Curmudgeonly Steve (scvlad)

I'm back again. Stuck with it through 2016 and will try to stick with it through 2017.

Again, I may be somewhat here-and-there over the next year and probably will comment very little, but feel free to follow what I'm reading. Or not.

If you're new, I tend to do SF, mysteries, historical fiction, history, and graphic novels. Some other odds and ends too.

My grading scale looks like this:
- Just say no
- Some might like it, but it's not my thing
- I don't regret reading it, but once was probably enough
- A good solid book, well worth the time; might read again
- Great book; I'm almost certain to read it again

I keep track of genres, like so:

n = nonfiction
f = fiction
p = plays and poetry
g = graphic novels and comics

Thus, entries look like this:
01. n01. A Nonfiction Book by An Author
02. f01. A Fiction Book by Another Author

I continue to study Italian and will be keeping track of books and stories read in that language.

Last year's thread is here.

BOOKS READ IN 2017

JANUARY
01. f01. Iliade di Omero
02. f02. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
03-05. g01-03. Sex Criminals, volumes 1-3 by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky
06. f03. The Secret Place by Tana French
07. f04. Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey

FEBRUARY
08-10. f05-07. The Magicians Trilogy (The Magicians / The Magician King / The Magician's Land) by Lev Grossman

MARCH
11. f08. Caliban's War by James S. A. Corey
12. n01. Breve storia d'Italia di Alfio Caruso
13. f09. Theft of Life by Imogen Robertson
14. g04. Batman: the Complete Hush by Jeph Loeb
15. n02. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African by Olauda Equiano

APRIL
16. n03. Sicily: An Island at the Crossroads of History by John Julius Norwich
17. n04. Syracuse, City of Legends by Jeremy Dummett

MAY - SEPTEMBER

18-29. 18-29

OCTOBER - NOVEMBER

30-56. 30-56

DECEMBER

57-60. 57-60

2017 BOOK LIST BY GENRE

FICTION
f01. Iliade di Omero
f02. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
f03. The Secret Place by Tana French
f04. Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey
f05-07. The Magicians Trilogy (The Magicians / The Magician King / The Magician's Land) by Lev Grossman
f08. Caliban's War by James S. A. Corey
f09. Theft of Life by Imogen Robertson
f10.-f13. Four Books
f14.-f18. Five Books

NON-FICTION
n01. Breve storia d'Italia di Alfio Caruso
n02. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African by Olauda Equiano
n03. Sicily: An Island at the Crossroads of History by John Julius Norwich
n04. Syracuse, City of Legends by Jeremy Dummett
n05.-n07. Three Books
n08. Andare per le città sepolte di Michele Stefanile

GRAPHIC NOVELS and COMICS
g01-03. Sex Criminals, volumes 1-3 by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky
g04. Batman: the Complete Hush by Jeph Loeb
g05.-g11. Seven Books
g12.-g32. Several Asterix books in Italian

PLAYS and POETRY

NANCY PEARLED
Catania Segreta di Rosario Leonardi

LIBRI IN ITALIANO
Iliade di Omero
Breve storia d'Italia di Alfio Caruso
Accabadora di Michaela Murgia
La Sicilia dei Greci di Franco la Cecla
Siracusa: Dizionario sentimentale di una città di Giuseppina Norcia
Asterix il gallico di Goscinny e Uderzo
Asterix e il falcetto d'oro di Goscinny e Uderzo
Asterix e i goti di Goscinny e Uderzo
Asterix gladiatore di Goscinny e Uderzo
Asterix e il giro di Gallia di Goscinny e Uderzo
Several Asterix books in Italian
Andare per le città sepolte di Michele Stefanile

I am part of the group.
I love being part of the group.
I love the friendships bestowed upon my by dint of my membership of this wonderful fellowship.
I love that race and creed and gender and age and sexuality and nationality make absolutely no difference to our being a valued member of the group.

Thank you for also being part of the group.

Welcome back!

Happy reading in 2017, Steve!

01. f01. Iliade di Omero come raccontato da Maria Grazia Ciani e Alessandro Baricco



Finished the last book of the year yesterday, and the first book of the year today! What a start!

