Books finished over the Christmas break: My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Timeby Liz Jensen and The Fortune of War - the 6th in the Aubrey-Maturin seriesby Patrick O'Brian. I first read the Aubrey-Maturin novels a few years ago. I didn't like Master and Commandervery much originally but I decided to read the 2nd one, Post Captain, anyways and I liked it more. By the third one, H.M.S. Surprise, I was hooked and I read the rest of the series as fast as I could get through them.
Recently I decided to re-read them and I'm enjoying them as much the 2nd time through. In hindsight, it must have taken me a while to get used to the writing style and that is why I didn't like them at first. On 2nd reading, I appreciated Master and Commander as much as the others. O'Brian uses a very sparse style, peppered with nautical or historical language with little or no explanation. He also tends to have a long buildup followed by very short climaxes - often only a sentence or two to wrap up pages or chapters of plot.
My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Time could also be described as a historical novel, but with a science fiction twist since the characters travel back and forth between 19th century Copenhagen and 21st century London. It's not as interesting from a historical perspective as the Aubrey-Maturin books but it's a fun read. I picked it up from the library's featured books section on a whim but I liked it enough that I will check out Liz Jensen's other books.