Midweek Music Medley

Had a good run today, even managed to run all of the way up MacDonald Road (it's a bit of a hill). Lunch is basically for when Jo returns from shopping (tuna melts & salad today). So while I wait, here is your midweek music medley to help get you through the rest of your week.

Midweek Music Medley Wed 23 Feb 2022

1. Jamaican model, singer / actress Grace Jones - Love is the Drug (1980).

2. American singer Gwen McCrae - All This Love That I'm Giving (1988).

3. American singer / songwriter Janet Jackson - Got 'til It's Gone (1997)

Enjoy the rest of your week.

A Sunday Update and No Rehashing or Venting.

Martine's

It's been a nice week. Jo and I went out for Valentine's Day dinner at Martine's and had a lovely meal, as always. Nice that we've now got a few restaurants to enjoy. We'll keep exploring. Oh, the staff is so friendly (and that's the case at all of the places we frequent, btw). Young lady, who was front of house, was very impressive, still in high school, said she was heading home afterwards to study for exams. Small stuff I guess, but still nice to see such positive attitudes.

Often the case at Bigfoots

Tuesday, we went downtown, treated ourselves to a donut at Bigfoot donuts, a cherry surprise, and then wandered around the shops, just enjoying the day and spending some money.

Qualicum Beach

On Friday, we took the day and went down for our monthly excursion to Qualicum, had lunch at Gary's Bistro, checked out the normal places; The Little Black Dress (Jo) and other stores; Mulberry Bush Books (me) and the Bookcase and then we wandered higher up the main street to places and discovered shops we hadn't experienced before. There are many great little places in Qualicum to visit if you take the time to explore.

As you may have guessed, I did check out many book stores in our wanderings. So since it's Sunday, let's check out my newest books as well as update with reviews of the couple of books I've completed since my last update.

Just Finished

1. The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes #2).

"The Sign of Four is the 2nd Sherlock Holmes mystery by Arthur Conan Doyle. Like all of the other Sherlock Holmes books I've enjoyed, this was an excellent mystery and interestingly enough had lots of action (cue the high speed boat chase down the Thames).

Holmes is bored. He has no cases on which to work. To his compatriot Dr Watson's chagrin, Holmes is indulging in his 7% solution of cocaine. Having an interesting case keeps his mind active, having none, he needs stimulation.

A young woman, Miss Morstan, arrives on the doorstep of 221B Baker Street. Years ago, she had gone to a hotel to meet her father, newly returned from India where he had served as an officer in the British Army. But her father wasn't there. Six years later, she receives a pearl in the mail. Then later another gem. She has now seen an ad in the London paper, telling her to come to Lyceum Theater, where she will get further info on her missing father and also on her 'inheritance'. She can bring along two people, hence Holmes and Watson.

This begins an interesting mystery, involving the The Sign of Four. Holmes, Watson and Miss Morstan (Watson is quite taken with the young woman, btw) are taken to meet Mr. Thaddeus Sholto. Sholto's father was a compatriot of Miss Morstan's father and they had taken a treasure out of India, one that was hidden from Mr. Morstan. Thaddeus's father was murdered and he is trying with his brother to find it. 

Upon discovering the body of Thaddeus's brother the mystery deepens; it's definitely a closed door case at this point. But we will now involved the Baker Street Irregulars, Scotland Yard and a chase across the city as Holmes and Watson try to discover the Sign of Four and the stolen treasure for Miss Morstan. It's all fascinating, mysterious and filled with deductions, investigations and suitable action. I've read most of the Holmes' mysteries and this was the 1st time I'd read this one. Glad I did as it was reliably enjoyable. (4 stars)"

2. Industrial Magic by Kelley Armstrong (Women of the Otherworld #4). I was hesitant to add this one as I gave up on it, but I try to provide reviews of all books I attempt. Just because I don't finish a book doesn't mean you shouldn't try it and judge it on its own merits, not on my opinion. I provided no rating because I never finished it.

"I didn't finish Industrial Magic by Kelley Armstrong. This is the 4th book in her Women of the Otherworld fantasy series. Instead of featuring Elena, the only female werewolf in the world, this one features Paige, a witch. I had read three other books in this series and for the most part, enjoyed them.... well, one not quite so much. I've plodded away at book 4 since early January and after a month am still only one 1/3 of the way into it (175 pages). While it is reasonably interesting, I also have found it easy to put down.

Paige and boyfriend, Lucas, a lawyer and, um, warlock are asked by his step - father to help find the killer of Cabal (a supernatural business group) teenagers, these teenagers have left home and are street kids. Three or four have been murdered, Benecio, Lucas's father has been asking Lucas to join the family business... Er, um... Paige and Lucas begin investigating the attacks... and there you go, that's as far as I really got.