Non posso esprimermi in italiano; quindi lo dico in inglese.

First, I forgot what a good story the Iliad is. Lots of action, emotion, rage, sorrow, fear ... Lots of good stuff.

This is a neat translation. First, it's in prose. Second, the majority of the translational work was done by Ciani. Baricco's role was to heavily edit the text. He expunged the gods and the lists of ships and peoples, and cut to the heart of the story: the rage of Achilles and the story of a few days of war.

I thought it was very effective and I really enjoyed revisiting the story. I wish there was a similar translation of the Odyssey. I will have to pick up some English translations again sometime soon.

Glad to see my favourite curmudgeon back again! Starred.

>8 MickyFine:. You too Mick!

Dropping a star, Happy 2017!

Happy New Year, Steve!

Happy New Year! (dropping a star)

>10 karspeak: >11 rosalita: >12 ronincats: Hi y'all! Lovely to have you!

Hi Steve! I have you starred.

Hi Steve! Happy New Year!

02. f02. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks



By the time I finished this I was all set to give it 4.5 stars. Then I found out it was based on an actual book and that part of the story is, essentially, true. Boom. 5 stars.

'The Book' of the title is the Sarajevo Haggadah. A haggadah is (to quote Wikipedia) 'a Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. Reading the Haggadah at the Seder table is a fulfillment of the Scriptural commandment to each Jew to "tell your son" of the Jewish liberation from slavery in Egypt as described in the Book of Exodus in the Torah'. This particular haggadah is the earliest example of an illustrated Jewish text in a style that mimics Christian illuminated books of the time (probably mid 14th century Spain).

The novel tell the story of Hannah, a book conserver, who works on the book and discovers a few interesting tidbits. Her story and her interaction with the book forms part of the story. The rest of the novel is a set of short stories telling the history of the book (each story connected with one of Hannah's discoveries) and, by extension, the Jews in Europe. You start in modern Europe and work back in time to 14th century Castile.

It's delightful! I learned about Jewish history and culture in Renaissance Venice, Medieval Spain, late 19th century Vienna, and 20th century Sarajevo. The stories are well told. The characters are lovely. I'm very happy that this is how I started the year off! Recommended!

>16 scvlad: Nice review, Steve, and thanks for reminding me I want to read it.

>7 scvlad: Una piccola nota ... è meglio dire "riuscire" invece di "potere" quando stai parlando di qualcosa che è difficile piuttosto che impossibile per ragioni di permesso, conoscenza, o forse circonstanze.

Non posso camminare perché mi sono rotta la gamba. Non posso nuotare perché non ero mai insegnato come farlo.

Però

Non riesco a capire quando la gente parla tanto veloce. Non riesco a esprimermi in italiano perché il mio lessico è piccolissimo.

Tutte le due sono tradotte come "can" in inglese, ma il senso di "potere" è "can" mentre lo di "riuscire" è "able to". E' una piccola differenza in inglese, ma più grande in italiano.

Un'altra espressione utile è "essere in grado", il quale è un sinonimo di "riuscire" nel senso che non sei al livello di fare qualcosa.

Spero che trovi questa spiegazione utile!

Also, hello! I see this is your new thread and my first visit to it, so happy new year. :)

>16 scvlad: Yes! That is one of my most favorite books of all time, and I'm delighted that you loved it, too. Very nice review, Steve.

Ah, glad I found your thread again. I have belatedly dropped my star here :) Happy new year.

>18 ursula: Grazie per la piccola lezione! Non me ne ero reso conto che quella piccola differenza esiste!

Come stai Ursula?! Il trasferimento é stato bene? Michigan (?) va bene per te e i tuoi? Perché sai così tanto d'Italiano? Non é la tua madrelingua! (Ma certo, me ne rendo conto che tu viveva là per qualche tempo, ma ancora, non é giusto!)

03-05. g01-03. Sex Criminals volume 1-3, by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky



A group post here. These are, in some ways, very funny. In other ways, a little childish. Some of the underlying principals (orgasm = stops time) are a little poorly thought out. But it's not a bad way to kill a few hours. I am interested to see where they take the story ...

