Week 33 Book 60 : Daisy Jones & The Six

 

Every quote on the cover of this book is actually true. I started off thinking it was twee and silly, too constructed and too clever for it's own good. But then I could not put it down and I cried at the end. 

Dammit.

Week 33 Book 59 : Enemy of All Mankind

 

If you've played Uncharted (especially 4 - A Thief's End) then Henry Avery and some of his exploits are a known quantity, albeit ramped up for the scale of the game. In this interesting/entertaining/gripping piece on it, they turn into not only a game of cat and mouse but also a global history lesson. And of course the parallel story of the bigger and more effective Pirate, The East India Company.

A bit of guesswork is involved, as there are gaps in the record, but they are clearly signposted in the narrative.

Week 33 Book 58 : Birdseye The Adventures of a Curious Man

 

Didn't know this was a real person, or that he invented so many things. A man ahead of his time, but only because he was of his time. Interesting to think he'd probably be vilified today, for his methods, but maybe he was just clever enough and adjustable enough to find even more inventive solutions when standing on the shoulders of other giants.

Week 33 Book 57 : Warbears (collected)

 

Who knew Margaret Atwood wrote comics? I guess this is much more her speed of comic than say the Marvel DC milieu. Covers Canadian pride, set against imperialist invasion from America, alignment with allies shifting during WW2, a comic within a comic and the skewing of male stereotypes, (and added anti-homophobia for good measure). 

Dense dialogue for a comic and some big ideas in only 108 pages, but still if you're going to go and do a comic, it should stand out.

 

 

Week 33 Book 56 : Westwind

 

Usually a solid contender, but I struggled with this one. The first 5-10 chapters are confusing, and I get that it's supposed to add some mystery and get you hooked, but I couldn't follow who was who or why they were in any given space. Eventually it does get going but feels like it was written to make a movie, not as good as the Rebus type novels, but eventually an ok story. Though the tech is waaaaay out of date now.

Week 32 Book 55 : The Queens Gambit

 

Such a great writer, tempted to rewatch the TV show and see how much of the material had been retained. It felt like it was line for line, scene for scene as I read the book. A tribute to the source material, but also that a largely silent protagonist managed to convey the deep interior monologue of the main character so worldessly.

Need more of his books now. 

Week 32 Book 54 : The Greatest Love Story Ever Told

If you're a fan of either of these fine folk, then this book is for you. It's funny, personable, smacks of their unique personality and just good, oplain (occasionally dirty) fun.

Week 31 Book 53 : Round Ireland With a Fridge

 

It seems that te further into Ireland Tony goes, the more Irish Tony gets. A sentiment I totally agree with. Gentletainment of the highest order.

Week 31 Book 52 : Reality and Other Stories

 

A bunch of short stories, and a slim volume of them. Kind of a Tales Of The Unexpected for the Black Mirror generation. Some better than others, all variants on the ghost/in the machine/rework of the old story genre.

Worth a look

Week 30 Book 51 : The Order Of Time

 

If you couldn't get through the cold of A Brief History Of Time, but still want to know more, feel more, about the physics of the universe, and specifically the fleetingly endless thing we call time? This is your book.

Week 30 Book 50 : Heroes

 

Being honest? I read this fast so it would be over and done. I did not enjoy it, or at least not like I did Mythos. It felt smirky, English and mean. Not so much that you could take it's pulse, but enough to change it's aura to a sickly green.

Condescending. Which I guess in an ironic, heroic and tragically Greek twist I may be guilty of myself.

Week 30 Book 49 : Outliers

 

A bit like Freakonomics, and Noah Yuval Hariri, mixed with some Frederick Wiseman. That's Malcom Gladwell. This book looks at the "freakish" outliers to show you that far from extraordinary individuals they are more the extraordinary circumstances feeding them. 

I suspect that anyone's opinion on this topic, much like my own will be fueled by disagreement or confirmation bias.

Still a great read about how things work.

Week 30 book 48 : Kill The Father

 

Gripping and well paced considering it's length, and that it's translated from Italian. Liked the protagonists, liked the motivation of the villains and the avoidance of cliches and superhuman coincidences and skills that usually pepper serial killer books.

Might have to read the next two as well, I burned through this one quickly.

Week 29 Book 47 : The Duke And I

 

This started well and ended badly. The wit, charm and biting satire of the first half (at least I thought it was) gave way to melodrama and what felt like an underlying misogyny. While there are occasional attempts at empowerment, the author seems to revel in the fact that women were property, and men were there to protect them. I can seem various attempts to make the woman stand up for herself, and the men make sure the women in their charge are protected and revered. 

Yet I could not shake the feeling that this was just a veneer, and that the message here was harking back to a time that was somehow more polite, gentlemanly and ... better? Maybe I have misread this terribly, but I grew annoyed at the sarcasm, the bridling and the endless cultural referencing.