Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading?

[Dr. Drib]

He used to be my favorite living writer. Now he's my favorite dead writer. While on vacation last month, I found Tomorrow in the Battle Think of Me , by Javier Marias.

As usual, his writing is dense, rich, and beautiful.

For friendly companionable genre 'trash' reading, I picked up Coming Together: Two Horror Novellas [Contains 'Hole' and 'Prick'], by Matt Shaw and Duncan Ralston. Jolly good fun.

[issybird]

I've finished Orbital which was terrific. Glad it won the Booker instead of James. Reading Flâneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice, and London by Lauren Elkin, a mashup of women writers and walking; it would be hard to think of anything more to my taste.

[Renate]

Originally Posted by issybird

Reading Flâneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice, and London by Lauren Elkin, a mashup of women writers and walking; it would be hard to think of anything more to my taste.

Oh! That looks interesting. I like discovering a city by walking through it a bit aimlessly. One of my libraries has a copy. I like the French word flâner or the German word flanieren.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by issybird

I've finished Orbital which was terrific. Glad it won the Booker instead of James. Reading Flâneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice, and London by Lauren Elkin, a mashup of women writers and walking; it would be hard to think of anything more to my taste.

I haven't read James. Is it worth it?

[issybird]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

I haven't read James. Is it worth it?

It's absolutely worth reading; much is brilliant but I also didn't think it was entirely successful. No spoiler here: I think Everett was forced by the Huckleberry Finn to depart from it at an obvious point, but that's when the satire ceased. Maybe it was personal preference on my part, but I'd have liked his exposé of the last section of HF.

Depending on how well you remember Huckleberry Finn (in my case, not well), it's worth rereading first. OTOH, I think it's possible someone might like James more without reference to the source.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Flying Finish by Dick Francis. His sixth novel, first published in 1966

Which was splendid, so I went straight onto the next one Blood Sport. Which was also the expected quick and enjoyable read.

Next up: The last of the Rabbi Small novels: That Day the Rabbi Left Town