On Guinea Nell and her husband Fen are studying indigenous people. They are now on their third group of people, the Tam, who welcome them and allow them to become part of the tribe. They were introduced by Andrew Bankston, another anthropologist who is studying another group there. Fen's mind is on a flute he saw with an earlier group he and Nell were studying. He leaves Nell to do most of the study. When he achieves what he wants, he puts all 3 in danger and they must leave. But can they? Will Fen leave without any artifacts?

I liked the story. I liked Nell and Bankston. I hated Fen. Fen was a user. Neii was a better anthropologist and his ego couldn't take it. He was mean, nasty, and abusive. When Bankston meets Nell he is smitten as she was with him. He is caring and gentle with her. He makes sure she is taken care of which she doesn't receive from Fen. Fen is jealous of Bankston but never changes his behavior. I hated the ending but I don't think there could have been any other ending. This was not a happy story.

I thought the narrators were good. They did all the voices. I could tell the difference between Bankston and Fen. I could also tell the difference between Nell and the natives. Very well done.

Lately I have been on a First World War aviation reading kick. I don't know why, but the topic is engaging me more than others. I read a couple of books back in February, and I've been searching for some others that can fill in some of the gaps in my knowledge.

That's how I found about Harald Penrose and his five-volume series on British aviation. Penrose was an amazing individual, a test pilot who later in life wrote several books on flight and the history of it. I have no doubt that I've seen his books on shelves before, only now my interests have aligned with his work, and I wouldn't mind trying him out.

Only I can't. My usual starting point after a brief confirmation that my local libraries don't have a book is to request it through Inter-Library Loan. Then after a week or so the book shows up for me to peruse, after which I start it, buy my own copy, or pass on it and move on. But I can't do any of those this because — well, you know why.

At this point, I'm deciding whether to take a plunge on one of the first two volumes, which are the ones that currently interest me the most. This would be easy if the price were right, but while I'm willing to spend $70-80 on a book that I want, I'm much less willing to do so to decide whether it's a book I want. So I'm bidding on a copy on eBay to get it to a price I can live with. Fingers crossed that the seller is either reasonable or desperate!

Is it possible to feel proud of oneself and like an idiot at the same time? Because that's how I feel right now.

Ever since I resumed my interviewing, I've contemplated reaching out to G. Edward White to offer an interview about his latest book. For me he's in the category of authors of whom interviewing would be a tremendous honor for me. He's a giant in the field of American legal history who has written some truly excellent books, including (as a co-author) a volume in the Oliver Wendell Holmes Devise. His new book is the final volume of a trilogy he has been working on for over a decade summarizing the history of American law from colonial times to the present. Simply put, interviewing people like him about books like that is the main reason why I took on this podcasting gig in the first place. Plus, interviewing him for a podcast would spare me the expense of buying a copy, so there's that.

My initial plan was to contact White after I returned from my summer trip to England. My internet service issues threw a wrench into that, though, so when my access improved I considered the issue again. Finally I sent him an email last week; to my pleasant surprise he was happy to participate, and in less than a week (Oxford is awesome like this) a copy arrived in my mailbox. And it is huge. At over a thousand pages, it's a positive brick of a book, crammed full of a lifetime of learning and lived experience with the law (White clerked for Earl Warren, the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, back in the 1960s, so this volume covers a lot of what he witnessed firsthand).

And that's why I'm pleased with myself and kicking myself at the same time, because I don't know how I'm going to master it in time for our interview. I have at least three books ahead of it which will be nowhere hear as difficult to cover, but they will take time. More problematic is my review of Glantz's book on the battle of Belorussia during the Second World War, which is almost as large and for which I need to produce a 1000-word review in a little more than a week. And of course there's the reviewing for my own website, which I'm trying to let slip so as to try to generate steady traffic. And of course there's the life stuff on top of all that, which is going to take up a bigger chunk of my free time as the holidays approach.

Why do I do this to myself?