What are you reading?

[rousseau]

Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire translated by John Hunwick. A history written in 17th century West Africa, dealing with the previous few centuries:

The principal text translated in this volume is the Ta'rīkh Al-sūdān of the seventeenth-century Timbuktu scholar 'Abd al-Raḥmān al-Sa'dī. Thirty chapters are included, dealing with the history of Timbuktu and Jenne, their scholars, and the political history of the Songhay empire from the reign of Sunni 'Alī (1464-1492) through Moroccan conquest of Songhay in 1591 and down to the year 1613 when the Pashalik of Timbuktu became an autonomous ruling institution in the Middle Niger region. The year 1613 also marked the effective end of Songhay resistance. The other contemporary documents included are a new English translation of Leo Africanus's description of West Africa, some letters relating to Sa'dīan diplomacy and conquests in the Sahara and Sahel, al-Ifrānī's account of Sa'dīan conquest of Songhay, and an account of this expedition by an anonymous Spaniard.

It's an interesting read so far, but not overly thrilling.

 

[spikepipsqueak]

I've just finished Alien Clay and I think I am within 2 books of exhausting Tchaikovsky's output.

Bracing for impact.

 

[EricH]

I've just finished Alien Clay and I think I am within 2 books of exhausting Tchaikovsky's output.

Bracing for impact.

You poor thing. I am 2/3rd of the way through Doors Of Eden and I have only scratched the AT surface. All those books waiting for me on my Kindle.

Sorry, was that cruel?

 

[bilby]

I've just finished Alien Clay and I think I am within 2 books of exhausting Tchaikovsky's output.

Bracing for impact.

You poor thing. I am 2/3rd of the way through Doors Of Eden and I have only scratched the AT surface. All those books waiting for me on my Kindle.

Sorry, was that cruel?

Yes.

Yes it was.

 

[EricH]

I've just finished Alien Clay and I think I am within 2 books of exhausting Tchaikovsky's output.

Bracing for impact.

You poor thing. I am 2/3rd of the way through Doors Of Eden and I have only scratched the AT surface. All those books waiting for me on my Kindle.

Sorry, was that cruel?

Yes.

Yes it was.

My sincere apologies to spikeysqueak. By way of atonement, tomorrow I shall read at least 200 pages of an AT story that I have not read before, while flagellating myself with a stalk of green beans. Fresh, not cooked, to maximize the desired effect of producing an appropriate pain response.

 

[spikepipsqueak]

Not necessary.. I know you feel my pain without that.

 

[Tharmas]

I am reading David Grann’s The Wager, a ripping yarn from the days of sail and ships of the line, involving typhoons, wrecks, mutiny, murder, you name it. The thing is, it’s a true story, very lightly fictionalized by Grann, who did an enormous amount of meticulous research into his subject. His descriptions of what it took to repair and re-fit a man-of-war after she had completed a voyage are fascinating. The voyage around Cape Horn in winter is harrowing. The psychological insights are thoughtful, and the sociology of shipboard life rings true. I’m finding it to be a real page turner.

 

[ideologyhunter]

I'm reading Evolution for John Doe by Henshaw Ward (1925) in a first edition copy. This is what I call a 'curiosity read'; it's not a distinguished work but has some interest for me, for what it is: an attempt at a popularized explanation of evolution for 1920s readers. It came out the same year as the Scopes trial, which is not mentioned in the book.
The style is irritating. He seems to imagine his reader as a guileless follower of the penny press, with a head full of false notions, and he makes it clear that he's here to set you straight. With that aside, some of his descriptions of nature are thought-provoking. He spends several pages on how a single clover leaf produces simple sugars, and his descriptions, although lacking in exact terminology, are quite good.

 

[rousseau]

A House Called Tomorrow: 50 Years of Poetry - Copper Canyon Press

A Poet's Glossary - Edward Hirsch

Collected Poems - Philip Larkin

 

[DBT]

The Expanse. I enjoyed the tv series, but I seem to be having trouble getting into the novels.