August 2013 Focus Author - Bernard Cornwell

Before I get into my August focus author, just one word on the latest book I bought. It was recommended by one of my compatriots in one of my goodreads book clubs so I was pleasantly surprised to find it in my local book store. As the cover photo states, it's called Wool and is written by Hugh Howey. When it was mentioned in my book group, it sounded interesting and now that I've read the cover write up, my opinion hasn't change.  A very simple teaser, "What would you do if the world outside is deadly, and the air you breathed could kill? And you lived in a place where every birth required a death, and the choices you made could save lives - or destroy them. This is Jules's story. This is the world of Wool." The story is made up of five individual sub-stories. I'm definitely looking forward to reading it.

Now onto my Focus Author.

Bernard Cornwell

Bernard Cornwell, born in 1944, is an English author of historical adventures. The series I've been interested in is the Sharpe series, but he's also written the Warlord series, the Saxon stories and the Grail Quest novels.

I began following Sharpe on the British TV series starring Clive Owens as Richard Sharpe, an English soldier who fought during the Napoleonic wars. Over the past three or four years, I've been acquiring and reading the series and enjoying very much. I've managed to read the first six books in the series thus far, travelling from India, to Portugal and even to Denmark. Sharpe is a true adventurer, also quite a lady's man. In chronological order, the books feature various famous battles of the period;

1. Sharpe's Tiger - the Siege of Seringapatam;
2. Sharpe's Triumph - the Battle of Assaye;
3. Sharpe's Fortress - the Siege of Gawilghur;
4. Sharpe's Trafalgar - the Battle of Trafalgar;
5. Sharpe's Prey - the Siege of Copenhagen;
6. Sharpe's Rifles - the French invasion of Galicia;
7. Sharpe's Havoc - the Campaign in Northern Portugal (not yet read);
8. Sharpe's Eagle - the Talevera Campaign.

These first eight stories cover the period between 1799 and 1809. At the moment, the Sharpe books number 24 and end in 1820- 21.

In August, I hope to read three or four more of the series, starting with Sharpe's Havoc, which I missed previously. Of those I presently own, the others, trying to fit into the chronological order as much as possible will include:

Sharpe's Gold - the destruction of Almeida, August 1810;
Sharpe's Escape - the battle of Bussaco, September 1810; and
Sharpe's Fury - the battle of Barrosa, Winter 1811.

Of course, I have a few others in my book shelf just in case I finish all of these early enough.. 3 more days and then I start.. :0)

Currently Reading - Jul 2013

Just a quick post tonight. In between our Sunday night TV fare; having just watched Endeavour on PBS (excellent series) and about to watch True Blood on HBO (of course, another of our favourites, one of the few shows that keeps us guessing all the time.. weird and strange folks involved in that series) and then The Newsroom, one of the missus' favourites..

Had a reasonably productive day today, finished cleaning the highest gutter while the missus trimmed trees and such. Then we felt somewhat energetic and washed down the back of the house.. it needed it.. I do feel as though I got a mite too much sun today, beautiful day that it was.. So now we relax, will take the puppies out for a walk around the Close after The Newsroom.. Oh, here are a couple of new photos of the two terrors.. they both went to the 'cleaners' this past week.. Bonnie was 'the dream dog' according to Lindy, our pet groomer....

Bonnie, slightly distracted in mid-pose

 

 

Clyde was 'ok', it being his first visit to the groomer, since we got him.. :0)

 

Clyde, posing with a little help from a friend.

 

They have adjusted reasonably well to our life-style, or rather we've been assimilated into theirs.. *g*.. We've started going for 3 or 4 walks a day. All is well, they have enlivened up our place..

 

So.. to books.. What am I reading currently...

 



Murder in the Central Committee by Manuel Vazquez Montalban. I bought another book in this series, The Angst Ridden Executive, at my local book store, but I wanted to start with the first book in the series. Set in Spain, this time in Madrid, it features, ex-Communist, ex-CIA operative, Pepe Carvalho, now a private detective, hired by the Spanish Communist party to solve the murder of the party leader at a meeting of the Central Committee. I'm enjoying the story overall, so far. I do find the translation cumbersome at times, or maybe it's just the flowery style of the author. But there are pearls within the story and I'm finding as I get into it, that I'm enjoying it more and more and getting into the flow of the writing. I look forward to seeing how it all resolves itself.

