A Quickie Reading Update

Jo and I have had a busy few days this past little while; some yard work, pretty well finished updating out front hall closet.

Let us out, Daddy. We won't bark. Promise.

I did the gutters out front today and if the weather is as nice tomorrow, the outdoor Xmas lights will go up. We've had a mix of weather from quite heavy rain to today's beautiful sunny day. I've been able to keep up my running every two days and I'm feeling quite good about it. 

Jo is willing but Bonnie refuses to go for another walk.

Jo  and I are also going for longer walks with the doggies and on our own every couple of evenings. We've been dieting since January and are very happy with the results. Jo looks great I must say.

Take us when you vote. We'll behave... Give me the toy, Clyde!!

Tomorrow I'll vote in the local by-election. One of our councilors retired so his position is up for grabs. Tomorrow is the last day of advance polls.

So, what about the reading update you ask? Well, Jo and I dropped off a few bags of clothes at a local charity store on the weekend. While we were there, we took a look around as well. They had some excellent books.. Ahem! Yes, I bought them! I also got a couple in the mail. I'll update those and also since I've finished two more books this month, I'll provide my reviews and the synopses of the next two books I'm starting. So let's go.

New Books

1. Sepulchre by John Herbert (1987). Herbert has recently become one of my favorite horror authors. I recently finished Rats, which was excellent.

"There is a house called Neath that holds a dark and terrible secret. In that house there is a psychic called Kline who is part of its secret. The Keeper is guardian of the house, of the psychic, and of the secret. But now an outsider must protect them from a terrible danger. Halloran will combat men who thrive on physical corruptions; he will find love of a perverse nature; he will confront his soul's own darkness. And eventually he will discover the horrific and awesome secret of the Sepulchre."

2. Eye in the Sky by Philip K. Dick (1957). I found two books by Dick, and, in fact, have already read one (see my review after). He's one of the more unique SciFi authors I've ever experienced. 

"While sightseeing at the Belmont Bevatron, Jack Hamilton, along with seven others, is caught in a lab accident. When he regains consciousness, he is in a fantasy world of Old Testament morality gone awry—a place of instant plagues, immediate damnations, and death to all perceived infidels. Hamilton figures out how he and his compatriots can escape this world and return to their own, but first they must pass through three other vividly fantastical worlds, each more perilous and hilarious than the one before."

3. Murther and Walking Spirits by Robertson Davies (Toronto Trilogy #1).  I'm starting to repeat myself but here I go. Davies has become one of my favorite Canadian fiction authors. Back during my university days I enjoyed his Deptford Trilogy. More recently I read his Cornish trilogy, which was also excellent. He's a unique author, intelligent and witty. Unfortunately he never finished his Toronto trilogy but I'm looking forward to reading the two books.

 

 

 

"Anthony Burgess listed Robertson Davies' The Rebel Angels among the 99 best novels of our time and declared that Davies himself is "without doubt Nobel Prize material". With Murther & Walking Spirits Davies reconfirms his stature as an irresistibly erudite practitioner of the art of fiction. A man who is killed in the first sentence of the novel leads the reader on a tour of his afterlife."

4. Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern by Anne McCaffrey (Pern #4). Back in the day I used to belong to the Science Fiction Book Club and I did read one of this series. I recall enjoying it. I've begun to acquire the books from the beginning and was very happy to find this one at the Charity shop.

"An air of pleasant anticipation hung so thickly over the Halls, Holds, and Weyrs of Pern that it had affected even the businesslike ways of Moreta, the Weyrwoman of Fort Weyr, where her dragon, Queen Orlith, would soon clutch. Then without warning, a runnerbeast fell ill. Soon myriads of holders, craftsmen, and dragonriders were dying; and the mysterious ailment had spread to all but the most inaccessible holds. Pern was in mortal danger. For, if dragonriders did not rise to char Thread, the parasite would devour any and all organic life it encountered. The future of the planet rested in the hands of Moreta and the other dedicated, selfless Pernese leaders. But of all their problems, the most difficult to overcome was time..."

5. The Skeleton Road by Val McDermid (Karen Pirie #3). McDermid has written some of excellent mysteries, especially the Wire in the Blood series. I'm looking forward to getting. 

 

 

 

 

 

"In the center of historic Edinburgh, builders are preparing to demolish a disused Victorian Gothic building. They are understandably surprised to find skeletal remains hidden in a high pinnacle that hasn’t been touched by maintenance for years. But who do the bones belong to, and how did they get there? Could the eccentric British pastime of free climbing the outside of buildings play a role? Enter cold case detective Karen Pirie, who gets to work trying to establish the corpse’s identity. And when it turns out that the bones may be from as far away as former Yugoslavia, Karen will need to dig deeper than she ever imagined into the tragic history of the Balkans: to war crimes and their consequences, and ultimately to the notion of what justice is and who serves it."

6. The Papers of Tony Veitch by William McIlvanney (Jack Laidlaw #2). The first Laidlaw was interesting. I won't say it was my favorite mystery but still worth trying #2).

 

 

 

 

 

"Eck Adamson, an alcoholic vagrant, summons Jack Laidlaw to his deathbed. Probably the only policeman in Glasgow who would bother to respond, Laidlaw sees in Eck's cryptic last message a clue to the murder of a gangland thug and the disappearance of a student. With stubborn integrity, Laidlaw tracks a seam of corruption that runs from the top to the bottom of society."

7. The Detective's Daughter by Lesley Thomson (Detective's Daughter #1). Yup, I have yet to try this series but it did sound interesting.

"Kate Rokesmith's decision to go to the river changed the lives of many.