I won't rate this as it's unfair since I never completed it. It's well written and flows nicely, either I'm not in the mood for it right now, or it's not resonating with me. I'm sure others will enjoy it. I did enjoy the TV series based on the first few books in the series, but I don't think I'll be reading this series any more. (NR - No rating)"

Currently Reading  (Those books that I've started since completing the two above)

1. Ninety-Three by Victor Hugo (1874). Continuing my Feb Focus on books written prior to 1900.

"Ninety-three, the last of Victor Hugo's novels, is regarded by many including such diverse critics as Robert Louis Stevenson and André Maurois as his greatest work.

1793, Year Two of the Republic, saw the establishment of the National Convention, the execution of Louis XVI, the Terror, and the monarchist revolt in the Vendée, brutally suppressed by the Republic. Hugo's epic follows three protagonists through this tumultuous year: the noble royalist de Lantenac; Gauvain, who embodies a benevolent and romantic vision of the Republic; and Cimourdain, whose principles are altogether more Robespierrean. The conflict of values culminates in a dramatic climax on the scaffold."

2. Head of a Traveler by Nicholas Blake (Nigel Strangeways #9). I've previously read one other Strangeways mystery. I'm enjoying getting re-acquainted with him.

"Upon stopping by Plash Meadows to visit revered poet Robert Seaton, Nigel Strangeways is absolutely enamoured: like something out of a fairy tale, a perfect Queen Anne house stands among sprawling lawns as smooth as green glass, and whimsical gardens overflowing with roses. And not so far off, a dark and winding wood…

While visiting with the Seatons, Nigel gets more than he bargained for. He learns about the contentious legacy of the family estate, stumbles upon a secret meeting, and at lunch, when table talk turns to murder and motive, Nigel leaves feeling a little uneasy…

Two months later, Nigel is summoned back to the Seaton’s in less pleasant circumstances. A headless corpse has been pulled from the river behind the house and no one can identify the victim… let alone the murderer.

As oppressive thunderstorms roll through the countryside and the mood in the house takes a turn, Nigel has only one lead, but it’s throwing up more questions than it answers. The corpse bears a striking resemblance to Robert Seaton’s long-missing brother… but he walked into the ocean ten years prior, never to be heard from again.

Bewitched by poet and property, will Nigel be able to put his admiration aside and get to the bottom of this case?"

New Books (Bear with me as there are a few. I did some spring cleaning yesterday to make room on our shelves. Jo would be so proud of me.) 😎

1. Maus : A Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman (1986). I bought this partly as my protest against book banning in the US, but also because I felt I should read it.

"Maus is the story of Vladek Spiegelman, a Jewish survivor of Hitler's Europe, and his son, a cartoonist who tries to come to terms with his father, his father's terrifying story, and History itself. Its form, the cartoon, succeeds perfectly in shocking us out of any lingering sense of familiarity with the events described, approaching, as it does, the unspeakable through the diminutive. It is, as the New York Times Book Review has commented, "a remarkable feat of documentary detail and novelistic vividness...an unfolding literary event."

Moving back and forth from Poland to Rego Park, New York, Maus tells two powerful stories: the first is Spiegelman's father's account of how he and his wife survived Hitler's Europe, a harrowing tale filled with countless brushes with death, improbable escapes, and the terror of confinement and betrayal. The second is the author's tortured relationship with his aging father as they try to lead a normal life of minor arguments and passing visits against a backdrop of history too large to pacify. At all levels, this is the ultimate survivor's tale - and that, too, of the children who somehow survive even the survivors."

2. Fifty-Four Pigs by Philipp Schott (A Doctor Bannerman Vet Mystery). (Full Disclosure - I was sent this by the publisher with a request that I provide an honest review. It will be the next book I start)

"For readers of Alexander McCall Smith's No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series comes a lighthearted mystery with an incredible sense of place A swine barn explodes near a lakeside Manitoba town, putting veterinarian Dr. Peter Bannerman on a collision course with murder and a startling conspiracy. Peter is an odd duck, obsessed with logic and measurable facts, an obsession he puts to good use in his veterinary practice. When a murder is connected to the swine barn explosion and his friend Tom becomes the prime suspect, Peter feels compelled to put his reasoning skills, and his dog Pippin's remarkable nose, to use to help clear him. The situation darkens with a second murder and a series of break-ins, including at Peter's house and clinic, but Peter has a hard time knowing when he is out of his depth, despite warnings from his brother-in-law Kevin, an RCMP officer. It becomes increasingly clear that something extraordinary is behind all this, possibly international in scope. Ultimately Peter finds himself out in the middle of frozen Lake Winnipeg during a blizzard, fighting for his life and confronting a horrifying realization he had been blind to all along."