>22 scvlad: Non sono perfetta! Infatti ho fatto un errore ortografico in quel post - dovrebbe essere "circostanze" non "circonstanze". :) E non parlo (oppure scrivo) come madrelingua italiana! Però ... studio, studio, studio. Di recente, ho inziato di guardare i video di Alberto di "ItalianoAutomatico" su Youtube. Li conosci?

Ed è anche vero che vivere in Italia era un vantaggio grandissimo. Io e mio marito abbiamo fatto un scambio di lingue con un uomo per quasi 9 mesi, e questo qua con "potere" e "riuscire" è stato uno sbaglio che frequentemente ho avuto bisogno di corregere.

Il trasferimento in Michigan è andato bene. L'inverno non è troppo bello a meno che non si ama molto la neve. Va bene per adesso, ma non resteremo tanto tempo qui. Siamo nomadi. ;)

06. f03. The Secret Place by Tana French



Tana French is one hell of a writer. I won't pick up one of her books unless I know that I can ignore other things for a few days. I still think her best was her first In the Woods but this is a close runner up. It's really well structured, the themes are lovely, the characters are wonderful. I love that you never quite know what she's going to do, and she is well able to leave you with a 'downer' ending. That keeps you wondering where she's going - no easy endings here.

I'm not going to bother summarizing the plot. It takes place in an Irish girls school and is just really good.

>25 scvlad: I love Tana French too, Steve. In fact, I just started her latest, The Trespasser last night.

>26 rosalita: Yay! I'm not picking that up until I have 3 days off ...

>27 scvlad: You won't regret it when you do. I finished it in two days. I think it's right up there with the best of the series.

The LibraryThing staff put out what many might consider to be a controversial opinion on Facebook today. I just want to go on the record as saying that I support them. I have not talked about politics on any of my pages/threads in the past but I've decided that I need to start expressing my opinion in public more often. And in my opinion, our LT staffers have it exactly right.

Trump's immigration ban is, in my opinion, a thinly disguised effort to stop the immigration of muslims to the United States. It is built on questionable facts, and is a product of fear not reason. It will not help the security of the United States and will probably hurt it.

I know muslims and have worked with muslims. They uniformly deplore terrorism. My father was a refugee. Refugees are not terrorists. Are there exceptions? Probably. But how many people are we willing to hurt to prevent one terrorist from entering the country?

Non-Americans are people too. I find the rise of nationalism in our world to be deeply upsetting. We seem to have forgotten the lessons of two world wars and the harm that nationalism and fear of others can do. Closing borders, even 'temporarily' is not a solution to any problem.

So there are some somewhat random, disjointed thoughts for you. Note that I have not insulted anyone, I have not belittled anyone, I have not denigrated anyone's opinion. If you would like to have a conversation, fine; I might engage, I might not. If you want to talk down to me and tell me that I don't understand something, or insult my opinions, or tell me that I'm stupid, then please go away. If you don't follow this thread anymore, fine.

That may be the only non-book-related thing I ever post here. I kind of hope so. But now you know where I stand.

Benjamin Franklin said 'Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.' I believe it. I'm willing to live it. Are you?

I'm with you, Steve!

Spot on Steve, thanks for posting that.

>29 scvlad: Hear, hear!

07. f04. Leviatan Wakes by James S. A. Corey



The last book of January. The first half of this book is the basis for the first season of 'The Expanse' on the ScyFy Network. It's a good old fashioned space opera. There is Earth, Mars, and the Belters, and there is lots of conflict in the Solar System. There are two very different main characters, both good people but very different in outlook.

If you're into this kind of thing it's good. I assume the next season of the TV show will be roughly based on part 2 of the book, but I'm not sure. The TV show actually fleshes out a lot the characters and introduces new ones. In fact in some ways it's more detailed and filled out than the book. I look forward to seeing what happens in season 2 and comparing.

