Books - July 2023
Jul. 29th, 2023 03:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smallhobbitAnd seven books this month as well - my aim is six books per month, so it's going well.
Jews Don't Count by David Baddiel
A really interesting look at how Jewish people are regarded in the UK at this time and how while racism is deplored, anti-Semitism is frequently not noticed. Essentially, while Jews are not 'one of us' they are also not amongst those we shouldn't discriminate again.
Wilfred Owen by Guy Cuthbertson
Read before going on a tour to discover the WWI poets on the battlefields. I learned a lot about Owen I hadn't known before and I was left wondering how he would have coped as a poet if he'd survived the war.
Frequent Hearses by Edmund Crispin
The next in the Gervase Fen series. It's over a year and a half since I read the last Fen novel, so about time I read another. I enjoyed this one more than some of the others, it was suitably light-hearted with a clever plot. [D7]
The Yellow Rambutan Tree Mystery by Ovidia Yu
The latest in the Crown Colony series, with Chen Su Lin, I had pre-ordered a copy. This one is set just after WWII as the British try to re-establish command over Singapore. I continue to enjoy the series and was delighted to see the return of LeFroy. The plot was excellent and I was torn between taking my time and enjoying the book and reading rapidly to find out what happens. [F11]
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
I finished the book, and it was interesting to read something different, but I didn't take to it. I simply disliked Sal Paradise and lacked sympathy with him. [A7]
The Last Supper by Rosemary Shrager
I read this because it was a crime novel set in the Cotswolds. I hadn't realised when I began reading that Shrager is a well-known tv chef, and the knowledge of food and cookery certainly comes through in the novel and in a positive way. I liked the plot where the heroine/detective is a chef who is invited to cook for a houseparty in the country. It was enjoyable without being gripping, and so I've reserved the next book in the series from the library. [B7]
The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji
This is a Japanese homage to Agatha Christie's 'And Then There Were None'. I know it's very popular, but I really don't seem to get on with honkaku novels. I find that I'm not visualising the characters in my head as I read, so I'm not able to tell them apart - which is a problem in a murder mystery. [C7]
[Letters refer to my reading lists. I aim to read at least one book from each list every month. No Shedunnit novel this month as none of the selection were available at the library.]
Jews Don't Count by David Baddiel
A really interesting look at how Jewish people are regarded in the UK at this time and how while racism is deplored, anti-Semitism is frequently not noticed. Essentially, while Jews are not 'one of us' they are also not amongst those we shouldn't discriminate again.
Wilfred Owen by Guy Cuthbertson
Read before going on a tour to discover the WWI poets on the battlefields. I learned a lot about Owen I hadn't known before and I was left wondering how he would have coped as a poet if he'd survived the war.
Frequent Hearses by Edmund Crispin
The next in the Gervase Fen series. It's over a year and a half since I read the last Fen novel, so about time I read another. I enjoyed this one more than some of the others, it was suitably light-hearted with a clever plot. [D7]
The Yellow Rambutan Tree Mystery by Ovidia Yu
The latest in the Crown Colony series, with Chen Su Lin, I had pre-ordered a copy. This one is set just after WWII as the British try to re-establish command over Singapore. I continue to enjoy the series and was delighted to see the return of LeFroy. The plot was excellent and I was torn between taking my time and enjoying the book and reading rapidly to find out what happens. [F11]
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
I finished the book, and it was interesting to read something different, but I didn't take to it. I simply disliked Sal Paradise and lacked sympathy with him. [A7]
The Last Supper by Rosemary Shrager
I read this because it was a crime novel set in the Cotswolds. I hadn't realised when I began reading that Shrager is a well-known tv chef, and the knowledge of food and cookery certainly comes through in the novel and in a positive way. I liked the plot where the heroine/detective is a chef who is invited to cook for a houseparty in the country. It was enjoyable without being gripping, and so I've reserved the next book in the series from the library. [B7]
The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji
This is a Japanese homage to Agatha Christie's 'And Then There Were None'. I know it's very popular, but I really don't seem to get on with honkaku novels. I find that I'm not visualising the characters in my head as I read, so I'm not able to tell them apart - which is a problem in a murder mystery. [C7]
[Letters refer to my reading lists. I aim to read at least one book from each list every month. No Shedunnit novel this month as none of the selection were available at the library.]
no subject
Date: 2023-07-29 07:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-07-29 08:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-07-29 08:46 pm (UTC)I don't have good access to any of the Ovidia Yu mysteries. It's too bad. I would like to continue. I've read the first one (maybe two?).
I'm not crazy about On the Road, either. And I didn't like The Decagon House Murder either. It was strange to me.
no subject
Date: 2023-07-29 08:56 pm (UTC)That's a shame about the Ovidia Yu mysteries - I borrowed most from our library, although they don't have the latest which is why I bought it.
Oh good, I'm glad I'm not alone in my feeling about those two books.
no subject
Date: 2023-07-30 04:07 pm (UTC)As an Ashkenazi Jew with fair skin, I call myself white with an asterisk. At the moment, I have white privilege, but that has not always been the case and may not continue to be the case in future. The definition of "white" changes on a regular basis and Jews have been excluded from it in the past.
Antisemitism is a real problem in both US and UK societies these days and it's also a problem that it tends to be dismissed/ignored. Over on Bluesky I've seen someone get utterly piled on for daring to mention that one of the Democratic presidential candidates is antisemitic. (Do I think RFK Jr. will get the nomination? No. Do I think it's a massive problem that an antisemitic antivaxxer is running at all? Yes.)
I may pick up the book.
no subject
Date: 2023-07-30 04:21 pm (UTC)Your own thoughts are pretty much what Baddiel is saying - white with an asterisk seems to explain it very well and the definition of 'white' as changing is also something he talks about.
He also talks about the way antisemitism is dismissed/ignored and the reasons for this. He mentions how when he highlights antisemitic comments he gets a lot of backlash.
It's not a very long book. I'd definitely recommend reading it, I suspect you'll find you have a lot in common and the explanations will be a lot clearer than I've managed here.