Things I Have Recently Read That You Might Like

[cathschaffstump]

I read in 5-10 minute increments most of the time. In this way, I find that I get a lot of reading done, in spite of a very full professorial life. Mind, there are times when I have more time to read. I am not entirely an ADD reader.

There are a couple of items I'd like to bring to your attention that I've looked at recently.

London Falling by Paul Cornell: Imagine Neil Cross of Luther fame and Neil Gaiman of Neil Gaiman fame had a love child. That love child would be London Falling, Paul Cornell's first in a series of magical police procedural novels. It's as British as it gets, and being fairly British (Mom's from Scotland), I enjoyed it. There's one scary damned villain in the piece, and some of the good guys hit the scary vibe as well. The police research is impeccable. No doubt, many of you have read this, and you're thinking, "Yeah. Duh. What took you so long?" The answer is that I'm a little over a year behind on my to read list. The good news for me is that I hear there's a sequel coming out soon, so in another year, I'll read another one.

The Enola Holmes series by Nancy Springer: For those of you who like to read or write middle-grade, if you haven't done so, you might like to take a look at Nancy Springer's Enola Holmes books. I've made it through the first two and have four more to go. Enola is indeed the younger sister of Sherlock and Mycroft, and you could see where a book like this could go south. This book avoids that with really solid portrayals of Sherlock and Enola. Enola is resourceful and clever, but not in a cliche way. Springer's research into the period is some of the most in-depth research I've seen.

Fevre Dream by George R. R. Martin: Game of Thrones leaves me cold. I've tried to start it, and it's not my kind of thing. This, this was my kind of thing. The oldest, ugliest, riverboat captain in the world takes on vampires. Fantastic. This book is a masterwork, and the character is one of my favorite ever in speculative fiction. It's artistic and beautiful, and if you want to see Martin kills some bad guys who really deserve it, well, there you go.

What have you been reading lately? Any recommendations for me?

Mirrored from Writer Tamago.