014, 7:33 am

15. Planting the Olives by Pat White - poetry/collection (4/5)

Pat White's poetry focuses on his life as a farmer in the Wairarapa, difficult territory not far away from where I live, riddled by summer droughts and winter winds. He's a fine poet whose work is sometimes a little too emotionally unrevealing for my tastes - but that's very much of a piece with a taciturn farmer in tough terrain, and the best poems here are very rewarding.

60timjones
Mai 24, 2014, 7:49 am

16. The Land Across by Gene Wolfe - novel/fantasy (4/5)

At his peak, around the time of The Fifth Head of Cerberus, The Island of Doctor Death and the Book of the New Sun tetralogy, Gene Wolfe rose to be among the greatest authors speculative fiction has produced. At times, his subsequent "Long Sun" and "Short Sun" series approach those heights, but in general I've been a bit disappointed with his recent work - though perhaps I'm like one of those fans of a classic rock band who keeps insisting that they play only their old hits, and refuses to listen to the new stuff.

With all that preamble out of the way, I'd rate The Land Across as something of a return to form. It's set on a much smaller canvas than his greatest works, but this twisty tale of an American sort-of innocent abroad in an imaginary East European country kept me interested and entertained throughout, and there was enough of the trademark Wolfean pulling the wool over the reader's eyes, and then pulling it away again to reveal new perspectives, to keep me well satisfied. A worthy extension to the Wolfe canon for those that know and love his work, or a good starting point for those who don't.

61timjones
Bearbeitet: Mai 24, 2014, 8:09 am

20. Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys. by Viv Albertine - nonfiction/memoir (5/5)

Here's what I tweeted when I finished the book:

"Finished superb memoir #clothesmusicboys by @viv_albertine last night. Wonderful book - entertaining, moving, sad, amusing, profound"

And I don't need to say a lot more - it was really was that good. Viv Albertine was the guitarist of iconic 1970s English punk band The Slits. When that band broke up, she disappeared into a marriage in which her creativity wasted away. This is the story of how she got to that point and how she resumed her creative life after 25 years' obscurity. It's also the story of some very bad (and some very good) choices, taken with a fierce commitment to independence, and the emotional price she has had to pay for that independence.

Along the way, there are fascinating portraits of Sid Vicious, John Lydon, Mick Jones, Ari Up and many other famous figures of the punk era; unexpected connections with musicians and actors as diverse as Steve Howe of Yes and Tom Hiddleston; and the voice of a fine storyteller. This is, so far, my favourite book of 2014.

62baswood
Mai 24, 2014, 6:24 pm

Enjoying your reviews Tim, I am tempted by all of those last three books.

63timjones
Mai 24, 2014, 10:36 pm

>62 baswood:: Thanks! I'm being a bit of a bore about Clothes, Clothes, Clothes..., banging on about it to people who probably haven't got the slightest interest, but I do recommend this one in particular.

64timjones
Bearbeitet: Jul. 13, 2014, 8:53 am

Just back from my trip to Australia for the Melbourne and Canberra launches of The Stars Like Sand: Australian Speculative Poetry. While away, I read the following books, which I'll review once I've caught up a bit:

21. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell - novel/historical fiction/contemporary fiction/science fiction (5/5)
22. Doctor Sleep by Steven King - novel/horror (4.5/5)
23. Rider by Joyce Chng - novel/science fiction (3.5/5)
24. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - novel/magic realism (3/5)

That last rating may be controversial - but I shall explain my disappointment in one of the classics of 20th century literature soon!

65Poquette
Jun. 15, 2014, 8:12 pm

>64 timjones: Unreal! I've actually read two out of four: Cloud Atlas and One Hundred Years of Solitude. Look forward to hearing what you have to say about them.

66timjones
Jun. 17, 2014, 8:01 am

>65 Poquette: : Very short summary: I loved Cloud Atlas and (to my considerable surprise) did not enjoy One Hundred Years of Solitude. But I will say that in a bit more depth soon!

67Poquette
Jun. 17, 2014, 6:26 pm

Fifty percent isn't bad! Look forward to your reviews.

68timjones
Jul. 6, 2014, 9:20 am

25. The Stars Like Sand: Australian Speculative Poetry edited by Tim Jones and P. S. Cottier - anthology/ poetry

I won't give The Stars Like Sand a rating, since I co-edited it, but it would be weird not to include it as a book I've read, given how many times I have read the manuscript and subsequently a bunch of proofs! We launched the book last month in Melbourne and Canberra (the Sydney launch is coming up this month, though I won't be there), and got a really good response.