3. The Wanting Seed by Anthony Burgess (1962). After many years, I finally tried A Clockwork Orange by Burgess and have since been interested in exploring his other work.

"Tristram Foxe and his wife, Beatrice-Joanna, live in their skyscraper world where official family limitation glorifies homosexuality. Eventually, their world is transformed into a chaos of cannibalistic dining-clubs, fantastic fertility rituals, and wars without anger. It is a novel both extravagantly funny and grimly serious."

3. The Anarchist Colossus by A.E. van Vogt (1977). A new Sci-Fi author for me. Let's see how I like him.

"The Anarchistic Colossus...takes place in a future Earth where anarchy has become a way of life - it is, however, a very special branch of anarchy, one that is controlled by the mysterious Kirlian computers...and one that must deal with a race of aliens who look upon the conquest of Earth as part of a very entertaining game..."

4. Worlds Without End by Clifford Simak (1964). I read Simak's City back in university and then refreshed myself with it a couple of years ago. I've been exploring his Sci-Fi since. This is a collection of short stories.

"A link between yesterday and the tomorrow that was here already... Dreams constructed and maintained by society... A world-to-world search for an elusive secret...

The bizarre, weird strange creations of things and world only Clifford D. Simak could have written... and make believable.

Three stories three times as weird by one of the master writers of this, or any, world.

Contents:
- Worlds without end
- The Spaceman's Van Gogh
- Full cycle."

5. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818). For some reason I've avoided this book. I will try to get it in as part of my Feb Focus - Pre - 1900 books.

"The idea for the story came to the author, Mary Shelley, in a dream she had about a scientist who had created life and was horrified by what he had made. This Gothic-style romance is among the first of true science fiction novels, if not the first. A young scientist named Victor Frankenstein, after going through his own near-death experience, decides to play God and create life in the form of a grotesque creature, which turns into a nightmare. Through his experience, he learns that the gift of life is precious, not disposable. His journey and personal transformation has deeply affected readers. "

6. A Girl Called Echo: Northwest Resistance by Katherena Vermette (#3). I read the first book in this YA graphic novel series. Looking forward to continuing it.

"The third graphic novel in the A Girl Called Echo series, Northwest Resistance follows Echo Desjardins and her travels through time. Going back to 1884, Echo finds herself in the thick of a new Métis resistance led by leader Louis Riel, who has returned from exile to resist encroaching forces from the East and to ensure his people’s rights are honoured. For Echo, the experience is empowering, focusing her own identity and giving her the strength to confront the challenges in her life."

7. Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World by Simon Winchester (2021). I've been enjoying Winchester's non-fiction ever since Jo bought me The Professor and the Madman for Xmas a few years back. 

"Land--whether meadow or mountainside, desert or peat bog, parkland or pasture, suburb or city--is central to our existence. It quite literally underlies and underpins everything. Employing the keen intellect, insatiable curiosity, and narrative verve that are the foundations of his previous bestselling works, Simon Winchester examines what we human beings are doing--and have done--with the billions of acres that together make up the solid surface of our planet.

Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World examines in depth how we acquire land, how we steward it, how and why we fight over it, and finally, how we can, and on occasion do, come to share it. Ultimately, Winchester confronts the essential question: who actually owns the world's land--and why does it matter?"

8. A Fine and Private Place by Peter S. Beagle (1960). One of my local book store owners told me this was his mother's favorite book. I'd enjoyed The Last Unicorn so thought I should check it out.

"Conversing in a mausoleum with the dead, an eccentric recluse is tugged back into the world by a pair of ghostly lovers bearing an extraordinary gift—the final chance for his own happiness. When challenged by a faithless wife and aided by a talking raven, the lives of the living and the dead may be renewed by courage and passion, but only if not belatedly. Told with an elegiac wisdom, this delightful tale of magic and otherworldly love is a timeless work of fantasy imbued with hope and wonder. After multiple printings since 1960, this newest edition will contain the author's recent revisions and will stand as the definitive version of an ageless classic."

9. Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead (2021). Another new author for me.

"“Ray Carney was only slightly bent when it came to being crooked…” To his customers and neighbors on 125th street, Carney is an upstanding salesman of reasonably priced furniture, making a decent life for himself and his family. He and his wife Elizabeth are expecting their second child, and if her parents on Striver’s Row don’t approve of him or their cramped apartment across from the subway tracks, it’s still home.

Few people know he descends from a line of uptown hoods and crooks, and that his façade of normalcy has more than a few cracks in it. Cracks that are getting bigger all the time.

