Some Annotated Reading November 14

 Books

I did finish one book that will remain nameless, because I had to skim the second half to get through it. It
was just so slow. Normally I wouldn't mention it here, but I liked the book's concept very much. It was an adult book about a former child detective who is being drawn into an adult case. We had her child scooby as adults there...a sibling...characters that would have appeared in a child detective book but grown up now. Perhaps that's why it was so slow. So much went into developing that aspect of the book that the mystery plot, which is what moves a story along, took second place. We might be talking a story in which the elements are not in balance. 

Short Form

Heavy Snow Han Kang in The New Yorker You can't read this without a subscription, but if you can get hold of the magazine it's in (Nov. 10), it is quite an experience. Truly we're talking a something-happened-to-somebody situation, which was L. Rust Hills' definition of story. Assuming anyone remembers him. He wrote a good book about writing, though good luck trying to find much about it or him.

The Countess of Warwick: A Society Cyclist by Sheila Hanlon at Sheila Hanlon/Historian/Women's Cycling Yes, I am still reading about women cycling in the nineteenth century.

DNA Analysis Upends Long-held Assumptions About Pompeii Victims' Final Moments by Ashley Strickland at CNN Was I a really morbid kid, because I liked reading about Pompeii? Yeah, I think I was.

Humor

Sure, I Voted For Someone Whose Policies Might Kill You, But Now's The Time To Put Aside Our Differences by Lisa Borders at McSweeney's. "I personally think it's awesome that my house in Central Massachusetts might be waterfront property sooner rather than later." 

How To Write A Book That Nicole Kidman Will Turn Into A Limited Series by Tom Smyth at McSweeney's. Hey, I liked The Perfect Couple. Kidman played a writer who we actually see working. A lot.