Life in Books Meme

Here's a really old draft I've discovered while deleting spam comments. (Actually, I was turning off comments from an old post that seems to be attracting them like maggots to a dead body.) I really need to not start blog posts and not finish them right away. I'm too forgetful to keep drafts. And I think I've kept this one sitting around because I was having a hard time coming up with answers. So, I've decided to post it undone, so folks who haven't seen this can give it a try. And maybe one of these days, I'll get around to trying it, too.
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How I found this meme is a bit involved. I saw a tweet about it from AAKnopf that led me to a blog called Reactions to Reading where I saw:

A fun meme doing the rounds that I first spotted at Petrona is
Using only books you have read this year (2009), cleverly answer these questions. Try not to repeat a book title.

Now, I haven't read nearly enough books this year to do this, so I'm doing it for the decade so far, 2000-2013. And I have to add, I wish I'd come up with this idea. It's very cool.

Describe Yourself:
How do you feel:
Describe where you currently live:
If you could go anywhere, where would you go:
Your favorite form of transport:
Your best friend is:
You and your friends are:
What’s the weather like:
Favourite time of day:
If your life was a:
What is life to you:
Your fear:
What is the best advice you have to give:
Thought for the Day:
How I would like to die:
My soul’s present condition:

What I'm Reading

Yup, I'm still around. Since January, I've been reading George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones. It's gotten a bit tough reading this first book in his series while watching the TV version of the first half of the third book this spring.

Typically, I read books, then watch the adaptations, but the HBO series has been so good, it inspired me to seek out the books, which is working out nicely as the book is filling in a lot of backstory and character pov that's missing in the excellent series.

So, since I'm a slow reader and this is a looong book, it'll still be a while before I post another review here.

Which hasn't stopped comment spam on this blog, at all. ;)

Spies of the Balkans

TITLE: Spies of the Balkans
AUTHOR: Alan Furst

As I work through all of Alan Furst's books in trade paperback, I'm constantly reminded of how meticulous a researcher he is and how skilled he is at weaving the knowledge he's gained about the years leading up to and through World War II into a work of fiction, skill that includes breathing life into a set of heroes, both likely and unlikely.

In this book, he set his tale in Greece, a country whose activities during the Second World War are largely unfamiliar to me. As with the other books of his I've read, Furst engages his characters in a series of actions and events that paint a picture of life in Greece as it prepares for the threat of a German/Nazi invasion.

Costa Zannis, a Greek police official who works on special cases, uncovers a German spy at the waterfront in Salonika at the start of the book, and over the next year or so, finds himself called up for active service in the Greek army, is injured and returned home, becomes involved in an underground network sneaking Jews out of Germany to Egypt or Turkey, and falls in love, all while planning for the safety of his mother and brother should the Germans invade, his activities taking him to a number of European cities.

When I read Furst's books, I feel as if I'm there with the characters, experiencing their world, and this is no exception. The pacing is solid, the actions required of Costa growing in seriousness and urgency until the Germans are at the border and he's faced with the decision of whether or not to leave his homeland. Despite the intrigue and tension, this is at its core, a simple tale well told.

Bad Reviews

Publishers Weekly compiled some of the worst reviews of literary classics. Enjoy. I'm partial to the last one for its succinctness.

You May Also Like

I went to Barnes & Noble today and they had all 5 trade pbs of the Alan Furst books I was missing. When I paid, I got this with my receipt:

List of Recommended Books

All 5 of the books on this list are by Alan Furst, and all 5 are ones not only in my collection, but are books I've already read. Ah, Barnes & Noble! Nice try, but back to the drawing board for you.

ETA: For some reason, this post is getting a lot of spam comments. Commenting on this blog is moderated, but I turned off comments for this post to see if the spam starts hitting the next post down.