One thing I've noticed is that, whereas it seems to me the term "speculative fiction" is fairly widely known, "speculative poetry" seems to be a mystery to many people - so, for the record, what we mean is science fiction, fantasy and horror poetry, with a smidgeon of magic realism and surrealism in there as well. And we have included poetry from the 19th century to the present day - including that well-known ghost poem, "Waltzing Matilda"!

If you'd like to know more about the book, the publisher's website at http://www.ipoz.biz/Titles/SLS.htm and, for those on Facebook, the book's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/thestarslikesand are good places to look.

69zenomax
Jul. 6, 2014, 9:28 am

Sounds interesting Tim.

Nice to see Waltzing Matilda made the cut too!

70timjones
Jul. 7, 2014, 3:16 am

>69 zenomax:: Thanks! My Australian co-editor and I disagreed on very few things, but it took me a little while to talk her round to the view that "Waltzing Matilda" should be included - I think that the 'iconic' nature of the poem/song has overtaken its actual *content*, so it's good to promote a reconsideration of it.

71timjones
Jul. 7, 2014, 5:13 am

I occasionally contribute brief book reviews to the "Book Watch" column in the New Zealand Herald newspaper, based on my LibraryThing reviews. Here is my latest column: http://timjonesbooks.blogspot.co.nz/2014/07/my-most-recent-book-watch-column-for...

72timjones
Bearbeitet: Jan. 8, 2015, 5:52 pm

26. Lost in the Museum, edited by A. J. Ponder - anthology/speculative fiction (4/5)

I contributed a story to this anthology set in New Zealand's national museum, Te Papa Tongarewa (an explanation of the meaning of the name is here: http://www.tepapa.govt.nz/AboutUs/history/Pages/MeaningofTePapaTongarewa.aspx), commonly known as Te Papa. It's a fun anthology with a connecting thread running through the stories, which are a mixture of fantasy and SF.

27. 11/22/63 by Stephen King - novel/alternate history (4/5)

Review to follow.

28. Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened by Allie Brosh - nonfiction/illustrated essays (4.5/5)

29. A Quiet Day and other stories by P.S. Cottier - fiction/short stories (4/5)

P.S. Cottier is best known as a poet (and also anthologist - full disclosure: P.S. Cottier and I co-edited The Stars Like Sand: Australian Speculative Poetry.) But this collection shows she's a very good short story writer as well. What I like best about these stories is the way the contemplative tone which introduces the collection shifts smoothly to accommodate the real and the surreal, the happy and the sad. The combination of restrained style and unexpected content means the reader is never sure which way the stories are going to tip, and that's a good place for a writer to be.

30. How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu - fiction/novel (4/5)

31. The Happiest Music On Earth by Sue Wootton - short stories/collection (4/5)

32. Dirty Politics by Nicky Hager - nonfiction/politics (4.5/5)

73timjones
Bearbeitet: Jul. 13, 2014, 8:53 am

21. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell - novel/historical fiction/contemporary fiction/science fiction (5/5)

"Cloud Atlas" isn't always an easy read, and it's rarely a comforting one, but I'm willing to go as far as to say that it's a great novel. I found some of the multiple storylines, which range from past through present to future and cover a range of genres, easier going than others, but connections between those storylines made the book a satisfying whole. As is often the case with science fiction by authors more strongly associated with literary fiction, the science fiction portions of the book don't offer anything strikingly new in conceptual terms, but in common with the rest of the novel, they are deeply and densely imagined. If you are prepared to give it time and attention, "Cloud Atlas" offers rich rewards.

74mabith
Jul. 13, 2014, 1:13 pm

Ooh, I will have to remind myself to look for Viv Albertine's book again once it's released in the US (not until September! So unfair), sounds excellent.

75LibraryPerilous
Jul. 13, 2014, 2:24 pm

The Stars Like Sand and Lost in the Museum both sound intriguing.

>70 timjones: One of my favorite films is I Know Where I'm Going!, and one of the reasons I love it is that the happy ending is a bit ambiguous. Some of the ambiguity is established at the beginning: The male protagonist first is shown walking down a road and whistling "Loch Lomond." I didn't know that "Waltzing Matilda" was a similar ghost story song!