08-10. f05-07. The Magicians Trilogy (The Magicians / The Magician King / The Magician's Land) by Lev Grossman



I read the first book some time ago and thought it was OK. This time I liked it much more. And the rest of the series as well. I found it to be a nice combination of humor, darkness, tribute to books especially of the Harry Potter and Narnia kind, and just general good reading.

11. f08. Caliban's War by James S. A. Corey



Not bad. It's a fun series. The show is pretty good too.

12. n01. Breve storia d'Italia di Alfio Caruso



Finalmente ho finito questo libro! Ho preso un sacco di tempo per finirlo ma ha valso la pena. Veramente non è 'breve', almeno non per me. Ha 464 pagine sul mio iPad, e copre quattromila anni della storia.

Come al solito, le parti più interessante per me erano il periodo romano, e il novecento. Sono affascinanti i romani. Avevano una cultura simile della nostra ma anche così differente. E la politica della tarda repubblica e molto interessante. Più recente, la nascita del fascismo e Mussolini in Italia sembra importantissimo per noi negli Stati Uniti in questo tempo. Sapete che io lo chiamo Trumpolini? È giusto, no?

Ma ho anche goduto leggere del periodo normanno, e di Federico II, stupor mundi, e le politiche tra i papa e gli imperatori del sacro romano impero erano molto complessi e prendevano tanti sentieri involuti.

Per un straniere, la lingua di Caruso è un po' difficile in termini del vocabolario, ma la grammatica è diretta, e usa tante espressioni idiomatiche che ho goduto trovare sul web.

E questo è sufficiente per adesso. Leggetelo se non sapete la vostra storia italiana; sarà un buon inizio per i vostri studi.

Grazie per questo. Quel libro sembra interessante. Lunga ma interessante. L'ho fatto mettere sul mio TBR.

Ho sentito alcuni altri lo chiamano Trumpolini. Sono d'accordo, è giusto. :)

>36 scvlad: Complimenti per finire un libro italiano! Non leggo niente in italiano da qualche settimana perché in febbraio ho fatto un progetto di scrivere lettere ogni giorno e allo stesso tempo, ho iniziato ad imparare il russo. Il processo mi sembra molto più difficile che imparare l'italiano, con l'alfabeta diversa e suoni nuovi. Però, sono testarda, e continuerò. :)

>38 ursula: Buona fortuna con i tuoi studi, Ursula.

>39 sirfurboy: Grazie mille! (Sai che per gli italiani superstiziosi, è considerato sfortunato dire "buona fortuna"? Meglio dire "in bocca al lupo", e la risposta corretta sarebbe "crepi". Però ho sentito un sacco di italiani che dicono anche "buona fortuna".)

>40 ursula: Non lo sapevo, ma ha senso. Grazie.

13. f09. Theft of Life by Imogen Robertson



If you've not read the Crowther and Westerman series, you're missing something. Set in the late 18th century (the 1780s to be precise) they are a lovely mix of history, great characters, good plot development, and excitement.

This contribution touches on the English slave trade. Being a Yank, I tend to forget that other countries had to deal with racism and slavery too. This is a good introduction to the English version. It's based on a number of contemporary documents and ex-slave memoirs and the author gives a nice reading list of other sources - I've downloaded a few for later already.

One of the things I like about this series, and I've said this before, is the genuine friendship between Westerman and Crowther without any attempt to create sexual tension. It's very refreshing and 'grown up'.

I need to clean up last month. Two more books:

14. g04. Batman: The Complete Hush by Jeph Loeb and others



It was fine. I mean, I have a soft spot for Batman and have ever since I was a kid, and I keep getting sucked into reading stories. But so often they are so-so. This one is maybe a little better than that. But there were an awful lot of fights, and an awful lot of big-breasted, big-rumped women in skin tight suits. And of course B himself looks like he takes steroids. And the story was just OK. I don't know, maybe it's time to stop.

But onward...

15. n02. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African by Olaudah Equiano

This was more interesting. Equiano was a slave in the late 18th century, abducted from his home somewhere in Africa (I was never sure exactly where). So this is a look at the African slave trade, and life as a slave/ex-slave in that time. But not an American slave. He ended up in the Islands and England. It's interesting enough. I could have done without the religious philosophy though. As history, I liked and was interested in it.

