(Chris)
Hey everyone,
We've been back in the US now for about a week, and I (for one) am veeeery slowly recovering from the terrible Australia-to-US jet lag. We'll be finishing out our blog posts over the coming weeks, but I'm breaking in here to talk about reading.
All three of us had Amazon Paperwhite Kindles to read from on our trip, and I have to say that was one (three) of our best purchases. They're small and light, and they have a built in backlight so you can read in bed without waking up the neighborhood with a lamp or book light. If you keep the light set low, the battery will last you a week between charges and it won't strain your eyes any more than reading on paper. Remembering how on pre-digital travel I'd go with pound upon pound of bound books, having the kindle was was terrific space and weight savings.
Better still, through our library, you can check out ebooks from their electronic collection even if you happen to be in Montenegro rather than Montclair. Consequently, not only did we not have to carry our books, the books we read were largely free. I chalk this up as a huge success for Jen, who figured out how to use eBCCLS to check out kindle library books remotely.
I also used, though less often as news became more depressing, Zinio to access library magazines on my iPhone, but I'm really here to talk about books. Did I say I read 37 of them? Here they are, ordered by my estimation and with my very concise plot summary:
|
Novel |
Author |
Plot Summary |
|
Rabbit, Run |
John Updike |
Rabbit runs from everything, but has no ability to exert his agency except when playing games |
|
Moby Dick |
Herman Melville |
A novel about whales and whalers and being crazy |
|
The Crossing |
Cormac McCarthy |
Billy Parham crosses into Mexico several times: to free a wolf, to avenge his parents, and to recover a body |
|
Libra |
Don DeLillo |
Lee Harvey Oswald, patsy, kills JFK (or not) |
|
Cities of the Plain |
Cormac McCarthy |
John Grady Cole falls in love in Mexico again, finds tragedy again; Billy Parham tries to help |
|
The Name of the Wind |
Patrick Rothfuss |
A story about a man telling stories about telling stories (with dragons) |
|
The Wise Man’s Fear |
Patrick Rothfuss |
More of the same, but with fairies, brigands and samurai |
|
The Underground Railroad |
Colson Whitehead |
A woman strives to escape bondage, but is doggedly pursued by a slave hunter through many miseries |
|
The Sellout: A Novel |
Paul Beatty |
A black man in L.A. acquires a slave, segregates a school |
|
Of Human Bondage |
W. Somerset Maughm |
Phillip has tremendous self regard, is callow, grows up |
|
A Perfect Spy |
John Le Carré |
A british spy disappears after his father’s death to write his life story |
|
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk |
Ben Fountain |
A heroic squad of soldiers attend a Cowboys game before returning to Iraq |
|
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? |
Philip K. Dick |
Cop seeks rogue androids in order to collect bounties, buy a pet |
|
The Plot Against America: A Novel |
Philip Roth |
Charles Lindbergh defeats FDR, is a nazi puppet; a Jewish community in Newark lives in fear |
|
The North Water |
Ian McGuire |
Like Moby Dick, but the monster is on the boat |
|
Amsterdam: A Novel |
Ian McEwan |
A composer and a publisher enter a pact to euthanize each other if they ever lose their mental faculties |
|
Lord of the Flies |
William Golding |
Boys on an island go savage |
|
The Nix |
Nathan Hill |
A man seeks to understand the others in his life, himself, and his mother |
|
Lilith’s Brood |
Octavia Butler |
After nuclear war, aliens arrive to breed with survivors, remake the world |
|
Call for the Dead |
John Le Carré |
George Smiley solves a murder, uncovers East German spy ring |
|
Norse Mythology |
Neil Gaiman |
Thor and the boys fight giants |
|
The Outsiders |
SE Hinton |
Greasers and Socs have fist fights |
|
Players |
Don DeLillo |
A married couple have adventures apart from one another: one goes to Maine, one becomes a terrorist and/or spy |
|
MaddAddam |
Margaret Atwood |
After the world ends, earth mother discovers secrets, finds love |
|
Half a King |
Joe Abercrombie |
A weak prince becomes a slave; grows up |
|
Half a War |
Joe Abercrombie |
Two young people go on a boat trip, much violence ensues |
|
Half the World |
Joe Abercrombie |
Three young people take part in a revolution, bring guns to sword fight |
|
Hear the Wind Sing |
Haruki Murakami |
The narrator tells of a summer drinking with his friend, The Rat |
|
Pinball |
Haruki Murakami |
The narrator tries to find his way out of a first third of life crisis, using pinball as a metaphor for wasting time |
|
The Dinner |
Herman Koch |
Extremely unpleasant people have a dinner date |
|
The Doomsday Book |
Connie Willis |
British scientists can send you back in time, are often extremely petty, lack cellphones |
|
Dance Dance Dance |
Haruki Murakami |
The narrator investigates a mysterious hotel, a man dressed as a sheep, and several deaths while building a relationship with two young women |
|
Mistborn: Secret History |
Brandon Sanderson |
A dead guy witnesses the events surrounding the end and beginning of the world |
|
Alloy of Law |
Brandon Sanderson |
Cowboys use magic to solve crime |
|
Bands of Mourning |
Brandon Sanderson |
Cowboys use magic to solve crime |
|
Shadows of Self |
Brandon Sanderson |
Cowboys use magic to solve crime |
|
The Terranauts: A Novel |
T.C.Boyle |
Vapid people complain, less interesting than Biodome |
I also began, but decided I wasn't interest in, Colson Whitehead's Zone One. Who knew zombies could be so boring?