Cash is tight, especially with all those installment-plan sofas, so if his cousin Freddie occasionally drops off the odd ring or necklace, Ray doesn’t ask where it comes from. He knows a discreet jeweler downtown who doesn’t ask questions, either.

Then Freddie falls in with a crew who plan to rob the Hotel Theresa—the “Waldorf of Harlem”—and volunteers Ray’s services as the fence. The heist doesn’t go as planned; they rarely do. Now Ray has a new clientele, one made up of shady cops, vicious local gangsters, two-bit pornographers, and other assorted Harlem lowlifes.

Thus begins the internal tussle between Ray the striver and Ray the crook. As Ray navigates this double life, he begins to see who actually pulls the strings in Harlem. Can Ray avoid getting killed, save his cousin, and grab his share of the big score, all while maintaining his reputation as the go-to source for all your quality home furniture needs?"

10. Ride a Pale Horse by Helen MacInnes (1984). MacInnes has become one of my favorite authors of the Cold War spy thriller.

"When Karen Cornell, a beautiful journalist on assignment in Czechoslovakia, agrees to help a would-be defector by carrying top-secret documents to Washington, she is pulled into an astonishing web of terrorism, political assassination, blackmail, espionage, and treason in the highest levels of both superpowers. One false move could cost Karen her life -- and throw the world into violent war."

11. The Case of the Haunted Husband by Erle Stanley Gardner (Perry Mason #18 / 1941). Jo and I have been enjoying the Perry Mason TV series on ME TV and now I want to try the books. Simple as that.

"Aspiring actress Stephanie Claire just wants to be in pictures. But she may end up in mug shots when she gets herself caught up in a crime. It's up to Perry Mason to find the truth behind a suspicious scenario starring a menacing movie mogul, a hoodwinked housewife, and a man no one ever seen--alive!"

12. Murder in Chinatown by Victoria Thompson (Gaslight Mystery #9 / 2007) Always entertaining cozy historical mystery series set in New York.

"Sarah Brandt finds herself involved in the secretive world of Chinatown when she is called to attend the Irish-American wife of a Chinese merchant. Since the United States government has prohibited Chinese women from immigrating, many Chinese men in New York City have married Irish girls. Although these women encounter prejudice from the white community, Sarah learns that the women are quite happy with their lot in life.

Their mixed-race children don’t necessarily share their contentment, however, and when one of these girls runs away, Sarah uses her detecting skills to help her family find her. When the girl is later murdered, Sarah must ask her friend, Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy, for help. Has someone in her family killed her for rejecting an arranged marriage with a Chinese man to elope with a penniless Irish lad? Has her would-be fiancé killed her for dishonoring him? Or has someone in her husband’s family killed her because of her mixed blood?

Together, Frank and Sarah must learn to understand the Chinese culture before they can unravel the secrets of Chinatown and find a killer."

13. A Killer in King's Cove by Iona Whishaw (Lane Winslow #1 / 2015). A new series for me. I was attracted by it at Mulberry Bush Books as they had the whole series on display and also because it's set in BC. (Confession time - I thought it was set in Britain when I read the first sentence - "... war weary intelligence officer leaves London.... an honest mistake, right? Just like it took me a few books before I realized that Alexander Smith McCall wasn't Alexandra or that Laurie R. King wasn't Laurier) 😏

"It is 1946, and war-weary young ex-intelligence officer Lane Winslow leaves London to look for a fresh start. When she finds herself happily settled into a sleepy hamlet nestled in the idyllic interior of British Columbia surrounded by a suitably eclectic cast of small-town characters she feels like she may finally be able to put her past to rest.

But then a body is discovered, the victim of murder, and although she works alongside the town’s inspectors Darling and Ames to discover who might have possibly have motivation to kill, she unknowingly casts doubt on herself. As the investigation reveals facts that she has desperately tried to keep a secret, it threatens to pull her into a vortex of even greater losses than the ones she has already endured."

OK, ok! I get it, it's walkies time!

So there you go. All caught up. See any that interest you? Well, I'm off for now. Walkies then lunch time. Enjoy your upcoming week!

Midweek Music Medley

This week's midweek music medley will also include my Monday song to get the week started, BECAUSE I forgot to post it on Facebook.. Oh to have such a busy, busy life, eh?

So here you go.

Monday, 14 Feb 2022 - The Song To Get Your Week Started

1. Northern Ireland rock musician Gary Moore and Irish singer / songwriter Phil Lynott (both of Thin Lizzy) - Out in the Fields (1985).