76timjones
Jul. 13, 2014, 6:26 pm

>74 mabith:: It is! I got it from amazon.com as a Kindle ebook, so it is already available in that format.

>75 LibraryPerilous:: Thanks! I don't know that film at all - will have to check it out.

77mabith
Jul. 13, 2014, 6:44 pm

Ah, the hardback release date says September for the US. Since I'll want the library to order it (pay for a book I haven't read yet? Scandalous), I'll have to wait.

78Poquette
Jul. 13, 2014, 7:34 pm

Glad to hear you liked Cloud Atlas! There is so much to absorb in that book, as you found out.

79timjones
Jul. 14, 2014, 4:44 am

>77 mabith: Well, I think you'll be find the worth will be wait it. (Extending my brief a bit, I like her recent solo album "The Vermilion Border" a lot as well.)

>78 Poquette: Indeed! I didn't answer the question on that topic in the "Interesting Questions" thread - and I don't re-read many books - but I could certainly see myself re-reading Cloud Atlas.

80timjones
Aug. 17, 2014, 5:12 am

26. Lost in the Museum, edited by A. J. Ponder - anthology/speculative fiction (4/5)

Disclaimer: I have a story in this anthology.

Te Papa Tongarewa, New Zealand's national museum on the Wellington waterfront, is an unusual enough collision of objects and cultures that setting a collection of speculative fiction stories (science fiction and fantasy, with a dash of horror) there seems like a logical move. Lost in the Museum takes in a number of Te Papa’s iconic attractions – the Britten bike, the zombie baby from Brain Dead – and weaves them into a linked collection of stories which suggests that the authorities at Te Papa are well aware of the spooky goings-on in their midst, and have a team working to restore order to the time-stream and keep visitors from becoming alarmed. A fun journey around the national museum.

81timjones
Aug. 17, 2014, 5:14 am

28. Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened by Allie Brosh - nonfiction/illustrated essays (4.5/5)

If you’ve ever seen the Internet meme that features a half-woman, half-fish hybrid triumphantly holding a broom while saying something like CLEAN ALL THE THINGS!, you owe it to yourself to meet that meme’s originator. This is an autobiography with the emphasis on graphics, as Allie Brosh treats dog ownership, depression, ill-fated family excursions and other rites of passage with strong doses of both humour and common sense, leavened by her amazingly expressive drawings – the people may be stick figures with a hint of the aquarium, but the simple dog and the helper dog come marvellously alive.

82timjones
Bearbeitet: Okt. 12, 2014, 8:17 pm

33. Bedsit Disco Queen by Tracey Thorn - nonfiction/autobiography/music (4.5/5)

Earlier this year, I read Viv Albertine's Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys. and enjoyed it very, very much - in fact, it was and remains my favourite book of the year. In reviews and interviews, it was often compared to Tracey Thorn's Bedsit Disco Queen, so I was keen to read that as well.

And I enjoyed it, but not as much as #clothesmusicboys. Partly that's because Viv Albertine came of age musically in the 1970s, the same decade in which most of my ongoing music interest began; Tracey Thorne is the best part of a decade younger, and the music genres she has passed through are of less interest to me.

But it's also because Viv Albertine has led (for both good and ill) quite an extreme life, and her autobiography reflects this - whereas Thorne is a much more reserved and contained character, and so her autobiography is much less dramatic. For all that, it's still a very worthwhile read.

34. Love Song of the Wading Bird by Robin Fry - poetry/collection (3.5/5)

35. An Education by Lynn Barber - nonfiction/memoir (3.5/5)

36. Aspects of Reality by John O'Connor - poetry/collection (4/5)

37. Fresh Fear edited by William Cook - horror/anthology (3.5/5)

38. Music for Silenced Voices by Wendy Lesser - composer biography/musicology (4/5)

39. Tatiana by Martin Cruz Smith - thriller/police procedural (4/5)

83timjones
Okt. 7, 2014, 8:44 pm

36. Aspects of Reality by John O'Connor - poetry/collection (4/5)

John O'Connor is a poet from Christchurch, New Zealand who is a great deal less well known than he ought to be, and this collection is a good example of his work - influenced by poetry of the 1970s and 1980s, but not stuck there. I was the editor of the weekly Tuesday Poem last week, and posted his poem about his namesake, Johnny Devlin, the "New Zealand Elvis":

http://tuesdaypoem.blogspot.co.nz/2014/10/johnny-by-john-oconnor.html

84timjones
Bearbeitet: Okt. 7, 2014, 8:50 pm

40. ShameJoy by Julie Hill - short fiction/collection (4/5)

I read ShameJoy on a recent trip from Wellington to Auckland. Reading on planes isn't usually my thing - I get bored and distracted easily - but that wasn't the case with ShameJoy - I very much enjoyed both the style and the substance of this book. Julie Hill's sense of humour and the deftness of her story construction both kept me entertained throughout. Well worth reading!

