The multitude of books is making us ignorant.
– Voltaire
1.14.07
Until the Sea Shall Free Them: Life, Death, and Survival in the Merchant Marine (Robert Frump) was a thoroughly enjoyable (and rather frightening) read; in the few days it took me to read it, I was constantly running into walls because of my reluctance to lift my eyes from the page while walking around the house. I’m now 4.5 chapters into Transatlantic: Samuel Cunard, Isambard Brunel, and the Great Atlantic Steamships (Stephen Fox), and it promises to be just as fascinating. Remind me to wear some kind of face protection for the next few days...
10.08.06
The Subtle Knife (Philip Pullman) isn’t quite as good as the first book in the His Dark Materials series, but it’s still a decent read; I’m just not as interested in our world as I am in Lyra’s, and I wish the story would focus on Lyra as it did in the first book. I was also going to say that the Lee Scoresby subplot seemed a bit forced and distracting, but then I finished chapter fourteen and took all those wicked thoughts back. Beat the ending of the last Harry Potter book by a mile, that did.
9.17.06
I’ve started reading The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism by Megan Marshall, and I’m kicking myself for not starting on it earlier; it’s so thick and dense that I’m sure I won’t have time to finish it before I have to return it to the library in a few days. But it’s very interesting, both as a triple biography and a study of early-19th century Americana, neither being things I know much about.