Decrepit be a readin' fool!

Was gonna comment that myself. I doubt anyone reads as much as our very own Decrepit

In my neighborhood we've got at least three book kiosks within walking distance. These are little stands with glass doors, in which locals place books which can be taken. We can also leave books as well. I have no idea if this practice is common outside of Maryland; probably it is.

Anyway, lately I've been reading a book found within one of the kiosks: Carl Jung's Memories, Dreams, Reflections. I'm not in the habit of reading biographies or autobiographies or anything much which is "serious" and "real", but I've always wanted to learn more about Jung after taking Mister Wizda's psychology class during senior year of high school.

Otherwise, I mostly read more 'modern' literature: Emily St. John Mandel is my current fave for instance. Read all her stuff. Impatient for more from Emily!

Carl Jung's biography is slow-going for me; he gets long-winded, and there are times I skim. But it is fun to read about Jung's day for two reasons: 1). Part I'm at now, it's in the 1890s. Electricity isn't even a thing yet, in his old country village. No cars. Death is always at the doorstep, for stuff which we easily avoid nowadays. I hope he describes what it was like when things start to modernize, and how this possibly influenced his chosen profession somehow (as I assume it did).

2). Others may disagree, but I've always been curious about Jung's greater affiliation with worldly symbolism. He's just broader-minded, in comparison with Freud. Freud's the father of psychoanalysis, but he's always struck me as the more rigid of the two. Anyway, I'm learning about both these fellows, lately. 🥃

The year (2024) half over, and me having been totally remiss in reporting books as I finish them, I present a catchall listing of what I've read to date, including dates and times of completion. Unless specifically stated, all are initial reads:

1. 01/07/2024: 1024 “The Tawny Man Trilogy, book 1: Fool’s Errand� by Robin Hobb
2. 01/14/2024: 1556 “Gettysburg, A Journey in Time� by William A. Frassanito (third read)
3. 01/22/2024: 1838 “The Tawny Man Trilogy, book 2: Golden Fool� by Robin Hobb
4. 01/25/2024: 0418 “Steaming Into, book 3: Steaming into the North West: Tales of the Premier Line, Extended Version of 2017� by Michael Clutterbuck
5. 01/27/2024: 1948 “Steaming Into, book 6: Steaming into the Broad Gauge: Tales of the GWR’s Daring Experiment� by Michael Clutterbuck
6. 01/29/2024: 0717 “Steaming Into, book 7: Steam into Troubles: Tales of Trials and Tribulations of Steam Engine Crews� by Michael Clutterbuck
7. 01/31/2024: 1152 “Steaming Into, book 4: Steaming into the Heyday: Tales of the Great Western Railway at its Zenith� by Michael Clutterbuck
8. 02/02/2024: 2058 “Steaming Into, book 1: Steaming into the Firing Line: Tales of the Footplate in Wartime Britain� by Michael Clutterbuck
9. 02/04/2024: 1829 “Antietam: The Photographic Legacy of America’s Bloodiest Day� by William A. Frassanito (second read)
10. 02/05/2024: 1234 “Steaming Into, book 5: Steaming into the Blitz: More Tales of the Footplate in Wartime Britain� by Michael Clutterbuck
11. 02/07/2024: 0437 “Steaming Into, book 2: Steaming into History: Footplate Tales of the Last Days of Western Steam� by Michael Clutterbuck
12. 02/26/2024: 1525 “Grant and Lee: The Virginia Campaigns 1864-1865� by William A. Frassanito (second read)
13. 02/27/2024: 1259 “The Tide Child Trilogy, book 1: The Bone Ships� by R.J. Barker
14. 03/01/2024: 1512 “Osprey, Men-at-Arms series: The Iron Brigade� by John Selby, color plates by Michael Roffe (second+ read)
15. 03/04/2024: 1327 “Osprey, Men-at-Arms series: The Army of Northern Virginia� by Philip N. Katchner, color plates by Michael Yourens (second+ read)
16. 03/05/2024: 1803 “The Tide Child Trilogy, book 2: Call of the Bone Ships� by R.J. Barker
17. 03/09/2024: 1030 “The Tide Child Trilogy, book 3: The Bone Ships Wake� by R.J. Barker
18. 03/13/2024: 0824 “The Broken Earth, book 1: The Fifth Season� by N.K. Jemisin
19. 03/16/2024: 1256 “The Broken Earth, book 2: The Obelisk Gate� by N.K. Jemisin
20. 03/24/2024: 1108 “The Tawny Man Trilogy, book 3: Fool’s Fate� by Robin Hobb
21. 03/31/2024: 1736 “The Rain Wilds Chronicles, book 1: Dragon Keeper� by Robin Hobb
22. 04/03/2024: 1811 “The Rain Wilds Chronicles, book 2: Dragon Haven� by Robin Hobb
23. 04/08/2024: 1315 “The Rain Wilds Chronicles, book 3: City of Dragons� by Robin Hobb
24. 04/11/2024: 1732 “The Rain Wilds Chronicles, book 4: Blood of Dragons� by Robin Hobb
25. 04/19/2024: 0422 “Fitz and the Fool, book 1: Fool’s Assassin� by Robin Hobb
26. 04/19/2024: 0742 “The Velveteen Rabbit� by Margery Williams Bianco
27. 04/29/2024: 1256 “Fitz and the Fool, book 2: Fool’s Quest� by Robin Hobb
28. 05/06/2024: 1425 “The Fabulous Phonograph, 1877 – 1977� by Roland Gelatt (second+ read)
29. 05/22/2024: 2330 “Chalion (World of the Five Gods), book 1: The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
30. 06/06/2024: 2116 “Gilgamesh the King� by Robert Silverberg
31. 06/14/2024: 1439 “Beethoven’s Only Beloved: Josephine!� by John E Klapproth (third read)
32. 06/15/2024: 1812 “Krieg (War)� by Ludwig Renn, translated by Michael Sanders
33. 06/16/2024: 1818 “The Mystery of the Inn by the Shore� (1895) by Florence Warden
34. 06/27/2024: 2058 “Enuma Elish: The Babylonian Creation Epic� (also includes ‘Atrahsis’, the first Great Flood myth) as rendered by Timothy J. Stephany
35. 07/01/2024: 1700 “UNHOLY TRINITY: How Carbs, Sugar & Oils Make US Fat, Sick & Addicted and How to Escape Their Grip� by Daniel Trevor
36. 07/10/2024: 2223 “Fitz and the Fool, book 3: Assassin’s Fate� by Robin Hobb