85timjones
Okt. 12, 2014, 8:36 pm

41. Chapter and Verse by Bernard Sumner - nonfiction/music/memoir (4/5)

This seems to be the year of reading musicians' memoirs for me: this is the third I've read in the last few months by an English musician of around my age, following Viv Albertine's superb memoir (still the best book I've read this year), and Tracey Thorn's which is almost as good in its quietly reflective way. Bernard Sumner's is not quite as well written as either of those two, but I still found it fascinating - both because I love the music of Joy Division and New Order, the bands for which he is most famous, and because his origins in Salford in the 1950s have many parallels with my own in Grimsby a couple of years later.

New Order were famous for their hedonism, but I was relieved that he dialled down the drugs, drink 'n debauchery to focus more on the music and the personalities - not neglecting some of the epic legal struggles in which the band has been involved. If you are interested in the music of the post-punk and acid house eras, or if you are keen to read an English perspective that is distinctly Northern, I think you'll enjoy this book.

86timjones
Okt. 26, 2014, 11:15 pm

42. Death Comes to Pemberley by P. D. James - novel/historical fiction/murder mystery (3/5)

Plenty of marks for the depiction of Elizabeth and Darcy's life at Pemberley six years after the events of Pride & Prejudice, and a good number of them off for an unsatisfactory resolution to the question of whether Mr Wickham is a murderer, and if not, then who is.

I enjoyed the first 2/3 of this book very much, and was looking forward to a satisfying conclusion to the detective story ... but it never arrived! Instead, Mr Darcy stands around while other characters explain things to him, while Elizabeth is stuck at home and completely marginalised from the narrative. Pemberley seems the perfect setting for a country-house mystery, but once the mystery leaves the country house and heads to London, the air goes out of the novel. I'm disappointed, because I expected much better from an author of P. D. James' stature.

87NanaCC
Okt. 27, 2014, 6:10 am

>86 timjones: I was a bit disappointed in this one too. The premise was great. But, she is 94. I think her last couple of books didn't quite meet the standards I had for her books. She is still a favorite.

88Poquette
Okt. 27, 2014, 1:53 pm

The BBC series started last night on public television here in the US. I wonder whether they will "improve" on the novel. It started off well enough. Having not read any PD James for at least twenty years, I am out of touch with her recent oeuvre. Thanks for your heads up re the ending. This will be interesting . . .

89timjones
Nov. 2, 2014, 1:03 am

>87 NanaCC: and >88 Poquette:: Thanks for your comments! What prompted me to read the book was seeing the first half of the BBC series on TV (they showed it over two nights here) - I found it interesting but a bit slow, so decided I'd be better off reading the book ... but the first half of the book was more interesting than the second, so maybe I should have stuck with TV!

There were a couple of ways in which I felt the first half of the series did improve on the book, by making Elizabeth have more involvement in events than she did in the novel. So I'd be interested to hear what you think of it when the series is over (or before then, of course!)

90rebeccanyc
Nov. 2, 2014, 8:03 am

>88 Poquette: It's been a long time since I read P.D. James too, but I used to be a big fan.

91timjones
Bearbeitet: Nov. 18, 2014, 6:21 am

43. Bird Murder by Stefanie Lash - poetry/verse novel (unrated as will be reviewing for Landfall Review Online)

44. The First Man by Albert Camus - fiction/novel (unfinished) (3.5/5)

45. Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson - fiction/science fiction/fantasy (4.5/5)

46. The Third Man by Graham Greene - fiction/novella (3.5/5)

47. Feathers Unfettered by Karen Zelas - poetry/collection (of poetry about New Zealand bird species) (unrated as will be reviewing for Landfall Review Online)

92Poquette
Nov. 12, 2014, 3:30 pm

>89 timjones: Well, the "series" of Death Comes to Pemberley consisted of two episodes — short and sweet. I liked it very much but of course I have not read the book so my reaction is to a stand-alone video production. The shift of scene from Pemberley to London probably had more impact in the book, if I read your comments correctly.

