Books #39 and 40
Book #39 was "Titus Groan," the first in a series of books by Mervyn Peake, all set in the same castle, Gormenghast. The series was made into a really fun mini-series some time ago, and that was my introduction to Peake's universe. I find the books are very funny, though it's a dark and dry sense of humor. They get classified as fantasy, but really have very few fantastical elements. They're set in a feudal world where the 76th Earl of Groan is getting old, and finally his heir has been born - Titus Groan, meant to be the 77th earl. Everything moves very slowly in Gormenghast, and very little changes. But around the time of Titus' birth, a young man named Steerpike throws off his inherited -and hated- role as kitchen boy and starts working his way up the hierarchy, plotting and scheming. The first book ends with Titus, not even 18 months old yet, being declared Earl. I like these books because they remind me of a time when I was a kid and would be sad when a good book ended. With these books, you can really lose yourself in them and know that there's plenty more still to read for many pages. The first three books total 1,100 pages, and had he not passed away, Peake woul have written more in this universe - the omnibus edition I have includes an unfinished draft of a 4th Gormenghast book.
Book #40 was "Arc of Justice: A saga of race, civil rights and murder in the Jazz Age" by Kevin Boyle. This book was extra-interesting to me because it's set in Detroit. It was hard to read in some senses, because the topic is such a downer, and yet I got pulled in and wanted to know what happened next, and I was thrilled with all the history of Detroit I got to learn, and felt Boyle did a fantastic job of putting this criminal trial in the social, racial and cultural context it needed to be best understood. A young, black doctor who has worked his way up from a sharecropping family to be a prominent physician moves into a white neighborhood with his wife and child in 1920s Detroit, and a mob of neighbors gathers. A shot rings out, and the day ends in 11 arrests. The trial, which helps launch the NAACP's legal defense fund, attracts the attention of renowned lawyer Clarence Darrow. A really interesting - though not, in the end, uplifting - read. I still recommend it, but brace yourself.
1. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven [fiction/short stories]- Sherman Alexie
2. The Lightning Thief [fiction]- Rick Riordan (unabridged book on CD)
3. Dreamers of the Day [fiction]- Mary Doria Russell.
4. The Golden Compass (Book #1 of His Dark Materials Trilogy) [fiction]- Phillip Pullman (unabridged book on CD)
5. Lives of Girls Who Became Famous [non-fiction]- Sarah Knowles Bolton
6. I am a Strange Loop Douglas [non-fiction]- Douglas Hofstadter
7. Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and Their Journey [non-fiction]- Isabel Fonseca
8. The Subtle Knife (Book #2 of His Dark Materials Trilogy) [fiction]- Phillip Pullman (unabridged book on CD)
9. 2001: A Space Oddyssey [fiction]- Arthur C. Clarke
10. The Crystal Ship [fiction/novelas]- Vonda McIntyre, Marta Randall and Joan Vinge
11. The Watchmen [fiction/graphic novel]- Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
12. Possessing the Secret of Joy [fiction]- Alice Walker
13. The Amber Spyglass (Book #3 of His Dark Materials Trilogy) [fiction]- Phillip Pullman (unabridged book on CD)
14. The Young Romantics: The Tangled Lives of English Poetry's Greatest Generation [non-fiction]- Daisy Hay
15. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic [non-fiction/memoir]- Alison Bechdel
