Tales From Ovid   Ovid (trans. Ted Hughes)

Twenty-four of Ovid’s Metamorphoses beautifully translated by Ted Hughes. Much better examples of the quality of Ovid’s poetry, though he is still no Virgil. Many of the tales/myths that have entered western civilization down to the present, such as Echo and Narcissus, Tiresias, Venus and Adonis, Midas, etc. Though I have always been more interested in the Greeks, glad to have filled this gap in my education.

Ovid in Love   Ovid

Love poems by the Roman poet. Published in 1968, the book itself has beautiful, sensual drawings as well. Didn’t like the poetry that much, but very glad to fill this gap in my education. None of the bawdy, graphic poems he is famous for, at times the verse seems almost adolescent, though maybe that is the translation. Surprisingly, a couple of poems about abortion. Very glad I read these poems.

Brief Answers to the Big Questions   Stephen Hawking

A deeply disappointing collection of essays covering topics such as “Is there a God”, “Is Time Travel Possible”, etc. Written for people who know nothing at all about science. Should more accurately have been titled “Shallow Answers”. Hawking was a brilliant  thinker about physics, but he wasn’t able to build any kind of a persuasive argument in any of these essays, and he makes a bad logical mistake in the essay about God. Too bad, would have liked some intellectual stimulation. Wish I had saved my money.

The Ghosts of Galway   Ken Bruen

Most recent in Bruen’s Jack Taylor series, all of which I have read, as well as all his other books.  This time he gets further involved with Emerald, a sinister group of super patriots, and all his own ghosts. This one is even more emotionally bleak and violent than the others with many of the main characters killing themselves or being murdered, some by Taylor himself. But it’s all told with Bruen’s quick, sharp, powerful prose. Enjoyed this one very much.

Past Tense   Lee Child

Latest novel in the Reacher series, all of which I have read. Once again, Reacher is on the road, this time trying to get from Maine to San Diego for the winter, but he stops in New Hampshire to see his father’s home town. Of course, there are really bad people doing really bad things that Reacher has to stop. Two separate plot arcs gradually converge, both plausible and interesting, into a slightly weak ending, it just seems to fall apart a little too easily. Enjoyable and engrossing read, and once again, the real star is Child’s prose. Not his best, but liked it a lot.