 

 

The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. This month I've focused on various Edgar Rice Burroughs' stories, two new series and so far, the first John Carter book, A Princess of Mars. To finish off the month, I'm reading the second book in the Barsoom series. This story takes place 10 years after the first, when John Carter has returned to Earth and is desperate to return to Mars, as when he was thrust out of Mars last book, the atmosphere was disappearing and he wants to find his dear wife, Dejah Thoris. In this story, so far, he has landed (so to speak) in the land of the Dead and is trying to find his way out.  As the write up on the back says, "After the long exile on Earth, John Carter finally returned to his beloved Mars. But beautiful Dejah Thoris, the woman he loved, had vanished. Now he was trapped in the legendary Eden of Mars, an Eden from which none ever escaped alive".. So far, the story is as good as the first, with new beings, the Plant people, the fierce Black Pirates of Barsoom and the Holy Therns being introduced so far, as well as Thuvia, the Maid of Mars.. Great stuff!

 

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, by Howard Pyle. I'm reading this as part of my Time Traveller's Challenge. For Jul to Sept, we are reading books set in the Middle Ages, 5 - 15 AD. I've chosen the adventures of Robin Hood. I found this edition at Russell Books in Victoria; it was published in 1952. Love the drawings within and so far, the story is excellent. Not a surprise, really. I may read another book in this challenge later, but first I plan to enjoy this thoroughly. The book was originally written in 1883 by American illustrator and writer, Howard Pyle and features a number of stories, adventures of Robin Hood and his merry men. It's been enjoyable, so far.

So there you have it.. Next BLogs I hope to review my July readings and also provide an idea of some of the books I plan to read in August. It's been a great year so far. :0) 



 



Currently Reading - Jul 2013

The missus and I spent a couple of hours this morning (before it got too hot), reducing the pile of top soil we got yesterday, working around in the back garden. Lovely sunny day, a little breeze, it was darned near perfect. But we're now at the hot part of the day, relaxing after refreshing showers and a bite to eat. Time to take a look at the books I'm currently reading. I've got 3 on the go at the moment, one a series of short stories, one a classic SciFi novel and, finally, a history book.

In my UK book club, the genre challenge for July is short stories. I had a few in mind, but decided to start with Passport to Eternity by J.G. Ballard. I may read another selection if I have time at the end of the month. This series of stories was originally published by Berkley Medallion books in September 1963. I found my edition at one of my used book stores in Victoria, BC in April  of this year. It is in remarkably good condition. This was Ballard's third collection of short stories and his fifth published book. His second novel, The Drowned World is one of my favourites. I've also enjoyed some of his other stories; he is definitely unique amongst SciFi writers. This book contains the following stories:
The Man on the 99th Floor (1962) - already enjoyed this one;
Thirteen to Centaurus (1962) - very interesting
Track 12 (1958) - strange, good
The Watch-towers - (1962)... hmmmm
A Question of Re-entry (1963) currently reading
Escapement (1956), The Thousand Dreams of Stellavista (1962), The Cage of Sand (1962), Passport to Eternity (1962)

I've enjoyed a few of Edgar Rice Burroughs stories, one of my favourite series ever is the Barsoom series; aka John Carter of Mars. For July, I chose Burroughs as my focus author and planned to read a couple of the Mars books; to refresh my memories of them. Also in my list is The Moon Men. It was a series of three books; The Moon Maid, The Moon Men and The Red Hawk, published in 1925. The Ace Edition I have, was purchased at ABC Books in Courtenay, in 2010. It has only the second two books in the series. I'm currently reading The Moon Men and enjoying very much. It's quite different from the Mars books, so far. The Moon Men tells the story of Julian 9th, who takes on the Moon men )conquerors of the Earth) and their human allies. The second book deals with Julian 20th, The Red Hawk. From what I've read, originally, the series was to actually deal with the Communist threat, but Burroughs' publishers persuaded him to change it invaders from the Moon. I can see the allusions to Communist Russia in the story, so far. Very interesting.

