Finished reading The History of Jazz (3rd ed.) by Ted Gioia. This was kind of the flip side of A History of the World in Six Glasses: I wish it hadn’t been quite so long, but I was fascinated by every part of it, and wouldn’t cut much if anything. I now have a lot of listening to do.
Finished reading Steeple, volume 1, and rereading volume 2, by John Allison. I read volume 2 serialized online (it’s ongoing), and it and the first are great ridiculous fun.
Finished reading The Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolfe (as the second half of the Shadow & Claw compilation). Not quite as compelling as Shadow, but it felt like the protagonist was a little more active (even if he was somewhat unpredictable). Will move on to the next two books soon.
Finished rereading Desolation Island by Patrick O’Brian, book 5 of the Aubrey/Maturin series. This one was grim, nearly unrelentingly so: plague, storms, and mutinies, with a bare glimmer of hope at the end of the story. Compelling reading.
Finished reading The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe (as the first half of the Shadow & Claw compilation). (Technically this was a reread, but I recalled so little that I may as well treat it as my first time.) Really quite good, though it’s not my favorite novel by any stretch. Looking forward to the next book in the series.