and book time

 I have been doing some reading. Mostly I don't get much done because I trade off several books, two of which are extremely long.

The one I've been reading on longest is Hella Haase's "In a Dark Wood Wandering," which as I noted before is a story of the French court in the 1300s. I feel less annoyance now that "none of these characters is likeable" and more a sense of "they are trapped in roles not of their making and many of them are really not equal to the tasks they have." I am particularly concerned that the (new, his older brother died) Dauphin is not going to like being heir to the throne.

It is a very beautifully written book and is very absorbing, and the translation I have (I think it was originally in Dutch?) is very good. 

The "easy for when I'm tired" book is an ECR Lorac (this is basically an anagram of her name - Carol Rivett) called "Murder in the Millrace" - this is the best of hers I've read. It's set in Devon (I really need to brush up on my British geography) in a small town, and has its assortment of small-town characters. Sgt. MacDonald is there again, he is sort of a quietly likeable character and also in this one there is a young (? I guess? Comparatively?) doctor and his wife who move to the village and act as "outsiders" who are not so taken in by the "charm" of some of the village characters, and so presumably they will assist MacDonald. 

And I've taken Mary Beard's SPQR back up, though I am not very far into it (it is the other Very Long Book). There are some things I vaguely remember learning in Great Books (and before that....I forget what it was called, officially, but we all took what was fundamentally a Western Civ class in prep school). It's still interesting and one thing you realize is that people (and politicians) have not changed very much over time. 

And finally, there's "The World in Thirty-Eight Chapters: Dr. Johnson's Guide to Life" which is a biography plus (biography plus some philosophy, I guess, though I am mainly in the biography part right now). Samuel Johnson was an interesting person - anxious, awkward, somewhat abolitionist in his leanings, came from a perpetually cash-strapped but learned family....I like him better for what I'm reading about him right now. Again, I'm not very far into this one. 

And then one last book, this one came today. I follow Joy Clarkson on Patreon - she is a student of the Inklings and writes some theological things, and she recommended this book. And I am a sucker for pretty books, and I also wanted another advent book, and here it is:

Tsh (yes, that's the right spelling) Oxenrider's "Shadow and Light." The cover is lovely and it reminds me of those late-19th-century books that are very ornate. I've just glanced at it but there is something for every day of Advent - I will have a little catching up to do if I am going to read every part of it this year. 

I have another Advent book (Honest Advent) that I've got a bit behind in...sometimes I have a hard time keeping up with these kinds of things.