Looking for a good book? Here are my best reads in English of 2008.
- Will in the World. How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare. Stephen Greenblatt 2004. The great man in his historical context.
- Casino Royale. Ian Fleming 1953. Finely written about the greatest secret agent of them all.
- The Enquiries of Doctor Eszterhazy. Avram Davidson 1975. Riveting supernatural detective stories in alternate-history Balkans.
- The Yiddish Policemen's Union. Michael Chabon 2007. Yiddish noir detective novel in an alternate-history Alaska.
- The Spook's Apprentice. Joseph Delaney 2004. Young-adult rural fantasy.
- Electric Universe. David Bodanis 2005. Richly embroidered non-fic.
- Under the Black Flag. David Cordingly 1995. Arr, me hearties!
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From age 16 to 26 I was an active member of the Stockholm Tolkien Society (est. 1972). This charming association is organised around a schedule of annual feasts and a roster of themed activity guilds. There's the Medieval Dance Guild, the Gaming Guild, the gluttonous Hobbit Guild, the erudite…
Looking for a good book? Here are my best reads in English of the past two years.
2009
The Colour of Magic. Terry Pratchett 1983. Lavishly ornate humorous fantasy.
Dancing with strangers. Inga Clendinnen 2003. On contacts between the first English penal colony and the aboriginals at Sydney Cove in…
There are lots of other books in the booklog queue, but this one is due back at the library today, so it gets bumped to the front of the list. Of course, it doesn't hurt that it's probably the most widely discussed of the books waiting to be logged...
In case you've been hiding out in a cave that…
Having read what I had to say about Orsinian Tales, Ursula K. LeGuin's 1976 collection of short stories set in an alternative Balkans, Dear Reader Tty suggested that I read Avram Davidson's Doctor Eszterhazy stories. For this I thank him warmly: I have just finished the 1975 collection The…
Several books are listed here which I haven't read! I really enjoy seeing other people's lists. I've read some Avram Davidson, but not the novel you mention. And Ian Fleming... I furtively read the Bond novels when I was a youth (my parents thought them too racy for me) and I really should re-read them.
I'm very fond of Michael Chabon's novels, including the one you mention. Have you read "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay"? It's wonderful, but then I grew up reading Marvel comics and I thought the novel captured well the mysteries and allure of the comics world.
I haven't read any other Chabon than Yiddish Policemen yet. Will check out K&C!