{"id":1972,"date":"2019-06-18T09:48:35","date_gmt":"2019-06-18T16:48:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/educatedguesswork.com\/?p=1972"},"modified":"2019-09-15T15:48:23","modified_gmt":"2019-09-15T22:48:23","slug":"book-list-4th-century-1st-quarter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/educatedguesswork.com\/?p=1972","title":{"rendered":"Book List: 4th Century, 1st Quarter"},"content":{"rendered":"

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I decided both that the actual lists of books read is my favorite part of this tracking nonsense, and that I cannot wait until an entire new century of books has been read before updating you, my impatient readers. Thus, I herewith present the most recent twenty-five (25) books read, #301 \u2013 #325 if you’re keeping score at home. (As usual, I do not include comics and graphic novel books in my count, though they are listed below.)<\/p>\n

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Book read #301 is the almost-forgettable thriller Dead Watch<\/em> by John Sandford, about which I’ll say no more, save that I only remembered reading it previously when I had already gotten through 2\/3rds of this airport novel.<\/p>\n

My fourth century of books started out pretty poorly, overall, and included the so-called “scrapbooking mystery” Bound For Murder<\/em>, about my disdain for which I’ve written here<\/a>. The delightful Cold War indoctrination manual for future Apollo scientists, aka Tom Swift on The Phantom Satellite<\/em>, was probably my favorite of the first five books in this list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
#<\/th>\nRead<\/th>\nAuthor<\/th>\nTitle<\/th>\nGenre<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
301<\/td>\n3\/31\/19<\/td>\nJohn Sandford<\/td>\nDead Watch<\/em><\/td>\nMystery<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
302<\/td>\n4\/8\/19<\/td>\nU.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases<\/td>\nUSAMRIID’s Medical Management of Biological Casualties Handbook<\/em><\/td>\nMilitaria<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
303<\/td>\n4\/11\/19<\/td>\nElmore Leonard<\/td>\nCuba Libre<\/em><\/td>\nMystery<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
304<\/td>\n4\/15\/19<\/td>\nLaura Childs<\/td>\nBound For Murder<\/a><\/em><\/td>\nMystery<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
305<\/td>\n4\/16\/19<\/td>\nVictor Appleton II<\/td>\nTom Swift on The Phantom Satellite<\/em><\/td>\nChildren’s<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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The Best of Analog<\/em> anthology from 1979 was my favorite of the next five books (though the children’s books were really quite swell), with the powerful “A Thing Of Beauty” by Norman Spinrad still a nostalgically morose Jeremiad forty years later. Other standout stories by Vonda McIntyre and George R.R. Martin show Ben Bova’s strong editorial vision. I finished this collection and later that same day sped through Margery Allingham’s The Case Of The Late Pig<\/em>, which was fun, mostly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
#<\/th>\nRead<\/th>\nAuthor<\/th>\nTitle<\/th>\nGenre<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
306<\/td>\n4\/20\/19<\/td>\nAnne H. White<\/td>\nJunket<\/em><\/td>\nChildren’s<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
307<\/td>\n4\/24\/19<\/td>\nJoseph L. Baron, ed.<\/td>\nStars and Sand: Jewish Notes by Non-Jewish Notables<\/em><\/td>\nHistory<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
308<\/td>\n4\/27\/19<\/td>\nBen Bova, ed.<\/td>\nThe Best of Analog<\/em><\/td>\nSF\/Fantasy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
309<\/td>\n4\/27\/19<\/td>\nMargery Allingham<\/td>\nThe Case of the Late Pig<\/em><\/td>\nMystery<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
310<\/td>\n4\/28\/19<\/td>\nLilla M. Waltch<\/td>\nMystery of the Inca Cave<\/em><\/td>\nChildren’s<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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The Amar Chitra Katha bumper issue (a 3-in-1 comic book) Adventures of Krishna<\/em> was the first comic read in this new century of books, and the best through the first quarter. Also of note was The White Flag Principle<\/em> which I pulled out of humor but returned to the Militaria section after reading its earnest pages. I had thought that a book about why losing wars makes more sense than winning them had to be a joke, but the polemic tone hides a quite reasonable argument from this Israeli dissident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
#<\/th>\nRead<\/th>\nAuthor<\/th>\nTitle<\/th>\nGenre<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
311<\/td>\n4\/30\/19<\/td>\nPage duBois<\/td>\nTorture and Truth<\/em><\/td>\nHistory<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
312<\/td>\n5\/1\/19<\/td>\nJerome Beatty, Jr.<\/td>\nMatthew Looney’s Voyage to the Earth<\/em><\/td>\nChildren’s<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n5\/3\/19<\/td>\nKamala Chandrakant<\/td>\nAdventures of Krishna: Krishna and the False Vaasudeva \/ Krishna and Shishupala \/ Krishna and Narakasurua<\/em><\/td>\nComics & Graphic Novels<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
313<\/td>\n5\/5\/19<\/td>\nShimon Tzabar<\/td>\nThe White Flag Principle: How to Lose a War (and Why)<\/em><\/td>\nMilitaria<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
314<\/td>\n5\/8\/19<\/td>\nJerome Beatty, Jr.<\/td>\nMatthew Looney’s Invasion of the Earth<\/em><\/td>\nChildren’s<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
315<\/td>\n5\/9\/19<\/td>\nMaan Meyers<\/td>\nThe Dutchman’s Dilemma<\/em><\/td>\nMystery<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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I really cannot say enough about Caligula For President<\/em>, though I tried to say ‘Bravo! Brava!’ to Cintra Wilson’s tour de force<\/em> before. You can read my meagre words and insufficient praise<\/a>, if you like, or you could just get the book and enjoy the savage brilliance yourself. I recommend the latter.<\/p>\n

