“It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it.”
– Oscar Wilde
The Books I Finished Reading in January 2017
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| January 2017 Reading: photo by Cliff Hutson |
Recently, I came across an article that maintains that the books we read reflect how healthy, mentally stable, and secure we are at the time in life in which we read them. I am not sure that I totally buy in to that. But, it is an interesting proposition; and, it introduced me to the wonderful quote at the top of this post.
It can be said, with little doubt, that I don't have to read anything at this point in my life. Yet, I find it hard to imagine life without reading. (And, it is supposed to be good for me.) I read both for information and pleasure. Two of the four books I read in January fall in to each category.
The first includes “Secrets of the Oak Woodland” by Kate Marianchild. It came highly recommend by by a couple of my fellow Nature Interpreters at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden. I found the information to be quite helpful. But, based on personal experience, feel that some of should be taken with a grain of salt.
I can not recall how I came across "Sage Living" by Anne Sage. I read books of this nature both to study how other photographers approach these projects; as well as getting design ideas for my house. This book was a bit disappointing. But that may just be due to the mood I was in at the time I picked it up; so I plan to reread it in the not too distant future. My main complaint is that the text and the images seem to have a certain disconnect. However, I already think that it was well worth the purchase price - the photograph on page 185 validates a vision I had previously conceived of an Eames chair and Pendleton blanket in my own home.
The books in the second group both come under the genre of mystery. I thought that I had read all the books in the Spenser series written by Robert B. Parker, prior to his death. (Yes, I know, the concept of of an author writing a book after their demise seems strange. But, somehow the publishers of Parker, Clive Cussler, and others have managed to circumvent the obvious difficultly in this endeavor. I don't envision myself ever reading any of those tomes.) However, somehow I had managed to miss "Potshot" so when Amazon.com brought it to my attention, I jumped at it. I think it is a pretty good story. An added enjoyment for me is that I am fairly certain that I know the town in Arizona that the community of Potshot is based upon.
The final book of the month was a Jack Reacher novel, the twenty-first I think, from Lee Child. Long story short, "Night School" is a good read, but not one of his best.
What have you read of late?
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