My reading hours this month were severely disrupted by frequent trips to the vet, with my ailing companion, Chocolat. Added to this was my own seasonal headcold with its attendant miseries, exacerbated by skirmishes with the plumbing contractor. Overall not a good month.
The other factor has been my determined assault on Yuval Noah Harari’s marvelous tome Sapiens. The sub-title is A Brief History of Humankind. I’ve been tackling 30 pages daily – or trying to – so its a slow process, but one which I am enjoying. I find I need head space to reflect on what I’ve read, and have tried not to get too distracted by other reading.
The Mieville novella was an experimental read, deliberately out of my comfort zone. Did I enjoy it? Sort of : once I’d got my head around what was happening. Luckily the print was big and the novella short. Had it been longer I probably wouldn’t have finished it. By contrast, the Baxter/Pratchett Fantasy novel was a terrific read, not too much mind bending involved. Mieville tied my brain up into several knots.
Perhaps my October Roundup will encourage you to try a book or genre out of your comfort zone?
Ratings: 5* – Outstanding! 4*+ – Good to very good; 3* – average; 2* – run-of-the-mill;
1* – dismal; zero * – no comment. DNF – did not finish
4* The Long Cosmos – Stephen Baxter & Terry Pratchett. Fantasy. Finale of the Long Earth series, and a jolly good read!
4*Public Library & other Stories – Ali Smith . Original, wildly inventive & a wordsmith of note. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2147077558. Also illustrates the enormous value of Public Libraries.
4* Call the Midwife – Jennifer Worth . Midwife’s memoir of life in London’s East End, 1950s. Reviewed on this blog.
2*The Last Days of New Paris – China Mieville . Crazy surrealist fantasy novella.
?* Chernobyl Strawberries – Vesna Goldsworthy. Yugoslav memoir. Reviewed on this blog.
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