Anyway, here is my June Reading Summary
June 2019
General Info June Total
Books Read - 11 70
Pages Read - 3,500 21,700
Pages Breakdown
< 250 6 30
250 - 350 1 16
351 - 450 1 14
> 450 3 10
Ratings
5 - star 1 4
4 - star 7 38
3 - star 3 28
2 - star
Gender
Female 3 30
Male 8 40
Genres
Fiction 3 9
Mystery 6 48
SciFi 1 7
Non-Fic 1 5
Classics 1
Poetry
Top 3 Books
"I've just finished Night by Elie Wiesel, the true story of how he and his family were taken from their home in Sighet, Transylvania, along with all of the other Jews of his town, to Auschwitz, in 1944. As I think about what I've read, today's news headlines state the following; 'Trump Vows Mass Migrant Arrests Starting Next Week', 'Trump Plans to Turn the 4th of July into a Political Rally in Honor of Himself', 'Ocasio - Cortez - Trump Detention Centers 'exactly' like Concentration Camps'. Those are just US headlines.
What to say about this short, succinct book? It's terror, plain and simple. Scarier and harder to conceive than any horror story. The evil of people to just dismiss another group as animals, nothing more. It's scary and even scarier as it seems the lessons may not have been learned and that we are just as capable nowadays of doing the same thing.
As I mentioned, it's a short story but a story that grabs you viscerally and holds you tight until you can't breathe. Elie Wiesel was not even 16 when he and his family were put on a train and taken to Auschwitz. When they got there, he and his father were separated from his mother and sisters and never saw them again. He and his father survived Auschwitz and then the trip to Buchenwald in winter and his father died there.
It's a terrible story but it's a story that needs to be read and believed and thought upon. There is deep within mankind this type of evil that is often stoked and brought to the surface. We need to learn from this book and others so we can fight it. Sorry for preaching. Just read it. (5 stars)"
"Natchez Burning is the 4th book in the Penn Cage series by Greg Iles. But for some reason, it's also the first book in his Natchez Burning trilogy (all of which make up the Penn Cage books too). At any rate, after reading this book, I didn't seem to have missed not reading the first three Penn Cage books. But my interest in this book will get me to delve back into those other books. Confused yet?
So, this book begins in 1964 with the murder of a black music shop owner in Natchez, Mississippi and others by a sect of the Ku Klux Klan, known as the Double Eagles. With this introduction we move to 2005 and the arrest of Tom Cage, a local doctor, and Penn Cage's father for the murder of Viola Turner, a woman who'd been his nurse and lover back in those same '60s. Viola, who had moved to Chicago after the events mentioned above, with the help of Tom Cage, had returned to Natchez, still under threat of murder by the Double Eagles, to live her last days. Tom Cage had been treating her for her cancer and upon her death, he has been charged, first with assisted suicide and then murder. This charge has been laid by Lincoln Turner, Viola's son, who also claims that Tom is his father.
Whew! That's just the beginning. Penn Cage, now mayor of Natchez, has now to try to find the truth about this from his father, who is reticent to tell him anything, all the while fighting off pressure from the local DA, Shad Johnson and also the sheriff, racist, redneck Billy Byrd. Of course, it's not that simple a story. This story will delve back into the past as Penn tries to find out the truth of the murders in the '60s, to break down who caused them, to fight the remnants of the Double Eagles, and their sons. He will require the assistance of local reporter, Henry Sexton, who has made it his life's work to find the truth; FBI agent Jim Kaiser, who is trying to make amends for the failure of the FBI to solve the crimes in the past; and also Kaitlin, publisher of the other local newspaper, and Penn's fiance, who also wants to get her own story.
And that's just touching the tip of the iceberg of this rich, engrossing, and at times, scary thriller and look at the troubling past of southern states like Mississippi. Iles has delved greatly into similar incidents in the past to create this fascinating story. It's so well written, it holds your attention right from the get-go. There is a large cast of characters that each share the spotlight in their own right, from those crusaders who want to expose the truth to those who want to continue their 'evil' work and to crush those who would dare to try to stop them.
While the ultimate ending wasn't totally satisfying, the story on the whole is rich, powerful and will keep you turning pages. I do know I'll be reading more books in the Penn Cage series. (4.5 stars)"
"The Three Hostages is the 4th book in the Richard Hannay adventure / thriller series by John Buchan. It was originally published in 1924. I've read the complete series now and, maybe because it's the freshest in my mind, I think it was the best book in the series.
Hannay is living on his estate in the country in western Britain with his wife Mary and his young son Peter John. He is now trying to move on from his WWI experiences, to enjoy a retirement, but he is brought back to reality when he is advised of three kidnappings. He doesn't think he is appropriate to be involved in finding them but when he finds out that one is a young boy of similar age to Peter John, he changes his mind with encouragement from Mary.
Hannay agrees to assist. He returns to London and gets info; there are two related aspects. The three kidnaps; a young man, a young lady and the young boy. As well the intelligence services with his old friend, MacGillivary in charge, are trying to break up a criminal enterprise of major proportions. The timing of trying to rescue the kidnapped and breaking up the organization is critical as if they are too quick with one the other will be lost.
Hannay begins to investigate and along the way meets old friends from other books, especially Sandy Arbuthnot, who will play a major role in the resolution of the story. Hannay meets Medina, an English politician and attends a dinner along with Arbuthnot. Medina is popular with all except Arbuthnot who is suspicious. After the dinner, Hannay is drugged and an attempt by Medina is made to hypnotize and gain control of Hannay. This fails but Hannay now uses this action to continue investigating further into Medina and his organization.
The story moves along at a nice pace and finds Hannay moving throughout London and even to Norway as he searches for the kidnapped. He keeps MacGillivary somewhat out of the picture but with help from Arbuthnot (who even though keeping himself out of the picture as much as possible, plays a quite important role), Mary, and other old friends, he begins to gather more and more info.
It's a fascinating story, with hypnotism, black arts (somewhat) and a good old adventure. There is considerable tension and sufficient action, especially in the closing chapters, which are excellent. I'm almost glad that I saved this middle book until the end as it was excellent. There is another story, The Courts of the Morning, which features Hannay in a minor role, which I will also read. (4.5 stars)"
12 + 4 Challenge (completed 13)
1. Darker Than Amber by John D. MacDonald (4 stars)
Papa Bear Challenge (Books I've had the longest on my Goodreads bookshelf) (completed 9)
Nil
Mama Bear Challenge (Middle of my Goodreads bookshelf) (completed 11)
2. The Master of Rain by Tom Bradby (4 stars)
Baby Bear Challenge (Books most recently added to my Goodreads bookshelf) (completed 10)
Nil
Goldilocks Challenge (Random Number Generator (completed 10)
3. Natchez Burning by Greg Iles (4.5 stars)
4. Rumpole a la Carte by John Mortimer (4 stars)
Break from Challenge Challenge (Freebees every time I complete 10 books) (completed 5 books)
5. Human Croquet by Kate Atkinson (3.5 stars)
Freebies (including June Freebies)
6.Night by Elie Wiesel (5 stars)
7. The Red Dahlia by Lynda LaPlante (3.5 stars)
8. Warlord of the Air by Michael Moorcock (4 stars)
9. The Three Hostages by John Buchan (4.5 stars)
10. An Excellent Mystery by Ellis Peters (4 stars)
11. The Dark Crusader by Alistair MacLean (3 stars)
July 2019 Books Currently Reading
2. The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl
3. Kolymsky Heights by Lionel Davidson
4. A Question of Blood by Ian Rankin
5. Stranger in Paradise by Robert B. Parker
6. The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler
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