What’s On the Bookshelf?

What’s On the Bookshelf? Vol. 9

What's On the Bookshelf?

Despite having finished roughly ten books since my last Bookshelf update, the books have all been ones I’ve read before, so I didn’t feel like I needed to review ’em.

CC//TCM Hitchhiker

CC//TCM Hitchhiker

Today, I just finished The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells.

I’ve decided that I’m going to read a lot of old school sci fi this summer. Wells is the number one author on the list.

I enjoyed The Invisible Man. One aspect that I felt was very intriguing was Wells’ decision to have Griffin be an albino. Here’s a man who goes from being incredibly noticeable to invisible.

Wells could be accused of “info dumping” when Griffin explains how he became invisible. As a writer (however amateur) I thought of how I would’ve have written it. I’m still mulling over the details.

It’s also one of those stories where you assume you know, but don’t until you read the story.

Up next: I’m not sure. Maybe I’ll finally finish Dracula or War of the Worlds.

What’s on the Bookshelf? Vol. 8

What's On the Bookshelf?

I should just change the name of this blog to “She Reads Too Much” because that might be a truer statement.

The most recent book is Blind Justice by Bruce Alexander. It’s about Sir John Fielding, the blind magistrate who founded the first organized police force, the Bow Street Runners.

In the book, narrator Jeremy Proctor (a fictitious character) is held on trial before Sir John, who takes pity on the boy and lets Jeremy live with him for a short period. A murder takes place, and the two investigate. Twists and turns abound.

I first read this book when I was in eighth grade. Despite my youth when I first discovered the series, it’s not for children (but teenagers can enjoy it).

Rereading this series and the wonderful Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O’Brian is like visiting old friends you haven’t seen in a while. You reminisce about what happened, and gladly.

I really need to get out more.

What’s on the Bookshelf? Vol. 7

What's On the Bookshelf?

What would you do if all of a sudden you were resurrected alongside history’s famous and infamous?

Why, explore and start new societies, of course.

I just finished reading Philip Jose Farmer’s To Your Scattered Bodies Go, the first book in the Riverworld series.

It’s an interesting concept. An advanced society nicknamed The Ethicals by protagonist  Sir Richard Burton cloned and transplanted most people who have ever lived to this planet, Riverworld (the River is about 10 million miles long). The reason? Well, Burton isn’t quite sure. He gets different reasons from different people.

It’s an intriguing idea, and I look forward to reading the other books in the series.

What’s on the Bookshelf? Vol. 6

What's On the Bookshelf?

Proust was a Neuroscientist by Jonah Lehrer

CC/sea turtle

CC/sea turtle

I like reading science books on occasion. Not text books, but books on a subject, like Dava Sobel’s Longitude.

Proust… wasn’t of my chosing–it was assigned reading. But I’m glad that it was.

Lehrer examines eight different artists from turn of the century Paris and how their works preexamined (not the right word) ideas that neuroscientists are working on, such as how we taste (Escoffier), and how we process grammar (Gertrude Stein).

My favorite chapter was the one on Escoffier, the creator of the cookbook and (for all intents and purposes) what we think of as French cooking. Of course, I was also watching a Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations marathon before and after finishing this section!

If you want a good, entertaining and educating read, this is the book for you.

What’s on the Bookshelf? Vol. 5

What's On the Bookshelf?

I finally finished Patrick O’Brian’s Hussein. I liked it. It was no Master and Commander, but the book was still good.

O’Brian wrote this story, which takes place in India during the English occupation, when he was my age–about twenty.

It follows the life of Hussein, a young mahout (elephant trainer), and his many, many misadventures. He gets cholera (and survives!), encounters into bad luck, comes into good fortune, falls in love, and stumbles out of luck once more.

The book, which O’Brian termed An Entertainment, is just that. It’s light and entertaining. The characters aren’t too deep, but you still care about them. Reading this book, you can easily see the seeds of brilliance beginning to sprout.

Now I need to reread the epic Aubrey/Maturin series. I’ve only managed to get through the entire thing once…but at 20.5 volumes (he died while writing the 21st), it’s entirely understandable.

What’s On the Bookshelf? Vol. 4

What's On the Bookshelf?

Between yesterday and today, I managed to down Alexander McCall Smith’s The World According to Bertie, the fourth book in his 44 Scotland Street series. Previously, I reviewed Espresso Tales, the second book in the series. And no, I haven’t read the third.

That’s part of the charm of the series. You don’t have to read them in order. If you wanted to, you could even start with the fourth book.

My favorite story line follows Bertie, the perpetual six year old forced to go to saxophone lessons, yoga, and a psychotherapist. In this book, he has a new baby brother named Ulysses. His parents always lose their red Volvo, but this time, they manage to outdo the leaving-it-in-Glasgow situation from Espresso Tales.

Bertie is so charming and fun to read about because of his youth, and he’s precocious without being obnoxious as hell. The poor kid just wants to be like everyone else. He wants to wear jeans, have a white bedroom and play with trains rather than wearing “crushed-strawberry dungarees,” live in a pink room (his mother wants to desensitize him to color prejudices) and being forced to play house with the obnoxious Olive. There’s a little bit of Bertie in us all, I think, and that’s what makes him so endearing.