Wednesday Reading Meme
Oct. 16th, 2024 08:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
osprey_archerWhat I’ve Just Finished Reading
A week of mildly disappointing reading. First, Zilpha Keatley Snyder’s The Ghosts of Rathburn Park, which is entertaining enough but doesn't really come together. There’s a big creepy house that we don’t spend nearly enough time exploring, a swamp that we cross but don’t explore at all, and a burnt-out church with a hut inside that gets a little bit of exploration but, again, not nearly enough. Also one of the ghosts is definitely not a ghost and the other ghost is only maybe a ghost, and I just feel that the ghost quotient in a book called The Ghosts of Rathburn Park should be higher.
Second, one of this year’s Newbery Honor books, Daniel Nayeri’s The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams. The Silk Road setting was fun, but unfortunately the book didn’t sell me on the idea that anyone would want to assassinate Samir, let alone want him assassinated so badly that they would hire half a dozen murderers of various nationalities simultaneously in order to give it a try. What a waste of capital, you know? At least wait for one to fail before you outlay the cash for another!
And finally (please don’t throw rocks at me), P. G. Wodehouse’s Mike and Psmith. I’ve been really enjoying the Jeeves and Wooster email readalong so I thought I’d give Psmith another go, and I do enjoy Psmith himself (in a “but I can see why people would like to slightly strangle you” kind of way), but not the Mike and Psmith books as a whole. Maybe the problem is Mike? Sorry Mike. You just care about cricket too much, kid.
What I’m Reading Now
Houston, we have a Shirley! I don’t remember a whole lot about this book, but I did remember almost word for word the bit where Shirley Keeldar first meets Caroline Helstone and instantly - before even speaking to her - presents her with a nosegay, and “put her hands behind her, and stood bending slightly towards her guest, still regarding [Caroline], in the attitude and with something of the aspect of a grave but gallant little cavalier.”
What I Plan to Read Next
Traipsing onward through the Newbery books of 2024! I’d really like to read Mexikid next, and… it looks like it’s actually been turned back in, finally, after being checked out for about two months! So maybe indeed that will be next.
A week of mildly disappointing reading. First, Zilpha Keatley Snyder’s The Ghosts of Rathburn Park, which is entertaining enough but doesn't really come together. There’s a big creepy house that we don’t spend nearly enough time exploring, a swamp that we cross but don’t explore at all, and a burnt-out church with a hut inside that gets a little bit of exploration but, again, not nearly enough. Also one of the ghosts is definitely not a ghost and the other ghost is only maybe a ghost, and I just feel that the ghost quotient in a book called The Ghosts of Rathburn Park should be higher.
Second, one of this year’s Newbery Honor books, Daniel Nayeri’s The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams. The Silk Road setting was fun, but unfortunately the book didn’t sell me on the idea that anyone would want to assassinate Samir, let alone want him assassinated so badly that they would hire half a dozen murderers of various nationalities simultaneously in order to give it a try. What a waste of capital, you know? At least wait for one to fail before you outlay the cash for another!
And finally (please don’t throw rocks at me), P. G. Wodehouse’s Mike and Psmith. I’ve been really enjoying the Jeeves and Wooster email readalong so I thought I’d give Psmith another go, and I do enjoy Psmith himself (in a “but I can see why people would like to slightly strangle you” kind of way), but not the Mike and Psmith books as a whole. Maybe the problem is Mike? Sorry Mike. You just care about cricket too much, kid.
What I’m Reading Now
Houston, we have a Shirley! I don’t remember a whole lot about this book, but I did remember almost word for word the bit where Shirley Keeldar first meets Caroline Helstone and instantly - before even speaking to her - presents her with a nosegay, and “put her hands behind her, and stood bending slightly towards her guest, still regarding [Caroline], in the attitude and with something of the aspect of a grave but gallant little cavalier.”
What I Plan to Read Next
Traipsing onward through the Newbery books of 2024! I’d really like to read Mexikid next, and… it looks like it’s actually been turned back in, finally, after being checked out for about two months! So maybe indeed that will be next.
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Date: 2024-10-16 03:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-10-16 04:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-10-18 02:16 pm (UTC)And re: The Many Assassins, I laughed at your recommendation to at least wait until one assassin fails. Good advice! Maybe you could do a side hustle consulting with crime organizations.
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Date: 2024-10-18 03:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-10-19 10:44 am (UTC)\o/
And what a first meeting! So gallant :D
I have never read any Psmith, largely because—despite liking Jeeves & Wooster and boarding school books—I have a sneaking suspicion that somehow it wouldn't work for me, and I don't want to disappoint either myself or fans of the books.
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Date: 2024-10-22 12:10 pm (UTC)I went into Psmith blithely convinced I would love it because boarding school book, right? (Actually only this first one is a boarding school book, but nonetheless.) And yet somehow no.