weekend reading

Started with Fever Dream by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.  Not awesome, but so, SO much better than the last couple of books in the series.  I suspect because the super stupid brother character is gone.  Thank God.  Second-most annoying character appears infrequently, although I suspect she will be more, if not entirely, front and center in the next book (which, as usual, Misters Preston and Child not only hint at constantly throughout the story proper, but plug shamelessly, if ever there was a shameless plugging, in the end papers of the book). 

Next came Sovereign by C. J. Sansom.  I liked this one even better than the last Matthew Shardlake mystery I read - huzzah for authors who get better.  The kinks are clearly being worked out, and I really appreciated that while the author refers to events in past books, he does not ram ads for the previous installments, in the guise of plot, down the reader's throat.

After that (Monday-Tuesday, hooray long weekend!) was "An Abigail Adams Mystery" by Barbara Hamilton called The Ninth Daughter.   I was hoping it'd be good, given the character/setting, but it was...meh.  Not bad, not good.  This may be the "first in a new series!" but I'm not going to be searching out the next one. 

sad news

The library has recalled TWO books I was in the middle of & now I have to return both As If An Enemy's Country, by Richard Archer, and also The Secret History of the Mongol Queens, by Jack Weatherford.  I was enjoying both and am wicked sad.  But apparently Widener has wanted the latter back for a while, and now wants a "replacement" fee, so I didn't really have a choice.  Yet more overdue fines to ignore, oh well.  But I only have a week to do the revision of my paper, starting when I get the comments back tonight, so I guess fewer distractions are for the best. 

In other sad news, my baby brother just found out that thanks to his wicked low housing lottery number, he's going to be living in Sylvan next year, barring some miracle.  I actually tried to make him feel better by pointing out that "at least" he "will only be a rape trail away from" his friends.  Which came out wrong, needless to say.  Then I suggested maybe he try to split up two friends who were planning on living together in Grayson (where he wants to be for some reason - go O-Hill!), and swoop in and take their room; my great plan was to find two girls, tell each one that the other said she was a fat sl*t, and then wait for the fight to start.  Which didn't just come out wrong, but actually is wrong.  My final recommendation was to emulate our third, imaginary brother, who M & I told N lived under the stairs (and N was younger by enough years to believe us), and just squat in Grayson until he gets a room.  Clearly, it was time for lunch.  Am feeling much less evil-mastermind-y now that I've eaten.

More books I should read...

Was on my way to get lunch today when A Gambling Man: Charles II's Restoration Game, by Jenny Uglow, caught my eye - and not just because of the author's name!  Honestly, it was mostly that the title amused me, and I am sure if the book had had a different title or cover I might not have even stopped to look at it (the Restoration has never been a hugely favorite period of mine), but I did stop, and I think I will need to add it to my list of books to read...  Definitely a library book, though; it's been out since November of 2009, so there's no reason why it shouldn't be in the Harvard libraries somewhere, and it's definitely far enough from my fields that it's not worth paying for.  I still have my eye on that pre-Revolutionary Boston book by Richard Archer, though!  And that could be worth buying...but probably not only a month out, though - I should at least wait until I can get it cheaper, if not for it to be in paperback.  But library would be best; it's still not in Hollis, but hopefully soon, or I will request it - if I don't give in and buy it first!