A brief roundup of my reading in October.
1. Blue Nights
— Joan Didion
Nowadays I seldom read books in a single sitting. But with this one it just happened. It’s frank, heartbreaking, human all too human, and my book of the month.
2. This is How You Lose the Time War
— Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone
Have not read anything quite like this before. Breathtakingly beautiful prose. A modern-day ‘Greek’ epic.
3. Endling
— Maria Reva
A bizarre adventure with some memorable oddball characters.
4. The Stars my Destination
— Alfred Bester
Fast-paced, action-packed space opera that has obviously, since its publication in 1956, had a significant influence on later sci-fi.
5. Sing to it
— Amy Hempel
A great collection of short stories. Will read more by Amy Hempel.
6. A Midsummer’s Equation
— Keigo Higashino
Third in the Detective Galileo series, this was another entertaining page-turner.
7. Call for the Dead
— John le Carré
My first by this author. Espionage is not usually my thing, but good enough — and the protagonist interesting enough — that I’ll try his second novel, A Murder of Quality, next.
8. The Lifted Veil & Brother Jacob
— George Eliot
I loved Silas Marner — it was one of my favorite books of 2024. I’ve since begun reading Middlemarch (900 pages) and I’m finding it a bit of a grind. These two short stories are rather different and quite enjoyable. The first might have made an interesting novel.
9. The Garden Party & Other Stories
— Katherine Mansfield
A good collection of short stories.
Books on my November TBR include To Live by Yu Hua, A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge, The Other Americans by Laila Lalami, and The Awakening by Kate Chopin.
Remarkable Renaissance Books
My new book Remarkable Renaissance Books has now been published in the UK. Elsewhere, you can pre-order it or ask your local bookstore to get you a copy.