I purchased A Train In Winter at Ivy's Books in Victoria in April this year. I read the synopsis of the book and it hooked me immediately. I'm reading this for my Book Addicts Book club, as the Non-Fiction selection for Jul thru September. The book is written by Caroline Moorehead was born in London in 1944 and is human rights journalist. She has previously written six biographies, including one on Bertrand Russell. In 2011, she published A Train in Winter; A Story of Resistance, Friendship and Survival. The book focuses on 230 French women of the Resistance, who were captured and sent to Auschwitz; and of whom only 49 survived. This was the only train, in 4 years of German Occupation of France, to take women of the Resistance to a death camp. The book sounds fascinating, as Caroline Moorehead, sought out and interviewed various survivors of the camp and also families of some of those who had died.


So there you have it, my current reading list. I don't think it'll take me long to get through them, as so far, they all seem very good.

Currently Reading - Titanic First Accounts

One of the books I'm currently reading is Titanic First Accounts, by Tim Maltin. Tim Maltin has been studying the Titanic for 25 years and has compiled an interesting book; at least, so far. I'm currently about 3/4 of the way through, and overall, have enjoyed the story.

As it states, it features first hand accounts by the various passengers and crew members who survived the disaster. I have found, over the first part, that the story has been somewhat repetitive. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing and thinking about it, it's almost impossible for it not to be, considering the closed subject matter. The first half features excerpts from two passenger's books on the disaster, Tim Beesley's Chapter 4 of his book The Loss of the Titanic and seven chapters of Archibald Grace's The Truth about the Titanic. The former is more of a personal narrative of Beesley's observations. Grace includes his observations of what he saw and what he did, but his also includes reports from both the British and American hearings on the disaster, a summary of each life boat that was launched and excerpts of observations from the various persons in each life boat.

The second portion are individual person's reports to either of the commissions set up to examine the disaster and the third portion (this is where I currently find myself) contains newspaper accounts from various passengers, including Molly Brown's article in the Newport Herald.

At times the story has been somewhat dry, but as you read, you get a feel for the expanse of the disaster and maybe the dryness makes it seem even more incredible. There are acts of heroism described throughout and the matter-of-fact way in which this is done makes them seem more heroic. There are intimations of impropriety as well, especially those of one of the owner of the Titanic, Mr. Ismay, who chose to depart on one of the last lifeboats. However, this isn't harped on at all, rather the overall impression left is one of the many men who willingly stood back to let the women and children take advantage of the few lifeboats so they could be saved.

I still have a way to go to complete the book, but I find as I get into it that it gets better and better and has been a most interesting read. I'm looking forward to reading the final chapters; which include further news paper accounts and also excerpts from Logan Marshall's Sinking of the Titanic.

Bonnie and Clyde - Our new puppies

Resting up for the next battle..

I just wanted to quickly add a couple of photos of our two new mini-schnauzers; Bonnie and Clyde. They have added new life to our household; tiring but great.

This is Bonnie. We got her in April. She's about 5 months old now.

Smile, Bonnie. :0)

And here is Clyde. We picked him up about 2 weeks ago. We fondly call him the demon dog, although you'd not know when he's sleeping.. lol

Who do I bite next.. mwuu haa

At the moment, they're tuckered out from the heat and having to have baths this evening. :0)

2013 - Looking Back... So Far

It's not quite July 1st yet, but while I've got a bit of time; i.e. the puppies are having their mid-morning nap and for the moment, peace reigns, I thought I'd take a look back at my reading habits for the first half of 2013.

To start off with, I'm currently reading three books, one from each of three of my various challenges and I hope to have at least one completed by end Jun -

Focus Author for Jun - C.S. Forester - Flying Colours (the third of C.S. Forester's published Horatio Hornblower novels, chronologically in the sequence of Hornblower's life, number 11 chronologically in Hornblower's life);

Alphabetical Mystery Writers - Ian Hamilton's The Water Rat of Wanchai; and

12 + 2 Reading Group Challenge - Tim Maltin's Titanic; First Accounts.

