Wednesday Reading Meme

[osprey_archer]

What I Just Finished Reading

Hilary McKay’s Rosa by Starlight, an enchanting short children’s fantasy featuring cats, Venice, a deliciously wicked aunt and uncle (but ARE they really Rosa’s aunt and uncle?), and an intrepid orphan facing down her problems as best she can. Perfect if you like classic children’s fantasy that swirls a soupcon of magic into the real world.

Damon Runyon’s Guys and Dolls. Although the musical isn’t based directly on any one of these stories (in fact, I think the only direct reference might be Nathan Detroit’s craps game), it is at the same time exactly like Damon Runyon’s short stories. troisoiseaux suggested a similarity to the work of P. G. Wodehouse, which I definitely also see: it’s easy to imagine a crossover where Wodehouse’s upper class doofuses get into a caper with Runyon’s Broadway gangster idiots, probably ending in a double wedding where an upper class doofus marries a Broadway doll, and a Broadway guy marries Muriel Broadbent.

What I’m Reading Now

I’ve started my St. Patrick’s Day Maeve Binchy early this year, because I’ve picked her short story collection A Few of the Girls, and even starting now I probably won’t finish it by St. Patrick’s Day. (I usually read story collections one story a day.)

What I Plan to Read Next

You will be shocked to hear that a steady diet of Horatio Hornblower and Aubrey-Maturin have made me want to read a book about the history of the Napoleonic Wars, preferably an overview so I can get a general idea of the most important dates so I can orient myself as we go along. Any recommendations?

Comments

[troisoiseaux]

Although the musical isn’t based directly on any one of these stories (in fact, I think the only direct reference might be Nathan Detroit’s craps game)

Does this collection have "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown"? My understanding is that it's the main basis for the musical, although I haven't actually gotten to it yet in my collection of Runyon's short stories.

[sanguinity]

I haven't read it, so I can't rec it, but if *I* were looking for an overview of the Napoleonic Wars, I'd consider Oxford Press's Napoleonic Wars: A Very Short Introduction.

I read their World War I: A Very Short Introduction, and it was everything I hoped for: a no-nonsense high-level "these are the major thrusts/events/turning-points of the war and what the hell the higher-ups thought they were doing when they authorized them." All in a pocket-sized hundred pages or so.

[ursula]

I just read Janet MacDonald's Feeding Nelson's Navy, which is not a general history of the Napoleonic wars, but is good fun!

[skygiants]

I've been thinking for years that someone ought to write this crossover! It's shockingly plausible.