books i've read this year...

[txorakeriak]

The only advantage of being ill with a virus infection is having loads of time to read. Obviously I haven't read all these books within the last two weeks, but I've read a few (#59 to #69), and since I haven't started a list for this year yet, I'm going to start one now before I forget which books I've read. Below are some comments about the latest books I've read.

1. "Denn sie betrügt man nicht" - Elizabeth George
   
2. "Gott schütze dieses Haus" - Elizabeth George
   
3. "Auf Ehre und Gewissen" - Elizabeth George
   
4. "The Fellowship of the Ring" - J.R.R. Tolkien
   
5. "The Two Towers" - J.R.R. Tolkien
   
6. "Berts Megakatastrophen" - S. Olsson & A. Jacobsson
   
7. "Berts jungfräuliche Katastrophen" - S. Olsson & A. Jacobsson
   
8. "Inspektor Jury schläft außer Haus" - Martha Grimes
   
9. "Inspektor Jury spielt Domino" - Martha Grimes
   
10. "Blinder Eifer" - Martha Grimes
    
11. "Fremde Federn" - Martha Grimes
    
12. "The Battles of Hastings II" - Agatha Christie
    
13. "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" - Agatha Christie
    
14. "Murder on the Orient Express" - Agatha Christie
    
15. "And Then There Were None" - Agatha Christie
    
16. "Sad Cypress" - Agatha Christie
    
17. "Five Little Pigs" - Agatha Christie
    
18. "The Hollow" - Agatha Christie
    
19. "Die Kleptomanin" - Agatha Christie
    
20. "Auch Pünktlichkeit kann töten" - Agatha Christie
    
21. "Auf doppelter Spur" - Agatha Christie
    
22. "Curtain" - Agatha Christie
    
23. "Hercule Poirot Short Stories" - Agatha Christie
    
24. "Murder in Mesopotamia" - Agatha Christie
    
25. "Death on the Nile" - Agatha Christie
    
26. "Evil Under The Sun" - Agatha Christie
    
27. "Wiedersehen mit Mrs. Oliver" - Agatha Christie
    
28. "Sleeping Murder" - Agatha Christie
    
29. "16 Uhr 50 ab Paddington" - Agatha Christie
    
30. "Das Geheimnis der Goldmine" - Agatha Christie
    
31. "Mord im Pfarrhaus" - Agatha Christie
    
32. "Die Tote in der Bibliothek" - Agatha Christie
    
33. "Der Dienstagabend-Club" - Agatha Christie
    
34. "Miss Marples Fälle" - Agatha Christie
    
35. "Zeugin der Anklage" - Agatha Christie
    
36. "The Mouse Trap" - Agatha Christie
    
37. "A Caribbean Mystery" - Agatha Christie
    
38. "Hercule Poirot's Christmas" - Agatha Christie
    
39. "A Murder is Announced" - Agatha Christie
    
40. "The Moving Finger" - Agatha Christie
    
41. "Third Girl" - Agatha Christie
    
42. "Taken at the Flood" - Agatha Christie
    
43. "Cards on the Table" - Agatha Christie
    
44. "The Big Four" - Agatha Christie
    
45. "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe" - Agatha Christie
    
46. "Nemesis" - Agatha Christie
    
47. "The Mirror Crack'd From Side To Side" - Agatha Christie
    
48. "At Bertram's Hotel" - Agatha Christie
    
49. "Mrs. McGinty's Dead" - Agatha Christie
    
50. "After the Funeral" - Agatha Christie
    
51. "Elephants Can Remember"- Agatha Christie
    
52. "Hallowe'en Party" - Agatha Christie
    
53. "Appointment With Death" - Agatha Christie
    
54. "Death in the Clouds" - Agatha Christie
    
55. "Cat Among the Pigeons" - Agatha Christie
    
56. "They Do It With Mirrors" - Agatha Christie
    
57. "The Giver" - Lois Lowry
    
58. "The Colour of Magic" - Terry Pratchett
    
59. "The Light Fantastic" - Terry Pratchett
    
60. "Good Omens" - Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
    
61. "Der eingebildete Kranke" - Molière
    
62. "Le Petit Prince" - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
    
63. "Robinson Crusoe" - Daniel Defoe
    
64. "Kidnapped" - Robert Louis Stevenson
    
65. "The True Story of Horatio Hornblower" - C. Northcote Parkinson
    
66. "Funny Fanny" - Isolde Heyne
    
67. "Nelson in the Caribbean" - Joseph F. Callo
    
68. "The Mystery of the Blue Train" - Agatha Christie

People have told me that Robinson Crusoe is dull. I wouldn't say that. It's a bit difficult to read, and obviously the really interesting part starts when Crusoe meets Friday (which is more than halfway into the book), but I wouldn't say it's dull. I found the descriptions of how he slowly discovers the island and learns how to use it to his advantage rather interesting. I'd recommend this book to any young person because it's educational and at the same makes you appreciate the situation you're in yourself. However, I found the ending rather disappointing because you never learn what happens to Friday. He travels back to England with Crusoe, but once Crusoe is married and has a family, we learn no more of his faithful companion, which is quite sad.

I snatched Kidnapped from my brother who read it in his 7th grade at school, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone older, simply because it's quite unrealistic in its attempt to describe both being at sea and the situation in the Scottish highlands, and the main character (the first person speaking) is quite stupid and bitchy and it's difficult to identify with him. Treasure Island is better.

As for The True Story of Horatio Hornblower I was first a bit reluctant to read it but am glad I read it now because it's very well written and gives a good overview of Hornblower's career. As I've only read the first three Hornblower books, I can't say to what extent the fictional biography is accurate, but I definitely enjoyed the read. I do have one question, though. In the "biography", Hornblower joins the Justinian after the French king was executed. In the film "The Even Chance", Hornblower is a part of the Justinian's crew before Louis' execution already. Which is correct? (I assume the film isn't, but I can't remember.) Oh, and I'd like to know what happened to Bush at Caudebec. The "biography" says that he commanded a raiding party of seven boats but only two returned and Bush was in neither, and there's no more of him in the book. (*sniffle*)

I'm glad I read Nelson in the Caribbean because this period of his life is amongst those that shaped him and made him who he was, but dude, that book was difficult to read! Not only does the author repeat himself every 5 sentences; it's also rather difficult to make out the chronological order of events because he sometimes summarizes or foreshadows or mentions events that didn't happen while Nelson was in the Caribbean at all (like, for instance, the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, and his stepson's anger about Nelson's affair with Lady Hamilton). Very confusing, but nevertheless interesting because Nelson's assignment to enforce the Navigation Acts in command of the Boreas is a very decisive yet often overlooked (or sidelined as unimportant) part of his career. All the more's the pity that the book was divided into three parts and the third part was entirely about his courtship, marriage, and incompatibility with Frances Nisbet. Less about her and more about his assignment would have been better, I think.

I'm reading Nelson: Britannia's God of War by Andrew Lambert now, which I bought back in 2006 at the Historical Dockyard in Portsmouth. It's a lot easier to read than Nelson in the Caribbean and very informative as well as exciting. Damn, I missed reading about the Age of Sail! :)