April 2025 books read

  • Vulcan’s Hammer – Philip K. Dick, 1960. I resisted re-reading Lucifer’s Hammer and picked this up instead! I read a lot of PKD in the ’90s; I don’t like his writing much but often find it compelling. This is very relevant to AI concerns today; not great but interesting.
  • How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures – Sabrina Imbler, 2022. Nature & Environment selection; quotes pulled, TBD.
  • Possession – A. S. Byatt, 1990. Second Monday selection; quotes pulled, TBD.
  • Little Grey Rabbit’s Story Book – Alison Uttley, 1977. I adore the Sam Pig stories; these aren’t as good, alas. Delighted to find this analysis of why she’s been described as a horrible person, perhaps unfairly.
  • The Adventure of the Strange Ruby – Enid Blyton, 1971. Most of the Blytons I read as a child were in French translations, but I think we had this Knight paperback in English. I remember the kids hiding out in the temple with lots of food and cozy rugs to sleep on. Not good, but comforting to re-read.
  • How to Lose a Marathon : A Starter’s Guide to Finishing in 26.2 Chapters – Joel H. Cohen, 2017. I picked this up from the running section of the library and was really looking forward to it, because I love first person accounts of mediocre runners and especially details about the New York Marathon. Unfortunately the “humor” was like nails on a blackboard for me. I finished it and would have gotten quite a bit of good practical advice out of it, between the unfunny quips, if I were new to running.
  • The Diary of a Bookseller – Shaun Bythell, 2017. April’s Massachusetts Center for the Book challenge: “A book about books, bookstores, or libraries.” I wrote “Enjoyable brief daily entries by an eccentric but realistic bloke who enjoys teasing customers and staff.” It was really interesting to see day over day how many online sales can’t be located, and how dependent they are on the (terrible) software platform. He introduces each month with a quote from Orwell’s “Bookshop Memories” – TBR!
  • A Little Princess – Frances Hodgson Burnett, 1905. Comfort re-read.

Notable novellas and short stories

  • “The Beast in the Jungle” – Henry James, 1903. Far Out Film watched The Beast (2023), which is loosely based on this, so I wanted to check it out. Very Jamesian – I’m not a fan – but the connection to the movie was interesting.
  • “The Moron Factory” – George Sanders, 2024. I would have loved this even if I weren’t a Story Club member, but GS himself giving it to us makes it all the better. It’s not dissimilar from “Tenth of December,” and I could see a critic accusing it of sentimentality – but kindness and humanity are his stock-in-trade, and the emotion he evokes is both real and earned.