Oct. 1st, 2012

vivdunstan: Part of own photo taken in local university botanic gardens. Tree trunks rise atmospherically, throwing shadows from the sun on the ground. (Default)
It's been a very lean month for finishing books. I started quite a few, but some went on hold. And then I was extremely weak for a fortnight or so, probably due to the neurological disease and associated brain inflammation increasing in activity. To be honest I was relieved to finish any books at all. Though I still hope to do better in October.

The first book finished was Italo Calvino's If on a winter's night a traveller. This was a book club read, my choice, and I'm afraid to say I didn't enjoy it at all. There were a few redeeming features, particularly one chapter written from the writer's perspective which was insightful and thought-provoking. But the rest of the book was very disappointing, and I wouldn't have finished it were it not for the book club. The other members of the club shared my views. We were remarkably uniform in our response to it.

Much more enjoyable was The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists by Gideon Defoe. I started to read this in print a year or two ago, but with my problems with print, even in a very small easy-to-read book I gave up, even though I was enjoying it. I restarted it this month after it was a bargain Kindle deal of the day, and too good a deal not to pick up. It was made into a film by Aardman Animations, which I'd still like to see. The book was great fun, featuring probably the most piratey pirates I've ever come across in any media.

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vivdunstan: Part of own photo taken in local university botanic gardens. Tree trunks rise atmospherically, throwing shadows from the sun on the ground. (Default)
vivdunstan

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