Best October 2021 Read

There are a couple of days remaining, but what was your best October read?

non-fiction
Christopher Marlowe, theatrical commerce, and the book trade edited by Kirk Melnikoff

fiction
The Cream of the Jest by James Branch Cabell

Non-fiction
Owls of the Eastern Ice by Jonathan Slaght

Fiction
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier

Hidden Valley Road. For anyone who would like a deeper understanding of mental illness through scientific and experiential accounts. This book was like a train wreck from which I could not tear my eyes away. We still have so much to learn about treating mental illness and so much work to do to reduce the stigma associated with it.

A couple of good detective novels this month.

The Couple at No. 9 by Claire Douglas

The Moth Catcher by Ann Cleeves, part of the Vera Stanhope series.

I don't think I've actually read a nonfiction book from cover to cover this month but I've been delving deeply into Divinity and Experience: The Religion of the Dinka by Godfrey Lienhardt (1961), Pagan Tribes of the Nilotic Sudan by C G and Brenda Z Seligman (1932) and Dinka Christianity by Marc Nikkel (2001) as background for the new biography that I'm currently writing. All are authoritative texts, the first two real classics, but not light reading!

>4 vwinsloe:
>5 John5918:

BBs for me!

>6 Tess_W:

BBs?

>5 John5918:
I saw the tv version of Moth-catcher. How different are the books from the shows?

>8 Crypto-Willobie:

It's ages since I watched the TV series and I've only recently started reading the books, so I can't really remember properly, but the answer would probably be yes and no. The TV stories which are actually based on one of the book stories seem to keep the same basic plot, but there have been ten TV series, with dozens of episodes, whereas as far as I know there are only eight books, so the Vera Stanhope franchise has taken on a life of its own. I believe they're currently filming an eleventh series. I think Brenda Blethyn plays Vera very well indeed. Even when the stories are different from the books I think the TV episodes capture the character of Vera and the mood of the books. I find Vera to be a very likeable character (and of course like me she drives an old Land Rover which is a definite plus!) and I've lived in the north east so I know many of the places which feature in the stories. And I've always loved the Geordie accent.

>7 John5918: book bullets. You’re supposed to clutch your chest dramatically and fall in a sprawl and say “Oh! You got me!”

>10 2wonderY:

Ah, thanks. I'd never come across that one before.

So-so month with eight reads, but you know what? There's nothing on the list that I'd recommend!

Really have to stop fooling around with mediocre stuff just because it has floated to the top of the TBR stack.

>8 Crypto-Willobie:, >9 John5918:

Your post prompted me to find The Moth Catcher on YouTube and watch it again, having just read the book. The TV version makes some changes in detail but the story is still recognisable from the book.

>13 John5918:
Thanks, John...

>7 John5918: Book bullets--you get hit by one--you have to get the book!