What I'm Reading Wednesday
I'm managing to do this on the right day. It helps to actually be at home and not be either in Lincolnshire or, as last week, spending a wonderful day at the races. It would have been a terrific day out anyway but it was made even more terrific when one of the horses I was betting on came in at 16 to 1. I'd only put the minimum stake on but it was still enough to make a profit on the day. My maternal grandmother, who was fond of a flutter on the gee-gees, would be so proud of me.
On to the books.
What I Just Finished Reading
A Dance With Dragons: 1. Dreams and Dust by G.R.R. Martin. Huge, epic, confusing, sprawling, addictive are all words I would use to describe this latest segment of A Song of Ice and Fire. Some of the viewpoints missing from A Feast for Crows were back but it's been a while since I read that so it was hard to remember that a lot of the action of this book was concurrent with that one, which led to a couple of "huh" moments. The canvas of the story has grown hugely since the series began which is both a strength and a weakness. It's fascinating to follow Daenerys's progress but the sheer number of events, characters, names and places is getting harder and harder to follow. Then there's a large surprise, which I really wasn't expecting. This is a feast of fantasy, but not always an easily digestible one.
For a bit of light relief after that I went on to
When Gods Die by C.S. Harris. This is the second entertaining installment of the Regency historical series about charismatic aristocratic detective Sebastian St Cyr. The mystery is an interesting one though I found the motives of the murderer a little murky and the political plotting had to rely on a bit of historical invention. Possibly I've read too much Georgette Heyer which means some of the aristocratic names used sound completely wrong to me, but the story rattled along so I ignored the occasional wince-making moment.
What I'm Reading Now
I can't decide. I'm at the picking books up and then putting them down again stage. I ought to carry on with the second volume of A Dance With Dragons but I'm not sure I can cope with another trip to Westeros quite so soon. Another book I ought to be reading is Bring Up the Bodies but I'm not sure I'm in the mood for that either. I've got stacks on non-fiction I want to read too but should it be the Middle Ages, the Tudors, India, the Italian Renaissance...the list goes on. Decisions, decisions...
One of the interesting aspects of reading A Dance With Dragons is it's the first book of ASOIAF that I've read since the tv series started so it was fascinating to find out which of the characters I "saw" as the tv cast and which I didn't. Tyrion. Daenerys, Theon and Bran are bang on, but Jon I still see rather differently, younger, leaner and sharper. Not only could I "see" Peter Dinklage's Tyrion but I could "hear" him as well in every word that Tyrion uttered. It just underlined how good most of the casting for Game of Thrones has been.
Still on the subject of telly I've been watching several historical documentaries and having a larger sized television really underlines how good the cinematography on television is now. I'm very glad they've moved away from the trend of relying on actors to make things visually more interesting and have gone back to mostly single presenters who know their subject. It may mean more of a challenge for the cameraman and director but in the documentaries I've seen recently they've really gone to town as stunning shot followed stunning shot.
Oops, running out of time. I keep meaning to post about going to see Handbagged but I haven't done so yet. The short version is it was a very entertaining evening at the theatre. Fenella Woolgar playing the young Margaret Thatcher was so like her that the audience gasped and Marion Bailey playing the older Queen Elizabeth had her mannerisms down so perfectly that I did entertain the brief fantasy that the Queen had let her stint as a Bond girl go to the head and had decided to tread the boards as herself. Funny and interesting play with much clever breaking of the Fourth Wall (Queen: we need an interval. Mrs T: we haven't got time. Queen: we're having an interval...now).
On to the books.
What I Just Finished Reading
A Dance With Dragons: 1. Dreams and Dust by G.R.R. Martin. Huge, epic, confusing, sprawling, addictive are all words I would use to describe this latest segment of A Song of Ice and Fire. Some of the viewpoints missing from A Feast for Crows were back but it's been a while since I read that so it was hard to remember that a lot of the action of this book was concurrent with that one, which led to a couple of "huh" moments. The canvas of the story has grown hugely since the series began which is both a strength and a weakness. It's fascinating to follow Daenerys's progress but the sheer number of events, characters, names and places is getting harder and harder to follow. Then there's a large surprise, which I really wasn't expecting. This is a feast of fantasy, but not always an easily digestible one.
For a bit of light relief after that I went on to
When Gods Die by C.S. Harris. This is the second entertaining installment of the Regency historical series about charismatic aristocratic detective Sebastian St Cyr. The mystery is an interesting one though I found the motives of the murderer a little murky and the political plotting had to rely on a bit of historical invention. Possibly I've read too much Georgette Heyer which means some of the aristocratic names used sound completely wrong to me, but the story rattled along so I ignored the occasional wince-making moment.
What I'm Reading Now
I can't decide. I'm at the picking books up and then putting them down again stage. I ought to carry on with the second volume of A Dance With Dragons but I'm not sure I can cope with another trip to Westeros quite so soon. Another book I ought to be reading is Bring Up the Bodies but I'm not sure I'm in the mood for that either. I've got stacks on non-fiction I want to read too but should it be the Middle Ages, the Tudors, India, the Italian Renaissance...the list goes on. Decisions, decisions...
One of the interesting aspects of reading A Dance With Dragons is it's the first book of ASOIAF that I've read since the tv series started so it was fascinating to find out which of the characters I "saw" as the tv cast and which I didn't. Tyrion. Daenerys, Theon and Bran are bang on, but Jon I still see rather differently, younger, leaner and sharper. Not only could I "see" Peter Dinklage's Tyrion but I could "hear" him as well in every word that Tyrion uttered. It just underlined how good most of the casting for Game of Thrones has been.
Still on the subject of telly I've been watching several historical documentaries and having a larger sized television really underlines how good the cinematography on television is now. I'm very glad they've moved away from the trend of relying on actors to make things visually more interesting and have gone back to mostly single presenters who know their subject. It may mean more of a challenge for the cameraman and director but in the documentaries I've seen recently they've really gone to town as stunning shot followed stunning shot.
Oops, running out of time. I keep meaning to post about going to see Handbagged but I haven't done so yet. The short version is it was a very entertaining evening at the theatre. Fenella Woolgar playing the young Margaret Thatcher was so like her that the audience gasped and Marion Bailey playing the older Queen Elizabeth had her mannerisms down so perfectly that I did entertain the brief fantasy that the Queen had let her stint as a Bond girl go to the head and had decided to tread the boards as herself. Funny and interesting play with much clever breaking of the Fourth Wall (Queen: we need an interval. Mrs T: we haven't got time. Queen: we're having an interval...now).