Midweek Music Medley Wed 16 Feb 2022

1. English singer and ex-Spice Girl Geri Halliwell - Lift Me Up (1999).

2. English singer / songwriter Griff - Black Hole (2021).

3. English singer / songwriter Jessie J - I Want Love (2021).

Enjoy the rest of your week. Stay safe.

A Sunday Reading Update

20 Years Ago - Aug 2002

No rants today as it's Sunday, a day of rest, and almost Valentine's Day. I proposed to Jo on Valentine's Day 2002. This year will be our 20th anniversary. Reason to be happy.

So, books.

Since my last reading update I've completed 5 books, 2 of which were short graphic novels to be fair. I'll provide my reviews of those books as well as the synopses of those I've started since. As well, I've managed to somehow acquire a few new books. Wonder of wonders, eh? I'll provide the synopses of those as well.

Just Finished

1. Serve and Protect by Vince Flynn (Mitch Rapp #10). You want a thriller, you've got a thriller.

"If you like international political intrigue, non-stop action and larger than life heroes, you'll enjoy Protect and Defend by Vince Flynn, the 10th book in his CIA operative Mitch Rapp thriller series. I've only read one other book in the series so I can't say they have to be read in order, but based on this one, I'd say it's not necessary.

The story starts with black ops agent Rapp in Costa Rica terminating an American political operative. But the main story is the destruction of an Iranian nuclear facility by an Israeli agent. This causes an international incident with the Iranians blaming the Americans and Israelis. There is conflict within the Iranian government with the President Amatullah wanting to strike back immediately (with the assistance of a senior Hezbollah operative) and the head of the Iranian spy agency, Asjani, wanting to proceed more cautiously.

Head of the CIA, Irene Kennedy, heads off to Mosul, Iraq for a face to face meeting with Asjani, with Mitch Rapp as part of the advance party in charge of security arrangements. After the meeting, Kennedy is attacked and kidnapped and the rest of the story deals with other actions by the Iranians and Rapp's efforts to find and save Kennedy.

It's a long story but takes place only over a couple of days and the action is often intense and violent. Spycraft is fascinating and the CIA ops are well-described. The story moves along quickly and easily and you find yourself turning pages quickly to see what will happen next. Flynn knows how to craft a thriller; short chapters, jumping from location to location and incident to incident. Mitch Rapp is an effective, smart, man of action and he is determined to save Kennedy even if it means disobeying orders from on high. The bad guys are well described and very bad and the folks in the middle are also all excellent. It's a pure thriller and if that's what you enjoy, you should out the series and this particular story. (4 stars)"

2. Pemmican Wars by Katherena Vermette (A Girl Called Echo #1). Interesting YA historical, time travel sort of story.

"Pemmican Wars  is the first book in a young adult, historical graphic novel series, A Girl Called Echo, by Canadian author Katherena Vermette. It follows a Métis teenager, Echo, as she struggles through school, her family situation and finds herself transported back and forth in time to the early 1800's and the war between the two trading companies trying to control western Canada; the Northwest Company (NWC) and the Hudson Bay Company (HBC)

Caught in the middle of this battler are the Métis (native / French mix) and other settlers, trying to survive in this wild west. The Pemmican Wars were a ploy by the HBC to stop the Métis from trading their big product, pemmican (a kind of jerky, I guess. There is a recipe provided), hence the cause of the war.

It's a very short story, introducing Echo as she wanders through school and home where she lives with, I believe an aunt, and also begins to read about her Métis heritage.  Her voyage to the past puts her in the middle as an observer of the events taking place. A very interesting start, clear, excellent artwork and also a solid introduction to the story. A new subject for me, although I did know a bit about Louis Riel and his Métis followers. I will have to order the next book now to see where the story goes. (3.5 stars)"

3. Dawn by Octavia E. Butler (Xenogenesis #1). Also goes by Lilith's Brood #1.

"Dawn the first book in Octavia E. Butler's Xenogenesis trilogy (also known as Lilith's brood, it seems). In some ways it reminded me of Ursula LeGuin's Left Hand of Darkness (mainly the human / alien sex component... that being if I recall Darkness correctly as it has been a few years since I last read it)

The story is set after Earth basically destroys itself after a World War. Surviving humans, including protagonist Lilith, have been removed from the planet by an alien race, the Oankali, and placed in hibernation. The aim appears to be that the Oankali will awaken and train certain humans, once again Lilith, to return to Earth and teach the others in hibernation to survive on what remains of the planet. Secondly, they will be linked in some sensory way to the Oankali, who will also come to Earth. This is a special segment of the Oankali, the Ooloi, who are bi / multi sexual??? 

We focus on Lilith for the first half of the book, her trepidation at finding herself alone on a space ship trying to discover who the Oankali are and what they want from her. She is bonded to Nikanj (the short form of his / her name), who is still a child but with her help will become a full-fledged Ooloi and then be able to mate with his two husbands / wives. (Confused??)

