It's Monday... Yup... A Reading Update and the Science Fiction Novel

Nothing too exciting to say today... not that I'm assuming that I've said anything particularly exciting in my previous 9 1/2 years of posting on this BLog. Well, I guess that, in its own right, is kind of exciting. Have I ever said anything of importance? Only the few people that read this BLog might know. 👀

So.. Well, this morning I went on my bi-weekly walk. It was nice and frosty and cool out. I saw a total of 6 people, two from a distance, also out walking or running. I saw a few cars and one deer which was happily ignoring me and eating in someone's garden. There was a beautiful big old full moon just about to drop below the horizon as I started out. So that was nice. And it was also nice and clear and I had an excellent look at the mountains, all very pretty.

Since then I've snooze, made Jo and I lunch, watched Deadline: White House and did a little bit of yard work. All very exciting when you think about it.

I finished my second book of April just before I fell asleep last night. I'll update that and also let you know what book is next in line. Both are for an LGBT reading challenge taking place in April in one of my book groups. I'll also continue with my look at the Sci-Fi novel. So there you go.

Just Finished

1. Return to Lesbos by Valerie Taylor. This is the 3rd book I've read by Taylor in the past couple of years.

"Return to Lesbos is Valerie Taylor's sequel to her Stranger on Lesbos. Stranger left protagonist Frances Ollenfield, who had left her husband Bill, for a lesbian relationship, back with her husband. She had received a beating from a woman she'd picked up. In Return, Frances has been living with Bill for a year since her previous experiences and Bill is moving them to a small town outside Chicago due a promotion.

Frances goes with him but lives a loveless life with Bill. She knows she is a lesbian but had promised herself to give her marriage one more try. In this town she discovers a book store run by homosexual, Vince, who immediately takes to Frances. She also briefly meets Erika Frohmann, a young woman who Vince has taken under his wing. Erika had been involved with Kate but that relationship ended tragically.

So there is your story. Will Frances make the difficult decision either to stay with her husband or will she pursue Erika, who has immediately attracted her? I guess in some ways it's a simple story but Taylor tells it caringly and gently. The tension between Bill and Frances is palpable. Frances is more independent now than in the first story but even with her strong feelings towards Erika, she still has to make a difficult decision; stay or go.

Vince was a highlight for me, a wonderful, sensitive character, looking after Erika but wanting her and Frances to be happy. The priest that Frances meets was also a pleasant surprise. It's a very short story, but told delicately and lovingly. (4 stars)"

Currently Reading

1. Women's Barracks by Tereska Torres.











"Originally published in 1950, this account of life among female Free French soldiers in a London barracks during World War II sold four million copies in the United States alone and many more millions worldwide.

The novel is based on the real-life experiences of the author, Tereska Torres, who escaped from occupied France. She arrived as a refugee in London and joined other exiles enlisting in Charles de Gaulle’s army, then stationed in Britain awaiting an invasion of their homeland by Allied forces. But Women’s Barracks is no ordinary war story.

As the Blitz rains down over London, taboos are broken, affairs start and stop and hearts are won and lost. Women’s Barracks was banned for obscenity in several states. It was also denounced by the House Select Committee on Current Pornographic Materials in 1952 as an example of how the paperback industry was “promoting moral degeneracy.” But in spite of such efforts—or perhaps, in part, because of them—the novel became a record-breaking bestseller and inspired a whole new genre: lesbian pulp."

The Science Fiction Novel - Daniel O'Malley

Daniel O'Malley

Daniel O'Malley is an Australian Sci-Fi writer. He is a relatively new author, his first book being published in 2012. He has since written one more novel. I first heard of him when Jo and I discovered a new Sci-Fi TV series last year, The Rook. It turns out it is based on his first novel, of course, called The Rook. He has since published the sequel, Stiletto (2016). I have the first book on my shelf and am looking forward to comparing it to the TV series as that was excellent.

1. The Rook (2016).











"'The body you are wearing used to be mine.' So begins the letter Myfanwy Thomas is holding when she awakes in a London park surrounded by bodies all wearing latex gloves. With no recollection of who she is, Myfanwy must follow the instructions her former self left behind to discover her identity and track down the agents who want to destroy her.

She soon learns that she is a Rook, a high-ranking member of a secret organization called the Chequy that battles the many supernatural forces at work in Britain. She also discovers that she possesses a rare, potentially deadly supernatural ability of her own.

In her quest to uncover which member of the Chequy betrayed her and why, Myfanwy encounters a person with four bodies, an aristocratic woman who can enter her dreams, a secret training facility where children are transformed into deadly fighters, and a conspiracy more vast than she ever could have imagined."

As I say, the TV series was excellent. So far O'Malley has written two books in the Chequy Files, the second being Stiletto. 

So there you go folks, some reading ideas to start your week. Have a great one!