Currently reading
The book geek in me loved the premise of an outsider librarian going off the range after making a colossally bad workplace decision.
Colin Bliss, young, talented and naive makes a whopper of bad judgment call and then realizes he has to live with it for a year. A very long year. Until an opportunity presents itself and he decides to engage in some unsanctioned activities since, well...since he's been sidelined.
Septimus Marx, the scowling presence that always unsettles Bliss is the proverbial bad penny that keeps turning up. But, his sanctimonious airs have more to do with than just the superiority of position and skill. Bliss finds this out during his journey.
I liked the adventure/treasure seeking plot for a lost book. A mythic book that all reputable sources deny exists. The thought and development of the legend and the gaelic used throughout gave a very tangible feel to the story and if there's something I really enjoy, it is being subsumed by a story. The plot itself isn't complicated, but the execution is so smooth and pleasurable that it rates highly in my estimate.
Favorite quote:
He smiled faintly. “‘Ge milis a’ mhil, cò dh’imlicheadh o bhàrr dri i.’ Good advice, this is. Honey may be sweet, but no one licks it off a briar.”
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