I usually have a couple of books on the go, especially when I have time on my hands. I try to pick them to complement each other, so one might be some brainless science fiction that I can read a few pages of at work when I get a moment and the other a biography of a physicist that I only brave when I can actually commit mind and time to it.
Recently however my reading schedule seems to have gone a bit haywire. I'm reading (or have recently finished reading) several books at once and am rapidly approaching information overload. Therefore, in order to get my mind straight and for the benefit of medical science if my brain actually physically explodes I thought I would do some brief reviews of each one and explain why I'm reading it (An eclectic mix of spoilers below).
1) The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world in the age of Philip II (abridged) - by Fernand Braudel
Progress: Quarter of the way through.
Why I'm reading it/review: Back at university I did a historiography course which I generally found a bit dull but had occasional highlights that really stuck with me. Reading an extract from this book was one of those moments. I like Braudel's unswerving conviction of the predominance of long term geographical and economic factors over the opportunistic political actions of monarchs and rulers. It's a bit like reading Paul Kennedy but with a charming French writing style (especially impressive as it was drafted from memory in a German POW camp). It's also very well published with interesting illustrations spread throughout the text rather than whacked in a de-contextualized blob in the middle which always puts me off. The details of trade winds and the geography of the Mediterranean should be boring but it's actually pretty soothing. However, you can't read too much of it at once which probably explains the profusion of other books.
2) The Mammoth Book of Best New Sci-Fi 23- edited by Gardner Dozois
Progress: Recently finished.
Why I'm reading it/review: Picked up cheap in a charity shop for £2.50. Pretty good as it is RRP £10, 700 pages long and only came out in 2010. I've read the previous two collections so I knew what to expect. Very good selection with the highlight being John Wright's retelling of 'the Ring cycle' set on a severely damaged space ship where the crew have reverted to savagery. Interesting enough that I went straight to my laptop to read through the Wikipedia summary of Wagner's 15 hour opera. Other good stories included 'Events preceeding the Helvetican Revolution' by John Kessel, 'Infinities' by Vandana Singh, 'Paradiso Lost' by Albert Cowdrey and 'One of our Bastards is Missing' by Paul Cornell. My only criticism is that the front cover blurb blatantly lies. I was promised stories by Alastair Reynolds, Ken Macleod and Greg Egan, dammit.
3) Fragile Things - by Neil Gaiman
Progress: 3/4 of the way through
Why I'm reading it/review:
This one is from Poole library. I thought it would be a good bit of relief from Mediterranean as I approached the end of my Mammoth Sci-fi book. Bit of a mixed bag, most of it is good and creepy but only a few bits live up to the triumphant heights of Good Omens or American Gods. The real highlight was 'Keepsakes and Treasures' which reads like Gaiman was channelling Iain Banks. A tale of a disturbing muscle man working for a mysterious but powerful oligarch. The focus is on his past, from his first murder (aged 12) and subsequent hiring, through his brutal hunting down of men he suspects may have raped his mother and fathered him. An extremely dark look into the mind of a sociopath with (arguably) understandable reasons for his actions. I was surprised by the sensitivity of many of Gaiman's poems and short stories. It creates an extremely effective juxtaposition with the darker bits of the book, such as the story summarized above.
4) The Dunwich Horror - by H.P. Lovecraft
Progress: Finished
Why I'm reading it/review:
I forgot to mention above my other favourite story from Gaiman's collection. 'A Study in Emerald' is a macabre mixing of Sherlock Holmes and Lovecraftian mythos. By the end of the story we discover that Sherlock Holmes is working for 'the Old Ones' who rule through the monarchies of the world while Moriarty is what we would see as the hero, resisting the demonic beings that have taken over the world. I've always wanted to read some Lovecraft and discovering this book in Salisbury library seemed a good opportunity. Really good despite the fact that I'd had the ending ruined for me by a cheap retelling in a kid's book. Atmosphere was great but I think it was a bit silly of Lovecraft to make the 'Horror' that he's been building up to throughout the book invisible for the majority of the finale. Love the last sentence.
5) A Study in Scarlet - by Arthur Conan Doyle
Progress: Start of Part II
Why I'm reading it/review: More context reading for the aforementioned 'A Study in Emerald'. However, I also saw bits of the first episode of 'Sherlock' recently and it was annoying me that I had seen two reconstructions of this story without being able to recall the original. I found a copy on Project Gutenberg and am enjoying it greatly. Reserving judgement until Holmes finishes solving the case.
6) Teach Yourself Complete German
Progress: Chapter 15 of 23
Why I'm reading it/review: Sadly I've been neglecting this recently after an enthusiastic start. When I was applying for Modern History masters courses it was a good pressure release to practice some German language. Improved reading skills are sure to be useful wherever I go and it was something I could always work at if my applications were taking forever to come together or referees were slow in replying.
Phew, I don't think I'll be starting anything new until I've cleared at least half of that backlog! Luckily it is all so interesting I'm not losing heart and abandoning anything half read.
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