Lilith is then put in charge of a group of 40ish humans who have been hibernating for many years. Gradually she awakens them, tries to teach them about the Oankali, about what is required of them on Earth, etc. Like most humans, they are suspicious, of Lilith (is she a traitor to humankind, is she really still human??) and of the Oankali. They look different! Earth people must be suspicious of that, right?

It's all a fascinating, differing kind of Sci-Fi story. The interactions between humans and aliens, the distrust, the attempts by humans to escape, the links between humans and their Oankali 'mentors / mates'. Quite an interesting, at times very grim story. It ends, like most series, somewhat on tenterhooks. What will happen to Lilith? What will happen to mankind? How will we work with or not work with the Oankali as humans try to make a new life on Earth. Well written, a page-turner and a thoughtful, excellent first book in this trilogy. (4 stars) Now to find Adulthood Rites..."

4. If I  Go Missing by Brianna Jonnie (2019). Touching, poignant.

"If I Go Missing by Canadian teenager Brianna Jonnie is short, powerful and poignant. It is based on a letter, told in graphic novel format, that Brianna wrote to the Chief of Police in Winnipeg Man. She thanks the police for their prompt response in investigating and finding a missing teenager but then goes on to elaborate on how their response differs when this child / teenager is an indigenous person. She ends her letter by providing her photo and asking that if she ever goes missing (one that is a stronger likelihood for indigenous teenagers) that said photo be used in the press announcement. And also if she is found dead, that her mother be told that they are sorry and that Brianna wishes to be buried in her red dress (Look up The REDress Project at http://www.the redressproject.org for more info).

The story finishes with facts on the imbalance between white and indigenous (or black) women when it comes to homicide. 'In Australia, indigenous women are victims of homicide six times more often than non-indigenous women. They represent 16 percent of all female murder victims, even though indigenous people make up only 3 percent of the Australian population." There are other facts from the US and Canada.

Brianna makes a simple point but does so concisely and emotionally. Statistics are startling but she does end by saying that maybe the conversation is shifting. Let's hope. (4 stars)"

5. Life's Little Ironies by Thomas Hardy (1890's). A collection of Hardy's short stories.

"Up until now I've only read one of Thomas Hardy's novels, that being Far From the Madding Crowd and thought it was excellent. Life's Little Ironies (my version is called Selected Short Stories of Thomas Hardy was an excellent collection of short stories published in the late 1800's. The book features 7 specific short stories, then one I'd call a novella, I guess, A Few Crusted Characters. This 'story' features a group of travelers, telling stories about their community in Wessex to an old resident, returning from years lived afar.

All of the stories were enjoyable and well-written. (Should there have been any doubt?). They deal with a number of topics, all based on relationships. In one, An Imaginative Woman, an unsatisfied wife, who is also a published poetess (she has to publish under a male pseudonym) becomes enthralled with another poet. She craves meeting him and tries to arrange, mostly unsuccessfully (tragic results). 

In The Son's Veto, a woman chooses to marry a wealthy, older man rather than her a man from her town, in order to better herself and, if they have children (they only have one), he will be better off than if she'd married the other. Her son goes to good schools and is off to get a law degree. When her husband dies, she tries to reconnect with her first lover. What does her son think?

In The Fiddler of the Reels, the wandering fiddler has a way with woman. One he gets in a family way (I can't help thinking that this was shocking as a subject matter in the 1800's). The young woman has rejected marriage proposals from another local man, previously. He has headed to London to get away. When the fiddler rejects the woman, she tries to reconnect with the first man.... What happens you ask? 

They are all excellent stories; each dealing with relationships; family relationships, romantic relationships, etc. There is lots of tragedy, but there is humor as well. Look at Tony Kytes, the Arch Deceiver, where a lady's man has to deal with three women who he has promised himself too. Or try  Incident in the Life of George Crookhill, where a scoundrel, tries to 'rob' another man with dire consequences. Well worth reading if you've only read Hardy's novels. He does have a way with getting you right into a story and presenting them with satisfying (even if tragic) results. (4 stars)"

Currently Reading

1. The Name of the Killer by Patrick Rothfuss (Kingkiller #1). I've avoided this book for too long, probably was intimidated by the size of it. It seems interesting so far.

"My name is Kvothe.

I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.

You may have heard of me.

So begins a tale unequaled in fantasy literature--the story of a hero told in his own voice. It is a tale of sorrow, a tale of survival, a tale of one man's search for meaning in his universe, and how that search, and the indomitable will that drove it, gave birth to a legend."

