Happy Father's Day to all of you Dads (especially my Dad)!
Jo is in bed. Clyde is lying on the floor watching me type. I've got England vs Serbia on the television in the other room and am tracking the Blue Jays game on my pc as I type this. Oh! And I got a nice card from Jennifer. So let's do a reading / new book update.
I completed six books so far in June, a mix of children's stories, graphics and novels of a few different genres. I've updated my reading in my last post here so I'll just continue with that.
Completed
"I first heard of Maria Ressa one night watching Stephen Colbert's show. On the show she discussed her book, How to Stand Up to a Dictator: The Fight for Our Future. I was so very impressed listening to her talk that I felt I should get the book. So, of course, I did. I'm glad that I did, even though the subject matter is very depressing.
The story is a biography but it is focused on the past few years when Maria was working as a reporter and more in the Philippines. She worked for the biggest broadcaster in the Philippines, ABS - CBN. She worked for CNN as a Far East as a reporter and bureau chief. With broadcasting friends, she established Rappeler, an innovative online news organization which was one of the most successful on the Facebook platform.
However, this story is mainly a cautionary tale. Maria has spent the latter years fighting the corruption of the Duterte regime in the Philippines and has had to deal with online harassment from Duterte's hate platforms, as well as fight against corruption charges from a corrupt regime. All the while, she has continued to work for freedom of the press, for an honest press. She received a Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts.
It's a fascinating story and a warning. Despots and fascists and right wing fanatics have taken over the internet, use Facebook to spew vitriol and to ruin peoples' lives. The Duterte regime was expert at this and this skill has been passed to other right wing regimes; Hungary, Myanmar, even the US.
Maria Ressa tries to explain how to fight back. She has 3 pillars to fight with -
- Technology. Demand accountability from technology starting with government action. One thing that Rappeler rolled out was Lighthouse, a technology platform built by journalists to try to preserve public discourse around facts.
- Protect and grow investigative journalism. There is a global initiative International Fund for Public Interest Media, a short - medium term solution to the drop in advertising revenues of news groups all around the world.
- Build larger and larger communities of action. Collaborate to protect frontline journalists.
It's a constant fight to preserve democracy and a free press is part of that. The story is well - written, interesting, tense and provides a great picture of Maria and her friends / partners and their efforts to keep reporting under horrendous pressure. It should be read because one thing Donald Trump and allies want is an uneducated public and part of the way to achieve that is to seed and foment distrust against a free press. Anyway, check it out. (4.5 stars)"
"A Circus of Hells is the 2nd book in the Flandry Sci Fi series by Poul Anderson. Like Horatio Hornblower, Flandry seems to gain higher rank throughout the series. (Well, at least from the 1st to the 2nd when he goes from Ensign to Lt. 😃😎). I can't say it's my favorite Sci Fi series but the books are short and there is something entertaining about them.
In this story, Flandry is assigned to a planet on the outskirts where he works as an Intelligence officer. Yes, he's bored and when he's assigned to scout around the fringe planets for possible intrusion by the enemy Merseians. He is persuaded, for a 'small' fee, to take a side trip to investigate another planet, which may possess mineral riches. He agrees but also has to take along a representative of the man who hired him, a beautiful woman named Djana. Unfortunately for Flandry, she's working for another group.
The planet is filled with dangerous robots but Flandry and Djana manage to escape, only to tumble into another predicament. The folks for whom Djana work, also work for the Merseians. Yup, from the kettle into the fire, so to speak. Thus further adventures ensue on the planet Talwin, where the Merseians have established a base of their own; partly to study the planet's inhabitants and partly a Navy base.
So lots going on. Flandry tries to find ways to escape. Djana falls under the sway of the lead Merseian, Ydwyr. Flandry works with the indigenous folks to help his escape. As I say, lots going on. Lots of moving back and forth between Flandry and Djana and side trips to see how the aliens' minds and lives work. There is almost too much going on that distracts from the adventure portion. It's a combination of pulp Sci Fi, like those old serials you used to get at the movies, and an exploration of other worlds. I found that sometimes irritating as I didn't want distractions from the fun and games. But it was ok, to say the least and I'll still continue with the adventure. 2.0 stars"
"The Big Jump by Leigh Brackett was a surprisingly good Sci Fi story, short but very well-written and interesting. I've read three other of Brackett's books; an excellent crime thriller, The Tiger Among Us and two other Sci Fi novels which were mostly just entertaining; The Sword of Rhiannon and The Nemesis from Terra.
