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The Three Musketeers
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas Published: 1844 Narrated by: Simon Vance Translated By: Pevear and Volokhonsky (from French in 2006) Series: D’Artagnan #1 Length: 22:45 (736 pages) Swordplay, bravado, romance, political intrigue, drunken brawls, mistaken identity – there is a lot happening in this well-known novel, which is actually the first of a trilogy of books following D’Artagnan and his three companions. I’ve seen a few film adaptations of this over the years, none of which I can really recall, but I do always remember loving the pure adventure of it all, and I’m happy to say that the same is true for the source material. This is high…
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May in Review
Books Acquired: Poems by Robert Frost: A Boy’s Will; North of Boston by Robert Frost The Abbess of Crewe by Muriel Spark Conversations by César Aira The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith Bullfighting by Roddy Doyle The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy A Good Year by Peter Mayle The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi Shopgirl by Steve Martin Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) by Jerome K. Jerome The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared…
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Garlic and Sapphires
Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl Published: 2005 Length: 334 pages This is Ruth Reichl’s memoir of the time she spent as the restaurant critic for The New York Times, from 1993 to 1999. It begins with her flying to the city after accepting the job and being recognized on the plane. These reviews could make or break a restaurant, and many chefs around the city made sure their staff knew who she was. If they could recognize her when she arrived at the restaurant, they could try to spoil her and help their review. Because of this, she began dressing in…
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The Human Factor
The Human Factor by Graham Greene Published: 1978 Length: 347 pages I’ve read two other Greene novels besides this one, The End of the Affair and The Captain and the Enemy, and I’m still not entirely sure what I’m going to get when I pick up one of his books, but I know I love his writing. This is one of his later novels in an incredible career that began in the 20s and lasted until the late 80s. I always think of him as a classic author, but it seems odd to include anything written in my lifetime, so I tend to fall back on the arbitrary ‘fifty year’…
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Waking Gods
Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel Published: 2017 Narrated by: Full Cast Series: Themis Files #2 Length: 09:02 (325 pages) This is the sequel to Sleeping Giants and the second novel in the Themis Files trilogy, a series about a team of scientists finding and testing a giant robot found buried on Earth. The first two novels in this trilogy probably should have just been one. The first ends in a very anti-climatic and dull way, particularly for a novel about a giant robot, and this one just continues the story. Waking Gods does jump ahead in time several years, but it really feels like the second half of that first…
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Shockaholic
Shockaholic by Carrie Fisher Published: 2011 Narrated by: Carrie Fisher Length: 04:25 (176 pages) I was very sad to hear of Carrie Fisher’s death last December. I read Wishful Drinking a year ago and really loved it. I’d forgotten at the time that she was a hilarious and talented writer, and I decided that I needed to eventually read everything she’s written. Her autobiographies, of which this is the second, are all on Audible, so I’m starting with those. She narrates them herself, which is always an added pleasure with the memoirs of performers. Her fictional novels are also on Audible, but they all seem to be abridged, so I’ll…
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Amsterdam
Amsterdam by Ian McEwan Published: 1999 Length: 192 pages Awards: 1998 Man Booker Prize Winner Amsterdam opens at Molly Lane’s memorial as two of her past boyfriends reminisce and pay their respects. One is the lead editor of a struggling newspaper and the other a revered composer. A third suitor, a right-wing politician, is also attending, and after the funeral the three become entangled in each other’s lives in very destructive ways. Middle-age angst is a central theme here, with the characters facing different stages of their careers. The editor is pushing for success and feels he can achieve it with a story that lies in very grey moral ground,…
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Annual Times Colonist Book Sale Haul
Our favourite book sale has once again come and gone. Sometimes I’m sad that it’s only a once a year event, but then I look at our bookshelves quivering on the edge of failure, and I remember why it’s probably for the best. A local newspaper here has been running this event for the last twenty years, and it’s always a nice reminder that there’s still a love of books out there. Saturday and Sunday the sale is open to everyone, with books ranging between $1 and $3. On Monday, it’s open to schools and non-profit organizations to take what they want for free. Any remaining books are then sold…
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Company Town
Company Town by Madeline Ashby Published: 2016 Narrated by: Cecelia Kim Length: 08:58 (285 pages) This is a science fiction crime novel that takes place in a city built on a giant oil rig off the east coast of Canada. It’s the near future, and it’s incredible rare to find someone who hasn’t augmented their body in some way, by changing how they look or enhancing their physical strength or cognitive abilities. The protagonist, Go Jung-Hwa, is the only person on the rig that is unaltered. She works as a bodyguard for members of the sex trade, which is now legal and highly regulated but is still not without certain…
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April in Review
Books Acquired: Get Jiro! by Anthony Bourdain Sick in the Head: Conversations About Life and Comedy by Judd Apatow Books Read: Amsterdam by Ian McEwan Shockaholic by Carrie Fisher Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel The Human Factor by Graham Greene We have the used book sale this weekend (maybe I’ve mentioned that once or twice?), and this last month they had a book drive to collect donations. Lee-Ann and I happily got rid of two bags full of books. Some were books I didn’t enjoy, and therefore didn’t want to keep around, and others were books I had for a while and didn’t see myself reading anytime soon. The nice…