#29: Read a book by an author whose last name starts with the same letter as the previous book's author's last name.

Not having many options for authors beginning with U, I went with Naoki Urasawa's Asadora!, which the library happened to have the first few volumes of. Asadora! is a tale spanning six decades, featuring aviation, two Tokyo Olympics, unlikely friendships, mysterious music, and occasional glimpses of a giant creature that, knowing Urasawa, I'm betting will turn out to be considerably less Godzilla-like than the glimpses so far might lead one to expect. I'm enjoying it so far.


#30: Read a book whose title has more letters than the previous book's.

Attempt 1: The Well at the World's End by William Morris (also the random book selection for February). I gave up on it after a couple of chapters; the narration was self-consciously old-fashioned in a way that annoyed me.

Attempt 2: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas by Jules Verne (also the random book selection for May). The F.P. Walter translation, which is recent and improves on many earlier English translations (and starts with a translator's note insisting that it's definitely "Seas" and not "Sea").

When it was originally published, part of the draw of the novel would have been the educational aspect: the opportunity to learn about ocean life and geography and engineering. These days, though, so much of it is out of date (or is understood to have never been correct in the first place) that I found I didn't trust any of it and resisted taking in any of the many interesting facts the novel attempted to impart. I might have still found this aspect of the novel off-putting even if I trusted its accuracy, as the imparting frequently relies on clunky devices such as long lists of facts and characters giving each other impromptu lectures at the drop of a hat. (I found myself thinking nostalgically of Herland, which seems to have become my standard for in-character exposition in old novels.) As it is, the expository bits felt like an annoying distraction from what there was in the way of an actual story with characters and stakes.

. Another milestone: I've now done one of these posts every week for an entire year.

. At board game club this week we played Deception: Murder in Hong Kong and Bang!. On the weekend, we also played Spicy, Psycho Killer, Let's Call the Exorcist, and Herd Mentality.

. I bought new walking shoes this week, which are much more comfortable than the old pair were after the soles started wearing out. ( Read more... )

. A while ago, I started reading Hesperides, a collection by the 17th-century poet Robert Herrick, partly because I'd read some interesting things about him as a person and partly because I was looking for a 17th-century book for a reading challenge. ( Read more... )

. Among the podcasts I listen to, I'm working through the back catalogues of You're Dead to Me! and Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics, both of which offer humorous accounts of the lives of historical figures. ( Read more... )

. Polimines has definitely reached a stage where it's completely useless to play as a casual time-filler, or indeed in any circumstance except when I want to quickly become frustrated and angry. So I've started another jigsaw puzzle.

. I didn't even try to write any detailed journal entries this week, just made notes about things to mention in the blog post. ( Read more... )