The Big Jump refers to a new space technology that permits mankind to move to the other galaxies with no time lapse. It's all done in real time. One voyage has been attempted with a crew of five. The story starts with the return of this voyage and a break in at the compound on Mars where the 'survivors are being kept. Arch Comyn needs to find out if an old friend, Paul Rogers, returned from the expedition. Rogers saved him many years ago.
What Comyn finds is disturbing and will start a chain of events that leads to a 2nd voyage to Barnard's star. Only one of the crew has returned, Ballantyne, and he has been changed by whatever he discovered. He has not spoken to the people holding him; all belonging to the Cochrane Company. But when Comyn breaks in, Ballantyne tells him something and begins screaming.
Comyn won't tell Cochrane what he has heard unless they will let him go on the next trip to Barnard's star so he can try to find his friend. The Cochranes believe a new energy has been discovered. So there you go, another voyage is planned and sets off and something is discovered.
It's a short, well-crafted, taut Sci-Fi adventure. The characters are all interesting. The plot is neat and not too technical. Everything happens quickly, holds your attention and draws you in. A most enjoyable Sci Fi story. (4.0 stars)"
"I was checking out the latest arrivals in one of my favorite local book stores, Books 4 Brains, and as usual picked up a few. When Stars Are Scattered by Omar Mohamed; Victoria Jamieson was one of the books I picked up. I had to try it right away and once started could not put down this wonderful graphic novel. It tells the true story of the childhoods of Omar and his brother, Hassan, as they grow up in a refugee camp, Dadaab, in Kenya.
Omar and Hassan are parentless. They came from war-torn Somalia along with thousands of other refugees. Omar saw his father shot to death by 'soldiers' and lost contact with his mother. When they arrive in the camp, they are put together and taken under the wing of Fatumah who becomes their de facto guardian / mother.
The story tells of their growing up in this refugee camp. It's a difficult, boring life. Omar looks after his younger brother. Hassan cannot vocalize, uses only one expression, Hooyo, which, we discover much later, does mean something. Hassan also suffers from seizures and the refugee camp doctors can't discover the cause or know how to treat them.
Eventually, Omar start going to school with his best friend Jeri. He is persuaded that it's the best way he can get help for his brother. An education might put him on the List of those refugees selected to be moved to a host country, the US, Canada, etc. At school, Omar also becomes friends with two young girls, Nimo and Maryam. Both want an education so they don't have to marry. All of the children have great ambitions to be teachers, lawyers, social workers.
But as Omar says, 'refugee camps are supposed to be a temporary place to stay until it's safe to go back home. I guess no one expected the war to last so long, though, because Hassan and I have been here for 7 years'. Life is often a boring wait, lining up for water, lining up for food. As each month ends, their monthly ration begins to dry up and the children go hungry until the next food ration is provided.
It's hard for all the children but for the girls even more so. Some are allowed to go to school, but at lunch time must rush home to do their chores to help feed, wash, etc their siblings and care for their parents. Maryam, who desperately wants to go to Canada to go to college is married off to help provide her family with enough money to continue to support the other children. But even with that heartbreak, she helps Omar with his brother so he can continue with his education.
It's a heartbreaking story but wonderfully told and even in this heartbreak there is hope, joy, positivity. The boys continue to hope that their mother will eventually come to the camp. Omar and Hassan are finally selected to go to the US where Omar has become an advocate for refugees and now helps those who STILL live in Camp Dadaab. The story definitely opens your eyes to the plight of the countless refugees around the world. Beautifully drawn by Victoria Jamieson, beautifully told by Omar Mohamed and brightly colored by Iman Geddy. (4.5 stars)"
"I've enjoyed the Ms. Tree graphic novel series by Max Allan Collins very much. Great graphics and entertaining hard crime stories. Ms. Tree Vol. 5: Heroine Withdrawal was basically similar but also it seemed a bit of 'going through the motions'.
