What are you reading the week of September 30, 2023?

I just finished Foundation and Empire. It's been a long time since I read the original trilogy. While the first book was interesting, the book in the series was terrific. I'll be starting Second Foundation next.

I'm about 60 pct through The Other Side of Silence, the 11th book in Philip Kerr's excellent Bernie Gunther historical fiction noir series. It's not the best entry in the series but still a lot of fun.

I expect to be reading The Secret Horsepower Race over the next few weeks, because it's the sort of heavy and dense book you only read in bed! Apart from that I have Wild Massive, The Peking Express, and Chiefdoms, Collapse, and Coalescence in the Early American South lined up

I'm still reading As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson and Bitch: On the Female of the Species by Lucy Cooke, and loving both.

enjoying this audio via Libby ~

COME LIE WITH ME
by Linda Howard

So far reading Ganymede by Cherie Priest. But I have no doubt that once I check out October's challenges, there will be more.

I finished The Mayor of Casterbridge, a more modern Greek or Shakespearean tragedy in that the flaws of Henchard's character doom him to misery. Each of the characters are well rounded with both positive and negative qualities. An excellent book with beautifully created scenes.

I finished The Other Side of Silence, the 11th entry in Philip Kerr's wonderful Bernie Gunther historical noir series. Gunther started out the series as a homicide detective in Nazi-era (but pre-war) Berlin. Now it is the mid-50s and he is working as a concierge in a decent but not great hotel on the French Riviera. This time we meet Somerset Maugham, who is living in the same town and is being blackmailed. You can find my somewhat longer review, if you're so inclined, on my 50-Book Challenge thread.

Next up, I'll finally be reading The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.

Still reading Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville. I like de Tocqueville because he makes me think about my culture from the outside. Added South Sea Tales by Robert Louis Stevenson to my currently reading list.

Hamnet – Maggie O’Farrell
5*****

Subtitle: A Novel of the Plague

From the frontspiece
HISTORICAL NOTE
In the 1580s, a couple living on Henley Street, Stratford, had three children: Susanna, then Hamnet and Judith, who were twins
The boy, Hamnet, died in 1596, aged eleven.
Four years or so later, the father wrote a play called Hamlet.

My reactions
Wow. You think you know where a story is headed because you know something of the historical figures depicted, and then an author completely surprises you.

O’Farrell focuses the story on Agnes, the wife, mother, sister, daughter, stepdaughter and daughter-in-law. She peoples the novel with a wide variety of villagers: shopkeepers, cleric, farmers, midwife, and neighbors; all of whom give the reader a sense of time and place and who provide a vivid background for the intimate story she tells.

Gosh but I loved Agnes … a strong-willed young woman who knew her worth and her gifts, a loving wife and mother, a woman struck down by tragedy, and a woman who harnessed her anger to seek truth.

The writing is beautiful and engaging. I kept reading passages aloud. The last 20 pages or so were simply marvelous. And the last line … perfect.

>10 BookConcierge: I loved Hamnet, too!

I just started Richard Osman's latest, The Last Devil to Die and as expected, it's a lot of fun.

Losing My Virginity: How I've Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way
by Richard Branson
4/5 stars
Richard Branson talks about his life, his businesses and making a fortune. This was a very interesting look at how he dealt with all of his businesses. This was published in 1998 so it would be interesting to read what has happened to him since 1998.

I finished reading Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville. My favorite quote is when Tocqueville states that humility is bad for people of democracies: "Thus, far from thinking that humility ought to be preached to our contemporaries, I would have endeavors made to give them a more enlarged idea of themselves and of their kind. Humility is unwholesome to them; what they want is, in my opinion, pride. I would willingly exchange several of our small virtues for this one vice." I'm tempted to flip back to the beginning and read this whole 900 page book over again.

I also just finished reading "The Beach of Felsea," a short story by Robert Louis Stevenson from South Sea Tales. I'm glad Oxford World's Classics saw fit to provide plenty of end notes concerning the Scottish and native islander expressions. Although not as accessible as Treasure Island or Kidnapped, I found this story well worth reading. The hyperbolic expression "And then, all of a sudden, Vesuvius went off" alone would have made the story worth reading. It tickled my funny bone.

I couldn't resist starting George III: a Personal History by Christopher Hibbert when it came in the mail a couple of days ago. Intriguing so far!

The new thread is up over here.

I might have figured out how to post. Excited because tomorrow is pickup day at the library for a Kwei Quartey mystery. Yummm!