What are you reading now?

[Peter]

I intended to write a summary of reading highlights and lowlights from 2014 and post it here early January. Me being me it slipped my mind...until now.

I read thirty-seven novel length books last year. Seven, including two unsolicited loans from my brother, were first reads. The rest were rereads. The majority were fantasies. Six related to some aspect of classical music. Four were histories from the American Civil War era. The two loans concerned "pro" wrestling, a field I would not on my own single out for in-depth study. (That said, I found one of the two well written, informative and enjoyable. The other was fluff, but an easy read.)

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Award for the most read books of 2014 goes to David Eddings' "Belgariad" and "Malloreon" series, individual titles having received their eighth or ninth readings. Honorable mention goes to Stephan Donaldson's first two Thomas Covenant Chronicles, individual volumes getting seventh or eighth readings.
• Award for most disappointing reads of 2014 goes to Stephan Donaldson's "The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant". Much as I consider the first two sets of Chronicles some of the best modern fantasy ever published, so do I consider the much later written "Last Chronicles" a dismal failure.
• Award for best rereads of 2014 goes to Stephan Donaldson's first and second "Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever". These are the books that turned me on to the possibilities of the fantasy genre during the 1980s. I've maintained a special love for them ever since.
• Award for best new read of 2014 goes to Jan Swafford's newly published "Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph".
• Award for best read of 2014: "Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph".

Thus far this year (2015) I have read:

• Elizabeth Moon's "Limits of Power". (fantasy)
• Robert Harris' "Pompeii". (historical fiction)
• Brandon Sanderson's "The Way of Kings". (fantasy)

All are first reads.

I currently read "Words of Radiance", follow up to Way of Kings. At around 1000 pages each, these Sanderson titles are quite a time sink for a slow reader like me.

I'm amazed at your precision Decrepit - You know the exact date when you finish a novel so you must either keep a journal or have the most extraordinary memory! I've also read Harris' Pompeii (though I can't tell you when other than in the past 4 years!) and it is a great read that really brings the events of AD 79 to life.

[Decrepit Poster]

At 0426 this morning, 2 April 2015, I completed for the fourth time Barbara W. Tuchman's "A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century". Took me over a month to finish, despite being an enjoyable, easy read. I haven't the slightest idea what I'll tackle next.

I'm amazed at your precision Decrepit - You know the exact date when you finish a novel so you must either keep a journal or have the most extraordinary memory! I've also read Harris' Pompeii (though I can't tell you when other than in the past 4 years!) and it is a great read that really brings the events of AD 79 to life.

Your first assumption is the correct one. I scribble completion times and dates inside the front cover of each novel-length book I read, assuming I own it. I began doing so piecemeal in the mid 1970s and made it an ironclad practice in the early-mid 80s. By the mid nineties I had begun transcribing these records to computer files.

I do so because as an avid rereader I need a physical reminder of when I last read a book so as not to read the same few titles over and over again.

[Decrepit Poster]

During supper tonight, 2 April 2015, I started in on Richard Monaco's "Parsival, or A Knight's Tale". This will be my fifth documented reading of the book, the first ending 20 April 1991, the most recent 3 April 2007. I read it at least one time prior to 1991. Unfortunately I loaned my original copy to a "friend" whose dog shredded it. It was out of print by then. I didn't find another copy (at a used book store in southern California) until my 1991 reading. I own Monaco's two follow ups, and just learned that he recently returned to Parsival with two further novels.

[Decrepit Poster]

At 0447 this morning I completed Richard Monaco's "Parsival, or A Knight's Tale" and by day's end will begin its sequel, "The Grail War". This will be its fourth reading, the first having ended at 1924 on the evening of 27 October 1985. This almost assuredly solves the riddle as to when I first read "Parsival", which can't have been much prior to then as I didn't become addicted to modern fantasy literature until the mid '80s.

[Decrepit Poster]

At 1452 this afternoon I completed my fourth reading of Richard Monaco's "The Grail War" and will likely move on to book three, "The Final Quest", before bedtime.

[AeolianHarp]

Percy Bysshe Shelley

[Megan]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Orwell-Huxle...der_1291951555

I am reading a new book called , Orwell, Huxley and the Fallacies of Futurity.
By Robert Neville.

For part of the book he imagines a conversation between these two great writers just after 1984 came out, and therefore just before Orwell's own untimely death.
The other bits look at the themes in the book and some of the main ideas.
What I liked about it was that it does not buy into the standard line we seem to get nowadays, that their two great novels are prophetic. Instead, Neville perceptively sees both men agreeing that they are more warnings than anything else. Obviously I can see the writer has done a lot of research, but its engaging and though provoking to read with many, many ideas in it. I bought it on Amazon.