>43 scvlad: I liked The Interesting Narrative too. I think he mentions Igbo as the language he spoke and/or Igboland as where he was from, which would be in Nigeria now. I took the religion talk with a grain of salt, all things about his life considered. :)

>44 ursula:. You're right. I remember Igbo now. You know, I can't completely help thinking there was some exaggeration in there. There was one point when he was in the arctic where he talked about some animal that clearly cannot have existed. I can't think of the details right now, but it does make me wonder ...

I'm gearing up for a trip to Sicily. So I read these two books:

16. n03. Sicily: An Island at the Crossroads by John Julius Norwich



This was a well written history of the island in context of European politics. It tended towards 'high matters' of state rather than history at the popular level, but that's mostly because there is not much documentary evidence of the latter. He tried. Easy to read, and interesting.

17. n04. Syracuse, City of Legends by Jeremy Dummett



Another very nice history, though obviously focusing on the city of Siracusa rather than the whole island. Again, it focuses on high matters rather than common. And it also points out the paradox that is Sicily: there is a relative ream of information about ancient Sicily and especially Syracuse, but much ,much less once the Romans took the city. Syracuse became a much less important place and after the Arab conquest and ceased to be a major player in the world.

Because, make no mistake, Syracuse WAS a major player in the ancient world. It was larger than Athens even at the peak of Athen's power, and when Athens, at the peak of that power, tried to take it, they LOST! Syracuse was a major city, a major hub for trade, and a major center of arts and culture. It dominated the island and the areas nearby. It was every bit as Greek as the Greek 'mainland'.

In that respect, it was a major influence on the Roman empire: Rome's grecophilia did not start with Greece, it started with Syracuse!

I'm looking forward to going back. There is a lot of great stuff in Siracusa and the island of Ortygia. It is a major contender for retirement ...

Exciting to have a trip to Sicily coming up! Next year, my husband has a conference near Rome that I'm planning to go to with him, of course, and we're hoping it will be possible to extend our time there so that we can finally get to Sicily. Twenty regions, and I got to 8 of them while we were living there. I'd like to knock a couple more off the list, and Sicilia and Calabria are at the top.

>46 scvlad: I think I need to read that book about Syracuse. Thanks and I hope you have a great trip.

Well, here i am. 5 months later. I am still around but I essentially took a few months off from reading(!). Of course I still read articles and stuff but for some reason I stopped reading books for a while. Weird eh? Anyway, I started reading things again the last 2 months or so. I'm just going to post them all here:

I'll start with Asterix (in Italian), 18. g05. - 22. g09.:



Now, some non-fiction, 23. n05. - 25. n07.:



Some other comics: 26. g10. - 27. g11.:



Some English language fiction: 28. f10. - 30. f12.:



A work of Italian language fiction: 29. f13:



And finally, one that I abandoned (just not that interesting unfortunately):



And that's all for now. Maybe I'll be better over the remaining three months of the year. But no guarantees ...

It's nice to have you drop in whenever you are inclined to, Steve. I was alarmed when you wrote that you had stopped reading, but then I saw you just meant books and you were still reading other stuff and I felt much better. I work with some people who don't read anything more challenging than the back of the cornflakes box and it makes me so sad to think of what they're missing by not at least picking up a magazine once in a while. But enough of that — welcome back!

>50 rosalita: Well thanks for that. I agree, I could never just stop reading ANYTHING; that would be weird. But I did just take a break from books. I'm still not sure why. I turned to crossword puzzles and computer games for a while. Whatever. I appear to be back. Thanks for the welcome!

>51 scvlad: I am completely hooked on the NYTimes crossword puzzle. I've currently got a 30-day consecutive solve streak going. I'm not the fastest solver, but I'm persistent. I do feel more alert and mentally agile when I do it. I suspect some computer games could have the same effect — exercising parts of the brain that don't get a workout in daily life.

Glad you dropped in. Our reading doesn't overlap AT ALL this year! I've gotten more into number puzzles such as variations of Sudoku and especially Kakuro.