Now to get the stats out of the way. I have so far completed 50 books out of my Goodread's Challenge of trying to complete 80 books in 2013 (63%). I do have some challenging books for the rest of the year, but I think I've got a pretty good chance of reading more than 80, which would be an improvement on 2012, when I completed 81. Total pages completed so far - roughly 13,800.

Specific Challenges -

12 + 2 Reading Group Challenge - As of today, I've completed 7 out of 12 of my Reading Group Challenge. I don't think I'll manage to complete Titanic by end Jun, but you never know. My favourite book of the 7 is Kate Atkinson's Case Histories, an excellent mystery that I discovered through the also excellent TV series, starring Jason Isaacs. I still have 5 books to read (7 if you count the +2 alternates) and I will try to get them completed. I do have some challenging reads in this particular challenge, including Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence and Daniel Deronda by George Elliot, but these books might fit in with some of my other challenges. Also remaining in this group are Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks, Murder in the Central Committee by Manuel Vasquez Montalban, Rin Tin Tin, the Life and the Legend by Susan Orlean and The Far Country  by Nevil Shute.

Alphabetical Mystery Writers. I started this challenge in 2012 in an effort to try and read at least one book on my To-Be-Read bookshelves by a mystery author, starting with the authors last name and beginning alphabetically with 'A' of course. At the end of 2013, I had reached 'F'. So far in 2013, I've completed 9 in this challenge and have reached the letter 'H' with the above-mentioned book by Ian Hamilton. I have been introduced to new authors such as Michael Gilbert, Kerry Greenwood and Tarquin Hall and also revisited some favourites such as Sue Grafton, Elizabeth George, Caroline Graham, Martha Grimes and Jane Haddam. I think my favourite story so far was Winston Graham's Marnie, the psychological thriller on which Alfred Hitchcock based his excellent movie. Honourable mentions also to Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher mysteries and Caroline Graham's Midsomer Mystery, The Killing at Badger's Drift. I am currently reading a new author for me, as mentioned, Ian Hamilton's The Water Rat of Wanchai and enjoying thus far.

Monthly Focus Author - One of my favourite challenges this year has been my attempt each month to focus on a different author (using one author's writings as my bed-time reading. The reason is that I've started so many series and have been unable for the most part to complete them due to the congestion of books on my TBR shelves. (Don't tell my wife.. lol.. I think she knows). While I've focused on one author each month (besides my other reading), some have been a revisiting of old favourites, rather than necessarily books I haven't read before. I put in that category, the books of Philip K. Dick and Ian Fleming. I read both many years ago and while choosing authors for this challenge, felt it would be great to read some of their stories again to remind myself why I enjoyed them so much before. I found Dick's unique SciFi stories interesting again and the adventures of James Bond a guilty pleasure once again. Also featured since January were mysteries by Ngaio Marsh (Inspector Alleyn) and Jane Haddam (ex-FBI profiler, Gregor Demarkian), the varies mysteries and fantasies of Charlaine Harris and this months visit to the high seas adventures of C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower stories. It's been great fun so far and I'm looking forward to reading Edgar Rice Burroughs in July.

Genre Challenges - This has been a continuation of an ongoing challenge that we started over again due to its popularity. Since January we've covered respectively Historical stories, Crime/ Detective/ True Crime, Modern British Classics (20th Century), War & Revolution, Award Winning and Fantasy. I enjoyed all of the books that I read for these challenges, including The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King, The Crow Trap by Ann Cleeves, Bridge on River Kwai by Pierre Boulle, The Ship by C.S. Forester, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley and Puck on Pook's Hill by Rudyard Kipling. My favourite of this challenge was The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham for the Modern British Classics genre. This was my first exposure to Maugham and I loved his ability to develop and progress his story. It was just excellent. Next month looks to be Short Stories and I already have a few choices in mind if that ends up being the genre chosen.

