Books: What have you been reading?

[Starter Set]

Endymion, third book of the Hyperion Cantos. (by Dan Simmons)

Very good, better than the fall of hyperion actually in my humble opinion. Not quite as good as the first one but, well, as i consider Hyperion to be the greatest scifi book ever written the bar is kinda high.

One left to go.

[Deathstroke]

I finished reading the Maggie Blackburn mystery Little Bookshop Of Murder.

[Chubistian]

The Children Act, by Ian McEwan

[Malvolio]

Inherit the Stars by James P. Hogan

[Jack Dracula]

Considering digging out my old copies of Asimovs Foundation trilogy. I haven’t read it in decades and as I recall it was a bit of a slog. I’m hoping I’ve matured enough to actually enjoy it.

[Deathstroke]

My Mystery Scene magazine review of Ronald H. Balson's thriller Defending Britta Stein can be read HERE!

Attachment 113947

[Malvolio]

Considering digging out my old copies of Asimovs Foundation trilogy. I haven’t read it in decades and as I recall it was a bit of a slog. I’m hoping I’ve matured enough to actually enjoy it.

This would be a good time to re-read them, as Apple+ is about to air a Foundation mini-series.

[Deathstroke]

Here's my Mystery Scene magazine review of The Cellist by Daniel Silva.

Attachment 113965

[MajorHoy]

Started reading

Ice by Ed McBain
(originally released in 1983)

[The Darknight Detective]

New books I'm reading: Wild Life on the Plains and Horrors of Indian Warfare (1891) by various authors...



...and on my Kindle, The Golden Ass (180? AD) by Apuleius.

[Jim Kelly]

...and on my Kindle, The Golden Ass (180? AD) by Apuleius.

Back in the 1990s, I took Classical Studies courses at the university and THE GOLDEN ASS of Apuleius (a.k.a. THE METAMORPHOSES) was on our reading list. Given how costly it could get buying books new for these courses, I hunted down cheap second hand copies for most of the books on our lists. My Penguin Classics of THE GOLDEN ASS came out in the 1970s and is the 1950 Robert Graves translation. This was one of the last things to read on the course, given it comes late in the Classical period, but it was my most favourite thing to read. Quite ribald, but the story of Cupid and Psyche is just lovely (many people read only that story without knowing it comes from a bawdy book full of graphic sex).

What astounded me when I first read it is that, in all my previous literature courses over the years, I was led to believe the novel was only really developing around the middle ages. And before that literary works didn't follow the format of the prose novel. But THE GOLDEN ASS reads like a novel. The philosophical subtext of the whole book is the author's devotion to the Goddess who takes many forms--Venus, Isis, Fortuna (are these different divinities or all one?)--so through that lens, maybe it's not just a picaresque novel of silly misadventures. At least that's a good excuse to keep it in your monastery archives during the Dark Ages.

[The Darknight Detective]

Back in the 1990s, I took Classical Studies courses at the university and THE GOLDEN ASS of Apuleius (a.k.a. THE METAMORPHOSES) was on our reading list. Given how costly it could get buying books new for these courses, I hunted down cheap second hand copies for most of the books on our lists. My Penguin Classics of THE GOLDEN ASS came out in the 1970s and is the 1950 Robert Graves translation. This was one of the last things to read on the course, given it comes late in the Classical period, but it was my most favourite thing to read. Quite ribald, but the story of Cupid and Psyche is just lovely (many people read only that story without knowing it comes from a bawdy book full of graphic sex).

What astounded me when I first read it is that, in all my previous literature courses over the years, I was led to believe the novel was only really developing around the middle ages. And before that literary works didn't follow the format of the prose novel. But THE GOLDEN ASS reads like a novel. The philosophical subtext of the whole book is the author's devotion to the Goddess who takes many forms--Venus, Isis, Fortuna (are these different divinities or all one?)--so through that lens, maybe it's not just a picaresque novel of silly misadventures. At least that's a good excuse to keep it in your monastery archives during the Dark Ages.

It's a work I have always wanted to tackle, but finally decided to read it. I have read Apuleius' Apologia and loved it, but that was non-fiction. I have been exploring mythology in recent years, so I expect to enjoy this.

[Deathstroke]

I finished reading M.E. Browning's Shadow Ridge today.

[Deathstroke]

I finished Death In Sandpiper Bay by Traci Hall & Patrice Wilton. Here's my Goodreads.com review.

[The Darknight Detective]

Now reading on my Kindle Raw Gold (1908) by Bertrand W. Sinclair.