Another cool bit about the kindle is you can long-tap on a word for its definition, and the kindle will save the words you long click on to create a vocabulary building list. How many of these words do you know? Some of them I was familiar with, but not sure of, but a lot of these were wholly unknown to me. Melville and Beatty were particular vocab flaunters; McGuire used a hell of a lot of unusual words as well (though often to less purpose), but I read The North Water on paper so I don't have those in the list.
|
Word |
Definition |
Novel |
|
abstemious |
not self-indulgent |
Moby Dick |
|
alcahest |
alchemical universal solvent |
The Crossing |
|
anchorite |
a religious recluse |
The Crossing |
|
anemometer |
instrument to measure wind |
The Sellout |
|
anfractuous |
sinuous |
The Terranauts |
|
aniline |
an oily liquid used to make dye |
The Terranauts |
|
anneal |
to heat metal and allow to cool slowly to strengthen |
The Crossing |
|
aphasia |
brain damage causing inability to understand speech |
The Sellout |
|
apostolic |
related to the apostles |
Moby Dick |
|
apotheosis |
the highest point in a thing’s development |
Moby Dick |
|
archiepiscopal |
relating to an archbishop |
Moby Dick |
|
argosy |
a large merchant ship |
Moby Dick |
|
assonance |
repetition of similar sounds in a poem |
The Sellout |
|
ataxia |
loss of body control |
The Sellout |
|
bannock |
Scottish flatbread |
Bands of Mourning |
|
beadle |
a ceremonial officer of a church, college, etc. |
Moby Dick |
|
beck |
mountain stream |
Amsterdam |
|
bolero |
a short jacket for women |
Cities of the Plain |
|
brevet |
a military promotion with no extra pay |
Moby Dick |
|
calabash |
a tropical tree whose fruit is a woody gourd |
The Underground Railroad |
|
caliche |
a desert mineral deposit |
The Crossing |
|
callow |
inexperienced |
The Plot Against America |
|
cambric |
lightweight cotton fabric |
Moby Dick |
|
cantle |
the raised rear of a saddle |
The Crossing |
|
capstan |
a gear to wind rope |
Moby Dick |
|
catafalque |
a decorative stand for a coffin |
Maddaddam |
|
celadon |
willow-green color |
The Crossing |
|
celerity |
swiftness |
Moby Dick |
|
cenotaph |
a tomblike monument for someone buried elsewhere |
The Sellout |
|
chape |
the metal point of a scabard |
Half a War |
|
chatelaine |
a woman in charge of a large house |
Call for the Dead |
|
chignon |
a knot of hair worn at the back of the head |
The Plot Against America |
|
chirography |
handwriting |
Moby Dick |
|
ciborium |
a receptacle for holding the eucharist |
The Crossing |
|
Circassian |
a Sunni Muslim people of the north Caucuses |
Moby Dick |
|
clement |
mild, merciful |
Players |
|
coffle |
a line of slaves fastened to be driven together |
The Underground Railroad |
|
commissar |
a communist official responsible for political education |
Amsterdam |
|
contumacious |
willfully disobedient to authority |
The Crossing |
|
coracle |
a small, round wickerwork boat |
Maddaddam |
|
cordovan |
a soft horse or goatskin leather |
Wind/Pinball |
|
covert |
a hiding place |
Lord of the Flies |
|
cozen |
deceive |
Moby Dick |
|
crapulous |
relating to alcohol or drunkeness |
Maddaddam |
|
crepitation |
a crackling sound |
Lord of the Flies |
|
crescentic |
crescent shaped |
Moby Dick |
|
cresset |
a metal container of tar (or whatever) on the end of a torch |
The Crossing |
|
cumbrous |
cumbersome |
Moby Dick |
|
cupidity |
greediness |
Moby Dick |
|
descry |
catch sight of |
Moby Dick |
|
doxology |
liturgical praise of god |
Moby Dick |
|
dropsy |
edema |
The Underground Railroad |
