Too many books ...

I’ve had extended periods in which I haven’t posted anything on the blog. It doesn’t mean I’m not reading, but goodness knows, it’s difficult to maintain concentration these days, isn’t it? I don’t blog about every book I read. I usually have three or four books going at the same time, most of them not mysteries. Current events have driven me to read way out of my wheelhouse, but one thing good about the state of affairs these days, it’s expanded my horizons.

I also decided to do something I have almost never done before: read an entire series in order, bottom to top. I especially don’t like reading books I’ve read before because — What’s the reader’s motto? Too many books, too little time! The exception is I re-read books for MBTB’s book club. I’ve read them once before, usually two years ago, because I am pretty much the sole arbiter of what makes it onto our reading queue. But two years is a long time in blogger’s terms. Many books have passed by — not even including ones I don't blog about — in the meantime. So I re-read. It unexpectedly has proven to be a pleasure, because knowing the outcome — especially in mystery books — enhances the reading the second time around. So my blogging silence doesn’t mean diddly squat.

What is the series I am re-reading? For accuracy’s sake, I will clarify that I haven’t read all the books in the series. So it’s a surprise to me to discover what is hiding in the crevices: references made to preceding events in books I haven’t read that have flown over my head. I feel virtuous that I am remedying it now. (Please wait while I shine up my star.) And, as mentioned before, I have forgotten most of what I’ve read if it’s been longer than a week, a week with luck, that is. So I am enjoying Ben Aaronovitch’s Peter Grant series of supernatural mysteries. It’s humorous (notice I mention that first), original, beguiling, and there is an apprentice wizard whose police training is unique. Yes, future fans, Peter Grant is with the London police. 

Aaronovitch has written eight books over nine years. I’m savoring book two, “Moon Over Soho.”

What are the other books I’m reading? Well, it’s a mish-mashy answer, for sure.

“Ancillary Justice,” by Ann Leckie — science fiction, recommended by MBTB employee Majida, who was also the store bookshelf color coordinator :) . Remember “The Ship Who Sang,” by Anne McCaffrey? This is a souped-up version of that.

“American Spy,” by Lauren Wilkinson — for MBTB’s August book group. (More about the book group on www.mbtb.com.) PBS Newshour/New York Times picked it for one of their book group reads, so its popularity has been revived, not that it is that old (c2019).

“The Splendid and the Vile,” by Erik Larson — nonfiction about Winston Churchill during World War II. Larson became famous with “The Devil in the White City” a few years ago. “Splendid” is a hefty tome, and since I rarely sit and read a book straight through, to the exclusion of every other book, it will be a companion for months to come.

“The New Silk Roads,” by Peter Frankopan — I became interested in a modern look at the ancient Silk Road. I was coincidentally rewarded by a NYT Magazine focus on the Silk Road a month or so ago. That led to this book by Frankopan. It’s more of an economics-oriented look at bridging the cultures and countries that once were home to the traveling caravans carrying goods and culture across half the world.

“History Teaches Us to Resist,” by Mary Frances Berry — I must first point out to “The Great British Bake-Off “enthusiasts that this author is not that Mary Berry. This 2018 book is relevant again — although when has resistance ever been out of style, or unfortunately needed to go out of style — with its look at “How Progressive Movements Have Succeeded in Challenging Times,” to quote the subtitle.

“Merchants of Doubt,” by Naomi Oreskes & Erik M. Conway — What has has been buried, ignored, disrespected, camouflaged, and lied about? We’re talking issues significant to the American public who, it turns out, has been sold a load of horse pucky over the years about the dangers of smoking, nuclear armament, and especially global warming. Do you know that thirty years ago, something could have been done to mitigate the effects of decades of carbon dioxide and methane release into the atmosphere? I know, I know, Greta Thunberg is trying her best to get us back on track. But I decided to depress myself about how our failure to act is now beginning to gaudily manifest itself. And how, as I write, measures are poised to be enacted to dismantle one of the few regulations to limit methane. (Sigh.)

“Caste,” by Isabel Wilkinson; “How to Be an Antiracist,” by Ibram K. Kendi; “The Blood of Emmett Till,” by Timothy B. Tyson.