Reading Update

The House of Dimon by Patricia Crisafulli.  Was not particularly good but I gave it an okay rating on Goodreads because it was a quick reading and interesting reminder that all is not what it seems on the news and from the mouths of our legislators.  Ms. Crisafulli writes with almost breathless adoration and there is little in this book that is not available from clippings in the WSJ, other papers, and company reports.  Still it is timely, a quick read, and a  reminder that not everyone was so caught up in the finance bubble that they were blind to the risks and excesses taking place. 

I found it timely just as a reminder that intelligent people don't have to believe what is coming out of the mouths of businessmen whose companies are in trouble, or in fact, the Government, which thinks it is doing the country a favor and covering its own ass.

I had been waiting to read Elizabeth George's Careless in Red, waiting for the mass market paperback so that I could add it to the collected Thomas Lynley stories on the shelf, and I snapped it up as soon as possible and plunged right in.   First off, I can only say that Elizabeth George's portrayal of Lynley's grief is spot on.  It seems that she has a good handle on how people experience grief, and also on the personality of her character, because Inspector Lynley's grief over the death of his wife, and the way he experiences it and copes (or fails to cope) is so completely sympathetic and convincing.  

I found this novel very satisfying and well researched and quite fun to read.  I had a few quibbles with some of the characters, but there are many characters, and the main ones were beautifully realized.  An enjoyable read that I am happy to have added to my collection.

I reread two books in May, Jane Brocket's The Gentle Art of Domesticity is always a favorite for dipping into when I have a few moments and is still enjoyable.  I also used her recipe for flapjacks although I had to modify it slightly to work with the type of gluten-free oats I am able to find locally.  I now have a yummy sweet treat for those moments when I just am overcome with a need for something sweet.  For my purposes, her variation on the classic worked better than those I found on the recipes I found on the web.  I wasn't looking for the recipe, it just cropped up at the right time, and I am grateful.

My copy of Peter Gay's Weimar Culture was given to me by my father when I was in high school.  I read it at the time, but it was perhaps a little more scholarly and dense than what I was looking for at that time.  I read it again in college and then I appreciated the fact that it although it is quite scholarly there are times in the book when it is quite imaginative and gripping, unlike many historical tracts I had to read for coursework.  I read it again this time after encountering a quote from Mr. Gay in Alex Ross's The Rest is Noise which I am still reading.  I was happy  to read the book again and it reminded me of aspects of Weimar culture that I had forgotten, or missed the first time around.  Well worth rereading.

Most recently, I finished reading Sarah Water's The Night Watch.  I truly enjoyed this book. The writing is precise and perceptive and the dialo g is just beautifully done. Too many "period" novels end up sounding like a set piece or a play but these characters just sound like themselves, the worn, sad even, marginal characters they are. It is not a novel filled with lush melodramatic scenes and prose, and although the slow revelation of the characters works like a mystery, opening with the sad aftermath and then revealing the beginnings, it does not have the pace of a mystery novel. The writing is rather austere, fitting for the period, and the characters, and reminds me more of Elizabeth Taylor and Elizabeth Bowen, although the comparison is not direct, more in the general attitude of the prose.