16. Who Fears Death [fiction]- Nnedi Okorafor
17. The Mysteries of Pittsburgh [fiction]- Michael Chabon
18. Deja Dead [fiction]- Kathy Reichs (unabridged book on CD)
19. A Home at the End of the World [fiction]- Michael Cunningham
20. The Bradbury Report [fiction]- Stephen Polansky (unabridged book on CD)
21. Over Sea, Under Stone [fiction]- Susan Cooper (unabridged book on CD)
22. Alan Turing: The Enigma [non-fiction/biography] - Andrew Hodges.
23. The Dark is Rising [fiction]- Susan Cooper (unabridged book on CD)
24. The Calculus Diaries [non-fiction]- Jennifer Ouellette
25. Typhon's Children [fiction]- Toni Anzetti
26. TripMaster Monkey His Fake Book [fiction]- Maxine Hong Kingston
27. Autobiography of a Face [non-fiction/memoir]- Lucy Grealy
28. The Martian Chronicles [fiction]- Ray Bradbury (unabridged book on CD)
29. Daughters of Rome [fiction]- Kate Quinn
30. The Undertaking [non-fiction/essays]- Thomas Lynch
31. Greenwitch [fiction- Susan Cooper(unabridged book on CD)
32. A Mathematician Reads the Paper [non-fiction]- John Allen Paulos
33. The Fountains of Paradise [fiction]- Arthur C. Clarke
34. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows [fiction]- J.K. Rowling (unabridged book on CD)
35, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time [fiction]- Mark Haddon
36. Stealing Buddha's Dinner [non-fiction/memoir]- Bich Minh Nguyen
37. Teacher Man [non-fiction/memoir]- Frank McCourt
38. The Grey King [fiction]- Susan Cooper (unabridged book on CD)
Book #40 was "Arc of Justice: A saga of race, civil rights and murder in the Jazz Age" by Kevin Boyle. This book was extra-interesting to me because it's set in Detroit. It was hard to read in some senses, because the topic is such a downer, and yet I got pulled in and wanted to know what happened next, and I was thrilled with all the history of Detroit I got to learn, and felt Boyle did a fantastic job of putting this criminal trial in the social, racial and cultural context it needed to be best understood. A young, black doctor who has worked his way up from a sharecropping family to be a prominent physician moves into a white neighborhood with his wife and child in 1920s Detroit, and a mob of neighbors gathers. A shot rings out, and the day ends in 11 arrests. The trial, which helps launch the NAACP's legal defense fund, attracts the attention of renowned lawyer Clarence Darrow. A really interesting - though not, in the end, uplifting - read. I still recommend it, but brace yourself.
1. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven [fiction/short stories]- Sherman Alexie
2. The Lightning Thief [fiction]- Rick Riordan (unabridged book on CD)
3. Dreamers of the Day [fiction]- Mary Doria Russell.
4. The Golden Compass (Book #1 of His Dark Materials Trilogy) [fiction]- Phillip Pullman (unabridged book on CD)
5. Lives of Girls Who Became Famous [non-fiction]- Sarah Knowles Bolton
6. I am a Strange Loop Douglas [non-fiction]- Douglas Hofstadter
7. Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and Their Journey [non-fiction]- Isabel Fonseca
8. The Subtle Knife (Book #2 of His Dark Materials Trilogy) [fiction]- Phillip Pullman (unabridged book on CD)
9. 2001: A Space Oddyssey [fiction]- Arthur C. Clarke
10. The Crystal Ship [fiction/novelas]- Vonda McIntyre, Marta Randall and Joan Vinge
11. The Watchmen [fiction/graphic novel]- Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
12. Possessing the Secret of Joy [fiction]- Alice Walker
13. The Amber Spyglass (Book #3 of His Dark Materials Trilogy) [fiction]- Phillip Pullman (unabridged book on CD)
14. The Young Romantics: The Tangled Lives of English Poetry's Greatest Generation [non-fiction]- Daisy Hay
15. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic [non-fiction/memoir]- Alison Bechdel
16. Who Fears Death [fiction]- Nnedi Okorafor
17. The Mysteries of Pittsburgh [fiction]- Michael Chabon
18. Deja Dead [fiction]- Kathy Reichs (unabridged book on CD)
19. A Home at the End of the World [fiction]- Michael Cunningham
20. The Bradbury Report [fiction]- Stephen Polansky (unabridged book on CD)
21. Over Sea, Under Stone [fiction]- Susan Cooper (unabridged book on CD)
22. Alan Turing: The Enigma [non-fiction/biography] - Andrew Hodges.
23. The Dark is Rising [fiction]- Susan Cooper (unabridged book on CD)
24. The Calculus Diaries [non-fiction]- Jennifer Ouellette
25. Typhon's Children [fiction]- Toni Anzetti
26. TripMaster Monkey His Fake Book [fiction]- Maxine Hong Kingston
27. Autobiography of a Face [non-fiction/memoir]- Lucy Grealy
28. The Martian Chronicles [fiction]- Ray Bradbury (unabridged book on CD)
29. Daughters of Rome [fiction]- Kate Quinn
30. The Undertaking [non-fiction/essays]- Thomas Lynch
31. Greenwitch [fiction- Susan Cooper(unabridged book on CD)
32. A Mathematician Reads the Paper [non-fiction]- John Allen Paulos
33. The Fountains of Paradise [fiction]- Arthur C. Clarke
34. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows [fiction]- J.K. Rowling (unabridged book on CD)
35, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time [fiction]- Mark Haddon
36. Stealing Buddha's Dinner [non-fiction/memoir]- Bich Minh Nguyen
37. Teacher Man [non-fiction/memoir]- Frank McCourt
38. The Grey King [fiction]- Susan Cooper (unabridged book on CD)