It's a collection of 5 individual stories which, in this book, are tied together. So let's see.
Story 1. Her nemesis, crime boss Muerta, is returning to the US to stand trial. He's holed up on his estate, basically bed - ridden. Ms. Tree's partner, Dan, who lost an eye and hand in a previous confrontation with the Muerta gang, seeks revenge and is found over the dead body of Muerta and others. He proclaims his innocence, is locked up and Mike (that's Ms. Tree's name) investigates.
Story 2. This story was definitely not my favorite. Mike is forced to hide out from the Muertas and stay out of her PI business due to what happened in the 1st story. She meets her dead husband's ex - cop partner and ends up trying to help him. He's gone a bit loco and is now hanging out with an anti-abortion group that is picketing an abortion clinic. He wants to blow it up. I just found this a topic that shouldn't be glossed over and it felt like it was just used to be hard - hitting??
Story 3. Because of the events in Story 2, Mike is sent to lock up. She basically didn't follow the judge's rulings that she not be involved in crime cases until her trial. While in this county jail, attempts are made on Mike's life, she befriends her fellow inmates and exposes corruption within the jail. Woo hoo!
Story 4. Mike's lawyer makes a deal with the DA prosecuting Mike that she will attend a psychiatric facility and plead to an insanity defense to avoid the trouble of a trial. While there, Mike delves into her feelings, discovers an inmate who has seen a murder by a popular politician and gets her agency to investigate and saves herself and the fellow inmate.
Story 5. Mike is released from the psychiatric facility, taking tranquilizers and admitting to herself that violence isn't the only solution to solving crime. This forces her partners, son-in-law and even her exec assistant to take the mantle of trying to protect her from mob forces and endangering themselves. All is made good in the end of course....
Anyway, it was an action - packed collection, well drawn, but not totally satisfying. I'll see how #6 is when it's released. (3.0 stars)."
Currently Reading
"Ireland 1963. As the Irish people prepare to welcome President John F. Kennedy to the land of his ancestors, a German national is murdered in a seaside guesthouse. Lieutenant Albert Ryan, Directorate of Intelligence, is ordered to investigate. The German is the third foreigner to die within a few days, and Minister for Justice Charles Haughey wants the killing to end lest a shameful secret be the dead men were all Nazis granted asylum by the Irish government in the years following World War II.
A note from the killers is found on the dead German's corpse, addressed to Colonel Otto Skorzeny, Hitler's favorite commando, once called the most dangerous man in Europe. The note simply "We are coming for you."As Albert Ryan digs deeper into the case he discovers a network of former Nazis and collaborators, all presided over by Skorzeny from his country estate outside Dublin. When Ryan closes in on the killers, his loyalty is torn between country and conscience. Why must he protect the very people he fought against twenty years before? Ryan learns that Skorzeny might be a dangerous ally, but he is a deadly enemy."
For Cynthia, the journey through the dark labyrinths mirrors her own sense of guilt and confusion about the secret affair she has recently embarked upon. And whilst it is in some ways a comfort to share this possibly lethal ordeal with her lover Albrecht, only her husband Henry has the knowledge and experience that may lead them all back to safety.
But can even Henry’s sang froid and expertise be enough, with the moment fast approaching when their food supplies will run out, and the batteries of their torches fail, leaving them to stumble blindly through the dark?"
Organized by decade, with commentary by some of the magazine's finest writers, this landmark collection showcases the work of the hundreds of talented artists who have contributed cartoons over the course of The New Yorker's eight-two-year history. From the early cartoons of Peter Arno, George Price and Charles Addams to the cutting-edge work of Alex Gregory, Matthew Diffee and Bruce Eric Kaplan (with stops along the way for the genius of Charles Barsotti, Roz Chast, Jack Ziegler, George Booth, and many others), the art collected here forms, as David Remnick puts it in his Foreword, "the longest-running popular comic genre in American life."
