--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "wayback71" <wayback71@...> wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <jstein@> wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "wayback71" <wayback71@> wrote: > > > > > > Any good reading suggestions for the summer - fiction or non? > > > > I recently read "A Hole at the Bottom of the Sea" by journalist Joel > > Achenbach, a very well-done blow-by-blow account for the general reader of > > the Deepwater Horizon disaster. One big disappointment: he tells you almost > > nothing about the operators of the underwater remote vehicles that actually > > did most of the incredibly exacting physical work of rebuilding the > > wellhead to stop the gusher. > > > > I read so much "nonfiction" on the Web that I stick mostly with fiction for > > bedtime reading. > > > > "The Brothers Boswell" by Philip Baruth is a sort of literary thriller told > > from the perspective of the brother of James Boswell, the biographer of > > Samuel Johnson. Very offbeat, gorgeously written. I found it oddly > > unsatisfying at the end, but it's one heck of a ride. > > > > I'm on a historical mystery kick and have been working my way through two > > "historical detective" series that I've been greatly enjoying. > > > > One is the Matthew Shardlake novels by C.J. Sansome. Set in Tudor England > > in the waning days of Henry VIII, they involve the attempts of a > > middle-aged hunchbacked London lawyer to unravel various murders and > > political plots. They're generally very well written with a great deal of > > engrossing period detail (although the author has a few careless "tics" > > that can be annoying and should have been cleaned up by his editors). > > Shardlake is a fascinating character study as he develops through the > > novels in the series, a good-hearted, honest, intelligent, reflective man > > with the best of motives whose personality flaws often get him in trouble > > nonetheless. > > > > These are *long* novels, 500-700 pages, and while there's plenty of action, > > they don't always move at a breakneck pace. You have to be willing to let > > the author take his time unfolding the story and just let yourself soak in > > the setting. > > > > The other set of historical mysteries is the Sugawara Akitada series, set > > in 11th-century Japan, by I.J. Parker. Much of what I said above about the > > Shardlake series applies to this one as well, but the setting is much less > > familiar and even more colorful. For me, the main attraction here is not so > > much the plots (which are intricate and certainly compelling) but the main > > character, who is so enormously engaging in his complexity and humanity > > that I actually feel bereft of his company when I finish one of the novels. > > He's such a vivid personality it's hard not to imagine he must have been a > > real person who has "channeled" himself through Parker. > > > > The quality of Parker's writing is uneven. It's mostly very good--and there > > are some wonderfully lyrical passages--but every now and then you'll run > > into awkward bits, especially in the dialogue. > > > > Both series, although they're very neatly plotted, are primarily character > > driven, so you should, if possible, read them in order, as all the > > important characters develop and change over the course of the series. More > > than enough light but absorbing reading to last through the summer. (And > > all but the most recent in each series are available used on Amazon for > > under a dollar plus $3.98 shipping.) > > > > > > This is my 50th for the week. See you all Friday or Saturday. > > > Thanks for the ideas - will start with Sugara Akitada series >
For those that like to listen to books, Audible.com has these two. http://www.audible.com/search/ref=sr_lftbox_1_1 a bit pricey at regular price but a credit costs $8-11 or so depending on your subsciption level.