|
drove |
a herd of animals |
Lord of the Flies |
|
effulgence |
radiant |
Lord of the Flies |
|
eidetic |
vivid mental images |
Lilith’s Brood |
|
elegy |
a serious, reflective poem |
The Sellout |
|
emolument |
a salary |
Moby Dick |
|
enfilade |
a volley of gunfire |
The Crossing |
|
enjoin |
instruct to perform an action |
The Crossing |
|
evanesce |
to pass from memory |
The Sellout |
|
exordium |
the beginning of a treatise |
Moby Dick |
|
expatiate |
to go on at length |
Moby Dick |
|
fain |
willing |
Moby Dick |
|
fard |
a religious duty commanded by god(?) |
Cities of the Plain |
|
feria |
a festival for a patron saint |
The Crossing |
|
ferrule |
a metal band or cap strengthening something wooden |
Moby Dick |
|
flatus |
intestinal gas |
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk |
|
Fragonard |
a roccocco landscape typical of the artist |
Amsterdam |
|
freshet |
a high running river from fresh rain or melted snow |
Moby Dick |
|
fug |
warm, stuffy, smoky atmosphere |
Amsterdam |
|
galliot |
a single masted fishing vessel |
Moby Dick |
|
gamboge |
a yellow tree resin used as a purgative |
Moby Dick |
|
glaucous |
a powdery bluish grey |
The Crossing |
|
golliwog |
a soft doll with colorful clothes and a black face |
The Sellout |
|
grapnel |
a grappling hook |
Moby Dick |
|
gudgeon |
a small edible baitfish |
Moby Dick |
|
hackamore |
a bridle without a bit |
The Crossing |
|
hawser |
a thick rope to moor or tow a ship |
Moby Dick |
|
hemostat |
a clamp used to stop blood flowing from an open vessel |
The Crossing |
|
hermeneutics |
literary interpretation, especially the bible |
The Sellout |
|
hoar |
grayish white |
The Underground Railroad |
|
hypnagogic |
relating to the state immediately before sleep |
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? |
|
ideation |
the formation of ideas |
The Sellout |
|
illusive |
deceptive |
Lord of the Flies |
|
imprecate |
invoke a curse |
Moby Dick |
|
incommode |
to inconvenience |
Moby Dick |
|
inguinal |
of the groin |
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? |
|
integument |
a tough outer protective layer |
Moby Dick |
|
japonica |
a flowering shrub |
Moby Dick |
|
legatee |
a beneficiary of a legacy |
Moby Dick |
|
legerdemain |
sleight of hand |
Moby Dick |
|
liminal |
relating to a transition |
Bands of Mourning |
|
lineament |
a distinctive feature, especially of the face |
The Crossing |
|
lorgnette |
a pair of glasses on a handle |
The Crossing |
|
madras |
A strong patterned cotton fabric |
The Outsiders |
|
magniloquent |
user of bombastic language |
Moby Dick |
|
manumit |
release from slavery |
The Sellout |
|
marline |
a light two stranded rope |
Moby Dick |
|
mullion |
a vertical bar between two panes in a window |
Rabbit, Run |
|
numinous |
a strong religious or spiritual quality |
Libra |
|
orlop |
the lowest deck of a sailing ship |
Moby Dick |
|
osseous |
made of bone |
Moby Dick |
|
palimpsest |
A document where original writing was erased and overwritten, but traces of which remain |
The Vegetarian |
|
panopticon |
A prison where the cells face inward in a circle |
The Sellout |
|
pantechnicon |
a furniture van |
Players |
|
paregoric |
an archaic opioid medicine |
Moby Dick |
|
parsee |
a kind of Zoroastarian |
Moby Dick |
|
peen |
The side of a hammer opposite the head |
Cities of the Plain |
|
perquisite |
A privilege attached to a job or title |
Moby Dick |
|
perspicacity |
shrewdness |
The Sellout |
|
perspicuity |
clearly expressed or understood |
Call for the Dead |
|
pertinacious |
resolute |
