Wednesday Weather: Apparently this is our last cold and sunny day for a while. Boo!
1. Big Meeting went okay, although now I have All The Notes to write up. Things are moving, though, which is encouraging.
2. It's amazing how different I feel in the morning when I get to bed before 10pm. I was in bed for 9.15 and asleep before 9.45 last night, and while the tiredness is still there, I don't have the overwhelming lethargy that I've had for the last few days. If only I could manage that every night!
3. What I'm reading
Finished since last time
(Audio) Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman. This was my third or fourth reread, this time as an audiobook, and I loved it just as much as the last few times. There were a few narration issues, as the reader was American, and I think the director just assumed that she knew what was right and wrong. It was nothing big - words like gala and Pall Mall had the wrong sorts of 'A's - but as the rest was so good, it was distracting. Also, and this was a problem for a history book, she insisted on saying "January One" instead of "January First". It was like she didn't think Brits use ordinal numbers. *shrugs* Not a big deal in theory, but it made me flinch every time.
Still, I loved how she did the character voices, as there are lots of letters quoted in the books, and I liked having the variety to tell who was who. This was the first historical biography I ever read, only a few years after it was published, and it remains my gold standard. It was nice to come back and find I loved it as much as ever.
(ebook) The Monogram Murders by Sophia Hannah. This is a new Poirot mystery, authorised by the Christie estate. I think my response to it can best be summed up as "oh dear." The more detailed reasons are slightly spoilery, although don't give away the plot:
Without going into details, I think the biggest issue with the book is the new narrator, Catchpool. I found him nervy and annoying, and above all, a useless policeman. The author seems to have given him all of Peter Wimsey's neuroses with none of Wimsey's humour and courage. There are weird hints and some explanations, but above all, why on earth would someone with a morbid terror of dead bodies become a policeman? It just doesn't make any sense. I wanted to give Catchpool a good shake, and swap him for Ariadne Oliver.
Added to that, the plot was so convoluted that it took almost a fifth of the book to explain at the end, which was deeply unsatisfying. Because Catchpool was such a weak character, and she'd chosen not to just stay in his point of view, I didn't get any kind of emotional or intellectual punch from it. To me, it felt like the author had written a list of Christie cliches, and put her book together from those, rather than from any actual Christie material.
While I liked the writing style, it just didn't quite click with my brain. Maybe it's because I've read too much good fanfic, but I did find myself wishing she'd tried to catch some of Christie's phrasing a little more strongly. As it was, it lacked that spark you get from a good fanfic, where you really feel the author loves the original and wants to expand the world. This felt like she wanted to plonk Poirot in a book of her own devising, and it just didn't work for me.
Abandoned
Cinder by Marissa Meyer. I should have known this wouldn't be for me. I can't take reading bullying or injustice in general, and particularly when it's a close dynamic, like friends or family. What I got through was fine, but as soon as the plot started to kick in, I had to nope out.
Currently Reading
(audio) The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch which I've stop-started a few times since December, but want to get through now. I did finish it last year, but remember finding the plot confusing, and I need to go back and listen more carefully this time.
(ebook) Dunstan by Conn Iggulden. I just started this, as I fancied some historical fiction, but can already tell I'm not going to finish it. There's a fine balance for me between action or violence in a book, and brutality, and this one already feels brutal. I can't quite describe what I mean, but this is falling on the wrong side of the line for me to be comfortable with. The prose is stunning, though, so I'm going to press on with it, while giving myself permission to bail out if it gets to be too much.
(print) The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. I devoured the first section of this in almost a single sitting, but haven't made the time to carry on. It's exactly my sort of thing, with its alternative history and weird tech elements, and I found it almost ridiculously easy to read. But I made the mistake of putting it under a box of tissues on my bedside table, and somehow, I haven't picked it up again. I think it needs rescuing for me to finish it!
This entry was originally posted at https://jadesfire.dreamwidth.org/582329.html where there are
comments
2. It's amazing how different I feel in the morning when I get to bed before 10pm. I was in bed for 9.15 and asleep before 9.45 last night, and while the tiredness is still there, I don't have the overwhelming lethargy that I've had for the last few days. If only I could manage that every night!
3. What I'm reading
Finished since last time
(Audio) Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman. This was my third or fourth reread, this time as an audiobook, and I loved it just as much as the last few times. There were a few narration issues, as the reader was American, and I think the director just assumed that she knew what was right and wrong. It was nothing big - words like gala and Pall Mall had the wrong sorts of 'A's - but as the rest was so good, it was distracting. Also, and this was a problem for a history book, she insisted on saying "January One" instead of "January First". It was like she didn't think Brits use ordinal numbers. *shrugs* Not a big deal in theory, but it made me flinch every time.
Still, I loved how she did the character voices, as there are lots of letters quoted in the books, and I liked having the variety to tell who was who. This was the first historical biography I ever read, only a few years after it was published, and it remains my gold standard. It was nice to come back and find I loved it as much as ever.
(ebook) The Monogram Murders by Sophia Hannah. This is a new Poirot mystery, authorised by the Christie estate. I think my response to it can best be summed up as "oh dear." The more detailed reasons are slightly spoilery, although don't give away the plot:
Without going into details, I think the biggest issue with the book is the new narrator, Catchpool. I found him nervy and annoying, and above all, a useless policeman. The author seems to have given him all of Peter Wimsey's neuroses with none of Wimsey's humour and courage. There are weird hints and some explanations, but above all, why on earth would someone with a morbid terror of dead bodies become a policeman? It just doesn't make any sense. I wanted to give Catchpool a good shake, and swap him for Ariadne Oliver.
Added to that, the plot was so convoluted that it took almost a fifth of the book to explain at the end, which was deeply unsatisfying. Because Catchpool was such a weak character, and she'd chosen not to just stay in his point of view, I didn't get any kind of emotional or intellectual punch from it. To me, it felt like the author had written a list of Christie cliches, and put her book together from those, rather than from any actual Christie material.
While I liked the writing style, it just didn't quite click with my brain. Maybe it's because I've read too much good fanfic, but I did find myself wishing she'd tried to catch some of Christie's phrasing a little more strongly. As it was, it lacked that spark you get from a good fanfic, where you really feel the author loves the original and wants to expand the world. This felt like she wanted to plonk Poirot in a book of her own devising, and it just didn't work for me.
Abandoned
Cinder by Marissa Meyer. I should have known this wouldn't be for me. I can't take reading bullying or injustice in general, and particularly when it's a close dynamic, like friends or family. What I got through was fine, but as soon as the plot started to kick in, I had to nope out.
Currently Reading
(audio) The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch which I've stop-started a few times since December, but want to get through now. I did finish it last year, but remember finding the plot confusing, and I need to go back and listen more carefully this time.
(ebook) Dunstan by Conn Iggulden. I just started this, as I fancied some historical fiction, but can already tell I'm not going to finish it. There's a fine balance for me between action or violence in a book, and brutality, and this one already feels brutal. I can't quite describe what I mean, but this is falling on the wrong side of the line for me to be comfortable with. The prose is stunning, though, so I'm going to press on with it, while giving myself permission to bail out if it gets to be too much.
(print) The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. I devoured the first section of this in almost a single sitting, but haven't made the time to carry on. It's exactly my sort of thing, with its alternative history and weird tech elements, and I found it almost ridiculously easy to read. But I made the mistake of putting it under a box of tissues on my bedside table, and somehow, I haven't picked it up again. I think it needs rescuing for me to finish it!
This entry was originally posted at https://jadesfire.dreamwidth.org/582329.html where there are
comments