recent reading
Caudwell, Sarah. Thus Was Adonis Murdered. 1981.
No idea how/when this got on to my reading list (the dangers of having a six-page long to-read list, categorized by ILL networks), but it was awesome. Highly recommended, especially for fans of Dorothy Sayers/Connie Willis.
Durrell, Gerald. My Family and Other Animals. 1956.
Cherished re-read, in preparation for this summer. Still meaning to watch the BBC series to see if it's any good.
Ephron, Nora. Wallflower at the Orgy. 1970.
Somewhat interesting collection of short journalism pieces in an interesting "women's journalism but better than that" style.
Gleick, James. The Information - A History, a Theory, a Flood. 2012.
Pretty much the stuff one would expect, although I thought it was interesting that the Norma Barzman story is bubbling up.
Harkaway, Nick. Angelmaker. 2012.
Occasionally veering into Gaiman pastiche, but enjoyable blend of adventure and Ruskinites and individually crafted submarines and golden clockwork beeeez. Better than his first book, which was still pretty fun.
Jordan, Robert. The Eye of the World, The Great Hunt, The Dragon Reborn, The Shadow Rising.
Umm, yeah. My rediscovered forgotten Talent from a Forgotten Age is speedreading these and then getting nightmares about being chased by Aes Sedai.
Konrad, George. A Guest in my own Country. 2007.
Oddly disjointed memoir of WWII and post- Hungary; wasn't able to finish it.
Lamott, Anne. Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year. 1993.
Lovely light memoir of her son's unconventional found family; complaints only about the Kindle edition with minuscule unresizable print.
Moorcock, Michael. Gloriana. 1978.
If I had to name a genre, I might call it something like Gonzo Elizabethan. Interesting inclusion of an alternate ending.
Shute, Nevil. Slide Rule: The Autobiography of an Engineer. 1954.
Aviation, including the great airship R100, stiff upper lips, and the power of calculation.
Skloot, Rebecca. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. 2010.
Very engaging and accessible, fascinating story. No wonder everyone else seems to have read it already!