On The Book Piles, VI

Once again, it's time to dig into the book piles and have a short ramble on about what's being read, and whether they're good, enjoyable, interesting, dumb, smart, or any of the above. Once more, the game is afoot!


'The Ship Who Won' by Anne McCaffrey and Jody Lynn Nye (1994)

I have read this two book series out of order, this one being set and published before 'The Ship Errant' by Jody Lynn Nye alone. It's very much a different work to its sequel but also has lots in common. A brain-ship and her companion mark out a first contact on a world, but discover a bizarre mock-feudal society run by apparent wizards. It sounds good as it's described, doesn't it? It's an adventure, but a bit less substantial than the follow-up, unless the last few pages turn up something unexpected.

'Murder Must Advertise' by Dorothy L Sayers (1933)

This is one of the most famous of the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries, and on first reading it shockingly unveiled the rottenness of the advertising business. So far, only a few pages in, it's a witty bit of mystery fluff. We'll see what happens in this entry in the excellent series.

'Journey To The West' (Volume 2) by Wu Cheng'en (~1590)

Progress is being made. There are only another fourteen or fifteen hundred pages to go in the whole story and a few hundred here in volume two. It's fascinating and inventive, but ultimately a massive set of short stories, and short stories are my kryptonite. It's hard to believe that 'Journey To The West' was written more than four hundred years ago, as the translation is so crisp and modern, and the fantasy on a par with many a modern work. Very good.

'The Voyage Of The Beagle' by Charles Darwin (1839)

Stalled. Even more stalled. It will get back to the top one day. Somehow. It's really not bad.

'Jokes And Their Relation To The Unconscious' by Sigmund Freud (1940)

A non-fiction book that's actually reaching its conclusion? Good grief! That must mean that it's good and readable. Seriously, folks, this has been a lot more interesting than I thought it would be, and a lot of the reasoning on jokes, jests, and the comic, makes a lot of sense. Also, I learnt a new word in 'cathexis', for which I will always be grateful. Why not grab a few more of the Freud books?

'Kentucky Thriller' by Lauren St John (2013)

Barely begun, but it seems to be keeping up the quality of this young adult series. Hopefully, it will not go so far afield this time!

'Galileo's Daughter' by Dava Sobel (1999)

A third non-fiction book selected from the piles for this summary, and it's abour the surviving correspondence between legendary astronomer Galileo and his convent-bound daughter. Sadly, only the correspondence going to Galileo survives as his letters in return were burnt by a convent official. Still in the early stages, but it seeme interesting.

O.