"A Prisoner of Birth" - Jeffrey Archer

A co-worker loaned me this on CD. Very entertaining. Courtroom crime thriller set in England; protagonist is a young, working-class man framed for a murder he did not commit. The author, Jeffrey Archer, draws on his own life experience in writing this novel; he is (or has been) in the law profession and spent time in prison. Summer reading; fun, often requiring suspension of disbelief. Danny, the protagonist, transforms himself while in prison, learning to read, write, speak "posh" English, dress and eat in a more high-class manner. These skills then allow him to find and trap the men who framed him for the crime in the first place.

"Quicksilver" - Neal Stephenson

I've been slogging through this for what seems forever... and that makes it sound like it's been a horrendous task, which it hasn't - this is a GREAT book. But it's practically three novels-worth of words, so it's been a long process. And on top of that, it's the first of a TRILOGY. The book takes place in mid 1600s England (for the most part), with a cast of characters part fictional and part real. Daniel Waterhouse, our first fictional protagonist, bumps shoulders with Isaac Newton, Robert Hooke, and various and sundry members of the royalty as he follows his path - a puritan in a land of catholics and protestants, very aware of the fact that as a natural philosopher he is fully eclipsed by Newton, Leibniz, Hooke.

Stephenson touches on so many aspects of life, culture, language, science, in the course of his work that I feel like I'm getting an education along the way; the origins of words and scientific ideas flow by so rapidly, and the huge, incestuous mass of relationships between the various royal houses of Europe is so difficult to keep straight that I just let myself float along like a cork on this stream of words.

The quicksilver of the title certainly refers to the actual substance, mercury, which in that era was used for many purposes - as a health tonic among others; but also to the flow of ideas and the quickening of scientific rigor, the establishment of schools of thought and the great ideas coming from great men across Europe.

"Whisky Classified - Chosing single malts by flavour" - David Wishart

After reading "Raw Spirit" I had a greater interest in the minutiae of single-malt scotch selection. Of course the library was able to provide a source of information; this book does a great job of describing the process of making whisky, how to compare different whiskies, and the distinguishing features of all the single-malt distilleries. I was a fan of scotch previously; now I'm on the verge of becoming an afficionado. Ha ha.

My favorite single malts, thus far:
Caol Ila - peaty, but delicate
Oban - like luscious candy
Glenrothes - like even more luscious candy
Talisker - peaty, full-bodied, rich

"Arthur and George" - Julian Barnes

Picked this up on the recommendation of my cousin, Sara. Amusingly I bought it at Half Price Books AND got the book on CD from the library; ended up listening to it at work. Very compelling narrative, and the reader was excellent. Don't remember his name, but he's British and did a great job distinguishing the various voices. The Arthur of the title is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. George is a lesser known figure - Mr. George Edalji, son of an Indian father and a Scottish mother, who became a solicitor and wrote a book on railway law. The novel covers their separate lives from boyhood until chance and tragedy bring them together. I haven't read anything else by Julian Barnes, but I certainly shall; this is engrossing and very well told.

"Lolita" - Vladimir Nabokov

Decided to read this for two reasons; Rick was reading it, and I was perusing various "Top 100 books of all time" lists, and decided I ought to knock off a couple of 'em. Actually I listened to it on CD, read by Jeremy Irons, no less. Superb choice in reader. My god.

Fascinating and disturbing work. Nabokov writes with great mastery. The section in which Humbert and Dolly are driving all around the US is utter beauty; the litany of the constantly changing landscape rolls out before the reader like the road itself. As for the relationship, it is clear that 12-year-old "Lolita" is not what he thinks she is, what he projects onto her. Her struggle and misery come across to the reader although not to the criminally blind Humbert; he sees only what he wants to see, until later in more pensive moments he begins to comprehend. The scene that really struck me was one in which he watches her play tennis and ponders her perfect form, the beauty of her play... and her lack of desire to win, and thinks to himself that it is because he broke something in her.

"The Art of Racing in the Rain" - Garth Stein

This book was recommended to me on two fronts - by my boss, Rick, and by Scott Schmidt and his fiancee Jen (Scott also known as the guy who races the Austin Healey Sprite). It was a natural for both parties as it touches on auto racing. Interesting twist, though; the story is told from the perspective of a dog... a very peculiar dog with a very old soul and the heart of a racer.

I think I was led to believe that it was much more about racing than it is, but the surprise was not an unhappy one as the story is really about human relationships, the importance of never giving up on one's dreams, staying true to one's morals, and the impermanence of life.

It's an easy read, really a summer book, but with a real heart to it. Good stuff, and compelling.

"Forever Autumn" - Mark Morris

Another Doctor Who novel. After the last one was so satisfying I didn't think this one could possibly be up to that level... and the other Martha and the Tenth Doctor novel I read was not so great. Yet I judged too fast! Enjoyable in the extreme, and reasonably scary. Set in small-town New England - the Doctor and Martha show up just before Halloween because the TARDIS detected some kind of energy surge. Alien spaceships, spooky green mists, possessed cats... but through it all the characterizations of the Doctor and Martha are WONDERFUL. The Doctor has just the right mix of goofy energy and timelord distance; Martha is steady and good and very aware of her choices and why she's in this dangerous situation.

Nice one.

"Musicophilia - Tales of Music and the Brain" - Oliver Sacks

This is the first work of his that I've read, although I may have skimmed "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" years ago. Sacks is a neurologist who also happens to write well and with great humanity and insight about his observations of wellness and illness. This book focuses on issues of the brain and music; the innate human instinct for music, disorders having to do with sound perception, as well as cases in which music has a healing or enabling property.

Amazing, amazing stuff. Always interesting to read about how the brain functions or fails to function, and the story of the man with constant, debilitating amnesia who nevertheless is able to remember and perform music is astounding.

"Raw Spirit - in search of the perfect dram" - Iain Banks

I blogged a short while ago about my joy at discovering the reprinting of Banks' "Player of Games" - possibly my favorite of his novels and certainly a great and impressive work of science fiction which ought to stand the test of time. Anyway, it led me to looking Banks up on wikipedia and discovering this, his only work of non-fiction. Banks is a Scotsman and his great love for his country and its whisky product is a constant in this book. It is a combination of travelogue, memoir, opportunity to rant at will, and an admittedly incomplete survey of single malt whiskeys.

I had a moment of doubt at the start, fearing something overly self-indulgent, but as I was drawn into Banks' narrative his wit and unadulterated pleasure in the good things in life drew me in. Of course it doesn't hurt that I like many of the things he likes - whisky, fast cars, science fiction, curry, a dramatic view of mountains - and the sense that it would be fun and rewarding to be a friend of his, but I think his enthusiasm would translate even to a reader with less knowledge of these things.