“Barbarian Lost: Travels in the New China” by Alexandre Trudeau

This was a good read that taught me quite a bit about China. I did, however, find Trudeau’s writing style to be occasionally jarring in its casualness, by which I mean use of expletives and slang. In fact, his general writing style was new to me. It was simulataneously a travelogue, diary, and erudite exposition. Also, he quoted the conversations of himself and his guide, throwing in the underlying emotion as well.

“The Three Musketeers” by Alexandre Dumas, Pere

So, I finally read this classic. Overall,it was quite enjoyable. Dumas has written some quite beautiful descriptive passages, and the various incidents in the book are quite amusing. On the other hand, I must admit that afte4 awhile, I found the adventures to be rather repetitive. And I skimmed over much of Milady’s machinations near the end of the book.

As often happens with the classics, I was surprised by how modern it felt. Dumas has a good sense of humour. Also, I very much liked the collaborative decision making style among the Musketeers.

“The Lost Symbol” by Dan Brown

Some of the plot twists in this book ended up being quite interesting. But overall, it was too long, too preachy, and described Washington landmarks with too much fawning detail.