On the reading front things are picking up a bit from the end of last year. During January I’ve finished 12 books including:
The Reverse of the Medal, The Letter of Marque, The Thirteen-Gun Salute, The Nutmeg of Consolation, The Truelove, The Wine-Dark Sea, The Commodore, and The Yellow Admiral (1996) by Patrick O’Brian volumes 11 through 18 in the 21-volume set of books recounting the adventures of Royal Navy officer “Lucky” Jack Aubrey and his best friend surgeon, naturalist, and sometime spy Stephen Maturin during the Napoleonic War. This is my third or fourth time through the books since they were written in the late 90s and early 2000s and I’m just an enthralled by them this time as I was the last time I read them.
The Submarine Boys and the Spies Dodging the Sharks of the Deep by Victor G. Durham was what we would now call a YA book from 1910 that is mainly interesting as a cultural artifact. The book is about sixteen-year-old Captain Jack Benson and his two teenage pals Eph Somers, the navigator, and Hal Hastings, the engineer, together these three are the crew of apparently the most advanced submarine in the world which they are demonstrating for the US Navy. This is the fourth of eight books in the series so the story of how these fellows acquired the submarine is probably covered in previous books. The plot of the novel is simple, Jack and his pals bring the submarine down to Florida to demonstrate it’s capabilities but are waylaid by a passel of foreign evil-doers who are hell-bent on stealing the secrets of the new submarine, if not the submarine itself. There is much too-ing and fro-ing, pretty girls, skull-duggary, etc but in the end all is well and Jack and his pals proceed to their next adventure. As I say this one was mostly interesting for the glimpse into a bygone culture that it provides so I won’t be reading the other six. Hat tip to long-time friend Dan Mason for sending me a 110 year old hardback copy of the book.
The Garner Files: A Memoir by James Garner and Jon Winokur is an absolutely delightful memoir from one of my favorite actors. Garner tells the story of his life from birth through 2011 or so with the same wry, self-deprecating voice that was such a feature of his acting. The book was hugely entertaining and as a bonus included a capsule “review’ from Garner on each of his movies. If you’re a fan of Garner you’ll enjoy this book.
At War With Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House by H.R. McMaster is the heartbreaking story of McMaster’s time as National Security Advisor in 2017 and 2018. For anyone who followed national security issues during that period the book is pretty much exactly what you expect. It is the story of a group of men trying to stave off the worst impulses of the worst POTUS in several lifetimes, if not ever. I just can’t recommend it because it is too depressing and you already know all this stuff.
Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny is the first volume in The Amber Chronicles which I remember reading avidly in the late 1980s. Although I remember being enthralled by them back in the 80s I retained no real memories of the characters or the plot so when I saw that a new omnibus edition was available with all ten novels I checked it out of the local library to see if I needed to buy it. After reading the first book, I do not need to go any further, and can’t for the life of me remember why I liked them so much back then. I’m a little sad that something I once enjoyed is no longer a source of entertainment, but I least the library saved me the $15.
12 for the year
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