The year has been a treasure trove of riches, especially fantasy. I can't recall any title being less that fine. The various Robin Hobb Realm of the Elderlings series, began last year and finished yesterday with "Assassin's Fate", top the list. Easily some of the best fantasy I've ever read. As to non-fantasy, the nod goes to the various "Steaming Into . . ." books, a largely fictional depiction of the lives and times of British steam-era railroading, mostly at the driver/fireman level. Right up my alley!

My problem at the moment is figuring out what to read next. "Assassin's Fate" is an extremely hard act to follow.

I solved my problem of finding a book to follow Hobb's "Assassin's Fate" by reading a non-fantasy / non-fiction title, "Unworthy Republic, The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian Territory" by Claudio Saunt. A worthy book on, as the title reads, a shameful subject. It provides much detail on how our nation's original(?) inhabitants were forced from their homes and livelihoods in the slave-owning Southern states and their northern neighbors, from roughly the 1820s through the 1840s. An easy recommendation for anyone interested in this aspect of U.S. history.

If you enjoyed that one, I highly recommend the others, Paladin of Souls, Hallowed Hunt, and the Penric series of novellas all set in the same universe. Outside of Guy Gavriel Kay and Joe Abercrombie, I think they've been my favourite fantasy books of the past 20 years.

Thanks for the recommendation. I like The Curse of Chalion quite a lot and plan to buy the follow-ups at some point. Your endorsement reinforces that conviction. Like you, GGK has been my favorite writer of books published as fantasy for decades. I've not yet sampled Abercrombie.

At 1204, 19 Jul 2024 I completed an initial read of “Gods of the Bible� by Mauro Biglino, a recent Amazon Kindle purchase. For want of a better term, I'll label it Speculative Non-Fiction. Food for thought. I was heavily into this sort of thing during the early to mid-70s, reading lots of von Daniken and others of his ilk, laying the genre aside when it became painfully obvious that new entries were mere rehashes of what had been written before, with nothing new to say.

GotB takes a different approach from those earlier titles. The author, who worked as a translator for the Vatican for ten-some years before being fired for translating religious works too literally, goes back to the oldest known versions/sources of what we know as the "Old Testament" before theologians turned it into what it is today, and gives what he purports is a literal, more correct reading. "God", Angels, and so on are seen in a very different light. What's more, the Old Testament comes across as a more consistently logical narrative, if uncomfortable for those of a certain persuasion. Fascinating stuff. Do I believe it? As a possibility, yes. As a certainty, no.

