Saturday, January 1, 2011

Final book reviews.

Well, reviews is too grandiose a word for what I'm doing here. Let's say, capsule summaries.

I ended the year at 53 books read, one more than my goal of 52. I don't know why, but setting an artificial goal keeps me on task.

I'm determined to read 6 books a month next year. And at least 1 graphic novel per week at the store.

Dirty Money, Richard Stark: This is just straightforward crime caper. Parker, the lead character is utterly ruthless, but fair. When you become a threat, he walks up you and shoots you. Done and done.

The Eagle of the Ninth, Rosemary Sutcliff. Had a customer come in and ask for this book, and told me a movie was being made. It's about a "lost" Roman legion in Scotland, and the son of the commander who goes looking for answers.

Turns out to be a 'young adult' historical and a bit old fashioned in style. It was published in 1954, and what it reminded me most of, was how PRIMED I was for fantasy because I grew up reading historical adventures like this --

Lustrum, Robert Harris: The second fictional novel about Cicero. I recently read a biography of Caesar, and what's amazing about these novels are how accurate they are in the larger incidents, which makes me want to trust the smaller details.

There should be a Latin phrase for that: Veritas in the large, ergo Veritas in the small. I would make that my motto. (Or vice versa).

Happy New Year's Everyone!!!

2 comments:

Anthony said...

Glad The Eagle of the Ninth was one of your 52. But a gentle nudge: it was written by Rosemary Sutcliff without an E!

Duncan McGeary said...

Hey, it was 53!

Corrected, thanks.