93timjones
Nov. 16, 2014, 5:13 am

>92 Poquette: I think that is probably too. And perhaps it was just my expectations, but I was expecting Lizzie to be at the core of resolving the mystery, whereas Darcy was much more the protagonist, though even he mainly stood around hearing others' admissions.

94timjones
Dez. 14, 2014, 6:50 pm

48. A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

When I first read the five volumes that currently make up the "A Song Of Ice and Fire" series, of which this is the first, I hadn't seen any of the TV series except for a few YouTube clips of Daenerys Targaryen's storyline, which is what got me interested in the first place. Now, having watched Seasons 1-3 of the TV series with Season 4 to come soon, I decided to re-read the books.

My original review of the book series is here:

http://timjonesbooks.blogspot.co.nz/2013/10/maybe-modern-life-isnt-rubbish-after...

I enjoyed re-reading "A Game of Thrones", but interestingly, I found myself skipping the Daenerys chapters this time round: In Books 4 and 5 of the book series - which will be covered by Season 5 of the TV series - she turns increasingly into a medieval fantasy equivalent of George W. Bush, all bold invasions of exotic lands in the name of freedom without any thought of what would come next when her invasion is complete, and I got increasingly frustrated with her. That frustration seems to have echoed back to Book 1 in my re-read.

95timjones
Dez. 18, 2014, 7:38 pm

49. Twilight of Love: Travels with Turgenev by Robert Dessaix - nonfiction/literary history (4/5)

Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Turgenev are three giants of 19th-century Russian literature. Although Turgenev doesn't have the profile in the west of the other two, he is my personal favourite - less likely to grab you by the metaphorical lapels and yell in your face, perhaps, but with a great deal more imaginative sympathy.

Robert Dessaix's book on Turgenev, his travels and loves took a while to win me over - for my taste, the first half of the book contains a deal too little Turgenev and a deal too much "I'm Robert and even though I live in Tasmania I have cool and interesting friends all over Europe" - but once those friends recede into the background, the latter half of the book becomes a moving and fascinating study of Turgenev, his life, to a lesser extent his work, and the nature of love in Turgenev's day and today. Worth sticking with.

96dchaikin
Dez. 18, 2014, 9:27 pm

Your review is good motivation for me to read Turgenev. Twilight of Love sounds terriffic.

97rebeccanyc
Dez. 20, 2014, 6:50 pm

I've been meaning to read Turgenev too. I've had two of his books (Sketches from a Hunter's Notebook and Virgin Soil) on the TBR for years.

98timjones
Bearbeitet: Dez. 22, 2014, 3:50 am

>96 dchaikin: and >97 rebeccanyc: Thanks for these comments! dchaikin, I didn't find Twilight of Love terrific as a whole, but the bits that actually focused on Turgenev were very good, and prompted me to want to read more Turgenev.

rebeccanyc, prompted by Dessaix's book, I have just got Virgin Soil out of the library & am looking forward to reading it. I have read Fathers and Sons, A Nest Of Gentlefolk, Sketches from a Hunter's Album and the play A Month In the Country - of those, I would strongly recommend Fathers and Sons with A Month In The Country not far behind.

99timjones
Dez. 22, 2014, 4:04 am

Yay! Christmas/New Year holidays here, and I've taken an extra week off this year, so I have three glorious weeks during which, as every year, I briefly re-emerge as an active participant in "Club Read" and LT - catching up on reviews of books I read this year, adding books to my library, and maybe even (gasp!) doing what I should have been doing all year and commenting on other peoples' threads.

Then grey reality will intrude again as of about mid-January 2015, and I will dwindle to "a rustic folk of dell and cave" for the better part of the coming year. Put that way, it sounds satisfyingly mythical.

100timjones
Dez. 22, 2014, 4:27 am

Before I resume my labours on stuff I've read, I'll mention stuff I've written. Here's a roundup of how the year went:

http://timjonesbooks.blogspot.co.nz/2014/11/annual-report-what-ive-had-published...

The main news there was the publication of The Stars Like Sand: Australian Speculative Poetry, co-edited by myself and P. S. Cottier, which is a companion volume to Voyagers: Science Fiction Poetry from New Zealand, co-edited with Mark Pirie, which was published in 2009.

Editing anthologies is a loooot of work, but the end result is very satisfying! I enjoyed the launches in Melbourne and Canberra, too.

