June 2024 has started off kind of miserably. We've had rain and high winds, the spruce and pine trees have been shedding all over the yard. But today is very nice, sunny and cool. So after this, my plan is to finally get around to mowing the lawn... I could just hire a couple of sheep maybe??? No, no... I'll mow the lawn. The dogs will appreciate it.
But first, a reading update. I've finished one very small book in June but also three others since my last update. I hope to finish one more today.
Just Finished
(I completed my May Focus Author - John Creasey but completing two more books for a total of three in May)
"English author John Creasey was a prolific author with 7 or 8 series to his credit, written under various pseudonyms. He can be hit or miss, depending on the series, I think, but when it comes to police procedurals, he had a specific talent. Inspector West Takes Charge is the first book in the Inspector Roger West series of 43 books. Like his Superintendent Gideon series (written as JJ Marric), this story was matter-of-fact, entertaining, with enough action to keep you happy, a well-written mystery, and peopled with excellent characters.
The main characters, Inspector West of Scotland Yard, his wonderful wife Janet and their best friend, a sometime criminologist who helps West (at least in this story), Mark Lessing, are all excellent. They each possess their own talents for deduction and gauging people and feed off each other. West's boss, Superintendent Chatworth is crusty and irascible but at the same time encourages West and even encourages him to use Lessing's abilities as he could do things that the police aren't entitled to do. The other inspector who is chiefly involved in the investigation, Inspector Lampard is also kind of crusty but with hidden depths and talents.
As to the suspects and victims, Creasey, there are a mixed bag of excellent characters and so many suspicious people that, at least in my mind, the mystery remained unsolvable until the satisfying.
Add to this, the setting, England around WWII, with gasoline and ration restrictions and still in blackout conditions and with the Home Guard patrolling, and it makes for an superbly described and crafted story.
Oh yes, the story. Just basically, suspicious deaths in the Prendagast family, leaving only one distant relative as inheriting a bunch of money and the successful cigarette business. The deaths are listed as death by misadventure, but neither West nor Lessing are willing to accept that and even West's boss isn't ready to accept it and gives West a fortnight to see if they are wrong. Many suspicious activities ensue, leading West to suspect a certain shifty lawyer, Potter, who has his fingers in many pots.
Nastiness abounds, leaving the gang, shaken and stirred and a few more bodies. Who is the perpetrator? Well, that will take you the story to find out, although I'm sure there are many people who can figure it out fairly easily. To me, the ending was a lovely surprise and there was joy in getting to this final conclusion. Excellent introduction to Inspector West. I look forward to #2 and many more. (4.5 stars)"
"I've read two other books in the Baron 'mystery / thriller' series by English author, John Creasey but I've now decided to get focused and read from the first book, Meet The Baron (appropriate title, eh? The first book in the Toff series is called Introducing the Toff, so he does sort of have a theme.
Anyway, I can't say I enjoyed this first book as much as I enjoyed the first books on Creasey's Inspector West or Commander Gideon series but it was still an interesting introduction to the character of the Baron, in reality an upper class guy, who lives on the edges of bankruptcy, one John Mannering. Mannering likes to gamble and to live expensively, dating show girls, going to the races, all those things. In appearance, he seems well off, but in reality, his funds are dangerously low.
So, after attending a function hosted by Lord Fauntley, Mannering comes up with an idea. He decides to become a 'cracksman', basically a cat burglar. He starts by robbing Lord Fauntley and finds ways to disguise his appearance, to break into buildings and safes, to fence the items he steals. He enjoys the thrill of the hunt for targets, the breaking and entering, the avoiding detection and arrest. He also has fallen deeply for Lord Fauntley's daughter, Lorna, a lovely, intelligent, beautiful lady, who has been working to become a successful artist.
As the Baron becomes more successful, the police become more and more involved. Because many of the thefts take place at parties held by the entitled rich and that Mannering has attended all of these functions, the main police inspector, Inspector Bristow, asks Mannering to help him investigate, to keep an eye during these functions; a request Mannering finds amusing but agrees to help.
That is the premise of the first story. Mannering continues to operate as the Baron, while 'helping' Bristow, who he actually admires. One of his robberies, a pearl necklace, brings some of his acquaintances under Bristow's intense gaze and this causes Mannering some difficulties, as he doesn't want someone else implicated or hurt because of his crimes.
It's an imperfect introduction but still informative, with lots of action and intensity. Creasey knows how to flow a story to hold your attention. The characters, from Mannering, to Lorna, Bristow and the others that surround them, are all interesting and sympathetic. It's an entertaining first book and I'll continue to follow the Baron's adventures. (3.0 stars)"
"To Walk in the Way of Lions is the second book in the Upper Kingdom series by Canadian fantasy author, H. Leighton Dickson. I enjoyed the first book very much, it being a satisfying intro to this series. But in this second book, Dickson has really found her stride. Once I got back into the flow of the story and re-familiarized myself with the unique characters, I found the story fascinating, emotional and at times (especially as we get into the last chapters) breath-taking.
