Wednesday 20 June 2018

Week 25: Training for Cycling



Davis Phinney and Connie Carpenter with Peter Nye, Training for Cycling. Perigee, 1992. A re-read of a book I haven't read in a long, long time. Although pitched at competitive cyclists, a lot of the material is still of use to recreational cyclists. I did the Rapha Challenge last year, and while I successfully completed it (unlike about 65,000 people who signed up and didn't finish), I'd like to do better this year, so I need to do some training.


Stats to Date

Books Read: 21

Books by Male Authors: 16½
Books by Female Authors: 4½

Books by Australian Authors: 4

Fiction Books: 15
    Genre Books: 9
Verity Books: 6
    Literature Books: 3
    Science Books: 1
    History Books: 1
    Fitness Books: 1

Sunday 17 June 2018

Week 24: The Three Musketeers



Alexandre Dumas père, The Three Musketeers. Wordsworth Classics, 1993. For once on of my books coincides with the weekly book bingo, as this one is set in the 17th century, during the reign of Louis XIII.



Stats to Date

Books Read: 20

Books by Male Authors: 16
Books by Female Authors: 4

Books by Australian Authors: 4

Fiction Books: 15
    Genre Books: 9
Verity Books: 5
    Literature Books: 3
    Science Books: 1
    History Books: 1

Friday 15 June 2018

Week 24: Henry James



Henry James. The Turn of the Screw and The Aspern Papers. Penguin Classics, 1984.

This is an omnibus edition of two of James tales, which I have been reading for some time while commuting on the bus, and have finally finished.

The Aspern Papers (1888, revised 1907–9). This took a long time to read, far longer than the length would suggest, even given that it was read on relatively short commutes, which accords with the novella failing to hold my interest.
The Turn of the Screw (1898, revised 1907–9) on the other hand was riveting—to the point of becoming lost in the story and being carried some 3½ kilometres beyond my bus stop. A horror novella which works not by jumps or explicit gore, but by simply and slowly ratcheting up the tension. Its never clear whether the ghosts really exist, or whether they are entirely the narrators delusion.

Stats to Date

Books Read: 19

Books by Male Authors: 15
Books by Female Authors: 4

Books by Australian Authors: 4

Fiction Books: 14
    Genre Books: 9
Verity Books: 5
    Literature Books: 3
    Science Books: 1
    History Books: 1

Sunday 10 June 2018

Week 23: Professor Challenger


Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The Lost World and Other Stories. Wordsworth Classics, 1995.

This is an omnibus edition of Doyles three Professor Challenger novels (more like two novellas and a novelette) and two short stories.

The Lost World (1912) is the prototypical “lost world” novel, where explorers in some remote, uncharted area (the Amazon) discover an area which somehow has been isolated from the rest of the world (geological uplift causing unscalable cliffs) filled with prehistoric life. Quite an enjoyable read.
The Poison Belt (1913) is an early science fiction novel, where the earth enters a poisonous region of space and the consequences it has on the human race. Interesting read, the more so because I finally caught Doyle mading an error of fact (trains have deadmans brakes, so if something happens to the driver they dont go careering on at full speed into a crash).
When the World Screamed (1928) and The Disintegration Machine (1929) are two science fiction shorts, both good reads.

So thats four good works in one volume.


The Land of Mist (1926) is otherwise. Doyle was for most of his later life a Spiritualist, and the novel spends far more pages proselytizing than it spends on story-telling. What little story it does tell consists of the conversion of the main characters from The Lost World and The Poison Belt to the cause of Spiritualism. Thoroughly disappointing.

Im certain Ive read The Poison Belt and When the World Screamed at some point in the (dim, dark, and distant) past, and may have read The Disintegration Machine, but it didnt have quite the same level of déjà vu.

Stats to Date


Books Read: 17

Books by Male Authors: 13
Books by Female Authors: 4

Books by Australian Authors: 4

Fiction Books: 12
    Genre Books: 8
Verity Books: 5
    Literature Books: 3
    Science Books: 1
    History Books: 1

Week 49. The Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett.

Terry Pratchett. The Shepherds Crown . Corgi Books, London 978-0-552-57447-1. The 41st, and last, Discworld novel, and the 5th featur...