This week, my reading made me think a lot about expectations. That’s always a good thing.
For those of you unfamiliar with this column, the Friday Fragments lists what I’ve read over the past week. Most of the time I don’t include details of either short fiction (unless part of a book-length collection) or magazines. The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list. If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive recommendation list, you can look on my website under Neat Stuff.
Once again, this is not a book review column. It’s just a list with, maybe, a bit of description or a few opinions tossed in. And it’s also a great place to tell me what you’re reading.
Completed:
Red Shirts by John Scalzi. I’d wanted something light and funny, and this filled the bill very nicely. However, the three Codas at the end where what made this book a winner for me.
In Progress:
A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chamber. Audiobook. At this point, structure is two intertwined novellas, each of which is interesting in its own right. Thus far, this one has more of a middle grade/coming of Age vibe than A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet.
The Sound of Murder by Rex Stout. Not a Nero Wolfe, but featuring Alphabet Hicks in the role of detective. What’s fascinating about this one is that at the time of publication, it was centered around relatively cutting-edge technology. Plastics, for one…
Also:
A bit more short fiction. And the new Archeology magazine just came in!
Jane Lindskold: Wednesday Wanderings 
May 6, 2022 at 6:18 am |
Been doing a lot of re-reading these last few weeks. Nothing new to report. I really should force myself to read something I haven’t read before. I’ve re-read books by Steve Perry, Gordon R. Dickson, Daniel Keys Moran, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, and Roger Zelazny
Oh, I did read one new-to-me book in that period. “Kingdom of Needle and Bone” – a dark novella about a pandemic by Mira Grant. It felt … not quite finished … but provided a fictional look at anti-vaxxers and the stupidity of our response to a pandemic … published 2 years BEFORE the Coronavirus hit.
May 6, 2022 at 7:42 am |
Re-reading is cool. I like it when I find that a book I loved once upon a time has grown with me, or I have grown with it. Reading is NOT a competition for who has read more Hot New Stuff. At a brunch recently, Jim and I got in an animated conversation with another guest about a series we all had read and loved as kids, and still read and loved as adults. It was like finding out we’d all grown up with the same relatives, but somehow hadn’t met.
May 6, 2022 at 8:25 pm
I actually went and bought a favorite book from when I was a small child, just so I could have it again. It’s about finding your place in the world. “Four Little Kittens” by Kathleen Daly. The cover is here:
May 7, 2022 at 7:49 am
I remember that one! I used to try and decide which kitten I’d choose and never could decide. They all had something special.
May 13, 2022 at 11:05 am |
The Rex Stout book sounds interesting. I never read them though. I will look those up and start reading them. I watched the 1980’s show and loved it. It was something Mom watched. I grew up reading mysteries because they were my Mom’s favorite. I wish I had taken her Agatha Christie books when I had the chance. She had all of them.
Your comment about plastics let me know exactly when the books were published. The Cunard line used plastic to make the handrails in the Queen Mary and other liners of the era. She was launched in 1936. It was an interesting thing to learn when I first visited her when I was 10. That visit was a pivotal time in my life. If you look her up you can find photos of her hallways with the handrails.
The Queen and because of her, all ocean liners became a focal point in my life to this day. I first read a book about the Titanic when I was 12. I bought A Night To Remember from the school book orders. I had more books about her than the public library did in 1997 when James Cameron’s movie came out. That changed quickly because of the interest the film caused.
May 17, 2022 at 6:31 am |
That is really cool information.