We find our intrepid team, led by Captain of the Queen's Guard, Kirin Wynegarde-Grey, a golden lion, in the midst of their journey to the edges of the known Kingdom, trying to find Solomon, a being that has psychically made his presence known to various members of the group. The rest of the group are Kerris Wynegarde - Grey, Kirin's brother, a grey lion; Fallon Waterford, the Scholar, a lioness; Major Ursa - Laenskaya, Kirin's #2, a snow leopard and fierce; Shera al Shiva, the Alchemist, a mysterious, sexy leopard and the Seer, Sireth, a mongrel lion (mixed breed). They are accompanied by 8 leopards, part of the Queen's Guard and various horses (these aren't vegetarians, btw)
The journey will travel from Nepal (the names are all subtly altered and half the fun is trying to figure out what the place is in our current times) across Iran, Syria and ultimately to Turkey where they will finally meet Solomon (who do you think he might be?). The journey will suffer many, many trials and tribulations and also many deaths. They will battle the climate, bears, dogs (cats natural enemies) and even other cats trying to destroy their mission.
It's just so excellent. The internal strife, the internal relationships, even romances between the members. There will also be quite a few shocks. I found myself feeling their emotions, found myself crying at parts of the story, laughing with some of the humor. It's just such a wonderful story, exciting adventure, mystical, sexy (yes, even with the story being about cats) and touching.
I was thinking of other books that have aroused so much feeling in me and for the most part they've been written by women authors. Not to say that a man can't grab you the same way, but I just found that interesting. Anyway, #3 sits on my bookshelf and I look forward to getting at it. Check the series out. (5.0 stars)"
"I've been working my way through Ursula K. Le Guin's Sci - Fi, her Fantasy, fiction and even poetry and essays. I discovered she'd also written some children's series so I thought it might be fun to try Catwings, the first in a 5-book series about a family of cats who have wings and can fly. Needless to day, it was short and cute.
Mrs. Jane Tabby, a single mother cat, lives with her four children by a garbage dumpster in a dangerous city slum. She doesn't know why but her four kittens, Thelma, Harriet, Roger and James all have wings. When one day she sees Harriet fly into the sky to escape an angry dog, Mrs. Jane decides that her 4 children must leave the dangerous city and fend for themselves.
So there is the cusp of this neat, little story. The 4 kittens fly into the country and have to try to survive. And they do have many tribulations. The birds are afraid of the flying cats so Mr. Owl attacks James and injures his wing. He also attacks Roger. A family of noisy raccoons argue all the time, keeping the kittens awake. They have difficulty finding food and are getting thin.
What will happen to them? Well, it's a very short story so I won't say anymore. Suffice it to say, the drawings by S.D. Schindler are lovely. The story is interesting and kids would love it, especially the ending. And then they can move onto the next book. 😃😸 (3.5 stars)"
Currently Reading
"Ngaio Marsh's most popular novel begins when a young New Zealander's first contact with the English gentry is the body of Lord Wutherford -- with a meat skewer through the eye...The Lampreys had plenty of charm -- but no cash. They all knew they were peculiar -- and rather gloried in it. The double and triple charades, for instance, with which they would entertain their guests -- like rich but awful Uncle Gabriel, who was always such a bore. The Lampreys thought if they jollied him up he would bail them out -- yet again. Instead, Uncle Gabriel met a violent end. And Chief Inspector Alleyn had to work our which of them killed him..."
"When there is a fire at 127 Paton Street, arson is immediately suspected. At first it seems a clear-cut case--until the insurance men find a corpse in the first floor flat. Are the two crimes related? Why are the bespectacled German-Jewish couple who own the premises bristling with defensive hostility? Who had left a cigarette end on the scene of the crime? The list of solutions seems endless; but inevitably the widening ripples begin of crime begin to point the way back to the cause of it all."
"DEATH MOON!
Crack Lieutenant Dominic Flandry was not a man easily swayed from his duty to the Empire... not, that is, until galactic vice king Leon Ammon offered him a million credit bribe, a voluptuous woman called Djana, and a commission to explore a dark and treasure laden moon.But within the desolate peaks and valleys of that strange world of ice and shadow, Flandry found more he had bargained for. Supposedly barren, the planet swarmed with a hideous race of strange, inhuman creatures... infernally controlled by a deranged and brilliant computer brain. Each creature, like a piece in a bizarre and lethal chess game, was programmed to kill.
And although Flandry did not know it – so was the woman he loved..."
Before long Peter and Pippin are in over their heads, and the only way for them to get out alive will be to unmask the mastermind before they end up among their victims."
