Archive for November, 2017

A Slew of Books Finished on the Cruise

November 27, 2017

I finished the final three books in the Union Station series; Review Night on Union Station (#11), Family Night on Union Station (#12) and Book Night on Union Station (#13) all by E.M. Foner. The series continues to delight me, each of them being a quick, easy, funny, little gem of comedic science-fiction. Readers are strongly advised to start at the beginning because the story is pretty much one chronological story spanning all of the volumes.

I also finished a first person account from a young woman who lived in the town of Gettysburg at the time of the battle, At Gettysburg, or, What a Girl Saw and Heard of the Battle by Matilda Pierce Alleman. Matilda (called Tillie) lived in the town of Gettysburg with her parents and at the beginning of the battle was sent to the Weikert Farm just north of Little Round Top. The book was very good. The young woman was very observant, especially for a 15 year old girl, and she provides a very compelling account of what the battle was like from the view of someone who knew very little about soldiers, war, or battles. Some of her stories of nursing wounded troops are compelling. I recommend it for anyone interested in the battle.

Artemis is the second book by Andy Weir author of last year’s blockbuster The Martian. This book is much different than that one, but still quite good. This is the story of Jasmine (Jazz) Bashara a porter and smuggler in Artemis, the only city on the Moon. Jazz is singularly focused on obtaining enough wealth to make her financially independent and one of her smuggling customers gives her the opportunity to make that happen. The opportunity, as they always do, goes pear-shaped, which is when the fun begins. I don’t know if this book is as good as The Martian, but it rolled right along, Jazz is a memorable character, and the story is quite strong. I recommend it and can’t wait for the movie.

Two Kinds of Truth is the latest Harry Bosch novel by Michael Connelly. It covers two stories, one is a current homicide that Bosch is working as a part time detective with the San Fernando P.D. and the other is a blast from the past where a rapist-murderer that Harry sent away back in the 1980s produces new DNA evidence that appears to clear him and sets Harry up for planting the evidence that got him convicted. I must admit that I wasn’t as blown away by this book as I was the last one, but I’m not sure why. I think it might have been the pacing. Clearing two un-related cases, so far from each other in time, in the 400 pages of the standard Bosch novel sort of made both of them feel rushed. But that doesn’t really matter, if you are a fan of Bosch, you need to read this. If you’re not already a fan, start with the first one. A tip of the hat to Consimworld’s Doug Dery for letting me know it was out.

130 for the year.

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A Further Three Pieces of Mind Candy

November 16, 2017

I also finished the next three books in E.M. Foner’s Union Station series; Guest Night on Union Station [8], Party Night on Union Station [9], and Word Night on Union Station [10] . These books are about the adventures of Earth’s Ambassador to a whole host of entertaining aliens on a gigantic space station administered by the nearly omnipotent Stryx, a race of artificial intelligences that more or less administer the galaxy. The books are consistently entertaining, I am contiuing to enjoy them. They have maintained a fairly decent level of quality, in fact, if anything, they might be getting a bit better. Currently there are 12 of them, and I just started #11.

124 for the year.

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Going Overland

November 16, 2017

I’ve now finished the last four volumes in Gordon C. Rhea’s epic Overland Campaign series; The Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern, May 7-12, 1864, To the North Anna River: Grant and Lee, May 13–25, 1864, Cold Harbor: Grant and Lee, May 26–June 3, 1864 and On to Petersburg: Grant and Lee, June 4-15, 1864. Together the books clock in at just over 2000 pages to tell the story of two armies over 46 days. To say the books are detailed is a massive understatement, but the detail never overwhelms. Rhea does an excellent job of keeping the reader oriented to the big picture while feeding him the detail and color that make the story consistently interesting. I greatly enjoyed the books and learned a massive amount about the campaign. If you’re a serious student of the Civil War, and want to understand the Overland campaign, you really need to read these.

A couple of notes. The maps were great. Periodically throughout the text there are maps that are detailed and comprehensive and best of all, virtually every place mentioned in the text is shown on the map. When you’re reading these, get some post-it notes and put them on the map pages so you can quickly flip back and forth. I basically did that by setting “book marks” while reading these on my Fire tablet. Being able to flip back and forth quickly made following the lines of march much easier. I started these because my recent “battlefieldapalooza” trip took me to the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor, and having been to those sites made the narrative come alive in a way that it wouldn’t have had I not been there. But now, I wish I had read these before going to the fields. I think I would have gotten a lot more out of the visits. I guess I’ll have to go again!

Anyway, these are very highly recommended.

121 for the year.

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