December 2021

This month:

 Started the month off with vision still blurry. Finished two books I started last month. The Curie/Einstein one was a waste of time--once I skimmed the parts that were a rehash of the history of physics there wasn't much left. 

 Had second eye surgery on the 8th & vision greatly improved. Still using readers (magnification 1.5) but eyes working together! Do everything (except reading) without glasses.

 By end of month I could read some things without aid. Still using readers for paperbacks, italics, and when light is bad or eyes are tired.

 So I read lots!

 

Juvenile: 

Legends for Lionel by Walter Crane

 Wintry, with just a hint of Christmas...

Fiction:

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

 Loved it!

Slade House by David Mitchell

 This was an Advance Review Copy that I received back in 2015! A small book that got shoved to the back of a shelf. I really liked it, sorry I didn't read it sooner.

The Illogic of Kassel by Enrique Vila-Matas; translated from the Spanish by Anne McLean and Anna Milsom 

 I've been reading (savoring) this off and on since August.

Rizzio by Denise Mina 

 Historical true crime. I read this in one sitting.

Sleepless by Romy Hausmann; translated from the German by Jamie Bulloch

  Loved it! Lots of jumping back and forth in time & POV & unsent letters. The last in blurry italics which required reading glasses. Should have waited until eyes were better but it's a library book and due soon. Not to mention that I had a hard time putting it down!

Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller

 OK, but I liked her earlier novels much better.

Fencing with the King by Diana Abu-Jaber 

 Advance reader copy via GoodReads. Good, but not great. Jordanian/American woman travels to Jordan for the first time with her father who is returning after many years. She is looking for her roots, he is going for a ceremonial match with his old fencing partner the King.
Tin Man by Sarah Winman

 How delightful to read another book by the author of Still life (which I read last month). Great to find another author who doesn't keep writing the same book. 

Gasoline by Quim Monzó; translated from the Catalan by Mary Ann Newman 

 Catalonian artists in NYC.

The Mussel Feast by Birgit Vanderbeke; translated from the German by Jamie Bulloch 

Narrator by Bragi Ólafsson; translated from the Icelandic by Lytton Smith

Klausen by Andreas Maier; translated from the German by Kenneth Northcott
The Translator's Bride by João Reis; translated from the Portusuese by the author

Loquela by Carlos Labbé; translated from the Spanish by Will Vanderhyden

Mrs. Murakami's Garden by Mario Bellatin: translated from the Spanish by Heather Cleary
Arsenic and Adobo (Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery #1) by Mia P. Manansala

 Picked this up hoping it would be something lite like Andera Camilleri's Montalbano series. Not as polished as Camilleri but not too bad for a debut. I may read another in the series when I want a cozy...

The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray 

 Bio-fic of Belle Da Costa Green who was instrumental in the development of the Pierpont Morgan Library. Fascinating woman and I'm glad I read it.

Nonfiction: 

Fanny von Arnstein: Daughter of the Enlightenment by Hilde Spiel; translated from the German by Christine Shuttleworth

 Excellant!

The Soul of Genius: Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, and the Meeting that Changed the Course of Science by Jeffrey Orens

 Not much about soul or the relationship between Curie & Einstein. A lot about genius and the history of physics--all of which I already knew. Only part that was new to me was the info about Ernest Solvay (who sponsored the meeting mentioned in the title) and the Solvay Chemical company (which sponsored the writing of this book). Meh...