Bibliophile's reading report for May 2006

I have now finished a quarter of the book I'm translating, by working for an hour most mornings before going to work and 2 hours after work. Since I no longer have a TV (long story), this leaves the evenings for me to read. I managed to read 17 books in May, and expect there will be more in June, because I am taking two weeks of my summer vacation this month. The plan is to finish the rough translation of the book by the end of next week, then finish some of the the documenting and write the first draft of my thesis. I will then have until August to polish the translation and finish the thesis. I am giving myself a full 8-hour work-day for the academic work, and will use the rest of each day to relax, read, take walks, go swimming and generally enjoy being on holiday. Here are the books I read this month:

Reviewed:
Death in a cold climate and Death of a mystery writer: Robert Barnard (mystery) (in progress)
Death on demand and Something wicked: Carolyn G. Hart (mystery)
The Englishwoman in America: Isabella Lucy Bird (travel)
Going Postal: Terry Pratchett (fantasy; reread)
Man of two tribes: Arthur W. Upfield (mystery)
Murder makes a pilgrimage: Sister Carol Anne O'Marie (mystery) (in progress)
The Thin Woman: Dorothy Cannell (mystery)
The Winter Queen: Boris Akunin (mystery)

Unreviewed:
Black sheep: Georgette Heyer (historical romance)
The Devil Earl: Deborah Simmons (historical romance)
Kitty: Marion Chesney (historical romance)
Murder must wait: Arthur W. Upfield (mystery)
Naked: David Sedaris (memoir)
Venetia: Georgette Heyer (historical romance)
What next, Doctor?: Dr.Robert Clifford (memoir)

Comments

Book 7: Shadow of the Sun by Ryszard Kapuściński (reading notes)

-This reads like fiction - prose more beautiful than one has come to expect from non-fiction and many of the chapters are structured like fiction stories. There is little continuity between most of the chapters, although some of the narratives or stories spread over more than one chapter. This is therefore more a collection of short narratives than a cohesive entirety. You could pick it up and read the chapters at random and still get a good sense of what is going on. -Here is an author who is not trying to find himself, recover from a broken heart, set a record, visit 30 countries in 3 weeks or build a perfectly enviable home in a perfectly enviable location, which is a rarity within travel literature, but of course Kapuściński was in Africa to work, and not to travel for spiritual, mental or entertainment purposes (he was the Polish Press Agency's Africa correspondent for nearly 30 years). -I have no way of knowing how well Kapuściński knew Africa - I have never been there...

How to make a simple origami bookmark

Here are some instructions on how to make a simple origami (paper folding) bookmark: Take a square of paper. It can be patterned origami paper, gift paper or even office paper, just as long as it’s easy to fold. The square should not be much bigger than 10 cm/4 inches across, unless you intend to use the mark for a big book. The images show what the paper should look like after you follow each step of the instructions. The two sides of the paper are shown in different colours to make things easier, and the edges and fold lines are shown as black lines. Fold the paper in half diagonally (corner to corner), and then unfold. Repeat with the other two corners. This is to find the middle and to make the rest of the folding easier. If the paper is thick or stiff it can help to reverse the folds. Fold three of the corners in so that they meet in the middle. You now have a piece of paper resembling an open envelope. For the next two steps, ignore the flap. Fold the square diagonally in two. Yo...

Bibliophile discusses Van Dine’s rules for writing detective stories

Writers have been putting down advice for wannabe writers for centuries, about everything from how to captivate readers to how to build a story and write believable characters to getting published. The mystery genre has had its fair share, and one of the best known advisory essays is mystery writer’s S.S. Van Dine’s 1928 piece “Twenty rules for writing detective stories.” I mentioned in one of my reviews that I might write about these rules. Well, I finally gave myself the time to do it. First comes the rule (condensed), then what I think about it. Here are the Rules as Van Dine wrote them . (Incidentally, check out the rest of this excellent mystery reader’s resource: Gaslight ) The rules are meant to apply to whodunnit amateur detective fiction, but the main ones can be applied to police and P.I. fiction as well. I will discuss them mostly in this context, but will also mention genres where the rules don’t apply and authors who have successfully and unsuccessfully broken the rules. 1...

Reading in Reykjavík

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