[Decrepit Poster]

Books finished since my previous update:

At 2020 on 16 May 2015 I completed my fourth reading of Richard Monaco's "The Final Quest", third and final installment of his saga of Parsival. After a lapse of many years Monaco recently added two further titles to the series. I do not own them. As to "The Final Quest", I have the distinct impression that I think more highly of it this time round than during previous readings.

At 1700 on 27 May 2015 I completed "I am Cain" by Gen-Lind Kolarik and Wayne Klatt. This was an unexpected read. I have next to no interest in the true-crime genre. During the morning of 20 May I underwent a heart-cath and spent the rest of that day and much of the next recuperating at my brother's house. I was soon bored beyond endurance. (He has no internet. I have no use for American cable TV.) I noticed "Cain" resting on an end table and began reading it. It proved an enjoyable change of pace.

At 0450 on 4 June 2015 I finished David Howarth's "The Voyage of the Armada". This was a second reading. The first occurred back in 1981. I recall nothing of that first reading except a vague impression that I had not been overly impressed at that time. To my delight I found myself highly taken with it this reading, and consider it an easy recommendation for anyone interested in that particular historic event.

I currently read "With Fire and Sword", volume one of a trio of books now known as "The Trilogy", written by Henryk Sienkiewicz during the latter days of the nineteenth century and considered by many as Poland's literary epic. There are several English translations. Mine is by W.S. Kuniczak. I am quite favorably impressed by the little I've read thus far. The books are HUGE. Volume one is over 1,100 pages. (I'm on page 161.) It's full of dramatic events and colorful, sometimes over-the-top characters. A page-turner. I do not yet own volumes two and three. I suspect I'll remedy that soon.

[Decrepit Poster]

At 1312 this afternoon I finished Thomas B. Costain's "The Conquering Family", book one of his A History of the Plantagenets. This was its sixth reading, the first having ended 4 Oct 1978. I will almost certainly begin book two, "The Magnificent Century", by day's end.

I did not give up on Henryk Sienkiewicz' "With Fire and Sword" and in fact reached page 996 during today's lunch, with over a hundred pages left to go. The sad thing here is that Amazon does not show an inexpensive edition of its follow up, the two volume "Deluge", in the W.S. Kuniczak translation I prefer. Admittedly listings are confusing, with it often not clear whether the asking price is for one or both volumes.

It is extraordinarily rare for me to read two novel-length books at the same time. But I do the bulk of my reading abed. "With Fire and Sword" is so heavy and unwieldy it is very awkward to read while lying in bed. I therefore read it almost exclusively during lunches and suppers. That being the case I need an alternative for bed.

[Peter]

The Freedom Line - Peter Eisner.

The remarkable story of the 'Comet' escape line for pilots in the 2nd world war. The courage of those who risked everything to help pilots shot down over Belguim to get safely across occupied France, through Spain to Gibraltar is truly inspiring.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_line

[Decrepit Poster]

At 1332 this afternoon I finished Henryk Sienkiewicz' "With Fire and Sword" in the W.S. Kuniczak English translation. I have its successor, the two volume "The Deluge", on order. In the meantime I will carry on reading Thomas B. Costain's "The Magnificent Certury".

[Decrepit Poster]

At 1705 this afternoon, at the tail-end of supper, I completed my sixth reading of Thomas B. Costain's "The Magnificent Century", book two of his A History of the Plantagenets. I will begin book three, "The Three Edwards", by day's end.

[Decrepit Poster]

I took a break from "The Three Edwards" and read John E. Klapproth's "Beethoven's Only Beloved: Josephine!", finishing it at 0816 this morning. Lots of goodness there, especially as I have for some time favored Josephine as prime contender for the Immortal Beloved. I at first thought to ignore the forty page film script draft which begins on page 229 of my 2nd Edition copy. In the end I read and enjoyed it too. Heck, I even read the lengthy "Literature" section of the appendix in detail.

[Decrepit Poster]

At 1509 this afternoon, 08 September 2015, I finished my sixth reading of Thomas B. Costain's "The Three Edwards" and will likely but not assuredly move on to the last book in the series, "The Last Plantagenets", ere day's end.

Relatedly, yesterday morning I placed an order with Amazon that includes two books; "The Last Kingdom" by Bernard Cornwell and "The World of Ice and Fire" by George R.R. Martin and others. I might well reread the Ice & Fire series again before too long, hoping against hope that rumors of volume six seeing the light of day prior to next year's HBO Game of Thrones season premieres bear fruit.

[AeolianHarp]

I took a break from "The Three Edwards" and read John E. Klapproth's "Beethoven's Only Beloved: Josephine!", finishing it at 0816 this morning. Lots of goodness there, especially as I have for some time favored Josephine as prime contender for the Immortal Beloved. I at first thought to ignore the forty page film script draft which begins on page 229 of my 2nd Edition copy. In the end I read and enjoyed it too. Heck, I even read the lengthy "Literature" section of the appendix in detail.

What film script draft?! Do tell me more DP. My copy is the first edition.