Karl's Reading List

Published by Oxford University Press. First published 1864-1865. Some books take longer to read than others. This book took me quite a while. I have read it as my main book, read it as an occasional book, put it down for periods, picked it up again.... overall I think it's taken me four distinct periods of time to get through, with the last period (back as my main book) taking eleven days. It is an older book, written in a slower style, and having previously read Barchester Towers by the same author, I was aware of that going in. And yet Can You Forgive Her? was a much harder read.  In saying that, the book was still enjoyable. Mostly.  At other times (particularly when my brain wasn't in a 'slow-and-steady' place) attempting to read it was a struggle, even boring. So, do I recommend this book? It depends. How good are you with slower paced reads? How much do you appreciate texts from another era, with social norms far different to your own? Do you enjoy satire touchin

Published by Simon and Schuster UK Ltd: London, 2014. This is a weird book that's been on my classroom library shelf for quite a while. The main character, Travis, had terminal cancer five years ago, and agreed to have his head cryogenically frozen, in the hope that in the future it would be possible to attach it to a donor body. Now, he has woken up, only the second patient to successfully have the procedure complete, to find that everyone in his world, including his parents, his best friend and his girlfriend, have lived five extra years of life. Travis is sixteen, and the difference between a sixteen-year-old and a twenty-one-year-old is a much bigger difference than it would have been had Travis been an adult. Also, his girlfriend Cate is now engaged to someone else. The difference between a sixteen-year-old and a twenty-one-year-old is also small enough that it is conceivable that Cate and Kyle (his former best friend) would also still be keen to in-some-way have Travis back i

Published by Puffin Books/Penguin Group: London, England, 2013 (2008). Book 4 in the 'Percy Jackson' series. Preceded by ' Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse. ' Followed by 'Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian.' I finally found a cheap copy of this book to add to my school library shelf, and - home sick for a few days - picked it up and raced through it. As book 4 in a series of 5, it is obvious that things are building towards the epic conclusion. Kronos (like the Voldemort of this series) is taking form and will soon be free to wreak havoc on the world, Percy's nemesis Luke continues to be a hindrance, and - at the end of the book - Percy turns 15. Considering that there is a prophecy that most characters believe refers to Percy, saying that when he turn 16 terrible things will occur, this is also significant. In this particular entry, Percy and his friends must journey into the Labyrinth of Greek mythology, searching for the inventor Daedalus who the

Published by Passio/Charisma Media/Charisma House Book Group: Lake Mary, Florida, 2011. This is a book on discipleship that my mentor recommended I read, and I am glad I did. It will take me quite a while to unpack it, but the insights will be helpful as our church seeks to grow in this area. Murrell is a pastor at Victory Church in the Philippines, a church which saw a large growth in numbers during his time in leadership, but Murrell points out, firstly, that numbers are not as important as lives changed and people growing, and secondly, that a lot of what has happened at Victory isn't directly to do with him. He takes the example of wikipedia (which the book title is based on), and points out that originally the creators of wikipedia had attempted to make an online encyclopedia written by - and checked by - experts, but that this slowed the project down to the point that it was untenable. When they opened the project to amateur writers, it grew rapidly, in numbers of articles an

Published by Titan Books: London, 2022. Book 3.5 of 'The Stormlight Archive.' Preceded by ' Oathbringer .' Followed by 'Rhythm of War.' Another spin-off novella, Dawnshard follows Rysn, a very minor character who has mostly appeared in 'Interlude' chapters until now. Paralysed from the waist down by an accident she suffered back in (I think) Words of Radiance, Rysn now has been given her own ship, and is eager to become a trading merchant like her mentor, despite her disability. At the beginning of Dawnshard, Rysn's pet 'larkin' is sick, and she believes it can only be healed by travelling to the island it came from. Fortunately for her, Navani wants to hire a ship to go to that island, a mysterious and dangerous place that we know (from another interlude in Oathbringer ) is being protected by mysterious and dangerous creatures. Rysn is accompanied by a suspicious crew and a small group of radiants and ardents, of whom the most prominent is L

Published in Two-Volume Paperback edition by Gollancz/Orion Publishing Group, Ltd: London, 2019. First published 2017. Book 3 in 'The Stormlight Archives' series. Preceded by (spinoff) ' Edgedancer ' and (main series) ' Words of Radiance. ' Followed by (spinoff) ' Dawnshard ' and (main series) 'Rhythm of War.' The third 'proper' entry in Sanderson's planned ten-part epic, Oathbringer picks up after the Knights Radiant have been reformed, effectively introducing superheroes into the world of Roshar.  I made the comment at the end of Words of Radiance that the series could have ended with that entry, and it is true that the series now feels quite different. It does, however, still have the same characters with the same quirks, and I continue to enjoy it. With such a sweeping epic planned, some minor characters become more prominent in this entry, and it seems like further storylines will spin off as the series continues. Of course, thi

Published as an audiobook to YouTube by InkReads, Feb 24, 2022. Narrated by InkReads. Originally published 1958. Book 2 in the 'Paddington Bear' series. Preceded by ' A Bear Called Paddington. ' Followed by 'Paddington Helps Out.' After enjoying the first Paddington Bear book while doing dishes, Elise and I decided to move on to the second one. Rather than finding another Stephen Fry narration, though, we stumbled across this version, read by a YouTube called InkReads. She has a very gentle reading voice, which did make certain parts harder to hear whilst doing dishes, but also has quite a lot of variety in the voices she uses, and her take on the characters, though quite different from Stephen Fry's, suited them beautifully. As in the previous volume, chapters in More About Paddington each follow Paddington Bear getting into some sort of misadventure, only for things to eventually turn out better-than-expected for him. Whereas the first book (after a few c