Just like that - it is was November and the end of the year was just around the corner. I've been a bit up and down with my reading. I don't tend to abandon books once I started, but I abandoned two this month.
Abandoned
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The first was Joe Cinque's Consolation by Helen Garner. Joe Cinque was in the ABC Radio National Top 100 Book's of the 21st Century count down, which was my reminder to pick it up. It's written by one of Australia's most talented authors and covers the trial of a famous murder case in the Australia Capital Territory. It's often hailed as a meaningful exploration of culpability, evil and the gap between moral behaviour and the law. It seems that many people have a strong emotional reaction to this book, finding significance of Garner's exploration of these themes. I didn't and I believe I know why. For some years I was a trial lawyer, responsible for defending many accused perpetrators of terrible crimes. I've had occasion to see these issues first hand. I've seen the awful things that people can do to one another. I've seen behind the scenes the awful things that have often been done to them earlier in their lives. I've seen where the law convergers from what would commonly be thought of as fairness. It's usually for a reason that hard to discern. I couldn't finish the book because it wasn't anything that I hadn't see or explored myself.
The second was Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Hurari. This was another one that the ABC count down had recommended to me, but that ultimately I found the pace a little slow and the information a little uninteresting to my particular tastes.
Finished
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Piranesi by Susannah Clarke: Another recommendation from the ABC count down and I loved it. This comes very highly recommended. A man lives in a myserious cavernous and seemingly infinite land with a mysterious stranger.
Conclave by Richard Harris: I listened to this on audiobooked and it had me hooked from beginning to end. The Pop dies, a myserious Bishop arrives and a new Pope must be appointed. It shows how men use each other to gain positions of power.
The Soul of Kindness by Elizabeth Taylor: I read for my Literary Wives book club and you can read the review here.
Finally, Murder in the Cathedral by Kerry Greenwood: Greenwood's last novel now that she has passsed. She passed before it the final edit was complete and never saw it published. Reading this one was bitter sweet for me.
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