A follow-up to the list of 2024 reads several threads above, including completion times/dates

37. 07/13/2024: 0610 “Unworthy Republic, The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian
Territory� by Claudio Saunt
38. 07/19/2024: 1204 “Gods of the Bible� by Mauro Biglino
39. 07/28/2024: 2002 “Daughter of the Empire� by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts
40. 08/06/2024: 1951 “The Negro Workers: Address delivered Tuesday, October 30, 1923, at Commonwealth Casino, 135thy Street and Madison Avenue, N.Y.C.� by Eugene V. Debs
41. 08/15/2024: 1052 “Declaration and Confession of Robert Watt�, written, subscribed and delivered by himself, the evening before his execution for High Treason at Edinburgh, Oct 17 1794, published 1794
42. 08/19/2024: 1731 “Memoirs of A Revolutionist� by P. Kropotkin (1906)
43. 09/05/2024: 1624 “The Winnowing Flame Trilogy, book 1: The Ninth Rain� by Jen Williams
44. 09/13/2024: 2132 “Immortal� by Jessica Duchen (second read)
45. 09/21/2024: 1929 “The Soldier Son Trilogy, book 1: Shaman’s Crossing� by Robin Hobb
46. 09/28/2024: 0808 “The Soldier Son Trilogy, book 2: Forest Mage� by Robin Hobb
47. 10/03/2024: 1954 “The Soldier Son Trilogy, book 3: Renegade’s Magic� by Robin Hobb
48. 10/05/2024: 0817 “The Expert System’s Brother, book 1� by Adrian Tchaikovsky
49. 10/06/2024: 0152 “The Expert System’s Brother, book 2: The Expert System’s Champion� by Adrian Tchaikovsky
50. 10/06/2024: 1430 “Way of the Blade, 100 of the Greatest Bloody Matches in Wrestling History� by Phil Schneider, art by Chris Bryan

No.44 is my first re-read of a Kindle ebook, which was also my very first ebook purchase/read. No.42 is an excellent read downloadable free from Project Gutenberg. Soldier Son Trilogy further cements my conviction that Robin Hobb is one of our top-tier fantasy writers. The two Tchaikovsky books were, as expected, quite enjoyable. Gods of the Bible was an utterly fascinating page-turner. Way of the Blade was a loan from my brother I'd not otherwise have an interest in reading. I'll likey buy the two Daughter of the Empire follow-ups if they go on sale.

Oops . . . lunch time!

Books read during 2024 after my last post:

51. 10/11/2024: 1144 “The Heel of Achilles� by E.M. Delafield, published 1921
52. 10/25/2024: 2029 “Song of the Beast� by Carol Berg
53. 11/09/2024: 1306 “Play of Shadows� by Sebastien de Castell
54. 11/13/2024: 0925 “The Greatcoats Quartet, book 1: Traitor’s Blade� by Sebastien de Castell
55. 11/17/2024: 1702 “The Greatcoats Quartet, book 2: Knight’s Shadow� by Sebastien de Castell
56. 11/20/2024: 1905 “The Greatcoats Quartet, book 3: Saint’s Blood� by Sebastien de Castell
57. 11/23/2024: 1115 “The Greatcoats Quartet, book 4: Tyrant’s Throne� by Sebastien de Castell
58. 11/24/2024: 1046 “When I was a Boy in China� by Yan Phou Lee, published 1887
59. 11/28/2024: 0512 “The Faithful and the Fallen, book 1: Malice� by John Gwynne
60. 12/02/2024: 1708 “The Mark of Zorro� by Johnston McCulley
61. 12/04/2024: 1937 “The Song of Achilles� by Madeline Miller
62. 12/15/2024: 0317 “Lilith’s Brood, book 1: Dawn� by Octavia E. Butler
63. 12/19/2024: 2019 “The Discovery of King Arthur� (original version, published 1985) by Geoffrey Ashe (seventh read)
64. 12/27/2024: 2125 “Oz, book 1: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz� (published 1900) by L. Frank Baum (second read)

I not only again read over fifty books, but soared beyond sixty. This might be a lifetime record. Of this batch, the de Castell books take top honors. The Greatcoats Quartet books had an obvious Three Musketeers vibe, which I was pleased to see de Castell acknowledge in his closing credits. Lots of fun. I like his Play of Shadows even more. It has the same qualities as the Greatcoats books (and is set in the same world) but is, I think, even better written.

As for the year, all fantasy novels were enjoyable, and many top-notch. Pick of the litter goes to the various Robin Hobb books. As for non-fiction, “Gods of the Bible� by Mauro Biglino impressed me most.