The Time Traveller's Challenge. This is the newest challenge I've participated in. Basically, we'll visit various eras in history and read books set in those eras. We started with Ancient Times, e.g. the Roman Empire and others around the same time frame. I chose a book I'd read as a youngster, The Eagle of the Ninth, this time the complete trilogy by Rosemary Sutcliff. It was most enjoyable to read it again. I had no recollections of the story and it was very interesting. Next month we move on to the Middle Ages; The 100 Years War, The Crusades, etc. Once again, I've a few books in mind. The nice thing about this challenge is that it lasts for 3 months so you tend to have a nice amount of time to read one or two books covering the particular period. And I need the time.. lol

Also I've managed to squeeze a couple of freebies in between all of the challenges. All in all, it's been a great six months so far. So let's see, what are my Top Ten favourites for the first half of the year?

Top Ten So Far

10. Puck on Pook's Hill - Rudyard Kipling (4*)
9.   Eagle of the Ninth Chronicles - Rosemary Sutcliff (4*)
8.   The Spy Who Loved Me - Ian Fleming (4*)
7.   Bangkok 8 - John Burdett (4*)
6.   Marnie - Winston Graham (4*)
5.   The Woman in Black - Susan Hill (4*)
4.   Cast Histories - Kate Atkinson (5)
3.   The Man in the High Castle - Philip K. Dick (5*)
2.   The Ship - C.S. Forester (5*)
1.   The Razor's Edge - W. Somerset Maugham (5*)

Next BLog I'll try to take a look at my plans for July. :0)

Keep on reading!

July 2013 - Focus Author - Edgar Rice Burroughs



Edgar Rice Burroughs
1875 - 1950

 Another month is winding down and it's time to start thinking ahead to see what's on the reading list for July 2013. Firstly, my Focus author for July will be American writer, Edgar Rice Burroughs, author of such classic series as Tarzan of the Apes (26 books) and John Carter of Mars (11 books). I have previously featured the John Carter of Mars series as it has been one of my favourite series for many a moon. If you wish to read my BLog on that, go to the highlighted link.

Burroughs wrote over 80 novels during the span of his life; besides the two series mentioned previously, he also wrote the Pellucidar series (adventures at the Earth's core, 7 books), the Venus series (5 books), to name a few. If my books hold together (I've had them for quite awhile now), I plan to revisit the John Carter books. However, before I do that, I do have two newish Burroughs stories that I've never read before. I'll start with those. So if I find the time, I will read -

The Mad King was originally published in two parts; The Mad King (1914) and Barney Custer of Nebraska (1915). This edition was published by Ace Books. It tells the story of Barney Custer, gentleman - farmer in the once wild west. "Offered the chance to make the long voyage to the land of Lutha, he took it and encountered more adventure in a few months than most people find in a lifetime. A crumbling kingdom, a black-hearted regent and his diabolical cohorts, a beautiful princess trapped in a dark and dismal dungeon, sinister plots and harrowing escapes - this is what Barney Custer found." All familiar themes in Edgar Rice Burroughs worlds of fantasy and adventure. It will be interesting to see what other adventures Burroughs explored in his lifetime.

The Moon Men contains the 2nd and 3rd books in the Moon Men Lost World series. It contains The Moon Men and The Red Hawk (copyright 1925). The Moon Men was originally set in Soviet Russia (Under the Red Flag), with the Bolsheviks as the villains, but due to pressure from his publishers, Burroughs changed it to a Science Fiction setting with the Communist-like Kalkars taking over the moon and then the Earth. As it states in the preamble to books, "The Earth has been conquered by the strange beings from the Moon's hidden interior. Suffering under the tyranny of these terrible masters, rebellion is sparked by the descendant of the original lunar explorer. the story of Julian 9th, told in The Moon Men, is constant excitement. Equally thrilling is the story of Julian 20th, The Red Hawk, whose determination to bring to a successful victory the smouldering struggle started by his remote ancestor, makes the second complete novel in this volume.

As mentioned at the start of this post, I plan to revisit the John Carter books as well and hope to at least read the first two books in the series; A Princess of Mars (1912) and The Gods of Mars (1914).

Then we'll see what happens after that. Very much looking forward to this month's focus.