This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

Sad that she died at only 58 years of age.

Finished Octavia Butler's Adulthood Rites book 2 in this sci fi series. The book starting a few years after the end of book 1 and again it is a really interesting and compelling read. 

Finished Lars Brownworth's The Normans an interesting and concise account of how the Vikings who settled and created the Dutchy of Normandy in Northern France emerged to become such important players in the wider history of Europe.

Harlem Shuffle, Colson Whitehead.

Took a more recent happy trip down memory lane reading the Celtic FC book Treble Treble for a change of pace.

Overall I thought the trilogy was decent. The first book I liked the second was the best of the 3 IMHO, the third one I felt was not quite at the level of the first 2. But overall a good read.

Finished Ken Bruen's Priest. Another brilliant entry in the Galway authors Jack Taylor crime series. At times witty, at times funny and at times noir but always a real page turner. Loved it.

Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell.

Picked this up on the basis of its blurb. Its about the short but eventful career of a rock band in the late 60s. Its an interesting story, especially if you're into music and counter-culture from that time.

There are a quite a few cameos from entertainers of the time. Some are interesting and help the story along, others are cringey and seem to be there just for the sake of it.

Death is a big theme in the book and one that touches each character in a different way. It's quite intriguing in that respect. It also has an interesting approach to mental health.

Some of the writing is quite good though, at times, the plot can feel predictable. There are also some parts that are a bit too fantastic for me.

I got really into it and was flying through it by the end. I'd recommend it as a satisfying read, though I have my problems with it.

Read a few recently:

-The Noble Hustle, Colson Whitehead - non-fiction about the writer's stab at the World Series of Poker a few years ago. I love this guy's fiction and love poker but this is middling at best

-Nobody Walks, Mick Herron. A quick thriller related to his Slough House spy series. A fine read but not up to his other stuff.

-Bog Bodies, Declan Shalvey (graphic novel) - a short tale about gangland hits and the disposal of bodies in the Dublin mountains. Atmospheric but slight.

After a run of OK books, I'm really looking to get my teeth into something good next.

My main recollection of reading Dracula - and it is not recent! - is of expecting it to be a rather different book to the one I encountered, probably because my view had been shaped through the prism of all the various film adaptation. So while very psychological, it seemed a lot less "horrific" than I anticipated. Not sure if I'm misremembering, I think i might put both this and Frankinstein on the re-read list for xmas.

I think thats fair it is much more psychological rather then straight up scary horror. Personally I loved it. Have read 3-4 times over the years.

Reading Circe, Madeline Miller. Really enjoying it so far.

Just finished the Miracle of Castel di Sangro by Joe McGinnnis. Authors an American who becomes obsessed with football during the USA world cup in 94 and moves to Italy a few years later to live in a small town in the Abruzzo region where the local football team have gotten promotion to to Serie B but theres all sorts of dodgyness going on around the club, the manager and the owners with rumours of back handers to throw the last game of the season.

Finished Jack Whyte's The Burning Stone a prequel to his Arturian series. I have always been a big historical fiction fan and was looking forward to my first book with this author. The story is set in the early 4th century in Roman Britain and overall I liked it although the middle part of the book went on a bit.