One thing I'm very happy about as a writer, especially one whose writing time is quite limited, is the revival of the novella, which has been largely enabled by the rise of ebooks. I've just had a novella accepted for standalone publication in 2015, and am keen to write more next year, together with working on poems for what would be my fourth collection.

101rebeccanyc
Dez. 22, 2014, 7:00 am

>98 timjones: Thanks for the Turgenev recommendations, Tim. In the interests of not increasing my TBR any further, I suppose I should start with one of the books I already own, although you tempt me with Fathers and Sons.

>100 timjones: Congratulations!

102baswood
Dez. 22, 2014, 1:10 pm

Nice to catch up on what you are doing Tim.

103timjones
Bearbeitet: Dez. 23, 2014, 4:41 am

104timjones
Dez. 23, 2014, 5:38 am

22. Doctor Sleep by Stephen King - novel/horror (4.5/5)

27. 11/22/63 by Stephen King - novel/alternate history (3.5/5)

It had been a long, long time since I had read a Stephen King book, but I read Doctor Sleep while in Australia for the launches of The Stars Like Sand. It's a long-delayed sequel to The Shining which appears to draw heavily on Stephen King's own experience of recover from addiction, and I enjoyed it very much.

11/12/63, on the other hand, didn't appeal to me so much. I'm not as fascinated by John F. Kennedy's assassination as Stephen King is (or, understandably, many Americans are), and there is a great deal of detail about the months leading up to the assassination, and in particular on the life of Lee Harvey and Marina Oswald, which made my eyes glaze over.

I found the story of the time-travelling protagonist's life in the southern US in the early 1960s a lot more interesting than that of his preparations to try to stop the assassination, although, that said, what happens in the aftermath of that attempt is very interesting. So, still worth reading, but not as gripping as the adventures of the adult Danny Torrance in Doctor Sleep.

105timjones
Dez. 25, 2014, 1:17 am

50. Birds by Lynne Adcock and Steve Parish - nonfiction/field guide (4.5/5)

There is a lot of fascinating birdlife in New Zealand, where I live, despite the depredations of introduced pets, but Australian birdlife is something else again: louder, brasher, bigger. (National stereotypes much?) I picked up this useful pocket guide while in Australia in mid-2014, but with a growing number of Australian birds now becoming endemic in New Zealand thanks both to past deliberate introductions and the prevailing winds that blow birds as well as bushfire smoke across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand, it should also come in handy on this side of the ditch.

106timjones
Dez. 25, 2014, 4:20 am

51. Winged Sandals: An Essay by Martin Edmond - nonfiction/essay (4.5/5)

This essay, part of Rosa Mira Books' 10K series (http://rosamirabooks.com/books/), likens taxi drivers to Hermes, the wing-footed messenger of the Gods - hence the title. "Winged sandals" may be only 10,000 words long, but it's a fascinating meditation on taxi driving, writing, the ways they are alike, and the complex relationship between the work writers do to make a living and the effect doing such work has on their writing and on their self-image as a writer. Recommended, especially if you're an artist struggling to balance your passion with your finances.

107timjones
Bearbeitet: Dez. 28, 2014, 5:55 pm

52. A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin - novel/fantasy (4.5/5)

Continuing my re-read of George R. R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series after having watched the TV series since my first read, and I'm finding that my enjoyment of the books has been affected by watching the TV series. Season 1 of the TV series followed Book 1, A Game of Thrones, very closely, and as a result I enjoyed that book less the second time round.

By contrast, Season 2 of TV series deviates a lot from A Clash of Kings in both good and bad ways, some of which I'd forgotten, which made returning to A Clash of Kings an enjoyable experience. In particular, Arya Stark's storyline in Season 2 is one of the highlights, but is also considerably changed from her storyline in A Clash of Kings, and I enjoyed rediscovering how George R. R. Martin had originally handled it.

53. Always a little further--: poems of mountains and valleys by Barry Smith - poetry/collection/nature poetry (4/5)

Barry Smith is a (now retired) scientist and keen tramper and climber - and the subtitle of this book is a very accurate description of its contents. I wasn't sure that I'd enjoy a whole book that sticks to these two topics, but these are very well-written and evocative poems, and there is enough variety of approach to keep the whole collection interesting. Especially recommended if you are, or have been, a tramper or climber, or just if you love the mountains.