2. The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes #2).

"'You are a wronged woman and shall have justice. Do not bring police. If you do, all will be in vain. Your unknown friend.'

When a beautiful young woman is sent a letter inviting her to a sinister assignation, she immediately seeks the advice of the consulting detective Sherlock Holmes. For this is not the first mysterious item Mary Marston has received in the post. Every year for the last six years an anonymous benefactor has sent her a large lustrous pearl. Now it appears the sender of the pearls would like to meet her to right a wrong. But when Sherlock Holmes and his faithful sidekick Watson, aiding Miss Marston, attend the assignation, they embark on a dark and mysterious adventure involving a one-legged ruffian, some hidden treasure, deadly poison darts and a thrilling race along the River Thames."

3. The Disappeared by M.R. Hall (Jenny Cooper #2). The series on which the CBC TV mystery series Coroner is based.

"Two young British students, Nazim Jamal and Rafi Hassan vanish without a trace.

The police tell their parents that the boys had been under surveillance, that it was likely they left the country to pursue their dangerous new ideals.

Seven years later, Nazim’s grief-stricken mother is still unconvinced. Jenny Cooper is her last hope.

Jenny is finally beginning to settle into her role as Coroner for the Severn Valley; the ghosts of her past that threatened to topple her, banished to the sidelines once more. But as the inquest into Nazim's disappearance gets underway, the stink of corruption and conspiracy becomes clear..."

New Books

1. Dorothy Parker: Complete Broadway 1918 - 1923 by Dorothy Parker. I've become very interested in her work.

"Dorothy Parker holds a place in history as one of New York's most beloved writers. Now, for the first time in nearly a century, the public is invited to enjoy Mrs. Parker's sharp wit and biting commentary on the Jazz Age hits and flops in this first-ever published collection of her groundbreaking Broadway reviews. Starting when she was twenty-four at Vanity Fair as New York's only female theatre critic, Mrs. Parker reviewed some of the biggest names of the era: the Barrymores, George M. Cohan, W.C. Fields, Helen Hayes, Al Jolson, Eugene O'Neil, Will Rogers, and the Ziegfeld Follies. Her words of praise--and contempt--for the dramas, comedies, musicals, and revues are just as fresh and funny today as they were in the age of speakeasies and bathtub gin. Annotated with a notes section by Kevin C. Fitzpatrick, president of the Dorothy Parker Society, the volume shares Parker's outspoken opinions of a great era of live theatre in America, from a time before radio, talking pictures, and television decimated attendance. Dorothy Parker: Complete Broadway, 1918-1923 provides a fascinating glimpse of Broadway in its Golden Era and literary life in New York through the eyes of a renowned theatre critic. "

2. Tailchaser's Song by Tad Williams (1985). A new author for me.

"Meet Fritti Tailchaser, a ginger tom cat of rare courage and curiosity, a born survivor in a world of heroes and villains, of powerful feline gods and whiskery legends about those strange furless, erect creatures called M’an.

“The hour of Unfolding Dark had begun, and the rooftop where Tailchaser lay was smothered in shadow. He was deep in a dream of leaping and flying when he felt an unusual tingling in his whiskers. Fritti Tailchaser, hunterchild of the Folk, came suddenly awake and sniffed the air. Ears pricked and whiskers flared straight, he sifted the evening breeze. Nothing unusual. Then what had awakened him? Pondering, he splayed his claws and began a spine-limbering stretch that finally ended at the tip of his reddish tail.”

Join Tailchaser on his magical quest to rescue his cat friend Hushpad on a quest that will take him all the way to cat hell and beyond."

3. Half a Crown by Jo Walton (Small Change #3). I need to find #1... lol

"In 1941 the European war ended in the Farthing Peace, a rapprochement between Britain and Nazi Germany. The balls and banquets of Britain's upper class never faltered, while British ships ferried "undesirables" across the Channel to board the cattle cars headed east.

Peter Carmichael is commander of the Watch, Britain's distinctly British secret police. It's his job to warn the Prime Minister of treason, to arrest plotters, to discover Jews. The midnight knock of a Watchman is the most dreaded sound in the realm.

Now, in 1960, a global peace conference is convening in London, where Britain, Germany, and Japan will oversee the final partition of the world. Hitler is once again on British soil. So is the long-exiled Duke of Windsor—and the rising gangs of "British Power" streetfighters, who consider the Government "soft," may be the former king's bid to stage a coup d'état.

Amidst all this, two of the most unlikely persons in the realm will join forces to oppose the fascists: a debutante whose greatest worry until now has been where to find the right string of pearls, and the Watch Commander himself."

