The Reading List for August 2023

 

First on the list of books read in August is Georges Simenon's Pietr the Latvian. I learned of Simenon with his Maigret and the Yellow Dog. As I mentioned in a post from that time, a Facebook friend had mentioned listening to an audio book of Maigret and the Yellow Dog; I did a web search and came across several good reviews of Simenon's novels. That particular book is #6 in the Maigret series. I enjoyed the book well enough to download everything I could find by Simenon with the idea of one day starting on the first book in the series, Pietr the Latvian. Sadly, I was not impressed with this one...Simenon seemed unable to get to the point - he just rambled on. I might possibly return to the Maigret series one day, but frankly, that doesn't appear to be likely at this time.

Second on this month's list is The Uninvited by Dorothy Macardle. While looking around for movies of the 1940s, I came upon an adaptation of the book from 1944 starring Ray Milland. I'd never heard of Macardle prior to this, but I was impressed enough with the film to download and read the book. The film makes a few changes - in the film, Milland's character ( Rick Fitzgerald ) is a musical composer. In the book, he's a writer. Some of Fitzgerald's friends in the book don't appear in the movie, but all in all, both versions are entertaining.

#3 for the month was another by Donna Leon, The Death of Faith. This was the sixth book I've read in Leon's Commissario Brunetti mystery series, so it would be right to assume that I've become a fan of Leon's work. Unfortunately, this is my least favorite of her books, so far. A bit too much Catholic Church bashing for me. The book contains all the obvious anti-Catholic tropes. This very nearly put me off the series, but I was willing to give Leon one more try.

Fortunately, her next in the series, A Noble Radiance was much better.

While reading A Noble Radiance I would switch back and forth between it and Aldous Huxley's The Perennial Philosophy . I finished both on the same day, so it's really a tie as to which one is #4 and which is #5.

Huxley's book isn't a quick read. He explores similarities between certain aspects of Eastern and Western religious teachings. I've come across many of these ideas before, but having written the book in 1945, Huxley was way ahead of his time.

So, here's the list for the Month of August (2023)

Pietr the Latvian       by Georges Simenon
The Uninvited             by Dorothy Macardle
The Death of Faith   by Donna Leon
The Perennial Philosophy by Aldous Huxley
A Noble Radiance     by Donna Leon