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The only real reason to read the Matthew Looney series of kids’ books (except perhaps for the first volume) is for Gahan Wilson’s slightly off-kilter illustrations. ‘Nuff said.<\/p>\n

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#<\/th>\nRead<\/th>\nAuthor<\/th>\nTitle<\/th>\nGenre<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
316<\/td>\n5\/11\/19<\/td>\nCintra Wilson<\/td>\nCaligula for President: Better American Living Through Tyranny<\/a><\/em><\/td>\nOther<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
317<\/td>\n5\/21\/19<\/td>\nBruce Pennington<\/td>\nEschatus: Future Prophecies From Nostradamus’ Ancient Writings<\/em><\/td>\nWacko<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
318<\/td>\n5\/22\/19<\/td>\nJerome Beatty, Jr.<\/td>\nMatthew Looney in the Outback<\/em><\/td>\nChildren’s<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
319<\/td>\n5\/25\/19<\/td>\nRussell Chandler<\/td>\nDoomsday: The End of the World\u2013A View Through Time<\/a><\/em><\/td>\nEnd of the World<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n5\/26\/19<\/td>\nToni Patel<\/td>\nAkbar \u2013 The Great Mughal<\/em><\/td>\nComics & Graphic Novels<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
320<\/td>\n5\/27\/19<\/td>\nJerome Beatty, Jr.<\/td>\nMatthew Looney and the Space Pirates<\/em><\/td>\nChildren’s<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n5\/28\/19<\/td>\nRajinder Singh Raj & Subba Rao<\/td>\nBhagat Singh: The Story of a Martyr<\/em><\/td>\nComics & Graphic Novels<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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The real winners in the quarter-century of books just completed came at the end, though I hesitate to admit just how long I had been slogging through the Harold Jenkins edition of Hamlet<\/em>. Of course, though the play is a problem (har-har), it was the critical apparatus that slowed me down so. So much, in fact, that I had to take a turn through John Dover Wilson’s simultaneously insightful and outdated What Happens In Hamlet<\/em> before reading the last half of Shakespeare’s play. That guy was a freaking genius. (Shakespeare, that is.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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You’ll have noted that I’ve been hitting the kids’ books lately, and this is because I have recently regained some access to those. I have a few odds and ends on my on-deck circle, and am also trying to purposefully attack that pile which sits next to my bed, and which is slightly lower today than it was yesterday. Until next time….<\/p>\n

The lists of previously read books may be found by following the links:<\/p>\n

#<\/th>\nRead<\/th>\nAuthor<\/th>\nTitle<\/th>\nGenre<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
321<\/td>\n5\/29\/19<\/td>\nJohn Dover Wilson<\/td>\nWhat Happens in Hamlet<\/em><\/td>\nShakespeare<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
322<\/td>\n5\/31\/19<\/td>\nEric Grzymkowski<\/td>\nThe United States of Strange\/em><\/td>\nReference<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
323<\/td>\n6\/5\/19<\/td>\nJohn Hollander<\/td>\nRhyme’s Reason: A Guide to English Verse<\/em><\/td>\nPoetry, Drama & Criticism<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
324<\/td>\n6\/15\/19<\/td>\nCecelia Holland<\/td>\nJerusalem<\/em><\/td>\nFiction<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
325<\/td>\n6\/18\/19<\/td>\nWilliam Shakespeare; Harold Jenkins, ed.<\/td>\nHamlet<\/em> (Arden Shakespeare)<\/td>\nShakespeare<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n