108timjones
Dez. 28, 2014, 7:44 pm

24. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - novel/magic realism (3/5)

I wanted and expected to like this classic novel of magic realism: but instead I found it a real chore to get through. Perhaps my problem was that I'd read quite a lot of magic realism in my twenties and thirties - notably the great Mexican author Carlos Fuentes - and so the "shock of the new" was absent when I finally got around to reading One Hundred Years of Solitude. Whatever the reason, I found it interminably long, and the succession of characters with similar names - though clearly deliberate - was also wearisome. It's still a great novel - but not one for me.

109rebeccanyc
Dez. 29, 2014, 11:19 am

I am not a big fan of One Hundred Years of Solitude and liked Love in the Time of Cholera a lot more. However, I appreciated it more when I read Garcia Marquez's autobiography (the first, and only, part), Living to Tell the Tale, which made me go back and reread it and read some others by him.

110timjones
Dez. 30, 2014, 5:34 am

>109 rebeccanyc: Thanks for the tip re reading his autobiography.

111Poquette
Dez. 31, 2014, 4:24 pm

>100 timjones: Belatedly catching up. Congrats on your writing success! I have enjoyed following your reading this year although I have not always commented.

Have a Happy New Year!

112timjones
Dez. 31, 2014, 8:04 pm

>111 Poquette:, Thanks! I have no editing projects on my plate for 2015 - yet, anyway! - so I hope for both more writing, and more reading for pleasure in 2015. I hope you have a great year, too.

113timjones
Dez. 31, 2014, 8:14 pm

Rather than continuing to post updates on my 2014 reading in this read, I'm going to hop across to Club Read 2015 and start posting in my new thread there: https://www.librarything.com/topic/185565

I haven't yet finished my "What I Read in 2014" summary, but here's my summary of the year's highlights: https://www.librarything.com/topic/184721#4965925

See you in 2015!

114tonikat
Jan. 2, 2015, 9:40 am

Tim, I'm also just catching up. Thanks for several tips, especially on poetry down your way, Helen Rickerby's book intrigues me and also Viv Albertine's book. Good luck with the anthology, I see its available here.

115timjones
Jan. 3, 2015, 10:56 pm

>114 tonikat: Thanks, Tony. It probably goes without saying that I recommend you follow up both those intriguing books!

116timjones
Jan. 5, 2015, 3:11 am

1. Two Pedants by Sean Molloy - comic/graphic novel (4.5/5)

Two pedants, plus one curly-haired narrator who is married to one of the pedants. Their interactions, and their encounters with a variety of other characters, including the pedants' nemesis TXT SPK GRL and time-travelling playwright William Shakespeare, make for an entertaining graphic novel (or is "linked collection of comic strips" a better description?) which I enjoyed very much despite one of the pedants' virulent dislike of the Oxford comma, which is my view is the best thing to come out of Oxford since Mr. Toad.

117timjones
Jan. 5, 2015, 4:02 am

...

118mabith
Jan. 5, 2015, 2:35 pm

I'd very much like to see a survey by location (where the person went to secondary school) and age of Oxford comma use. I don't understand why anyone would virulently dislike it (or like it to extremes, clarity usually isn't an issue due to context). I use it because that's what I was taught in school and an extra comma never hurts.

119rebeccanyc
Jan. 5, 2015, 6:34 pm

When I first started out as a science editor, we were trained to use what we called the "serial comma" but which apparently is the same as the Oxford comma. I think it was the standard because it so often clarifies the meaning. I can't remember whether we also learned to use it in school or college, but it is definitely part of scientific writing.

120timjones
Jan. 7, 2015, 5:22 am

>118 mabith: and >119 rebeccanyc:: I agree that the Oxford comma is very useful to clarify meaning, but though the cartoon character's vehement dislike may be overstated, it makes for lots of entertaining plays on words - and on punctuation!

121rebeccanyc
Jan. 7, 2015, 10:58 am

>120 timjones: it makes for lots of entertaining plays on words - and on punctuation! Absolutely!

122timjones
Jan. 8, 2015, 6:16 pm

To round out my 2014 thread, I've now posted my "Highlights of 2014 Reading" blog post - fleshing out the list above with a number of reviews:

http://timjonesbooks.blogspot.co.nz/2015/01/what-i-read-in-2014-highlights-from....

123baswood
Jan. 9, 2015, 10:07 am

Good to catch up with your 2014 highlights. I am tempted by that Viv Albertine memoir.

124timjones
Jan. 9, 2015, 8:29 pm

>123 baswood:: My advice is to give in to that temptation!