Not-Meh

Returned Pure by Andrew Miller yesterday; I forget when I read it, but I liked it. I had read a review somewhere, I think, and ordered it from the library, and read it quite quickly, and with a good deal of enjoyment, when I got it. It's about a young engineer who gets as his first real job the unenviable task of digging up a centuries-old graveyard in the middle of pre-revolutionary Paris that is overflowing with bodies (and emitting noxious air). While some of the events were fairly predictable, overall the plot was interesting and imaginative and Miller did a good job limning day-to-day life in the city, in working-class & middle-class neighborhoods and Versailles, especially the dirt, grime, and smells of Enlightenment era cities. It also has a great cover (see the picture in the Telegraph article on Pure winning the Costa prize)

More books, Pt. 2

Can NOT say the same (see Kate Morton entry, below) for the latest Tasha Alexander "Lady Emily" mystery, Dangerous to Know.  I think I picked up the first book in the series, And Only to Deceive) used or something, cheap paperback for sure, maybe before a trip?  And I enjoyed it; not the most original or brilliant book, but I liked it, and it was fun, in that "independent before her (Victorian) time" genre.  I know I read the second and third ones, but I don't really remember them; I guess they were fine enough, though, because as I recall (and as I could check in this blog, I think - go, online record keeping!) I was kind of itching to get the fourth in the series, Tears of Pearl, when it came out.  Also don't remember much about what I thought of it, except that I knew the next book would be demoted to a lower-anticipation-level.  And now I'm done.  This most recent book was a fine, if workman-like affair, but I'm over it.  Neither the characters nor the plot really held me at all, and while I wouldn't say I will never read another book starring Lady Emily and Colin,  I have no desire to seek the next one out.


The other book I got at the same time, and another entry in a series I've enjoyed in the past, fared better - A Stranger in Mayfair, by Charles Finch.   I liked the other three books in the series; again, nothing super new here, I am sure there is a massive library of Victorian gentleman / amateur detective books, but there are several nicely delineated characters, in addition to the hero, and I appreciated that they were all developed over the course of the series.  My issue with this book is that it was just so f***ing obvious from very early on who the killer was, so it was a little boring as far as the mystery.  And while there were some momentous (and gratifying) events in the main characters' lives, no significant character development.  But it was a fun read - I started it a little before 5:00 a.m. this moring, before going to bed, and then read it on and off (mostly on) throughout the rest of the day, finishing around 4:00 p.m. (it's a slim volume, obviously).  Good for a not hungover, but sleepy, kinda cold, under the covers sort of day.  And no gratuitous sex, thank God, so I may recommend it to my dad - I gave him the first two books to read when I finished them (I had bought them; this one and the last I got from the library.)
And....that's it.  That's what I've been reading the last week and a half or so.  I think - can't think of anything else I might have missed, anyhow.  I've been super busy with work, both jobs, so I imagine that's all of them.