What Are You Reading? January 2012

annis · Post by **annis** » Wed January 11th, 2012, 6:13 am

Thanks to Keny's mention, I've discovered Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Last of the Legions, a collection of short stories set in the ancient world. These have a very end-of-empire feel and a message. As well as fiction (and pretty good fiction at that) they're an expression of fear and regret that moral lassitude and greed have replaced duty and selflessness, that complacency will cause the British Empire to go the way of the great lost empires of the past. The story The Last of the Legions also serves as a "be careful what you wish for" warning to imperial possessions about the possibly disastrous results of pressing for self-determination.

This fin-de-siècle melancholy, the sense that a tipping point has been reached, can also be seen in other British authors of the Victorian/Edwardian period- notably Kipling, as seen in works like his Recessional.

Vanessa · Post by **Vanessa** » Wed January 11th, 2012, 9:52 am

[quote=""rebecca""]I figured out the ending in the first few chapters, but it was still worth the read

Let me know how you find it?

Bec

[/quote]

I finished it last night. I thoroughly enjoyed it - I thought it was quite original and definitely a page turner. The only quibble I have with it is that I thought the ending was too neatly tied up.

I'm now reading The Somnambulist by Essie Fox.

Gordopolis · Post by **Gordopolis** » Wed January 11th, 2012, 10:16 am

I'm reading SJA Turney's Marius Mules I. It's a captivating and engaging read . . . in fact I almost feel like I've been levied into Caesar's legions in Gaul

Brenna · Post by **Brenna** » Wed January 11th, 2012, 2:46 pm

Started Michelle Moran's Madame Tussaud and Steve Berry's The Venetian Betrayl on audiobook.

I don't know if the hardcover of Tussaud was like this everywhere, but I love how they cropped the pages. It makes me feel like I'm reading an old manuscript!

DeAnnaCameron · Post by **DeAnnaCameron** » Wed January 11th, 2012, 11:05 pm

Back from a research trip to New Orleans and Natchitoches & finally have time to finish THE AFFLICTION GIRLS, Suzy Witten's excellent take on the Salem witch trials.

rebecca · Post by **rebecca** » Thu January 12th, 2012, 1:08 am

[quote=""Vanessa""]I finished it last night. I thoroughly enjoyed it - I thought it was quite original and definitely a page turner. The only quibble I have with it is that I thought the ending was too neatly tied up.

I'm now reading The Somnambulist by Essie Fox.[/quote]

I enjoyed it too and usually if I have guessed the ending I usually give up, but not this time, I kept reading it...I wonder if it will be made into a movie?

Right now I am trying to decide which book to read next.

Bec

Vanessa · Post by **Vanessa** » Thu January 12th, 2012, 10:24 am

Yes, it is being made into a movie - the script has already been written. It's in development as they say.

fljustice · Post by **fljustice** » Thu January 12th, 2012, 3:47 pm

Started a NF as my commuting book Packing for Mars by Mary Roach. The first chapter had me laughing out loud on the bus.

LoobyG · Post by **LoobyG** » Thu January 12th, 2012, 6:03 pm

A brief break from HF, 'The Hobbit' by J R R Tolkien which I haven't read since I was a child - I saw the upcoming film trailer and felt inspired!

annis · Post by **annis** » Fri January 13th, 2012, 5:11 am

Diana Gabaldon's The Scottish Prisoner. This is a Lord John novel and returns to a time already covered in the Outlander books, but from a different angle.

Historical Fiction Online

What Are You Reading? January 2012

Before I Go to Sleep by S J Watson