ETA I lied. We both read Leviathan Wakes.

>52 rosalita:
OK, I have to brag for a second. My best NY Times Crossword streak is 109 days. On their app, which I use, you have to finish the crossword on that day and without using any of the hint features. I'm quite proud of this because I interpret it as saying that I can do most crosswords - it's just a matter of sitting down and plugging away at it. The only reason it ended was because I got really sick about a month ago and one day I did nothing but sleep. Since then I have not had the umph to sit down and do it on a daily basis - it's a surprisingly big commitment..

So, Rosa, you keep plugging away. Speed means nothing. (I will also mention that I did have recourse to Google every now and then for some obscure clues.)

Anyway, I'm gearing up to post another series of books soon...

>54 scvlad: 109 days is very impressive! I also do the puzzle on my iPad, and hit Day 53 today — a dreaded rebus puzzle, ugh. I will also resort to Googling on occasion, when it's one of those "you either know it or you don't" sort of answers that all the thinking and guessing in the world will never get. I don't consider that cheating, but like you not clicking the Reveal tools in the app is a point of pride.

I just started a couple of weeks ago, but have a 14 day streak going. :)

>56 drneutron: Well done! How did you like today's puzzle? I dislike rebus puzzles but this one wasn't too bad.

Yeah, I figured it out pretty quickly, but haven't had a chance to finish the whole thing yet.

Well, no posting yet but I'll get there. Regarding crosswords, ever since my streak ended I have not managed to get back on board. Haven't done a puzzle in weeks now. Sigh.

And I failed twice this week - both times to an obvious error I couldn’t find.

This is a time of year when I as a non-American ponder over what I am thankful for.

I am thankful for this group and its ability to keep me sane during topsy-turvy times.

I am thankful that you are part of this group.

I am thankful for this opportunity to say thank you.

>60 drneutron: Doesn't that suck? Sometimes I took hours just trying to figure out that one error ...

>61 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul. You're a good guy!

Here it is, Thanksgiving day. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope you're having a great day!

I have some quiet time, so I thought it would be a great time to update my lists. Here we go.

First let's do some comics:

30-50. g.12-32. Yes they are all Asterix books in Italian. Doesn't this look nice?



Now we will do a couple of series:

51-52. f14-15.



There is more to this series. It's somewhat fun if not amazing.

53-55. f16-18.



These, on the other hand, are quite amazing and well worth reading if you do fantasy and SF.

56. n08. And here's a final non-fiction book in Italian. It was very good.



I have several other things on the go at the moment. I'll post something about them some time ...

That's an impressive number of titles, sir!

>64 MickyFine:. Meh. You can read an Asterix book, even in Italian, in a couple of hours. And since this was almost 2 months worth of reading, I refuse to be impressed with myself ...

>65 scvlad: There's the curmodgeon. ;)

I want to read Asterix next year too (in French - as long as I can get hold of them).

And the fact you can read an Asterix book in Italian in a couple of hours should allow you to be at least a bit impressed with yourself :)

Love Asterix!

Happy Thingaversary, Steve!

It is that time of year again, between Solstice and Christmas, just after Hanukkah, when our thoughts turn to wishing each other well in whatever language or image is meaningful to the recipient. So, whether I wish you Happy Solstice or Merry Christmas, know that what I really wish you, and for you, is this:

Wishing you all good things this holiday season and beyond.

Oh my. I have been neglecting things haven't I. I guess I should at least try to finish up this thread. I apparently only have two books to add. That feels wrong, but LT says it is so.

57-59. g.33-35. Le avventure di Tintin, Volume 6: Tintin nel Paese dell'Oro Nero / Obiettivo Luna / Uomini sulla Luna di Hergé



A good way to learn Italian though the translations appear to use very old school language. The Captain and Tintin are good friends and yet the only use the Lei. Very strange.

60. n08. Academia Obscura by Glen Wright



A tongue in cheek and fun look at the lives of academics. Good fun.

And that does it. Kind of a lame year. Oh well, whatever.

Still thinking about this year ....