4. Final Cut by S.J. Watson (2020). I enjoyed Watson's Before I Go To Sleep very much.

"They tried to hide the truth. But the camera never lies…

Blackwood Bay. An ordinary place, home to ordinary people.

It used to be a buzzing seaside destination. But now, ravaged by the effects of dwindling tourism and economic downturn, it’s a ghost town—and the perfect place for film-maker Alex to shoot her new documentary. But the community is deeply suspicious of her intentions. After all, nothing exciting ever happens in Blackwood Bay—or does it? "

5. Don't Wear Your Wedding Ring by Lilian O'Donnell (Norah Mulcahaney #2)

"Norah Mulcahaney, rookie, makes detective and goes under cover joining a ring of suburban housewife prostitutes who earn extra cash while hubby is out of town. Prostitution leads to murder and Norah herself is threatened."

Women Authors I've Been Enjoying - Martha Grimes

Martha Grimes

Martha Grimes, even though an American writer, is best known for her UK mystery series featuring Scotland Yard inspector, Richard Jury.  Since 1981, she has written 21 books in this entertaining series. I have enjoyed 8 books by Grimes thus far, since discovering her work, and have another 5 on my bookshelf.

1. The Dirty Duck (Richard Jury #4 / 1984).

""Nothing ever happens in Stratford," insisted Superintendent Richard Jury of Scotland Yard. Unfortunately, he was wrong. Besides the stage murders committed nightly at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, a real one had been performed not far from the Dirty Duck, a popular pub. The victim had been a member of an exclusive group too: Those rare homicidal maniacs compelled to leave an intentional clue - in this case, a fragment of Elizabethan verse.

Now a nine-year old boy from the same tour had vanished and Jury was worried. For, if the killer intended to finish the rhyme, would it spell death for Stratford with each new line?"

2. The Grave Maurice (Richard Jury #18 / 2002).

"Chew on this, says Melrose Plant to Richard Jury, who's in the hospital being driven crazy by Hannibal, a nurse who likes to speculate on his chances for survival. Jury could use a good story, preferably one not ending with his own demise. Plant tells Jury of something he overheard in The Grave Maurice, a pub near the hospital. A woman told an intriguing story about a girl named Nell Ryder, granddaughter to the owner of the Ryder Stud Farm in Cambridgeshire, who went missing more than a year before and has never been found. What is especially interesting to Plant is that Nell is also the daughter of Jury's surgeon.

But Nell's disappearance isn't the only mystery at the Ryder farm. A woman has been found dead on the track-a woman who was a stranger even to the Ryders.

But not to Plant. She's the woman he saw in The Grave Maurice. Together with Jury, Nell's family, and the Cambridgeshire police, Plant embarks on a search to find Nell and bring her home. But is there more to their mission than just restoring a fifteen-year-old girl to her family?"

3. Jerusalem Inn (Richard Jury #5 / 1984).

"A white Christmas couldn't make Newcastle any less dreary for Scotland Yard's Superintendent Richard Jury--until he met a beautiful woman in a snow-covered graveyard. Sensual, warm, and a bit mysterious, she could have put some life into his sagging holiday spirit. But the next time Jury saw her, she was cold--and dead. Melrose Plant. Jury's aristocratic sidekick wasn't faring much better. Snow bound at a stately mansion with a group of artists, critics, and idle-but-titled rich, he, too, encountered a lovely lady . . . or rather, stumbled over her corpse. What linked these two yuletide murders was a remote country pub where snooker, a Nativity scene, and an old secret would uncover a killer . . . or yet another death"

4. The Deer Leap (Richard Jury #7 / 1985)

"In a village plagued by missing pets, Scotland Yard's Richard Jury and sidekick Melrose Plant face the worst of human nature when a chilling old crime leads them to a brand new way to die."

5. Rainbow's End (Richard Jury #13 / 1995)

"A woman's body is discovered amidst the ancient Roman ruins of Old Sarum -- the apparent victim of an accidental fall. In the Tate Gallery in London, an elderly woman keels over -- from a supposed heart attack -- while studying a painting. At Exeter Cathedral, a third woman is found dead from "natural causes." But in Martha Grimes' bestselling novels -- and in the world inhabited by Scotland Yard Superintendent Richard Jury -- there are no natural causes.

Is there a link between these three women? Of course. And Jury is the one who sorts it out. The link is Santa Fe, New Mexico, which all three women had visited before their untimely deaths. So Jury is off to the States where, amidst the turquoise jewelry and cappuccinos, he searches for and finds an astonishing web of jealousy and murder."

The complete listing of Martha Grimes' works can be found at this link. Enjoy your upcoming week and an early Happy Valentine's Day wish to those celebrating. Take caree.