The last time I posted a reading update was 21 May when I had finished 29 books. Since then, I’ve read another 19 bringing my annual total to 48, the third consecutive year I didn’t reach 100 and the lowest number since I began tracking my reading in 2008. The biggest factor in the decline seems to be my massively increased interest in 3D printing and miniature wargaming, which consume a much larger proportion of my time. Since May I’ve finished:
Travels with George: In Search of Washington and His Legacy by Nathaniel Philbrick is a travelogue of the author and his wife’s retracing of Washington’s tours of New England and The South at the very beginning of his presidency. I’m afraid this one just didn’t do much for me. There wasn’t enough information about Washington’s experiences nor was there much from the era for the modern-day travels to resonate with. Philbrick’s travels with his wife weren’t particularly interesting either. The highlights of the book all seemed to revolve around the activities and adventures of his dog who accompanied them on most of the trip.
Wellington Against Junot: The First Invasion of Portugal, 1807–1808 by David Buttery was an outstanding book about Junot’s 1807 invasion of Portugal and Wellington’s 1808 counter invasion to turf him out. It is succinct, engaging and well written. I recommend it highly.
Russia Against Napoleon: The True Story of the Campaigns of War and Peace by Dominic Lieven was another outstanding book. This one covers the entirety of Russia’s second war with Napoleon, not only the 1812 invasion, but the 1813 and 1814 campaigns as well. The book is particularly strong on Russian strategic thinking and on her military infrastructure that converted her manpower and economic power to military power. There is a great deal of information on recruiting, training, equipping the armies and the logistic challenges of supporting them. One note, this book is not a tactical or operational blow-by-blow account, it covers the campaign in broad strokes after explaining how the Russians developed the military power to defeat Napoleon.
The Briar Club: A Thrilling and Powerful Story of Female Friendships and Secrets by Kate Quinn was an excellent book about a Washington D.C. boarding house for white collar single women in the 1950s. The book is intricately plotted and very well written and I enjoyed it immensely.
The Eagle and the Hart: The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV by Helen Castor was an excellent account of the reigns of these two kings, the last Plantagenet and the First Lancastrian. The book covers both main characters, their relationship, and how two rebellions eventually transitioned the ruling house from one grandson of Edward III to another. I found it fascinating and it, along with reading a biography of Henry V earlier in the year, sparked a new interest in Medieval warfare that has had me researching, printing and painting armies and reading rules. I recommend the book.
Clown Town (Slough House Book 9) and Standing by the Wall: The Collected Slough House Novellas both by Mick Herron are much of a muchness with previous Slough House books, if you’ve read and enjoyed them, you’ll want to read these. Clown Town should probably be read in sequence, but I think new readers would be OK starting their Slough House journey with Standing by the Wall.
When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi was a disappointing novel that started off in absurdity, when the Moon suddenly, literally, turned into cheese. Things just progressed from there. I’m sure someone out there enjoyed it, but it wasn’t my thing.
‘Tis Herself: A Memoir by Maureen O’Hara and John Nicoletti is the memoir of one of my favorite actresses. O’Hara comes across more or less exactly like the characters she made a career playing and she provided a lot of insight into the “golden age of Hollywood”. I enjoyed the book immensely.
The Glass Hotel: A novel by Emily St. John Mandel is a convoluted, but very well written, novel from one of my favorite authors. It tells the story of the protagonist in a non-sequential way that can be a little hard to follow if you’re not paying attention. I liked it, but not as much as I did the first time, I read it.
One True Thing: A Novel by Anna Quindlen is an absolutely wonderful book about a 20 something woman who leaves her publishing career and long-term relationship in NYC to care for her dying mother at the behest of her father, whom she idolizes. As the book progresses the protagonist’s views on her mother and father change profoundly. This book was extremely well written, and I got a tremendous amount out of it.
Pompeii: The Living City by Alex Butterworth, Ray Laurence was one of those books that attempts to make history more” accessible” by fleshing out historical records with archeological findings and a great deal of extrapolating to tell plausible stories about people that we simply don’t actually know very much about. The stories in this book are engaging, but perhaps because I’ve read too much from Dame Mary Beard, I just wasn’t confident that they were accurate. Read it if you’re interested in Pompeii or ancient Rome, it was fun, I just wasn’t confident in it.
State of Wonder: A Novel by Ann Patchett was another outstanding novel about Dr. Marina Singh, a pharmacologist who travels to the Amazon rainforest to investigate the death of her colleague who had been sent to find Dr. Annick Swenson, Singh’s former mentor, who disappeared while researching a miraculous fertility drug. Much hilarity ensues including, but not limited to, snakes, drug dealers, a cannibalistic tribe, Singh’s affair with her boss, life in the darkest Amazon, and erstwhile hippies. The book is very evocative and well plotted; I had no idea what would happen next. I enjoyed it and I recommend it.
WWII: A Chronicle of Soldiering by James Jones was a massive disappointment. In 1975, James Jones wrote the text for an oversized coffee table book featuring visual art from World War II. The book was a best seller, praised for both its images and for Jones’s text, but went out of print when it proved impossible to re-license the original artwork used in the book. This Kindle edition provides Jones’ original prose, but not the artwork. And the prose is so closely linked to the artwork that without that context it simply doesn’t provide a coherent narrative. Avoid this and see if you can find the original from a library.
The Third Man by Graham Greene is the novella that Greene wrote as a “treatment” before writing the screenplay for the magnificent 1949 Orson Welles movie. Since the two were so closely linked there are very few differences between this and the film, the only one I’m aware of is changing the first name of the American protagonist from “Rollo” in the book to “Holly” in the film. If you like the movie, you’ll probably enjoy the book.
The War of Jenkins’ Ear: The Forgotten Struggle for North and South America: 1739-1742 by Robert Gaudi was an eye-opening little book about little known war. Because I grew up in coastal Georgia, I knew about the St Simon’s Island theater of the war which culminated in a Spanish defeat at the Battle of Bloody Marsh. I did not know that the war ranged much further than that to St Augustine Florida, Havana, Venezuela, and Panama so it was quite interesting to learn about the wider context of the war I knew a bit about.
While I Was Gone by Sue Miller is a great book about a veterinarian, happily married for many years to a pastor, whose bohemian past catches up with her when a former housemate and lover shows up at her practice with a sick dog. I don’t want to say too much else, but it really was a great book!
The Last Word and Other Stories by Graham Greene is a collection of short stories I checked out of the library so I could read The Lieutenant Died Last. That 1940 story, about a platoon of German paratroopers descending on a small English village to prepare an invasion was the inspiration for the film “Went the Day Well?” and also inspired Jack Higgins to write “The Eagle Has Landed”. After reading “The Lieutenant…”, I checked out the other stories which were also excellent, as one might expect from Greene.
The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney was a young adult novel about Janie Johnson, 15-year-old girl, who sees her face as a 3-year-old on a milk carton as “Jennie Spring” a 3-year-old kidnapped from a New Jersey mall years before. Janie and her intrepid boyfriend Reeve eventually unravel the mystery. This book highlights one issue with reading most things on Kindle. It was pretty good for a young adult novel, but it was no great shakes as an adult novel. Because I accessed it sight unseen from an online listing, I didn’t get the contextual information such as cover art, thickness, and placement, that a physical book would have clued me into it’s being for young adults. Anyway, if you’ve got any teens in your life, they might like it.
48 for the year.
BillP's Book\Miniature\Wargame Blog 