February Reads
Categories: reading
Date: 03 March 2009 02:10:09
Probably the last month for several in which I will have multiple reads: with uni returning, and a enormous amount of reading to do for it, my reading-for-pleasure may be somewhat constrained. So the 'good student' within me thinks; I'll probably turn to fiction when I should be reading reports and theses on IT Governance given how preferable they would be!
Anyway...on to the reads I finished in February.
The Well of Lost Plots, Jasper Fforde. Continuing his highly entertaining Thursday Next series, this book is probably my favourite Fforde book by far. With his superb writing I was taken away for an extremely enjoyable ride. He has created an imagined a most fantastic world -- and his knowledge, and ability to pun, is amazing. And who wouldn't love to have been tutored by Miss Havisham [though perhaps walk rather than ride with her given her need for speed!], have a pet dodo and travel through the plots of books? Great stuff. It was also interesting to read the ending where he sets up the Nursery Crime series of books.
Augustus Carp, Esq., Being the Autobiography of a Really Good Man, Sir Henry Bashford. This is a book I read about in a US Airways magazine -- they were listing the 5 funniest books of all time. The review of Augustus Carp, Esq., Being the Autobiography of a Really Good Man intrigued me, so once I got home I ordered it off Amazon [it not being anywhere here]. And I am so glad I did. It is truly a most wondrous book, every page, every paragraph even, being so wonderfully funny I laughed out loud through it all. A superb satire, Augustus Carp, the most pompous and self-indulgent boor you could ever have the misfortune to meet, writes of his life thus far, from his birth to where he is now, and describes in detail the trials and tribulations he has faced [none being his fault] as well as those he has assisted, whether they wanted it or not. Extremely well-writen and wonderfully entertaining.
Strong Poison, Dorothy L Sayers. A great joy is receiving recommendations of books from friends, as was the case with Jasper Fforde and Terry Pratchett, and was also the case for Dorothy L Sayers. My sincerest thanks to the wonderful friends who recommended the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries, for this book is far more than simply a great mystery: it is a wondrously written book with superb characters [with fantastic senses of humour -- who wouldn't love to be friends with Lord Peter Wimsey?], entertaining and vivid scenes and writing and a story that makes you want to keep reading and reading. I literally could not put this book down. I borrowed another [earlier] Lord Peter Wimsey book, Clouds of Witness, now -- which I borrowed from my local library as soon as I returned this one.
Lord John and the Hand of Devils, Diana Gabaldon. The Lord John series was another recommendation, this time from fellow Wiblogger Farli. Rather than one novel, this book is a collection of three very enjoyable mysteries with Lord John; Diana Gabaldon certainly evokes the imagery and sense of the time in her writings, and I enjoyed the fact that much was left unknown as to the future -- and to the reader's imagination -- at the end of these short stories.
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, Malcolm Gladwell. This is a book I had heard of, but had kept forgetting to get around to reading. I am not sure if I had too high an expectation, but while it was an interesting book, though there was a fair amount of jumping and a lot of repetition [I was wondering if he got kickbacks every time he mentioned Hush Puppies!] Malcolm Gladwell does generally write well though, and the ideas behind what causes a "Tipping Point" [he event of a previously rare phenomenon becoming rapidly and dramatically more common] are explained well and in a unique way, Gladwell writing that "ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread like viruses do." As I said, interesting, but could have done with some trimming.
The Everlasting Man, G K Chesterton. I will be up-front and confess that there was much in this book I did not understand, but what I did understand more than made up for it. I was challenged, encouraged and informed, and amused at many points as well. Chesterton's analysis of what the great assumptions we make from the little recorderd history we have [for example, cave paintings] and his descriptions and analysis on the life of Christ and of the Church gave me a great many new perspectives. Thanks indeed to the two dear friends who bought me this book as a Christmas present last year.