Apologies first.......sorry for not replying to any comments yesterday, it was youngest Grandson's first birthday so son cooked dinner for us all and DiL made a cake. He had so many presents - there are some clever toys out there nowadays. My favourite was the magic touch piano - I spent ages trying to remember how to play "Doh a Deer a female deer, Re a drop of golden sun"!
Then I must say Hello and Welcome to some new followers, I was going to say that the other day but then they disappeared again!
I really wanted to read this book which I have on loan from the library.
The description from Amazon says...........
"Hailed as an "arresting" (Lawrence Klepp, New Criterion) account, Nature's Mutiny chronicles the great climate crisis of the seventeenth century that totally transformed Europe's social and political fabric. Best-selling historian Philipp Blom reveals how a new, radically altered Europe emerged out of the "Little Ice Age" that diminished crop yields across the continent, forcing thousands to flee starvation in the countryside to burgeoning urban centers, and even froze London's Thames, upon which British citizens erected semipermanent frost fairs with bustling kiosks, taverns, and brothels. Highlighting how politics and culture also changed drastically, Blom evokes the era's most influential artists and thinkers who imagined groundbreaking worldviews to cope with environmental cataclysm. As we face a climate crisis of our own, "Blom's prodigious synthesis delivers a sharply-focused lesson for the twenty-first century: the profound effects of just a few degrees of climate change can alter the course of civilization, forever" (Laurence A. Marschall, Natural History)."
It sounded fascinating but I'm struggling with it as the print is so small in the libraries paperback copy. I've moved my lamp to give me a bit more light which has helped, and it is really interesting but it's not going to be a quick read .......very wordy!
The second book tried recently was this, a British Library Crime Classic reprinted from 1938.
I started reading but it didn't seem to be going anywhere, got to page 120 without anything happening but by then so many people had been briefly introduced that I hadn't got a clue who was who.
I gave up.
Still a few library books here and a pile of my own that I haven't boxed up just-in-case.
I hate that when an anticipated book turns out to be not very good or difficult to get into. I know some people persevere, but I don't have the patience! xx
ReplyDeleteSo many books so little time!
DeleteI am heartened to realise that other people give up on crime books too. Sometimes I'm so confused by all the characters that I cease to care whodunit, and find a better use for my time!
ReplyDeleteOn novels books with a tedious start like that, F cheats and goes to somewhere near the end and reads that - if she can think of an obvious way they got to that ending she gives up. If looks like it is worth getting to she tries to persevere. The Little Ice Age books looks like it might be interesting, if somewhat hard work to read.
DeleteI'm quite sad about it as this is the 2nd British Library Crime Classic I've not finished recently
DeleteSnap re: the magic piano - good aren't they and they come with a volume control unlike many children these days!!
ReplyDeleteFirst book looks interesting hope you will give us a commentary as you read. It was on the TV about this a while ago and should be a good read.
I nearly sneaked the piano home so I could practice more although with only one octave it's a bit limited
DeleteToo many or confusing characters, and I'm all over the place with the plot too. If you can't follow the plot a bit, what's the point. I don't mind a plot twist or two, but too many and that also loses my interest.
ReplyDeleteI like the sound of the first book though, it sounds worth working at.
xx
I kept thinking surely something will happen soon
DeleteI know within five or six pages, sometimes not even that many, if I should put the book down and move on. It's so disappointing when they don't live up to our hopes, then conversely, there's the mediocre sounding book that is an instant page turner.
ReplyDeleteI've enjoyed the majority of the British Library Crime Classics, just the odd one or two that were probably not worth readin
DeleteI'm the same with books or TV series with too many characters as I quickly lose interest.
ReplyDeleteHave you thought of investing in a magnifying mirror to read the small print?
I'm only on +2 reading glasses so could get some with a bit more magnification but I just needed a bit more light really
DeleteWow, one would think that after 120 pages someone would be dead by now....
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Yes that was just about when someone died but I had no idea what the connection was with all the dozens of people and places already mentioned
DeletePleased to see you give up on a book sometimes Sue - you always seem to get through such a lot. But aren't we lucky that we enjoy reading at the moment.
ReplyDeleteYes thank goodness for good books and interesting TV.
DeleteI also have no hesitation on giving up a book. If I don't like it and it is doing nothing for me, wham into the fire or put ready for the charity shop.
DeleteI must look for that book on the Little Ice Age - I find it a fascinating subject.
ReplyDeleteYes, these days I too will abandon books - after giving it a fair shake - life is just too short and there are too many well written books out there. Hope you find something more interesting soon.
I'm already well into another crime fiction as well as well as the Ice Age book - so many good books waiting!
DeleteI have a hard time giving up on a book but I'm learning my time is too valuable to keep reading what I don't enjoy. Several years ago I gave up on reading paperbacks because the print is too small for me. While I love reading actual books, I have come to appreciate my Kindle because I can adjust the size of the font so easily. Nature's Mutiny sounds like a very interesting read.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a lovely day for Grandson's birthday.
ReplyDeleteThere aren't a lot of books I've given up on, but some, well, you just have to cut your losses. Most of the time it's because I'm not in the mood for that type of book, but once in a while it's just the writing style and subject or I just don't like the character at all.