Category: Book Club
Book Club 2025: Heavy Weather by P. G. Wodehouse
(February 4, 2025)I’ve gotten to 1933 in my chronological read of P.G. Wodehouse novels, and I was wondering whether there’s a general drop-off in quality in his books… so I googled what people thought, and the rough consensus is that yes indeed, after 1940 his books suck or something? And that this is almost his final top … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Heavy Weather by P. G. Wodehouse
Book Club 2025: The Red and the Black II by Stendhal
(January 31, 2025)I read the first volume of this last year, and then I started this one a week ago. The Norwegian translation is by Paul René Gaugin, the more famous Gaugin’s son, and it was originally done for a 1944 translation (even if my edition is from the 70s). And… it’s almost wilfully archaic. That is, … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Red and the Black II by Stendhal
Book Club 2025: Past Regret by Marian Babson
(January 30, 2025)Still in the mood for something easy on the brain. Unfortunately, this isn’t one of Babson’s best books — her main strength (after being a pretty decent writer on a word by word basis) is that she’s good at keeping amusing patter going. And this is a more “serious” thriller than anything else, and it’s … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Past Regret by Marian Babson
Book Club 2025: Paws For Alarm by Marian Babson
(January 30, 2025)I was feeling in the mood to vegetate today, so I rooted out this old book that I probably read 20 years ago. It’s hard finding good trash. There’s an endless amount of solid serious literature, but finding books that are easy on the brain but still marginally well-written is hard. This was originally published … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Paws For Alarm by Marian Babson
Book Club 2025: Powder and Patch by Georgette Heyer
(January 26, 2025)I’ve read most of Heyer’s classic books (i.e., the regency romances and her crime novels), and a handful of years ago I made I final sweep to buy her remaining books. The remaining books were mostly her “serious” historic books and her very serious contemporary novels (and in particular the latter aren’t regarded very highly … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Powder and Patch by Georgette Heyer
Book Club 2025: The Paris Review 234
(January 26, 2025)Is this a book even? It’s a literary magazine, but it’s book like, and this is my book club, so there! I’ve almost read the entire backlog of Paris Reviews that built up during Corona and stuff, so this is from 2020. Happier times. It’s a good issue. More experimental than usual, perhaps. Anyway! Class! … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Paris Review 234
Book Club 2025: Here Comes A Hero by Lawrence Block
(January 22, 2025)I’ve read quite a few books by Lawrence Block — they’re a bit hit or miss. That is, he writes well, but his plots often leave much to be desired. This is from an early series, and I haven’t read any of these books before. Well, yes, this is wittily written as usual. You can’t … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Here Comes A Hero by Lawrence Block
Book Club 2025: Still Life by Louise Penny
(January 22, 2025)I was in the mood to read some cheesy detective novel today, and this was recommended for fans of Agatha Christie, etc… … but my god! The horrors! The writing here is so awful. It’s not just that she’s heavy handed with the adjective and adverb sprinkling, but the way pronouns don’t always match up … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Still Life by Louise Penny
Book Club 2025: Memory’s Legion by James S. A. Corey
(January 20, 2025)This is a collection of short stories from the Expanse universe. They were published concurrently with the novels, but I haven’t read them before this. And I was thinking… “yay! an opportunity to spend some nostalgic time with all those characters I loved!” And this is not that at all. Instead we get the backstories … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Memory’s Legion by James S. A. Corey
Book Club 2025: Poems 1918-1975 by Charles Reznikoff
(January 11, 2025)Heh, looks like I bought this book at a sale around 1998 (for like $7) and never got around to reading it. It’s not that I don’t enjoy Reznikoff, but I just don’t like omnibus books… I prefer reading the books separately for some reason or other. Anyway, this is the stuff. THE STUFF. There’s … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Poems 1918-1975 by Charles Reznikoff
Book Club 2025: In the Country of Last Things by Paul Auster
(January 6, 2025)I bought this book in 1998, at the tail end of my Auster obsession. In the 90s, I read everything he published — the novels, of course, but also the essay collections, the plays, the juvenalia… and watched all movies he’d been involved with. But I grew increasingly… er… overly familiar with his storytelling ticks? … Continue reading Book Club 2025: In the Country of Last Things by Paul Auster
Book Club 2025: Doctor Sally by P. G. Wodehouse
(January 5, 2025)I’m reading Wodehouse sorta chronologically, and I’ve now reached 1931. This is a short novel based on one of Wodehouse’s plays. And it is, of course, very witty, but like all of the books that Wodehouse wrote that were based on his plays, it’s just not as good as his other novels. It retains the … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Doctor Sally by P. G. Wodehouse
Book Club 2025: Mitt Abruzzo by Pet Petterson
(January 5, 2025)I’ve been reading this book for over a year before falling asleep, and it works well as that. Er, I mean, it’s not that it’s boring or anything, but it’s a journal and I can read a couple of pages, or read a dozen pages, and it’s fine — I don’t have to remember much … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Mitt Abruzzo by Pet Petterson
Book Club 2025: Arkhangelsk by Elizabeth H. Bonesteel
(January 3, 2025)I started reading this book a week ago, but then stopped and read some other books in between. It’s not that it’s a bad book — and Elizabeth H. Bonesteel should surely win the coveted “Most Real-Sounding Name For An Author” prize of 2025 — it’s a pretty exciting mystery set on a far-away planet. … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Arkhangelsk by Elizabeth H. Bonesteel
Book Club 2025: Some Memories of Drawings by Georgia O’Keeffe
(January 2, 2025)Hm, why did I buy this one again…? Oh, right, I read Andrew White’s comics piece on O’Keeffe, and I think he recommended this book in the commentary or something? It’s a very handsome book. And I didn’t realise she worked in all these different styles… O’Keeffe’s comments are quite amusing, too. Some Memories of … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Some Memories of Drawings by Georgia O’Keeffe
Book Club 2025: Death of an Old Goat by Robert Barnard
(January 2, 2025)Am I doing this? Hm… Well, I thought it might be slightly amusing to log books I’m reading… but I don’t want to review books, because if you’re reviewing books, you start reading them in a different way, and I don’t want to do that. So, like, perhaps just a couple sentences about each book? … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Death of an Old Goat by Robert Barnard