Moby Dick |
|
physiognomy |
facial features as indicative of character, racist, archaic |
Moby Dick |
|
pickaninny |
A small black child, archaic, racist |
The Sellout |
|
pinafore |
A collarless, sleeveless dress |
The Dinner |
|
pithecanthropus |
An ancient javanese hominid |
Dance, Dance, Dance |
|
plebiscite |
a direct vote by an entire electorate |
Cities of the Plain |
|
plenipotentiary |
A person who has the full power to act on behalf of their government |
The Sellout |
|
pluperfect |
tense: an action completed before a specified previous time |
The Sellout |
|
pollard |
Where the branches of a tree are cut off to encourage further growth |
The Crossing |
|
pomatum |
a scented hair ointment |
Moby Dick |
|
poniard |
a thin dagger |
Moby Dick |
|
praxis |
practice, as opposed to theory |
The Sellout |
|
precentor |
one who leads a congregation in singing or prayers |
Lord of the Flies |
|
precipitancy |
rashness |
Moby Dick |
|
preterite |
representing a past action or state |
The Crossing |
|
priapism |
A long lasting and painful erection |
The Sellout |
|
prognathic |
with a protruding jaw |
The Nix |
|
propinquity |
proximity |
The Sellout |
|
propitiate |
winning the favor of a god through pleasing actions |
The Plot Against America |
|
pudenda |
external genitals, especially a woman’s |
The Sellout |
|
punic |
related to Carthage |
The Sellout |
|
quirt |
a short handled riding whip |
The Crossing |
|
quoin |
an external angle of a building |
The Crossing |
|
ravening |
ravenous and hunting for prey |
The Underground Railroad |
|
recondite |
little known, obscure |
Players |
|
remonstrate |
forceful, reproachful protest |
Moby Dick |
|
remuda |
a herd of saddle broken horses available for ranch hands to use |
The Crossing |
|
repine |
express discontent |
Maddaddam |
|
reticule |
a small handbag, archaic |
Moby Dick |
|
rood |
a quarter acre |
Moby Dick |
|
scaramouch |
a boastful coward |
Moby Dick |
|
scrofula |
a disease with glandular swelling, tuberculosis, archaic |
The Doomsday Book |
|
serge |
a durable wollen fabric |
Cities of the Plain |
|
serried |
close set rows |
Cities of the Plain |
|
sidereal |
relating to distant stars |
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? |
|
solecism |
a gramatical mistake |
Moby Dick |
|
solfège |
a singing exercise |
The Nix |
|
somatic |
relating to body, as opposed to mind |
The Terranauts |
|
spavin |
a disorder of a horse’s hock, like a bone spur |
Moby Dick |
|
spermaceti |
a valuable waxy substance in a sperm whale’s head |
Moby Dick |
|
superannuated |
obsolete |
Zone One |
|
suppurate |
fester; develop pus |
The Doomsday Book |
|
surtout |
a man’s frock coat |
Moby Dick |
|
tachistoscope |
A device that exposes images briefly |
The Sellout |
|
tierce |
35 gallons of wine, archaic measurement |
Moby Dick |
|
timorous |
nervousness, fear, lack of confidence |
Moby Dick |
|
tonsure |
a monk’s hairdo |
The Doomsday Book |
|
tournedos |
a fancy steak |
The Dinner |
|
travois |
a sled made by two joined poles, pulled by a horse or dog |
The Crossing |
|
trousseau |
clothing collected by a bride in preparation for marriage |
The Plot Against America |
|
vesper |
evening prayer |
Moby Dick |
|
vituperative |
bitter and abusive |
The Terranauts |
|
waddy |
an Australian war club |
Cities of the Plain |
|
whelm |
engulf, submerge |
Lord of the Flies |
|
withy |
A flexible stick useful in basketry |
The Crossing |
So that's what I read on our big trip! Any questions? Do you have any hot takes on any of these books? Share in the comments section!