Her murder shocked the nation. Her husband, never charged, moved abroad under a cloud of suspicion. Her son, just four years old, grew up in a loveless boarding school. And Detective Inspector Darnell, vowing to leave no stone unturned in the search for her killer, began to lose his only daughter. The young Stella Darnell grew to resent the dead Kate Rokesmith.

Now, thirty years later, Stella is dutifully sorting through her father's attic after his sudden death. The Rokesmith case papers are in a corner, gathering dust: DI Darnell must have copied them when he retired from the force. Stella knows she should destroy them. Instead, she opens the box, and starts to read..."

Just Finished

1. The Content Assignment by Holly Roth (1955). This is the 2nd book I've enjoyed by Roth since I discovered her mystery / spy stories.

 

 

 

 

 

"The Content Assignment is the first book written by American author Holly Roth and the second book I've read and enjoyed by her. It was originally published in 2 parts in The Saturday Evening Post in 1953.

I really enjoyed this novel, an intriguing, entertaining, 'lost girl' thriller with spy intimations. The story follows English reporter John Terrant as he travels to America to find Ellen Content. Terrant had been working in postwar divided Berlin and along with a friend met Ellen, who says she works as a secretary at the US Embassy. Over the course of the next week or so, he meets with her a total of 4 times. In the last meeting, he gets involved with Ellen as she tries to rescue a Russian man and his wife. The find the man dead. Ellen orders John to save the wife and take her to Ellen's boss. John does this and then loses track of Ellen.

John has fallen deeply in love with Ellen during these short meetings and over the next years he continues to try and find her. He does discover that she has worked for the CIA and that she seems to have disappeared on a ship to New York. When John discovers a new article that seems to indicate Ellen is still alive, he heads to New York, against advice / orders from the American FBI and even Scotland Yard, to try and find Ellen. There you have the crux of this entertaining thriller, as John stumbles around New York city and state, trying to find clues to Ellen's existence.

The story moves along nicely. It's not perfect as there are moments that seem inconceivable, but to Roth's credit, everything is explained satisfactorily. The characters are well - crafted, John is likable and intense. The FBI and police aren't idiots and act reasonably and sympathetically. It's a nice introduction to Roth. She has a clear writing style, the story is logical and well-crafted and just plain enjoyable. I will explore Roth's works further as I do enjoy her style and story-telling. (4 stars)" 

2. The World Jones Made by Philip K. Dick (1956).

"I've been enjoying the weird and wonderful SciFi of [author:Philip K Dick|21787223] for many years. My favorite book is still [book:The Man in the High Castle|895540]. I do find that he can be hit or miss, sometimes just to strange for me. But he is always interesting.

The World Jones Made was one of Dick's earliest books, originally published in 1956. I did find it took a bit to get into but the story kept getting more interesting and satisfying as I got deeper into it and the ending was great.

What you've got in this story is a dystopic future; fanatics are outlawed (no bad thing) and earth is run by the Relativists. Jones is first discovered in a carnie show. He has a unique talent in that he can see one year into the future. He basically lives each year twice, once in his mind and then literally. Jones becomes a thorn in the rule of the Relativists. An alien race has been arriving in Earth's galaxy. They seem harmless, basically just float to earth and die. But in Jones's view of the future one year on, they are a threat to our existence.

As well, there is a group of 8 'people' living somewhere in San Francisco, in a 'Refuge'. Their atmosphere is unique, they are unique. And they are strange and just a side show until later in the story. The story starts in the present, moves back to the past when Jones is discovered, then followed by Relativist Security officials; Cussick and Kaminski, until the world changes with the overthrow of the government by Jones and his followers.

It's all very confusing at times, a strange future, a fascinating world and story. All the disparate piece gradually come together, as only someone like Philip K. Dick can do, and there is an ultimately fascinating conclusion. I keep finding works by Dick that I've not tried before and I am never disappointed. This is another well worth trying. (4 stars)"

Currently Reading

1. The Bang Bang Birds by Adam Diment (Philip McAlpine #3).

"Philip McAlpine's escapes from death and encounters with girls begin in New York and move to Stockholm...espionage and the sale of secrets...glittering palaces of vice...golden girls with sub-machine guns..."

2. There is Nothing For You Here by Fiona Hill (2021). I was very impressed by Fiona Hill when she testified at the 1st Donald Trump impeachment trial. I've been looking forward to trying this.

 

 

 

 

 

"A celebrated foreign policy expert and key impeachment witness reveals how declining opportunity has set America on the grim path of modern Russia—and draws on her personal journey out of poverty, as well as her unique perspectives as an historian and policy maker, to show how we can return hope to our forgotten places.
 
Fiona Hill grew up in a world of terminal decay. The last of the local mines had closed, businesses were shuttering, and despair was etched in the faces around her. Her father urged her to get out of their blighted corner of northern England: “There is nothing for you here, pet,” he said.  
 
The coal-miner’s daughter managed to go further than he ever could have dreamed. She studied in Moscow and at Harvard, became an American citizen, and served three U.S. Presidents. But in the heartlands of both Russia and the United States, she saw troubling reflections of her hometown and similar populist impulses. By the time she offered her brave testimony in the first impeachment inquiry of President Trump, Hill knew that the desperation of forgotten people was driving American politics over the brink—and that we were running out of time to save ourselves from Russia’s fate. In this powerful, deeply personal account, she shares what she has learned, and shows why expanding opportunity is the only long-term hope for our democracy."

I'll continue with my look at women authors I've been enjoying in a future post. Enjoy the rest of your week.