Books Read in 2020: 2 (February)

 As before, anything headed with an asterisk (*) is a re-read.

36. The Crimean War by Orlando Figes. A tough slog: 500+ pages of text (not including end-notes or bibliography). Very informative but does nothing to improve my opinion of Great Britain. (4 Feb.)
37. Empire by Jeremy Paxman. Yet another examination of British history: this time an attempt to determine what possession of an empire did to the British. Not too deep but still rather depressing. (6 Feb.)
38. Manners and Morals in the Age of Optimism by James Laver. A sort of cultural history (published in 1966!) that doesn’t provide huge amounts of detail. Still some fun reading. (8 Feb.)
39. *Medieval Lives by Terry Jones and Alan Ereira. A useful corrective, but mostly re-read because of the author’s death. RIP, Mr. Jones. (10 Feb.)
40. The Great War ed. Robert Cowley. Representative of a certain type of military history, focusing on tiny details and somehow missing the bigger picture. (12 Feb.)
41. Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey. Not quite what I expected from the tag line (“Are you a coward or are you a librarian?”) but an entertaining if disconcerting read (such anger!) that I’ll bet M. Pence loathes. (14 Feb.)
42. *American Fried by Calvin Trillin. Writing about food in the early 1970s. Still very amusing, and perfectly paced for reading on an exercise bike. (14 Feb.)
43. *Everyday Life in Traditional Japan by Charles J. Dunn. Reread for research purposes. It’s brief and somewhat scattered, but where it focuses it delivers accurate info. Not really for subject specialists but still a fun read. (15 Feb.)
44. Harpo Speaks! By Harpo Marx “with” Rowland Barber. Sometimes very entertaining; sometimes it seemed about as truthful as did the P.G. Wodehouse book (Bring on the Girls!) I read last fall. (15 Feb.)
45. *The Cartoon History of the Universe III by Larry Gonick. Because I couldn’t really stop after the first two volumes, could I? (17 Feb.)
46. *Cotillion by Georgette Heyer. Freddy remains probably my favourite Heyer hero. (18 Feb.)
47. *The Quiet Gentleman by Georgette Heyer. The (dowager) countess is a horrible hoot; strong supporting cast makes a meh hero easier to deal with. (20 Feb.)
48. *Fighters 1939-1945 by Kenneth Munson. Bathtub reading while looking for interesting Japanese terms (hayabusa, shoki, etc.) (21 Feb.)
49. *Fighters Between the Wars 1919-1939 by Kenneth Munson. Because apparently I couldn’t stop with the first book. (22 Feb.)
50. *Faro’s Daughter by Georgette Heyer. Max is a bit of a pillock, but some of the supporting characters (e.g. Lady Bellingham, Silas Wantage) are very amusing. Most likely the final book of the 2020 Heyer Project. (23 Feb.)
51. The Origins of Sex by Faramerz Dabhoiwala. I would never have thought a book with this title could be so bloody boring. It’s more of a severely academic treatise on the philosophy of sexual liberty as it applied to a very small set of literate males in the eighteenth century in one small part of the world. Took forever to read, and afterward I did not feel especially Enlightened. (23 Feb.)
52. *Bombers Between the Wars 1919-1939 by Kenneth Munson. Mostly because I can’t quite believe how amazingly horrible was military aviation design in France in the period. (24 Feb.)
53. True Grit by Charles Portis. RIP Mr. Portis. Wonderful dialogue; in fact the whole book is a marvellous exhibition of character voice. (26 Feb.)
54. *Bombers 1939-1945 by Kenneth Munson. Clearly it’s as much a theme this winter as Georgette Heyer. (27 Feb.)
55. The First Bohemians by Vic Gatrell. More gossipy than (50) above, but more about art and artists than I was looking for. Reynolds sounds like a jerk. (28 Feb.)
56. The Cartoon History of the Modern World Vol. 1 by Larry Gonick. Drawn during the GWB presidency and it shows in his interpretation of events. Vastly entertaining. (29 Feb.)