The November, 2022 Reading List

Today is the final day of the month and time to post yet another monthly reading list. Like other recent book lists, the list for this month has fewer books than what had been a normal amount for me over the past few years.

At least, I was able to complete Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Wimsey series. Prior to book six in the series - The Five Red Herrings - it appeared that I would finish the 11 books in the series rather quickly. However, as I wrote previously, I didn't care for book six and had decided to take a break from Lord Wimsey for a spell. On November 1, I started back on the series with Have His Carcase.

I've been more or less neutral on the series with books seven, eight, nine, and ten. I found the final book, Busman's Honeymoon to be my favorite among the eleven, although it's not without flaws. The book seemed to flow faster than many of the others, although there were sections of the book which I thought were unnecessary. Of course, I understand the need to highlight Wimsey's new bride, Harriet Vane. It is titled Busman's Honeymoon after all. But I found Sayers' concentration on the marriage over the mystery story trying. I also didn't care for Sayers overloading the final chapters with correspondence written in French.

We learn the identity of the killer in Chapter XX so the continuation of the book for 3 more chapters seemed like a waste to me.

I mentioned in Monday's post that in Busman's Honeymoon , Lord Wimsey's mother writes in her diary about her attempt to read a book entitled The Stars Look Down . This book will be the first book read in December. I've learned that the third novel by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, Before Your Memory Fades , has been released. I'm hoping to obtain a copy for the December queue. Wish me luck.

Now, for the list - all written by Dorothy L.Sayers:

Have His Carcase
Murder Must Advertise
The Nine Tailors
Gaudy Night
Busman's Honeymoon

A Few Thoughts on the Writings of Dorothy L. Sayers

As I begin this post, I've almost finished reading the 11th and final novel in Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey series of mystery novels, Busman's Honeymoon.

Although considerably fewer in number than the collection of Agatha Christie novels I read last year, it has taken me nearly the same amount of time to read these eleven.

As mystery novels, Sayers' work cannot compare with Christie's, - Sayers' books are simply not "page turners", although it seems to me that after the first few novels in the series, Sayers was attempting to write good novels - not good mystery novels, per se. I was particularly interested in the novels and writers mentioned in the Sayers' series. In several of the novels, Sayers mentions the name of Edgar Wallace. Wallace was unknown to me, but I've learned that he was a very popular writer of adventure novels and detective stories in his day. One of his best known works was his contribution to the creation of King Kong . Much of his work is in the public domain and I've downloaded quite a bit to be placed into the queue.

In Gaudy Night, the writer Sheridan Le Fanu is mentioned a few times. I've read two works by Le Fanu - Carmilla in 2015, and Uncle Silas in 2017. I've downloaded a few more of Le Fanu's work to be placed into the queue as well.

Also in Gaudy Night , Sayers mentions a book by C.P. Snow - The Search. I've managed to locate of number of Snow's work, although I couldn't locate a downloadable file for this particular novel.

In Busman's Honeymoon , Lord Wimsey's mother writes in her diary about her attempt to read a book entitled The Stars Look Down. :
"21 May.--Was reading The Stars Look Down (Mem. very depressing, and not what I expected from the title--think I must have had a Christmas carol in mind, but remember now it has something to do with the Holy Sepulchre--must ask Peter and make sure)".

According to wikipedia:
" The Stars Look Down is a 1935 novel by A. J. Cronin which chronicles various injustices in an English coal mining community. "

Fortunately, I was able to download The Stars Look Down and I've scheduled it to be my first read of December.

VW Beetle # 74

With my now established habit of daily bicycle riding, I am getting out and about more often and the increase in my endurance over the past 20 or so months has allowed me to cover more territory each day. In spite of this enlarged area, I'm coming upon fewer random VW Beetles. As a matter of fact, the Beetle I came upon today is only the fourth one I've seen this entire year.

Looking to gain a few more miles on today's ride, I turned to the right on E.J. Blanco Drive where I would have normally turned left. This little detour brought me to an orange VW parked at a carwashing station.

This VW is #74 in my collection of VW photos (not including the photos of the VWs of Davao sent to me by my friend Dom.)

 

The October, 2022 Reading List

With only four titles, the monthly book list for Oct. 2022 is quite a bit shorter that most previous monthly lists. While this list has the same number as September, these two cannot compare with the majority of book lists for this year and last year.

Two of the four were written by Jonah Goldberg. The other two by Gabriel García Márquez. I suppose I can blame this on the Internet; I've discovered a website that has allowed me to catch up on previously unwatched (by me) episodes of Dr. Who.

Be that as it may, here is my rather short list of books read by me in Oct. 2022.

The Tyranny of Clichés: How Liberals Cheat in the War of Ideas  by Jonah Goldberg
Suicide of the West  by Jonah Goldberg
Love in the Time of Cholera  by Gabriel García Márquez
In Evil Hour  by Gabriel García Márquez