Books, Audiobooks, Courses - October 2021
Oct. 30th, 2021 05:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smallhobbitI've nearly read eight books this month, which is more than I realised - the eighth is included because I shall finish it tomorrow and want to stay in this month.
Battles at Thrush Green by Miss Read
Having started the Thrush Green series, I bought an omnibus version with the next three stories in it, so naturally had to read the first of them. The more I read the more I grow to like the characters, not necessarily that they are likeable, but because they are very realistic and it feels like the reader belongs within the village.
Murder's A Swine by Nap Lombard
This was the runner up for the Shedunnit book for October (the winner was A A Milne's The Red House, which I write fanfic for) and is now the Shedunnit book for November. I bought a copy, having found an old book token still had money on it. I enjoyed the story, which is set in WWII. It certainly has some entertaining parts, but I'd say it's more at library level than purchase level - worth borrowing, but not worth buying.
Resorting to Murder edited by Martin Edwards
My next going on holiday short story collection, which I took when we went to Wales. I was happy, as I enjoy short stories - an enjoyable collection, which, apart from the first Sherlock Holmes story, were all new to me.
The Cannonball Tree Mystery by Ovidia Yu
The fifth in the Crown Colony series - set in Singapore in 1943/44. This is a recent purchase by the library and I leapt on it when I saw it was available. I find the historical setting fascinating and would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys murder mysteries.
An Infamous Army by Georgette Heyer
Recommended bymoth2fic and set mainly in Brussels on the eve of the battle of Waterloo. The sense of period is good, and the descriptions of the dresses etc really add to the settings. I skim read some of the descriptions of the battle, since I can never remember which general is which. Knowing the outcome of the battle, there was less tension reading it than would have been felt by the characters, although there was still the temptation to glance at the end to see which of them survived. [B10]
Death and the Maiden by Frank Tallis
The second of the Rheinhardt and Liebermann stories I have read this year, and the only other one the library has of those which weren't used for the Vienna Blood television series. As I said before, I definitely prefer this version of the main characters to the TV one. It's an interesting look at Vienna around 1910, with several descriptions of cakes (which has to be a plus). Quite a convoluted story, but one which made sense. [A10]
Emily Davis by Miss Read
The next Fairacre book. Emily dies at the beginning - she's in her 80s - the book looks at the way others remember her as they reflect on her life. I don't generally like characters who seem almost perfect, but this story tells of ways she made a difference to many people's lives over the years and I liked the way they used her example to make their own decisions. [D10]
The Story of the Stone by Barry Hughart
I read the first of this series two or three years ago, recommended bybadly_knitted and bought the second book, but have only finally got round to reading it. The tale, a supernatural mystery set in old China, is highly entertaining. I guessed a part of the solution, but most of it came as a total surprise. Sadly, there's only one more book in the series, so I shall be getting that. [C10]
Audiobooks
Short Stories: the Timeless Collection, various readers. A wide selection of stories by mostly well-known authors, many of them having a spooky nature. Some I enjoyed more than others.
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson narrated by Bill Wallis. I was a bit wary of this, not having enjoyed the other Simonson I had read, but this was fun. It takes a while to get going, but the main characters grew on me, and the unexpected humour was a great pleasure.
FutureLearn courses
Introduction to Intercultural Studies: Defining the Concept of Culture by University of Leeds. A short course which I didn't dig deeply into.
Cultural Heritage and the City by the European University Institute. A lot of the course dealt with the problems of maintaining historic culture against the need to modernise a city. Like a number of the EUI courses it takes a very academic view and ignores the real problems of many residents.
Photographing the Holocaust by University of Nottingham. I was disappointed with this course. While it looked at the reasons why photographs were taken by perpetrators, victims or rescuers, it seemed to pursue a very definite purpose of its own, with a tendency to read back into photographs reasons which wouldn't have been the case at the time.
Battles at Thrush Green by Miss Read
Having started the Thrush Green series, I bought an omnibus version with the next three stories in it, so naturally had to read the first of them. The more I read the more I grow to like the characters, not necessarily that they are likeable, but because they are very realistic and it feels like the reader belongs within the village.
