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todayiamadaisyHappy New Year, f-list.
December books read
* The Case of the Gilded Fly - Edmund Crispin (1944) ★ ★ ★ ★
This is the first of Crispin's Gervase Fen novels, a Golden Age mystery about cardboard cutout characters who are mildly inconvenienced by a brutal murder. Fen is at least half-aware that he's fictional, and announces quite early that he knows, but won't reveal, who the murderer is. Not a book to read for gritty realism or remotely believable characters, then, but as a puzzle it is elegantly conceived and beautifully written.
* The Book of the Year: The Weirder Side of 2017 - No Such Thing As A Fish (2017) ★ ★ ★ ★
I thought I should read the first one before I read the sequel. This was a fun trawl through some of the more obscure news stories and trivia of 2017, very much like a text-based version of the No Such Thing As A Fish podcast.
* The Book of the Year 2018: Your Definitive Guide to the World's Weirdest News - No Such Thing As A Fish (2018) ★ ★ ★ ★
A cheerful romp through obscure news stories from the past year. Funny, interesting and informative, but I suspect the audiobook version of this would be better - more like a long episode of the podcast.
* A Very Unusual Wife - Barbara Cartland (1984) [Five stars or none, depending on your Cartland tolerance]
Discussed here.
Which brings me to my annual book meme:
Year end book meme using titles of books I've read this year
Describe yourself: The Zig Zag Girl - Elly Griffiths
How do you feel: Withering-by-Sea - Judith Rossell
Describe where you currently live: Slade House - David Mitchell
If you could go anywhere, where would you go: The Silk Roads - Peter Frankopan
Your favourite form of transportation: The Stolen Bicycle - Wu Ming-Yu
Your best friend is: The Sinking Admiral - The Detection Club
You and your friends are: Lying in Wait - Liz Nugent
What’s the weather like: Autumn - Ali Smith
You fear: A Monstrous Commotion - Gareth Williams
What is the best advice you have to give: Carry On, Jeeves - PG Wodehouse
Thought for the day: You could do something amazing with your life [You are Raoul Moat] - Andrew Hankinson
My soul’s present condition: Sheer Folly - Carola Dunn
Did I read that one about the bicycle just so I'd have an answer to the transport question? Well, no.
But it was a consideration.
December books read
* The Case of the Gilded Fly - Edmund Crispin (1944) ★ ★ ★ ★
This is the first of Crispin's Gervase Fen novels, a Golden Age mystery about cardboard cutout characters who are mildly inconvenienced by a brutal murder. Fen is at least half-aware that he's fictional, and announces quite early that he knows, but won't reveal, who the murderer is. Not a book to read for gritty realism or remotely believable characters, then, but as a puzzle it is elegantly conceived and beautifully written.
* The Book of the Year: The Weirder Side of 2017 - No Such Thing As A Fish (2017) ★ ★ ★ ★
I thought I should read the first one before I read the sequel. This was a fun trawl through some of the more obscure news stories and trivia of 2017, very much like a text-based version of the No Such Thing As A Fish podcast.
* The Book of the Year 2018: Your Definitive Guide to the World's Weirdest News - No Such Thing As A Fish (2018) ★ ★ ★ ★
A cheerful romp through obscure news stories from the past year. Funny, interesting and informative, but I suspect the audiobook version of this would be better - more like a long episode of the podcast.
* A Very Unusual Wife - Barbara Cartland (1984) [Five stars or none, depending on your Cartland tolerance]
Discussed here.
Which brings me to my annual book meme:
Year end book meme using titles of books I've read this year
Describe yourself: The Zig Zag Girl - Elly Griffiths
How do you feel: Withering-by-Sea - Judith Rossell
Describe where you currently live: Slade House - David Mitchell
If you could go anywhere, where would you go: The Silk Roads - Peter Frankopan
Your favourite form of transportation: The Stolen Bicycle - Wu Ming-Yu
Your best friend is: The Sinking Admiral - The Detection Club
You and your friends are: Lying in Wait - Liz Nugent
What’s the weather like: Autumn - Ali Smith
You fear: A Monstrous Commotion - Gareth Williams
What is the best advice you have to give: Carry On, Jeeves - PG Wodehouse
Thought for the day: You could do something amazing with your life [You are Raoul Moat] - Andrew Hankinson
My soul’s present condition: Sheer Folly - Carola Dunn
Did I read that one about the bicycle just so I'd have an answer to the transport question? Well, no.
But it was a consideration.