But in the second volume, Yang lays out the opposite side of the conflict. A girl whose village has no place for her is taken in by Christian missionaries and finds, for the first time, a home with them. As the Boxer Rebellion gains momentum, Vibiana must decide whether to abandon her Christian friends or to commit herself fully to Christianity."
But Martin finds no safety at home, either, and the search begins to find the man who is hunting him down.
He soon discovers that he has become involved with an American underworld boss who is planning to expand his business to Britain. Will he be able to escape the gangster’s clutches, or will he become a victim in his complex game?"
In this fourth volume of MONSTRESS, Maika comes closer than ever before to the answers she’s long sought - but those answers carry a steep price. As her friends and allies reveal long-held secrets and shifting allegiances, Maika finds herself at the mercy of the Lord Doctor, a charismatic demagogue whose connections to Maika and Zinn run deeper than anyone could have imagined."
Born in Sri Lanka during the Second World War, Ondaatje was sent as a child to school in London, and later moved to Canada. While he has lived here since, these poems reflect the life of a writer, traveler and watcher of the world – describing himself as a “mongrel,” someone born out of diverse cultures. Here, rediscovering the influence of every border crossed, he moves back and forth in time, from a childhood in Sri Lanka to Moliere’s chair during his last stage performance, from icons in Bulgarian churches to the California coast and loved Canadian rivers, merging memory with the present, looking back on a life of displacement and discovery, love and loss. At first sight it is a glittering collection of fragments and memories – but small, intricate pieces of a life are precisely what matter most to Ondaatje. They make an emotional history. As he writes in the opening poem: “Reading the lines he loves / he slips them into a pocket, / wishes to die with his clothes / full of torn free stanzas / and the telephone numbers / of his children in far cities”. Poetry – where language is made to work hardest and burns with a gem-like flame – is what Ondaatje has returned to in this intimate history."
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."
Throughout the book, brief overviews of each era's predominant themes—from the Depression and nudity to technology and the Internet, highlight various genres of cartoons and shed light on our pastimes and preoccupations. Brief profiles and mini-portfolios spotlight the work of key cartoonists, including Arno, Chast, Ziegler, and others.
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 portrait 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."
The king, Edward VI, is eleven years old. His uncle Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, rules as Protector. Radical Protestants are conducting all out war on the old religion, stirring discontent among the people. The Protector's prolonged war with Scotland is proving a disastrous failure. Worst of all, the economy is in collapse, inflation rages and rebellion is stirring among the peasantry.
Since the old King's death, Matthew Shardlake has been working as a lawyer in the service of Henry's younger daughter, the Lady Elizabeth. The gruesome murder of the wife of John Boleyn, a distant Norfolk relation of Elizabeth's mother - which could have political implications for Elizabeth - brings Shardlake and his young assistant Nicholas Overton to the summer assizes at Norwich. There they are reunited with Shardlake's former assistant Jack Barak. The three find layers of mystery and danger surrounding the death of Edith Boleyn, as more murders are committed.
During their investigation, a peasant rebellion breaks out across the country. Yeoman Robert Kett establishes a vast camp outside Norwich and leads a force of thousands to overthrow the landlords. Soon the rebels have taken over the city, England's second largest.
Barak throws in his lot with the rebels; Nicholas, opposed to them, becomes a prisoner in Norwich Castle; while Shardlake has to decide where his ultimate loyalties lie. As government forces in London prepare to march north and destroy the rebels, he discovers that the murder of Edith Boleyn may have connections reaching into both the heart of the rebel camp and of the Norfolk gentry...
Tombland is both a thrilling murder mystery and a vivid and engaging portrait of a divided nation."
"SONGS IN THE YEAR OF THE CAT is the Third in the Original Series by H. Leighton Dickson and picks up where TO WALK IN THE WAY OF LIONS leaves off. Ancestors are rising in the west and armies are moving from the North and the East. Captain Wynegarde-Grey has only just returned to the capital of the Upper Kingdom and he is immediately pulled into the conflict as cauldrons of oil are burning all along the Great Wall and the drums of war force all soldiers back into duty. But a mysterious woman is changing things, manipulating behind the scenes as Sherah al Shiva, ninjaah and sorceress, slips back into his life with companions that could divide the known world. This is a sweeping post-apocalyptic tale of genetically altered lions and tigers, wolves and dragons in a world that has evolved in the wake of the fall of human civilization. Half feline, half human, their culture blends those of Dynastic China, Ancient India and Feudal Japan where humans are legend and kingdoms have risen in their stead. Fans of Tolkien, GAME OF THRONES, PLANET OF THE APES or Japanese anime will be entertained in these intelligent and beautifully written pages in a blend of science, fantasy and zoological speculation."
I did buy a few more books. If you happen to have access to Goodreads and are interested, this link will show you the books I've read, am reading and am waiting to read. Check it out.
Now I'm off to feed the pups their lunch and then get that darned lawn mowed!
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