Murder's A Swine by Nap Lombard
This was the runner up for the Shedunnit book for October (the winner was A A Milne's The Red House, which I write fanfic for) and is now the Shedunnit book for November. I bought a copy, having found an old book token still had money on it. I enjoyed the story, which is set in WWII. It certainly has some entertaining parts, but I'd say it's more at library level than purchase level - worth borrowing, but not worth buying.
Resorting to Murder edited by Martin Edwards
My next going on holiday short story collection, which I took when we went to Wales. I was happy, as I enjoy short stories - an enjoyable collection, which, apart from the first Sherlock Holmes story, were all new to me.
The Cannonball Tree Mystery by Ovidia Yu
The fifth in the Crown Colony series - set in Singapore in 1943/44. This is a recent purchase by the library and I leapt on it when I saw it was available. I find the historical setting fascinating and would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys murder mysteries.
An Infamous Army by Georgette Heyer
Recommended by
moth2fic and set mainly in Brussels on the eve of the battle of Waterloo. The sense of period is good, and the descriptions of the dresses etc really add to the settings. I skim read some of the descriptions of the battle, since I can never remember which general is which. Knowing the outcome of the battle, there was less tension reading it than would have been felt by the characters, although there was still the temptation to glance at the end to see which of them survived. [B10]Death and the Maiden by Frank Tallis
The second of the Rheinhardt and Liebermann stories I have read this year, and the only other one the library has of those which weren't used for the Vienna Blood television series. As I said before, I definitely prefer this version of the main characters to the TV one. It's an interesting look at Vienna around 1910, with several descriptions of cakes (which has to be a plus). Quite a convoluted story, but one which made sense. [A10]
Emily Davis by Miss Read
The next Fairacre book. Emily dies at the beginning - she's in her 80s - the book looks at the way others remember her as they reflect on her life. I don't generally like characters who seem almost perfect, but this story tells of ways she made a difference to many people's lives over the years and I liked the way they used her example to make their own decisions. [D10]
The Story of the Stone by Barry Hughart
I read the first of this series two or three years ago, recommended by
badly_knitted and bought the second book, but have only finally got round to reading it. The tale, a supernatural mystery set in old China, is highly entertaining. I guessed a part of the solution, but most of it came as a total surprise. Sadly, there's only one more book in the series, so I shall be getting that. [C10]Audiobooks
Short Stories: the Timeless Collection, various readers. A wide selection of stories by mostly well-known authors, many of them having a spooky nature. Some I enjoyed more than others.
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson narrated by Bill Wallis. I was a bit wary of this, not having enjoyed the other Simonson I had read, but this was fun. It takes a while to get going, but the main characters grew on me, and the unexpected humour was a great pleasure.
FutureLearn courses
Introduction to Intercultural Studies: Defining the Concept of Culture by University of Leeds. A short course which I didn't dig deeply into.
Cultural Heritage and the City by the European University Institute. A lot of the course dealt with the problems of maintaining historic culture against the need to modernise a city. Like a number of the EUI courses it takes a very academic view and ignores the real problems of many residents.
Photographing the Holocaust by University of Nottingham. I was disappointed with this course. While it looked at the reasons why photographs were taken by perpetrators, victims or rescuers, it seemed to pursue a very definite purpose of its own, with a tendency to read back into photographs reasons which wouldn't have been the case at the time.
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Date: 2021-10-31 12:05 am (UTC)In a similar vein (wuxia-inspired fantasy), Sherwood Smith's Phoenix Feather books are quite enjoyable so far. Two are out, and they seem to be coming out quarterly, with the next one due in January. One bit of warning: the first one ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, although thankfully the second one does not.
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Date: 2021-10-31 04:13 pm (UTC)I got up early. Halloween preparations take a lot of time.
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Date: 2021-10-31 10:19 pm (UTC)(and Happy Halloween, but mostly Happy Birthday!)
Hope you had a great day!
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Date: 2021-10-31 06:59 pm (UTC)One of my favourite fantasy series in Naomi Novik's Temeraire - the Napoleonic war with added dragons. If that interests you you might enjoy Sharpe's Dragon on AO3 - gen, long, and fascinating. I love the Sharpe series too btw but not the books, so much as the films.