The DVD-ROM included with the book is what really makes the "Complete Cartoons" complete. Compatible with most home computers and easily browsable, the disk contains a mind-boggling 70,363 cartoons, indexed in a variety of ways. Perhaps you'd like to find all the cartoons by your favorite artist. Or maybe you'd like to look up the cartoons that ran the week you were born, or all of the cartoons on a particular subject. Of course, you can always begin at the beginning, February 21, 1925, and experience the unprecedented pleasure of reading through every single cartoon ever published in The New Yorker .
Enjoy this one-of-a-kind protrait of American life over the past eight decades, as captured by the talented pens and singular outlooks of the masters of the cartoonist's art."
“We have to make an example of her.”
Chaos reigns in Olympus as Zeus publicly declares Persephone a traitor and issues a warrant for her arrest. But Hades defies his brother’s decree, sheltering Persephone in the Underworld—and as the pair spend more time together, they are able to speak openly about their pasts. The goddess of spring admits the truth behind the bloody secret that led to Zeus’s ire, and the king of the Underworld shares the trauma he suffered at the hands of his power-hungry father, Kronos.
But as Hades and Persephone’s relationship grows stronger, others begin to fall apart. The bond between Hades and Zeus is stretched to its limit, threatening to fracture the peace between their realms. Persephone and Artemis’s friendship hangs by a thread as the goddess of the hunt slowly uncovers the vile truth about her twin, Apollo. A line is being drawn in the heavens, putting everyone’s loyalties into question as all the gods are forced to choose sides.
And as the cracks in the foundation of the pantheon spread, something darker and more earth-shattering might soon be released. . . ."
After a family tragedy, Emily, Navin and their mother move to an ancestral home to start a new life. On the family's very first night in the mysterious house, Em and Navin's mom is kidnapped by a tentacled creature. Now it's up to Em and Navin to figure out how to set things right and save their mother's life!"
The dying words of an assassin, sent to kill Empress Thothloryn Parillaud Markova Wu, echo though the halls and prayer rooms of Pol' Lhasa, as political tensions seethe in this next chapter in the Rise of the Upper Kingdom. With a coup threatening the Eastern Kingdom, and anarchy in the North, Unification has never seemed so far off.
The Shogun-General’s team is divided and facing hostility at every turn. Back in Pol' Lhasa, Sireth and Ursa are determined to uncover spies at the highest levels of government, while Setse and Yahn Nevye struggle with the daunting task of training Oracles in a land that despises them. Solomon finds life, death and deceit in Sandman 3, Kalgoorlie, and the Sandman bases of NorAm regroup in the shadow of IAR.
Meanwhile, Kirin, Kerris and the others journey to the mysterious city of Shin Sekai under the 'protection' of the Snow Guard. Here, they discover a gruesome secret at the heart of the Capuchin Council and the Court of the Rising Suns. With snow and Snow thwarting their every move, the leaders of the Nine Thousand Dragons will be hard-pressed to get out of this New World alive."
Novelist, comics writer, scriptwriter, poet, and occasional artist, there are few creative avenues Neil Gaiman hasn't ventured down—from unforgettable books like The Ocean at the End of the Lane and American Gods to groundbreaking comics and graphic novels like The Sandman and Violent Cases; from big-screen fantasies like Coraline and Stardust to small-screen epics like Doctor Who and Neverwhere; and from short stories to songwriting, stage plays to radio plays, journalism to filmmaking, and all points in between.
The Art of Neil Gaiman is the first book to tell the full story of his amazing creative life. Never-before-seen manuscripts, notes, cartoons, drawings, and personal photographs from Neil's own archive are complemented by artwork and sketches from all his major works and his own intimate recollections. Each project is examined in turn, from genesis to fruition, and positioned in the wider narrative of Gaiman's creative life, affording unparalleled access to the inner workings of the writer's mind.
Utterly comprehensive, lavishly illustrated, The Art of Neil Gaiman is the fully authorized account of the life and work of one of the world's great storytellers."
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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."
With the help of her friend Detective Sergeant Malloy, Sarah vows to crack this delicate case, especially since suspicion is on those close to the Lintons. Then, when one of the suspects is poisoned, Sarah knows she must uncover the truth before more lives are ruined."
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